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pantpisser9000 · 1 year ago

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Combined together, Chapter two: Lieutenant & Photographer

Kwazii was pretty sure he’d been stranded for around 2 weeks. Cat ears and tail adorned, he’d never let himself become fully a human. He was cooler as part-cat anyways. He’d been floating along in the ocean in the tiny lifeboat, and now his food was starting to run out. He still had some water, still, but it would run out soon enough as well. He was somewhat doomed if he didn’t find land nearby or even a charitable ship. He still had some catnip and rum though, so at least when all of his food and water ran out he’d be high as a kite and drunk as hell. Would make it more bearable, was his thought process.

He had sailed with the Blackclaw pirates for years. The Captain, Wolfbeard, had picked him up when he was just a kitten, alone. After he’d been put in his box by his (he thought) loving parents and left to fend for himself, Wolfbeard had practically become a father to him. But, as the years went on, Blackbeard became more distant and Kwazii more reckless. He had only been a cabin boy for way too many years. He was ready. Sure, they let him hunt for treasure, but Wolfbeard told him to hide away when they approached another ship.

It was known that pirates weren’t well liked–and Kwazii didn’t know why that was for good reason till much too late. He didn’t know most pirates stole and pillaged from other ships, depleting them of their resources and usually leaving them to die. Kwazii didn’t know. Until, Wolfbeard, when Kwazii was 16, decided that he was ready for his first pillage. Kwazii trusted the crew–hell, they’d even given him (albeit very unprofessional and definitely not safe) top surgery! He loved his crew and he thought they loved him back. But, he couldn’t love them after that, and Kwazii grinded his teeth at the memories.

Wolfbeard, strong as ever, had finally told Kwazii, “Me boy, I think it be time,” and handed Kwazii a sword. “I know ye got those claws, but trust me Kwazii, a sword is much better.” he said. Kwazii only nodded, excited. He assumed the sword was for slaying monsters, as that was part of being a pirate. He and the crew had done that before, but he was never actually given a sword to keep. And now he was. A real pirate. He didn’t see any monsters on the ship they were approaching, though. ( that sword now lay in the lifeboat. Kwazii wanted to destroy it. He’d already washed off the blood stains, but in his mind, they still remained. )

“Now, Kwazii, this next bit will show us you’re really a pirate! And truly part of me crew.” he finished, unsheathing his own sword. “ARNOLD, SHOOT!” he yelled, beckoning to the man and Kwazii winced at his loud, booming voice. He didn’t quite know why they were firing c- BOOM Kwazii’s eyes widened at the ship they had been catching up to–it now had a huge hole in its hull. It was gonna sink. He looked to Wolfbeard, scared. There were people on that ship, all screaming and yelling. But Kwazii reasoned with himself. Maybe those people were bad, horrible people! That must be it, he figured, nodding to himself. “STORM ‘EM!” Wolfbeard boomed, and the entire crew swung over, and Kwazii followed suit, scampering up a pole and swinging on one of the ropes over to the over ship. Wolfbeard landed next to him, crouching. “Kwazii, follow me lead.” he whispered, and Kwazii nodded. He didn’t want to admit he was a tad scared, his body shaking. Someone tried to stop them. Kwazii hesitated, they’re a bad person, and one slice across their neck.

So, they silently walked into one of the rooms, and Wolfbeard grabbed a whole chest. He peeked inside, and it was shimmering and beautiful gold. Kwazii was partially in awe. But, he blinked. “Do these people be bad, Captain?” he asked, and Wolfbeard hesitated. “Yes, Kwazii.” and Kwazii nodded silently to himself, biting the inside of his cheek.

So, that night, at the feast, the language made sense.

“We gottem alright!”

“They didn’t even know it be coming!”

“Those scallywags didn’t stand a chance!”

Kwazii had always assumed those fighting words were about monsters. Not about people. And, those people didn’t seem evil, and there were… kids. On the ship. Young ones. He knew kids couldn’t be evil. And he realized, maybe this wasn’t the place he thought it was. He hid some food under the table, and drink too. Somehow managed to steal two whole rum bottles. Enough food to last him at least a week or two, and water to last him at least three. He just hoped it’d be enough.

That night, he snuck out, all of his belongings strung together in a blanket he called a bag. He lowered himself into one of the lifeboats, and looked back. There were tears in his eyes, but he wiped them away. He shouldn’t cry. He was a pirate, after all. He didn’t look back again.

And now, here he be. Stranded on a tiny lifeboat with barely any food or drink to spare. He knew he was probably going to die, and then, he decided, no he was not gonna die on his watch. He knew how to fish. Even if.. No, he couldn’t. He didn’t think he could harm anyone after that. Not after he saw the fear in that person’s eyes. Kwazii hated the fact he had taken the life from somebody, in their last fleeting moments, he watched the horror wash onto their face and claws emerge from their nails in case if they could defend themselves. Kwazii looked down at his own hands. Claws.

He breathed heavily–he noticed he had become more animalistic as time went on. It made sense. He was stressed and tired and sad, so it lined up. But he thought it might’ve been going a tad too far. Paws instead of hands and feet, fur lining his face and arms, but.. It was fine. He was sure. He was fine and Kwazii was gonna live because he wanted to.

Kwazii decided that he was gonna live. At the very least.. He wasn’t going to end his life on purpose. And then, he realized, he might not have to.

A large ship was approaching. Given how he was a pirate, (even if he wasn’t a part of a crew at the moment, he was still a pirate. He knew he was) it was very very possible the ship would refuse to help him. He would understand why this time, though. Most pirates killed and stole from people. Kwazii had too, but he.. Didn’t know any better. He thought he had been doing the right thing.

But, despite the darkness of the night cloaking him, he saw someone looking off the deck. He could barely make out the man’s features. It looked like he had shorter hair, very light shorter hair, at least compared to his skin. He felt a light flash in his face, and he instantly recoiled, shielding his eyes from the light and his pupils decreasing in size. “Oh! Sorry there, didn’t mean to bother you” the man said, and Kwazii looked back through his hands again.

“Ahoy, matey” Kwazii partially regretted pirate-speaking at first, but then he realized, No. That was still part of his identity, and it likely always would be. No need to hide it. He’d die before giving up that aspect of himself. The man spoke once more, “Do you need some help there?” he asked, and Kwazii nodded, before realizing the guy probably couldn’t see the simple motion. “A-aye!” he shouted, partially out of habit. The man seemed to understand, lowering a rope down as Kwazii quickly gathered his belongings back into the blanket.

Including the rum and catnip, of course. He dug his claws into the rope, latching on for dear life as he was slowly pulled up. The man wasn’t even breaking a sweat. Kwazii blinked, looking at him as they stood there in silence, before the man reached out his hand. “Captain Barnacles, not of this ship though. You?”

