Fog Plaza ~{splatoon manga}~

1 ~ A New Friend

Everything felt cold and wet. N-Pacer couldn't tell if she was floating or on the floor of the ocean. Her fingers scratched against something hard, and her cheek was against something that felt like sand. Her head pounded with a headache, and it was hard to move her body. A voice was saying something, but she couldn't make out the words. She tried to focus as the she started to come to.

"..y .ou ...d?"

"Du.., .ake up m.."

"Hey! Ca. you ..t up?"

N-Pacer finally managed to open her eyes, and laid her eyes on a blue inkling girl, with long tentacles, and a pair of headphones sitting on her head. But something was off about her. There was something... fluffy? Behind her tentacles...

"Oh good, you're finally awake. I was starting to think you were seriously injured." The girl said with a slight sarcastic tone on her second sentence. N-Pacer sat up with a groan, her limbs feeling weak. She opened her eyes, starting to open her mouth to ask the girl who she was, then!

"Y-You?!" This inkling had bird legs! Soft blue feathers almost burst from under her dark blue skirt, pointing down around her 'knees', where they became golden and scale-like, with talons at the end, digging into the ground to keep her balance. N-Pacer's eye dashed up to the girl's face, which was slightly shrouded by the endless mist around them. But a pair of wings stood out behind her head. She had her arms crossed, eyes filled with judgement. "You, what?"

"Y-You're a monster!" N-Pacer finally got out, scooting back a bit, her eyes racing up and down the girl's figure. Expect for her legs, and the wings, she looked fairly normal. She had a dark blue skirt that disappeared up under a white shirt with a wavy pink-purple line through the center. The sleeves were ripped, turning it into a kind of tank top. A soft purple colored scarf was wrapped around her neck. A jagged scar ran up her right cheek. A pair of sliver and scratched headphones sat on top on her head. Her soft and friendly looking face turned into something representing anger and disappointment.

"Well that's rude." She said, squeezing her arm closer into her chest. "You don't look so good yourself." 

N-Pacer finally managed to get to her feet shakily, and looked around. They were on a beach area, near a stone ramp that angled towards the online of a city in the distance. Water lapped against the sand around 25 feet or so away. The entire sky was grey, and fog surrounded everything, although it was slightly thinner on the beach. Then N-Pacer almost fell over.

The winged girl was quickly there, and grabbed N-Pacer's hand to keep her steady. "Woah there buddy. You were out for a couple hours there. You gotta wait to adjust a bit." N-Pacer kinda leaned over the girl, which made her realize how short this winged inkling was. She was tall herself, at two inches over six feet, but this girl only came up to around her collar bone or so. Her wings almost hit N-Pacer in the face though.

"Listen. You're not the only one who's been through this." The girl said, gently stepping away, letting go of N-Pacer's hands, which made her feel colder. Staring right up at N-Pacer, she said, "Please let me take you there. It's much safer than out here." Her blue eyes seemed to shine, sparkling like water on a sunny day at a beach. N-Pacer felt a bit... weird.

"Uh... Yeah. Sure. I guess anywhere would be better than a cold beach." N-Pacer quickly said, realizing how cold and wet her skin felt. The winged girl gently smiled, and the feathers on her wings rose up a bit, before settling back down. "Alright then. Come, follow me." Flapping her wings a bit, the girl flew slowly, just above the sand, a bit ahead of N-Pacer towards the forest. The yellow inkling followed her.

Stopping and perching at the top on the stone ramp, she turned around, and smirked at the inkling following her. "My name's Headphones by the way. What's yours, stranger-i-found-passed-out-on-the-beach?" Headphones kinda hopped on her toes, like a bird. 'Well that makes some sense.'