{Rethink - Chapter 1} The Rookie

WOW OKAY this is so late I'm so sorry-- I've really been hyping this up for the longest time bUT IT IS ALIVE NOW I HECKIN SWEAR IT

I hope to churn out a couple of parts while I'm on my winter break!!! Hopefully 2 or 3 if I'm able to, just to make up for all the slacking I've been doing ;o;

ANYHOW-- I hope you folks enjoy this, I promise to do my best with it and make it as engaging as I can. ; u;

RETHINK MASTER PAGE

<<Previous (Intro)

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(Part 2, COMING SOON)

Spoiler Warning: This story contains images scattered throughout the post and may spoil portions of the story if you plan to read it. Scroll slowly through the post to avoid spoiling yourself by accident!! Hope you enjoy  :blue_heart:

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Hi there! My name's Nacho, and this is my story!

Well... Half of it is my story.

You see, I came to Inkopolis a long time ago with the simple goal of having fun and becoming great at my society's favorite sport... Turf wars!

It started off as typically as anyone else's first time ing the turf scene- some mistakes were made, some laughs were had, and things were learned! It was definitely fun.

But then... things got a little bit complicated.

Haha, well, I guess saying "a little bit" complicated is a lie. They got REALLY complicated.

But along the way, I learned some things that I probably wouldn't have ever begun to understand... Thanks to my friends.

This is the story of how our society began to rethink what they knew about... everything.

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The air was crisp on that autumn afternoon, and life had been bustling as per the norm; the trams hadn't missed a single scheduled departure or arrival, and the kids were all on the move in the plaza, enjoying each rotation as it came.

This was the life that the plaza's newest arrival craved- activity and noise from all sides, all views! She'd fit right in... She was sure of it!

Hurried footsteps approached the center of the lobby. Although the steps were small, they were also frequent, quick.

The owner of these footsteps was a rather small teenage girl. She had short tentacles that barely hung past her shoulders, and a rather... interesting poof to her style.

How'd she pull that off with tentacle hair in the first place?

It probably wasn't worth mulling over.

Her hair dawned a subtle shine to it, speckled with tiny glow pores on all sides, a small indicator that she had been an inkling of the firefly breed, with the genetic characteristic of glowing. In the light it would be nearly impossible to tell, but by dark, the fact would become as clear as day.

Her breath heaved excitedly as she continued running towards the plaza tower, home to all her anticipated thrills and adventures. She huffed, slowing as the signs and screens showing the stages came into clear view.

"T-Today's finally the day!" The girl squealed loudly, a few looks being shot her way. A wide grin on her face, she promptly chose to ignore them.

"I can't believe it..." The blue inkling was in awe at the sheer height of the tower, and even moreso at the sights of fellow inklings decked out in all kinds of gear she hadn't even seen before.

"I fiNALLY GET TO TURF WARS!!"

Beaming, the girl jumped around, unable to contain her excitement. Giddy laughter ensued for a minute before she finally hopped in place and collected herself.

She had been a bit late to the scene, hitting 14 years of age... The year before, but not being allowed to partake in the games until this year- the month after her 15th birthday.  She had been dying for the opportunity to play but was denied it because... Her parents were MEANIES.

At least, that's what she claimed.

In reality, her parents feared that her small height would cause her to be easily hurt, and insisted she wait another year to grow a little bit.

And lucky for her, she packed on... another half inch to her height over the year!! She stood at a proud 4 feet, 10.5 inches (148.6cm).

She couldn't be bothered to wait anymore, and finally convinced her parents to let her go on to play turf!!

Which was a miracle in and of itself, since she absolutely knew that her height had... Practically reached its max.

Being small was something she planned to take full advantage of. Smaller targets are harder to hit, and are nimble! She was confident, and wouldn't be a push over, she promised herself.

"After today... I'll be the freshest kid on the block!" She shot another wide grin, throwing a fist in the air.

Taking a step forward, she took a deep breath. One step away, and she'd be making her way up into the tower.

"It all starts here-!"

"MOVE IT OR LOSE IT!!! TURF'S STARTING!"

"W-Wha-??"

A pair of boys were practically bulldozing their way to the tower, racing each other as they headed straight for the doors, the girl right in their path.

