Splatoon: Aerodynamics

Chapter 5 - The Sound of Their Melody

Staring down at her feet, Jean sat quietly in the big helicopter. She listened to both the sounds of the spinning propellers and her new friends chit chatting in the seat across from her. She didn't really know how to engage in a conversation; to be fair, she wasn't very good at being social at all... Instead, she was too busy being lost in her own thoughts.

Thinking quietly to herself, she wondered: what will the rest of this surface be like? She was still so used to being isolated and trapped in the underground her entire life. It's all she's ever known. Would the surface world work the same way as the underground did? Or will she be stripped of her free will, even up here? The thought of it was unsettling...

A sudden burst of laughter broke Jean out of her daze. Pearl was laughing at her own joke. Marina let out a slight chuckle, going along with whatever it is Pearl finds so humorous, even if it wasn't all that funny. Meanwhile, the Capt just sat there looking all confused at the commotion.

Jean looked down once more, too worrisome to get in on the laughter. So anxious, it felt like there was a school of minnows swimming in her stomach.

Agent 3, sitting right beside her on the same side of the heli, noticed the poor girl's nervousness. Three wanted to say something encouraging, but no better than her new comrade, she was also too shy to speak up.

That was when Jean felt the touch on her shoulder, catching her a little off guard. She looked beside her to see a warm smile on the Agent's face that read 'all will be well.' She returned the smile.

That's when Three had a brilliant idea! She reached into her pockets and pulled out a little MP3 player. The Octoling was puzzled, wondering why her fellow agent randomly placed a small device into her hands? It was smaller than a CQ-80.

Three didn't say anything, only plugging some wired thingies into Jean's ears. Jean got a little bit freaked out, thinking Agent 3 was putting some sorta mind control device on her! Three moved her finger to the small device and tapped a button. As the frightened Octoling braced herself to be mind controlled, she heard... music?

Wait, those voices, they sound so familiar. Could it be... the Squid Sisters?

The sweet melody soon washed all of her worries away. She relaxed her muscles that were so tense a moment ago. A smile grew upon her face and she closed her eyes. Callie's voice made her feel safe, while Marie's voice soothed her mind. It was like nothing else mattered anymore, she stayed focused on the music...

"...Eight. Pst. Eight..."

Hm? Jean opened her eyes and saw Marina's sweet smile, gently shaking her awake. Did she doze off?

"We're here," said Marina. The girl peeked over, her eyes widened at the sight of beautiful Inkopolis. They were right in the city, as the heli had landed safely at the top of a building. She then took the earbuds off and Marina helped her step out of the helicopter. They walked over to the others, checking the view. As she looked down from up high, she could see all the Inklings wandering around and socializing.

The city looked so lively, it was like nothing she had ever seen before! She felt tears forming in her eyes.

"Welcome home, Eight." said Pearl, giving her a pat on the back. Jean trying to wipe away the tears.

She was home...

Much later...

It was another gorgeous day in Inkopolis. The perfect day to go out and play some battles!

The sound of running footsteps echoed through the crowd of kids in the square. Rushing her way to the entry doors of the Deca Tower, Jean pulled out her phone to check the time... it was 10:14 in the morning.

Jean was supposed to meet up with Jenna at the lobby by 10AM, but she overslept and now she was late! If it wasn't for Pearl loudly coming up with new rap verses late last night, she probably wouldn't have slept past her alarm this morning. When she realized what time it was, she flung out of bed, threw on her clothes and darted out the door. Even with her efforts, she still couldn't make it on time...

By the time she got to the locker rooms, she kneeled forward placing her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath after running a mile to get here. Jean got a text from Jenna earlier, telling her to meet her in the locker rooms, but Jean didn't see her anywhere. Could it be that Jenna was running late too? She can always try texting her to see where she's at, or... maybe grab her equipment in the meantime, that way she'll be ready if Jenna does turn up.

Now that she caught her breath, the Octoling girl stood up straight and walked to her locker. There weren't too many kids by the lockers, but maybe they were already off battling right now. Jean put in the combination, the door making a short creek as it swung open. While she dug for her things, she peeked over her shoulder, keeping an eye out for Jenna, but still nothing.

It's been almost a week since they started becoming friends and they've already met up a few other times before today. It seemed a little odd how she hadn't spotted Jenna yet, as she was usually on time.

She... couldn't have ditched her, right? No, of course not... she doesn't seem like that type of person. At least from what Jean can tell, she wouldn't.

Sighing to calm her mind, Jean grabbed her ink tank and began strapping it on. If Jenna doesn't show herself in the next couple minutes, she'll send her a text. Who knows... maybe she had to run to the ladies room or–

Right next to Jean's locker was another opened locker. The door swung shut, "It's about time you showed up, ya slowpoke!" said Jenna, revealing herself.

Jean was so startled, she fell to the floor along with her ink tank she didn't strap all the way, her heart slamming against her chest as she gripped at her striped shirt. That nearly gave the poor octo girl a heart attack!

Jenna held out her hand, helping Jean back up on her feet. "Heh, sorry..." said Jenna with a sheepish smile, "Didn't mean to startle you like that."

At least this meant Jean didn't have to worry about going Inkling hunting around the whole lobby. She did that for an entire month once. Never again...

Glancing at the side of Jenna, Jean couldn't remember Jenna's locker in this exact spot. She could've sworn it was somewhere further down? Jenna saw the puzzled look on her friend's face and knew exactly what was going through her little noggin. "Oh, yeah," said Jenna, "I convinced the other kid if we could trade lockers, that way we don't have to be so far apart from each other. Isn't that awesome?!" she grinned. Jean smiled back and nodded. The two have been practicing together for the past few days, so this was wildly convenient!

Jenna found Jean's ink tank lying on the floor and was nice enough to pick it up for her. "Hurry and strap up," said Jenna, handing the tank over to Jean, "I have big plans for us today."

Jean reached for her ink tank, until the both of them froze when they heard a big long growl coming from Jean's stomach. Jean was overwhelmed with embarrassment, her face turning as red as a snapper. Of course, she was in such a hurry leaving the house this morning, she forgot to eat breakfast! Jenna couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably, which only heightened Jean's embarrassment levels.