Splatoon: Unnamed [AU]

Chapter Nineteen

Rain's vision was blurry as he slowly opened his eyes. He clenched his teeth as the throbbing pain of his head began to grow blaringly apparent as he woke up. He was seeing doubles. Rain could make out a dark room with sunlight filtering in from an entrance. It reeked of sickness and death, an immediate assault on his nose, which only made his already splitting headache worse.

He could make out somebody calling his name, "Rain.. Rain.." It repeated over and over until his name didn't sound like a word anymore. Rain let out a groan in response, blinking away sleep and wiping gunk from his eyes. He blinked a few more times until the shapes came into focus and he was able to finally see. Rain saw the source of the voice. Riot was kneeling down next to him. Rain was laying on his side, on a comfortable bed that was low to the ground. He was in an unfamiliar building. Rain sat up and took a good look around.

He was in a small, dark building with walls made of dark weathered brick. The roof was made of what looked like tons of rusty scrap metal sheets laid on top of one another and held together with some sort of paste. The only place the sunlight filtered in was the single entrance, which had no door but a curtain of beads shaped like fish and flowers and shells, painted in all sorts of colors. As he looked around, he saw more beds. There were some shapes underneath blankets and surrounded by pillows, and Rain could make out tails and fins. They were salmonlings. There were shelves lined with pills and medical supplies. Rain was confusing. Where was he?

Rain looked at Riot, "Where am I?" He asked in a hoarse voice.

Riot hesitated, "The emperor.. He was going to kill you. I kind of rescued you?" She explained to him awkwardly.

Rain repeated his question, "Where am I?" He asked again.

Riot took a deep breath, "You're.. In the Salmonling Village." She said finally. Rain took a deep breath in as well, smelling salty sea air from all around. They were still in the middle of the ocean, perhaps on an island. He got up, his legs felt weak and wobbly. He felt one of his knees buckled and he saw the ground steadily approaching. Something suddenly propped him up. Rain gasped, and steadied himself with his arms outstretched. His sudden savior wasn't Riot, he realized.

"You okay?" A gentle voice asked. Rain took a moment to examine the salmonling that had stopped his fall. He was tall and thin, wearing a purple and yellow sarape that went down to the knees. He had darkish brown skin, and upon his face was what looked like face paint in the shape of eyes all around his face. He had purple fins filled with flowers and a kind face.

Rain nodded, "I-I'm okay." He said. This fish's voice was like butter, like, the softest of all soft things.

The soft voiced salmonling smiled warmly, "That's good. Does your head hurt?" He asked in a quiet voice.

Rain nodded, "Yes, a little. Who are you again? I didn't catch your name." He said.

The salmonling showed his teeth a little as he smiled, "Spidercrab. I'm the village healer." He said. Rain found this salmonling likable off the bat, unlike Riot. Spidercrab went to one of the shelves lining the walls and looked through the bottles of pills. He grabbed a specific bottle and came over to Rain with two white pills, handing them to him. Rain took them, struggling without water to down them with.

Spidercrab nodded to him, "Good. That should kick in within thirty minutes. Take it easy." He said, patting Rain on the shoulder.

Rain gave Spidercrab a little nod back and looked at Riot, "Where do you get those pills from?" He eyed the shelves. The bottles seemed to have old looking labels that had been mostly peeled or scratched off. The letters were distinctly octarian writing, as Rain recognized.