#octonauts fic | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

pantpisser9000 · 1 year ago

Text

Combined Together, Chapter 4: Finally assembled

After work, Peso trudged back through the snowy terrain, and walked inside his house. He’d be enjoying all of this before he left. “Ma, I have a huge announcement for dinner.” Peso said, and she looked happy, though was that a hint of sadness in her eyes? Peso didn’t quite know. Physcology wasn’t his field of expertise. Pinto pestered him about it, and Peso just kept on telling him to “wait until dinner” which didn’t stop his insistence.

Once they had sat down for dinner, they were all expecting Peso. “So, um.. I- you know that job, last night I mentioned?” he asked, and they all nodded. “I’m.. well, I- okay, I accepted it. I’m guaranteed to work there, now.” he said, and Pinto cheered. “Now you’re an adventurer! You better take me on your awesome adventure someday!” his mother looked at Pinto, “Maybe when you’re a little older, sweetie.” she softly said, which Pinto promptly ignored.

“W-well I’m.. I’m still a medic. Just on a submarine.” Pinto didn’t care, his brother was on a submarine! His tail was wagging like a dog, (Peso honestly didn’t know Penguins did that, but the more you know, right?) and feathers were where ears would usually be.

“Good job,” Pogo commented, clapping a little. Pinata looked impressed too. “I think you’ve outdone yourself, Peso.” she said, agreeing with her twin. His mother looked to be tearing up a little. “I’m.. I’m so happy for you, Peso. Will you be able to call?” she asked, and Peso nodded. “There’s internet on the submarine” he said, which made Pinata’s attention perk up again. “..do you know if they have any open positions?” she asked. Peso guessed by how they were launching soon, they didn’t. “I don’t think so,” he said, laughing a little.

She sulked a tad at that, and the table burst out in laughter, (she joined in, too) and Peso pushed the thought that said, You’ll miss them so much, is this really the best decision?

But Peso knew it was, they’d all be fine without him. And he was ecstatic to be helping many many creatures. That night, he went to his room and packed. Pinto helped him, saying that he should bring over one of his comics so he “wouldn’t forget him”, and Peso laughed as he put it in his suitcase, saying, “I don’t think I’ll ever forget you.”

Though, there was one nagging thought he was trying to get rid of.

What if the crew hates me?

If they did, he’d return. Though, then everyone would be disappointed, right? He’d just.. Not be a yes-man, he had a little more dignity than that, but just.. Stay out of any trouble. There were bound to be fights, of course, though Peso wanted no part in any of them. He wasn’t one to yell, and certainly not anyone to hurt anyone. He didn’t think he could even throw a punch without crying.

—

The Captain was excited. The team was assembled. Dashi had managed to get to Florida for her last flight, so she was there. Tweak was obviously there, and Kwazii was as well. They’d be cruising over to Scotland, to pick up their marine biologist, Dr.Shellington and the Professor. Then, they’d be going to the arctic to pick up their medic, Dr. Peso.

“Everyone,” the Captain boomed. Dashi and Tweak, who were talking, looked over, and Kwazii, who had been busy trying to figure out how many flips he could do in a row, steadied himself and looked over as well. “We have our marine biologist and our medic secured. We’ll be heading to Scotland to pick up the biologist and the Professor. Then, to the arctic, to pick up our medic.”

“That is, if everything’s ready, Tweak?” the Captain asked, and Tweak pulled a carrot out of her pocket, taking a bite. “Everythin’ should be, Cap. Looks good. Dashi?” she asked, and Dashi looked at the screen. “Looks good to me as well.” she said, nodding. “Well, I think it’s time to board, then.” the Captain commanded, motioning for them to get on the Octopod.

Barnacles watched as they all boarded. First, Tweak. She walked up the ramp into the ‘mouth’ of the Octopod confidently, with Dashi trailing behind her. Kwazii sauntered in after them, tail swishing excitedly behind him and ears perked. Barnacles boarded last, stepping up and pressing the button to lower the ramp. Once they were all in the hq, they were in their places. Kwazii was just kinda hanging out in hq, Tweak in the launch bay, and Dashi at her station.

The Captain turned on the loudspeaker for all of the workers outside of the ship to hear. “LOWER US!” he commanded, and slowly, but surely, the Octopod was lowered. All of them were standing confidently, or at least sitting. Kwazii and Barnacles both had built up sea-legs, and working as a flight attendant helped Dashi get used to a somewhat similar situation. They didn’t have Tweak on the screen at the moment, she was checking on the gups.

Soon, it entered the water. Tweak came in through the screens in the hq. “Launch bay filled and Octo-hatch closed.” she told him, motioning backwards. Captain Barnacles came back in through the loudspeakers, “Continue lowering!” he said, and his demands were met immediately.

And soon, they were consumed by water. Kwazii had his hands pressed to the glass, looking outside. “I’ve never been on a sub before..” he muttered, in awe. Right, Kwazii had never actually been in anything like this before. Neither had Dashi or Tweak, actually, though Dashi didn’t seem as amazed by it.

“Dashi, activate steering,” he commanded, “On it, Captain.” Dashi replied shortly, pressing the button and the Captain felt the ground under him heighten. “Shiver me whiskers..” was the last thing he heard as he was greeted by the wheel. He placed his hands confidently on it, and began steering. He’d be just getting them out of the port, and then automatic steering (with the assistance of Dashi) would take over.

Weaving through, they got through without a problem. The Captain lowered himself, before commanding, “Put on the automatic steering, Dashi.” he requested, and Dashi once again said, “On it.”, and almost autonomously doing it. Suppose Tweak’s preparation programs worked well. Barnacles thought, hands behind his back. Kwazii walked up to him, standing beside him. He didn’t address him, for some reason. “Scotland, right?” he asked.

“Yes, Kwazii.” Barnacles replied, which he nodded at. “I never have gone.” he commented, and Barnacle was slightly expecting that. “Where have you been, exactly?” he questioned, and Kwazii thought for a moment. “Well I’m from.. Uh.. well, wherever I’m from, all the oceans and seas, and now Florida. And soon Scotland.” he said. “You don’t remember where you’re from?” Barnacles asked.

Sure, he knew Kwazii had a few.. Issues with remembering anything from before his pirate days, (that he refused to talk about more than just the stories he shared about sea monsters) the guy literally hadn’t remembered what a bathtub was. Of course, Kwazii never admitted that, though Barnacles could tell just by his reaction and the delay of turning it on and the clear confused shuffling around in the bathroom.

Though Kwazii also couldn’t really read too well, (and while Barnacles had no interest in sharing that–Kwazii’d probably be incredibly embarrassed if he did, and also hold a grudge for a while) and couldn’t really do math either, at the very least the Captain had expected him to know where he came from. “Naw,” Kwazii said. He seemed unbothered, though it was a tad hard to read the guy. “Hm. Interesting.” Was all the Captain said, and to him, Kwazii looked like he was itching to say more, though he certainly didn't want to pry. Plus, this was his co-worker, and he didn’t think they were close enough for him to ask more. So they just stood there awkwardly for a moment, until Kwazii walked away, over to the Octochute. “Kwazii? Do you.. Know how to use it?” the Captain enquired, and Kwazii whipped his head back. “Uhh- aye.”

Barnacles, an eyebrow raised, wasn’t quite impressed. “Mhm. How about I show you, just in case?” he said, and Kwazii, pursing his lips, reluctantly agreed. “Aye, alright.” The Captain jumped, and the chute opened as he was going down, making him pummel down the metal-slide-like thing. He arrived in the small room in between–it was about the space of a small elevator, or an American bathroom stall.

Kwazii jumped out right after him, his stance wide. To be fair, he’d never done it before. “Me rooms.. Wait, Cap, that ain’t– me name is spelled k, w, a, z, i, i.. Not k, w, a, z, z, i..” he noted, and Captain looked at the sign on his door. “Oh. Apologies, Kwazii. I’ll get that updated soon. Just a bit surprisedj you.. Noticed..” he said, coughing to hide the comment.

“Hey! Just cus I be unable to.. Read.. all that well.. Doesn’t mean I can’t recognize me own name!” he said, a little mad. “Sorry, sorry.” the Captain apologized, which Kwazii shrugged at. “It be alright.”

Why was Kwazii so difficult to understand? The Captain thought briefly, but then he remembered Kwazii wasn’t raised regularly. He didn’t seem to remember much if anything before he got picked up by those pirates, (Barnacles was still unsure when and how that had happened-surely his parents had been worried, right?) and lived on a boat for clearly a very very long time.

The Captain was unsure how long, of course, Kwazii didn’t even know his own age (which was a whole other can of worms) and while Kwazii had shared more personal things.. He really didn’t know much about the guy. He trusted him enough to be on the ship, (while Kwazii was less of an actual lieutenant/second in command at the moment, he was more so just a helper/assistant at the moment) and he knew he had a good heart but his pirate past was truly mysterious as hell.

Kwazii stepped in his room, glancing around. Barnacles looked in behind him briefly. There.. Wasn’t much. Only one box. To be fair, Kwazii had bought a thing or two in Florida, so there was a tad more than what he had before.

Barnacles decided to leave Kwazii to it though, instead opting to go to his own room, which had a lot more boxes. While he didn’t have too much control over it, as his polar-bear side came out just whenever he needed more strength or he assumed likely under intense stress as well, he could sometimes control it a little more. Grunting, he managed to get hands almost fully polar-bear like–at least enough so that his claws were out. (and his more Polar-bear like ears) Slicing his claw through the tape on all the boxes, he balled up his fist and the fur and ears went away.

Opening up box by box, he put his other pajamas in his closet first, set up his small cubby-shelf thingy, putting his few books away in it. Hanging up his pictures near his bed, and decorating his room with the other things he had brought with him–he was just a tad surprised he had been able to finish so quickly. It was nice Tweak had the idea of asking everyone what type of wallpaper they wanted–for almost all the rooms, too. There were still a few unfinished things decor wise, though. Mainly just painting the GUPS and working on the helmets, which Tweak would likely start with once she was 100% sure everything was working.

Stepping out of his room, the Captain launched himself down the chute, landing standing up, hands on his hips in the hq. “Dashi, is everything looking good?” he asked, and she swiveled back to look at him. “Yes, Captain. No storms or anything in sight, either.” the Captain nodded. “Wonderful.” he was very stern-sounding, or at least he hoped he did. As the Captain, he needed to be the most professional out of all them, by far. Besides maybe Inkling, but the guy was just professional by nature– no need to try hard.

The Captain decided to look at the Garden–they unfortunately, didn’t have anyone to do the cooking and gardening for them specifically, so the Octonauts themselves would have to do it. He.. didn’t know too much about Gardening, though he knew Tweak did. Luckily, at the very least, they wouldn’t have to worry about their clothes getting dirty quite yet. They hadn’t actually gotten their uniforms–he knew Inkling was actually working on them getting them made, while in Scotland. Tweak was making some sort of special collar (like a fancy shirt’s collar, not one for a pet) that would basically give them a bubble/helmet so that they could breathe underwater in an instant, as well as a radio. He knew that was her priority over painting the GUPS–he was a little worried if she could get it done before they got their last member.

He then remembered he had to come up with a few things so that everyone could get to know each other–he and Inkling had both discussed a sort of name game, and Barnacles decided he wanted to narrow it down just a little more. There was one he’d done in Polar scouts when it had first started, Professor Natquik had taught it to them.

Basically, everyone got in a circle, and the first person would say their name and then have a little motion, for example a clap. Then the next person would say their name and a new motion, then everyone would say the new person’s name and motion, then the previous person’s name and motion, and so on until everyone in the circle’s name had been said. He honestly liked that one–maybe it was because it was one he had familiarized himself with, though.

He considered asking one of the other members, though part of him also wanted it to be a bit of a surprise, so he decided not to.

Launching himself to the garden chute, he looked at all of it. He knew they had an automatic sprinkling system, so they didn’t need to water it manually, though they still needed to check to 1; make sure said system was working, 2; check to see if any of the crops were ready. Tweak had planted them herself, (Her father had actually came over to help her, he knew more about farming anywho) and Barnacles trusted that it’d work well.

…It was a tad boring at the moment…

Though Kwazii was bored at the moment, sitting in his new, nice, non-hammock bed, tossing his yarn ball in the air, he knew it’d up in action after their missions actually started, and they got the rest of the crew. He had only crashed a few times in that training simulator, but to be fair, he thought the fake-subs could maneuver quicker! He hoped that the real submarines, the ‘GUPS’ as they were called, could move faster! How were they supposed to do awesome tricks–er, save creatures, if the GUPS were slow!

Kwazii knew they had to wait till everything was done and they had the rest of the crew, but that didn’t mean he didn’t wanna zoom around in a fast GUP everywhere, weaving through.. Coral, or something. As long as Kwazii had spent sailing, he honestly didn’t really know much about anything under the water. Besides the sea monsters, of course! That was one of the few things he had remembered from his childhood, (and one of the few things he would likely share from his pirate life) were the tales Calico Jack had told him about the fearsome beasts that laid just under the surface!

Kwazii was excited to slay those foul beasties! He was certain he’d find at least one, even if that might mean sneaking out to find one. He had a feeling that the other members wouldn’t quite believe him, especially those more serious ones. Namely that dog girl and he was certain that the scientist guy wouldn’t… He might hold off on speaking about them until either they were actively relevant or he just knew the rest of the crew better.

Obviously, Kwazii knew he likely couldn’t ever trust the rest of his crew, after what had happened with Wo-.. him, Kwazii knew that he had to go by his gut. His own morals. Not let anyone tell him what to do, unless they had the same plan or ideas. He had a few goals while he was staying with the Octonauts, too. (it was entirely possible that while the Captain had accepted him, and the Professor, (who seemed a tad apprehensive during the interview, even though Kwazii was OBVIOUSLY a good pirate) had let him join, and those two girls he was with now at the very least didn’t mind him, that the others..? They might HATE him. So, therefore, they could get him kicked off, since it was likely that the others would believe them over a pirate like himself.)

The main goals (some were more so just rules, not goals, but Kwazii didn’t care enough to distinguish those) were;

1: Encounter/slay/fight at least one monster

2: Not let anyone know about his lack in actual subjects like reading, math, and science and history too.

3: Don't trust anyone. As nice as they might seem, Kwazii knew better than to actually trust people. He liked the Captain, sure, but he would never actually trust him.

4: Do not let anyone know about the majority of his pirate life. He wasn’t sure if the Blackclaw pirates were infamous or not, so it was better just not to mention that he was a part of that crew, or him at all. He’d probably lie and say he wasn’t with a crew for most of his life.

Now, he was still bored. Jumping back down the chute, he wobbly landed out in the hq. He took a glance out the window–unsurprisingly, it was just water. Disappointed there were no sea monsters, he pouted a little. Though, he supposed it was a good idea to get to know the ship, explore a bit if you will. So, he hopped in the chute, and popped out in a hallway.

