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Coral is lost and scared. While her family was having a picnic Coral felt like exploring, doing so after hours. However, when she felt hungry and wanted to eat something she couldn’t remember the way back. The first course of action was to cry and scream for her parents, but they didn’t respond. After an unknown period of time her voice goes horse, Coral can’t yell anymore. She comes to the realization that her parents are not around.
She can’t rely on them now, she will have to find them. Coral is on a mountain that she went up, so the logical thing to do is to go down. She goes down the mountain slowly, careful to not hurt herself. Going down the mountain she learns it isn’t all that easier than going up. The sun is starting to set and she is tired, her stomach is rumbling. After another hour, it’s past her bed time and she feels rain droplets.
Her daddy told her that Inklings dissolve under water, so she freaks out and looks around for shelter. She barely makes out what looks like a door, and sprints to it. Barely reaching the door handle and not being strong makes it hard for her to open the door. However, adrenaline pumps into her veins and she pulls the door open, running inside. Coral gets away from the rain and swats the water on her away, not wanting to turn into goo.
Finally getting a moment to relax, the adrenaline wears off and she sits down, oh so tired. After processing everything she looks down the tunnel she is in. The tunnel is pitch black, no idea what's on the other side. However, the one thing she knows is that it goes down, and if going down the mountain is good, then she should go down the tunnel.
Coral stands up and walks down the tunnel, her arms just unable to reach both walls. Soon enough, Coral is in pitch blackness, unable to see anything. She probably would’ve avoided going down the tunnel because of how dark it is, but given how terrifying the rest of the world seems right now, darkness is dull by comparison. The Inkling girl stops and sits down, her legs are in pain, walking down is taking long. If she was thinking more critically, she would have guessed that she is underground right now. The one saving grace is that the tunnel is dry. Perhaps a bit moist, but not actually wet.
Getting back up again, she continues back down the tunnel, still no idea how much further to go. Her eyelids are getting heavy, but she pushes forward, refusing to not see the end of the tunnel. At a random point, Coral opens her eyes, realizing that she almost fell asleep standing up. She stands around disappointed for a moment, but she feels a raindrop landing on her face. Fearing that the rain is chasing her, Coral gains a major boost of energy.
Some more time walking down the tunnel, at a quick pace due to the water droplets landing on her, Coral is finally out of the tunnel. She is in another open area, one that isn’t raining. She can’t see far at all so she assumes that she made it to flat land. Feeling relieved, she continues walking, assuming that her parents are right around the corner.
However, she still can’t find them, much to her confusion and dismay. Coral walks for a bit more, before her tiredness takes hold, she lies down, curling up and closing her eyes. It’s very uncomfortable, but the sheer exhaustion makes her sleep, dreaming of never wandering off to explore the area.
Coral wakes up with her stomach rumbling, protesting the lack of sustenance going into her. Coral gets and looks around. The sky… the sky isn’t right, and there are walls in every direction. She thinks she’s in a room, a really big room pretending to be the outside. Feeling unnerved she walks in a random direction to hopefully the actual outside.
No matter where she goes, just finds more odd areas, not where her parents would be at. She wants to go back up the tunnel, however she can’t because she forgot where the tunnel was. Panicking, Coral runs around aimlessly, wanting to find something, anything normal. She ends up staring at a large building, something she thinks is called a “factory”. She is in an alley, feeling a bit more safe being secluded.
She hears a noise and panics, she looks for a hiding place and sees a dumpster. Not thinking about it, she runs forward, uses all her might to open the lid, then jumps inside. With the lid closing on her, Coral is in pitch darkness, covered in smelly, yucky liquid, and she’s feeling nauseous. However, her attention is what’s happening outside, specifically the footsteps getting closer.
Coral wants to sit down and away to be further from the lid of the dumpster, but the filth prevents her from doing so. She hears a man sigh, the noise being just outside the dumpster. Then without warning the lid opens and a bag is thrown in. Being hit in the face by the bag, it bursts and weird fluids coat her face and upper body. Combined with the lid closing and creating darkness, Coral shrieks and cries in pain.
It doesn’t take even ten seconds before the dumpster lid is opened again and the man stares at her shock. “Oh shell! What are you doing at the dumpster girlie!?” Coral doesn’t pay attention to him, she just cries because there’s weird liquid on her. “Oh no, don’t say you are covered in industrial waste.”
Not wanting her to get sick, or at least terribly sick, the man picks her up and carries her while he runs out of the alley. They go into the factory and he runs past several other men, shocked to see a little girl covered in filth. He carries her into a shower room, where he puts her in a standing position, pointing a hose at her. “Hold still, i’m gonna spray ya.” Coral is sprayed by water, washing off most of the filth covering her.
He grabs a towel, rubbing her with it, making sure to get her dry. After all is said and done, Coral is doing fine for now. She looks at the Inkling man who helped her, deciding to talk. “Th-thank you.” He smiles at her, but his smile drops immediately afterwards. “Um… Could you wait ten minutes, i have matters to attend to.” She doesn’t understand his sudden change in demeanor, but she wants to be nice. “Yes. I will wait.”
