Deep Cut One shots

The Cold-Blooded Bandit

Today is the day my life will change. Very few people wake up realizing that, but I have a reason. That being said, I need to elaborate.

My name is Shiver Hohojiro, member of the elite Hohojiro Clan. Oh, yeah-the clans. In Splatsville (AKA The city of chaos) there are 3 clans from 3 different and very old families. They are- The Napoleons who control eels with an ancient dance. They're known as the "Onaga Clan. Then there's  who can manipulate/trick your mind (The Manta Clan), and lastly my group; The Hohojiros. We're the "Hohojiro Clan" and are essentially samurai warriors but way more badass because we train/tame sharks. Together, the three clans' leaders when using their powers together can summon an ancient power known as the three lights. When it's used it can stop any disaster about to happen. The only recorded time of this happening was 250 years ago when they summoned the three lights to stop a great flood that almost wiped Splatsville away forever.

Anyway, back to what I'm doing now.

So, one week after turning the age of 17, the of-age person will be sent on a mission to prove their worth to our family. Usually, it's to tame a shark that we've been tracking for a little while, but occasionally something bigger needs to happen.

I've always been overshadowed by my 2 older brothers. They've always been the family favorites and leave me in the dust. So, a small, deep part inside of me is happy I get a chance to do something better than them.

My mission is to steal a simple egg. The problem is that it's in a heavily guarded military base and well hidden somewhere. Getting in the base was easy- I had to travel for 4 hours on a train all the way to Inkopolis, sure, but after a short 3-mile hike in metal octoling armor I was able to just sneakily walk into the largest military base in all of inkadia- Octo Canyon. Getting out will be trickier because theoretically I'm supposed to be brainwashed and can't just walk out. Thankfully, my family thought of this.

Only last year, some crazy teleportation devices were invented by some crazed billionaire. By hooking up 2 respawn machines and putting the teleportation mechanic in it, you're able to go from one of those machines to the other. The only problem is that both respawn machines and the teleportation thing are extremely expensive, not to mention it only works once. But we shelled out and bought everything. I have a respawn machine loaded up in my backpack, so I can deploy it the moment I get the egg.

"Now," I murmur, "Where the hell do I find the egg?"

There are a lot of buildings around and I decide to go towards a flashier one. It's somewhat tall but unusually sleek and nice looking for where I am.

I quickly enter it and sneakily head down to the basement where I notice a simple-looking black door. Cautiously, I turn the handle and find a large safe. I pull out a code-breaker from my backpack and attach it to the door. Almost immediately after turning it on it starts whirring and trying different codes. After only 2 minutes, I hear a huge hiss, a creak, and the door swings open. The safe is about 12 feet high by 7 feet. Inside are a bunch of files, most likely about the army. I'm about to leave but something catches my eye- a little reflection from something silvery blue.

I slowly bend down and ruffle my hand around until I see it- a small black box. I turn it over and what I see lets out an audible gasp from me. My whole body goes numb as I see the familiar half-circle and rectangle. It's my family crest, plated on with blue-tinted silver.

"But...", my voice shaking on the one syllable, "How...?"

I slowly open the box and what I find in it almost makes me collapse.

"It..it can't be..." I whisper.

Inside the box is the family locket.

The 3 clans all have lockets forged of silver long, long ago. They are worn exclusively by the leader and apparently boost energy by a slight bit. The front of it has our family crest made of dazzling blue sapphire. Turning it over, there's a black swirl which I believe is one of the parts of the clans' crests together. The thing that makes this locket so special is that 20 years ago, all the family lockets were stolen by the leader of the Onaga Clan. (How the Octarians came into contact with mine will forever be a mystery). This broke all trust of the clans breaking them apart. Because of the leader's actions, he put his entire family into poverty. The only way for our families to join forces once again is for the three leaders to come together and make peace. However, as the current leader of the Onaga clan is still in power, it'll be a long time before that will ever happen.