Chapter Text
Being born in the Onaga clan always meant a little more freedom and independence then the Shark tamers or the Manta rays. Frye had to grow up fast as her parents were gone most of the month, coming back for a few days to check up on their kids and the clan. Her grandpa was the one who she went to for anything as a kid. Questions about how to cook, how to wash, how to do her hair and more. Once her little brother and younger twin sisters were born, she took up the responsibility of teaching them everything she knows about the family and more. Besides that, She didn't have many duties in her clan like Shiver or Big man but there was still important duties to do.
Most were easy, a few fun but Frye was about to learn about one duty every member of the clan had different ways of dealing with. How to deal with a sick eel.
She got the call at the end of the latest splatfest. Nessie vs Aliens vs Bigfoot. Shiver and Big man was gearing up for a celebration for team Nessie but Frye had to head home asap. The two understood emergencies always pop out of nowhere for all the clans.
A quick jog back home and Frye was greeted with two very distressed younger sisters who quickly grabbed both of Frye's hands and rushed their older sister to where the eels were kept. All of the eels were sleeping but the oldest eel, Goldie. The old eel was away from the others, laying next to a rock.
"Goldie wouldn't eat all day!" One of the youngest sisters said.
"And it's usually the first one to come for dinner." Said the other. The young twins let go of Frye's hands when she started to walk over to the old eel. It looked up at her and nothing much else.
Frye gave Goldie a pat on the head before looking back at her sisters.
"Don't worry. It's probably just missing ma. She's been gone longer then usual and missed her last visit. I'll take it from here. You two gotta get to bed. Schools tomorrow!" Frye watched the two run off to their rooms to get ready for sleep. Frye's attention went back to Goldie. The eel's skin was cold when she gave it a pat but maybe that's because it wasn't in the sleep pile with the other eels? Her sisters said it didn't eat today too.
"Alright, guess no partying tonight for me. C'mon Goldie. You need some food." Frye leaned down to lift up the old eel to carry it to the kitchen. It wiggled a bit but settled down when Frye was in the kitchen. Good at least Goldie still could react to when food was around.
What would a sick eel eat? Frye thought of a few things while putting Goldie down next to a vent with warm air blowing out of it. "Maybe you've got a upset stomach. Did you eat something you shouldn't have?" Frye asked the eel and waited for a response like it could talk back. She gave it another quick pat on the head before getting to work. Some chopped up shrimp went into the eel's bowl while Frye had put some chicken broth on the stove to heat up. A little broth could help the old eel eat right? It always helped when one of her own eels were sick. It really helped when her favorite eel, crunchwrap supreme, couldn't eat for a few weeks after getting some dental work done and couldn't chew properly. The broth was ready and was poured into the eel's bowl with the shrimp.
"Here you go. Goldie! Cooked with love!" She put the bowl of warm food in front of the old eel to see how it would react. It didn't do much but sniff at the food and take one lick of the broth before going back to laying still on the ground. Huh.
"Oh c'mon. I know I don't suck at cooking. What's the matter?" Frye decided to sit next to the eel, giving it pats and a worried look. "Did you really catch a bug or something?" The squid was starting to get more worried but there was some relief when Goldie started to take a few bites of food from the bowl. It wasn't much but a few bites was better then nothing. "There you go. Don't eat too fast or else you might puke. Trust me I know from experience." Frye kept talking to the eel. It seemed like Goldie just wanted company when eating. Her younger sisters were worrying about nothing. Soon the bowl was empty and Frye helped Goldie back to where the eels slept at night, adding the old eel to the sleep pile.
"You're fine but just in case, I'm taking you to the vet in the morning. Got it?" With one last pat for Goldie, Frye went to her room to get ready for bed. A day of singing, dancing then a night of worrying about a beloved pet of the family can take a lot out of a squid.
Just before bed though, Frye had to give her two partners a update.
DeepFriedEelDealer: heyyyy sorry i couldnt make it to the afterparty yall
TheLivingBlanket: You're good! Is the eel ok?
ACutAbove: The party was boring without you but you had to make sure your eels were ok.
DeepFriedEelDealer: yeah its my ma's old eel goldie it wouldnt eat and tried sleeping away from all the other eels it just wanted some company eating and it went straight to sleep
ACutAbove: Well that's great to hear. Are you still up for relaxing tomorrow?
DeepFriedEelDealer: maybe? im gonna do a triple check with goldie at the vet tomorrow morning but if all goes good im down for hanging
TheLivingBlanket: Goldie? Is that a new eel of yours?
DeepFriedEelDealer: no goldie belonged to my great grandpa and its just been chilling in our home for years ma took it as her own but with her and dad almost never being here its like a family pet
ACutAbove: I remember seeing that eel as a kid. I gave it some of my food once at a clan gathering we all attended and it let me pet it for a few minutes.
DeepFriedEelDealer: tryin to steal our eels that young huh
ACutAbove: I wasn't trying to steal. It was just begging for snacks. Seems like eel and eel tamers love their food.
DeepFriedEelDealer: its a trait! a good one anyways goodnight you two see yall tomorrow
TheLivingBlanket: Night sunshine! Night Moonlight!
ACutAbove: Goodnight Biggie. Goodnight Pointy.
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Cod Frye HATED waking up before the sun. Her alarm was going off, her eels were circling her above her bed and she could see her two sisters in her bedroom just waiting for her to get up. Well it was gonna happen. Might was well get it over with.
