Chapter Text
he yelps when touched and jumped up on the table, eventually gets on all fours and has this insane look to his eyes, runs off (on twos) to his room, locks himself in.
Here we have a perspective into his mind as he recognise his surroundings become alien, body not his, people unusual, and he has these thoughts he never would have imagined would occur to him.
Eventually manages to escape the pod and goes out into the ocean again, dumbly enough without his watch nor an idea where he is going, nobody is able to find him, eventually kwasii manages to stumble upon him and tries to lure him on board, barnacles overtaken with paranoia and suspicion and doesn’t trust him, keeps trying to leave or escape but can’t outrun the gup, eventually becomes panicked enough to get out the water despite the weather conditions, kwasii tries to call for backup and also reason with him, still to no avail, barnacles ends up too afraid to be in his presence and backs up to a cliff side and manages to fall of just barely hanging on, ends up letting go and slides down rather roughly and sustains many injuries, others arrive and in his fear he doesn’t realise he needs a helmet, ends up gasping for air but choking on the water, almost faints but goes to the surface, is more docile, just barely hangs onto the rocks before his body is slammed against one especially hard and he loses consciousness. Worry ensues and all try to help.
.
.
A soft alarm voiced throughout the octopod, a tracker which was in charge of keeping an eye on the weather patterns was going ballistic when everyone crowded around the main room to see a large storm on the horizon.
Most were less than thrilled, perhaps even uninterested in it apart from perhaps underlying concern for the strength of it, all doing their own thing when just before disappearing to their rooms a young voice called out to them all.
“Hold on!” Shellington yelped, voice showing signs of eagerness that usually was present whenever he was explaining the backstory of some sea creature he was interested in, “This could be a great opportunity to analyse the water currents mid-storm, and quite possibly find some creatures in need of help!”
He patiently waited for a response from anyone, even just a single crew member, before Tweak gave a quick glance to the captain then sighed.
“Alright Shellington, as long as you are able to keep the crew safe, we’ll venture towards it. I am warning you though, we have plenty of enough research anyways, there’s no real reason to be there in person apart from the likelihood of rescuing some of the inhabitants should they be unprepared.”
“Yes! Thank you!” Sheer delight illuminated his voice as he gave a hop in the air before disappearing down a hatch, quickly jotting down in a book all he will have to study while out there.
Barnacles made his way to the controls of the ship and piloted it gently downward into the ocean, hoping to approach the dangerous waters at such a level where they were less likely to be reached.
Soft movements caused little disturbance within the octopod, although crashing waves above did add turbulence to their creeping.
Barely a few minutes later, they were in the centre of where the path was predicted to hit. Everyone took their positions and started to evacuate certain inhabitants into safer places nearby, all doing their job as guardians of the ocean to ensure all was safe and secure.
The overly excited sea otter on the other hand, was analysing every single pattern within the sea, both above and below water - from how certain fishes swam, to how much the waves protruded, and how the sky was coloured. He took notes on every detail and aspect that he could spot, soon enough realising he had found little to no new information to jot off in his studies, yet was patiently awaiting the next chapter of his adventure: the actual passing of the storm.
Each octonaut was preoccupied within the short timeframe it took for the first rainfall to appear: Kwazii was ushering some sharks to a much safer feeding zone, Dashi trying to coax a group of local residents of a rock to relocate, and Peso helping an injured octopus out of a sticky situation.
All busy and doing their job, grateful to be able to do something good for their surrounding community. Yet despite all the efforts they put in, more creatures still remained stubborn and immovable.
Taking turns, they all did something to save the last couple of unprotected animals living there. Everyone but Barnacles. If the crew were just a little more distracted and able to focus on other things than the mission, they’d notice the occasional hover of their captain right beside them, a creeping emptiness to his eyes that covered his pupils like shadows.
Quicker than a speedy swordfish, they soon we’re back inside the octopod. Talking and chatting on a few odd occasions they had just in that hour and anything they felt was interesting on sharing.
Peso mentioned how he spotted a group of eels seemingly playing together, and Dashi saw a couple of starfish in a very orderly fashion hugging a rock. Not all that exciting for some people constantly surrounded by fishes and other creatures, but noteworthy nonetheless.
They all shared some hearty words before retiring to their cabins.
None but one noticed the unsettling difference within the man they grew to love and know as one of the most proudest and stoic people around had a soft silence to him.
It wasn’t that unsettling per se, but Kwazii immediately had an eye on Barnacles. His aura pulsating a cold wave of death as the hollow gaze which pierced right through Kwazii at one point made him want to shiver out of his own skin.
The octoalert sounded desperately after no time passed at all, a few minutes after the team had managed to find some peace and comfort within their own beds or chairs, and they all rushed towards the launch bay.
Tweak begun to explain how she saw a few very large bodies on the radar that seemed to be moving in unpredictable manners and she worried that they might be lost sharks, and was eager to have someone to go out to search for them.
“Why can’t you go?” Peso asked genuinely, trying to not sound as if he were pressuring her.
“Must keep watch on the behaviour of the storm to give accurate warnings to Shellington, he’s still out there, after all.”
“Oh that smart idiot of a boy..” Professor Inkling murmured lovingly.
The talking had deafened all the excess noise coming from the beating waves and debri against the octopod, gentle crashes of the natural flora against metal echoing throughout the walls.
