Chapter Text
Compared to the fairly well-built and decorated towns buildings and homes, the jail was a fairly plain, fairly gray looking building at the center of Shoal. It was just as unimpressive inside, housing two cells and a desk that acted as the Sheriff’s office. Pearl noted the lack of decoration, of anything rather, in the jailhouse, except for four distinct bodies, three in the cell and one out. One of the jailhouse residents, a familiar looking tan inkling with a yellow tint to her tentacles, pulled on the bars as she tried squeezing her head through the bars.
“Ain’t it about time we had our rations, Deputy?” she whined, blinking her eyes playfully at the inkling sitting at the desk.
Rather than the shaky old geezer like Pearl was expecting, she was greeted to the sight of a fairly tall, stout inkling girl. Half of her face was hidden beneath the shade of her hat, and the other half was frozen in a disinterested, feigned sleeping position. The Deputy said nothing in response. Pearl realized that she recognized this inkling as well, in fact, she recognized everyone in here.
Here,” the tanned one said, an exhausted sigh escaping her lips as she turned to Pearl. “Maybe you can talk some sense into this mongrel.” She pointed a finger at the Deputy, who sat with her feet propped up on the desk. A puff of air hissed from the Deputy’s nose, but she said nothing. The seeming ringleader of the jailed trio continued, “We’re citizens of Ring Country, we know our rights. You can’t just keep us here!”
“Y’aint nothing but a band of thieves,” the deputy muttered, her voice low and even like one could imagine the voice of the crafty serpent. She never moved save for the slight rock of the chair she was leaning back in on two legs. “And there you’ll stay.”
“Actually,” Pearl said, clearing her throat, “I believe I’m here to get them out.”
Finally, the Deputy looked up, her face unobstructed for the first time. Her eyes were narrowed in a constant glare, the left one glazed over under a deep, cyan scar likely earned in some past skirmish. She frowned, looking Pearl up and down. “A Houzuki,” she murmured, lowering her head once more as she was seemingly satisfied – or rather, dissatisfied – with her once-over of Pearl. “And what business could you possibly have with Frye and her bandits?”
“That would be my doing, Deputy.”
At the sound of the Sheriff’s voice, the Deputy straightened up, sitting the chair on the ground and rising to her feet. “Whatcha mean by that, Sheriff?”
“Last of the militia's been made, Three. Time we put the real plan into action.”
The Deputy straightened her hat. “What’s that got to do with a Houzuki? Specially the little girl.” Pearl opened her mouth to scream that she was older than the Deputy, but was silenced by the Sheriff raising a hand and turning to the cell’s occupants. “Frye, if you and your gang want to earn your freedom, this is your one and only chance.” Frye seemed to shy away slightly at the ominous tone in the Sheriff's voice, but the other two just about shoved her forward in anticipation.
“Now all of y’all, gather up. We know that this war Octavio started ain’t gon’ end peacefully. Bloodshed’s already started in the east, and it’s only a matter of time before it gets here. Your job is to make sure that don’t happen.” Pearl leaned forward nodding. The bandits did the same. The Deputy crossed her arms. “And how do we ensure that, Sheriff?”
“You kill Octavio.”
“Pardon?” Pearl’s voice cracked slightly. Her memory didn’t stretch far, but from what she’d seen and heard, Octavio was nigh untouchable. “What do you mean kill Octavio ?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. While his troops are busy holding Ring Country’s militia, you five will form a gang and head out on a secret assassination mission. Only the people in this room know about this to prevent news spreading to Octarian ranks, and that's the way it will stay.”
Pearl’s voice hitched in her throat, the temptation to refuse the offer hanging in her chest. Looking around the room again, however, she realized that these inklings may bring her one step closer to finding Marina, and if there was any shot she was going to find her other half, it would likely be among her own kind with the Octarians. Pearl turned to the Sheriff, nodding slowly. “Alright, I’m in. Where do we start?”
“That will be up to your commander,” the Sheriff said, lifting a hand to the Deputy. Three nodded. “Horses. First things first, we’re gonna need horses.”
A sly smile slid across Pearl’s face. “I’ve got that covered.”
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
In the midst of darkness, the candles shining from the windows of the Houzuki manor were a beacon down the streets of Shoal. The dew from recent rains shimmered off of the ground and windowsills, twinkling like speckled stars in the night. Pearl had never planned on approaching her own house like a thief in the night, but for what she had planned she had no choice.
Frye was right behind her, following closely on her heels. “You live here?!” she hissed at a volume far too loud to be a whisper. Pearl shushed her, peeking up at the flickering candle-lit windows. No moving shadows, no one alerted. “Yes,” she responded, far quieter than her new companion. She ducked down, quickly shuffling past the lower windows and reaching the side of the house where the fence for the ranch started. She fumbled with the key for a moment, finally finding the right one and opening the fence just as she caught sight of Frye leaping over with grace and landing on the other side with a splash in fresh mud puddles.