He looked, and there were three doors. One for the library, one for the infirmary, and one for the laboratory. He was glad there were pictures, not words, in all honesty. While he wasn’t.. Super interested in the library, he was a little curious on how big it was.

“Shiver me whiskers..” he muttered as he wandered in, it was huge–larger then he was expecting, at least. He had no interest in reading any of the books, obviously, though that was partially because he couldn’t (or at least not well) and partially because he’d likely find all of those books boring. He walked out as quickly as he had walked in. He took a glance in the laboratory and infirmary, but they seemed a little… barren. Sure, there was stuff in them, but no decor, and certainly not as much stuff as he had expected. And, he didn’t want to touch anything in either room in fear of accidentally breaking anything. Walking back to a chute, he jumped down, landing in a large, spacious area with a pool of water. And he heard some tinkering sounds, so he followed where his ears took him, and they led him to an area with some pipes and that Tweak girl working on some stuff. “Aye, matey.” he said. He wasn’t really worried about bothering her–it wasn’t like if she was startled she would drop something that could hurt her or anything of the nature. She whipped her head back, blinking. “Heya,” she said, confusion littered across her face. “What’re you doin’ here?” she asked, and Kwazii shrugged. “I be bored.” he said, and she stuck out her tongue, thinking. “Y’know, y’ could help me paint the gups. I needed some help with that, anyways.” she said, putting down her tool and walking over to Kwazii. “I’ve already done the GUP A, so you can start with the GUP B.” she said, pointing at an almost sharkish-torpedo like metal structure. It looked fast. Kwazii smirked “Issit fast?” he asked, and Tweak grinned. “Fastest I’ve got. Proud of er. I have some paint cans ‘n brushes over by where I was workin, if ya wanna take em.” she said, and Kwazii nodded. He took a can of orangish paint, (and was very grateful the cans had their colors colored on them) and some white and black, and a few brushes. Tweak seemed relieved she’d be getting help with it. He sat down, in that one pose that adults told you not to sit in when you were a kid cus it was ‘bad for you’ (basically on your knees but with your legs spread out instead of next to each other) and dipped the paintbrush in the orange, beginning to paint the GUP. He was just happy to have a distraction. Tweak wasn’t one he expected to be for small talk, but he was open to it once she started. “So, how’d ya get selected?” she asked, still tinkering away. Kwazii snickered a little, “Well, ya see, I be on a.. Raft, of sorts. An’, when gettin’ parts or somethin’, he found me out on th’ open ocean.” he explained. “Why were ya on a raft?” she asked, and Kwazii was silent for a moment. He wasn’t a (extreme) liar, though he also wasn’t going to explain the real situation. “...just was.” he responded. He was grateful when Tweak seemed to get the hint and didn’t pry.

“Howabout you? How’d y’ be selected?” Kwazii asked, and Tweak replied quickly. “I was workin’ for this repair company, an’ the Professor came in, wanting a engineer, and while my manager declined completely, I overheard and reached out. We discussed plans and ideas, and I ended up being the main engineer.”

Kwazii, dipping the paintbrush back in the paint and making another stroke on the GUP, “That be pretty great. Wait,” Kwazii blinked, looking away from his work. “Did ya make ALL of this?” he asked, and Tweak chuckled. “Yup. The Octopod herself, the GUPS, everythin’.” Even to Kwazii, that was a massive feat. He wasn’t one to compliment most of the time, though that was certainly, “Impressive,” he said. He tried not to show too much awe. Didn’t want to give her the wrong impression.

“Thanks.” she simply said, before asking another question. Kwazii would obviously never trust her, but her talking to him was nice. “What color are ya paintin’ her?” she asked, and Kwazii replied “Orange. It’s the best color, after all.” he said, grinning. “Pft, right. Clearly green’s the best!” she said, and they both laughed. “Naw, naw, orange. I mean, it’s the color of me fur!” he said, and Tweak chuckled.

“Well green’s the color of my fur–or, hair, I guess.” she bantered back, to which Kwazii playfully responded, “Well, I be better though, so,” and for a moment Tweak was silent, and Kwazii wondered if she was a tad less blunt and.. Able to handle that kinda thing then he thought, though that thought was proven wrong immediately. “Oh, right? May I remind ya who designed the very ship yer paintin?” she asked, jokingly.

“That may be true, but I could beat y’ in a fight, I’m sure!” Kwazii bragged, and at first he thought maybe Tweak’d leave it at that point. Until, “Prove it.” she challenged. “Does that be a challenge?” he asked, and he heard the sound of a tool being put on the table, and Tweak walked out of the pipe room, readying her fists. “Yes it does.” she said, grinning. Kwazii placed the paintbrush back in the can, and stood up. “Let’s go.” he said, readying his own fists. “No claws, no serious harm,” Tweak said, which Kwazii agreed on. Especially since they didn’t have a medic yet. “Just fun.” she finished, and Kwazii nodded, and “3, 2, 1!”

Kwazii pounced, hands on her shoulders, pinning her down (in a non-sexual way, just to be clear. These bitches are FIGHTING, and not in the ‘fighting with their tongues way’) and before he could declare himself the winner, Tweak butted him in the stomach with her knee, making him fall back a bit. “Yow!” was all he exclaimed, as Tweak stood on him

“Hah! I won. Faster than ya could say buncha munchy crunchy carrots!” she said, triumphantly. Kwazii grinned, though a little embarrassed he lost. “I’ll beatcha once we get that medic,” he said, sharp teeth gleaming. “Sureee.” Tweak responded, hands still confidently on her hips and head tilted to the side. Kwazii actually looked at her now–he hadn’t really thought about what anybody looked like, but now he realized that line earlier implied her hair was naturally green. He certainly couldn’t judge her outfit though, (black tanktop and jeans) because one, he definitely didn’t have ANY sense of fashion, he was wearing some of the Captain’s old clothes, after all. Grey t-shirt that was way too large on his skinny frame, and jeans that would be quite tight on the captain that weren’t at all on Kwazii.

“Wait, yer hair naturally be green?” he asked, genuinely, and she just nodded confidently. “Yup! Pretty great, yeah?” Kwazii nodded. “That be true. What, y’ part plant or somethin?” he questioned, and Tweak laughed. “Naw, rabbit.” she said, and confusion washed over Kwazii’s face. “Rabbits be green?” he asked, now even more clueless. “I don’t think any other rabbits besides me an’ me Pa are.” Tweak replied, shrugging.

“Well, shiver me whiskers..” Kwazii muttered, and Tweak held out her hand, which Kwazii took, dusting himself off. “I.. I should be gettin’ back t’ painting.” he said, grinning. “And I’ll get back t’ makin’ our helmet-radio-neckcoverings.” she said, and before Kwazii could express his confusion she said, “You’ll see later.”

Kwazii pursed his lips–he wanted to know what the hell she meant by that, (and badly ) though even if his patience was practically non-existent, he had a feeling she wouldn’t let up. She seemed a lot more.. Well, patient. And very persistent. So, he walked back over to the GUP B, picking up his paintbrush and sloshing it in the orange paint, as he heard the twisting in of parts.

Tweak had her tongue stuck out–that wire just wasn’t getting in place properly, it was almost creating a little mountain of sorts of itself, so she gave it a little hit on the side and it was in well. That little fight she had just had with Kwazii was entertaining–she found it a little funny how full of himself he was. And the gall he had to say he’d win the next time!

Though she appreciated him painting the GUP B, it would save her a little time later. She had the sneaking suspicion he wouldn’t help paint any other of the GUPS, though, since he already seemed infatuated with the GUP B. It made sense, he clearly wanted something to go fast (he had said that was why he had crashed in the simulation–he thought the simu-GUPS would go faster) and like she had said, the GUP B was by far her fastest.

She was proud of it–it would be good for missions where someone needed to dive down and scoop something up, or evade someone dangerous, or just distract someone or something. It was good. She had a feeling it’d be wrecked by Kwazii often enough, so she was glad she had so much extra material.

Eventually, Kwazii had announced he was done, and promptly (just like Tweak was expecting) he left, off to do his own thing. It was too bad, Tweak would’ve enjoyed some company. Tweak knew that Dashi girl was busy, doing checks and everything, though she wondered how the hell she’d be able to sit in that chair all day! Tweak always had to be tinkering, personally, or at least moving or something!Genuinely, she had no idea how that girl was able to keep that together. Though, she did appreciate the help with the wifi stuff and the ideas that Dashi had brought forward–again, mainly about the wifi, but still. It was a good idea, after all. Would make it easier to contact most of their families, (besides Tweak’s own Pa, old guy refused to use any ‘gadgets’ or ‘gizmos’ like Tweak did) and even improved stuff like the storm and creature tracking, plus some radio things.

After popping one more thing into place, the helmet was complete! Well, not completely, it would obviously need to look a lot better, since currently it was metal, so she’d need fabric, but, other than that, it was done! She clipped it onto her neck, and decided it was time for a test run. Grabbing oxygen tanks and hooking them up seamlessly, she turned on the helmet. It covered her entire head, just as planned. Jumping into the water, it worked perfectly, no water got in.

She swam around a little bit, (ignoring the annoying texture of wet fabric on her skin–she forgot she hadn’t gotten the water-proof outfit quite yet) and it was still working wonderfully, and when she resurfaced, she clicked the button and it went away in an instant. Perfect. She thought to herself, and then she decided to look over at the GUP B–it was actually surprisingly well painted.

Yes, it was painted that orange color, but it was done well. She should’ve expected the eyes and teeth, too. She decided to go over it and make the teeth a little rounder at the ends–not enough that Kwazii would notice, obviously, just so hopefully nobody would be scared of it. She doubted they would be–it was clearly a submarine, not an actual animal, though she knew how stupid some people could be, so she didn’t want to take the chance.

The rest of the week kinda dragged–The Captain, obviously, in his good heart came to visit her a few times, making sure she was alright, bringing her food, (he told her that once the whole team was together that they’d all be eating in the dining area for all the meals, just to make sure everyone was eating. Tweak wondered why anyone wouldn’t eat, though she also realized she was kinda a hypocrite for that thought. There were too many times where she skipped a proper meal in favor of engineering and instead snacking on carrots.) and just generally checking on everything. Asked if the development on everything was going well.

Well, there was one time when Dashi came down.

“Dashi?” Tweak asked, confused, paintbrush mid-air. (A drop ending up dripping on the floor, making a tiny tiny puddle) “Hello, Tweak. We’re very close to a hard-to-steer through area, and it’ll be dark soon, and the Captain doesn’t favor driving through that kind of thing in darkness, so we’ve stopped a little early.” she said, smiling.

“I appreciate ya comin’ down, but couldn’t you of told me over the speakers?” Tweak questioned, cocking her head to the side. “Oh, well, I was thinking I could help with the painting.” she offered, and Tweak grinned. “Lemme getcha a paintbrush.” she said, walking over to the astutely named ‘pipe room’ to grab another paintbrush, and some paint. “I’m finishin’ up with the GUP C right now, so if you wanna help with D, that’d be wonderful.” she said, and Dashi glanced at the color. “Yellow?” she asked, a little confused.

“Yup. Figured, as it’s by far the most.. ‘Different’, of the GUPS, should have th’ most stand-out color.” she said, and Dashi sat down next to her, picking up the paintbrush, dipping it in the yellow paint and beginning to lather the GUP D in it. “How is it the most different? I will say, yellow is a wonderful colour, though.”

Tweak, now focused again on painting the GUP C, responded, “Well, you see, it’s th’ only GUP that can really maneuver on land, fer starters. It has,” and she put the word in air quotes, paintbrush back in the can, “‘legs’, that can extend out when needed. It’s modeled after a crab, so it’s also the only GUP–besides the GUP C’s towline–that can really grab onto anythin’”, she said, accentuating the ‘grab’ both in her tone of voice and making a little grabby hand motion.

Dashi nodded, making another elegant stroke across the gup. “Speakin’ of colors, though, what’s yer favorite, Dashi?” Tweak asked, tilting her head. “My favorite colour? Hm.. It might be a little basic–but pink.” she said, and Tweak thought that made sense. Dashi seemed like a classic girl’s girl in all honesty–Tweak had never been interested in any of that, in all honesty. Maybe it was because she never grew up with it–living a little more isolated made her.. While not antisocial, she thought she could hold up a good conversation in her opinion, she didn’t have much exposure to most girly things.

Her Pa was–expectantly–never was interested in again, more feminine things. So Tweak was never exposed to things like makeup or more fem clothes (like skirts and dresses) or just really any of that. So, she was never interested in it, ever. But she assumed Dashi likely was–maybe Dashi’s mother liked all of that stuff or maybe Dashi just ended up actually being exposed to that through ads and stuff. It wasn’t really Tweak’s business to pry, any who.

“Oh, fair. I think it’s a fine color–it is the color of my headband, after all,” Tweak responded, which was true. It was the one thing that could even remotely be considered girly, at all, that her Pa had gotten her. Dashi laughed. “Looks good on you!” she said, and Tweak felt herself blush a little. It was nice to be complimented, after all.

Their conversation was a good one–Tweak was glad she was bonding with someone, it really was nice. Eventually, after finishing painting those two and the GUP E, Dashi went off to bed and Tweak played games before tucking herself under the covers of her own bed as well.

The day after that, Captain Barnacles had everyone come up to the hq. “Everyone, the area we will be steering through next is.. Rocky, to say the least. I recommend putting anything that could more easily fall over in a more secure area. Along with that, by the time we get to the medic’s, we need you to fill out this form. It’s.. basically medical history, since he needs to know all of that incase if–and hopefully this doesn’t happen of course,--anything happens to anyone and either he needs to put you on anything or just in general.”

Kwazii let out a groan, (and he did not care to hide his annoyance) to which Captain Barnacles said, “Kwazii, remember to include all intense injuries.” he said, and Kwazii pursed his lips. “...does surgery count?” he asked, and confusion washed over the Captain’s face. “...Well, I’d presume you should mention it, just not under injuries.” he said, and Kwazii nodded. “..Right.” was all he said. “Now, everyone, to their stations. It could get very difficult to steer through here, so we need to make sure everything’s secure. Tweak, head to the launch bay, and if she needs any help, Kwazii join her. Otherwise, you stay here with Dashi in hq.”

Everyone agreed, Tweak launched herself down the chute, and made sure all the GUPS were secured. They were, fortunately. She secured her games away, actually made her bed for once so her blanket wouldn’t fall off as easily, and did that dusting hands off motion.