Too late to react, she was forcibly shoved aside as the two ran past her, laughing.

She winced as she hit the floor, "Oof!"

The smaller of the two boys, an orange inkling, laughed and high fived the older one. "Haha! Nice one, dude!"

Their laughter drowned out once they went through the doors, though the lingering sounds still mocked the fallen girl.

"Ugh..." She grimaced as she picked herself off the ground, rubbing her now scraped elbows. "Well isn't that nice??" She huffed, rather frustrated. So much for the epic start to her adventure! Two seconds in and... She had already become a literal push over.

Shaking her head, she stood up and turned away from the tower, deciding to clean up her scratches first. She headed back towards some of the shops where a water fountain was. Maybe she was a little too fragile for all this? No, no. She was fine. She would just... Wear long sleeves! Yeah, there you go. Simple solutions.

What a great start to her journey.

-

The temptation from the gorgeous view afar had become too much for Cas to manage. The need for freedom ate her up inside as she sat on the dirty, vacant cliff. Everywhere else was just so... Beautiful. Vibrant. The valley she had known all her life just wouldn't contain her desire for escape, especially not when distant images constantly jeered her.

"Just... Imagine..." She sighed, leaning out over the edge, fingers splaying out as far as they could, simply hoping, wishing, for an opportunity to explore those far away worlds...

And that's where she made her mistake.

She reached too far out, losing her balance and slipping off where she sat.

"Wh-"

She quickly flung herself around, fingertips barely clinging onto the edge where she had been sitting.

'Oh crap.. oh crap...' She could feel her heart begin to race as she realized the situation she was in.

She took a deep breath.

'It's okay. Just pull yourself up. Calm.'

Gritting her teeth, she held her breath and began to pull herself up from below, nearly pulling herself up far enough to move her elbow up to brace herself on the ledge, but...

The rocks she had been holding onto gave in, tumbling out from below her fingers and bringing her down with them.

Cas's heart felt like it was beating out of her chest. She was plummeting. Falling. From... A cliff.

Her vision blurred as she spun through the air, eyes trying to focus on some kind of saving grace below, but as she continued to fall, everything below her just became darker and darker... Or were her eyes tunneling? She was too panicked to think, and all her brain could conjure up was the dreaded thought of...

'H-Holy... I'm.. Gonna die..'

'I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm dying.'

She closed her eyes and accepted her fate, bracing herself for whatever sudden impact would be her last memory.

She fell... And fell... And finally...

THUNK

'...ow..'

She was confused. That definitely should have hurt more than-

"OW! ACK!"

She bounced off more surfaces and finally opened her eyes to a narrow light, feeling herself bumping off the edge of some kind of tube. The light grew bigger as she continued sliding down, before the light engulfed her.

She was spat out a from a few feet above, a much smaller height than she anticipated. The soreness she felt after landing felt made her... Happy. She was alive.

Still, her head hurt.

"Egh..." She blinked a few times, eyes adjusting to the light of... Wherever she was now. Sitting up, she cautiously scanned her new surroundings.

Looked like an alley between two buildings. It wasn't much for an alley, but it would suffice.

"...what was that? Where... Am I?"

Cas slowly got back to her feet, wobbling over to the edge of the wall that had been hiding her from the rest of the surrounding area.

She peeked over, careful not to show too much of her face.

Music. Bright, bubbly music. Colorful signs, balloons, and banners decorated the plaza, it was full of life.

Cas's eyes widened, taken aback by this strange place. It was so unlike her home. Inklings bustled around, and they looked like they were enjoying themselves, enjoying the company of their friends. It was... Wonderful.

Wait a second.

She instantly slipped back behind the wall and pressed against it, gasping to herself.

She was so caught up in her surveying that she nearly dismissed the squid creatures that had been moving around the plaza.

Anxiety swelled in her again as she realized that, wherever she was, it was no place for an octoling.

"I can't go out there like this... I'd- I'd be slaughtered..!"

She took another deep breath.

'Just calm down and think. You're an elite. You'll find a way through this.'

She moved to run her fingers over the kelp that symbolized her leadership, only to find that it was missing. Goosebumps crawled over her skin. Where did it go? She hardly went without it. It gave her some kind of confidence she couldn't quite explain, made her feel a bit more comfortable in the valley... But without it?

