My Little Treasure

chapter fifteen: (part 4) scars of the past

(Shellington's pov)
"At first, I wasn't sure how you were able to hear underwater volcanoes erupting but then tweak explained to me how sensitive your ears are" I remarked, "that's actually kinda impressive if you ask me" saber mewed, dashi pulled up some old pictures on her computer from before we were even the octonauts "this was the first photo I ever took of you captain" she explained, it was a picture of tweak and the captain in the launch bay, at the time barnacles had only just arrived at the octopod and still had on his bright red parka and black snow boots with his light blue streaked quiff visible (pictured above) "I remember that" tweak squeaked happily, "as do I, that was when I first arrived here at the octopod, back then it was only me tweak Shellington dashi and Professor inkling" the captain added, "so that was before peso and kwazii?" Saber questioned, "indeed, a good 2 to 3 years before ether of them came along" barnacles explained, and obviously several years before saber Kateleen peace and ocean

(Flashback)

(Barnacles's pov)
I was making my way to the middle of the Atlantic from the arctic, I'm heading to meet up with Professor inkling octopus, he's the founder of a undersea exploration group and he's asked me to be the captain, I was a cargo ship captain for many years, I'm quite experienced in the role of a leader, inkling said he was also looking for a engineer in case the ship we'd be staying on was ever in need of repair, I suggested tweak, one of my old colleagues, she's an incredible engineer and inventor

we worked on the same cargo ship for several years together but I eventually had to go back to the arctic to tend to some family matters, we would always write to each other but it would be nice to see her in person again, I broke the surface to catch my breath and check the time on my watch "mm, mid afternoon, shouldn't be too much longer" I mumbled to myself, I've never swam this far out into the open ocean before, there's nothing but water as far as the eye can see, I inhaled deeply and dove under once more, if I pick up the pace a little I should arrive before nightfall

(Professor inkling's pov)
"How much longer Professor?" Dashi asked, Dashi dog is our group's photographer and I.T specialist technician "not much longer I believe, barnacles should be here before sundown" I explained, tweak looked somewhat anxious, she's our resident rabbit and engineer "I hope so" she piped out, "didn't you say you and barnacles used  to be coworkers?" Shellington asked, Shellington sea otter is our main marine biologist, I plan to bring on more in the future "yep, it'll be nice to work with him again, I remember my dad not being to happy to hear I was working with a polar bear" tweak explained with a laugh, "well, polar bears are known predators, I've never heard of one adapting to warmer temperatures though" Shellington replied, "well ya see Shellington, cap ain't no ordinary polar bear" tweak explained, "cap?" Dashi asked confused, "I've always called him that" tweak responded, just then a knock was heard

Tweak pulled the lever that opened the swim-through hatch that led into two separate holding tanks, one in our sick bay and the other is the lunch bay where our submergible vehicles are docked, an all white bear surfaced...well almost all white, he has some light blue streaked fur on the top of his head that is brushed to the side, "fascinating, I've never seen a polar bear with blue streaks in his fur before" Shellington exclaimed, "that's probably because I'm the only polar bear that has them" barnacles spoke in a deep voice, tweak greeted him with a hug and a shake of the paw "it's good to see you again tweak" barnacles said with a smile, "it's good to see you to cap" tweak replied along side returning the warm smile, I looked up at barnacles "it's good to finally meet you in person barnacles" I said extending a tentacle to the tall bear, which he gladly shook "it's nice to meet you to Professor" he responded as he rested his paw on his brown colored bag, the strap went over his shoulder and ran across his chest, it doesn't look much different to Shellington's besides the color

"How far did you swim to get here?" Dashi asked inquisitivly, "oh, show us on the map" tweak squeaked, "well let's see, I sawm all the way from the arctic to here, the middle of the Atlantic" barnacles explained, "that's 5,757 miles, you must be exhausted" Shellington exclaimed, "I'm alright, if you want to be exhausted try swimming in a storm" barnacles remarked, "Tweak, why don't you show barnacles where he'll be staying" I spoke after proper introductions were done, "I'd be happy to" tweak replied, "do you need any help moving things into your room?" Dashi offered politely, "no, I only have one bag, I appreciate the offer though" barnacles replied gesturing to the satchel-type bag slung over his shoulder, "is that all you have?" Shellington asked confused, "indeed, I travel a lot, so only having one bag makes it easier" barnacles explained, "I suppose that makes sense" dashi said while adjusting her hair clips, then tweak proceeded to lead barnacles to his room

(Barnacles's pov)
It's nice to see tweak again, finally meeting Professor inkling was nice too, I'm not to surprised at how Dashi and Shellington reacted to finding out I only have this one small over the shoulder book bag, I don't have many personal possessions so it's enough to carry them all "so you still travel light huh?" Tweak remarked with a laugh, "yeah, it's not much but with my checkered past it's better than nothing" I responded as I followed tweak down a hallway, after a while tweak and I arrived in what she called a pod that was split into two separate rooms "and this is where you'll be staying" tweak said turning to me after walking to the middle of the room, I looked around examining the layout

The walls were navy and baby blue striped, there were some shelves lining the windowsill, one had a globe on top "this is the closest" tweak said opening the door, there was a dark blue uniform hanging in the storage space "um..what's that for?" I asked gesturing to it, "oh, that's your captain's uniform, inkling had it made for you, it's a good thing I remembered your size" tweak laughed, "you must have a good memory then" I remarked, "there's a light blue captain's hat that goes with it, also I should tell ya, we're set to be stationed near the African gulf soon" tweak explained, I wonder why we're going there? "That about wraps things up, I'll let ya get settled, if you need anything you know where to find me" tweak continued as she walked towards the door, "it's nice to be working with ya again cap" she said smiling, "it's good to be working with you again too tweak, it's been far to long" I replied hugging her once more, after that tweak left me to my own devices

I laid my bag on my new bed and went over to the closet, I pulled off my ruby red parka and navy thermal long sleeved shirt and hung them up, revealing my plane dark gray short sleeved undershirt, I walked back over to the bed and opened my bag, I pulled out a picture of me and my twin sister Bianca, I sighed as I placed it on the bedside table along with my dark gray gloves, next I pulled out my journal and pen case, I sat on the bed and put my back against the wall, opened the book and grabbed a pencil prepared to start writing, before I did I reached for my bag once more, I pulled out my light blue in-ear headphones and my Mp3 player, I stayed in that position for a while, writing and enjoying music, all while thinking to myself that this was the start of some great friendships and another chapter of my life

(End of flashback)

(Saber's pov)
"So that was all you had?" I asked, "for a while, yes" the captain replied, "what'd you go to the African gulf for?" Kwazii questioned, "well, cap and I used to work on a ship called THE MV MANITOBA, it sunk just off the cost of Africa" tweak started, "I wanted to go back there with the captain to see what kinda selvage parts I could find, the steering wheel from the ship is hung up in the captain's room, we also found barnacles' accordion" tweak finished explaining, "so that be where that noisemaker came from" dad exclaimed teasingly, "that's not very nice" the captain scolded playfully, "now boys, settle down, we're going to be arriving in Antarctica before to long" I remarked scanning my map, "good, full speed ahead saber" the captain ordered, I pushed the slider to full with my paw and the ship sped up, we're gonna be exploring the anarchic tundra in no time 

(End of chapter fifteen: scars of the past)