When Kubo Met Sach

Chapter 9

Written by: Adrian Mata and Emma Lupin

The paper boy woke up. Kubo noticed something was on his face. Something... translucent. Clear. Somewhat... glossy. It felt a bit cold to the touch, to say the least. "W-where... where am I?" were the first words he said after fainting hours ago.

His eye then fluttered a bit, revealing two blurry figures surrounding him - one of them with its flipper on his forehead and the other holding on tightly to his own. He groaned a little and raised his shaky, free hand to rub his eye. After doing so, his vision began to refocus the two amorphous blobs of dark gray and brown began to take on a more familiar shape. It was Peso and Sachairi.

"Kubo!" Sachairi said in relief, his voice a little quieter than usual. "Oh, thank heavens you're okay!"

"Wha-what happened to me?" Kubo asked, his voice sounding a little on the groggy side.

"You exhausted yourself, Kubo," Peso said, taking his flipper off of the boy's cold, pale forehead. "We were walking across the Farlands almost all night last night, and due to a lack of sleep, when we were just about to exit the tunnel leading to the Long Lake, you collapsed. We also noticed that as you were walking, you weren't breathing right, so as soon as we reached the Long Lake, I took you into this cave and decided to give you oxygen treatment... and it looks like it's doing the trick!"

"Thank you both," Kubo said, smiling through his transparent oxygen mask.

"You're welcome."

"You're very welcome, paper boy."

Kubo's smile grew; he loved it whenever someone would call him that. "Sach?" he called.

"Yes, Kubo?"

"You... y-you were right," the boy began to concede, a regretful expression now on his face. "I was... I was wrong for taking such a long trip to the... the f-fortress. I didn't know I was going to pass out from... from all of the walking w-we were doing."

"Not to mention you gave us almost all of your magic for this quest," Sach went on to add.

"I know. I'm sorry, Sachairi..."

"That's okay, Koobs—but please, please look out for yourself next time, alright? Just don't... want that happening to you again."

"I promise," Kubo replied.

While Sach and Peso kept an eye on the exhausted young boy and the rest of the Octonauts were resting in another cave next door, the shadowy figure appeared once again in a flood of smoke in front of the two caves as the sun had begun to set and the moon began to rise, figuring out which one she should tackle on first.

"Kuuuuubooooo..." Washi called out his name. "I know where you're hiding, my little nephew... Don't be scared, your aunt just wants to talk to you for a minute..."

Kubo's heart skipped a beat. His breathing became very heavy and raspy sounding once again and all of the blood drained from his already pale face.

"Oh no..." Kubo whispered. "She's found me!"

"Who? Who found you?" Peso asked in a panicked tone.

Kubo immediately jumped up a little from his mat and shushed Peso before sitting back down again with a shaky breath.

"Who's found you? Kubo, what's going on?" Peso repeated, changing his voice to whisper at the boy's request.

"My aunt..."

"What?!" the penguin and the otter exclaimed in unison.

"Jumping jellyfish, she's here already?" Sach asked. "This could not have been a more inappropriate time." He then ran over to the cave's wall and swiftly picked up a katana that was gently leaning against it, "Peso, you stay in here and keep the boy safe, I'll go out and rally the rest of the crew to attack."