It took Kwazii a moment to process, and at first he thought maybe this guy had stolen the ship but… he didn’t speak like a pirate, and he doubted anyone stealing a ship would pick up a random person out of the kindness of their hearts. “Kwazii.” he replied, his voice intertwined with the accent. “Kwazii, how about we go inside and you can tell me why you were stranded?” he asked, and Kwazii pressed his lips together. “Sure.” he said, and the mysterious Captain led him into another room. It wasn’t huge by any means, but it was alright. “So..” the Captain started, and Kwazii grit his teeth a little.

He might… not tell the full truth, but he wasn’t planning on lying either. Sure, he was a master at it, always had been, for some reason though, he didn’t feel like he could lie to this guy. His tail curled nervously around him. He looked down at his claws, now just… very very dirty fingernails. “Well, I be a pirate. Before y’ kick me off, though..” he sighed. “I ain’t one of those scallywags who steal an’ kill.” he said, and the Captain seemed to want to listen. “I recently learned me old crew.. They be like that. They stole and murdered without me knowledge,” he continued. “So, when I.. found out, to put it lightly, I left.” he finished. Sure, there were more details, but honestly Kwazii didn’t want to share those with a complete stranger.

“I see. So you’re… not currently a part of a crew?” he asked, and Kwazii responded, “Aye”, as he had always been trained to do. The Captain put his hand on the back of his neck. “I know this is incredibly sudden and I cannot promise this, but.. Listen, my own crew.. Is lacking a tad. We’re working on getting more members. Obviously, I’d like to get to know you more before I just give you this, but.. Consider that idea.” he finished. Kwazii’s eyes widened–this was a utter shock. Especially since, in his current state, Kwazii didn’t seem like the right type of person. “Really?” he asked, and the Captain took a breath and put both of his hands up in a ‘stop’ motion. “Again, I cannot guarantee anything, I’m just saying you could be considered as a candidate. And, I’d like to get to know you more before you even get added as a possibility. ” he said, and Kwazii nodded.

“Fair enough. I be open to it, though.” he replied, smiling a tad. “Wonderful.” Kwazii then squinted, “wait, what typa ship? You don’t seem the pirate type.” he said, and the Captain laughed a little. “No, no, I’m not a pirate. It’s.. well, it’s actually more of a submarine rather than a ship. It’s dedicated to helping creatures underwater.”

Kwazii was a little surprised. Helping and saving tended to be synonymous with each other, and he.. Wanted to make up for what he’d done and supported (even if unintentionally) for many years. “I’d… I know you said you’d like t’ get t’ know me before ya make me a candidate, but I’ll be.. I’d love t’ do that kinda thing.” he finished. The Captain smiled. “I figured.” Kwazii blinked in confusion. “Really?” he asked.

The Captain nodded. “I’m good at reading people.” Kwazii’s ears perked up. He could already tell this guy would be good at this. “Now, I’m not expecting you to share your life story” –Kwazii already knew he absolutely would not. He didn’t want to have to think about him for a long while– “But I’d like to know some attributes, skills you have.” Kwazii smirked.

“Well, I can swing across ropes and the like, for example, vines. I consider meself agile, given the whole..” he motioned to himself. The guy was always partially a cat, even if it usually was just ears, tail, eyes and sometimes whiskers or claws. “.. Cat, thing. I can swim pretty well, since I be a pirate ‘n all.” he said, and he put his hands on his hips. “And I consider meself relatively brave,” he finished. The Captain nodded. “All good attributes. Anything… bad, or maybe just something I’d need to be aware of?”

Kwazii thought to himself. Well, he used to bleed every month for some odd reason, and feel really immense pain but W-.. he had gotten him some special pills that somehow stopped all of that, so that wouldn’t be a problem. At least until those pills ran out, which would hopefully be a long while. He thought. He wasn’t really scared of much besides those creepy crawly spiders, but he didn’t think that’d even be considered as a problem underwater. Underwater spiders didn’t exist, obviously. “I don’t think so. Maybe… um..” he debated telling the guy he’d killed a man. “I may have.. Killed someone. But, I be not- I did not want to, and I thought the person be.. Evil.” he finished. The Captain looked surprised–but then his expression softened. “You didn’t want to.” he said, and it wasn’t said like a question. It was more like a statement.

The cat nodded. He didn’t, really. The Captain motioned for Kwazii to follow him, so he did. Kwazii, while he liked this guy a lot, knew he couldn’t completely trust him. If somebody who he had thought was the greatest person in the world was terrible, then.. Anyone could be. But, he followed the Captain anyways and was led to a bathroom. “I.. think you should clean up a little.” he said, and Kwazii cocked his head before realizing.

He.. wasn’t in the best shape. Hair matted, clothes torn and dirty.. He probably didn’t smell that wonderful either. He saw this.. Porcelain looking… container? Bucket? He looked at it in confusion. It was white and pretty clean, and the tile was cool under his.. Feet, currently. He was a tad confused by the thing. But it was really familiar. Kwazii couldn’t remember much from before he’d been left, so a memory of this thing was likely buried in there somewhere. And there was a smaller one, too, with a tinier metal bit and was probably meant for a smaller version of whatever the other one was for. “... You know what a bathtub is, correct?” The Captain asked from behind him. Kwazii looked at him. The way he’d said it made it seem like it was common knowledge.“O’ course!” he lied, smiling through his teeth and hands on his hips. “Alright then, I’ll leave you to it,” the Captain said, leaving and shutting the door.

Kwazii needed to figure out what all this stuff was, and fast. Given the name, “Bathtub”, Kwazii assumed water had to come out of… somewhere. He had always just bathed in seawater. Looking to the nozzles, one had blue on it and the other red. “Hot” and “Cold”. Kwazii wasn’t the best reader. He could read really simple things, obviously, but his skills were probably 1st grade level at best. There was never much of a need to be able to read all that well as a pirate, especially since Kwazii’s main job was swabbing the deck. He had always made sure to bathe in warmer waters before, so he twisted the “Hot” nozzle a little and water gushed out into the tub. It was filling quickly.

Panicking a little, he grit his teeth, but he figured he was supposed to wait for it to fill. So he waited till it was filled at least halfway and turned it off. He dipped his finger, claw included, suppose I just be a tad nervous, he thought to himself, and the water was really nice. He stripped off his clothes, (he had hated doing that before those annoying lumps of meat on his chest were removed) and sat in. He looked over at some bottles.

One said “Bubble body wash”, which Kwazii understood, or at least could guess. (But he didn’t get why it was there, there was water wasn’t there?) But the other two bottles.. Didn’t make sense. Nonsense words. He tried sounding them out quietly, (he didn’t want to risk the Captain hearing) whispering, “Shh.. ohamp.. Oo”, he muttered. The other one, “Con.. die.. Shun.. er”, was equally weird. He tried reading the rest, but all he could make out was “cleaning” and “hair”.