She felt the ship lurch to the side, and she grabbed onto the control panel to steady herself, knees bent to help with her balance. It lurched to the other side, and her cheek squished against the metal of the ship’s wall, and she decided to make a run for it to get a better grip on one of the pipes in that one room, and fortunately it didn’t end in her being chucked into the launch bay’s pool of water, and she managed to get over there, grabbing onto one of the pipes for support. It was one of the thicker ones–she knew it would have better support.

Tweak was gripping onto that pipe for much too long–knuckles white from the intense holding. It lasted for about 10 minutes too long, and Tweak was sweating egregiously after the whole ordeal. Breathing in and out, she decided to go to hq, hopping in the chute and hopping out in the hq. “Howdy,” she said.

Dashi was still gripping on her chair, pink nails digging in, but her face was calm and collected. Kwazii radiated confidence, though Tweak had a feeling it was a facade. When the Captain came down, he was.. Very calm. Not a hint of scaredness behind those dark eyes. “Everyone, did anything go wrong?” he asked, and Tweak shook her head no. “Nothin’. I had to grip onto some pipes–but no tools or GUPs got harmed.” she said, and Dashi nodded. “The chairs were.. Kinda sliding all over, but no one got hurt. Kwazii seemed to enjoy sitting up on the table.”

Kwazii’s face went red. “Hey!” “Wonderful. I’m glad no one got hurt, especially without a medic. Speaking of, there’s some form everyone needs to fill out.” he said, looking at Dashi. “They should be on the computer, if you could print them out, Dashi?” he asked, and Dashi nodded sharply. “On it, Captain.” she swiveled back over to look back on the screen, tapped a few things, and it was printed out quickly. “It’d be better for everyone to do it now, but does anything they need to do first?” he asked, and Tweak thought before shaking her head. “I’ve got nothing.” Kwazii said, and Dashi similarly said, “I don’t have any pressing duties.”

So, the Captain grabbed all but one from Dahsi and handed them to Tweak and Kwazii, and Tweak sat down at the table in the hq, pulling out a pen from the sealed pencil holder. Kwazii grabbed one too. Tweak.. Didn’t want to judge, or be mean, but Kwazii was definitely not holding the pencil the right way.

He had his hand in a fist with the pencil stuck through, and he was very clearly writing with individual lines instead of each letter conjoined properly or using any sort of curves. Tweak decided to ignore Kwazii’s chicken-scratch writing, though, and decided to focus on filling out her own form.

Her name and species were, obviously, incredibly easy questions. (Tweak Rabbitson and, obviously, rabbit) She had no past major injuries, no surgeries, the only medication she was on was birth control (for period pains), she had no mental illnesses or physical ones (to her knowledge, at least) and she didn’t think there was anything else that would be relevant in a medical sense.

She was a little curious on exactly how the new marine biologist, and medic, would act. The names never were mentioned, and she knew nothing about them. She just hoped they’d be good at driving the GUPS.

Shellington had all of his stuff packed up–he was actually staying in a hotel, as he wanted to get out of his dorm quickly. Inkling was actually still in Scotland–apparently they had decided on picking up him and the Professor in Scotland, then going to the Antarctic to pick up their medic. Shellington, obviously, didn’t mind though. He had said bye to Pearl already, as he wasn’t entirely sure exactly when they’d be arriving and just wanted to get it in just in case. Pearl was happy for him, clearly, and had only demanded he visit her(which really didn’t need to be said–he was obviously going to visit her at some point, and he was definitely going to talk to her over the phone at some point). Sure, he had to fill out this little medical sheet, but it was easy. He basically just had to put in his name, species, and then answered some variation of “no” or “none” to almost all of the questions.

Well, he did say that he slightly suspected he wasn’t neurotypical. But other than that he didn’t really need to write any other letters other than “N” “O” “E”, again not including his name/species. He was curious about the crew, though Inkling insisted on everyone meeting each other being a surprise of sorts. Shellington didn’t see the point, though he supposed he could deal. All of his stuff was packed up, and even though Inkling said that he’d be provided with supplies and everything he needed, Shellington still wanted to bring his own stuff. For two reasons–one, he wasn’t completely sure exactly what Inkling thought he ‘needed’, and two, he didn’t really have anywhere to put his stuff. He’d prefer not to bury it or force it on his sister, so it was better to take it with him.

Shellington was also ecstatic when he found out his room was also part of the lab–wasn’t that wonderful? If he wanted to research something or test something in the middle of the night, he could without worrying about people hearing him creep through the halls of the ship. It was wonderful. Something he wasn’t as excited about the fact that he’d likely have to help with gardening, and god forbid cooking. All Shellington knew how to make was pasta, (and that was barely!) and he had somehow managed to burn that.

To say the least, he wasn’t exactly the best cook or baker. He was glad when he found out Inkling would be doing a lot of the cooking, or at least helping with it, since he didn’t really have a secure role. Unlike Shellington, who had a role as a marine biologist, he mainly just chilled in the library. He had obviously wanted to go on the expedition, he just.. Wasn’t interested in doing everything.

While Shellington had to admit he wasn’t super interested in the ‘protect’ and ‘rescue’ aspects, those seemed a little too high action for him, the ‘explore’ bit was right up his alley. And he was sure he’d be able to do so much research! Living underwater in a submarine that’s constantly traveling around the ocean meant he could research so much! And, Inkling even mentioned how they could head into the deep cavernous trenches of the ocean, which would let up so many research opportunities.

Basically, TL;DR, he was excited for this. And the rest of the crew, (the rest of the Octonauts , he realized) was likely going to be there either tomorrow or the day after.

—

The Professor had called him at 4pm that next day. “Shellington, the ship’s here. Come to the port,” he had said, and Shellington scrambled, grabbing everything. He had already checked everything about 7 times over, and he glanced around his hotel room to make sure he had everything–fortunately, he did. Walking out of his hotel, walking to the port, and he saw Inkling. And he saw it. As he approached Inkling, he asked, “Is that.. It?” And Inkling nodded. “Quite wonderful, don’t you think?” he asked, and Shellington was speechless.

It was beautiful. It was clearly modeled off of an octopus, before the whole hybridization thing. The ‘head’, which its mouth doubled as a sort of opening hatch, (that currently had a ramp attached) and four arms all with large rooms attached. He could see a garden, a sort of play room with a ping-pong table, and two that seemed to have bedrooms. Inkling smiled, looking at Shellington, before motioning with his head to go up. Shellington walked up, bag rolling behind him, and as he walked in, there was a ladder.

A woman with mint green hair and a pinkish headband waved to him from the top. “Sorry, this is usually filled with water–ain’t right now, though, obviously. Just leave yer suitcase–we’ll get it, and just climb up the latter.” she instructed, and Shellington nodded, still in awe. He clamored up the latter, and looked around. “Mind waitin fer a moment?” she asked, and Shellington gave a thumbs-up. “I don’t mind.”

“Great.” she said, looking back down the empty bay. “Prof, can you climb up the ladder?” she asked, and he probably nodded or something because she said, “Great” again, and soon Inkling had climbed up the latter too, and Tweak pushed over a box. “There’s a much better chair in hq. You’ll see.” she said, grinning. “But, while I grab yer guy’s bags, do you mind showin’ Dr…” she looked to Shellington. He didn’t say anything for a moment, before realizing she was asking him his name, discreetly. “Just Shellington.” he said, and she nodded. “Do ya mind showin’ Dr. Just Shellington how to use the chute?” she asked. Shellington almost corrected her, but decided there was time for that later.

“I can do that,” the Professor said, and pointed towards the chute. “As you can see, this is a chute–it’s attached to tubes, that deliver us where we need to go. I’ll demonstrate, and you just follow right after.” he said, and Shellington blinked, a little surprised, before saying, “Fascinating.”

Just then, the Professor catapulted himself down the tube, and once he couldn’t hear the Professor, he shrugged, and launched himself down it as well. He landed flat on his face in the hq–where the other crew members were. He looked up, and the Professor seemed to have a sort of hovering chair, that must’ve been what she was talking about, he thought, and he looked at the others. A clearly cat-hybrid, with long-medium gingerish hair, cat ears (one with a little nip in it) and tail displayed, an eyepatch, and his face littered in freckles. A man with dark skin, white buzzcut, and a squarish mustache who he assumed was the Captain, and oh my goodness was that- “ DASHI?” he exclaimed, who immediately swiveled around, a look of confusion on her face. “Shellington?”

“You two know each other?” the white haired man asked, to which Shellington got off the floor, dusting himself off, and nodded. “Yes, we met at a cafe a little while back. I didn’t expect this to be the job you mentioned,” he said, looking around now. It was circular, like he was expecting from how it looked on the outside. There were some screens and a LOT of controls, some chairs, a table or two as well.

“I was wondering if you two would meet.” Inkling said, and Dashi and Shellington both looked at him. “I should elaborate, yes?” Both nodded, and everyone else was still at least a little confused. “Well, I was in Scotland because I know there was a school that taught marine biology there, and also because Dashi was heading there on account of being a flight attendant and was able to get me a slight discount. So, I knew you two were both there. Therefore, you could hypothetically meet.” he concluded, and now that Shellington was thinking it over, it made sense.

“Well, either way, everyone meet Dr. Shellington–who hasn’t already, I mean.” the Captain said, and Shellington clarified quickly, just as the woman from earlier was coming up through the chute, “Oh, you can just call me Shellington,” he said. She looked a little embarrassed, (probably because she accidentally called him the wrong thing) though didn’t say anything.

“Though, everyone should introduce themselves. I’m Captain Barnacles,” the Captain told him, and Shellington was glad he assumed right on that aspect. “I be Kwazii,” the Cat said, grinning. He thought silently, He must be a pirate or something. I doubt Inkling would hire one with a criminal record, though, so he’s probably a former one or one who didn’t actually do anything bad. He concluded. The woman spoke up, one hand on her hip as she took out a carrot. “I’m Tweak–the engineer.” she said, and Shellington nodded. That made sense. He was a bit curious about her affinity for carrots, though didn’t want to pry.

“Tweak, can you start filling the launch bay again so we can set for the Antarctic?” Barnacles asked, and she nodded. “Faster than you can say buncha munchy crunchy carrots–er, actually, it might be a little longer than that..” she seemed to contemplate silently as she jumped back down the chute. Shellington was just impressed she was able to land upright–he certainly couldn’t.

The Captain turned to Kwazii. “Kwazii, since you’re not doing anything, can you show Shellington around?” he asked, and while Shellington was a little silently disappointed that it wasn’t Dashi, he knew she was busy. “Aye!” he turned towards Shellington, a grin plastered on his freckled face.

“C’mon, where do you wanna see first?” he asked, and Shellington thought for a moment. “The Laboratory, of course.” he decided, and Kwazii shrugged. “Aye, then. Follow me,” he said, walking to a chute and motioning for Shellington to follow. He did a front flip before jumping in, exclaiming “Yeow!” and Shellington jumped in, bracing to get launched out. Kwazii landed on his two feet, and Shellington managed to at first, but then stumbled and fell onto the carpet. Confusion washed over his face. Carpet? Shouldn’t we be in the lab? He thought silently, looking up. Oh. A hallway. He quickly stood up brushing off his knees.

“You’ll get it eventually, matey.” Kwazii reassured, which Shellington silently appreciated, and Kwazii walked over to a door, which automatically opened. “Well, this be the ner-” he coughed into his arm, stopping himself. “Lab. Enjoy yerself.”

Ignoring the obvious accidental Kwazii calling him a nerd, (which, to be fair, he kinda was) he looked around. It was wonderful–the wallpaper was what he would’ve loved, and it was primarily green, his favorite color! He set his stuff down to his bed, glad that his suitcase had already been delivered there. He looked around the room–it had some things he hadn’t previously, like a microscope and once he looked in a few cabinets, an unholy amount of test tubes, which only added to his happiness.

While he was tempted to start organizing everything, he figured he should see the rest of the ship. “I’ll… let’s look at some other stuff–I’ll come back and organize later,” Shellington said aloud. Kwazii grinned. “Good. No offense.” he said, and Shellington took no offense. (he kinda ignored the comment entirely, actually) Kwazii walked out, motioning to the infirmary. “That’s the medical place. I don’t think we be allowed in, yet.” Kwazii said.

“That’s logical.” Shellington commented, and Kwazii nodded, motioning to the library. “It’s real big. Lotsa books. Personally, not interested.” Kwazii said, shrugging. “You don’t seem like the one for books,” he said, and Kwazii looked a little nervous. “Somethin’ like that.” which added to his suspicion, but he honestly didn’t care enough to really pry. He took a glance inside, and damn, Kwazii wasn’t lying.

There were a ton of books–Shellington assumed the Professor had a lot, but not this many! He glanced around, seeing that there were books on marine biology–a decent amount of them seemed to be, actually. He walked over, skimming them, not noticing the annoyed Kwazii in the background. It was all topics he knew, of course, so he didn’t read any at the moment, though he decided if he felt he needed to freshen up, he would come there. He looked to Kwazii, who was tapping his foot impatiently and gazing off into space. “Kwazii, is there anything else in the hallway or…?”

Kwazii, a bit surprised, looked back at Shellington. “Huh? Uh, naw, I don’t think that be. I’ll show you th’ kitchen, garden, and dining area next.” Kwazii said, motioning for Shellington to follow him, which he did. Kwazii launched himself down the chute, and Shellington followed after. He ended up crashing INTO Kwazii that time, (which he could argue wasn’t his fault, honestly) making them both fall over, Shellington on top of Kwazii’s back. “Shiver me whiskers..” was all Kwazii muttered, as Shellington spooned out apologies, before he shrugged, stretching, and then motioned to the room. “The dinin’ room and kitchen! Garden be upstairs.” he said, and Shellington nodded. “Makes sense.”

The dining room was nice enough–it was a plasticy yellow table, and the kitchen was honestly larger than Shellington expected. Though, it was just kinda an average kitchen, nothing special. (besides the fact it was on a submarine) Kwazii didn’t honestly seem to know what the things were called, and as he was motioning to everything, he just didn’t say anything about the stove or anything.

He decided not to really take note of it though, it was likely just him over-analyzing, after all. Kwazii showed him up to the garden, and Shellington looked over the array of fruits and vegetables. It was nice that he would certainly be eating a much better diet then his (now former) college years. Instead of instant noodles, (both of ramen and mac n cheese) he would be eating meals with actual nutritional value behind them!

He was sure there was some type of artificial meat stored away as well, but that wasn’t really his taste anyways so he decided not to press on to where that was. Kwazii showed him to the ‘fun’ room, which was complete with a small tv with beanbags, and a ping-pong table. “Ey, Matey, wanna play me?” Kwazii asked, grinning. “No, I’d like to get the tour all done so I can organize,” he said. Kwazii was clearly disappointed, (he didn’t seem to be good at hiding his emotions, honestly) though didn’t protest like Shellington expected. Instead he grumbled, jumping down the chute.

