[A/N] So, I scrapped my last idea for a story. It was supposed to be a big dramatic story about how a fourth agent (Jake's friend, Kat) got near-mortally wounded in a fight with the Octolings on Saltspray Rig, but I didn't like it enough to keep writing it so I killed it.

This one's a bit more cliché, from what I've seen so far; it's another "Octoling trapped in Inkopolis" story. I've seen two other stories with that exact plot, chances are they are both better than this one. (Both are in my favourites list if you want to read them)

The names aren't as punny as they could be, but a couple friends of mine might like to know that they're featured in one of my stories. (From now on, my Inklings are likely going to be named after real-life people I know. Personalities aren't necessarily going to be the same, though.)

So, without further ado…

Colour Blends

Fear. Sheer, unadulterated terror. That was the only thing running through her mind.

The Octoling shifted her weapon between her hands nervously. She tried to calm herself down the way she had been for years; she sung to herself, quietly. And it worked, sort of.

Didn't quite get rid of the fear, though. There was too much that could've happened on this mission to be completely calm.

She looked around, as if to reassure herself. Sure enough, the Zapfish was still there.

She was scared. Scared of her superiors if this failed, scared of getting splatted… most of all, she was scared of Agent 3.

Even thinking of that title made her angry. Agent 3 was a thief. He was worse than the rest of the Inklings put together. He had destroyed countless allies of hers, dethroned her king, and stolen their Zapfish. If only she could be the one to take him down…

The sound of ink being fired snapped the Octoling out of her thoughts. She quickly scanned the area, trying to locate her allies, but all she could see were bursts of ink as they were splatted. Agent 3 was right in the middle of it all.

She gulped. She knew all about Agent 3's skill. There was no way she could've taken him on alone. Thinking quickly, she inked a path away from the Zapfish, switched to octopus form, and swam as far away as she could.

She could see Agent 3 approach the Zapfish. He didn't seem to have noticed her. She saw him pull out a Splat Bomb and nonchalantly toss it at the Zapfish cage. It let out a blinding flash, before Agent 3 grabbed it.

She let out a mental sigh. Another Zapfish taken. The Octarian race would run out of power soon.

It wasn't until then that the Octoling realized how tired she was. She looked at the sky. The sun was about to go down. It was going to be pretty late soon. She had to get back to her home before it got dark.

After a quick scan of the area, she noticed a launchpad. Quickly, she swam over to it, and jumped back to Octo Valley.

The Octoling's eyes were already closing. She couldn't even tell if she'd be able to get back home before she just curled up and went to sleep on the ground.

She frantically looked around the area, but most of the kettles were surrounded by ink. It wasn't Octo ink; she couldn't have swam through them if she tried.

She finally spotted a clean kettle, and ran over to it as fast as her legs could carry her. As she was about to jump in, the Octoling hesitated.

She didn't know her way around Octo Valley as well as she would've liked; she had no idea where most of these kettles led. For the first time, she thought about rumours of monsters, even stronger than the Octarians, that lurked in the darkest corners of the valley. What if this kettle propelled her towards them?

She weighed her options. Either she could take her chances with the kettle, or she could spend a cold night trying to sleep on the ground in the valley. She didn't like either one much.

She took a breath, steeled her nerves, and swam into the kettle.

The first thing that she noticed was how smooth the trip was. The kettles running through Octo Valley usually had clunky, uncomfortable journeys, so this was nice. The second thing was how long it was taking. As she was pondering this, she popped out at the destination. That was the third thing she noticed.

The kettle had taken her to Inkopolis.

She clapped a hand over her mouth. This was not good. Inklings were going to be everywhere. She would get splatted on sight.

Calm. Stay calm, she told herself. She began to sing again. It really did help.

But she had no idea what to do. She could've gone back to Octo Valley, but that ran the risk of finding something even worse. She ran into a nearby alleyway, and peaked out into the plaza.

There weren't as many Inklings as she would've thought. Maybe she'd be able to survive after all.

