Memories from long ago

New Tidings- #Finale

Cap'n felt ill thinking about how his brother died. He quickly pushed the scene of his lifeless body on the ground... surrounded with... the wrong ink-
Nausea forced those thoughts away. He sighed and closed his eyes, and felt the darkness wash over him. His eyes slowly closed and the sunny landscape around him grew dimmer, and dimmer.
He felt his consciousness slip away and did nothing to stop it. His cheek grazed against the cool wooden bench. Sleep spread their arms wide open, and held him in a firm grasp.

The war marched on. Life marches on, forward, forward. Cap'n tried to tell himself to get over his death, he never cared about him anyways. Get over your Mom and Dad never wanting to see you again, they were both an ass and hated you anyway.
Of course, if it were that easy, grief wouldn't exist. So began him throwing himself into his work without a care for anything else. Hours were spent planning and stradegitizing his next move, and analyzing and getting word on where Octavio was next.
The war was ending, at least it was on the verge of, the year is 1952 and resources on both ends were dwindling. Octavio's army was getting smaller and smaller. It was the same on the inklings side. There were only three splatoons left. By the end of the year, it has gotten even smaller. there was only one. It was clear to everyone the end was soon to come.

The air was crisp and the leaves were changing from green to lovely shades of yellow and red. The sun was low in the sky and hues of reds and orange were lovingly painted into the sky. Cap'n was finishing up the last of his weapons check and was going to dish out the last bit of orders and head to his tent.
At least, he was going to.
But then he heard... it. The thump, thump, thump. The beating of the drum. The pitter patter of footsteps. Scathing tongues speaking a foreign language.
It was the Octarians. Leading them was a all-too familiar face. His glare pierces Cap'ns very soul. Cap'n swallows the rush of emotions down and rush over back to the camp.
"THE OCTARIANS ARE HERE! GET YER ASS INTO FORMATION!"
There was a scramble for weapons, blasters and rollers and brushes being snatched up quickly. They barely had enough time to get into formation when the octarians stormed in.

The fight was a blur of ink. Flying, flying everywhere... Cap'n never could remember battles very well... and this was no exception.
The ink stained and smeared on the ground. His agents fallen around him. He could feel the sting of some of their ink. It's pink cheeriness burning, burning into his flesh. He swallowed nervously. Octavios glare stuck right into the very pit of his soul. His brush dripped menacingly, smiling at him. Cap'n raised his bamboozler. This was it. He leaned forward, trigger held, and charged.

It was a fierce battle. Ink majestically flew and shots sprung across the battlefield. The battle was fought in bursts. They would fight, then the dust would settle, and they'd sneak around in ink, and fight again.

Cap'n stealthily creeped around in his ink, feeling it's coolness wash around him. He's in his sights. He's... standing. Oh. He's trying to help one of his army...
Octavio gently held the octoling in his arms, he ripped a piece of his clothing off and wrapped it around his arm.

Cap'n knew. He had to.

...

Standing above him, seeing his once good friend covered head to toe in his ink, scars fresh on his body, he felt something he couldn't quite explain.
"I-it's over Octavio. Give up."
Capn's eyes widened as he saw an expression of what could only be described as pure hate across his face. One of the few Octarians that were left helped him stand up.
"It's not over. It will NEVER be over. I will NEVER forgive you for what you have done to me. You... Inklings-" he spits the word out with as much venom he can muster "-do not deserve this victory. I will be back. "
His back turned away, he turned into his Octo form, making the
"I loved you."
Octavio stops. The world is completely silent for a long moment. Until he speaks those words... that haunt his dreams and remind him of the thing he regrets most...
"...You should have said something earlier."

And like that, the biggest war in history ended. The octolings went underground, and they were thought to be extinct. The country of United Federation was in shambles for a long time after that, their economy was completely fucked over. Again. Their large amounts of military spending on the war had led to huge debts that needed to be paid off. Taxes had risen and thousands of workers were laid of within the week. The invasion of the octarians had also allowed other countries to swoop in and take huge chunks of the country, and they had left imprints of their language and culture that they needed to wash out. The only thing that seems to have never changed was the large amount of inklings in said country. Although they are a very important country now, they never did recover to the height they were before the war. Other countries shared the same fate, and they learned their lesson- don't spend millions of dollars on a race war.
Cap'n was recognized for his efforts in the war and was paraded around with the title of a "hero" with the shiny medals to prove it. This was enough to convince the rest of the family to remain in contact with him; but as his parents said, he never ever spoke to them again. It turned out that Brett had a kid and wife when he left. He thanked his lucky stars she didn't blame him for his death and he did the best he could as an uncle. That child went on to have grandchildren, a girl named Callie. Cap'n could clearly remember-

"Morning gramps!"
Cap'n spun his head to the side.
"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Callie asked, a cute little grin across her face.
"You've been acting... odd the past few days. You alright?" Marie chimed in.
"...." He stood up and walked over to the snowglobe.
"What are you-"
The only answer was a loud CRASH and the glistening pieces of glass raining down from where the snowglobe once rested. Callie and Marie are shocked and speechless, Octavio's eyes are as wide as saucers. Cap'n reaches out and brushes the glass off the top of his head, pricking his finger.
"...You shouldn't be stuck in that snowglobe. You deserve better, y-you..."
"..." he just stares at him.
"The war was years ago. We should move on from it. W-we don't need to keep fighting you and I... "
"...."
It was hard trying to talk to him. He wasn't ever the best at speeches
"...We used to be friends.."
"..."
He stared at Cap'n for a long moment. He looked to his side with a mornful expression and then...
"Okay."
Cap'n felt himself perk up. "Okay?"
"...I've already lost."
That was progress. He didn't seem to completely hate him. Maybe they can't go back to the way they used to be...
But for now...
This was enough.