“The other bits are me, the Captain’s, uh, hers, and probably be the medics,” Kwazii said. “Oh. I don’t really need to see those then. Thank you, Kwazii.” he said, to which Kwazii responded, “Yer welcome, matey,” and Shellington launched himself down the chute, stumbling and face-planting into the carpet. Walking into the lab, he grinned. He wanted to talk to Dashi later, but for now, it was organizing time, babee.

Speaking of Dashi, she was currently manning the ship–they were on the way to the icy terrain known as the Antarctic. Apparently there had been some problems with the Octopod and the cold before, but Tweak had come up with something that could hopefully keep it warm for the most part. Especially since it was just a quick stop–unfortunately, they couldn’t really do what they had done at the port earlier though.

Given the risk of the whole ship freezing and everything shutting down, they instead opted to just drive out the GUP C (Tweak said that it’d likely be best equipped if something did go wrong, plus while it wasn’t specifically designed to deal with the cold, it was the best suited for it) to grab Dr.Peso and head back to the Octopod. Plus, that way, they wouldn’t have to empty the launch bay, and instead could just let them in through the water.

Dashi honestly wanted to talk to Shellington once more–she considered him a friend at this point, and genuinely wanted to talk to him more. But, at least for now while everything was being set up, she simply didn’t have the time to do so. Especially given that Shellington was probably busy setting up all of his scientist stuff.

She was a bit curious about the medic, though. She had been told that Dr.Peso was part penguin, and that led her to think about something–wouldn’t he, (and the Captain, given how he was part Polar Bear according to his last name. Dashi might’ve done a little snooping around in the files of everything, though to be fair it was part of her job, wasn’t it?) overheat? Sure, being part human and primarily presenting as such probably helped.. Though she still wanted to know.

At the very least, shouldn’t they experience heat stroke more often? That would likely put them, and everyone else, in danger, wouldn’t it? She seriously had to ask about that. She’d phrase it as less of her just being mildly curious and more of like, a genuine concern, though.

And almost as if Meomi themself was answering her prayers, the Captain approached from behind her. “How is everything looking, Dashi?” he asked, and Dashi astutely nodded. “Good, Captain. We’re perfectly on course–heading at a steady pace to the Antarctic.” she said, professionalism lacing through her voice. To be fair, she just kinda did naturally sound like that–her voice was a bit monotone, for lack of a better term, at times and she tended to say things factually.

She’d been called blunt once before, though she could certainly hold a casual conversation, she just sounded a little less… ‘friendly’, again for a lack of a better word. “Wonderful, Dashi.” the Captain said, and before he walked away, Dashi decided it was now or never. “Captain, I have a question for you,” Dashi said, swiveling back. She knew there was nothing in their way for the next 15 minutes at the very least, and let’s say something came out of the blue, the ship’s auto steering could handle it.

The Captain, now twisting his body back to face her, “Oh? What is it?” and Dashi cleared her throat. “You.. in all respect, you are part Polar Bear, correct?” she asked, and the Captain was a little confused, and for a moment Dashi worried she had gotten something wrong, until the Captain said, “Well, yes, but.. I don’t quite remember telling you that,” he said, confused. “Oh, I.. I saw it on the files.” she said. It wasn’t a lie. She just wasn’t saying that maybe she was being a tad nosey and was purposely trying to find information. (She will say, she was a bit weirded out how that pirate didn’t seem to have a last name. Kwazii, was it? All she knew is that he was hired and was very athletic, and was part cat. Though that was obvious just from looks)

“Ah. I see. Well, you’re correct, about that. Is that all?” he asked, and Dashi shook her head. “No, just clarifying. What I wanted to ask was.. I’m a bit confused on how you aren’t overheating–and how our new member, him being a Penguin and all, won’t either. I’m just worried it could cause some sort of damage or problem.” she again, wasn’t lying. Just not displaying the full reason–she was more so curious if anything.

“Ohh, yes, I suppose I should explain that. You see, I have a cooling suit–it’s.. Well, don’t tell, but it’s actually pajamas. Once we pick up the new uniforms though it’ll be incorporated into those. It basically just cools down my whole body, and Dr.Peso will get one too, on account of him also being used for frigid temperatures, “ he said. “I see. That’s all, Captain.” she said, and Barnacles nodded sharply before walking away. That’s right–they would be getting proper uniforms soon. They had sent in forms of any sort of preferences they wanted–Dashi only requested that a skirt be compatible. Inkling had (albeit a tad secretly) shown her the main colors, and she had a pink skirt that she thinks would be wonderful with it. Currently though, she was wearing a sweater. She hadn’t gotten the chance to wear it, even if it was cute, in Australia as.. Well, obvious reasons.

But now she had the perfect chance! They were heading somewhere frigid, after all. And again, it was adorable, plus once the uniforms got in she doubted she’d really have a chance to wear it again. Soon, they would be landing. As trusty as the auto steering was, it was better to just stop. Apparently they had considered shifts, but it was vetoed quickly.

After another few hours, it was ‘night’ completely. It was a bit hard to find out given the timezones, though most of it was planned (partially by the system) and not something to worry about. Dashi scanned for creatures, and fortunately there wasn’t any in the area like she was hoping. Beginning the landing protocol, she stretched, and stood up. In all honesty, she didn’t mind sitting all day. She imagined other people would hate it, though she really didn;t mind. Especially with the wonderful views of the ocean… that she hadn’t been able to take any pictures of. With that, she sighed–she knew she couldn’t go out yet, especially without the suit and the oxygen and everything, but.. She still wanted to.

Though, she decided in order to cure her utter boredom, she would visit Shellington. She knew where the lab was, or at the very least she was sure she could figure it out. Of course, she got it right on the first try, swiftly entering the hallway and peeking into the lab. There was Shellington, and hell that was a lot of stuff. “Shellington?” she asked, and his head turned back, not dissimilar to an owl. “Dashi?” and his confusion faded when he realized he was right. “Hi–what’re you doing here?” he asked. It was phrased a little rudely, but Dashi presumed that likely wasn’t the intent. “Wanted to see how you’re doing, since the Octopod’s landed for the night.” she said, and Shellington looked surprised. “Wait, it’s–nighttime?” he asked. “Almost, yes. Tomorrow we’re getting the medic in the GUP C.”

“.. oh. I have so much more to organize–” he muttered, and Dashi decided to offer. “I could help?” “Oh, really, thank you- I appreciate that,” and just as she thought he was going to accept her proclamation, “though, no. I need everything exactly where I want it, and you clearly don’t know where all of it goes, so , uh, yeah.” he looked back to his stuff. “Make sure to sleep though. You’ll have time tomorrow, especially since you’re not going to pick up Dr.Peso.” she said, and Shellington nodded. “Oh, right, sleep. Yes, I’ll- yup. I’ll sleep. Later.”

Dashi had a feeling he wasn’t quite in the mood to talk more, so she shrugged, deciding to retreat to her room despite her mild worry that the guy would get little to no sleep. She changed into her nightgown, (though she had a feeling she would just start sleeping in her uniform once she got it) brushed her teeth, took a quick bathroom break, and her nightly rituals were primarily done. Putting in her headphones, she laid down, curling up under the covers. She was glad she had her music with her–she and Koshi surprisingly had pretty similar tastes, so whenever she listened to said music it reminded her of her little sister. That next morning, she got up bright and early. She had a very fortunate ability to just think of a time that she wanted to wake up at, and she could do it as long as she wasn’t unendingly tired and wanted to wake up early. And that wasn’t usually a problem. Stretching out her arms, she put back on a sweater. She launched herself down the chute after brushing her teeth, landing upright.

To little surprise, the Captain was already up. “Dashi, hello. Good morning.” he said, and Dashi nodded back, “Good morning, Captain,” she greeted. She sat down in her swivel chair. “Starting launch, sir,” she said, pressing some buttons and the Octopod was ready to launch. “Go ahead.” he said, giving a sharp nod of approval. She pressed the final button, and the Octopod shook for a moment, before it propelled itself off the seafloor and they were now floating. “Turning on auto-steer,” she prompted, tapping the button on the screen, and the Octopod went into action, sailing for the Antarctic.

“When will we arrive, Dashi?” the Captain asked. “In about a hour at the most.” Dashi said, not turning to face the Captain and instead prompting to continue to look at the screen. “No large schools of people or storms, Captain.” she said. She was surprised they were so lucky–she’d honestly been expecting at least one storm or roadblock somewhere. Things were going.. Shockingly smooth.

And the trip itself was also surprisingly smooth, they got there without any complications–Dashi just hoped the luck would keep up while they were picking up the medic. She landed the ship, after making sure there wasn't anything that could possibly be damaged there, and then a face came on screen. The captain in his buzzcut + squarish mustache glory. “Everyone, report to the Launch bay.” he said, and Dashi hopped out of her chair and into the chute, launched herself down and landing in the launch bay.

The GUP C–a GUP complete with a tow line that was lightly based off a whale, (it was certainly the one with the least obvious resemblance) was the one chosen. It had also been decided that the Captain, obviously, along with Kwazii would go. Inkling approached with some fish biscuits–seriously, those things were SO good, Dashi wondered what the hell they were made of–as a snack for the ride.

Barnacles, of course, accepted the gift. Kwazii was exhilarated, excited to finally be going OUT there. And then, Tweak granted him something. “I don’t have the fabric, so it’s not technically done, but.. These helmets work. Just put 'em ‘round yer neck and press the button, and y’all will be sealed away from the water.” she said, and again clarified, “Again, not technically done. They’ll be prettier when I get the fabric.” she said, and the Captain nodded.

“Thank you, Tweak, Professor.” he thanked, and turned to Kwazii. “Ready?” he asked, and Kwazii, wide stanced and fisted balled up in utter excitement nodded. “Aye, matey!” he exclaimed, sharp teeth barred in a grin, tail swishing back and forth rapidly behind him. Barnacles got in the GUP, Kwazii front-flipped into it after him, and they set off after clipping on the helmets Tweak had given them, along with putting air tanks in the gup. Maybe a few too many, it was really just a precaution if anything.

“It’s going to be a long ride, Kwazii,” the Captain said, glancing slightly worriedly. “No worries! I be able to… deal!” Kwazii said, clearly someone forgot to think through the sentence before saying it, Barnacles thought, chuckling a little to himself. “What be so funny?” Kwazii questioned, pursing his lips. “Nothing, Kwazii,” Barnacles reassured.

Kwazii, tapping his still somewhat long nails, had his tongue stuck out and Barnacles just knew he was bored out of his mind, and suddenly Barnacles noticed as he stopped, shrinking away a little and he would be lying if he said he wasn’t a tad worried. “Kwazii? Are you alright?” he asked, and Kwazii looked back up at Barnacles. “Uh, aye.” he said, and Barnacles knew he was a liar at that moment. “Mhm,” he mumbled, unconvinced. “I just….was thinkin’ about.. Me old crew.” Kwazii said.

Oh. was all Barnacles thought. “I see. Would you.. Like to talk about it? It’s quite a long ride, anyways.” Barnacles said. It was his job as Captain to help his crew members–and even if he wasn’t super close with Kwazii yet.. He wanted to offer something. He hoped to be the first one his crew came to when they had any struggles.

“Aye.” Kwazii said, nodding a little. “Y’ see, I… the old–well, I’m sure he still be the Captain of the old crew, but he.. Helped me out when I was younger. Offered me t’ join his crew–and I didn’t know most pirates be bad.” he told him, and it almost looked like he was struggling a bit. Though Barnacles figured it was probably good to let it out now, not later. “They helped me with a lot–cut those lumps off,” I wonder if he got an infection or something? Not sure quite else he’d mean by lumps, the Captain thought, “Get the things, trained me t’ be a good pirate–thoughI didn’t know.. How terrible they could be. Cus, one day, I was told it was my first time on a proper pirate mission.”

Ah. That must’ve been where everything went wrong. The Captain thought. “I thought it be to celebrate. But, alas, no. I assumed we were killin’ vile beaties. We weren’t.” That was all Kwazii had to say about that–clearly, he didn’t want to elaborate. But Barnacles didn’t pry. He was pretty sure he knew what happened.

“Twas a party afterwards–o’ course, I didn’t have any fun. Snatched some essentials–rum, catnip, food, drinkin’ water, me things.” he said, leaning back against the wall of the GUP C. It was concerning to Barnacles how alcohol and cat-weed were listed above drinking water and actual food, (or honestly that those were even listed at all) though he figured it wasn’t best to try to psychologically examine Kwazii. He wasn’t qualified.

“Then I met ya.” Kwazii said. “Can I be honest?” Kwazii asked, and Barnacles would be lying if he said he wasn’t a tad worried about what Kwazii was going to say next. “I don’t think I would’ve lived if ya hadn’t showed up.” he said, and Barnacles figured that made sense. When he found Kwazii, he had been battered and bruised, clothes practically falling apart and little to no food and water left. “I’m glad I did, then.” Barnacles said, and Kwazii smiled.

“I be more so just happy y’ didn’t find me while super drunk” Kwazii said, shrugging. “You don’t have a drinking problem, correct?” Barnacles asked. A little invasive, but it was info that he needed to know. “No, nothin’ like that. Just… wasn’t doing good. ‘Gain, kinda thought I be damned to death.” Barnacles nodded. Sure, maybe not the best thing that he had turned to alcohol and weed, but to be fair he was stranded in the middle of nowhere. There wasn’t much else he could do.

And, now he had.. Some sort of support. He wasn’t alone. Barnacles had a sinking suspicion he’d have trust issues for a while. “I suppose that does make sense.” Barnacles said, still front facing to the windshield of the GUP. Kwazii, sitting at the back of the GUP, put his hands behind his head. “What ‘bout you?” he asked, suddenly. Confusion overtook Barnacle’s face. “What exactly do you mean?” he questioned. “Well, I mean, I know nothin’ bout you. Besides.. Like, yer a Polar bear, yer the Captain, and I know yer personality n things…”

Oh. That was true, he hadn’t really told anything about him. Sure, he shouldn’t be expected to spill his guts just because Kwazii did, though he figured it was good to at least talk a little about him before this whole Octonauts thing. “Well, I lived in the Arctic for years. Me and my twin sister, both. We were a part of this small organization, the Polar scouts. We basically just had little badges–for things like helping specific creatures, completing courses.. Everything like that.” he said, and he admitted it was a little nice to talk about it. He did miss his sister, after all. “Huh. Yeah that.. That be sensical.” Kwazii said. “Presumin’’ that was all fine ‘n dandy.” Kwazii assumed, and Barnacles internally debated telling him. “Well, not quite.” he said, and he practically heard Kwazii’s ears perk up. I decided to bring it up. It’s only fair to tell. He said, and sighed. “One time, me and the other Polar scouts decided to venture through a ice cavern–or cave, I suppose. We all often did it, so we thought it would all be fine.” he took in a deep breath. “It wasn’t. I fell into the ice, into a very cramped space down under. I was stuck in there for hours.” he shuddered.

