KrakenKid

"Alright Darrel, how's our finances?"

The blue bird shuffled through his papers, gathering them so the desk was visible again, then finally met my gaze. "We are stable for now. However, more loot would be nice. Payday is coming up and it will take a good chunk out of our current amount. Perhaps a raid is in order."

I thought back, then a sudden thought came back. "Oh yeah! That reminds me, I did send out a small group of Illithids out to check the perimeter. Maybe they found something. I'll get back to you." We shared a nod and I left, making my way down the stairs. Passing by the restaurant and everyone in it, three Illithids were at the bottom of the stairs, whispering among themselves but shushed each other once they noticed me.

"Sir!" They all said simultaneously, eyes darting between each other. Scratches were around their bodies, one even had a small looking bite mark on the arm. My eyes widened a little bit. Taking in a deep breath, I addressed the injuries.

"What... What happened? I thought it was a simple check-the-perimeter mission! What did you do?"

They all glanced in between each other before the middle one spoke up. "We did do that, but wildlife attacked us! There were Rock Pythons! So many of them, we couldn't win. We had to retreat."

I closed my eyes for a second, doing my best not to snap at more troops. Today was stressful enough as it was. "Go to Doc," I pointed blindly. "He'll fix you up. I'll have Gnash and a larger group take care of the Rock Pythons."

"Wait!" My eyes shot open. The Illithid on my left side was the one to talk. "One of us got left behind! Illithid #67! He got bit in the stomach and we lost him on the rush back! Go check the caves, maybe he got lost in there!"

I paused, contemplating it but gave in. "Fine, I'll check around, but that's it. Happy?" All of them nodded vigorously. I huffed. "Just go get patched up." They obeyed, leaving my sight. I let out a long breath, shaking my head. "Can't believe I'm doing this at Midnight..." I muttered under my breath.

I made my way into the tunnels, checking each path possible, but with negative results. With each twist and turn, the possibility of finding this lost Illithid became less and less likely, not like there was much hope to begin with. The end was coming up and no sign was that they were even here. The outside world was a little lighter than the caves but not by much. However, it showed me a situation that made me freeze.

I found the Illithid, but they were not alone. Illithid #67 had red all over and around the chest and something hunched over it, right near the wound. It was difficult to make out exactly what, but they had a red clothing on top, and some oddly long legs. Or leg? Why do I only see one, or is it just the angle I'm at? Mermaid maybe? The odd being spoke, but I couldn't make it out clearly.

But I had enough. I didn't need to see anymore to figure out something was very off about this. Whipping out the gun, I came into view, aiming it right at them. The thought of losing a Tide Changer to some stranger right in front of me made rage rise to my throat.

"HEY!" I screeched, getting their attention and startling them.

As I came closer, I could get a good look at them. They were female no doubt, the white face gave that away with the shape it was in. She had long and wavy hair with a blond-ish and brown mix to it. Her blue eyes flashed with fear, going from me to the gun, and then after a long moment, back to me. She moved back an inch, almost involuntary, like her instinct was to flee but she was defying it.

She stared for a moment but I couldn't help but notice something I didn't before. Where legs should have been, or I guess maybe tentacles in my case, was a tail. A long smoothed one with the colors red, black and yellow alternating in stripes. A snake tail.

Is she some sort of snake person? Haven't seen many of those before...

Questions came to mind and there was only one way to figure them out. "What do you think you're doing? Did you hurt him? Who are you?" I demanded out of them. They blinked and slowly raised their hands in the air, palms facing towards me. Are they surrendering? I wondered to myself but kept the gun steady.

"Calm down. Deep breaths." The snake lady said. Her tone might have been soft but I refused to comply. Not today.

My grip on the weapon increased and I swam forward. "I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!" I roared. "ANSWER ME!"

"I'm helping your friend here and I'd like to continue that." She said, keeping her cool.

My eyes narrowed at the statement. They could easily be lying, I never forgot that. Even Atlanteans lied, no matter how much they tried to deny it.

"It's true boss." My gaze turned to them when the Illithid spoke up. Though they were laying down, their head turned towards me. "She's just helping out."

I studied him and the girl, trying to search for something that told more to the story. Nobody ever helps an Illithid. Maybe she was looking for a favor out of it. Some help for some help? "Who is 'She'?"

"You know, you can just ask this 'She'." The female suggested, flashing a smile.

I gave her one last look before letting out a long sigh. I rubbed my eyes and finally asked. "What's your name?"

She smiled again warmly. "Tanith." She said, satisfied and started to do something with the wound on the injured Illithid. I paused but couldn't help but stare at the reptilian tail. I resisted asking for a total of five seconds, then gave in.

"So you're some sort of hybrid?"

Tanith let out a snicker and mumbled something. "What was that?" I pressed.

"Nothing important. Yes, by the way. Human and Serpent." The hybrid continued to work, but when putting something on the wound, the soldier hissed in pain. All alarms went off in my head and logic flew out the window.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HIM?" The gun sank deeper into my hold. Out of all the languages in the world, everyone understood the threat of a weapon. However, calm never faded from her face.

"It's just some solutions to clear the wound. It's only stinging, nothing bad. I promise." She replied, not looking up.

