Pearl let out a loud scream, her face turning blue. She cut off her scream and breathed heavily, glaring at the setting sun. She sighed once she caught her breath and sat down on the ground. "I'm never gonna be like Callie," she mumbled, starting to trace the shockwave scar on her right arm.
Pearl escaped to Mount Nantai whenever she was stressed. And after a failed gig, she was definitely stressed. Yelling usually helped, but she could never scream loud enough to drown out her thoughts. Pearl always dreamt of being famous like her idol, Callie. But she couldn't seem to catch a break. She had a hard time booking gigs and when she did, it would all go wrong. Her band was no help either.
"Maybe I shouldn't be in a band," Pearl mumbled to herself. "Those assholes never do-" She cut herself off when she heard a noise, making her ear twitch. She turned towards a bush where the noise came from. She stood up.
"Yo! I heard you! You better come out! I won't hesitate to cut a fish!" Pearl shouted, curling her fingers to make fists. She heard a whine and then someone stood up from behind the bush.
The girl that stood up was tall and had dark skin. She had short, plum and teal tentacles. She was also wearing weird gear and odd goggles sat atop her head. She stared nervously at Pearl. She shivered when there was a gust of wind.
Pearl blinked at the tall girl. "Um, sup. Who are you?" She tilted her head. "And were you watching me?"
The girl blinked back at Pearl. "ร๏ггץ. เ ๔๏ภ'Շ ยภ๔єгรՇคภ๔ ץ๏ย."
"What?" Pearl narrowed her eyes. "Are you some country bumpkin?"
The girl stepped out from behind the bush and Pearl began circling her.
"Maybe not. I don't think a country bumpkin would wear this weird stuff." Pearl stopped in front of the girl. "Are you from France? I hear that place is fancy. Are you able to tell me your name?"
The girl perked up when Pearl said 'name.' "Marina!" She chirped.
"Marina? Nice name. Good thing names don't really change when it comes to different languages. I'm Pearl Houzuki!" Pearl smirked, crossing her arms.
Marina smiled. "Pearl."
"The one and only!" Pearl grinned. She jumped when her phone started to ring. She rolled her eyes and answered it. "Yo."
"Pearl, where the fuck are you? You can't just leave when something goes wrong! You could've at least stayed to finish! Just get back here!"
"Yeah, yeah." Pearl hung up. "I gotta go, Marina. I could introduce ya to my band if you want. I bet you'll love our music!"
Marina tilted her head. "Hm?"
Pearl sighed. "Just follow me." She waved her hand for Marina to follow and began walking.
Marina smiled and followed the short girl, reaching out to grab her hand. Pearl raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't mind and held onto her hand.
The two walked back to stage, hand in hand.
"Who the hell is that?" An anemone asked.
"Girl I just met. She doesn't speak a lick of Inkling, but she seems cool." Pearl turned to Marina. "Marina, this is my dumbass band."
"I thought you said she doesn't understand you?" An Inkling said, crossing his arms.
"Eh, she'll learn eventually." Pearl shrugged and smiled at Marina, earning a smile back.
Another Inkling glared at Pearl. "Whatever. Thanks to you, the entire crowd left."
"What do you care?" Pearl glared back. "It's not like you three do anything for this band."
The Inkling growled and threw a keyboard at Pearl, which she dodged easily. "I care because you broke our equipment with your little tantrum!"
"Then just go home! Geez!" Pearl rolled her eyes, turning to Marina. "See what I gotta deal with?" Marina just tilted her head in response.
"Whatever. Just behave next time!"
The three grabbed their mostly broken equipment and left, leaving Pearl behind.
"Jerks," Pearl mumbled, picking up the keyboard. "Here. You want it? Those assholes will probably just make me buy them a new one."
Marina smiled and accepted the keyboard, looking over it.
"It's a bit busted, but I'm sure you can do somethin' with it."
Marina tilted her head at Pearl, still smiling.
Pearl snorted. "You can't understand me." Her ear twitched when she heard a rustle and looked over to see Judd. "Oh, hey buddy."
"Meow." Judd padded over and plopped down, grabbing a dead fish and starting to eat it.
Pearl chuckled, then looked at Marina when she gasped. She hurried over and kneeled beside Judd, watching him eat.
Judd glanced at her and continued to eat. Marina giggled and smiled at Pearl. "Cat."
Pearl smirked and brought out her phone, taking a picture of the girl and the cat.
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Marina began petting Judd, which surprised Pearl for a moment before realizing Judd enjoyed the petting.
After receiving a few more pets, Judd stood and walked off.
Marina giggled, standing up. "Cat."
"That was cute." Pearl chuckled and stuffed her hands in her pockets. "Well, I gotta get going. See ya later, I guess." She waved and walked off.
Marina blinked, watching the Pygmy walk away. She looked down at the keyboard she set on the ground to pet Judd and smiled brightly. "Pearl."
.....
Marina furrowed her eyebrows as she read the book she found. "B-booyah."
It had been a week since Marina met Pearl and the tall girl stayed at the mountain, waiting for the Inkling to return. Though she hasn't seen the short girl since their first meeting. She decided to keep herself busy by learning Pearl's language. She somehow acquired a book and have been learning to read. Though she wished she had some help.
Also in that time, she fixed up the keyboard Pearl gave her and was even able to record a demo song she hopes to show the Pygmy.
But there had been zero sign of Pearl. Marina spent most of her time at Mount Nantai and she even went down the mountain a few times to search for Pearl. Marina grew disappointed as time went on, but she never gave up.
Marina smiled brightly when she reached a certain page. On it had Callie and Marie on it. "Squid Sisters!" She read what was written on the page, smiling the whole time. She wished she could be just like the two cousin. She loved music and hoped one day everyone would want to listen to her music. Her ear twitched when she heard footsteps behind. When she turned to look, she saw Pearl.
Pearl flinched and quickly turned away, but before she could leave, Marina was already in front of her.
Marina grabbed Pearl's hands, smiling brightly. "Let's start a band!"