Kwazii didn’t say anything–clearly intently listening. “Fortunately, of course, the other scouts found a way to get me out. Ever since then, though, I’ve had claustrophobia.” he said, and he just knew Kwazii’s face was scrunched up in confusion. “... Don’t act like I know big words like that.” he said, crossing his arms. “It’s basically a.. A aversion to tight spaces.” he just hoped Kwazii knew what ‘aversion’ meant.

“Oh, I see.” Barnacles would’ve said fear, but.. He had a hard time admitting he was scared of anything, he was a big, strong, leader–he shouldn’t be scared of anything. “Can’t blame ya. That must’ve been wretched.” Kwazii said, and Barnacles nodded lightly. “We are almost there.”

Barnacles knew Kwazii wouldn’t want what he had told him to get out to the crew, and he trusted that Kwazii wouldn’t tell anybody about his Claustrophobia. “Kwazii, maybe stay at the back of the GUP. I.. I think it would be better if I was the one who made the introduction.” he said, and Kwazii grumbled, but seemed to agree, sitting at the back of the gup. Barnacles honestly just hoped Dr.Peso was ready for them.

Peso had all of his things all packed up and ready to go, he had two suitcases. One was one of those ones that doubled as a backpack. He had been told that the whole submarine wasn’t coming–instead just one of the smaller ones, since they didn’t want to risk the bigger one freezing. There was another penguin who he didn’t have the name of who had all of the other crew member’s uniforms. Peso already has his own uniform on, as it had a cooling mechanism in it.

His whole family was there.(besides all of his cousins and aunts and uncles who lived outside of this area of the antarctic) His mother, his brothers, his sister, his aunt, his uncle, his cousin that lived there, and his grandma.

“ Mi hijo– I’m really going to miss you, okay? Call us sometimes, okay?” she requested, holding Peso’s face. “Don’t worry mama, I will,” and Pinto raced up to him, holding onto his leg. “Peso! You better call us, okay? Yeah?” Peso nodded, laughing a little bit. “Of course, Pinto.” he said, and his older brother and sister didn’t say much. “I’m happy for you, Peso,” Perita said, and her own twin, Pogo, nodded. And as if magic, a blue, ship looking thing arose from the water. It was round at the bottom, flat at the top, with a tow line attached. The windshield opened. “H-hello-” Peso greeted him. He, with his white haired-buzzcut, mustache, and dark skin seemed like the Captain. There looked to be someone else at the back, but in all honestly, he couldn’t tell. “Hello, are you Dr.Peso?” The presumed Captain asked, and Peso nodded. “Y-yes! I am.”

The man hopped out of the submarine, and motioned for Peso and the clothing guy to hand him the things. Clothing guy handed it to him first, and then Peso handed him both suitcases, which he easily took. Peso was a little surprised at how strong he was. “Do you.. Need help getting in the GUP?” he asked, and Peso presumed the ‘GUP’ was the submarine. He looked at it, a little worried about getting in. “I um.. I think.. Maybe?” he said, and oh no i’m making a bad impression.

The man held out his hand, and Peso grabbed on, and he was basically just put in the GUP. Peso might’ve been shaking a little. The Captain closed the windshield, and Peso waved, and the rest of his family waved back. And then the GUP dipped under the water, and Peso shook more. “Dr-” the Captain started, and Peso shook his head. “J-just Peso, please.” he said, and he nodded. “Well, Peso, I’m Captain Barnacles, and..” he motioned back, and a man with a eyepatch, ginger hair, cat features, and freckles thrown on his face revealed himself from the back of the GUP. “Ey, matey! I be Kwazii!” he said, grinning.

Peso couldn’t really stop his reaction–he was a little if not completely terrified. Sharp teeth, pirate speak, plus the eyepatch, this guy–was he a criminal or something? “H-h-hello” and he cringed internally at his stupid stutter, it was so bad and he hated it. Kwazii, who seemed.. Not really hurt, just a little annoyed at most, didn’t seem harmful. Though Peso had certainly heard most pirates were liars, so he really didn’t know.

“We’ll be heading back to our ship –the Octopod, now. It’s basically our home base,” the Captain said, steering around glaciers and navigating the icy water. Peso nodded–he knew some of this already. He was nervous around Kwazii, though he had no reason to actually hate him. Hate and terror are very different feelings, after all.

“How long will the ride there be?” he asked, and the Captain thought for a moment. “About thirty minutes.” he answered, and Peso didn’t know if he would be able to get through all of this. He was stuck in a small, in-escapable, submarine with a (potentially) dangerous pirate and a seemingly nice guy who he’s never as much as seen before. He’d be fine, surely.

A few minutes later, he wasn’t exactly fine. It had been primarily quiet, besides the pirate tapping his nails on the walls. “Oh, D- er, Peso, those forms you wanted everyone to fill out will be waiting in the infirmary.” Peso blinked–he’d honestly forgotten about that. He’d made those for some basic info. Incase if anyone got hurt, those were the things he needed to know. Especially if they were like, knocked unconscious or something.

“O-oh- that’s wonderful, thank you,” Peso said, fidgeting with his hands and looking down. He just hoped this wouldn’t drag on much longer.

Eventually, after that.. Utterly torturous ride, they arrived, and Peso’s mouth gaped open in shock. Octopus looking, and he couldn’t really make out the rooms, but they looked nice. Looked like there was a garden… and was that a ping-pong table in one of them? He wasn’t completely sure.

As the ship maneuvered its way into the other, bigger, ship, Peso’s awe certainly didn’t lessen. The room that he would come to know as the launch bay later on was bigger than he thought it’d be, and even if he had a little trouble getting out of the GUP C. The three of them were greeted by a woman named Tweak, who was apparently the head engineer.

“Howdy, you must be Dr.Peso,” she had said, grinning. “I’ll take y’alls bags to your room, and I’ll meet back up in the hq,” she said, grabbing Peso’s two suitcases and launching herself down some sort of tube. The Captain seemed to notice Peso’s utter and complete confusion though, so he clarified. “That’s the Octo-chute, it’s a system of tubes so that we can get around.” the Captain said, and Peso nodded. “H-how easy are they to use?” he asked. “Shellington–the uh, science guy–kept fallin. Everyone else be able to use ‘em just fine though,” Kwazii jumped in. Peso nodded, still somewhat-to-completely terrified of the guy, so he was shaking a little. At least if he failed horrendously, someone else was, too. “Kwazii, do you mind showing him?” Barnacles asked, and Kwazii nodded, grinning and launching himself down the chute.

Barnacles then motioned towards it. “Your turn now,” he said, smiling. Peso didn’t think he could really refute that–this was the Captain, the leader, after all. Nodding, he hesitated before hopping in. But, after a few moments of waiting from the Captain, who looked a little concerned now, Peso (shockingly) sucked it up, and hopped in. Surprisingly, it was actually pretty easy–it was a lot like bodysurfing, which was one of the only things he was good at. He sucked at sliding down hills, but bodysurfing was genuinely easy for him. He landed upright, with a bit of a wobble, and all of his presumed Crew members were there, He walked away from the chute, and the Captain shot out from behind him, and he put his hands behind his back. “Crew, this Peso. Our medic. And, we have also got everyone’s uniforms, which we will hand out in a moment.” he said, holding up the bag with all of the clothes. “But, as we wait for Tweak, everybody introduce themselves.”

He cleared his throat, putting down the bag and walking to what Peso assumed was the front. “I know you all know me, but I will introduce myself again. My name is Captain Barnacles PolarBear. You can refer to me just as Captain, or a abbreviation of such, if you prefer.” he said, then motioned over to a woman with looped cornrows and hair-clips. “Oh–um, yes, hello. My name is Dashi Daschund–though you can certainly just call me Dashi. I’m the I.T worker–I’ll be helping with steering and managing the ship and its systems.” she said, utterly and completely professionally. Peso just hoped the others wouldn’t speak like that, because then it’d be expected of him.

The next person in the arbitrary ‘line’ had short, shoulder length hair and didn't seem to realize he was next. Dashi rolled her chair over to him, giving him a bump with her elbow. “Oh! Apologies. I’m Dr. Shellington Sea-otter. It’ll be wonderful to meet you all. And, just Shellington is quite alright, I should mention.” he said, smiling.

Next was that older fellow, the Professor. “I’m Professor Inkling. I’m sure you all know this, though I’m sure I ought to clarify. I’m the founder of this organization, and I’ll primarily just be helping out or reading in the library. I will be preparing or helping to prepare many meals.” he said, smiling and bowing his head a little.

Do we not have a proper cook? Peso wondered, though didn’t say anything.

Then, the pirate. “I be Kwazii!” he said, grinning. Peso blinked–did he not get the memo they were supposed to say their last name, and at seeing everyone looking at him a little confused he cleared his throat, continuing. “K-Kwazii, uh, Kitten!” he said, and in all honesty, it was obvious he made it up on the spot. Peso doubted it was on his medical form.

Suddenly then, the woman who Peso had assumed was Tweak, jumping out of another Octochute. “Oh, we’re introducin’ ourselves, yeah? Well, I’m Tweak Rabbitson.” she said, smiling, and everyone looked at Peso. “Oh– I’m.. I’m Dr. Peso Penguin, though just Peso is fine,” he said, hands intertwined nervously.

“Wonderful, then.” the Captain said, picking up the bag. “I’ll hand out all of your new uniforms, now. Peso, I’ll show you around in a minute.” the Captain said, and Peso nodded.

Sure, this whole thing was certainly nerve-wracking and a little less than terrifying, but yet Peso was very excited about what was to come. He was going to help people, more than he had ever imagined before this.

#octonauts #fanfic #captain barnacles #octonauts dashi #octonauts kwazii #octonauts peso #octonauts barnacles #octonauts tweak #octonauts inkling #octonauts shellington #2 more re-uploaded chapters and then these will be slowing down!#also btw i've said this before BUT i wanna say #there is no ships in this au/fic!#so any ship-art i make in the style of this au isn't canon!#(i do have my ships though so you might be able to tell LMAO)

27 notes · View notes

pantpisser9000 · 1 year ago

Text

Combined together, Chapter 7: One mark, then another.

“C’mon, Tweak!” Kwazii begged, “Just for a test drive, matey!” Tweak, hands on her hips, reluctantly shook her head. “Last time y’ took ‘er out on a test drive I had to spend a whole day repairin’ er.”

“I be careful this time, I swear, matey!”

“Mhm. And that’s what y’ said last time, Kwazii.”

“Twwwwwwwwwwweakkkkkkkkkkkkkk please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please ple-”

Tweak threw her hands in the air, “Fine, fine.” she relented, but as she walked over to the lever –Kwazii already jumping in the GUP by this point–she whipped out her pointer finger. “Don’t wreck her completely, please. Thanks.” she says, and Kwazii holds up a thumbs-up, and Tweak pulls the lever.

The GUP B, with Kwazii inside it, obviously, rocketed out of the Octopod. Tweak let out a heavy sigh, leaning against the panel. “He’s gonna crash.” she muttered.

Kwazii, hands on the wheel, sped around the bright ocean, sunlight filtering through the salty water he was currently stirring up with his fast, bright orange, shark-like GUP. His GUP. He grinned at the thought–it was nice to have something that was his, and that he knew could be repaired (even if it was to Tweak’s dismay). Making loop-de-loops and doing flips and narrowly avoiding rocks, Kwazii was having a grand ol’ time steering the GUP B through every twist and turn, doing any and every trick he could think of. He was having so much fun he didn’t realize how far away from the Octopod he’d gotten. Coming up on what looked like a small island, Kwazii decided a narrow turn would be a good challenge, a sudden jolt to the left. And that was what he did as he sped towards the island, making a sudden turn to the left. His eyes widened when he saw was right in his path now–a whale. He couldn’t just ram into it, so in the spur of the moment, he made a sudden turn again. Just upwards this time, launching him out of the water backwards, and Kwazii’s head thunked against the glass of the GUP B’s top window.

“Yeow..” he muttered, twisting himself so that he was now upright, sitting on the glass. He was surrounded by wet sand. He grit his teeth. Pressing the button on his helmet’s collar, he spoke. “Kwazii to Octonauts, Kwazii t’ Octonauts,” he said, though he was only met with static. He was too far away. Leaning back, he looked up at the GUP B’s controls. Pressing the radio button, he spoke again. “Kwazii t’ Octonauts, Kwazii t’ Octonauts?” he asked. Just more static. He groaned, leaning back against the cool glass. He honestly had no idea on how to get out of this predicament he was now in. He knew he had to make some sort of plan, though. Even if that was usually up to the Captain, not him. Kwazii just did the dangerous stunts and did things that needed to be done quickly. Still, he thought. He wasn’t sure how long it’d take for the Octonauts to find him, and… he was a little thirsty. His first thought was to try to open up the bottom, but he figured that might not be the best idea. Because, first of all, Tweak’d be pissed, and second of all, he didn’t know if he could, anyways. Especially without the help of Barnacle’s strength. Until, he remembered–the window could open. Maybe not the best idea, but… he was already getting restless, and he doubted he was lodged too deep. Taking a deep breath, he pressed the button on his helmet and the bubble like glass formed over his head. And then, he pressed the button for the windshield, and the sand only moved a little. He honestly had expected it to pour in–but he supposed since it was wet, it stayed in place (besides the slow inching that it was doing) better for some reason. He didn’t question for long, though. He wasn’t the type to do so, honestly. So, he dived into the sand, and he was never more thankful for his helmet. Swimming (?) upwards (hopefully) through the sand, it was hard to do so given how thick it was, but he managed to burst out. He glanced behind him. The GUP B, flipped over onto its front, was lodged in the sand behind him. That was good, it wasn’t buried or anything. And, it somehow didn’t seem too damaged, which he was glad about. He didn’t want Tweak to ban him from driving his favorite GUP, after all.

Still, he was stranded on an island. Trying his radio again, he was met with static. He supposed that it wasn’t just the sand stopping the signal–it was the distance, too. His first thought was to try to get the GUP B out of the sand and try there, but especially given how it might not work, he decided against it for now. It was getting late, the sun was beginning to set. What did he need to survive again? Oh, right.