With a hiss of disdain at the thief’s grace, Pearl pulled the gate shut behind her, signalling Frye to follow to the barn in the distance. Frye whistled, looking out across the darkened ranch. “Wish I’d grown up like this,” she sighed, swiping mud off of the bottom of her coat. Pearl shook her head with a chuckle. “It ain’t all sunshine,” she warned, and Frye shrugged. “Beats the slum towns I grew up in. I was lucky if I got to eat for the day.” Pearl suddenly felt incredibly self conscious about her privilege. Even in her dream life, she hand’t known poverty, and here was this inkling, apparently barely surviving. She felt bad for thinking so poorly of the thief originally.
Her thoughts were cut off as she realized they’d reached the barn. Pearl signalled for Frye to hold there as she went inside to check if it was empty. The moonlight could only reach inside the barn through the slats of wood, so Pearl had to narrow her eyes and let her vision adjust to the near pitch black. The barn was quiet, and aside from the seahorses, empty. Pearl walked up to the first of the stables, walking down the line and brushing her hand against the noses of the mounts until a familiar nuzzle caused her to stop.
“Black Pearl,” she whispered, touching her forehead to the black and purple Knysna Seahorse’s head. “Let’s go, boy, time for adventure.” She opened the stable, quickly saddling him and getting the bit and bridle set before turning to the other horses and picking which she figured would best connect for each rider. She didn’t notice the growing light coming from behind her until the sound of someone clearing their throat startled her. “Well,” Prince said with a sly smirk, “Pa was wondering when you’d get home. ‘Course, he wasn’t thinking you’d be coming by to steal the horses.”
“Prince, just go back to bed,” Pearl snapped, putting on the last of the saddles as she dismissed her younger brother.
“Nuh uh,” Prince said with a grin. “Watching Pa blow up at you is gon’ be too good to miss.” He started for the stable door, but Pearl intercepted quickly, standing in his path. If he went out there, he’d see Frye, and then she’d be in real trouble. “Can’t let you do this, bro.”
“Outta my way, pygmy.”
He tried pushing past Pearl, but she gritted her teeth, shoving an elbow into his stomach and forcing him back out of sheer shock and pain. “You out of your goldurn mind?!” Pearl didn’t give him a second to catch his breath, immediately leaping on him with a shreik and pulling him into a submission stance. “Ow! Cut that out!” Pearl looked around quickly, needing something, anything to keep her brother quiet. Catching a rope hanging near the stable door, she quickly formulated a plan.
She lessened her grip on Prince’s head, allowing him to sit his head up just to quickly box his ears. He howled in pain, discombobulated and writhing, giving Pearl enough time to grab the rope and run back. The rest was muscle memory, Pa had taught her everything she needed to know.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
“What happened in there?” Frye asked, a bit of wonder twinkling in her eye as she loomed over Pearl. Pearl swung the stable door for Frye to see Prince hogtied on the ground, a bandana tied around his swear-spitting mouth. “They’ll find him in the morning when they come to check on the horses,” Pearl said, shutting the door back. “By then, we’ll be long gone.” Frye giggled, “Ya, got some fight in ya, for a Houzuki I mean.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Ah you know, just a prissy princess like you, growing up in a place like this. You wouldn’t expect you’d know how to hogtie a fellar.”
Pearl grinned. “I’m full of surprises, don't you worry. Now come on. Take these horses to the others. I got one more stop to make.” Frye obeyed, leading Black Pearl and the other three horses (the Deputy already had her own) to the spot where the rest of the gang waited. Pearl herself sneaked back to the house’s side entrance, leaving her muddy boots by the door and doing her best to swiftly get up the stairs with the most minimal creaking of boards. She could hear her father and Emperor in the kitchen, laughing loudly about something, and all the servants would be gone home for the night, so she should be in the clear.
Making her way to her room at the end of the hall, she quietly shut the door behind her, gathering her white coat and hat with pearls beaded into the headband. Lastly, she took her holster off of the dresser and the twin pearl pistols off of the wall, twirling them in her hands in the familiar way she used to do her dualies.
Turning she went to close her door behind her and make her way down the hall, only to be surprised by Emperor standing at the entrance of the door, watching her make a fool of herself with her pistols with a smile. “Goin’ somewhere, squiddo?”
“Out with some friends,” Pearl said without hesitation, moving to push past her brother.
“Don’t stay out drinking, ya hear?”
Pearl started to wave him off then stopped. She was about to embark on possibly the most dangerous journey ever. She’d be facing battalions of Octarians, most trained in combat, all to get to the worst of the worst. There was a very real chance, she realized, that she could die at any moment out there, and the gravity of that had only hit her just now. She stopped, turning to her brother and pulling him into a hug. “Love you, bro. Tell dad I love him too.”
