Gravel crunched underfoot as an octoling made her way across the cavern floor, dragging a bag behind her. She crept ever more slowly as her route was lit up by a beacon of light: A squad of octoling huddled around a lantern.
"Heard the rumors?"
"Octavio's back."
"Are they reopening the valley-canyon routes?"
"What if the agents come back too?" one of the younger ones whispered.
"Enough! No sense in worrying about what ya can't control."
The entire squad collapsed into an uneasy silence. Several leaned in closer to the lantern, keeping their backs to the dark.
"Anybody know a good ghost story?"--Someone finally said--"All this speculation is making me sick."
"I've got one," the squad leader smiled. "Years ago--in this very kettle--a young octoling called Mizuta once lived. Now you see, this octoling loved to make music, she'd walk to the edge of the nearby trench to practice. One day something called back from the depths.
'A beat so strong and a song so sweet. Yet where is an audience to enjoy it?'" He rasped. A little octoling rolled her eyes.
"Surprised, Mizuta fled, but soon she started coming to the trench every so often to hear the darkness croon compliments from the deep. One day Mizuta answered the voice, and wished for an audience that would enjoy her music as much as it did."
The squad member next to him shifted, the octoling swung towards her and hissed, "Mizuta could have sworn she heard laughter rattle from the deep, dark trench.
'That can be arranged' it crowed. Mizuta begged to hear more, but the voice was gone. She came back every day. Only silence greeted her songs.
Over the next few week's Mizuta music started to change. Mizuta changed too. Her music became erratic. She became more distant. As if she had lost her very soul!" The leader started to pace around the lantern light.
"She shut herself away by the trench for days at a time. On one such occasion, one of her friends went to go visit her. All they found was putrid turquoise ink stains smeared across the floor of the cavern. A rescue party descended into the deep, hoping to find her, but they never returned. They were gone. And so was Mizuta."
"So what? She just disappeared?"
"Well," the Octotrooper leaned in closer to the lantern, "They say she finally found an audience. Of ghosts and monsters. And that if you go to the edge of the trench and lean as far in as you can, you can still hear Mizuta singing to this very day--"
Crash! The eavesdropping octoling hit the dirt after her sack slipped from her fingers. All chatter ceased and she was sure they'd hear her heart crashing against her chest. Finally, the leader spoke, "Must have been some particularly large pebbles falling from the ceiling."
The group hesitantly laughed.
"Anyways," a squishy, fledgling octoling started, "That story was sooo lame! I mean, why did Mizuta trust some rando voice? Was she crazy or something? Everybody knows to stay away from trenches. I bet I can tell a waaaay better story. Hold on to your tentacles! Here's a honest-to-goodness-real-life urban legend about the light thief! Oh! Or I could tell the one about the Musician that went to the stars--"
"Nope. It's past your bedtime, Ayla. Time to head home." the leader frowned.
"What! Not fair Ike! I'm nearly a full-on octoling! Having a curfew is, is, ludicrous!"
Ike sighed, "In fact, we should all be getting back. If trouble really is starting up again... Well, we're gonna need all the rest we can get."
Even after the shuffling of the squad faded away the girl stayed motionless on the ground. Only once her heartbeat slowed from panicked to frantic did she ease herself off the dirt. She still had a long way to go.
Hours later she halted. Unlike the other caverns, this spot lacked a stalagmite peppered ceiling, it only had an abyss that hung over the octoling like a threat. A challenge.
"Too late to turn back now" she muttered as she reached into the bag. Five industrial-grade balloons were squished next to a tank of helium. Carefully, she peeled one free, silently going over her equations as she pumped it full of helium.
One balloon carries 35 octains, three balloons to achieve lift-off, add a spare to account for temperature and error margin, one in case of faulty equipment...
Laying the depleted, but still heavy tank across her lap she started tying the newly inflated balloons onto a makeshift harness. As soon as four were tied on she cradled the tank and positioned herself in the center of the cave. It'd been a couple of years since the valley sent airships to the surface, but this abandoned launchpad cavern still provided a straight shot to the sky. The octoling took a deep breath and lowered the tank to the ground.