Food, shelter, water, and fire. He knew there was some emergency supplies in the GUP B–some water, a glow stick… Matches too, probably. No food, to his knowledge, though. He groaned. He knew he should’ve brought some fish biscuits! But, he needed to figure out how to get the GUP B out of its place, lodged in the wet sand of this (seemingly deserted) island. He’d need a shovel or something, obviously. He looked around–the leaves on the trees were kinda.. Cup-shaped.. Though it wouldn’t be able to scoop sand, especially not wet sand. There were some coconuts. He could try throwing one against a rock and see if it cracks open. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea that totally wouldn’t go badly. He flicked his claws out, shimmying off his octo-boots so those claws could be released too. Walking over to one of the many palm trees, he grinned, and sunk his fingernail-claws into the trunk. And then he sunk the next one in, but higher. And he propelled himself upward with the grip from one of his feet, grabbing onto a higher spot on the tree. He continued with this little cycle until he was near to the top, leaves just barely not clouding his vision. Steadying himself, breathing in, and then he jumped, grabbing onto one of the coconuts–it only took a moment for it to rip off from its growing place and plummet to the ground along with Kwazii himself. He groaned, laying in the warm sand. He grasped his head, moaning, and he got up shakily. The coconut hadn’t broken from the fall, unfortunately. Of course, Kwazii didn’t give up.

He yoinked the ball off the ground and sauntered over to a particularly sharp rock, and then he raised his hand, coconut in his grip, above his head. “Arr!” he yelled as he chucked it against the thing. It was at that moment that he learned the fault in his plan as the coconut hit him smack-dab in the face, causing him to stumble backwards and fall back into the grainy sand. He mewled. “Yow..” rubbing his temples and sitting up, he looked at the coconut–or rather, the two halves of the coconut. “Well I’ll be a sea monkey’s uncle..” he muttered, looking at the split coconut. He grasped one half, and looked around. “Now me just need a stick…” he muttered to himself, standing up.

He put back on his Octo-boots off the ground, and taking a glance around, it wasn’t hard for him to find a washed up piece of driftwood, and he grabbed it, attached it with some kelp and other suspicious methods, and he had his own (albeit crappy) little shovel. And now it was time to start digging.

He scooped up heaps of sand, forming a rather large pile, until he could successfully unlodge his beloved GUP, and flip it back over into its rightful position–upwards. Reaching inside, pressing on one of the panels, he grabbed the emergency supplies. Sitting down on the sand criss-crossed, he opened it, and it had what he expected. Clean water, glowsticks, matches, and a seaweed snack bar. He was kinda hungry, so he ripped open the seaweed snack’s biodegradable packaging and chomped. He figured the Octonauts would find him soon, right? Either way, after finishing his snack, he looked back at the sky. The sun was getting closer to going to sleep–and Kwazii didn’t have shelter. Besides the GUP B itself. He could just hide out in the GUP, but he didn’t really want to risk sinking back into the sand. Taking a quick glance around, he decided to head into the brush, GUP B in tow. Stringing together some kelp or seaweed or something, which he tied around his most beloved GUP, he tugged it along with him through the palm forest. He wasn’t really sure if it could be considered a forest, actually? He shrugged to himself, towing it along, before he noticed something. He grinned, canine teeth as prominent as ever. He lucked out this time–a cave. He let go of his seaweed leash and rushed in, taking a glance. It looked empty, at least from his first observation. Going back for the GUP, he dragged it into the cave, (and grimaced at the noise of metal against the rock–Tweak would be really annoyed when he got back from the scratchings) and he sat down, tired out. Just in time, too. The sun had set, and he was tired. One night couldn’t hurt.

***

He groaned when he got up–his back hurt from sleeping on the hard, pebble-littered ground of the cave he was residing in. Yawning as he got up, doing some stretches, (not unlike the ones that like. Actual cats do) and eventually standing up, just a little light shone through the cave. Kwazii sighed. The Octonauts hadn’t found him yet? That was… odd. He figured they’d come faster, but maybe they were choked up with an unfortunate circumstance. A thought or two of worry pierced through, thinking things like what if they don’t want to find me? But he shook those away. He was pretty useful, most of the time. Though, he knew not to trust that they would come at the same time–he knew he couldn’t trust them because of things like this.

Shaking those thoughts of doubt away, he decided to focus on surviving. He’d already eaten his only food, and he was hungry for some breakfast. He debated having some coconut juice, but given his lack of luck when getting the first fruit and the fact it wouldn’t be all that filling, he decided against it. He couldn’t eat fish, obviously. Partially because he didn’t have a fishing rod and mostly because it would be incredibly immoral (and a bit ironic considering his job). No coconuts, no fish… seaweed was on the table, wasn’t it? He knew there was a lot of it. He’d eaten seaweed salad before when he was traveling with the Blackclaw pirates, and it wasn’t the best (in his (that he considered completely correct) opinion), though it would satiate his hunger.

Thinking about it, he was fairly certain he could just munch on it straight off the beach, actually. If seaweed salad was just seaweed cut up and put into a bowl basically, couldn’t he just…chomp? No harm in trying… he thought to himself. Giving his GUP a loving pat, he walked out of the cave, and back onto the beach.

There was quite a bit of seaweed, unsurprisingly, lying washed up on the beach. He walked over, picking up one of the slippery greens, and dropped it into his gaping mouth. He immediately spit it out as soon as he crunched. “Eugh,” he muttered, dusting off his tongue, “Damned sand…” he looked at the piece of seaweed he just spit out. He wasn’t going to go baby-bird style and just try again with that piece, and instead walked to another part of the beach. He squatted down, picking up a piece of seaweed. Sand was stuck to it. He tried dusting it off, but that didn’t really work. Looking at the briny sea, he figured that he could just… wash it… in there.

Wading into the water, slimy seaweed in hand, he got up to about his knees when he bended down, washing off the seaweed. Lifting the now sopping seaweed out of the water, he held it stretched out with his hands, not unlike how you would hold a piece of cloth you’re squeezing the water out of (He wasn’t doing that, though his hands were in a similar position ). And he bit, right in the middle, and he chewed. It didn’t taste all that great, and he dropped the remainder of the seaweed that was still in his grasp back into its watery home. Trying his best to chew, he squeezed his eyes shut.

Ew ew ew ew ew ew-

He eventually swallowed it down. It was gross, grosser than the salad that one time. It didn’t fill him up completely, though he’d lost his appetite at that point. That was one problem solved, at least. Walking out of the salty sea, he heard the smashing of sand under his blue octo-boots. He figured that since seaweed wasn’t exactly the tastiest, (nor the most filling) he could try looking for different food? Or water, actually. He had fresh water with him, though he knew it wasn’t a lot. Just two bottles. And, if he wasn’t able to find any other food, that’d make it worse–the salt ingrained within the seaweed just made him thirstier.

Wandering back into the brush, he glanced around. And suddenly, he heard something new. His cat ears twitched, listening in. He cupped his ear with his hand, and he grinned. “Rushing water!” he exclaimed. Trying to keep in his excitement, he shut his mouth and listened in. It took a little of wandering, but he eventually pinpointed where the sound was coming from, and after a little of careful listening, he got closer and closer until–

A beautiful lake–or pond? Honestly, Kwazii didn’t know all of those terms. Whatever it was, there was a waterfall gushing water into it. Kwazii leaned down, looking at the crystal-clear water. He bended down, lying himself across the muddy ground. He didn’t care much about getting the wet dirt lathered on his shirt, he just wasn’t the type. Sticking his tongue out, he lapped the water. Not bad. He thought to himself, standing up and attempting to dust off his muddy shirt, to no avail.

He wiped off his mouth, and glanced around. He didn’t notice any food. Until, some small little berries caught his eye–he didn’t know what type, but they looked familiar, for some reason. A normal person would be nervous about them being poisonous, but Kwazii? He was daring enough to take that damn risk, and honestly none of his fellow crew members would. Peso would likely not even try, or even just end up recognizing them, and eat/not eat them accordingly. The Captain might try it if it looked okay, but only if desperate enough, and would only let the other members try when he was sure it was safe. Tweak might try, actually. Though, only if she truly, really, had to–plus, she usually had at least four or five extra carrots on her. It was less likely to come to fruition for her. Shellington wouldn’t even try or, like Peso, might recognize it and eat/not eat accordingly. The Professor would probably pull a book out or just remember and know whatever type of berry it was, and would act accordingly.

The point was, Kwazii was the only one out of the octonauts who was actually daring enough to dive right damn into it, and go ahead and eat those berries without a second thought. And that was exactly what he would do–as soon as he got across this pond. Stepping back, getting into a running pose, and gritting his teeth, Kwazii ran. And he flew across the pond, (his cat-bits certainly helped) and his momentum ended just at the ridge, and his chin hit right there. His body was plunged into the water, and he squirmed in the liquid, splashing about and gripping onto the muddy banks desperately. His fingernails, that now were claws, gripping on the bank. He managed to shimmy himself up on the banks, scooching across the ground. He was, surely, coated in mud by now. He pushed himself up, standing up. He looked over at the berries. Walking over, he plucked one off the bush. Popping it into his mouth, he chewed. Kinda sour, though bearable. Plus, it was certainly better than seaweed.

So, he popped a few in, chewing up berry after berry as he sat on the ground. He looked down at himself, covered in mud, and he just shrugged to himself. If the Octonauts came, he’d get new clothes. And if not, this wouldn’t be the only time he had lived in dirty clothes. He was… full enough, now. So, he picked off another bit of berries, took off his hat, put the berries in, and held it in a way that his hand was covering it. Walking further back this time, he made a mad dash and jumped across, this time just barely making it over, but still tripping and face-planting into the mud. Fortunately, the berries were safe, though.

Standing up from the mud again, he took a deep breath, and walked back to the cave, sauntering on. He snacked on a couple of the berries while he walked, and when he got back, he was tired. He placed his cap down in the compartment of the GUP B. Then, he looked at the side. Since the rest of the Octonauts weren’t probably coming, he figured he should at least track time. And since it was basically the end of the day… he flicked out the claw on his pointer finger, and pressed it against the metal side of the shark-like mini-submarine. And he scratched, his ears pressed down to the side of his head. It wasn’t an enjoyable noise, though. Claw against metal. One tally mark.

Hopping into the GUP, he curled up inside. He was tired, after all. Just a sleepy guy. And so, he and his sopping wet, muddy clothes, sat inside of the orange GUP and Kwazii promptly fell asleep.

***

The Captain was worried. Kwazii left around 12ish hours ago. His helmet’s tracking seemed to be out of range, and the GUP B’S either broken or somehow also out of range. Tweak hadn’t really been paying attention to where Kwazii was going, and the routes didn’t save, (A feature Tweak promised to implement later) so they had practically no way of knowing where he went. And knowing how unpredictable the ginger was, it would be hard to guess. Barnacles knew he had a history of running away, but the last time he’d done that, it’d been with his previous pirate crew. Who were bad people. He knew for a fact that the Octonauts, Kwazii included, were not bad people. They’d all joined for one reason or another, but all they’d done so far was some exploring, rescuing, and protecting. Plus, Kwazii enjoyed it. Barnacles had pretended not to notice when he grinned at the food and how quickly he scarfed it down because he was used to having to fight for his food and get it as speedily as possible because otherwise he might not get much food at all, and now he didn’t have to worry about that. The vegimals always cooked an overabundance, anyways (which was useful as everyone always had a fish biscuit or two on hand, or at least in the GUPS). Barnacles noticed how happy Kwazii was when he learned he had his own room and not just sleeping on a likely falling apart hammock. He noticed that Kwazii was so reckless with the GUP B because he knew it’d just get fixed up again, (despite Tweak’s annoyance to the fact) and that he seemed protective over it already. The Captain was observant;it was part of his job, so he’d noticed all these things.

He noticed things about all of his crew. Peso, for example; really cared about his family and just others in general, was very passionate about his job, was nervous all the time but was easily encouraged by Barnacles (or just anyone, though he noticed he tended to be the most motivated when it came to him. Maybe it was the Captain status, maybe it was something else,) and he got spooked easily. He hid behind Barnacles (or Kwazii on occasion) when he got scared.

Barnacles had a slight suspicion that Peso might have some father-related issues, though that was just a guess. Either way, the point was, Barnacles was observant. And he knew Kwazii well enough by this point to know that he wouldn’t just leave, especially not in the way he did. Making it known to Tweak that he was leaving? Odd. The fact that most of Kwazii’s belongings (besides his spyglass and the clothes he’d been wearing) were still in his room, even his rum and catnip? (Barnacles knew he would’ve brought those if he was trying to ‘escape’ for whatever reason, he’d mentioned that he had brought those when running away from his old crew). Plus, even if Kwazii was stupid, he was smart enough to bring more food and water than what was just in the emergency supplies.

So, because of all of this, Barnacles knew Kwazii wasn’t intentionally leaving them behind. He was probably stranded somewhere, if anything. He just hoped he was alright.

That morning, right when he woke up earlier than usual, (before becoming a Octonaut he had survived off five or six hours of sleep, and now he got around eight to twelve, but today he was going back to his old schedule) he got changed, walked into the kitchen, quickly ate some fish biscuits, (as well as tucking some into his pocket) and walked down into the launch bay. He’d asked Tweak to prepare the GUP A for him, so he didn’t have to wake her up early. When he glanced over into her room, he chuckled. She was passed out on the floor, game controller in her hand while text saying “WASTED” was on her screen. He peeked back over at the GUP A, and suddenly, he saw Peso, launching out of one of the tubes. “H-hey, Captain!” he said, and Barnacles was mildly confused, before remembering he’d announced this yesterday. They’d been looking for a little while, and when he couldn't find Kwazii after a hot minute, Peso had practically demanded he get some sleep (“Captain, I’m a medic, I know what’s best f-for you. You have to get some slee-” “Peso, I appreciate it, but-” “No, Captain,” and Peso had tugged on his sleeve, and Barnacles reluctantly turned the GUP around. Sure, he could easily overpower Peso, but he was right. He needed sleep). He’d told everyone he’d be getting up early to search, and he didn’t expect anyone else to, though they were welcome to join. Seemed like Peso was the only one to take up his offer.

“If- No, when, we find Kwazii, he might be hurt.” Peso explained, though it wasn’t necessary. Barnacles knew that was certainly part of the reason, though he also knew it was because he genuinely cared about Kwazii and wanted to help with the search as well. So, Barnacles let Peso into the GUP, and pulled the lever. Peso (very reluctantly and surprisingly steadily, though the Captain knew he shouldn’t be surprised. Peso had literally done surgery–of course he was steady) drove the GUP A through, and then Barnacles turned on his helmet, swam down through the launch bay, pressed the big red ‘close/open’ button right inside of the mouth, and quickly swam out before it closed. He climbed into the GUP A, taking over driving. It was still early, so it was a little dark. Barnacles noticed how scared Peso was–it didn’t surprise him that he didn’t like the dark. Made sense with the information he’d gathered about the penguin-hybrid. Either way, the Captain decided to go in the complete opposite direction that he had gone the day before–sure, it was possible he hadn’t noticed the GUP lodged somewhere, but he didn’t see a bright orange shark-like metal submarine anywhere, so he figured that covering more ground would be better. He was driving relatively fast, surveying the area. Peso was looking out one of the back windows, looking. Barnacles just hoped that Kwazii was on land, or a air pocket, or something.. And that he hadn’t already..

