Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Lost Connection

"The Splatcast starts in 30 minutes"

A little jellyfish announced to the group of Idols knowned as Deep Cut, for them to know their day job about to start.

Big man was already leaving, advising to his friends and coworkers that he'll be waiting for them in his position. Leaving Shiver and Frye alone preparing themselves.

"Hey Shiv" Started Frye, trying to make conversation with the Octoling "Mind if I asked you a quick question?"

"Sure thing! What is it?" Said Shiver happily accepting their friends request while they were putting some of it eye make up.

"Remember when I made my Inkling charm?" Said the Yellow Inkling while grabbing her belt Inkling-charm.

"I do, you said that you really like mine when we met and when we formed Deep Cut, you did it for us to match, am I correct?" Asked Shiver, knowing that moment when they started doing their first moments as Deep Cut.

"Yeah, but I never thought of asking, where did you get it? Did the clan of yours gave it to you"

Shiver's gaze shifted from the mirror to her own charm to meet Frye's eyes. A wistful smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she clutched the charm in her palm. "This charm was given to me by someone very special, a really good friend of mine" She said while grabbing it and rubbing her thumb on it.

"Huh, interesting, when did that happen?" Frye, now with the curiosity in the clouds asked another questions.

"It was one night, in the forest outside the clan limits. I just managed to get a bond with Master Mega, and everyone makes a party because of it" Explained Shiver, remembering the moment that she was a wonderful kid of her clan. "But, as you know I don't really Ike parties a lot, so I went to the forest to clear my mind, since we'll it was a big responsibility"

"How old were you back then?"

"I dont remember clearly, maybe 10? 12? Not sure, but that's outside the topic" she responded since she wanted to told the charm origins. "What I remember is that I felt kinda overwhelmed, since we'll having a Shark was a big deal and a bigger responsibility, but after some time sitting in a log near the coast, then he came"

*Flashback*

"Hey Shiver"

"Oh, hey, didn'tsee you there, hehe"

"How do you feel?"

"Being honest with you. Scared"

"Really? Shiver? The self proclaimed Cold-blooded bandit is scared?" He teased

"Hey is not like that at all! Is just... I don't know if I'm really ready to take such a big deal and... I don't know, I kinda feel like I'm not ready yet" said a little with a sad expression.

"Yeah, I guess is kinda scary in that way, but if it makes you feel better I have something that I *blushes* made for you" he said while bringing up a little box, with a blue ribbon with a Shark teeth sticker on top of it.

"Really? For me?" Shiver couldn't hide the surprise she felt. While grabbing the box that her friend gave to her.

"Y-yeah! Cmon, open it"

And so she did, she unmade the ribbon and took the box cover to reveal a metallic charm that assimilated the normal Octoling swim form, this one had two red ribbons on two of the four holes of it.

"Its beatiful!! I love it!!" She said with extreme excitement.

"Im glad you like it, I got help from my dad to do it for you" He said scratching the back of his head.

"Wait, you did this yourself?" Shiver said with genuine curiosity and interest while getting closer.

"Y-y-yes, I made it mostly to help you as a reminder" he said trying to hide the blush on his face.

"A reminder?"

"Yeah! A reminder of how amazing you are, how incredible talented your shark taming skills are and will be and most importantly our friendship, since we'll, I'll be away for a time"

"What do you mean?" Shiver asked with concern, until she remembered the clan was running out of resources for their sharks "Is it about the shark resources?"

Exactly, as you know, my father is the one that's in charge of it, and since he's my only parent I have to go with him"

"Oh"

"But that's why I give this to you, in a way to make you remember that I'm out there, somewhere, and that I'll be back, promise!" He said while grabbing Shiver hands with his while both hold tight the charm, just to noticed seconds after and leaving their hands almost immediately with a intense blush.

"Hehehe, Ok, I hope you make your promise come true" she said with a little laugh.

"You can bet on it!" He said while smiling and putting his fist on his chest, as the clan symbol of promises.

"And also..." she was saying before throwing herself at her friend in a tight hug "...Thank you" she ended up saying with a wide smile while resting her head on her friend shoulder.

He happily return the hug, while saying "you're welcome Sharky"

*End of Flashback*

"Aww that was so cute" said Frye after hearing the story told by her partner in crime.

"Yeah, he was a really good friend of mine"

"Wait, what do you mean by 'was'?" Frye noticed that the octoling used was instead of is "did something happened?"

"Yeah... there was a terrible storm the days he and the ones under his father charge were outside, and when it was the time for they to come back... they just didn't, it was like they just banished"

"Oh no! What happened next?!" Frye asked with concern.