At this time of night, most of them would be either sleeping, or about to return to their homes.

As she was considering whether she should just turn to octopus form and sleep in a trash can for the night, she heard voices. She ducked back into the alley, and looked for the source. She found it quickly.

Four Inklings were talking and laughing. One was yellow, one was green, one was light blue, and the last was orange. The green one was a girl, and all the rest were boys. All four had weapons.

The green one had a giant roller-type weapon that was taller than she was. The yellow one had a fancy-looking purple and black bucket. The light blue one held a small gun that looked like a toy, and the orange one had a gold shooter that had a small tank on top. She gulped.

As she watched, the Inklings waved good-bye to each other and started to go their separate ways. The light blue one was walking straight at her hiding spot.

She almost screamed. Quickly, she switched to octopus form and hid in a nearby trash can. The Inkling walked by without noticing her. She let out a mental sigh of relief.

It occurred to her that this Inkling might lead her to a more comfortable place to stay for the night. She couldn't say anything, of course, but she could follow him.

Stealth mode. That could work. She hopped out of the trash can, switched back to humanoid form, and started following him.

Being this close to an Inkling made her even more nervous. Her heart was beating like a drum. Any second, she was terrified that he would hear her, look around, and splat her.

She realized that she had no idea where she was being led. Even if she found a better place to stay for the night, there was no telling whether she'd be able to get back to Octo Valley in the morning anyway.

Somewhat lost in her thoughts, she wasn't looking where she was going and tripped. On reflex, she yelped.

She looked up and saw the Inkling jump about a foot in the air before turning around and seeing her. His eyes widened, and he raised his weapon. She could see his finger grip the trigger.

"Wait!" she cried. It came out a bit more pathetic than she intended. "Please don't splat me! I-I'm not here to hurt anyone, I promise! I was tired and I took a wrong turn! I just want to go home!"

The Inkling kept his gun raised. "You have a weapon, don't you?"

She held up her Octoshot in surprise. "Well, yeah, but I just haven't taken it off yet. You can have it if you want."

He nodded. "Slide it over to me. With your ink tank. …Slowly," he added.

She disconnected her weapon from the tank, and kicked them towards him. He smashed the weapon with his foot, and drained the tank into his gun before smashing it, too.

"Hands behind your head." She did as she was told. "Now walk." She moved ahead of him. He kept his weapon pointed at her.

A short walk later, the two of them had reached a building. He grabbed her arm, and led her to what she presumed was his apartment.

The Octoling noted her surroundings. Closest to the door was a small kitchen, with a fridge, microwave, and stove. Next to the kitchen was a living room, with two comfy-looking chairs and a couch facing a TV that had a couple of video game systems attached to it. A hallway connected the living room to some more rooms she couldn't see.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" he asked her. "Go ahead, sit down."

She obliged, taking a seat on one of the chairs. The Inkling left and returned with a different weapon that was bulkier, completely grey, with a wider barrel. She gulped.

This wasn't looking any better. He probably just didn't want to attract any attention when he splatted her. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited.

"What are you doing?" His voice surprised her. Her eyes opened again.

"…Waiting for you to splat me."

"I wasn't going to splat you."

"Then why do you still have a weapon?"

"I want to ask you some questions."

"That's not what it looks like."

"OK, fine." He disappeared again. When he came back, his hands were empty. "Better?"

"…A bit."

"Alright. What are you doing in Inkopolis?"

"I already told you that in the alley."

"I want to make sure you aren't lying."

"How are you planning to do that?"

"…Take off your mask."

"What? Why?"

"Just do it."

The Octoling did as she was told. She had forgotten she was wearing it in the first place.

"Now look at me."

She looked at him, getting a good look at his features for the first time. Nothing really stood out, though. His eyes were blue, a darker shade than his tentacles.

"Great, I didn't even have to ask."

"Ask what?"

"For you to look in my eyes."

She looked away quickly. "…Sorry."