A hour later, the eels were eating breakfast, her sisters were eating breakfast, hell even her younger brother was home for once and eating with everyone. He usually was out the house by now and with his friends or spent the night over a friend's house but he was gone as soon as his plate was clean. At least he cleaned his dishes.
Frye helped her younger sisters get ready for their day, helping them get dressed, brushing their beaks, pack lunches and sent them off to school.
Now for the eels. Frye's eels usually went with her to Deep Cut's hide out after splatfests. The trio always took two days off, did some treasure hunting which the eels helped with or played with them in the wide open desert but today? If she was going to take one eel to the vet, might as well take them all.
One loud whistle from Frye and her eels were all outside, waiting for their tamer.
But not Goldie. No one could remember the right pitch of the whistle to get that old eel to come. Not even ma could remember. Frye had to go find Goldie, it didn't come out for breakfast. She looked by the rock from last night but it wasn't there. Close to where the eels slept. Not there. Great. No treasure hunting today but eel hunting?
"Coddamn it. Where did she go?" Frye searched high and low for the eel and was close to losing her mind when she finally spotted the old eel 20 minutes after she started looking. It was in her bed room, hiding under her blankets and in her bed. Oh no. Frye carefully moved the blanket off the eel's face, trying not to startle it.
"Hey are you still cold?" A quick pat for the Eel answered that question. Colder then last night maybe? She couldn't really tell. "I got ya. You don't gotta move." Frye allowed the eel to keep the blanket and decided to wrap it up in it while carrying it out the front door. There were so many thoughts going through her mind about what Goldie could have came down with. Was it going to spread to the other eels? Was it just a bad stomach bug? Only Cod knows and Frye lost all her train of thought when she went through the door.
To her surprise, the inkling was greeted to Shiver and Big man getting swarmed by her eels.
"What the hell are you two doing here?" Frye asked while getting Goldie readjusted in her arms " It's our days off!"
"And? We can decide how we want to do on our days off." Shiver was giving scratches to an eel in front of them. It wiggled happily.
"Ay. Ay! (We wanted to see if we could help with your sick eel problem. Anyway possible!)" Big man said after a couple of the eels moved out of his face so he could speak to Frye.
"Oh thanks guys but um.. Well, I'm taking them all into the vet to see if any of them got sick too but right now, Goldie is the worse." She moved closer to the two, showing her partners the old eel. It had huffed at the two and dug its' face into the blanket.
"She's cold. Didn't eat much last night and didn't eat anything this morning. I think she might have a little stomach bug."
"Ay.. Ay ay. Ay. (Oh poor thing... Old and sick is never a good combo. Here I can carry her to the place.)" Big man held his fins out to Frye.
"You don't got to. I can carry her." She stepped around the manta ray and started to head to the vet but Shiver held their fan in front of Frye's face.
"Let him carry the eel, Frye. You need to command your eels and you can't do that with your hands full."
Shiver was right. Commanding those eels took whistles, finger snaps, a flute sometimes and wrestling if they get too out of hand.
"Okay fine you got a point." She turned back around and faced Big man, who was still holding out his fins. he inkling carefully handed over Goldie to Big man. She trusted him with carrying it but it felt like her responsibility to take care of the eels as much as she could.
"Ay. (Light as a tire. Don't worry Frye.)" Big man said while adjusting his fins to make sure Goldie was comfy.
"I'm not worrying. I trust y'all and-" She was cut off by Shiver.
"You know we can tell when you're thinking too hard Frye." Shiver spoke up while giving a few of the eels pats and looking at Frye. "You get that focused look. Don't worry about having to do everything for your eels today. We're here to help. Remember?"
"And I'm grateful you two wanted to spend one of your days off helping, don't get that wrong but-" Frye was cut off again.
"Ay! Ay ay ay! (But nothing! We're here for each other no matter what so lead the way!)"
Goldie wiggled in Big man's fins until its nose was sticking out of the blanket and huffed again.
Frye wanted to say something but what? She opened her mouth but again, Shiver had held their fan in front of Frye.
"You can thank us later with some kisses and something to eat. Right now, focus on the eels, love." The fan was removed and Frye gave a nod and then a whistle for all of her eels to follow the group behind.
The sun was just reaching over the horizon as Frye lead her partners and eels to the vet. Well her clan called them a vet but this wasn't a normal vet. The clan had specialists in the family who looked after most things for the eels. Needed a eel to get it's tooth removed? No normal vet could wrangle a eel. You had to come out to the edge of SplatsVille, where the road turned to sand, buildings were a little smaller and the people were mostly scavengers selling what they found from exploring the desert. The 'vet' was just opening their establishment for the day when Frye yelled at Heikegani crab, making him flinch.
"For the love of everything, Miss Frye, please stop scaring me like that!" Only she yelled so loud this early. The crab turned to greet the inkling and members of the other two clans. Wait this early? "Why are the other two clans here and why are you here at this time?"
"Sorry Dr. Kiyomori! But I have an emergency. Goldie ain't feeling so hot and I need to have my eels checked up on to make sure there isn't a bug going around with them. Big man and Shiver said they wanted to help me." Frye explained while gesturing for Big man to come closer to the vet so he could see Goldie. The crab moved the blanket from Goldie's face and put a claw on its' forehead.
"That's... Come in. All of you. First I'm going to check on the other eels first. This just might be something going around the eels like Frye said." The crab opened the huge shutters on the side of the building for the eels to come into and unlocked the door for Deep Cut.
This was going to take all morning to check each eel but they had to make sure.