That was odd. Again, there was water for that. But maybe everyone else didn’t do it the pirate way. So, he decided to start with the body wash, which he dumped into the water. It had a picture of a tub and bubbles, so he assumed. And he assumed right, because bubbles started appearing and wow did he really love that. He hoped nobody could hear, as he purred a little. Obviously, he’d never admit that though.

So, he soaked in that wonderfulness for a good while, and he barely wanted to get out. Until the water started getting a little cold and it wasn’t as pleasant. He saw a plug of some sort on the bottom so he pulled it and the water disappeared, and now he was just sitting there, quite cold and his ears pressed against his face and his tail wrapped around his body. He lifted himself out of the tub, and saw a towel. It was a lot nicer than the ones on– nope. Quickly, he wrapped it around himself, and he saw a piece of paper. It had some stuff scrawled on it.

He could kinda make out the end bit–nicely signed, looked like it said “Captiam Bannacles”, so he assumed Captain Barnacles. He couldn’t make all of it out, but it was something along the lines of having some clothes outside of the door. Kwazii quickly opened the door, grabbed the clothes as quick as he possibly could, and looked them over once he had retreated back inside of the room. The clothes were obviously going to be a tad big on him, but he made it work. He thought the underwear looked a little weird, had almost like a pocket in it? But he didn’t take note of it and put it all on. It was loose on him so he tightened it up with the supplied belt and walked out the door. The Captain wasn’t awaiting him directly outside the door, fortunately. That would’ve been mildly embarrassing. He just hoped when that note had been slipped under the door he hadn’t heard Kwazii purring. Something he’d learned on the high seas was to not show weakness, and that was something he considered weakness. Deciding to wander around, he found the Captain writing something. “What’cha writin’ matey?” he asked, and the Captain closed it. “Well, I’m not going to be the only Captain of the Octopod, so I’m writing a manual. Of course, it’s very early in development, just a few notes.” Kwazii nodded. He would’ve asked to see, but he didn’t want to show the Captain how poor his reading abilities were. That’d be humiliating.

“So, how was it?” Kwazii shrugged. “Pretty decent,” he said, not wanting to say it was bad but also not wanting to admit how much he liked it. The Captain nodded. “Are you alright with sleeping in my room? Unfortunately, there isn't any extra.” Kwazii shrugged. “Better than sleepin’ in a small, easily flippable lifeboat.” he responded, and the Captain nodded. “I’ll set up an air mattress for you.” he simply stated, and Kwazii gave him a thumbs-up, despite not knowing what the hell a air-mattress was. So, a little later in the day, the Captain called Kwazii over. “You, obviously, can sleep whenever you please, but.. If you don’t mind, in around 30 minutes would be wonderful.” he told Kwazii, who nodded despite not being completely sure what he meant by ‘30 minutes’, the pirates didn’t exactly use minutes and hours to tell time. Just when the sun went up and down.

So, a little later, he crawled onto what he assumed was an air mattress and curled up. He slept like a housecat, tail curled around him and in a circular formation. As he tried to fall asleep, though, he realized it’d be hard to adjust. He… really knew just about nothing. He had been picked up by him when he was probably.. 6, or 7? Kwazii honestly didn’t know his age. Late teens or early twenties, he assumed. He hadn’t had proper education. Didn’t even go through Elementary school. Nothing.

He had social and street smarts, generally, yes, as well as being athletic, able to make plans quickly, and very agile and pretty flexible. Those, he had. No common knowledge, though. He knew.. Basic math. Could add and subtract, (would probably have to do so on his fingers, though) and could.. Read very very basic things. He certainly couldn’t read a chapter book or do more advanced math, though. He realized this actually could effect if he got chosen. He hadn’t considered it before, but now… thinking about it, it definitely could.

That next morning, (the Captain was already up) he walked out and searched for the Captain. Eventually, he found him again, reading a book. “Captain,” he started. The Captain looked over at him. “Yes, Kwazii?” he asked, and Kwazii laced his fingers together. He’d hate to admit it, yet he was quite nervous. “Uh, this didn’t cross me mind before, but I figured ye should know… I really be not all that smart. I can’t- well, I never even went through that first school.” he said. The Captain looked a little surprised at that end bit, but the rest he seemed expectant of.

“How much do you know?” he asked. Kwazii looked away, his face hot. “I be able to add and subtract, and.. I can read a little.” he finished. It was unsurprising to the Captain, seemingly. “Hm, I mean, it’d be good to up your reading proficiency at least, but for the position I would give you those aren’t really needed.” he said, and Kwazii brightened up a little. “I know I’ve said this before, nevertheless I want to clarify this doesn’t mean I’m giving you the job.. Just that this doesn’t really affect that.” Kwazii bobbed his head–that made sense to him.

He was just happy that he could still very well get this job despite the fact that he couldn’t read all that well, could barely write, and only knew the most basic bits of mathematics. “But, I’d like to see how well your physical capabilities are, ” he said. Kwazii nodded. “What’d ya need me t’ do, Cap?” he asked. The Captain led him over to a short obstacle course made primarily of boxes and things already on the ship. “Get through this as fast as you can,” he asked, and Kwazii grinned. “Aye aye, Captain,” he said, and the Captain pulled out something. “3, 2, 1, Go!” Kwazii lept as soon as he heard the “G” in “Go”, and quickly weaved through the course. Placed his hand on a box as he jumped over, leaped over a bar and onto a rope, swung himself to the finish. All in 4.9 seconds. The Captain was speechless, until, “Wonderful, Kwazii! You’re clearly very talented.” he said, and Kwazii grinned.

He’d always do stuff like that on the ship, swinging from the ropes and doing crazy stunts. He had always been proud, cheering him on. Until he didn’t. So, Kwazii kept doing more and more insane stunts, more risky ones. To the point where whenever he just jumped, he did a backflip. So often he did this, nothing seemed impressive to him or even Kwazii himself anymore, even if he still tried. He knew everything about the ship so he’d often run off before he stopped talking because he knew what he’d say anyways. Kwazii just did that all so much that he subconsciously backflipped every time he jumped and subconsciously was able to do most courses put in front of him, subconsciously swung on every rope, subconsciously did parkour practically. Now, he wanted to impress that Captain, blow his socks off if anything. So, he put effort into this, trying his best not to drown himself in his subconscious and when the Captain praised him he felt nice. The Captain, (partially showing off his strength–Kwazii wasn’t sure what he was hybridized with, but something strong for sure) made different courses and Kwazii finished each one quicker then the last. The Captain applauded Kwazii each time. It was really nice, in all honesty. He didn’t seem to lose interest either.