Shiver's expression grew somber, her memories reaching back into a time long ago. "The clan sent a search group to find the resources team, they fond some members, some of them had very bad injuries because of the storm collateral damage, but he and his father were never found," she explained, her voice carrying a hint of sadness. "Eventually, we had to accept that they were gone, that they had found a better place elsewhere."

"Wow, I'm... really sorry Shiv" Frye apologized, since she felt guilty of reminding her coworker of a bad time.

"Its ok Frye, thats why I always use this charm, as long as I have it with me, I know he's with me in some way" Shiver said while looking the charm.

"Thank coodness" Frye said while whipping some fake sweat from her forehead meaning she didn't asked anything bad.

"The splatcast starts in 15" the same jellyfish came back to advice to the girls iabout their job, before being on his way again.

" In a minute!" screamed Frye annoyed of the fact that they have to leave soon "before we go, may I ask one more question to you Shiv?"

"I mean, sure what is it?"

"Well, you always mentioned this friend of yours, but till now I don't think I had ever heard his name, so how was he called"

"Oh that!, yeah my bad, but don't worry his name was..." and then Shiver froze, she locked at the charm in her hands. Her eyes widened in realization, her hearts, sinking in her chest. How could she have forgotten his name? The memories, once vivid, now felt distant and faded. She searched the depths of her mind, desperately trying to summon his name, but it remained just out of reach. A lump formed in her throat as tears welled up in her eyes.

"I-I-I" she couldn't speak, more and more tears came to her eyes.

"Shiver, breath, you're hyperventilating" Frye said while getting close at Shiver and trying to sooth them.

At that point Shiver hugged Frye and started sobbing on her shoulder "I... I can't *hic* remember *hic* " Shiver choked out, her voice barely a whisper. Her hand instinctively grasped the charm, seeking solace in its presence, but it offered no answers, only a bittersweet reminder of what was lost.

Frye couldn’t do more than hug her friend in need, while rubbing circles on their back, while soothing her with words like 'it's okay, everything will be alright'

Meanwhile, the one thing was in Shiver mind while being comforted was that:

She couldn'remember his best childhood friend name at all.

To be continued...

Chapter Text

*Meanwhile in Inkopolis*

*BZZ BZZ BZZ*

An alarm clock sounds on the little table/desk of the apartment of certain Inkopolis Inkling

"Hmmm, five more minutes please" said the Inkling trying to reach the off button without getting out of bed.

"Wait, Oh nonono-!" *THUMP* *BONK*

Sadly this didn't work as he though for, because ended up falling on the floor, making the same alarm he was trying to turn off fell with him. Hitting him in the head.

"Ouch!" He said angrily while soothing the pain from his head.

"Walhuahah" a little creature, who was awaken by the noise of its owner, makes a sound of joy.

"Hey there little buddy" he says while petting the little salmonid on the head "Sorry if I waked you up"

"Wah!" Said the salmonid like it didn't happen at all.

"Well I'm out of bed now, mind as well get ever ready, since today is the day" He explains while getting himself off the ground and stretching out, before getting into some more fresher clothes.

 After finding a look he liked, he goes to the kitchen, where his childhood guardian and parental figure was already making breakfast.

"Well you look at that, sleeping beauty woke up in time today" the parental figure said in a Noisy way.

He was another Inkling a lot older than expected (one could swear he had more than 98 inkling years). He was wearing some casual clothing with a long apron and its own chef hat, he also was wearing a pair of sandals that he got recently.

"*yawn* whatever you say gramps, it isn't like I had much choice today"

"Yeah sure. Although that's menaces me think, why Splatville of all places?" Ask curiously the elder "isn't like better find a place around Inkopolis, like in the famous Inkopolis Square?"

"Being honest with you, I feel like I want to return to where I came from you know? Like I feel that I never actually belonged here in Inkopolis"

"And why's that? You have Blend in well in the past few years"

"Yeah but, I don't feel like I'm being like 'Myself', what I mean is that I feel like I'm pretending to be someone I'm not mean to be"

"I... I see sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable kiddo" the elder apologized while serving the breakfast for both of them.

"Don't worry gramps, it's OK. But I kinda wanted to know from a long time, why we didn't went back to the clan back then? When we recovered?" The Young Inkling asked to his parental figure in confusion.

"Well, you Answer my question, I better answer yours fairly" the older one said while sitting with him. "The most honest answer that I can give you is, that I felt like we didn't really belong to that clan"

"Huh? What do you mean gramps"

"You were too young to understand back then but, tell me now, you didn't something very common in that Clan?" He asked to his youngling.