“You getting mushy on me, Pearl? That’s never a good sign,” he chuckled, but she could see the worry on his brow.
“Just … sentimental I guess, heh.”
“Yeah …”
“Bye,” she said finally, turning and flying down the steps to put her boots on and run out the door.
The Deputy and the bandits were waiting outside, out of the line of sight of the Houzuki manor’s windows. The bandits had already saddled up, as had Three. Pearl fit her holsters on, pulling her coat and hat on quickly. “Where we headed?” she asked, catching her breath. The Deputy raised her hat, spitting whatever she’d been chewing out on the ground. “East. The railroad to Casthead reaches through a spot two towns over from here. We can hitch a ride there.”
With the direction set, they rode off through the night, Pearl taking the lead and the Deputy holding up the rear to make sure none of the bandits veered off in an attempt at vain freedom. They made it halfway between Shoal and the first town before Frye and her gang’s complaints wore on Three’s ears enough to finally convince her to stop Pearl and make camp for the night. Over the light of the fire, Pearl got a better look at her companions.
“How’d you get your name, Three?” Pearl asked suddenly in the silence.
The Deputy looked up, her youth drained away and worn with exhaustion that seemed to seep from the scar lining the left side of her face. “And,” Pearl added, pointing to the left side of her own face, “how’d you get the …” she trailed off. One amber eye and one glazed-over gray eye stared daggers into Pearl before turning, clearing her throat and preparing to answer when Frye suddenly interrupted. “Legend has it she took down a gang of fifteen with just three bullets!”
“It was ten … just ten.”
Pearl whistled with a nod, then cleared her throat nervously. “And … the scar?”
The bandit trio winced at the question, and the Deputy didn’t even lift her head. “Mind your own business, Houzuki.”
Pearl’s ears burned with embarrassment but she quickly turned with a shrug for show and looked at her other companions. “You two, I only know Frye’s name, so who are you?” One of the bandits sat straighter, giving a friendly salute. “Name’s Four!”
“We call her that,” Frye said, “because she once tried dual-wielding double barrel shotguns.”
Pearl let a snicker escape. “How’d that turn out?”
“Nearly blew my own head off doing tricks.”
Frye then pointed to the other backing bandit. “And that’s Neo. She’s a mute.”
Pearl turned to the silent inkling. “How’d you get your name Neo?”
The inkling signed something, and memories of a silent inkling similar looking from Pearl’s dream (she wasn’t sure she could keep calling it that if all of these people were real) came back to her. She could still remember some of the signs she’d learned in an effort to understand that inkling.
“She says that’s just her name.”
Pearl nodded, not adding that she understood some of the silent inkling language. “So you three, what’s your story? I mean Frye already told me she lived in a slum town, so I can imagine why she started stealing, but –”
Pearl was interrupted by raucous laughter from Four, and Pearl gave her and the now grinning Frye a questioning look before the backing bandit caught her breath. “Frye ain’t come from no slum town … we all came from the same town. She came from some fancy clan family. She just steals for the fun of it, dragged us in on her antics because we were her friends.”
The previous guilt and pity Pearl felt coiling in her heart died instantly and she went cold with anger, throwing a sizable rock at Frye. The bandit giggled, dodging gracefully. “Hey I’m sorry for lying to ya’, but a bandit’s gotta know how to lie to get around, and it’s good to practice, y’know?” Pearl tucked her head under her hat, turning and lying on the hard ground. “I’m going to bed,” she hissed quietly. The sounds of the bandits still laughing were her lullaby as she drifted off to sleep.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Left aching from making the dusty ground their bed, the makeshift gang set off at the first crack of sunlight. Three only let them stop long enough at the first town to get water, though Pearl would have liked to explore the lively place a bit more. The ride to the second town was a bit of a larger distance, and by the time they could make out buildings in the distance, Black Pearl was already lagging behind, having grown used to a slow life while Pearl recovered. They made it to the town by some miracle without stopping, and Pearl immediately led her horse to a watering trough near the front gate of the town, tying it down and following the others in.
The Deputy tensed up almost instantly, signalling the others to keep quiet. The town was dead silent and beyond that just … dead. Unlike the lively streets of the last town, this one looked barren, save for the quick darting of heads ducking out of sight in the windows every time Pearl tried to get a glance of someone.
“Well now,” came a loud, twangy voice from in front of them. A rotund, tall octoling man stood at the end of the road, small, gold spectacles covering his eyes and a pipe in his mouth. “If it ain’t my favorite test subject,” he chuckled, flicking the ashes off his cigar. “You remember me, Three? Doctor Tartar?” Pearl narrowed her eyes in confusion for a moment, before looking between the cyan tint of his tentacles matching the cyan scar over Three’s now twitching eye. She didn’t think it was possible for the Deputy to get any more tense, but at the sight of this man, Three just about exploded.