After a while of doing this though, the Captain gave the not-even-tired Kwazii a high-five. “How are you so good at that? It can’t simply be because you’re a cat.” he said, and Kwazii debated on using that excuse that the Captain had so easily laid out for him–but he reconsidered. This man didn’t even seem to judge when he said he killed someone. Didn’t judge when Kwazii said he lacked primary-school skills. He thought it was okay to share this with him, too. “Back on me old ship, I.. wasn’t permitted to do much. So, I made fun for meself. Swung and did tricks of of anythin’ I could. Even things I couldn’t. And, I.. well, the.. Wol-.. he.. was..Someone, on me crew, was impressed. But then he be not. So, I did more, until I was a lot better.” He said, not caring to elaborate on that last bit. The Captain simply nodded. Kwazii could tell he was curious on some parts. Why did Kwazii refuse to say his name, or even just address him as whatever he was.

That wasn’t something Kwazii intended on sharing, anytime soon or honestly? Ever. Even so, the Captain didn’t pry or ask more. Just stayed silent, before, “You know, I’m a little curious. What age did you become a pirate?” the Captain asked. Kwazii blinked. “Well, to be honest, I think I always be a pirate. Me grandfather was one. Joined a ship at age… uh.. Six, or uh, seven, maybe?” he said. The Captain looked over at Kwazii. “Do you know your age?” he asked, and Kwazii hesitated. “...No. I think I be around… in my twenties, I think.” he stated. “We weren’t keen on keeping track of things like that.” he finished. Soon enough, they were back at their room. “Well, it’s..” the Captain looked at something on his wrist, “Around 9:45. When we went to bed last night, so..”

Kwazii got what he was insinuating. “Aye, Captain,” he said, walking into the room, curling up under the covers. The Captain had another pair of clothes under his usual ones, which he wore to bed. Kwazii wondered if that was just something he did or something that everyone did, and therefore Kwazii should too. That wasn’t something to worry about today though, Kwazii decided, drifting off into sleep.

That next morning, the Captain decided to ask Kwazii about something. “I think we should.. Trim your nails and hair a bit.” he said, and Kwazii almost started to become defensive. He liked his hair. He didn’t know the terms, but it could be described as a mullet, his cat ears protruding from the bright orange hair. He agreed on his nails, though. Kwazii had let them get longer then he usually would’ve. He would’ve just bit em off, but he had a feeling that wasn’t what a “civilized person” would do. “Hair.. I’d prefer not. Nails, sure.” he said, and the Captain nodded, and motioned for Kwazii to follow him, so he did.

The Captain told him to sit down on a chair, which he did. He laid out his hands and the Captain pulled out a pair of some metal.. Things. He honestly couldn’t tell what they were, and while he didn’t trust the Captain completely, he trusted him enough that he figured that those things certainly couldn’t harm him. (At least not enough before Kwazii could respond and hurt him back, though the idea of actually hurting someone made him feel a little sick)

He might’ve winced when the Captain cut his nails, which were pretty long at this point. Once he finished, the yellowing trimmings laid on the table, the Captain swept them off with the side of his hand directly into a trash bin. Eventually, the Captain convinced him to trim his hair a little, to make it a tad nicer. So, he obliged, and luckily it just looked a little neater. A bit cleaner. The next few days went on similarly, the Captain helping him adjust to certain things and ‘training’, or more so an evaluation? Either way, it wasn’t too much, even though it occupied the time. The Captain and Kwazii were certainly becoming friends, at the very least. Kwazii, one morning, rolled off the mattress, and found himself curled on the ground. He honestly didn’t have the energy in him to roll back onto the mat, so he just tried to fall back asleep, squeezing his eyes shut.

It was still uncomfortable on the carpeted floor. He certainly didn’t want to get up, either. It seemed like he wouldn’t have to for much longer though, as he felt someone lifting him up and placing him back in the bed. He knew it was the Captain. It felt nice to feel cared for. That next day, the Captain didn’t bring it up, so neither did Kwazii. He’d let the Captain believe he didn’t know, for now. Maybe, if they got the chance, he’d tease him about it some day in the future. Not yet. One day.

And, soon, they arrived. The Captain and Kwazii got off the ship, and the humidity of the Floridan air hit Kwazii like the scent of weed hits you in downtown Denver. So basically like a damn semi-truck. Somehow, the Captain didn’t seem to mind it as much, despite the fact he was sweating profusely. Kwazii reasoned it was because of the fact the man had been there before that he wasn’t commenting on it. He didn’t have that to hold him back, though. “Well I’ll be a sea-monkey's uncle.. It almost be more wet here than the ocean itself!” he joked, and the Captain chuckled a little.

“Kwazii, there’s some people I would like you to meet. My co-workers, and friends, Professor Inkling and Tweak, who’s the engineer.” Kwazii grinned. “I doubt they’ll be able to resist me utter charm,” he boasted, still in his ingrained pirate-speak. The Captain chuckled again, “We’ll see” he said, and after a little bit of walking, they approached a warehouse. “This is where the Octopod’s being built,” he stated, and when they walked inside, Kwazii was impressed.

“TWEAK!” the Captain yelled over the sounds of welding and hammering and all other sorts of things Kwazii couldn’t distinguish. A woman with mint-green hair, tied back in a pinkish-red headband, and pushed her welding mask up her forehead so they could see her face. It was clear she was in the sun relatively often, given how she was tanned and she had dark brown eyes. “Heya cap and…” Confusion laced her voice. Kwazii blinked–of course she didn’t know who he was. “Ahoy, matey! Me name’s Kwazii.” he said, hands on his hips in pride. “Nice to meetcha. Cap, did all the supplies come in?” the woman who Kwazii assumed was Tweak asked. The Captain nodded. “Yes, and I believe I’ve found us a crew member,” the Captain said. Kwazii swiveled his head over to look at the Captain, “Wait, does that–?” he questioned, and the Captain blinked. “Well, Inkling will have to accept, of course, but, I think I’ll be able to put in a good word for you.”

Kwazii grinned, and looking over, he saw Tweak was smiling too. “That means we just need..” she counted on her fingers briefly, “A medic and a marine biologist or scientist of sorts,” she said. Confusion overtook the Captain’s face. “What about the IT person?” he asked, “And the photographer, of course,” he added briefly. Tweak grinned. “Inkling found someone. She seems t’ be nice. She’s ganna do photography and the IT stuff.” she finished, pulling off her gloves and jumping down, landing in a squatting position on the cold, cement floor. The Captain looked pleasantly surprised. “That’s great, then.” he said. “Tweak, do you know where Inkling is?” he asked her, and she put a finger to her chin. “Hmm.. nah, but I think he said he was stayin’ at the Celestial Spear Hotel, or somethin.” she pulled a carrot out of her pocket, hand lax on her hip as she took a bite. Kwazii wondered why a carrot of all things. They weren’t all that tasty, to his knowledge. His tail flicked back and forth as he followed the Captain out of the warehouse.

