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Thida's Origins - Through the Octoling's Eyes
“Another Zapfish LOST!!!”
Phaloe flinched as the scarred tentacle slammed in front of her, its end curled much like an angry fist. The ground shook, though, and she reckoned that the Octarians at least three kettles away had felt the tremors.
“At this rate we’ll lose the entire Lunulata Quadrant to collapse – a fate you know well will befall our people!”
It wasn’t a lie. Her home, a small kettle dome on the fringes of Octo Valley, had collapsed just at the end of the past summer from some sort of Inkling meddling on the surface. She was the only survivor.
“And what does one of my agents do in the face of that, that…slimy blue hipster?!” The tentacle unfurled and jabbed Phaloe in the chest. She recoiled at the touch, and the disgust in the reprimand became more than palpable. “Well? What did you do?!?”
“I…” Her voice cracked, but she dared not pause to clear her throat. The King was angry when displeased, and she still needed his favor. “…I bungled big time, Your Majesty.”
The tentacle recoiled into the shadows. That was where the King liked to be, for he was older than any Octarian could imagine, and his eyes did not do well in harsh light. Maybe that was why he was having such large sub weapons built for his strange new throne? “You screwed up, Octoling,” he said. “You screwed up.”
~*~
To be fair, it had been less screwing up and more a circumstance of Phaloe’s own clumsiness.
You see, she wasn’t exactly meant to be on the battlefield. On the contrary, when the King came to inspect her home after the dome had caved in and found her, he had let her join his ranks as an engineer. Even before she could control her shapeshifting, Phaloe had loved technology. She had lost count of the times she’d taken apart the various gadgets and gizmos she and her family came across in the deep crust of the earth. With a bit of cleverness and perseverance, she had applied their limited power sources to bring to life things that played music, showed videos, communicated over distances – all kinds of things that were absolutely miraculous. Apparently, her reputation as some sort of virtuoso had preceded her, and had given her an opportunity. So, when the King called for Octolings to storm the world above, she didn’t give it a second thought.
Phaloe wasn’t a soldier. She had no designs to be – though oh, would she love to see a real sky, and not one falsely deep from overlapped screens in the domes. She had heard rumors that the King had a flying machine that could go into the sky, into the stars, and wanted more than anything to get to be on it, even if it was just to clean its floors…what a thrill it would be to go up there!
And then the King came to her personally.
“You must know,” he said, in one of his calmer tones, “that those of us gifted with other forms are few and far between. It didn’t used to be that way, Octoling. Our people were not shambling chunks of tentacle with glassy eyes and gaping mouths. We were proud! Strong! And now, we need all of that remaining strength to work together. You have the beginnings of a soldier within you, whether you know it or not, and I’m asking you to go up with the others and help them.”
“M-Me, Your Majesty?” She asked, wide-eyed and covered in grease. The King gave one nod of his immense head.
“I’m sending a team to take back the Zapfish that meddlesome squid and Cuttlefish returned to a place called Kelp Dome. You won’t have to do much. Stay by the Zapfish, load it into the transport container, and guard it should any squids appear.” He gestured with his scarred tentacle. It glowed green – from residual Inkling ink, some rumors said. “You’ll be with seasoned fighters, so it’s doubtful that anyone will make it back to you without being splatted. Still, I’m going to give you an Octoshot and a set of Splat Bombs, just in case – and if you prove yourself, I may see reason to promote you up the ranks a bit faster than you’d be able to climb on your own.”
Phaloe nodded rapidly. This was a personal request from the King, something that meant a lot to him judging by his tone. And to be promoted? That could only lead to good things. So, she had accepted, and that evening found herself in the strange, sweltering structure the Inklings called Kelp Dome. How amazing it was in here! The Inklings must have known about some of the Octarian food production methods, for they used glass and light in much the same way to grow vegetables and fruits! It seemed less interesting to the other Octolings, for they quickly scattered and paid her no mind. That was fine. They were a bit intimidating, honestly.