This didn't comfort me. She was most likely an Atlantean, and Atlanteans lied. "Oh really? How do I know you aren't POISONING HIM?" I hissed, glaring at her.

She paused, jaw clenching and faced me. "Please. If I were poisoning him, I'd do it at the end and excuse it for some sort of disinfectant shot. Plus, poison takes a while to act upon the body, not instantly stinging."

I found myself struggling for words outside of a "Huh." My eyes darted around, avoiding her gaze. The answer caught me off guard. Atlanteans didn't normally act this way, then again, she might have been something else. Outside of the Tide Changers, there were a couple people who weren't really Atlanteans and were just something in the middle. Was she one of them? Like those mermaid sisters?

"That's... Interesting." My reaction caused her to laugh. I shook it off and followed her hands while she performed her work on the wound, which was looking better than before. Tanith took out a white cloth, causing my head to tilt a little. "What are you doing?" I leaned in.

"Whoa! Stand back a bit please!" She fliched.

My defense mode kicked in. "What? Why?" Suspicion layered in my voice.

"I need to concentrate. This isn't easy you know."

Recalling all the times Doc said something similar, I huffed. "Freaking doctors." I grumbled under my breath and slipped back. "Fine, fine. Here, is this okay?"

Tanith thought for a moment but nodded. "Seems appropriate." And returned to her job. Not seconds later, she asked something I didn't anticipate. "Hey, I just realized I don't know your name."

I blanked out before giving her a weird look. She hasn't heard of me? I'm the only known kraken in Atlantis! "Are you serious? You have no idea who I am?" When she returned the confused look, I could help but be surprised. "That explains some things..." Everyone knew not to come this close to the Conch Command and to always stay away from Illithids. Tanith did both in one night and now was talking to me, KrakenKid, leader of the Tide Changers and didn't look nervous. Who is she? How didn't she know me? I'm everywhere! "What have you been living under a rock or something?"

Her head shook. "I did just come to Atlantis."

"Oh." That's right, I'm still dead to Atlantis. I'm not exactly something everyone talks about anymore. "That makes sense."

Neither of us spoke for a while as I debated it. She'll find out eventually, might as well say it. I took in a silent breath.

"KrakenKid."

"Hmm?" I huffed.

"That's my name. It's KrakenKid."

A wild grin broke out on her face. "Well KrakenKid, it was nice meeting you!" First time that's been said in a while. "Your buddy here-"

I cut her off. "Illithid." I corrected. If she didn't know me, she wouldn't know them either. Her eyes rolled playfully.

"Your Illithid is all ready to go." She gave the thumbs up and helped him to his feet. "Make sure he doesn't overwork himself and to have someone medical to redressed the wound when it gets old. Got it?" I nodded.

"Good." She continued to smile and seemed even brighter than before. She held her hand out. "It was nice meeting you both. I hope next time we meet I don't get a gun pointed at me." I let out a snicker at her joke. I hesitated on shaking her hand, looking her up and down but deemed it safe and shook it.

I guided Illithid #67 back into the shelter of our caves, he was quick to thank her before leaving. As we started to get out of her view, I whipped around, half expecting an attempt to attack me but she just stood there, eyes sparkling with interest. She waved and it took a moment before I returned it.

We walked back in silence for a while before he struck up a conversation. "Do you think we will ever see her again?" The soldier asked.

I thought for a moment but shrugged. "Probably not. What are the odds that we do?"
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I came to, eyes slowly blinking back into existence. The comfort of my bed some something I didn't want to let go of, but I did anyways, sitting up. Echos of my dreams were still in my mind and didn't want to let go. I was back when I first met Tanith. Back then,  I thought that was going to be the last time I saw her, but boy was I wrong.

Almost as if she was cued, the hybrid came into my field of vision, sitting on my L couch. She perked up, seeing I was awake. "KK! Glad to see you up! You wanna join me as I explore some more of your common rituals?"

I gave a look. How long has she been waiting for me to wake up? "Depends which one." From what I knew, Tanith was constantly exploring our "Culture" which was apparently very different from her's. She could be talking about anything, from concerts to a Ouija board. One was more enjoyable than the other.

"It's something cool called a "Tea Party". I used up all my tea but your chief guy whipped up some drinks. He has something called a Steamer! It's like warm milk or something!"

I paused but shrugged. 'Yeah, why not. I'm still on rest from Doc anyways. Anyone joining us?"

"Ian!" I stopped.

"... Who's Ian?"

She grinned. "Remember than Illithid I saved when we first met? Illithid #67 is kinda long so his name is Ian now."

I huffed. "Tanith, you can't just give everyone nicknames! CannibalCrab keeps making fun of 'KK' and keeps calling me it. It's so hard to keep it serious in meetings."

"Fine, but you're still KK and he's still Ian. I'll keep it low but that isn't changing. Deal?"

I huffed. "Yeah sure, deal."

"Great! Let's do the Tea Party then!"

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Throwback Thursday! (It is when I'm posting it at least)

Remember 20 chapters back when Tanith and KrakenKid met? Here's KrakenKid's point of view on it! I wanted to do something different before I go on with my plans so here's a fluffy little chapter! Enjoy!

I hope you liked it because this took a LONG time! Be sure to comment your thoughts and I'll see ya'll later!

--JustAnAtlantisWriter