Kwazii once again took a look to the captain, this time taken aback at his still figure - one that usually stands so confidently and proud now resembling more of a hunched over elder. Barnacles was by no means any older than Inkling - and even he managed to sit upright!
“Hey, Cap’, you up for the job?” Tweak chirped cheerfully, giving a warm glance in his direction.
To Kwazii’s dismay, he dumbly nodded as he began to wonder into the Gup-B without any other question. Sure, it was somewhat unprompted, but he atleast hoped for a single sound to come out of him to assure that he was well.
“I.. I’ll go with-“ he began before finally getting what he asked for, yet in a sense which he definetely had not desired.
“No Kwazii, I can do it myself. You stay here and.” There was an uncomfortable silence, more resembling him swallowing his own vocal chords than a thinking gap, “stay safe.”
He couldn’t help but feel guilty for not thinking anything more of it, the zombie-like state that his captain was in should have been a dead giveaway, and yet he waved him goodbye.
The Gup submerged under the water carefully, precisely calculated, but once out of the pod he immediately rushed over to the radar.
Control seemed to be going well so far, maybe a little off to one side but who can blame him when there’s a fast current throwing him side to side.
Once again, the octoalert sounded.
This time, it was Kwazii which slammed the button as he stared at the others with wide eyes.
“Anything the matter?” Dashi commented after no explanation came from the cat.
“Its the captain.., he-“ the words seemed to haunt him as Tweak shot a glance at him and immediately understood. She wasted no time throwing herself into the Gup-C and starting it up.
“He crashed.” The words finally were thrown into the room, causing Tweak to slightly wince at the thought despite being full aware that it was what he was leading to. Either way, much better than the other way it could have ended.
Kwazii hurried over desperately to accompany her, to be there in case extra help was needed, as despite for the last radar ping they received, he had gone entirely radio silent. His watch was out of order and no signal was coming from the Gup.
They sped off to where he was last heard from, hoping not to get expecting the worst. Sickening minutes passed that caused each movement in the water to seem more alien than familiar. As they peeked out over a small ledge in the seabed, their stomachs churned as they saw the shattered remains of what seemed to be the Gup-B.
Well, they couldn’t exactly consider it the Gup anymore given how much of a beating it took. Neither knew exactly how he could have managed that nor prevented it, but both knew that the only thing on their might at this moment in time should be the safety of the man inside, not the machine which brought him there.
They climbed out of the Gup with haste and swam towards the rubble, carefully unearthing the main body of the Gup as they swung the debri away.
A single carelesss mistake would be all it takes to break the seal and cause water to come rushing into the submarine, an action which could be fatal deeming on how quickly they were to get to their friend.
A friend they didn’t even know was there given how the glass panel out front was covered by a gigantic rock and the side panels were covered in either chunks of metal broken off and pressed into the gup or just sea litter in general.
It took a while of struggling but soon enough, they pulled out their beloved Captain with cheers and exasperated sighs. Quickly pulling him into the Gup and spinning back to the octopod, Tweak made a mental reminder to retrieve the Gup-B. Kwazii, in the back however, wasn’t all that good after the successful rescue mission.
Barnacles was still breathing and alive, ofcourse, and his eyes were open and watching. That much was true. But it seemed as though not all of him was there. At least, not present at the moment.
He sustained a few bloody injuries across his paws which were trapped under a few shards of glass digging in through his fur but it wasn’t anything Peso couldn’t fix.
The journey home was a quiet one, and as for Tweak’s indirect comments on how glad they were he was safe, nobody else remained active. The pirate too preoccupied on studying what this new found silence was about.
Once helped out the Gup, he quickly yanked his arms back to not allow even another second of being touched to graze his body. The crew back at the octopod cheered at seeing them all safe and in one piece but now the odd gaze wasn’t only noticed by Kwazii.
“Captain? Are you alright?” Peso mumbled. “Why are you looking at me like that?” An inquiry of good intention as it seemed to all that were facing him that the captain indeed was staring right through the penguin with a strange sense of an emotion not yet readable.
“Sir?” Tweak had also now recognised this and became far more weary, had there been another injury they hadn’t know about?
As the crew murmured to themselves, Peso calmly approached and reached out a flipper to assess his visible injuries, quickly met with a growl that stunned not only him but also the bickering amongst the rest of the team.
“C..” he gulped harshly as he took a small step back, unease building up in him as an odd chill ran down his back. He had never heard his captain growl before, yet alone at him! “Captain?”
It was a pathetic attempt, he did recognise that, but he didn’t know how else to approach the man that was gazing down at him like he were a threat.
“I just want to help you, you know that. May I see your paw?” He once again reached out in an inviting manner, not trying to forcefully grab him.
Still, it seemed to not work, as the hollow analysis behind those eyes turned into cold fight or flight response. It was like something snapped and then chose to cower. Atleast at that moment in time.
Instinctively he backed away, nearly passing the ledge between the steady floor and water that raised the gups up.
“Are you feeling alright?” Professor inkling called out, despite knowing the answer quite well.
A few seconds of silence pass before a quiet shuffle from Dashi’s feet cause him to snarl, leaving everyone practically shell shocked by how he was acting.
A mutual pact was signed within their minds: do not make a sound or movement that could provoke him. As despite him seeming like his usual self, he is clearly not himself and already behaving irrationally.
“We’re you’re friends, we only want to help you.” Kwazii whispered, being met with straight daggers from the other’s eyes.
SHELLINGOTN COME SUP FROM WAYER AND STARTLES HIM