“I think I know where that hotel is,” the Captain said. “Yeow, that be a interesting name for a hotel, ain’t it?” he asked, and the Captain nodded to that. The Captain blinked, realizing something. “Kwazii, did I ever tell you I’m part Polar bear?” he asked, and Kwazii’s mouth gaped open. “Yer a Polar bear?! How are ya not.. Faintin, from the heat?” he questioned, his face scrunched up in confusion, ears perking up to hear his response. The Captain, as they walked, chuckled a little.

“I wear a cold suit–well, it’s technically pajamas, but when I get my uniform that’ll be a cold suit–basically, it just keeps my body temperature frigid cold. My face, hands and feet can get hot, but I’ve gotten used to it.” he explained, and Kwazii put his hands behind his head as they walked along the pathways. “Makes sense,” he replied, and after a minute or two more of walking, they got there. “I figured Inkling chose a hotel close by.” the Captain stated, and Kwazii agreed. That made sense to him.

When they walked in, the bell ringing, Inkling and a woman were sitting in the lobby, talking. “Speak of the devil,” Inkling said, referring to the Captain. Or at least Kwazii assumed that was Inkling. He figured it made sense, especially with that remark. He was a little curious how Inkling had met that girl–who he assumed to be the IT person–, though.

—

Dashi wrapped her cornrows into a bun, tying it back with the ribbon provided by the company. Tugging at the outer layer of her uniform a little, thumbs hooked underneath, she figured she looked nice in the mirror. She was a little sad that she couldn’t wear her hairclips–her sister, Koshi, had given them to her a while ago. She was currently in Colorado, but she’d be leaving that day on another flight. To England, no less. She supposed she should’ve expected that she couldn’t wear those, though. Didn’t particularly match up with the reds of the company she worked with. But, she kept the clips with her at all times. She considered herself and Koshi close, they always had been, even more so when she had come out as trans. Dashi supposed she had always been into more ‘girly’ activities and likes, given the series of Detective books she loved so dearly, (for a while, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to be with the main character or��be her, now it was clear; a little bit of both) and how she had done ballet when she was younger. She loved Blorbies when she was little, too. Her parents never really cared–even if they were a little worried about her being bullied a lot. They just wanted her and her sister to be happy, which was nice.

Either way, she stopped reflecting on her past and looked to the future instead–a flight attendant. Sure, it wouldn’t be her job forever, especially since she now had a degree in IT work, (she thanked Meomi for the fact that online courses were popular, that was entirely how she got her degree) but she was also content with her job. She’d always liked traveling, even if she never did it much as a kid.

Loved to take pictures, (which kept up in the current day) and new places were especially interesting. It was part of the reason she applied to become a flight attendant–she wanted to take pictures everywhere. For a while, she had thought that’d be her job–photographer. That wasn’t very stable though, and she enjoyed the majority of IT work. Now, though, she wasn’t thinking about that all that much. She wasn’t really actively searching for jobs at the moment, and as fun as being a flight attendant was, she wasn’t a huge fan of customer service. Was she good at it? Yes, absolutely. Her calm and collected self mixed with her general kindness had always made her good at the work, and she was certain that was part if not all of the reason she’d been hired here.

Even so, she didn’t really like having to deal with rude people, (who did?) and serving people in this way wasn’t particularly her style, even if she excelled at it. She preferred working with a smaller group of people, and what she really wanted was friends. Moving around all the time meant she couldn’t exactly latch onto friendships very well. She wished she made better friends in high school. She’d been sociable, yes, and she hung out with a group of girls, but they were never super close. Especially since they all went to the same college and were now all in the same sorority. That was one of the downsides to online school–no college friends either. So, the next best thing was work friends. Again, she’d only been sociable to her co-workers here, and she often got some of the same ones on trips, nevertheless though, it wasn’t the same to her as making stable friendships at a stable job. But she didn’t want to stay in one place either. So, flight attendant it was–she just would have to suffer the consequences of not having any close friends. She didn’t want to sacrifice this wonder of traveling for friendships she might not even make. Dashi shook this all off–she had a job to get to, after all. Stepping out of the restroom, she got on the plane. Colorado to England, and then England to Florida. She was already thinking about the jet-lag, and sighed. Putting on a smile for the day though, as she sat down in a jumpseat along with some of her co-workers. They were already chatting.

Dashi didn’t mind. She put her headphones in–technically she wasn’t supposed to, but nobody else really cared and she always had them low enough that she could still hear everything else. It was like background music, if anything. The day went by uneventfully, as usual. Plane took off, she did her job, was bored, plane landed. It was unequivocally boring, to say the least. As much as she loved this job, it.. Really wasn’t the most interesting when she was actually doing the majority of it. Sure, interesting things happened sometimes, but that was never something Dashi cared about. Entertainment from public freak-outs and annoying people was never really her thing, despite it maybe garnering a giggle if she saw it online. Once the plane landed, she walked into the hotel, bell ringing pathetically behind her as the person behind the counter looked up, over-happily greeting Dashi. “Hello there!” she said, and Dashi waved weakly, walking up to the desk. “Name?” the woman asked, grinning and her hands resting on the keyboard. “Dashi Dachshund.” she said, and the woman nodded, lips puckered a little in thoughtfulness as she typed in the name. Her face lit up as she looked back up at Dashi, handing her a keycard. “Room 269, floor two.” she said, and Dashi thanked her, before leaving to her room.

She took the ribbon out of her hair, and let her cornrows fall, draping down her back and over her shoulders. She had a lot of hair, and certainly wasn’t interested in cutting it, so she put it in box braids a lot, and usually the ends were secured to the side of her head, so it was like a loop of hair on both sides. It almost mimicked dog ears, which to be fair, was a little on purpose, given how Dashi was part dog herself.

She was usually completely human, though. For a lot of people, being part animal visibly usually came out during emotions or when they needed a little more of a certain quality (usually, strength) in tense situations, but everyone was different. She knew there were some people who practically always had their animal ears and tails out, no matter what, and she knew pretty much every underwater creature was either mermaid-esc or almost completely animalistic.

Dashi was usually very calm, and very collected, and never really needed the attributes she gained like being able to smell and hear well. So, in result, she was almost never part animal. She took off her uniform, slipping on a sweater and skirt. She grabbed her camera, and wandered outside. She snapped a few pictures, making sure to get the lighting right. London was a pretty city, and while she preferred taking pictures in nature, she wanted to expand her portfolio.

Plus, it wasn’t like she wasn’t gonna take a good photo opportunity, so she took pictures of everything she could–took a bus or two to get to different areas, as well–, found Big ben and took about 45 minutes taking pictures of it from different angles, took pictures of the streets and the interesting things she could find. Until, she found a restaurant that looked appealing. It was a sandwich place, unsurprisingly. It looked to be pretty cheap too. Dashi walked in, there weren’t many people there. Two girls, an asian one with short, straight black hair tied into a small ponytail, and a buff one with unkempt short blonde hair contained under a cowboy hat. The second one was part golden retriever most likely, with a rapidly wagging tail.