Phaloe got to work removing the Zapfish, cooing softly as she put it into the transport container. It had been in place for maybe ten minutes by the time she started to hear the other Octolings at all. And by hear, of course, she meant battle. The sound of sprayed ink and splattering bombs startled Phaloe, and she hurried to the edge of the grate on the tall post where the Zapfish was to get a vantage point. From there, she could see ink other than maroon – icy blue. Just the sight of it made her shiver, it was so much like the sky…
It must have been these boots she’d been made to wear against this metal that made the twitching in her legs turn to a stumbling, and a slip – and the laces, the laces! When did they come untied? They got tangled in the metal, and before Phaloe could realize what happened, she was hanging upside-down by her boot’s laces, limbs akimbo. The gun and bombs and ink tank given to her hadn’t been harnessed to her correctly, and they slipped off, falling to the ground with a clatter. Her goggles went, too, and panic seized her as she swayed back and forth.
“Help! HEEEEELP!”
But if any Octoling heard her call, they did not respond. So caught up in fighting the source of that blue ink, Phaloe went ignored, and she squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to flail, lest she fall to the ground and hurt herself.
She hadn’t been hanging long before the sound of an ink gun went from many to one, and the splash of swimming in ink approached her from the left.
“…Wha?”
That was a voice Phaloe didn’t know. Cautiously, she opened one eye, and let out a squeal of fright at the sight before her. An Inkling had gotten through all of the Octarian defenses, and judging by her crazy getup, she must have been…that Inkling…
Phaloe screamed, eyes wide with fear, and she started to thrash despite herself. She didn’t notice the Inkling’s eyes widening at her peril, but she did notice the sudden jolt of gravity as her foot slipped from her boot –
And –
“OOPH!”
There was something soft and wiggling underneath her, cushioning her fall. It wiggled and wiggled, pushing Phaloe gently away until she was sitting on the ground, back against a wall. Her eyes were still closed in terror until a cool hand pressed against her cheek.
“You okay?”
Oh, no. It really was the Inkling. Agent Three. And here she was, unarmed, as this terrible, demon-like enemy…was checking her for bruises?
Phaloe tried to jerk away, but the wall behind her kept her in place. “D-Don’t splat me, please,” she begged, “I, I’ve never fought before, I don’t even know how to s-shoot my gun, I don’t have my gun-”
“I know.”
“You…you know?” Agent Three pointed to her side, where the Octoshot would have been holstered, and for the first time Phaloe noticed that the Inkling had holstered her own weapon. So, she was still armed, but not prepared to shoot?
“You okay?” she repeated. Phaloe let out a shaky sigh, and nodded after a moment.
“I…just fell.” A pause. “Lost a shoe, looks like. Hah…wow, I…some Octoling soldier I make, huh?”
This was insane, Phaloe thought. How could she talk like this? It must be because she was nervous. Agent Three squinted up at the dangling boot.
“I’ll get it.” Before Phaloe could protest, the Inkling pulled herself up over the ledge and took out her gun. Phaloe flinched, but no ink flew her way – instead, it coated the side of the post and Agent Three was soon at the top, reforming to walk on the grate and untangle the boot’s laces. Soon enough the boot was free, and the Inkling tossed it down for Phaloe to catch. She slipped it on and tied it tight. No way this baby was getting off again.
“Oh, wow! Thank you so much! I, I still can’t believe you didn’t splat me too – I won’t forget that! Hey, um, my name is Phaloe, by the way. What’s yours?”
There was a beat of silence, and Agent Three peered down through the grate. She considered Phaloe for a moment, perhaps a bit bewildered by the whole situation, before she smiled. It was…a nice smile.
“Thida.”
The change in the Inkling after saying that one word was instantaneous. She whipped around, blasting the Zapfish transport container with her ink, and she snatched up the Zapfish and squid jumped away before Phaloe could do anything but stare dumbfoundedly after her.
~*~
“Y-Yes, Your Majesty! What is it? I’ll do anything!”
“You’ll go to Octo Valley,” he began “and wait for this ‘Agent Three’ to appear. You’ll follow her back into the city and find out who she is – where she lives, who she associates with, and you’ll note her weaknesses. When I send your seniors into Inkopolis for Zapfish reconnaissance, you’ll join them, and inform them, and if they fail, you’ll go back and get new information on her - better information. Am I clear?”
Phaloe felt her heart skip at the King’s order. He…was letting her go above. He wanted her to stay there, until she was successful, and she could see Agen…Thida again. And once she was successful…would she really rank up? Perhaps even get to fly in the King’s great machine? She nodded, and behind her goggles her eyes gleamed bright with excitement.
