Splatoon Manga: NightRoad

Chapter 41: Split

⭐️Chapter 41: Split

Flip was worried. Should she go back down Gloves's path to see if he was there? But what if he had walked away? Who knew where he had wandered off to. She quickly dashed back up her path and went down Gloves's, only to see it end with some bushes. Had he jumped through? Did she want to follow? Heck, they didn't even know where the path to Black Forest was, and nobody had yelled.

She groaned. Maybe the two paths joined up at some point? She started heading down her path. It was dark and she needed light soon. Food as well. She thought for a moment. Could she hunt here? Or should she just stick with fruit? She looked around. She saw something growing on a tree. Maybe that was something? She ran over.

When she got there, she saw small, round berries that grew in pairs on the tree. They didn't look like cherries, as they were near perfect orbs. They didn't look familiar to her...she probably shouldn't eat them. Was there anything else? She looked around again, and saw a bush. She walked over and peered into it. It looked like there were tiny blueberries inside, as she recognized the round shape and small "crown" on the berry. She picked one. Cod it was so small, but it looked like a blueberry alright.

She took a deep breath, and popped one into her mouth. She chewed. Immediately she recognized it as a blueberry. Oh my cod, FINALLY. She began picking through the bush for the ripest ones, and ate them. She even decided to bring a small bagful of them with her (she had gotten some plastic wrap from the lunch when they entered). She continued down the path, sticking to the right-hand side of it in case there was a path to the other side.

Unfortunately, nothing else came up. The path didn't take any sharp left turns, but it didn't turn right too far either. It was then that Flip thought of something. What if HER path didn't turn left, but GLOVES'S path turned RIGHT? As in, she might not be steering away form Glove's path, but Gloves's path was steering him away from her? Should she backtrack and go down Gloves's path instead? Would it be worth it?

She decided to try and walk through the bushes on her right side to try and find Gloves's path. She saw it, and went to walk over before suddenly coming to a halt. She looked down. There was a massive drop in earth, as the two paths were on elevated pieces of earth as well. She cursed under her breath, and went back to her path. So she had to pick: go down her path, or Gloves's.

She shook her head. What had she been thinking? She had to go to him. They were friends, and she couldn't just leave him. She began to walk back up the path when she saw something ahead of her. It looked like a dark, shadowy deer, with white glowing eyes and long, pointy horns. It saw her, and she saw it. Flip kind of avoided eye contact with it by staring slightly away from it, in case looking at it was bad.

It suddenly started walking towards her. She slowly backed up. It picked up speed. So did she. And soon, it started chasing her. She grumbled in frustration, turning around and running back down her path. Dangit, now she couldn't go back! She sure hoped Gloves was okay...

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Gloves meanwhile, had been running down his path for quite a while. Sure, he was 90% sure the bird thingies were gone now, but hey. He could never be too sure. He slowed down, now that he was farther away, and caught his breath. Dang, he was still hungry. He decided to keep walking in case he found anything else interesting. There was a hill in front of him, maybe when he went down it there would be something?

He began to trek up it. It wasn't too steep, but it did tire him out more. When he got to the top, he had a look around. There was an area in front of him, and the continuation of the path was to the left of him, as if the thing was a U turn. Across from him, he spotted a blacktop. There were no basketball posts or anything on it, just flat blacktop.

Just then, he saw a familiar looking person walking up the other side of the path (not the path he had just come up from). He squinted.

"Seira, that you?" He said, not too loud, but not quietly either.

"Wait don't tell me...Gloves?" The voice responded in a familiar tone.

"Hey Seira!"

"Oh, hey!"

The two ran to greet each other. Indeed, it had been Seira, and nothing about her had changed since Gloves last saw her. Sure, a different shirt and pants, but same hairstyle, same hoodie around waist, same face and necklace...

"Nice to see you! What are you doing here?" Gloves asked, glad she was here. Maybe she knew where food was...

Seira suddenly looked nervous. She looked behind her, then back at Gloves.

"Uh. I was just walking with a...friend...of mine..." she said with a smile that just told you something was up.

Gloves squinted. Something was up here...

"Oh? And who is this friend? Can I meet them?"
He titled his head.

"A-ah, something tells me you two won't exactly get alo-"

"Wait, is that them?"

Gloves saw a dark figure coming up behind her. Seira turned around. Her smile dropped.

"O-oh uh-"

"Seira, what'cha doin' hangin' out with this ink-"

Crow stopped when he saw Gloves.

"You" he snarled, squinting and pointing at Gloves.

"YOU" Gloves snarled back, pointing at Crow and squinting back.

"G-guys, please, let's not uh..." Seira stopped herself. She didn't think the two had fought each other, and she knew that Gloves had to fight Crow as part of the plan. She HAD lent them weapons, after all...

"What, fight?! Oh you bet I'm gonna!" Gloves said, whipping out his gikens.

"C'mon Seira, let's double-team this loser!" Crow said, also whipping out his gladens.

"What?! No! Leave me out of this!" Seira said.

"Double-yeah, why would you do that?" Gloves asked, "I thought you were on our side!"

"Oh, you didn't tell him?" Crow asked, turning to Seira. He too, was a little lost at the moment. He put away his weapons.

"Tell me what?" Gloves asked, now getting concerned. He too, put away his weapons.

Seira gulped.

"I'm...

I'm half inkling...

Half shadowling."