A man sat alone, eating some fries. His hair was long and dirty, and he had a bandage strappled against his forehead, with words written on it that Dashi couldn’t read, and his possum tail curled around him and his denim-jacket clod body. Four more people were in there–a ginger man with weirdly tinted orange skin who appeared to have some teeth missing, freckles lathered across his face and wearing a pizza place uniform. The man sitting across from him had dark long, greasy dark purple hair covering most of his shoulders and face, sharper teeth then average, and he was obviously infatuated with the other one.

The other two were two masculine looking people, one with red (not ginger, red) hair and black circular glasses, and one with short white hair. They seemed to be having a nice conversation, but Dashi didn’t pay any mind to any of these interesting characters surrounding her, and instead went up to the counter. The cashier looked tired, he looked like he was forty-something, streaks of gray in his hair. His nametag read “Larry”. Dashi blinked expectantly, before speaking. “Hello-?” she asked, and he blinked rapidly, “Sorry. What’d you want?” he asked, and Dashi began to order. Lettuce wrap with artificial meat. Soon enough, the man finished up her sandwich and gave it to her, and she walked over to a table, pulling out her phone. She was planning on calling Koshi, (her beloved younger sister) but the girl had beat her to it, as Dashi’s phone was vibrating. Quickly, she accepted it, putting the phone up to her ear. “Hey Koshi,” she greeted, and she heard her sister back through the phone, “Hiya Dashi!” she exclaimed. Dashi smiled softly. “Where are you now?” Koshi asked, before hesitating and saying something before Dashi could respond. “Wait, I wanna guess. Umm.. give me a hint. I’m gonna solve the case of ‘where Dashi is’” she said, and Dashi laughed a little. “Well, I recently just saw.. A belltower.” she was thinking about saying clock, but that would’ve been a tad too obvious, she thought.

Koshi thought over the phone. “Hmm, well you wouldn’t be mentioning it if it weren’t a landmark, so… wait, Big ben!” she excitedly said, glad she had figured it out. “You’re in England!” she shouted, and Dashi laughed. “Yup.” she simply confirmed, and she could tell Koshi was beaming over the phone. “Where are you going next?” she asked, and Dashi responded quickly, “Florida. I might do some surfing!” she said, her grin seeping through her voice. It’d been a while since she’d surfed. “But, isn’t your surfboard here?” Koshi asked. “Y-yeah, I’ll just rent one.” she said, and Koshi seemed to understand that decently. “Oh, wait, Ma’s calling me, I’ll talk later Dashi!” Koshi said, and Dashi replied back, “Bye Koshi!” As she put her phone away, picking up the sandwich in place, she really just. Thought.

Do I really want to be doing this for the rest of my life? Service and traveling? She thought to herself, and she put the sandwich down. No, but.. These are new and wonderful experiences. I wouldn’t have gone cave-diving with Ryla if it wasn’t for this job. She contemplated silently, and she looked around at the other people. All of them (besides the depressed possum man) had friends, and even if a few looked tired or looked like they had some unresolved issues, at least they had someone to accompany them. Sure, most of them looked like romantic situations, (which Dashi certainly wasn’t seeking out at the moment), nevertheless it was accompaniment all the same.

Her lips pressed into a tight line. Maybe being lonely wasn’t better over traveling. Honestly, though, she didn’t really know how to not be lonely. She was well-liked in most environments, sure, but that was a lot different then having someone to spill your guts to. (Well, for Dashi, she wasn’t super interested in telling someone all of that.. It was the thought that counted.) Finishing her sandwich and pushing the door open, she decided to wander around and take more pictures.

Nature was certainly more interesting. At least in Florida she could take pictures of the beach and the ocean. That was honestly probably her favorite subject–the ocean. What she’d give to be able to breathe underwater was astounding. Part of her, at some times, wishes she was an animal that could. At this point, she was getting a little bored of taking pictures here. Again, not her style. So, she headed back to the hotel, the woman behind the counter greeting her as she walked in. She walked up the stairs and attempted to open the door with the keycard, and after a second it worked.

Plopping down on the temporary bed, taking off her sweater and skirt and trading them out for a long t-shirt and her headphones, she closed her eyes. Unclipping her hair and letting it all drape onto the bed, taking those hair clips off her hair as well and placing them on the bedside table. She sighed, realizing that she still had to brush her teeth, so that's what she did. Brushed her teeth, plugged in her phone, clicked off the light, and starfished on top of it. She preferred to just sleep on top of it all instead of actually going under the covers.

It took her a little to get to sleep, but the music helped. It always did–Ryla had actually recommended it to her. She had briefly mentioned it being harder for her to get to sleep when she wasn’t at home, so Ryla had told her something that had helped her sleep, being music, and it helped to no end. Ryla was probably Dashi’s only actual friend (besides Koshi), even though she was a busy girl.

Ryla was big on cave-diving, and Dashi had come with her that one time to help her take pictures for her book. Besides that and an occasional conversation, they didn’t talk all that much unfortunately. Either way, Dashi was fast asleep, and her alarm blared just a couple hours later. She grabbed her phone, tiredly blinking. “Augh..” she muttered, blinking herself awake. She was going to Florida today.

She took out her headphones, changed into her uniform, tied up her hair, packed up briefly, and left the hotel. She dropped off her belongings at the airport, went through the checks, clamored on the plane–and wow, was that repetitive? The rest of the attendants were already chatting, Dashi turned on her headphones. She’d be lying if she didn’t say she was bored. She blinked and it was her turn to ask what everyone wanted, aka she was first. Grabbing the supplied notepad and pen, she walked down the lane, asking each person what they wanted, until she got to a older man. Pink-tinted mustache, bowtie, and a monocle. “What would you like, sir?” she asked, and he looked up like he wasn’t expecting it. Dashi wasn’t particularly one to snoop, even so, she ended up accidentally taking a glance at his sheet. She didn’t manage to see all of it, but what she did see was;

Marine biologist; Interviews lined up

Medic; Good candidate but unsure

IT worker; no candidates

Lieutenant; a few interviews lined up

It looked like there was more info. The man spoke, though before she could really take a look. “Do you have tea?” he asked, and Dashi pressed her lips together. “No, I don’t think we do. Apologies.” she said. She hoped he wasn’t the type to get angry about that, (didn’t really seem like he was, fortunately) and her hopes were fulfilled as he replied, “Ah, alright. Just some ice water, then.” Dashi nodded.

A few thoughts swarmed her mind as she moved onto the next person, mainly being the fact that there was a very obvious IT position, (something she was very qualified in) at whatever he was working on or whatever company he was working for. At first, she thought that maybe it’d be something that didn’t interest her in the slightest. Though, the other options were interesting. A Lieutenant implied some sort of naval or ship-based position, and the Marine biologist was an interesting one too. If it was some higher-tech navy related ship, she doubted they’d need a marine biologist for that. Medic could very well go with a lot of companies, so that didn’t really tell her much.