"W-Whatever... I'm still a leader with or without the kelp..." Nodding to herself, she slid down the wall she stood against and sat down.

"First thing's first..." Cas glanced down at her uniform, octoling militaristic at its finest. "This uniform won't cut it."

Inklings would recognize it the moment they saw it. But where would she get replacement clothes? She could always just pull the next erby into the alley and steal from them but...

"Ay lass-"

A voice from behind startled her and her eyes whipped towards the owner of the sound.

An urchin, it looked like. He sat at the other end of the alley, a small set-up composed of a blanket, a couple snails strewn about, and a box of... Clothes!

"Couldn't help but overhear ya- had some gear I was 'bout to throw out... Feel free to take a look."

The octoling pushed back off the wall and propped herself up, walking over to the urchin and his box of gear. "Really? Hey, thank you."

Rummaging through the box, she looked for big, baggy clothes to help conceal her identity. A Jungle hat immediately caught her eye, and she pulled it out of the box along with an Anchor Sweat sweater, deciding that the shirt and hat would do well enough for now.

Slapping the hat on her head and slipping the sweater over her uniform, Cas felt a sudden... Empowerment, wash over her.

"Heh, not bad." She mumbled quietly to herself, adjusting the hat a bit to hide more of her mask. The urchin had also been generous enough to give her some large bandage wrappings to use for concealing the large suction cups on her tentacles.

"Cheers." He had simply said when insisting she have them.

Cas was now... An inkling? Okay, maybe not an inkling, but it was a convincing get-up. She looked herself over, feeling pretty cool in her newly acquired gear.

"Hm. This inkling fashion is pretty... Nice."

Guilt shot through her mind at the thought, and she shook her head.

'No, No. What am I saying? Get it together. This is a temporary thing.'

'Right. Right. So. Goals. Goals. Why am I here again? Near death- right... Well, now that I'm somewhere that's not OctoValley I guess I should start... Finding someone that's willing to help me.'

She peered over the wall again, deciding that the first person to walk by would be the one she'd set her sights on for help.

And that was right when the little blue inkling girl had come strolling by.

-

"Tsss-"

The inkling winced when she splashed water over her elbows. The scratches burned in retaliation to the cold water meeting her skin. Wiping some stray droplets off her elbows, she felt a little better already.

"I can't let this stuff stop me!! This is barely the beginning!" She pouted and gave herself a little pep-talk, turning back around towards the plaza tower again.

"Alright alright- this is it for realzies!!! I'm gonna walk in there... And I'm gonna look super cool and confident and happy about it!!"

She strutted up over the small ramp and through the sliding door, entering her first lobby ever.

The door swung open and the blue inkling beamed at the faces already waiting around, 6 inklings total. An excited grin came over her face.

On one side of the room, 4 inklings were chatting amongst themselves. They seemed to have known eachother already, as they were laughing up a storm and looking fairly comfortable with one another.

The first inkling was a navy-blue male, a small tentacle bang hanging over his face and a typical short ponytail hanging from behind. He seemed the most relaxed of the bunch, leaning against the wall.

Nearest him was a light pink inkling, a large bang hanging over her right eye. She wore a beanie hat with two tips at the corners, resembling cat ears. A flashy scarf and pink jacket made her pop out within the group.

A purple inkling had been laughing the most in the bunch, and rocked a long pony tail made up of a single long tentacle. She seemed to be the friendliest one, a smile stretched along her face with laughs escaping it almost every minute.

The last inkling surprised the girl. He had green ink and wore a cap on his head, a beard covering his chin and sideburns growing along the sides of his face. He was the tallest of them all, which startled the smaller girl. It was easy to tell that he was a bit older than the rest.

She was instantly curious about this group; they seemed so lively and fun!! Surely she would be able to find a way to click with them.

At the other end of the room, she recognized the two faces who had come running past her earlier. One of them, a blue inkling with small bangs and a couple of poofs in his hair, had a smug grin as he described stories to the younger inkling beside him. The younger one was orange with a hat slipped on backwards, puffs of his hair sticking out at the front just below his hat. He laughed excitedly at the tales and made a few comments here and there. They seemed... Well enough, she supposed, but was still a bit angry about their earlier encounter.

