Fourteen Little Cephalopods (Splatoon fanfiction) [Cancelled]

Chapter 9

Richie opened the door to the second floor. They were in the hallway where they had all slept, dozens of doors on either side of the corridor. He could hear the footsteps of everyone else throughout the house. Richie could feel Luna's hand in his, it was like she was afraid of letting go. He looked behind him, and Aima's worried expression met his. "So, what do we do?" she asked. Richie's words were stuck in his throat. "Why am I all of a sudden in charge?!" he thought, sweat running down his forehead. "I'm no leader!"

He cleared his throat. "Well, we can start by searching the rooms," he said, trying to sound more confident than he was. "I'll take the right side of the hallway, you can take the left."

"And her?" Aima replied and nodded towards Luna. Richie looked down at Luna, who was staring at the floor, her hand squeezing his. "She can be with me," Richie answered. Aima nodded in agreement, opened the first door to her left. Richie turned and walked into a room on his right. He didn't know whose room it was, but it was similar to his. Luna let go of his hand, skidded across the room and sat down on the bed. Richie hadn't really expected her to search. Heck, he even doubted she fully understood what was going on. But, he didn't really mind it. She looked more attached to him than she was to any of the others, and this way he could keep an eye on her. Richie sighed and walked towards an old wardrobe by the right wall. He opened it and peeked inside. Dozens of old clothes met him. Fur coats, jackets and much more. Richie pushed them around, checking if there was anything at the back. He jumped back when his hand met something soft. There was something growing on the wooden back of the wardrobe. Richie closed the door quickly, wiped his hand on his trousers, then walked over to a small desk. Luna sat quietly on the bed, rocking back and forth, a small cookie in her hand. Richie assumed she'd gotten one from the kitchen. While he searched the desk, an unbearable silence rested over the room. It didn't seem to bother Luna, but it certainly bothered Richie. Anxiety built up in Richie's chest, he had to talk about something. "So yesterday, you talked about someone named Crumble," Richie said, his voice cutting through the silence. "Who is he?"

Luna looked up, her eyes shining. "He's my pet!" she answered excitedly. "He's a sea bunny!"

Richie mumbled in agreement, while looking through the desk. When he had finished searching through it, he moved to the opposite side of the room. A small little painting had fallen off the wall, and lay now upside down on the floor. Richie picked it up and examined it. It was a painting of a large, red rat with a small crown on its head. "Crumble?" Richie asked while attempting to hang the painting back on the wall. "That's an odd name."

"I named him that because he likes cookie crumbles!" she answered. Richie glanced at the cookie she was slowly eating. "You like cookies?" he asked. Luna nodded. "Mhm!"

When Richie was satisfied with how the painting looked, he walked to a small drawer by the bed. "That's nice," he said distractedly. "How old are you anyway?"

"Fifteen," Luna answered. Richie looked at her, his eyes wide. "Fifteen?" he asked. Luna nodded. Richie looked back down at the drawer. "That's... interesting." he said and scratched his head. "That's strange," he thought. "She's fifteen, yet she neither looks or acts like it."

After he was done searching the room, they moved to the next. They stayed mostly in silence, him searching around, while she sat on the bed, eating her cookies. "Find anything?" he heard Aima call from out in the hallway. "No," he answered. "You?"

"Absolutely nothing," she answered from down the hall. "Let's just keep searching."

"Alright," Richie answered. He and Luna moved from room to room, finding nothing of use. Aima worked a bit faster than he did, so she was a few rooms ahead. After he had searched one room thoroughly, he and Luna moved out to the corridor. "Come on, just three more rooms, he said optimistically to Luna, and then turned to open the next door. He froze. He remembered which room that was. It was Opal's room. All warmth seemed to disappear from Richie's fingers, and his breath was stuck in his throat. Behind that door was Opal's body, hidden under the bedsheets. Richie dreaded going back in there. He reached out his shaking hand towards the doorknob. "I have to search every room," he thought. "We were supposed to search every room."

His hand froze mere inches away from the door. He couldn't bring himself to open it. Richie glanced around. He could hear Aima moving around in the door at the end of the hallway. "Would anyone find out?" he thought. "We haven't found anything of use in any of the rooms, so why should this one be any different? They'd never find out I skipped it."

Richie slowly lowered his hand and quietly walked past the door. Luna glanced back at the door, and then at him, but said nothing and followed him. Richie breathed lighter and could feel warmth return to his body. But just as he'd started searching, a crash could be heard from out in the hallway, followed up by a scream, and then a loud thump. His heart skipped a beat and he spun around in panic. "Aima!" he thought. "Was it the killer?!"

He had never been this scared in his entire life, but he still forced his legs to move, and he ran into the hallway. "Aima!!" he shouted and dashed into the room he'd heard her before. When he came in, he saw Aima lying on the floor, her hand grasping her forehead. She lay in the remains of what looked like a wooden chair, and next to her lay a large metal box. "Are you okay?!" he said and knelt down beside her. Aima looked at him, irritated. "Yes, I'm jolly good, just taking a rest on the floor while screaming."

Richie could feel his face heat up. "What happened?"

Aima was obviously in pain, but she muttered the words out. "I saw that box on top of the wardrobe and was curious about what it was."

She took a deep breath and continued. "I used the chair to boost me up, but while I was lifting the box, the chair broke. The box hit me when it landed."

"Ah..." Richie responded. He looked at the door, where Luna was watching them. Richie looked back at Aima. "Let me see how bad it is, move your hand a bit."

Aima moved her hand down, revealing a large bruise on her forehead. A bit of pink ink was leaking through it. "How bad is it?" asked Aima. Richie examined the wound a little better. "It's inking a bit, but it's not serious. Can you stand."

Aima shook her head. "The world is spinning," she said. Richie nodded, while he thought rapidly. "Alright, let's get you to your room so you can rest a bit," he said. "You're not gonna be able to search in this state."

Aima nodded. "Good idea," she murmured, and with Richie's help, she stood up. They walked down the hallway towards Aima's room, followed closely by Luna. "Want me to help you get into bed?" asked Richie. Aima shook her head. "I'll rest in my bucket," she said. "It's right next to the door."

Richie wanted to comment on the fact that she slept in a bucket, but decided against it. When they reached her room, Aima turned towards him and smiled. "Thank you!" she said and used the door frame to support herself. "No problem," he said. "You rest now, just come out when you're feeling better, okay?"

Aima lifted her thumb in acknowledgment. "See ya," she said and started to close the door, but stopped when Luna walked up to her. "What?" asked Aima, and she tried to smile. Luna said nothing, but extended her hand towards Aima. In it was a cookie. "Is that for me?" asked Aima and Luna nodded. Aima smiled and accepted the cookie. "Thank you!" she said. "I'll eat it when I wake up!"

Luna turned and walked away without saying a word. Aima smiled and looked back at Richie. "See ya!" she said and closed the door. "See ya," said Richie and turned. "A whole floor to search," he muttered. "Just for me."

He looked down. "Great..." he sighed and made his way down the corridor.