He shook his head. Something told him Kwazii was too daring and motivated to just… give up. It wasn’t in his nature. While he didn’t believe in the supernatural, he still felt as if.. Well, he didn’t think Kwazii was a ghost. He chuckled. Kwazii’d somehow break that and become a ghost despite the odds, just to spook people. Be a little prankster. And Barnacles hadn’t come across any random pranks. So, therefore, Kwazii couldn’t be dead. He cruised through the salty seas, until he saw a glimpse of orange. Stopping the GUP A in its tracks, he let the helmet incase his helmet, putting on a air tank. Peso looked at him in confusion. “I believe I saw something orange,” he explained, and Peso nodded. “I-I’ll come with. Incase he’s hurt.” Peso said, and the Captain let him tow behind him as he splashed into the water. He waited a moment for Peso to dip into the water, and once Peso had made the plunge, they swam downwards.

The bottom of this part of the sea was rocky, some urchins. The Captain lifted up some bigger rocks, and Peso just scanned the area. Barnacles figured that maybe Kwazii was in radio distance, now. Pressing the button on his collar, “Captain Barnacles to Lieutenant Kwazii, Barnacles to Kwazii, are you in the area?” he asked. He was met with static. He took his hand off the button and shook his head. “Let’s go back into the GUP, Peso,” he said, and Peso nodded. They swam up, clamored into the GUP A, and began to drive along again. Peso, looking out the side windows, Barnacles looking out the front one, scanning the entire area. Neither of them saw anything in the murky water. Eventually, they stopped for a quick lunch break. Barnacles sat on the ground beside Peso. He was criss-crossed, Peso sitting on his own knees. Barnacles pulled out the bag of fish biscuits, and laid them out. He heard the static of the radio picking up, then. Glancing back, he ran over. “This is Captain Barnacles,” he said through the GUP A’s microphone. “Heya Cap, this is Tweak. Just lettin’ ya know that Shellington and Dashi are going out too–they’ll be goin’ in a separate direction t’ cover more ground, though.” she said. “How is it goin’ for y’all?” Tweak asked.

“Unfortunately, not all that well. I thought we had found him, but we didn’t. Must’ve been a fish, I suppose.” the Captain said. “That ain’t good. I hope y’all find him,” Tweak said, and Barnacles could hear her crunch on a carrot. “Good luck. Over ‘n out, Cap,” she continued. Barnacles sighed. “Over and out.” and the transmission ended. Barnacles then came to a realization. He pressed the radio button. “This is Captain Barnacles to Octopod, specifically Dashi,” he said, and he heard Tweak’s voice. “Huh? Oh, uh- They haven’t gone in the GUP E yet, Cap’n.” she said. “Excellent. Can you get Dashi for me?” he asked, and was silent for a moment, and then agreed. “S…sure, Captain.” she said, and he could hear her shouting.

“This is Dashi, Captain. What do you need?” she asked. “Tweak, do we know how much time Kwazii was… driving around?” he asked. “Um, no. But, I know the GUP B would’ve ran out of battery in at least three hours after the fact. Why?” she asked. “How fast can the GUP B go?” he asked. “Pretty fast. I’m sure I have it written down somewhere, why, Cap?” she asked again. “Dashi, do you think –after Tweak gets how fast it can go–get a radius of where he could possibly be?” he asked. “Oh- of course, Captain. I don’t know how I didn’t think about that. I’ll get right on it,” she said. Barnacles nodded. “Excellent. Thank you, Dashi and Tweak,” and he finished, “Over and out.”

“Over ‘n out, Cap!” and the transmission ended once more. Barnacles walked back over to Peso, picking up a fish biscuit and tossing it into his mouth. “I hope he isn’t hurt,” Peso muttered, nibbling at a biscuit. “I’m sure he’s just alright, Peso. Kwazii’s… He’s good at worming his way out of bad situations.” Barnacles said, and Peso nodded. “Still. If h-he, uh, crashed, he could have a broken bone or a concussion or-” he was stopped by Barnacles. “It’s okay, Peso. I’m sure he’s fine,” Barnacles said, and Peso meekly nodded. “And, even if he isn’t, you’re a fantastic medic. The best of the best, I’m sure,” and Peso tried to interrupt but the Captain simply did not let him. “So, if he is hurt, you’ll be able to patch him up in a jiffy.” he said. Peso nodded, with a little more confidence this time, and finished his fish biscuit.

Barnacles gobbled down a couple more before returning to steering the ship, letting Peso clean up the remainder. Dashi sent them the radius, and they were getting to the edge of it, and Barnacles started going along the rim. Unfortunately, when it was getting late enough for the lights of the GUP A to be required, they still hadn’t found Kwazii. Barnacles looked at the barely-awake Peso in the back of the GUP, and took a glance at the battery. It wasn’t low by any means, but they would need to start heading back.

As they were driving back, Peso fell asleep, leaning against the wall. Barnacles was obviously disappointed that they hadn’t found Kwazii yet, but he knew they would. They had to. As he cruised into the mouth of the Octopod, Tweak greeted them. “No luck?” she asked. Barnacles nodded. “Not a sign of him.” Tweak frowned, “I hope he’s alright,” she said. The Captain agreed. He scooped Peso up in his arms, and Tweak giggled. It was a little funny, with the size difference and all. This huge, towering man, carrying a ridiculously small adult man. Barnacles carried him to Peso’s bedroom, and laid him in his bed, tucking him in and switching out his usual hat for his nightcap. It was just to be polite, really.

He clicked off the lights as he left, mumbling, “Goodnight, Peso,” and he heard a little muttering back that he presumed was just sleep talking. He sighed as he exited–he was really hoping they’d find Kwazii. Deciding to go straight to bed as well, he did his nightly routine, (ate a couple fish biscuits in place of dinner, though) which was a schedule he liked sticking to when there wasn’t something going on:

1: Eat dinner (Fish biscuits, today)

2: Do a small workout

3: Take a ridiculously quick, freezing cold shower

4: Brush teeth

5: Change

6: Sleep

So, his fish biscuits were finished. He didn’t go all out, instead just opting for some sit ups, some push ups, and some pull ups. He did about 30 of each before deciding to take his nightly shower, finishing up in record time: four minutes and twenty-three seconds. After he finished, he speedily brushed his teeth, set his alarm for earlier then the usual one once more, and changed into his pajamas, putting on his nightcap, and tucked himself into bed after flicking off the lights.

Kwazii woke up again. He remembered where he was–curled up in the GUP B, stranded on an island. It was the second day–the others still hadn’t found him yet. He straightened his back, cracking it with his hands running down it. He pulled out his cap from the area in the GUP–the berries were still inside. He popped a few into his mouth in place of breakfast. He was still kinda hungry, but he decided instead of eating the rest of the berries he’d search for more food. That way, even if he came back empty-handed, he’d still have some food.

Securing his hat and his only food inside, he got up. He looked down at himself. His shirt was still lathered in mud, and his pants weren’t the cleanest either. He pulled some of his hair closer to him–it wasn’t the cleanest either. It was quite dirty, actually. Not surprising, though he wasn’t looking forward to taking a shower, especially not being so thorough. He took showers almost every day, though he forgot a lot. And they were usually as short as possible while still making him cleaner–instead, he opted to use hefty amounts of deodorant most of the time instead of showering more thoroughly. Wandering around the island, he didn’t see much. Rocks. Palm trees with coconuts he couldn’t crack without his skull cracking along with them. Shells. Bushes. Grass. Nothing interesting, (at least by Kwazii’s standards) and certainly not anything he could reasonably consume. He figured to go back to that water–try to clean off a little bit, try to scrounge around for more food.

So, he trudged over to that area, (a branch smacked him in the face while he was walking more than once, but that was irrelevant) and he walked over to the bank of the pond or lake or whatever. Leaning down, his hands gripping onto it, he leaned down. And he supposed that wasn’t the best idea as his arms weren’t as spread out that time, and he ended up plunging into the clear, cool depths of the water. Coughing as he emerged from the liquid, he looked around. A little fish-girl (mermaid, basically) popped out from the water’s surface, though quickly dived back down. I wonder if there be food in the water, Kwazii thought to himself. He didn’t have his air tank with him, so he decided to revisit that later if he had to. Instead opting to climb out of the water, and searching for food on land. He shimmeyed his way onto the bank, breathing heavily. He walked over to the berry bush. He only could find one or two–the rest had been taken by himself or by presumably other creatures.

After a little more scrounging, he found some nuts. Not the best food, but he supposed it’d do for lunch. He figured he was in an area that was warm all year-round, so he wouldn’t have to worry about winter, (he, at this point, had figured the Octonauts had abandoned him–he lied to himself about not being sad about this fact, and how he expected it) at least hopefully. He was pretty sure he was in what the pirates called the ‘warm zone’, (apparently it was called the.. Egg-waiter or something? He didn’t care) and he figured food would be growing year-round. He ate the nuts, and it wasn’t very filling, though he figured it was good for now. It would be fine to satisfy him for the moment.

He also was itching to leave, though. This was part of preparations to do so–get as much food as he could, then figure out how to charge the GUP B, bring some other stuff, and leave. Surely, it was a good idea. He’d be able to live out his pirate dreams once more! (He ignored the thoughts at the back of his head thinking about how much he’d miss his crew and how he still loved being an Octonaut and-) and he continued to gather things. He wasn’t going to leave all that soon, (and totally not because he was waiting, still, because he was hoping so badly that the others would come back for him-) likely in a week or so. Or at least he’d start building a raft of some sorts in a week. He was really just wandering this island, and he only managed to find some more nuts which he just ate immediately. The place was barren of actual… food. He might have to go back to seaweed, and he almost barfed at the thought.

…though he supposed if he cooked it, it likely wouldn’t be so horrible. He wasn’t the best chef, but he knew how to make a fire and he was sure he could figure out making seaweed all crunchy and nice, like how that seaweed bar was or the seaweed chips were! He raced back to the cave, grabbing his lighter and his makeshift shovel he’d made prior. Walking over, he used the shovel to dig a hole in the sand, gathered some rocks to put around it. He took the coconut off the stick and scooped up some water, just in case. Getting some kindling, (dried grass and twigs, mainly) he threw it into his makeshift fire pit. Grabbing a few bigger steps and using the ti-pi method, he (albeit badly) made his starter. He also found three other sticks–two Y shaped ones to stick in the ground, and one more to put over. It took a minute, but he yoinked some seaweed (and washed it to make sure there wasn’t any sand) and then he lit his fire with the flick of the lighter. The fire crackled, and Kwazii grinned in accomplishment. Sure, it was kinda hard to screw this up, given the lighter, but he was still proud of himself! Lying the seaweed over the stick on the fire, he watched it crispin and cook. It actually smelled decent.

Eventually, after a little bit of waiting, he figured it was good enough. He touched a piece, and immediately slinked away- “YEOW!” Obviously, it burnt him. Most things that are hot do, after all. He dumped the coconut water on the fire, and then when that didn’t entirely put it out, he scooped some sand onto it. It was gone within a flash after that. He waited, impatiently so, (tapping his thighs, pacing around, doing a few backflips, stretching, humming a tune, ect.) and he eventually waited long enough to eat the seaweed.

It was crunchy, which was what he wanted, but still tasted off. Certainly not like that bar or usual seaweed snacks, at least. Still, it worked. He ate a few pieces, then he was done with a surprisingly hefty amount of leftovers. He washed out the coconut, and put the remaining crunch-ified seaweed into the coconut, and the lighter back into his pocket. He looked up at the sky. The sun was already setting, and he walked back to his cave (he was thinking of it as ‘his’ cave now, given how nobody else had claimed it, to his knowledge) and ducked under the shelter of the rocky hole. He swung out his claw, and made another tally on his GUP. He wondered how many he’d end up making.

***

Tweak leaned against the wall, crunching a carrot. The Captain was talking about searching for Kwazii some more. Of course, she was worried, but at the back of her mind, she wondered if Kwazii wanted to leave? Kwazii always seemed like he was holding something back, like he was hiding something. What was he hiding? Tweak didn’t know. She knew one of his deepest secrets, being that he was trans, (even if he didn’t know that–it was a complicated situation) though he didn’t seem to care all that much about hiding that. And, she could only assume, his whole pirate past thing. He didn’t seem to like talking about it besides those stupid monster stories, and that didn’t really give much info.

Maybe someone had found out something horrible he’d done and he’d ran off out of fear? It didn’t sound like him, (nor did Tweak think he was the type to do something that bad) but she supposed it was an unlikely possibility. He also could’ve just wrecked the GUP B and was stranded somewhere–that was the more likely possibility. He was pretty good at driving when he wasn’t been all bonkers, though Tweak had seen how excited he was to get in that GUP. He was just a little too excitable, and boom, ended up stranded on an island or something (or at least Tweak hoped it was an island, and not the bottom of the damn sea). The Captain then said something that perked her interest. “Since we haven’t found Kwazii for um.. Almost five whole days now, everyone is required to go out and search, besides Inkling and the Vegimals.” He looked to Tweak. “Can you prepare the GUPS, Tweak?” he asked, and she nodded, tossing the green bits of her carrot into her mouth. “Sure thing, Cap. Faster than you can say buncha munchy crunchy carrots–I just needa know which ones, is all.”

The Captain cleared his throat. “I’ll be taking the GUP C,” he then looked to Peso. “I-I’ll go in the GUP E, Captain,” he said. Dashi spoke up, then. “Me and Shellington will go in the GUP A.” she said. Tweak nodded. “I’ll take the GUP D, then.” she launched herself down the Octo-chute, and re-entered into the launch bay. She got the GUPS prepared quickly, and of course the Captain and Peso were first down. Dashi and Shellington followed soon after, along with Tunip. Tweak left herself in the GUP D a little after those three exited.

All of the other team members had established where they were going, so Tweak went in a direction nobody was. And, nobody had gone that way yet, either. As she cruised through the salty sea, she caught a glimpse of something orange near the bottom. She quickly stopped the GUP D, and jumped out. She swam down to the ocean floor, looked around. “Nothin…” she muttered to herself, sighing. Part of her was glad that wasn’t Kwazii, though. Because if he had been stuck there that entire time… his air would’ve ran out long ago. Tweak hopped back in the yellow, crab-like GUP, and decided to move a couple bigger rocks with its ‘arms’, just for good measure. Once again, there was nothing, so she decided to keep going forward. The water was empty besides a few fish hybrids swimming by–just nothing. She decided to take a little snack break, driving the GUP D up to the surface of the water and retracting the glass shield. She leaned back, ran her hand through her hair. Yoinking a carrot, she took a bite and looked out over the horizon. She saw nothing but water stretching on for miles–as far as she could tell, at least. Taking a bit out of her carrot again and tossing the greens in too, as she chewed she got a little sad. Where the hell was Kwazii?

