The Heroes of Aeseganora: Part 1 - The Oca-Tree

Welcome to Ocalihalla

TW: Mention of Vomit

A look of surprise crossed the penguin's face as she saw Barnacles lying on the ground, rubbing his cheek.
"Whoops... sorry, sir!" she said, with a sheepish chuckle. "I thought y'all were... monsters."
She looked at the crew again, and urged them to come inside her house. As they all walked in, in the dim light, they could see numerous strange portraits of eight brave-looking, but rather intimidating, figures. Barnacles took a glance at some of the portraits, and was stunned to see a likeness to the crew.

"Is that... us?" he asked.
"Oh! Uh, not exactly," Vivi replied, as she poured some mugs of hot chocolate for herself and the crew. "These are the Heroes of Aeseganora. Long dead, but their legacy lives on forevermore."
"That's a handsome looking fella!" Kwazii said, pointing at the picture of the cat (which resembled him closely).
"Well, you would say that, wouldn't you, Kwazii?" Shellington said, taking a sip of his hot chocolate.
"Aye, I suppose I am rather biased." Kwazii replied with a smile.
The crew looked around in wonder at the portraits of The Heroes of Aesgeanora on the wall, finding it odd that they looked so much like them. That was indeed very surprising, however, none of them mentioned it to Vivi in case they were wrong.

"So tell me," Vivi said. "What are y'all doing here?"
"Well, we were summoned here," Barnacles said, before going on to tell Vivi about how it all started from the rock they found during the dig, and finding the letter for help back onboard the Octopod shortly afterwards.
"Hmmm, that's all very interesting!" Vivi replied.

Some loud music echoed through a wall, interrupting her conversation with the crew.
"Gary! How am I supposed to talk to my new friends with your racket?!" Vivi called, knocking on the wall.
In the next room, a penguin named Gary heard Vivi's shouts.
"Alright!" he called out. "It's just my mind needs distractin' from all this kerfuffle!"
The crew looked around in puzzlement. "Who on Earth is Gary?" Kwazii asked.
"He's my housemate," Vivi explained. "He's always got his banging tunes on in there, but he's been playing them a lot more since this dangerously low magic levels business has gotten worse. He's just taken it very badly."
Inkling covered his ears with his tentacles. "Well, it is a rather dreadful noise, no offence," he said.
"None taken, man!" Gary said from the next room.

"Vivi," Barnacles said. "What do you know about Sir Ollum?"
Vivi thought to herself for a moment. "Well, I don't know him personally, but I do know where his palace is."
"Great!" Kwazii said, as he lept to his feet. "Take us to your leader, then!"
"Well, I would like to, but..." Vivi hesitated and stiffened. "But I just can't."
Barnacles saw her face fall. "Why not?" he asked her, concerned about her sudden change in mood.
Vivi tensed. "I just can't, OK?" she replied firmly.
"Why not?" Dashi asked.
"Well, the thing is..." Vivi started to tremble with nervousness. "He's a very private person. He doesn't like unannounced visitors."
Barnacles thought of a way to convince Vivi to take them to Ollum. He could sense the same hesitance that he feels, for example, whenever he is about to face a dangerous situation back in the main oceans, such as going into a tight space.
"Look, Vivi," he began. "We can clearly see you're concerned about the future of your home land, and we understand that completely. However, we only want to help your home land, not just for yourself, but for all its inhabitants, and Ollum has asked us specifically to do so. Please. If you help us to find him, we will be able to help you. That's all we want to do."
Vivi turned back to Barnacles and smiled.
"Alright, I'm in!" she declared.

****************

Vivi held the reins of her seahorse-drawn sled tightly, steering it through the plains of Aeseganora. The crew just tried to sit contentedly whilst Vivi happily sang a song.
"We're all on a quest, the magic levels shall rise again, all thanks to the Octonuts, something that rhymes with again!"
The sled hit a bump, and the crew yelped in surprise, holding on to the sled so they didn't fall out.
"Well, hold yer seahorses, everyone!" Vivi shouted loudly to the crew. "We like to go as FAST as a speedy sailfish!"
"Yes!" Kwazii answered, as he leaned back and but his feet up to show that he was not bothered by the high speeds, unlike most of the others.
"Slow down, Spider!" Vivi called upon one of the seahorses. "Some of the passengers are a lil' travel sick!"
Upon hearing the name Spider, Kwazii quickly sat up straight, his ears perking up and the sudden fear washing away his initial contentedness, making him tense his muscles. "The seahorse's name is... Sp.. Spid... Spi... Spider?" he asked, stammering the word in worry.
"I dunno, it must be," Vivi responded, shrugging her shoulders. "He always comes over whenever I see one!"
"Right," Kwazii said.
"Is he always this afraid of spiders?" Vivi asked Barnacles in a hushed tone.
"Uh, yes he is," Tweak responded, before Barnacles could say anything. "He usually just scurries away whenever he sees one anywhere." Peso, who was sat next to her, nodded his head in agreement before reaching his flipper out to touch Kwazii's paw to reassure him.
As they continued to travel onwards, Vivi couldn't help but hear a pitter-patter behind the sled. She turned her head to find out what it was, but all she could see was swaying seagrass and a worried expression on the crew's faces.
And this wasn't just a mildly worried expression; it was a very, VERY worried expression, the kind one would have if they were about to enter a dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation.
The pitter-patter grew louder, and one of the seahorses peered through the seagrass to see who, or what, was out there. They looked back at Vivi and the Octonauts, who seemed even more alarmed than a few moments earlier. Vivi's eyes darted back and forth, searching the landscape and peering into the seagrass. The crew's hearts were hammering in their chests, and they tightened their grips on the edge of their seats. They couldn't shake this feeling that something bad was about to happen.