Hello! so, the new chapter is here! hope you guys enjoy it!

They walked towards the Kettle, Chia helping him stand.

"Alright, this kettle should get us directly to the plains, so, I'll hop in, and you follow, alright?" Chia said as they reached the kettle, letting him go, transforming onto her octopus form, and jumping into the kettle.

"Alright, you can jump in now!"

"Hello?"

"…"

"Damnit…" Chia muttered, as she jumped back out, only to see him near collapsing

"As if this wasn't hard enough… Alright, we'll walk" She sighed, as he leaned on her once more, and kicked the lid of the kettle.

Thankfully, he had enough strength to climb down the ladder. Now that they were inside, it was just a matter of reaching the crossroad, and they would be out of danger in no time.

"Why are we here again?" Callie whined as they swam through the tunnel.

"Because, agent 2, the reports that you found said that a supposed power source could be near this area, and w-"

"Wait, did you hear that?"

"Hear what 3?" Callie asked.

"That! Listen!"

"Man, who would have thought that today would be the day that not only I would end up with a captured inkling agent, but attack a fellow octo, help an inkling?, and become most likely the most wanted person by King Octavio?" Chia said with amusement, trying to light up the mood, even though he probably could nor understand a thing she was saying.

"But don't you worry, I'll take you back to inkopilis first… Hey, you ok there?" Chia asked him, as he tripped, and nearly falling into the ground, noticing he was having a fever.

"Ah, shit…"

"An inkling agent!?" Agent 3 said with surprise as he heard the chatter up ahead.

"Wait, but we are the only inkling agents!" Said Callie.

"Let's see what this is about. Follow me!" Marie said.

"Come on, hang in there just a little longer" Chia said, as she helped him walk.

"Freeze!" All 3 of agents said at the same time, as they jumped out the ink, and aimed their weapons at them

"Wait, don't shoot! We're unarmed!" Chia yelled, surprised by the sudden appearance of even more inklings, and by the looks of it, agents as well.

"Hands up! You move a muscle, and you're dead!" Agent 3 said, while carefully approaching them.

"Look, I know this look suspicious, but this man is very sick. Please, you got to help him!"

"Yeah, right! And the we get all splattered! Good luck with that!" Callie yelled, thinking they were being set up for an ambush.

"1, that guy really looks sick…" said 3.

"Hmm… You, octoling, leave him on the floor and back away. I'll check" Callie said, as she approached the supposedly sick inkling, while the other 2 kept their weapons aimed at them.

"..."

"What's wrong 1? Is he alright?" 3 asked.

"This is no inkling" Marie said.

"What? The hell do you mean?" Callie asked, feeling confused.

"Octoling, who is this" Marie asked Chia, ignoring Callie question.

"I was doing my rounds on my sector, when I bumped into him. He appeared out of nowhere, no intruder reports, no signs of excavation, nothing. He was just there. So, I took him in. I can't understand a thing he's saying, and I'm pretty sure he can't understand me either."

"You were saying something attacking comrades?"

"Oh, yeah, that. Look, I know it's hard to believe, but I've have a reputation for "not obedient enough" He was about to get tortured for information that I'm sure he doesn't have, and for me, that was enough. I don't care if you kill me, but, please, help him. He has nothing to do with this" Chia pleaded, hopping her words would be enough.

"So, what do we do, 1?" 3 asked.

"What do we do?! Splat them! This is obviously a trap!" Callie yelled.

"2, please. If this was a trap, we would have been ambushed already. This man really is sick, we can't just leave him to die. 3, please help him get up" Marie said, keeping her cool, despite the harsh tone from her cousin.

"Thank you. Really." Chia said with gratitude, feeling happy for doing something of worth in her life.

"You're coming here with us as well" Callie said.

"What!?" Callie yelled, now outright outraged.

"I know, but she knows too much. Plus, she's the one who found him first, so he'll probably trust a face he can recognize that complete strangers. Now, octo, you take the lead, and don't make me regret taking you."

"Uh, 1?" 3 asked as they kept walking

"Yes, 3?"

"I'm pretty sure this guy is about to faint." 3 said, noticing his heavy breathing, and flushed face, due to the fever.

"W-wa…" The human said.

"What? I tought you said he couldn't speak oceanic" Callie said.

