Rise and Fall

Strangers in the Night

So, now, the Octonauts enter the fic.

I apologise if medical information is inaccurate. I tried to do a little research, but I didn't want to worry about it too much.

Just a quick little note; probably not important, but I wanted to say it anyway: I'm more used to the UK dub of Octonauts, so in this fic, Peso and Dashi have their accents from that version. However, if you prefer the US dub and want to imagine it like that, then that's fine.

Chapter 2: Strangers in the Night

Six Days Later:

“This is Shellington to Captain Barnacles”, the sea otter radioed from his vehicle, known as the GUP-E. “I have just arrived on the island for my research mission. This island is in the middle of nowhere. I can’t wait to see what kind of creatures live here!”

“Are you sure you’ll be all right spending the night on a deserted island on your own, Shellington?” the polar bear wondered.

“Oh, don’t worry about me, Captain”, Shellington responded. “I’ll be fine.”

“Well, call us if you need us. Stay safe, Shellington. Barnacles out.”

Shellington climbed out of the GUP-E. An entire deserted island all to himself and the whole night to explore it! He couldn’t wait to get started!

Meanwhile on that same island, the ten-year-old girl’s eyes fluttered open as a bright light irritated them. She had no idea what time it was- or what day it was, for that matter- so she had no way of knowing exactly how long she’d been asleep. It had been dark when she closed her eyes last, so she suspected it wasn’t long.

What was that bright light that had so rudely woken her? She tried to lift her head up to get a better look, hoping she wouldn’t look at her leg accidentally. It couldn’t be the sun. The moon, maybe? No. It looked like… headlights! They were a little way off, but they were definitely near or on the island. Had someone finally come to rescue her?

Help! Help! Over here! she wanted to shout, but she’d tried that for ages. She couldn’t call anymore.

If only she could move. If only she could walk. Then she’d be able to get up and make sure whoever was inside that vehicle rescued her. However, her only hope was that they would see her. Or her distress signal.

“Fascinating!” she heard a voice exclaim. It sounded like a man; he sounded Scottish and she got the distinct feeling that he didn’t mean her. “I must investigate!”

Turning her head as much as she could, the girl could see a shadow a little way off. Only one person. Still, that was better than no people. One person could get help. One person could take her back to the mainland. One person could rescue her.

The shadow moved. It was going in the opposite direction. Away from her.

“No…” she moaned. Just that little word took up all of her energy.

*****

A few more hours passed. The girl fell asleep again. As usual, it was just a couple of restless hours. She hadn’t gotten a full night’s sleep since she’d been here. A lot of things had kept her awake: pain (both physical and emotional), cold, hunger, fear of missing a potential rescuer and the fear that if she fell asleep, she might not ever wake up. So, when she woke up this time, she wasn’t surprised to discover that it was still dark.