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craig technically is the king of the inklings, though a council does the bulk of the work. craig tries to lead the inklings with hope and diplomacy, though his council wants it the other way. he still has a soft spot for octavio and the octarians, making his approach softer. he still has an army, though, the most logical decision to prevent any more reckage and to potentially uproot octarian society. he wasn't comfortable with that idea, but it was the best to appease his people and his royal council.
he still has the young spirit inside of him, along with his youthful restless, so he patrols kettles with regular inklings. the council says it builds a good image, anyway. he didn't mind his image or other political or royal things his council worried about. he always fiddled and platyed during meetings he was forced to sit in. he still tried to be proper when he had to face the public or had meetings with other people.
he had heard that octarians were spotted in some kettles, from a report to the head of military. the report went on for longer, and he should've stayed to listen, he sped off to check it out. while the royal council took the octarians in the kettles as a threat and worried endlessly, craig was ecstatic for something interesting to have happened.
the kettle looked normal, apparently the octarians didn't cause much damage. after a regular, usual, boring check on the kettle he approached the entrance to chill and zone out before returning. his chill plan was shifted aside after he heard some strange muffled sounds and what seemed to be a scolding. he couldn't see or hear much about that, but he could tell it wasn't in inklish.
he approached sneakily, hiding in the blocks and structure with reckless placing that seemed to give enemies an easier time. he had gotten close enough to see some of the intruders, he didn't mind them as they only seemed to wander and chat. but he still was cautious near them and tried to make no noise while sneaking.
after they left, he continued forward to investigate the boss of this octarian operation. craig didn't find anyone in the next ring, so he thought it was best to wait there for an ambush or to stalk the boss. after some minutes of standing and playing with his bamboozler, he heard something. he jumped to ambush the intruder, forgeting to check the position of the intruder and finding that intruder on the opposite side of the ring. he was about to run to that octoling, already creating a path of ink and charging up a shot when he noticed who he was.
both stood frozen in their places, staring. it was hard to tell from a distance but with no doubt craig was staring at octavio. the same octavio he spent many nights with before the war, and the same octavio that commanded the enemy, and the same octavio that drove him and inklings to the domes.
both octavio and craig lowered their weapons in shock. craig - forgetting all of the distance, both metaphorical and physical, between them - ran to octavio to greet him as he always had.
octavio was still frozen, processing that craig was still there, that craig was doing the same things that he used to do. processing that craig was there, for real. time felt too long and too fast at that time, when craig was approaching his lost companion, octavio snapped back to reality. octavio saw craig close, with his happy expression and his silly hat, the apparently same craig as always. some part of octavio wanted to hug him and talk without regarding time, but that was a distant dream rather than a past.
at the same time, he knew that he needed to fight craig. octavio rapidly aimed his octobrush at craig, wearing an aggresive expression and mumbling a warning. craig stumbled back and looked like a slug in headlights. he tried to tell octavio something about diplomacy, but his words came out weak and unintelligible. octavio didn't move and continued with his warning.
"we can't be anything anymore."
the words hurt more than they should've, but craig knew it to be true. they couldn't be anything anymore. anything they were, and anything they could've been was destroyed by the sea levels and that stupid war. now they couldn't change what they were, they were just enemies. destined to fight whenever they saw each other and to lead more people to pointless conflict.
craig sighed and stared at the floor. octavio stayed with his stance and started repeating those same words. craig cut him off, distraught, but he stayed firm and just told him to go.
by some miracle octavio agreed to leave without fuzz and called his troops and left without acknowledging craig. both agreed to not talk about their interaction. craig felt empty, he wanted to cry for no good reason, he shouldn't be wishing to be close with the leader of the enemy, but he was. craig reminisced about the time he shared with his dear tavi, standing bent over and without moving. he was a weeping statue.
finally, he moved and stood up right. craig stood there feeling the wind of the ventilation, alone and crying. he couldn't keep crying though, he had heard some inkling soldiers approaching, not close enough to had seen the interaction or his destroyed state after it, thankfully. craig recomposed himself and pretended to have been chilling with no thoughts, staring at the screens of his domes.