"No, he couldn't" Chia said, equally surprised.

"Wa-wate…"

"Does anybody have any water? I think I wants some"

"Uh, sure. Here you go Chia" said 3, as he passed her a bottle.

"Here, water. Water. Drink" Chia said, while offering him the bottle.

"He must have learned something when I was interrogating him"

"What?" Callie asked.

"When I was taking him in, I offered him some water. He must have learned the word then."

"Yeah, right, so at first he doesn't understand a lick of oceanic, but now he's a fast learner?" Callie asked with skepticism.

"Look, I know how this looks, but I'm being honest. This guy is really sick. If we leave him here, either he gets captured once more, or he dies."

"Hmm… Fine. Let's just get this over with…"

It had been about an hour of walking, followed by an uncomfortable silence, when 3, seeing a problem on where the octo and (inkling?) should stay, and spoke up.

"Uh, guys, quick question, where are these two going to stay?"

"We need to get him to a hospital, or at least a doctor"

"No" Marie said.

"What do you mean no?! He's going to die if we leave him like this!"

"Think this trough, octo. Don't you think we'll look suspicious if we just walk in, armed and with him in this condition? We'll just end up with the police on our backs."

"So, what do we do 1?"

"3"

"Yes?"

"Would you mind if we take this two to your apartment?"

"Oh! Oh, no! Sure! I have a spare room where he can rest"

"*ughh…" the human groaned.

"We need to keep moving. We'll give him some medicine for the fever at the apartment, then we'll look for a professional to take care of him" Marie said as they resumed walking.

-Some time later…-

After another hour of walking, the team arrived at Inkopolis. After climbing out of the pipe, they made their way towards the apartment, taking advantage of the new moon to move around without drawing attention.

"Alright, just give me a moment" 3 said, as he unlocked the door to his apartment.

The apartment itself was normal looking, if not more expensive than a normal turf battler could afford.

The living room was furnished with moder looking couches, stamped with several decorative sticker. Next to it was the kitchen/dining room, complete with the standard furniture and appliances, and with a decorative plant on the window. To the end of the hallway were the 2 bedrooms and a bathroom at the end of it.

"Where can I lay him down?" Chia asked.

"Lay him on the couch, I'll get some water and the fever medicine" 3 said while heading to the kitchen, while Chia laid the human down.

"Wa-water…"

"Here. Drink up." 3 said as he passed him the water bottle.

The human took the bottle, and began drinking, but what the other were not expecting was him taking off his helmet, and pour the rest of the bottle over his face and neck, while scrubbing the ink that was still left in his skin.

"What is he doing?" Callie asked, confused.

"He's washing away the ink… It must be still harming him…" Marie answered back.

"So, what's the plan?" 3 asked.

"3, stay here and take care of these two. 2 and I will go to get help."

"And leave the octo?"

"3 is more than capable to take care of an unarmed octarian. Don't take this an insult, but I'm sure you understand that we must have precautions." Marie said to Callie, then addressing Chia.

"Yeah, no problem"

"Well then, we'll be back in a moment." Marie said, followed by Callie, as they left the apartment.

"Water…"

"Here, drink up" 3 said to the human, as he passed him another bottle, which he drank with eagerness, to then slump back into the couch, and fall asleep.

"Man, he look's awful…" 3 said with worry.

"Hopefully the others will come back with help soon"

"Yeah… Hey, we haven't introduced each other, haven't we?"

"Introduce? Should you be tying me up or something?" Chia asked, surprised by his trusting demeanor

"Well, you saved him, even thought you were ordered not to! Plus, you didn't shoot at us once! Which is a lot more that we've ever seen"

"*This kid can't be that naïve*" Chia thought after hearing his explanation. For all he knew, she could both really be spy's!

"Really? You're not suspicious of both of us? At all?"

"Well, he seems too sick to do really anything, and you look like a nice person"

"*This kid is way too naïve for his own good…*"

"Well, since it seems we're going to be here for a while, name's Chia. Nice to meet you."

"Hello! My name is Kenshin, but most of my friends know me as Chroma."

Hey there! So, i'm finally getting finals out of my hair, and summer brake should be just around the corner, so, if everything goes well, i should be getting some new chapter soon! until then, thank you for reading my story!