Eventually, once she was done taking orders, she passed them on and sat back down. Still, that job seemed very interesting. She technically wasn’t supposed to really actively seek out passengers, nor was she supposed to snoop like she (accidentally) did, but she really just wanted to figure out what the hell that company was doing. She wanted to solve a mystery, like Koshi would want her to.

Completely, and truly, she was unsure on how exactly to approach him, though. She couldn’t really do it on the plane, she had to move quickly most of the time. Possibly, though, she could figure out a place he was going or something like that though? Maybe a tad stalkerish, nevertheless though, she was unendingly curious. ( And part of her wondered if it would solve her boredom, no-friends, and ocean-related problems )

So, she volunteered, (even if one of the other attendants was supposed to) to take out the drinks. The girl who was supposed to do it clearly didn’t want to stop her conversation, anywho, so it was completely fine with her. Tray balanced in her hands as she walked along, she finally came back to that man, and as she gave him and the people sitting next to him their drinks, she noticed he had some sort of paper copy of a ‘ticket’ (she really didn’t know a better way to describe it) to a hotel. The Celestial Spear. If she was a different person, she would’ve jumped for joy–that was the hotel the airport was going to have them stay in that night.

She tried to calm herself down the whole rest of the flight, but it was hard. This was possibly a new opportunity for her! She practically raced off the plane as soon as she was permitted when it landed, grabbing all of her things and getting to the hotel as soon as she could. The lounge area was nice, and she walked up to the front desk. “Hello,” she greeted the worker, who smiled. “Hi!” his nametag read ‘ Felix ’ and he seemed sweet. “Name?” he asked, and Dashi smiled before responding. “Dashi Dachshund.” she said, and Felix looked her up on the computer. “Ah, yup. Ms. Dachshund, your room is 420. It’s on the fourth floor. Let me fetch you the keys!” he said peppily, grabbing a pair off a wall. “Old fashioned, I suppose?” Dashi asked, and Felix nodded.

“Mr.Finch.. He prefers it over those cards, for some reason.” Dashi thanked Felix, heading to her room and dropping off her stuff. She knew it’d be weird to just be sitting in the lounge for no reason, until she remembered there was a little coffee shop inside, so she walked down, sitting at one of the tiny stools provided.

“Howdy, I’m Joe. What’d ya like today?” a tall woman, who Dashi assumed was Joe-beans herself, given the name of the little shop, and Dashi ordered quickly. “Just a medium hot cocoa, please.” she asked. She wasn’t exactly a huge fan of coffee, and she liked cocoa. Joe nodded, walking off to make the cocoa–and Dashi heard the little dinging sound of the hotel’s door opening, and she looked over. That older man, she thought, as he wheeled in, getting keys of his own. She really hoped his clearly older age didn’t make it too hard for him to set up his stuff, since she didn’t want to drink her cocoa too slowly.

“Here ya go,” Joe said, placing down the cup. “How much?” Dashi asked, beginning to pull out her wallet. “Oh, no no hon. I just need your name.” she said, and Dashi answered quickly. “Dashi Dachshund.” Joe nodded, walking off. Dashi slowly sipped her cocoa, pulling out her phone. Better to have something to distract her. It wasn’t nearly nighttime, so Dashi had assumed the man would come down. About ten minutes later, he did, sitting down next to Dashi. He, expectantly, ordered tea. Dashi tensed up a tad–this was her chance. She cleared her throat, before, “Hello, I believe we were on the same plane!” she said, looking to the old man. He looked over, a little startled. He seemed to recognize her. “Oh, you’re the flight attendant! How funny we ended up at the same hotel,” he said, chuckling a little. Dashi smiled. “Yup! I’m curious, why did you come to Florida?” she asked. She hoped he was the ‘oversharing’ type of old person.

“Oh, well, you see, I’m working on a project. It’s to help and protect the people living under the sea. Things like healthcare aren’t exactly.. Existent, down there. And, my engineer for the submarine the whole crew will be living on is stationed here, hometown and all.” Dashi blinked. “That’s very interesting! I’m assuming you already have your team all assembled?” she asked, despite knowing that was untrue.

The man sighed. “Unfortunately, no. We have the engineer, as mentioned, and the Captain, and we have a very promising candidate for the medic, but nothing for any of the other roles. I’ve interviewed a few for the Marine Biologist and IT related roles.. None of them were really what I was looking for. I was honestly hoping to find one that was also a photographer of sorts, but alas.. Nothing.” Dashi was a little.. Excited? Surprised?

“Oh, well.. Just to throw my hat in the ring, I actually have a degree in IT work. And photography has been a.. ‘Hobby’” she air-quoted the hobby, as she certainly did have some professional experience as well, “for many years.” the man practically lit up. “Really? This is obviously a sudden request, and I am aware you have a job.. Could I interview you?” he asked, and Dashi nodded. “I’m stable at my job as a flight attendant, but in all honesty.. It’s getting a little stale. I’ve never been too happy with customer service, and I don’t tend to get on planes to beaches very often.”

The man looked rather happy. “Well, um.. I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name. Mine is Professor Inkling.” he said, and Dashi smiled. “Dashi, Dashi Daschund.” she replied, and she chuckled to herself. I don’t think I’ve ever said my full name this many times in a day before. She thought, and Inkling gripped the cup of tea Dashi hadn’t even noticed had been delivered, sipping it and then speaking once more. “Well, Dashi, if you can pull together.. Some sort of resume or just.. Group together your experience, I suppose, then, I’d really like to interview you tomorrow?” he asked, and Dashi grinned. They were stationed to stay in Florida for the next few days. “I can certainly do that. I’ll see you tomorrow, Professor.” she said, standing up from the stool.

“See you, Dashi. Does 12:00PM work?” he questioned, and Dashi gave him a thumbs up. “Picture perfect.” she replied, walking off to her room.

She could hardly contain her happiness throughout the night as she assembled as much as she possibly could in a resume-like way. In the morning, she woke up unusually early–likely from just utter excitement–and got dressed. She put her hair in her casual, non-attendant hairstyle, dressed nicely (not formally, just nicely), and reviewed the resume. She made some adjustments, added some notes here and there, before she was done. She pulled out the book she was reading–a more ‘adult’ mystery. Even if dectectives and solving mysteries wasn’t particularly her thing now that she was older, the book was still entertaining and enough to tie her over until the interview.

She left the room at 11:57, walking down the lounge, resume in hand. She arrived just a minute early, and on the dot at 12, the professor came into view, wheeling himself across from her. “Hello, Dashi.” “Hello Professor.” he looked at the folder she had, and she set it down, opening it up. “Unfortunately, I’ll have to show you some pictures on my phone given the short notice, but..” she opened up her phone, showing him the picture of her degree. “This is my degree in IT work. Unfortunately, I don’t have too much experience in IT related fields besides an internship or two.. I am very well versed in that field and just with technology in general. I’d like to say I’m good at most of that stuff in general, partially because of the degree and partially just because, well as a kid I had to help my parents with all the technology when I was younger. I eventually got good at it, and in high-school I was well-known for helping people out with computer troubles.” she finished, and Inkling seemed rather impressed. “When did you get the flight attendant job?” he asked.