'Oh boy! First impressions! Let's make them good!'

As she walked in, her eyes met with the navy-blue male of the right most group. The boy's face lit up and he flashed a smile, waving at her as she walked in.

"Hey look, it's a newbie!"

The other 3 inklings followed his gaze towards the girl walking in, and all smiled.

She got called out...! But, it was cool! They gave welcoming smiles, the tallest green inkling calling her over. "Hey there! You new around here?"

She walked over to them from across the room, responding, "Yeah... I am! How'd ya know?"

"Your gear!", the pink one replied, nodding lightly, "It's the only gear the stores provide to newcomers in Inkopolis."

"O-Oh, really?"

Her teal spots became inflicted with a subtle pink hue, though in the light it was difficult to tell.

'You mean I've basically been a public broadcast of my newbieness?? AaaA what the heck?'

"Heh, I guess it makes it kind of obvious then." She smiled. Nodding vigorously, she added, "Anyhow, yeah!! I'm from far out of town... Heh, I ed the turf scene kinda late... But I'm itching to battle! I can't wait to try it out!" Another proud grin came over the girl's face.

The tall green inkling tilted his head. "Hmm, first time playing?" He mused aloud, turning to the navy-blue boy beside him,  "Ah, well, in that case, maybe we should ask Judd to put the new girl on our team." He motioned towards the judge sitting at the center of the room on a pillow, before turning back to the others, "I mean, I'm a professional," he gave a small chuckle, "and she's never played a single battle, so if she's on my team, it'll be fairer match!"

"Even though you're being cocky... " the navy blue boy began to reply, eyes rolling, "I agree! It would be a fun challenge having a newbie, plus she'd be learning from the best."

"Yeah! It would be great!", the purple one spoke up, gently making her way towards the newcomer, "don't you think, uh..?" She held out the note to signify that she was looking for a name, smile on her face all the while.

The girl in question blinked, "oh!" She laughed a little bit, "my name's Nacho."

Nacho was flattered by their quick acceptance and friendliness, she really did hope to become friends with these new inklings.

"Yes! That would be lotsa fun. You all seem like really cool folks!!" Her spots faintly beamed their teal color.

"Hah, thanks, Nacho." A reply came from the green one, who smiled. "Well, since you introduced yourself, it's only fair we do the same." He nodded, "I'll start off-"

"My name's Sun, but you can call me your Lord and Savior for short." He gave a small wink and a grin, eliciting a small laugh from Nacho.

The navy blue boy also laughed, shaking his head. "Uh huh. Fitting title."

"Anyway, I'm Tri. Nice to meet you!" He laughed, his body slightly glitching. It was only for a split second, but noticeable nonetheless.

"Woah-" Nacho tilted her head, "are you alright?"

"Hmm?" He was equally as confused, completely unphased by his body's odd quirk.

Then the pink one stepped up, laughing nervously. "You see, Tri has a... Poor connection." She gave a sheepish smile, "he tends to glitch and just completely poof sometimes. Don't mind it!"

"I do NOT have a bad connect-!"

"By the way, I'm Lin! I'm kind of new to turf, too, so maybe we could learn things together?" She gave a kind smile and a small bow, stepping aside as the purple inkling popped up. "And I'm Snowy! I probably don't look the part, but I'm always craving that intense feeling of being out there on the turf!"

Snowy smiled, quickly adding, "I'm sure you'll come to love it, too!"

They were so kind! Nacho felt so grateful that fate had made these nice folks her first encounter in Inkopolis. "That's great, guys! I'm glad my first match will get to be alongside all of--"

A silhouette had come quickly stumbling through the doors, looking around nervously before laying eyes on Nacho, who glanced over curiously, as did all the others in the room.

Without much time to think, though, Judd stood up. "Our 8th player has just entered the lobby!" He announced, attracting attention to himself, "time for teams to be randomized!"

His paw reached over to press a button just beside his pillow, a large screen illuminating the room as the names scrolled quickly through a list, organized themselves into 2 groups of 4 on opposite ends of the screen.

Alpha Team:

Keaton, Kantu, Nacho, ---

Bravo Team:

Tri, Sun, Lin, Snowy

All eyes were on the screen now as everyone learned what teams they were on. Nacho looked up at the screen, her bright smile fading into a small frown. "--you guys." She finished saying, dismayed that her first battle would, in fact, not be alongside the friends she had just made, rather, against them.