"I... don't remember a lot of my life back then, sorry"

"It's OK child, as I said you were too young" The parental figure reassure him. "But the answer is that, they were mostly Octolings, for not saying all of them"

"Oh yeah, I remember! But what's does they being a different species have to do with this"

"It may not be a great deal now, but back then they had kinda of a grudge of us because of the great Turf War y'know?"

"But then, why they allowed us to stay?"

"It was because of...your Mother" he said with some difficulty because of the turn of the conversation.

"My... Mom?" The young Inkling asked,  confused and surprised for the answer, but mostly... melancholic since he... hadn't spent a lot of time with his mother because...

She passed away when he was only a little baby.

"What does my... mom have to do with that?" He asked again, with a little of worry on his voice.

"It's a long story, but I want you to know that, she was a very good Member for the Clan and they felt like they should return the favor even if they didn't like it"

"Oh... I understand. So they didn't think we belong with them"

"Yeah, but on the bright side, you were excellent making friends in there, that in some way help with the grudge, especially a certain octoling that I'm pretty sure was... more than a friend, hmm?" The elderly said while teasing his little boy.

"W-what! Nononoooo, that's not at all! She was a good friend and that's it!" He said while blushing a little bit.

"Hehe, relax kid! You know I'm messing with you"

"Hehe, yeah...yeah, but speaking of them, I kinda feel like I need to find them, like I own something to them" he explains carefully to not make it sound like a crush, because it's totally isn’t. Right? "And in some way, I feel like I, need to find them since... I don't remember a lot of us"

"Hmm... what do you mean by that son?"

"I mean that... I don't remember their name, and not even how they use to look like!" He explains getting more nervous with every single word that comes from their mouth.

"Hey, hey! easy boy, you need to breath" His guardian helped him by putting his hand on the shoulder of the boy.

"Yeah...yeah sorry" he says as he breaths in and breaths out slowly recovering his way "As I was saying, I don't remember a lot of her, but... I do remember a promise I did"

"And what's that?"

"That...I would come back someday, to see her again" He said as he hold a his hands on his chest. "The least I can do is fulfill that promise"

"Heh, I understand kiddo" say his old guardian as he stand up "but at least take your little fella with ya, I may raised you but the latter salmonid is yours. Besides you shouldn't be alone on the journey"

The young Inkling smiles gratefully. "Thanks, gramps. I appreciate it. I don't want to be alone either."

With breakfast finished and preparations underway, the young Inkling gears up for the journey ahead, determined to find his long-lost friends and fulfill the promise he made so long ago.

*at the train station*

Here they were, waiting for the train to finally arrive to Inkopolis for the Younger Inkling to start his journey along side his fellow salmonid.

Along them was his Parental figure, which decided to come with them for one last goodbye.

"Nervous kid?"

"Me? Hahaha... hahaha yes" he laughed at it at first just to answer with honesty the next second. "I mean, what if she doesn't recognizes me, what if she forgets me too, I mean, I hope not, but what if-" before he could continue his parental figure put his finger was press on his lips.

"Now now, you're worrying about it too much, I'm sure she'll love to see you again!" He assured his youngling "here, take this for the trip" he said as it gives the younger Inkling a large box.

He holds it, and with a little bit of hesitation, he opens it, being surprised by finding that is "Your Splatana Whiper?! You're giving me your most precious weapon?!" He exclaimed with worry but excitement at the same time.

"Correction, Now is YOUR most precious weapon, as you can see I'm old enough to use it, and instead of leaving it collecting dust in a corner, I guessed I could give to you since I'm pretty sure you will use it wisely"

"Wow... thank you so much! I promise I'll use it well!"  He happily said while holding the box close to him.

"Attention everyone, the Splatville Metro is arriving" a monotone voice sounded, along with a little jingle the sounded like a song of the Squid sisters.

"Well it seems is time for you to go" Said the older Inkling.

"Yeah..." the younger one answers with some sadness on his voice.

"Hey, look at me" the older one said while grabbing his youngling shoulders "I just wanted to remember you that, even if I'm not your biological father, I'm still proud of you, ok? And I know you will achieve whatever your going to do"

After that, they embraced each other on a warm hug, enjoying the last time until they will see each other again.

"Thank you. *sniff* thank you so much" the young Inkling said with little tears in his eyes.

"Thanks to you kiddo"

After the embrace ended, he finally hop on the wagon that would take him to Splatville, not before yelling "I PROMISE I'LL BE BACK TO VISIT YOU!"  To his old guardian.

And we that said and a little wave from the window... the Metro started to move and his Journey to find back his friend started!

To be continued...