“In college. I took online classes, so the traveling bit was never an issue for me.” she had a feeling she knew his next question, so she just answered it before he even asked. “I mainly decided to become a flight attendant for a few reasons. Part of the reason was I wanted to travel. See the world, to say the least, and take pictures of everything I could. Including going on experiences I never would’ve been able to without that job.” she finished, and Inkling nodded.

“Could I see some of these pictures?” he requested, and Dashi delivered quickly. “Here, there’s a lot in this folder. If you want to see more, I have a lot on my phone, too.” she said, as the Professor looked slowly through them. Lots of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ emerged from his mouth, as he flipped through. After a few minutes, he was done. “These are quite wonderful, Dashi! You have an extreme amount of skill!” he praised, before clearing his throat. “Of course I’d like to know some other attributes, though. What are you like.. As a person?” he asked.

“I’d consider myself well-tempered and calm, and I haven’t met anyone I didn’t get along with or at the very least couldn’t tolerate. I’m also quick to follow orders from my superiors, and can do the majority of tasks quickly and efficiently.” she quipped, hands interlocked. Inkling seemed thoroughly impressed. “This is clearly, very quick, and not something I’d usually do but.. I believe you’re hired. I don’t think you’ll have any problems with Tweak or Captain Barnacles, and given your personality, anyone else I’d consider hiring.”

Dashi grinned. “Oh, thank you Professor. I truly do appreciate this.” she said, smiling, and the Professor smiled back. “The Captain should be here by tomorrow. I’ll inform Tweak, and once he gets back and he approves, we’ll start your training.” he stated, and Dashi smiled, before it faded a little. “I’m fairly certain I have to put in a two-week notice, though. For my prior job. Do you think there’s any way I could do training while I’m figuring that out?” she asked, and Inkling put a hand to his chin. “I’ll go and ask Tweak about it. You try to figure all of that out, and we’ll meet back up again here tomorrow, yes?” he clarified, and Dashi nodded.

Quickly, she went back up to her room, resume in hand. She emailed her company as soon as she could, but she knew they likely wouldn’t respond soon. She groaned. She really hoped this wouldn’t jeopardize what she had with Inkling. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy to throw people away immediately after accepting them. Plus, it’d likely be a little while since they didn’t have other members of the team set in stone or even remotely decided yet in the case of the lieutenant and the marine biologist.

She ended up going to the beach and taking pictures for the rest of the day, and into the night a little as well. The beach did look beautiful, cloaked by darkness, after all. The shimmering water, the golden sand–it was all too perfect. Though, as she walked back, she was tired, immediately falling into dreamland as soon as she hit the weirdly comfortable mattress.

That next day, she woke up a little later. She checked her email, and just as she had been expecting–two weeks notice was certainly wanted. Technically, she didn’t have to, but she’d feel like an absolute jerk if she didn’t. And she wasn’t the type of person to be like that, or at least she hoped she wasn’t. She responded saying “I’ll see what I can do”, of course phrased more professionally and with a lot more jargon added onto it.

At twelve, after just reading more and scrolling through her phone, she went back down to see Inkling. “Hello, Dashi,” he greeted, and she waved briefly before sitting down across from him. “They definitely want two weeks' notice,” she quickly said, and he nodded. “Tweak said it might take her a little, but she could certainly turn it into a online thing, just with a little help. Maybe from you, if you have the time.” he said, and Dashi blinked. This was a test, surely. “I only have the rest of today and tomorrow.. I’ll gladly help, though. Even if I’m not very experienced with coding or anything.”

Inkling smiled. “Still wonderful. I believe the Captain will arrive here soon, as he was supposed to have gotten off a little over 30 minutes ago.” the professor stated, looking at his wrist. Just as he said that, as if it were magic, a tall man and a smaller very obviously cat hybrid behind him walked in. “Ah, Speak of the devil.” Inkling said. That told Dashi that one of these two was the Captain. “Inkling!” the tall one said, walking over as the ginger trailed behind him. Now looking closer, the person she assumed was the Captain had buzzed hair, and a squarish mustache.

The cat had longer, orange hair, one of his ears had a little nip in it, and an eyepatch. He honestly looked like a pirate, primarily because of the eyepatch in particular. “I'm assuming she’s the IT person Tweak mentioned?’ the Captain asked, motioning towards Dashi. “Yes!” Inkling exclaimed, turning to Dashi. “Dashi, meet Captain Barnacles. And, Captain, meet Dashi.” he introduced, before looking at the cat. “I will ask, Captain, who is that?”

The Captain looked briefly back, before the ginger spoke before he had the chance. “I be Kwazii,” he said, grinning. Definitely a pirate. She thought. At first, she was a tad afraid. She figured that the Captain wouldn’t have brought someone dangerous, though, so she didn’t pay much mind. “He’s a good candidate for the Lieutenant position. Of course, I’m sure you’d like to talk, but I’ve practically already interviewed him. He’s perfect for the job.”

Kwazii smirked. “Of course I be.” he said. The Captain exhaled through his nose–Dashi knew what it was, her dad did it too–a sort of silent laugh or chuckle. “Well, I think.. Captain, would you mind taking Dashi to the warehouse, and I’ll briefly interview Kwazii, then join you? I trust your judgment, but, as you said prior..” the Captain nodded, tilting his head in a motion to a follow me or let’s go to Dashi, which she quickly obliged to. As they walked out the door, the Captain spoke up. “Dashi, correct?” he clarified. Dashi honestly felt there was no need, even so she responded, “Yes.” Best not to question it, and she was sure he just wanted to start up a conversation. “And you’re Captain Barnacles,” she said, to which he responded, “That I am.”

“I’m curious–what experience do you have? In both IT work and photography?” he asked as they continued to walk. Dashi felt like she was being interviewed again. “Well, I went to college and have a degree for IT work. I’ve done a few internships, plus I have a lot of experience from helping out friends and family with their technology. For photography, I’ve done it for a very long time. I think I started when I was thirteen, probably. Always loved it, taken a lot of pictures.” she finished.

“I see. I’m glad Inkling chose someone who off the bat seems wonderful,” the Captain said, and before she could thank him for the compliment, he said, “We’re here.” The warehouse was big, and honestly a little intimidating. But Dashi didn’t really care.

This was the start of her new life.

#octonauts #fanfic #octonauts kwazii #captain barnacles #octonauts barnacles #octonauts dashi #i hope yall enjoy #not entirely sure if i'll be able to post the next two chapters in the next two days but we'll certainly see

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