Getting out of the shower room and closing the door, he walks far enough away so that the Inkling girl can’t hear the conversation that’s going to happen. “Reef, why did you just carry a filthy child into the shower room!?”
Reef looks at his coworkers, all fifteen of them. “Well…” He is silent for an extra moment, before actually talking. “I was disposing of the industrial waste like normal. However, when i threw the bag in i heard a kid scream inside the dumpster. I opened the lid again, seeing a crying kid coated by the waste and more. That’s why i ran into the shower, to clean the filth off, so it wouldn’t make the kid sick.”
Another coworker, the foreman, walks towards the shower room. “Well, we got to get this child somewhere more appreciated than a factory, and punish the parents for letting her go inside a dumpster.” Reef’s breath hitches. “Wait, there’s something else about the kid that you should know about before-” The Foreman ignores him and opens the door.
Seeing the little girl for himself, closes the door and walks off, in disbelief. “Reef. Why, is, the, child, an, Ink-ling? What are they doing here!?” Reef holds his hands up. “Don’t accuse me, i have no idea! All i know is that an Inkling is now inside the shower room.”
“Well, we gotta report her to the army! Let the Elites take care of the Inkling.” The workers seem to be in agreement. Except, one of them brings up a point. “Won’t the Elites execute the Inkling? And that means…” His eyes go wide. “That means executing a child, a young child. We… Is that right?”
Several Octoling Men try giving rebuttals, but nothing comes out of their mouths. They have spent their entire lives hating Inklings, wanting to have every Inkling be killed. However, now that the Inkling near them is a young child, the thought of killing feels… wrong. Which seems like an absurd thought to have for an Inkling.
The Foreman breathes in and out, making a decision. “We talk to the Inkling, find out her secrets. Children are bad at keeping secrets, we could learn so much!” He gets an objection. “That wouldn’t work, no one tells children state secrets.” The Foreman dismisses that comment. “We are talking about Inklings, they are more than stupid enough to do something like that.” He enters the shower room and leaves with a very nervous looking Inkling girl.
Upon seeing her again, Reef feels a pull. He walks forward and crouches down, so he’s more at her level. He gestures to the Foreman to move away, which he does, allowing Reef to be the only one close to the Inkling girl. “So.” He begins, not fully sure on where to begin. “This is our first proper conversation, ain’t it? Let me introduce myself, i am Reef. Who are you squid?” She glances around nervously, not liking the stares she’s getting. However, she does respond to his question. “I’m Coral. Why did you call me squid?”
Reef raises an eyebrow, confused by how she’s confused by him calling her squid. “I called you squid because…” He considers the possibility that she may not know he’s an Octoling. “It’s slang, nothin’ special. I won’t use that word because i know your name.”
Coral moves on, immediately asking for help. “Where is Mommy and Daddy?” Hearing that question makes Reef look away, he stares at his coworkers, begging for someone to have an answer. No one does, meaning he has to bring the bad news. “We don’t know Coral, we don’t know. You kind’ve showed up by surprise.”
Hearing makes her look away sad, she holds her stomach that is rumbling again. Seeing that, Reef asks another question. “When was the last time you ate?” Coral doesn’t answer. “Come on girl, tell me.” She sniffs before responding. “Last day.”
Reef stands up and gasps. “Yesterday!? You have run around with no food for an entire days worth!?” He catches his breath, forcing himself to calm down. “Given how you ended up ‘ere, it makes sense. But i-we can’t let you starve, no no.” Reef holds his hand out to her. “You shouldn’t be hungry, why don’t you go to my home? Take a bite?”
Coral stares at his hand, hesitant. However, she takes it, trusting him. “Reef.” He turns to one of his coworkers, who asks a question. “Given how she is… a bit messy. You can’t let anyone see her in the middle of the streets. We don’t want to start a mass panic.”
The Foreman steps into the conversation. “I don’t like doing this, especially because…” He can’t think how to word what he means without alerting the Inkling child so he moves on. “Reef. You seem to be taking a whole lot of responsibility taking care of her. I don’t fully agree with that, but i don’t see any better alternatives, so i’ll help out. I’ll drive you home, no one can see her inside the automobile.”
Hearing that he can ride on an automobile, something he wanted to do for years, Reef nods happily. “Yeah yeah! Let’s do it.” He turns to his coworkers. “Goodbye everyone, i have to go now. We see each other tomorrow.” They wave at Reef as he and the Foreman guide Coral out of the factory.
The Foreman takes the more secluded areas to his automobile, when they get there he unlocks the car and they hop in, the Foreman on the drivers seat, Reef on the passenger seat, and Coral on the middle back seat.
“Ok, does everyone have their seat belts on? Is everyone ready?” Reef gives thumbs up. Coral had Reef put the seat belt on for her, she looks at the Foreman. “Reef thinks i’m ready.” The Foreman takes that as a good sign and starts driving.