Sure, he was reckless and stupid, but they should’ve found him by now, right? A thought crossed her mind, what if he’s buried underneath the rubble and y’all are too lat- but she shook that away. That was absolutely NOT the way to think at the moment–she knew she had to keep up hope. For the crew, too. She mumbled, “Kwazii, wherever y’ are…” and she leaned back. “Just… get back ‘ere. Give a sign, or somethin.” just as she said that, she saw a spurt of water. Raising a brow, she wondered. She wasn’t really religious or superstitious, though….maybe that wish had come true? She quickly resealed the GUP D, and dove back under the water.

She gasped–a giant whale hybrid. She didn’t know the type, (Shellington certainly would, but Tweak did not) though she throttled full speed ahead. Luckily, the whale didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry, as she swam pretty slowly. Tweak stopped right in front of the whale, turning on the microphone. “Heya there–” she said into the mic, and the whale slowed. She tilted her head to the side. “Hello, there,” she replied. Tweak looked at the whale–very gorgeous. She had barnacles on her back, short flowy hair, and was a dark grey-blue ish color with a light ombre near her torso. “What do you need, small one?” she asked. Tweak gulped, pressing the microphone button again. “I uh, was just wonderin’, have you seen…a orange GUP?” she asked. The whale looked confused. “GUP?’ she asked. Tweak blinked. “Sorry, submarine. Looks like a shark.”

“Ah, that sounds more … familiar. Yes, I saw a small orange creature almost crash into me.” she said. Tweak blinked. “D-did he- uh, crash on the bottom?” she asked. The whale shook her massive head. “I don’t believe so. It went up and I did not see it come back down.” she said. Tweak furrowed her brow. “... did he go up in this area?” she asked, and the whale woman shook her head once more. “He did not. It was..” she pointed with her giant flipper-arm. “Somewhere in that direction, I believe. I think there was a island nearby.” she said, and Tweak grinned. Kwazii was hopefully on that island, and hopefully fine. “Thank ya!” she said, and the whale just nodded. Tweak pressed the radio button. “Tweak t’ Captain Barnacles, Tweak t’ Cap.” she said, noticing the whale swimming away. The Captain came through quickly. “Barnacles here, what is it Tweak?” he asked. She smiled as she spoke, “I might have an idea of where Kwazii could be, Cap.” she said. “Can you send me the coordinates, Tweak?” he asked. “Yup, in a minute.” she responded. “Good work, Tweak. Ending transmission,” and the Captain cut off the connection. Tweak pressed on the map in the GUP, and she zoomed out. An island was just a little ways away, so she pressed on it and sent it out to everyone. She just hoped Kwazii was actually there.

***

Kwazii had laid down on the sandy sea shore, (tongue twister moment) looking at the sky. There wasn’t much else to do. He had food and water. He was just tired. And the Sun was as nice and warm as ever, and the sand wasn’t too hot on his skin. He’d taken off his boots at this point. He just closed his eyes, wondering if the Octonauts were searching for him. Because surely they would’ve found him by now, right? He sighed.

He was getting hungry. He slipped back on his Octo-boots and walked back to his cave, grabbing some of the dried seaweed and dropping it in his mouth. He still had a lot left–he’d made an unholy amount the night before out of pure boredom, so he had food for a while. Even if it was kinda gross. He looked at the GUP B, and since he figured that the Octonauts probably weren’t coming for him at this point, he’d make another tally. Grating his claw on the metal, the fifth tally was added. Honestly, it made the GUP B look pretty damn cool. And, now, he realized he should start coming up with ways to leave.

He’d been waiting long enough. He knew how to make a simple raft, though he knew that likely wouldn’t hold the GUP B’S weight. He still wanted to take that with him–he couldn’t just abandon her! It’d be rude at the best. He remembered an old pirate tale;

The Tale of the Shocking Serpent.

It was one of his few memories from before the Blackclaw pirates. His grandfather, Calico Jack, had told him it at least two decades before. He must’ve been five or six, maybe seven? Though, Kwazii honestly wasn’t entirely sure of his own age. Either way, he remembered the memory decently well.

“Grandad, one more story, please Grandad!” a young Kwazii had begged. “Alright, alright. Calm down, matey,” Calico Jack had said, chuckling. “Hm,” he put a hand to his chin. “What about I tell you the tale of the Shocking Serpent?” he asked. A little Kwazii practically jumped out of “her” bed. “Yes, yes!” Kwazii had agreed, excited. “A long time ago,” Calico had started. “When I was just startin’ on me pirate journey,” he continued, “I made a rest stop at a coast. In South America, I believe. When me an’ Pete were strollin’ around,” (the Pete in question was currently maintaining the ship–he was a parrot-hybrid, though they were sometimes just called avians) “I found a murky stream. I beheld the knowledge of cleaning water, of course, so I decided t’ get some of it.” Kwazii was leaning forward, listening intently to this story.

“Just then, when I be collecting water in me container, a giant, slimy, snake burst out of th’ water, hissing! She be huge!” Kwazii gasped. “I be backin’ away, and yet she still hissed, and suddenly, she stirred up some electricity, somehow, and shocked me right out of me boots!” he said, and Kwazii was –ironically enough–shocked.

The Shocking Serpent. He wasn’t really sure where he was, but he figured that he was probably at least near or in South America. So, if he found a murky enough pond–not like the beautifully clear one he’d found before–he might be able to harness the beast’s power, somehow. It was a possibility. So, taking some seaweed and stuffing it in his pockets, he started his search. If he couldn’t find it, then he’d have to come up with something else, but he was determined to find the beast. Deciding to head in the opposite direction of the crystal-clear pool, he sauntered his way to finding a murky enough body of water that the slimy thing could be hiding in.

So, he walked out of the cave, and began the search.

***

It didn’t take long for Tweak to arrive at the island. It was further then she thought it would be, though it certainly existed–and was bigger than what she was hoping. She scoped around the water of the island, first, just in case if he didn’t land on the island, and she didn’t find anything. So, deciding to go up on the shore, she went into “crab mode”, releasing the GUP D’S ‘legs’ and ‘arms’. She walked around in it clunkily along the shore. She didn’t see the pirate cat, but she did see something that was interesting, so she hopped out of the yellow submarine. Looking closer, she realized–it was a fire pit. A cooking place, even. Tweak knew Kwazii was definitely on his own for a while, so it certainly wasn’t entirely bonkers for him to know how to make one of those. She inspected the stick that would’ve been roasting something over the fire, holding it up to her face. Licking it, she realized–it tasted like…sea salt. Seaweed, even. She put the stick back in its place. She knew the others were coming, but she didn’t see them yet. They were on opposite sides of the radius, though, so she figured it might take them a bit.

Deciding to look around a little more, her eyes widened in happiness. Foot prints. And ones that looked like they were made by the standard Octo-boots all of them wore. The boots were pretty smooth at the bottom, so they didn’t leave a design in the sand. There wasn’t any semblance of a design, so she was almost completely sure—Kwazii was here, or had been here. The main thing she was concerned about, though, was that she didn’t see the GUP B anywhere. No trace of it. Sighing, she decided to follow the footprints. They must’ve been pretty recent, she reasoned. Otherwise they’d likely be swept away by the wind by now. Following them, she only got to the beginning of the forest area–the footprints were obscured by grass and plants. She walked back to the GUP D, jumped in, and went back over to the footprints. The GUP D trotted on through the forest, and Tweak searched for any semblance of her friend and crewmate. She sighed. Nothing. Then she remembered–the GUP B had to be near by. Activating the GUP tracker, she grinned. Bingo. Drove the GUP D on over there and she came across a cave. She assumed it was a shallow one, so she hopped out of the GUP D, flashlight in hand.

She flicked it on, walking inside and looking around. A grin crept onto her face—the GUP B! But, alas, no Kwazii in sight. She jumped back into the GUP D, activating the radio. “Tweak to Captain Barnacles,” she said, and was almost immediately met with the Captain’s voice. “Captain Barnacles here–we’re cruising to your location.” “I’ve got good ‘n bad news, Cap’n,” Tweak said, munching on a carrot.

“What is it?” he inquired. “Good news, I found th’ GUP B, and it seems to be in… okay condition. A little scratched up and the front is a bit banged up, but other than that it’s decent.” she replied, leaning back and taking another bite. “That’s wonderful news, Tweak! What’s the bad news?” he asked. “No Kwazii in sight. I’ll look around a little more over here, but I haven’t even caught a glimpse.” she said. She could hear the frown in the Captain's voice. “That’s unfortunate. But there’s no sign he left the island, right?” he asked. “None. Actually, I found a firepit–that was pretty recently cooked on.” “That’s fantastic, Tweak,” the Captain exclaimed, “I’ll be there shortly.” he said, and Tweak clicked her tongue, “Right on, Cap,” she tightened her headband-goggles a little. “Over and out!” and she pressed the end radio transmission button. Deciding to search around the cave a little more, she hopped back out of the GUP D, and she wandered into the cave. Squeezing her eyes shut,she let her bnnuny ears come out and pressed one against the cold metal of the GUP B. Balling up her fist, she knocked against the orange submarine. Sounded the same as usual. Bending down, she ran her fingers over the surface–and was surprised to feel some tally marks engraved in the metal. Five marks. She groaned. “Seriously? That’ll be an annoyin’ fix..” she grumbled. She circled back around, and there was only a bump and a dent near the back, and the front was a little more banged up. Surprisingly, it wasn’t anything too bad though. She looked inside, opening up the panel. Her face scrunched up a little, and she took something out. Dried seaweed.

She took a cautionary bite. Wasn’t the best, but it was alright. She put it back immediately. The seaweed chips were a lot better, to say the very least. She took a few more cursory glances around, and Kwazii was nowhere in sight. She sighed, and decided to head back to the beach and wait for the Captain–he’d come up with some sort of brilliant plan, she was sure of it. So, she hopped back into the GUP D, and sauntered her way back to the shore, where the GUP C emerged, and the Captain jumped out. “Tweak,” “Cap,” “Any sign of him?” he asked.

Tweak pointed behind her with her thumb. “The GUP B’s dragged into a cave back there. No idea where Kwaz went, though,” she said. The Captain only nodded. “I see.” another GUP, the GUP E with Peso inside, surfaced. He hopped out. Barnacles faced him and then Tweak. “Tweak, do you think the GUP C’s towline can reach the GUP B?” he asked, and Tweak put a finger to her chin, thumping her foot in thought. “I think so. I’ll give it a shot,” she said, and the Captain nodded. “Excellent.” he faced towards Peso. “Peso, you and me, and when Dashi and Shellington get here–will search for Kwazii all separately. Knowing him…” he sighed. “We should try to find him fast, is what I’m saying.” Both Tweak and Peso sharply nodded. Tweak walked over to the GUP C, grasping onto the towline and securing it in her grip. Peso and the Captain had already headed off into the underbrush. She yanked, and dragged it with her all the way to the GUP B’s resting place–it was just barely long enough to reach the orange submarine. She hooked it on the ‘tail’ of the GUP B, and ran back to the GUP C, and began retracting the tow line–usually this would be a job for two, but currently the others had to work on finding Kwazii. Which, Tweak would resume to, once she did this. She heard the sloshing of water, and glanced over. The GUP A, with Shellington and Dashi inside. They both hopped out, Shellington stumbling a bit as he did. “Hiya Dashi,” Tweak said, waving, “Hi Shellington,” and the both of them waved back at her. “What are you doing, Tweak?” Dashi asked, polite as ever. “Just haulin’ the GUP B back in. It’s in a cave.” she said, and Dashi looked a little surprised. “I’ll help with that.” Tweak lit up. “Thanks, Dashi.” Shellington stood awkwardly, before speaking up. “I’ll just uh- I’ll just go search in the forest,” he said, waving and walking away. Dashi hopped in the GUP C. “I’ll control from here, and you tell me what’s going on where the GUP B actually is,” she said, and Tweak nodded, jumping out. She sauntered over to the GUP B, and hit her radio button. “Tweak t’ Dashi,” she said. “Dashi here. Should I start retracting the tow line?” she asked, and Tweak made a little nod. “Yup.” the towline started retracting, pulling the GUP B back, albeit somewhat slowly. The grating of the GUP B’s metal against the rocky floor of the cave made Tweak cringe. A little bit of pulling, Tweak told Dashi to stop, she repositioned, pulled once more, rinse, repeat. A very simple cycle, that after a little bit, managed to get the GUP B back on the sandy shore. Dashi hopped out of the GUP C. She and Tweak high fived. “Well, on with the search now, yeah?” Tweak said, and Dashi nodded. “Yes, I’ll see you in a little,” Dashi said. Both Tweak and Dashi wandered into the forest in different directions–which Tweak was a little disappointed by. She enjoyed spending time with Dashi, but oh well. She supposed that could wait for later–they had a ginger cat to find. She, in the GUP D of course, searched through the forest, clearing the branches obstructing her view. Eventually, after a little bit of scrounging around, she came across a murky stream. Deciding to head up it, she saw something familiarly orange. Turning on the microphone, she spoke, “Kwazii?” she asked. Suddenly, it turned towards her–the cat she’d known for a while now.

“Tweak, matey!” he cried, and Tweak un-encased the glass on the GUP D. “Kwaz, hey! Glad yer alright!” she said, and Kwazii immediately jumped up on top of the GUP D, sitting on it. “Be careful,” she warned, and he grinned. “I always be careful, me heartie,” he said, proudly displaying his canines. Tweak playfully rolled her eyes, clicking the radio button on the GUP D. “Tweak to Octonauts,” she said into the intercom, “Barnacles to Tweak. What is it?”

“Guess who I just found,” she said.

***

Of course, everyone was grateful that Tweak’d found Kwazii. Tweak also ended up not removing the tally marks on the GUP B, with Kwazii’s insistence. It would’ve been annoying, so that ended up being a good thing for her anyways. Kwazii didn’t seem like, permanently traumatized from the whole thing, which was also pretty good.

Kwazii had been overjoyed when eating actual food again for the first time–and even more overjoyed with the seaweed chips instead of the horrid dried seaweed he’d had to endure eating on that wretched deserted island.

#octonauts #octonauts kwazii #octonauts peso #captain barnacles #octonauts dashi #octonauts tweak #octonauts barnacles #fanfic #fanfiction #octonauts fanart #art #yes this is literally just a 10k word explanation for the tally marks on the GUP B #first chapter that isnt on ao3! woo!!#sorry this took so damn long LMAO #also im making a carrd for this fic! so yeah #next chapter shouldnt take nearly as long #honestly might release on christmas just as a little 'gift'

28 notes · View notes