"Oh, that's alright. I mean, the teams are uneven now, but that's alright." Sun broke the silence, simply offering Nacho a pat on the head.

Lin walked over to Nacho, nodding, "Mmhm, it'll be okay! We'll all still be playing together at least!" She chimed.

Nacho's smile wasn't gone for long. She was soon laughing joyously again as they offered her reassurance.

"But don't expect us to take it easy on you! We're giving it our all, so you better do the same!" Tri gave a fist pump, a hint of eagerness glinting in his eyes.

Snowy nodded, placing her hand on her hip.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Nacho returned a smile just as eager, clenching her fists in determination. "Let's all do our best and have fun out there!"

Judd spoke up from his pillow again, "Alright, group up with your teams! We'll be preparing the respawn pads shortly." He padded off to set up for the match.

Flashing one last smile to the four friends, Nacho glanced back to the other side of the room, where the two boys and mysterious figure stood, waiting.

Now she had to try and cooperate with these people. She'd drop her stubbornness for now and try to open up to them! Who knows, maybe they weren't as bad as they seemed. First impressions could be remedied.

Cautiously, she walked over, offering a wave. "Uh, hey! I don't think we've properly met, I'm Nacho!" She mustered up her best friendly smile.

The two boys cast glances, brows raised. The blue one was the first to respond.

"So Nacho, you new? Those clothes aren't very fresh."

She flustered, spots flushing pink, as she stuttered, searching for a response from the sudden question. "Well-!"

"Eh, anyways, I'm Keaton."

She stopped herself from continuing, simply sighing under her breath.

"And I'm Kantu!", the orange kid with the backwards cap replied, "It's swell to meet ya, Nacho, I think you're gonna do just--!"

"We're short on time here, so listen-" Keaton huffed, his friend falling silent, a feeble smile still etched across his face, "here's what our plan's gonna be:"

Nacho felt kinda bad for the younger boy. He seemed... Nice? But easily influenced by his older friend, at least, from what she could make out of the situation.

"Kantu and I will take care of wiping out the enemy team, since we have the most experience. Newbie, you and the other girl try to cover as much ground as possible for us, you'll pick it up as you go. Me and Kantu will take care of the dirty work, just don't get in our way and we'll win no sweat." He gave an affirmative nod, smirking towards the three around him.

Kantu huffed, laughing nervously, "Y-Yeah! You'll do great covering the ground!"

Shrugging a little, Nacho squinted her eyes. "Yeeeaaahhh... Okay." She'd decided she would just cooperate for now. She was just learning the ropes, and taking a back seat on the team wasn't something she was all too against. She glanced over to the figure beside her, their fourth teammate. The fourth returned the glance and the two tilted their heads towards one another for a moment, the green glow in the other's eyes striking Nacho with a sense of curiosity.

Nacho opened her mouth to speak, aiming to ask the last player what their name was, but was cut off by yet another announcement from Judd.

"Alright, teams! To your spawn pads!"

Her heart jumped at the announcement, and the anticipation to experience her first match returned. Although she was a bit disappointed with the looks of her first team, Nacho was still as eager as ever.

'I'm gonna do my very best! I know I can do well! I'm gonna make my first battle a great one!'

She stretched her arms and walked towards the opening doors that led to their respective spawn pad. The light seeped into the darker room they had been waiting in, the figures walking ahead of her reduced to dark silhouettes. She grinned, taking her splattershot jr in hand, racing out towards where her team was going.

"Let's get this show on the road!"

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*FALLS OVER*

AND theRe you have it, part one of Rethink ;o;

It's a bit lengthy I think, but mostly trying to get through introducing the characters... I hope you liked it!!!

Any and all is greatly appreciated!! Negative or positive, my ears are open and eager to hear! :D

I hope you folks come to enjoy this series, and thank you to all who read this :blue_heart: ;U;

<<Previous (Intro)

:star2:

(Part 2, COMING SOON)

Written by me, artwork by me as well! ;o;

(first image contains an edited screenshot directly from Splatoon 1)

EDIT:

Thank you so much for the feature!! ;U;

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