Risks and Rewards (Of a Life so Simple)

The Song

"Sooooo....last Kettle, huh?"

"Should be, unless we missed one. Distinct possibility."

"Ehh, nah, I think we were plenty thorough. Just in time, too, since Annabel is gonna have us operate out of Splatsville soon."

"Yeeaaaah, that's gonna be weird. But it's a short train ride, at least."

"Haha, yeah."

Ilkani followed at a much closer distance than last time. Her deadline was coming up, and from the sound of things, this might be her last chance regardless.

Whatever it was they'd been doing in the Kettles, this was their last one. And after that, they...they wouldn't have reason to come back.

Ultimatum or not, it was now or never. Today or she'd have officially missed her chance.

The pair reached their destination, slipping into the Kettle like they had before. This time, though, Ilkani was prepared to follow.

...after a minute, of course. Blatantly stalking them wasn't a good image, so she didn't want them to instantly notice her the moment she went through. Smarter to wait til they moved away from the entrance a bit.

She timed it decently well: when she entered the Kettle, they were a decent distance away, but still visible.

She wasn't familiar with this Kettle. She'd been in most of them by now, of course, but she'd never spent enough time in this one to know the layout. Not even the surface-level layout. So, all she could do was follow again and hope she didn't lose them.

A few Octarians greeted the Inklings as they walked by, and Ilkani's stomach twisted at the sight. They were the enemy, what was everyone doing being so amicable? Was she the only one who still had their head on straight?

...well, maybe not even her. By this point she was knee-deep in denial and she was better off not thinking about it too hard.

So, she continued following at a distance. Callie was friendlier with the Octarians than Marie was, beaming and shaking hands and giving out hugs when asked. Marie was smiling too, but she didn't get approached as often as the other did so she mostly kept to herself.

Ilkani wasn't sure how to feel. On one hand, this was solid, undeniable proof that Callie wouldn't exclude or treat her differently because she was an Octoling. But on the other...

She saw Callie embrace another Octoling, squeezing tight and smiling wide.

Ilkani's stomach clenched in red-hot jealousy. She had to do something. She didn't want to feel like this.

As she followed, she noticed that a crowd was gathering. Many other Octarians saw her following the pair and joined her. She was one among many, which made what she was doing less suspicious, at least, but she had no idea what was going on still.

What was so special about the pair being there that made them garner so much attention?

It wasn't as if everyone was enamored, though. She saw, infrequently, other Octarians outright hiding from the Squid Sisters, taking cover in shadowed places. Fretful and frightened, clearly. But the gathered crowd picked them up too, shooing them out of their hiding places and into the crowd at large.

It was like an exodus of some kind, lead by two intruders. Ilkani had no idea where they were even headed, but it was clearly a big deal if so many had decided to follow. Ilkani considered leaving the crowd, but only for a moment. If she lost track of them today, that would be it. No more second chances.

The crowd grew larger and larger as they made their way through the Kettle, working their way towards the bottom, presumably. It was like everyone living here was either voluntarily joining the mob or being coaxed into it.