Phaloe flinched as the scarred tentacle slammed in front of her, its end curled much like an angry fist. The ground shook, though, and she reckoned that the Octarians at least three kettles away had felt the tremors.
“At this rate we’ll lose the entire Lunulata Quadrant to collapse – a fate you know well will befall our people!”
It wasn’t a lie. Her home, a small kettle dome on the fringes of Octo Valley, had collapsed just at the end of the past summer from some sort of Inkling meddling on the surface. She was the only survivor.
“And what does one of my agents do in the face of that, that…slimy blue hipster?!” The tentacle unfurled and jabbed Phaloe in the chest. She recoiled at the touch, and the disgust in the reprimand became more than palpable. “Well? What did you do?!?”
“I…” Her voice cracked, but she dared not pause to clear her throat. The King was angry when displeased, and she still needed his favor. “…I bungled big time, Your Majesty.”
The tentacle recoiled into the shadows. That was where the King liked to be, for he was older than any Octarian could imagine, and his eyes did not do well in harsh light. Maybe that was why he was having such large sub weapons built for his strange new throne? “You screwed up, Octoling,” he said. “You screwed up.”
You see, she wasn’t exactly meant to be on the battlefield. On the contrary, when the King came to inspect her home after the dome had caved in and found her, he had let her join his ranks as an engineer. Even before she could control her shapeshifting, Phaloe had loved technology. She had lost count of the times she’d taken apart the various gadgets and gizmos she and her family came across in the deep crust of the earth. With a bit of cleverness and perseverance, she had applied their limited power sources to bring to life things that played music, showed videos, communicated over distances – all kinds of things that were absolutely miraculous. Apparently, her reputation as some sort of virtuoso had preceded her, and had given her an opportunity. So, when the King called for Octolings to storm the world above, she didn’t give it a second thought.
Phaloe wasn’t a soldier. She had no designs to be – though oh, would she love to see a real sky, and not one falsely deep from overlapped screens in the domes. She had heard rumors that the King had a flying machine that could go into the sky, into the stars, and wanted more than anything to get to be on it, even if it was just to clean its floors…what a thrill it would be to go up there!
And then the King came to her personally.
“You must know,” he said, in one of his calmer tones, “that those of us gifted with other forms are few and far between. It didn’t used to be that way, Octoling. Our people were not shambling chunks of tentacle with glassy eyes and gaping mouths. We were proud! Strong! And now, we need all of that remaining strength to work together. You have the beginnings of a soldier within you, whether you know it or not, and I’m asking you to go up with the others and help them.”
“M-Me, Your Majesty?” She asked, wide-eyed and covered in grease. The King gave one nod of his immense head.
“I’m sending a team to take back the Zapfish that meddlesome squid and Cuttlefish returned to a place called Kelp Dome. You won’t have to do much. Stay by the Zapfish, load it into the transport container, and guard it should any squids appear.” He gestured with his scarred tentacle. It glowed green – from residual Inkling ink, some rumors said. “You’ll be with seasoned fighters, so it’s doubtful that anyone will make it back to you without being splatted. Still, I’m going to give you an Octoshot and a set of Splat Bombs, just in case – and if you prove yourself, I may see reason to promote you up the ranks a bit faster than you’d be able to climb on your own.”
Phaloe nodded rapidly. This was a personal request from the King, something that meant a lot to him judging by his tone. And to be promoted? That could only lead to good things. So, she had accepted, and that evening found herself in the strange, sweltering structure the Inklings called Kelp Dome. How amazing it was in here! The Inklings must have known about some of the Octarian food production methods, for they used glass and light in much the same way to grow vegetables and fruits! It seemed less interesting to the other Octolings, for they quickly scattered and paid her no mind. That was fine. They were a bit intimidating, honestly.