"Good bye" she whispered. The ground fell away from her feet. The octoling screwed her eyes shut and clung to the ropes. After a minute of seamless ascension, the octoling cracked one eye open. Above her, the rock walls fell away to reveal a watery gray circle of sky. One heartbeat later, she was clear.
"I made it. I MADE IT! YAAAHHHHH" her cheers fell into a strangled yelp as she realized she'd forgotten one tiny, little variable in her calculations. Windspeed.
A salty gust of wind dragged the octoling up, up and away at thrice the speed of windless cavern flight. Twisting in the harness, the octoling grabbed the nearest rope. With each passing moment the surface raced away. She bit the rope hard, teeth grinding together. Useless. The twine might as well been chains. The balloon, she realized, I've got to pop the balloon. She reeled it in and chomped into the taunt plastic. In a burst of air it exploded, leaving her stagnant in the sky. The octoling glanced down and instantly regretted it. Several stories away the ground swam in her vision. The harness swayed precariously as she examined the three remaining balloons.
"Hmm, now all I have to do is let a little more helium out and I'll start a nice and easy landing"
She grabbed the nearest one. Her fingers pinched the surface as she tried to loosen the knot holding back the air. Suddenly, she dug into it just a little too hard.
Pop.
The wind whipped across her face as she careened to the ground. The impact knocked her breath away and... did just about nothing else. Cautiously, she opened one eye. The balloon ropes were tangled in branches above her. As she reached up to touch one her harness burst at the seams and she hit the dirt with a thud.
"Ugh. I'm alive."
Abruptly she started to giggle. Then laugh.
"I SURVIVED! I MADE IT!"
By now she was full on cackling. The fit continued as she pulled herself to her feet, examined the hopelessly compromised harness that guarded her safety only moments before, and untangled the remaining two balloons to watch them float away.
"WOOOOOOHHHOOOOOO!"
She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. Goodbye balloons, hello Inkopolis. Inkopolis. Where is Inkopolis? After turning in a full circle she spotted a dark smudge on the horizon where skyscrapers bit into the sky. There.
---
Hours later the sun had set, but the glittering city lights provided the perfect beacon for the octoling. She hummed the first lines of a foreign song as she walked alongside a ravine that appeared to chart a straight course to the outskirts of Inkopolis. Ink blisters pinched the heels of her feet, and her legs became wobbly as the adrenaline faded. The night air made her shiver as she clutched her forearms and wished for warmer clothes. She sighed and took another look at the city before collapsing next to an octopus shaped boulder. She will still be there after, the octoling yawned, after a short break.
Scuffling filled her ears. The octoling rolled over and tried to recall the dream she'd been in before her consciousness had chased it away. The shuffling persisted. She cracked one eye open and bolted upright. The sun was high in the sky. The crunch of footsteps on rock got louder. She peeked around the boulder, then darted back behind it. Two inklings were hiking towards the rock, one carried some sort of octoshot like gun and wore a shredded, black cape.
Calm down. If my intel is correct most inklings know next to nothing about octolings. She searched her brain for a simple Inklish greeting. How did it go? Hmm, ended with an 'i' sound...
The pair of squids walked ever closer towards the rock. Okay, let's go! I'm too close to the city to be scared off by a couple of hikers!
She stepped out from behind the rock and waved.
"Die!"
The inklings stopped, the old one appeared to be waving at her. She waved back. Nailed it. Suddenly the younger inkling raised his gun and started to fire ink at her.
"Uh oh."
The octoling sprinted away, the blue inkling in hot pursuit. Seconds later she reached a dead-end. The ravine from yesterday blocked her path. The inkling stopped running now and advanced in a steady walk. There was no escaping. She took one last look at the sun, "Please."
The inkling stopped. Now the old one was hobbling towards them.
"Finish her, Three!"
Apparently the inkling came to a decision. He aimed the gun and the octoling lowered her head.
A blur of turquoise ink blasted out from the ravine! Before the octoling could process what happened the ground dropped away from her feet. Oh come on, she thought. Then the sky vanished as she fell down, down, down. Swallowed by the darkness.