"No, no, keep looking."

She stared into his eyes again.

"Great. Now, what are you doing here?"

"I already told you that."

"Tell me again. Start from the beginning."

She described everything that had happened to her since the mission. "…and then I met you in the alleyway, and now we're here."

"Why didn't you just go back to Octo Valley once you realized where you were?"

"I was… really tired. I still am. I wasn't really thinking straight."

He pondered that for a while. She waited anxiously for his response.

"…Okay."

"Okay?" she asked. "Okay what?"

"I believe you."

"Just like that?" she replied, incredulous. "For all you know, I could be an assassin, and you're just gonna trust me?"

"Of course I am. You weren't lying."

"How could you tell?"

"It's one of my many talents."

"Yeah, and I'll bet modesty is another."

"As a matter of fact, that's number seventeen." He cracked a smile. "Anyway, I believe your story, and I'm going to help you get back home."

"You are?" she asked excitedly. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She jumped up and pulled him into a crushing hug.

"Hey! I still need to breathe to help you!" he gasped.

"Sorry," she replied with a smile. "I got a bit excited."

"Well, don't get too excited. I can't do it right now." Her spirits fell.

"What? Why not?"

"Listen." She cocked her head. The Octoling could hear loud music and some screaming.

"This is when all the late-night Inklings are partying. If we tried to get you back to Octo Valley right now, you'd get noticed for sure. We'll have to wait until tomorrow."

"…Okay," she replied halfheartedly. She began to sniffle.

"Hey." He looked in her eyes. "Don't look so down. I promise I'll get you back home."

The Octoling smiled and brushed away her tears.

"Alright!" said the Inkling suddenly. He jumped up out of his seat. "If you're gonna be staying here tonight, we need to get you a place to sleep."

"Oh, I can just sleep on the couch-"

"No way. You're a guest in my home, and I don't let guests sleep on the couch. Come on. I'll give you the two-minute tour before I show you your room."

He led her down the hallway and pointed in one direction. "First things first, the bathroom is at the end of that hallway. The door just to your left is just a closet. Nothing interesting in there." He pointed in the other direction. "Over at this end is my room. If you need anything during the night, chances are I'll be in there. And this…" He walked to the last door in the hallway. "…is the guest room. You'll be sleeping in here." He pushed the door open.

For a guest room, it was pretty fantastic. There were a total of three empty closets, a bedside table, a digital clock, and a massive bed in the middle of it all. The Octoling's eyes lit up. This would be a great place to stay! "Wow…" was all she could get out.

"You like it, then?" he asked.

"This is awesome!" she replied. She immediately ran over to the bed and sat on it. It was just as comfy as it looked.

"Well, before you get too comfortable, I need to lay out some ground rules," he said. She nodded in response. "First of all, if, for any reason, you end up being by yourself in here, don't make too much noise. The walls here are pretty thin. Second, if someone's at the door, do not unlock it for anything. That includes me, because I've got a key. Don't answer the phone, either. You can help yourself to any food in the kitchen, and you can do whatever you want when you get bored as long as you don't break anything. I think that covers everything. Any questions?"

"Sure. What's your name?" She asked with a grin.

"Oh yeah, I guess we haven't really introduced each other yet, have we? Well, my name is Jake." He stuck out his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Jake," she replied, shaking his hand. "I'm Tori."

"Alright, Tori. I've said everything I need to say, so methinks it's time to get to bed. Night."

"Good night," she said. He left the room, and shut the door behind him.

Tori didn't even bother removing her armor, she just flopped down underneath the covers. She was asleep almost immediately.

She smiled. To think, in one more day, she'd be back home.

[A/N] So, chapter 1 is FINALLY finished. I know it didn't take me that long, but it feels good to have it done. I've got some stuff planned for this story, and I think it'll turn out OK. The beginning seems a bit choppy, but I don't care, what are y'all gonna do about it.

Chapter 2 is being worked on as you read this, so I'll see you again soon!