Reef lives around an hour away away from the factory he works at, in a different dome. As the ride goes on, he thinks about the fact that Coral is still a bit dirty, hungry, and most likely tired. He thinks about what he needs to do in order to fix all that, and in just a single day too, because he wants her to go back home as soon as possible. Octo Valley isn’t safe for Coral, Reef himself is probably in danger for not immediately notifying the authorities about Coral. So for the benefit of both of them, he will get her out quickly.
Eventually, they stop in front of Reef's house. He couldn’t get an automobile because he was busy paying off his house. Reef goes to open the front door, and steps to the side as the Foreman runs inside with Coral in his arms, making sure she doesn’t spend long out in the open. Reef goes inside shortly after and closes the door behind him.
The Foreman puts Coral down, looking around. “You got everything you need, Reef?” Reef nods. “Yes, i got all that i need to take care of Coral, she’ll be clean, she’ll be fed, she’ll be rested. And she’ll hopefully be home soon.”
Finding that satisfactory, the Foreman leaves, getting into his automobile and driving off.
This means it’s Reef and Coral in the house. Turning to her, Reef decides to get things in order. “Ok, first things first, we got to get you dressed in something comfortable. I have some old clothes my niece used to wear years ago, i think they will fit you. Go to the bathroom, take off your clothes, shower, dry yourself, i’ll find my niece’s old clothes in the meantime.”
Coral processes what he said, understands and nods. “Yes Reef.” She walks into the bath room and closes the door behind her. His cue to go into the closet and look through clothes. After a while he finds his niece’s old clothes, a replica of Octarian Armor, the boots, shorts, and gloves. The top is different, instead of a chestplate it’s a shirt covering the entire torso. Finding the clothes, Reef walks up to the bathroom door, seeing that it’s unlocked. He closes his eyes, opens the door and throws the clothes in before closing the door and opening his eyes.
“Make sure that the door is closed. Also, i hope the clothes feel comfortable.” He waits for a minute, but doesn’t get a response, which means he will just have to assume she understood what he said and is getting to put on the clothes.
Reef goes to the kitchen and looks around at all the food. “What do Inklings eat?” Given how… Octoling-like, Coral is acting like he thinks if he should just pretend that she’s an Octoling girl from now on. If he does that, he should assume that she can eat everything an Octoling can, for example, a sandvich. “Sandviches are so basic, Inkling must have those too, right?” Even if they are too primitive to have sandviches, it doesn’t prevent Coral from being able to eat one. “Or three, because she’s very hungry.”
Doing what he says, Reef makes three sandviches, all different types of sandvich so she doesn’t refuse them all. Coral is still very young, she could put up an attitude. With the sandviches done, Reef makes some more sandviches for himself, because he needs to eat dinner as well. With dinner done, he sits at the kitchen table, waiting for Coral to be done. “Is she wasting my time and water bill, playing in the shower? …I hope so.”
After around twenty minutes he sees Coral staring at him just outside the kitchen. His niece’s old clothes fit her perfectly, like it was made for her in mind. “Hello Coral.” He tries his best to smile. “I made dinner for you. Please, enjoy yourself.” Coral walks to the kitchen table, taking the seat across from him. She looks at the three sandviches, seeming to think of which one to eat first. She takes one and bites into it. Feeling food enter her, Coral becomes almost feral, eating all three sandviches like they are about to disappear at any moment.
Coral burbs upon finishing all three. “Two of them didn’t taste so good.” Reef raises an eyebrow. “Then why did you eat so fast then?” Coral looks at him, a few tears fall, she wipes them before giving an actual answer. “I… I felt like, i was, going to die, if i didn’t.”
Reef exhales. “No no, you have only been hungry for a day. It’s terrible that you're hungry at all, but you weren’t going to die.” He begins eating his food, hoping that they can move on from talking about death. Luckily, Coral does what he wants and thinks about something, clearly taking up much of her attention.
After being done eating, Reef thinks of what he should do with Coral now. “Hmm” He thinks of asking her questions. “Do you remember how you got here?” Coral looks at him. “No, i don’t know how to get to Daddy and Mommy.” Hearing makes Reef look away sad, assuming that he will have to look for a way out himself.
Coral however, continues talking. “I went down a tunnel. It was dark, i can’t find it.” Reef looks at her, thinking about what tunnel it could possibly be. “You took a tunnel that was just a day away from where i found you?” Coral nods. “Yes.” Reef thinks deeply about what tunnel it could be, until he remembers an empty dome, right next to the industrial dome he works at. He thinks a tunnel could exist in that dome, plus it’s an empty dome, so no one would be there.
In the middle of his thinking, he hears Coral yawning. “Oh, you seem to be tired. How about i let you sleep on my bed so you get well rested?” Coral frowns. “But it’s not past my bedtime.” Reef smiles at her. “Sorry miss, but you need rest.” Coral looks at Reef upset, but she doesn’t try stopping him from guiding her to his bedroom. There he lies her down, getting her nice and comfy, where she falls asleep soon enough. The fact that she’s sleeping so early in the day makes everything easier. Reef is going to wake Coral up in the middle of the night, where it’s going to be pitch black. It’s then where he transports her back to the surface and hopefully to her parents. He’s going to have some choice words with her parents.