Splatoon Manga: NightRoad

Chapter 21: Crooked

⭐️Chapter 21: Crooked

Hachi and Nana (while everyone else was going down their paths) were still navigating through the thorns and vines. They hadn't brought any blades with them, and had kinda wished for one of the brothers' swords now, to cut these plants down. But then again, both brothers needed their blades for attack, and one would not be enough. They had gotten the occasional prick or stab from some thorns, but they weren't about to let that stop them. They persevered, with enough wisdom to understand which plants were dangerous and which were not.

It took a while, but the two eventually got to a clearer area with less thorns, and less vines. They breathed a sigh a relief, and continued down it. The sky was still bright, and the heat was still coming down, but the trees helped a lot. Actually, the further they went down the path, the less the trees started showing up. The forest was getting less dense on them. They found it odd, but kept their guard up. After a few more minutes of walking, the two found some giant hedges up ahead, covered in thorns. They walked up to them.

"Sweet! A new path!" Nana said, walking closer to examine it.

"Uh, Nana?" Hachi began inspecting the bigger scene.

"Yes, Hachi?" She turned to him.

"I think this is the Maze entrance." Hachi said, looking at it from where he stood.

...

"Welp, back we go-"

And Nana turned around and started back.

Hachi hesitated, thinking.

"But...Where will this lead us? Yes, away from Black Forest, but I'm getting the feeling that this might be important for later."

"H-Hachi?"

Nana turned around to look at him. Was he seriously going to-

"I'm going to go in." Hachi said as he stood up straighter.

Yes, Yes he was.

"Hachi, No! You're going to get lost! I thought that was something you didn't want!"

Hadn't the team talked about this?! And now that they were presented with it, Hachi wanted to DEFY it? Man, the squidbeak could be a mess sometimes...

"I know, but don't worry! I can launch an ink rain if I'm in trouble" Hachi reassured her. At the moment, it sounded like a good idea.

Nana sighed. She wasn't sure about this at all. But Hachi seemed so SET on it, that she might as well just...

"You sure?"

"Positive" Hachi nodded.

"Well...alright..."

And so, Nana watched as Hachi walked in.

"Well, what am I supposed to do now?!"

She began walking back. Yes, all the way back to the start of the four paths. She sighed. What would she eat? Where would she sleep? This mission was WAY harder than she thought...And then, what WOULD she do when she got down there? She'd just...pick another path, only to get lost again? And she'd keep going and going...would she even hear the yell when someone got out? Her heart began to race.

'No, no, that won't happen. The team won't abandon me. They'll find the right path, come back for me, and this will all be over and we can go back on our merry way.'

Her heartbeat slowed. She took some deep breaths in as she walked. Stress was the last thing she needed as of now. She needed something to occupy herself with as well. She began talking to herself, arguing about how stupid this whole event was and how it could've just been avoided had she not said "have it at nighttime" or listened to Rider. This slowly continued into talking about doubting herself, and going back to the original "finding the right path will take forever" thing. It really wasn't good, but she didn't want to go into the maze with Hachi.

"It's not like I can just...choose another path and go down, that'll take AGES for me to find the right one at this rate..."

She kicked a stone in her way out of her path. She brought her shadowshot out as well, and toyed with it along the way. Nothing to do...I mean, she'd mess around with ink, but heck, that could have something following her trail! She didn't want to be attacked when she was alone, and where nobody could hear her. She began to pick up the pace some, watching for any roots or rocks that could trip her. It had taken her and Hachi about...20 or so? minutes to get where they were perhaps? (She didn't know) But the faster she got back, the quicker she could get onto another path. She thought about trying to get to the second path next. But despite all this, the thoughts in her head still came. She became so frustrated with it, she couldn't focus...

"What now, what now?!" she grumbled loudly.

"Be still."

Nana froze.

Slowly, she turned around.

Kuro was staring at her.

And she had her shot pointed directly at her.

-----

Prince and Ebony were still trying to find their way out. Emperor? He was basically lost. Prince and Ebony were having fun, talking to one another and making jokes. Emperor was a mess, both physically and emotionally. Why did he leave Prince alone? He missed him dearly...

Prince enjoyed this. A chance to hear from the other side, gain more knowledge to use for their fights, it was perfect! Ebony even knew the way out! Emperor meanwhile, held his swords at ready, shaking from fear. He would attack anything that came too close or jumped out at him.

A figure watched Emperor struggle through to woods.

'Black Forest, eh? Maybe I can get him off track...'

Emperor was scared. Where was his little brother? Where was everyone else? Were there shadowlings in here? Was he going to die?!

"I see you're lost." An unfamiliar voice said, in his head.

Telepathy.

"Wha-?! Who goes there?! Show yourself!"

"A-a-ah, afraid I can't do that. I can only get you out."

"Out? Out of the forest? That would be great..."

"I'm just saying I can get you out. That's all."

Emperor hesitated.

"Then I won't take it. For all I know you could be taking me underground or into the sky! I don't want that, I have a mission!"

"Black Forest, no?"

"How did you-"

"Go forward until you see a stone that looks like a miniature mountain."

"Uh."

"Do you want out or not?"

Emperor hesitated, before slowly walking down that path.