Phaloe got to work removing the Zapfish, cooing softly as she put it into the transport container. It had been in place for maybe ten minutes by the time she started to hear the other Octolings at all. And by hear, of course, she meant battle. The sound of sprayed ink and splattering bombs startled Phaloe, and she hurried to the edge of the grate on the tall post where the Zapfish was to get a vantage point. From there, she could see ink other than maroon – icy blue. Just the sight of it made her shiver, it was so much like the sky…
It must have been these boots she’d been made to wear against this metal that made the twitching in her legs turn to a stumbling, and a slip – and the laces, the laces! When did they come untied? They got tangled in the metal, and before Phaloe could realize what happened, she was hanging upside-down by her boot’s laces, limbs akimbo. The gun and bombs and ink tank given to her hadn’t been harnessed to her correctly, and they slipped off, falling to the ground with a clatter. Her goggles went, too, and panic seized her as she swayed back and forth.
“Help! HEEEEELP!”
But if any Octoling heard her call, they did not respond. So caught up in fighting the source of that blue ink, Phaloe went ignored, and she squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to flail, lest she fall to the ground and hurt herself.
She hadn’t been hanging long before the sound of an ink gun went from many to one, and the splash of swimming in ink approached her from the left.
“…Wha?”
That was a voice Phaloe didn’t know. Cautiously, she opened one eye, and let out a squeal of fright at the sight before her. An Inkling had gotten through all of the Octarian defenses, and judging by her crazy getup, she must have been…that Inkling…
Phaloe screamed, eyes wide with fear, and she started to thrash despite herself. She didn’t notice the Inkling’s eyes widening at her peril, but she did notice the sudden jolt of gravity as her foot slipped from her boot –
And –
“OOPH!”
There was something soft and wiggling underneath her, cushioning her fall. It wiggled and wiggled, pushing Phaloe gently away until she was sitting on the ground, back against a wall. Her eyes were still closed in terror until a cool hand pressed against her cheek.
“You okay?”
Oh, no. It really was the Inkling. Agent Three. And here she was, unarmed, as this terrible, demon-like enemy…was checking her for bruises?
Phaloe tried to jerk away, but the wall behind her kept her in place. “D-Don’t splat me, please,” she begged, “I, I’ve never fought before, I don’t even know how to s-shoot my gun, I don’t have my gun-”
“I know.”
“You…you know?” Agent Three pointed to her side, where the Octoshot would have been holstered, and for the first time Phaloe noticed that the Inkling had holstered her own weapon. So, she was still armed, but not prepared to shoot?
“You okay?” she repeated. Phaloe let out a shaky sigh, and nodded after a moment.
“I…just fell.” A pause. “Lost a shoe, looks like. Hah…wow, I…some Octoling soldier I make, huh?”
This was insane, Phaloe thought. How could she talk like this? It must be because she was nervous. Agent Three squinted up at the dangling boot.
“I’ll get it.” Before Phaloe could protest, the Inkling pulled herself up over the ledge and took out her gun. Phaloe flinched, but no ink flew her way – instead, it coated the side of the post and Agent Three was soon at the top, reforming to walk on the grate and untangle the boot’s laces. Soon enough the boot was free, and the Inkling tossed it down for Phaloe to catch. She slipped it on and tied it tight. No way this baby was getting off again.
“Oh, wow! Thank you so much! I, I still can’t believe you didn’t splat me too – I won’t forget that! Hey, um, my name is Phaloe, by the way. What’s yours?”
There was a beat of silence, and Agent Three peered down through the grate. She considered Phaloe for a moment, perhaps a bit bewildered by the whole situation, before she smiled. It was…a nice smile.
“Thida.”
The change in the Inkling after saying that one word was instantaneous. She whipped around, blasting the Zapfish transport container with her ink, and she snatched up the Zapfish and squid jumped away before Phaloe could do anything but stare dumbfoundedly after her.
~*~
“Y-Yes, Your Majesty! What is it? I’ll do anything!”
“You’ll go to Octo Valley,” he began “and wait for this ‘Agent Three’ to appear. You’ll follow her back into the city and find out who she is – where she lives, who she associates with, and you’ll note her weaknesses. When I send your seniors into Inkopolis for Zapfish reconnaissance, you’ll join them, and inform them, and if they fail, you’ll go back and get new information on her - better information. Am I clear?”
Phaloe felt her heart skip at the King’s order. He…was letting her go above. He wanted her to stay there, until she was successful, and she could see Agen…Thida again. And once she was successful…would she really rank up? Perhaps even get to fly in the King’s great machine? She nodded, and behind her goggles her eyes gleamed bright with excitement.