Lone Traveller No More
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Alyssa, an Inkling, took a seat in the subway train that she had bought a ticket for. She placed her suitcase down next to her. She currently lived in Inkopolis but a good vacation away from the famous city was always a good idea, right? She had decided to take a train to the airport since she lived quite far from the place. She had managed to book a flight to Scotland as well, as well a return ticket so she did kind of have a flight to catch.
After a few minutes of waiting, the Inkling felt the train move a bit as it left the station and headed for the station near the airport. She looked out her window and thought about what she could possibly do to try and make friends here in Inkopolis. She didn’t have any friends in the big city yet, as she had left the majority of the friends she met back in Australia, her country of origin. There were a few other friends that had moved away from Australia before Alyssa herself moved but she didn’t know where a lot of them were. That honestly made her feel bad, as she wanted to get back in contact with those old friends.
Despite her talkative and… somewhat chaotic nature, she was surprisingly introverted and awkward when it came to introductions and meeting new people. And plus, she had technically lost her right eye a few years ago, which is a story for another time. Maybe a few people who lived in the city were intimidated by that. It wasn’t her fault, though. It was just an accident that had led to her losing her right eye.
Alyssa sighed as she listened to the chatter of the Octolings and Inklings on the train. She genuinely wished she could have friends like everyone else, but at least there were plenty of friendly people she could talk to, right? And what if she met someone who lost an eye like her? Who knows though, she probably wouldn't be the one to start the conversation in the first place.
Eventually, Alyssa tore her eye away from the window and looked around at the train. Almost everyone was sitting with someone they knew, someone they could trust. Except for her, of course. Everyone that WAS sitting alone, however, mostly didn’t seem friendly. She could try to introduce herself. Wait, no, she was too awkward.
‘Silly me..’ Alyssa thought with a small sigh. She decided to just bide her time until she got to the destination. It probably wouldn’t be too bad if she kept herself busy.
~~Timeskip to Airplane Boarding Time~~
“Attention all passengers of Flight 462. Passengers seated in Zone B are now clear to board. Passengers seated in Zone B are now clear to board. If you are in Zone C and have not boarded the plane, please do so now,” the voice of the announcer said over the intercom of the gate with Alyssa’s flight. Alyssa perked, as she was seated in Zone B herself. She stood up and gripped the handle of her suitcase, the one that allowed it to roll along the floor. It was small enough to be considered a carry-on bag but big enough to fit what she needed inside. Walking to the line, which moved surprisingly fast, she waited for her turn to get her ticket authorized. When it was her turn, she handed the Octoling at the counter her ticket and she checked it, both quickly and thoroughly. Once Alyssa was cleared to board, she thanked the person at the counter and entered the walkway.
‘Haven’t been in a walkway like this since I moved from Australia a few years ago.. Brings back a lot of nostalgia. Sure does,’ Alyssa thought as she walked through the metal hall towards the entrance of the plane itself. She looked through the small yet harmless cracks of the joined pieces of metal, seeing airport personnel working down on the runway. Soon enough, she reached the open door of the aircraft, making sure to take care in entering the massive machine. She walked herself down to her row and sat down in her seat, which was the one closest to the window. She slipped her baggage underneath the seat in front of her. She also turned her phone to airplane mode, mainly due to her wanting to be safe during her flight. As she was doing this, another Inkling sat in her row, on the outermost seat of the three seats. He seemed to only have one eye, as shown by the fact that one of his eyes was closed constantly. He also had a seemingly friendly aura about him.
‘I would say hello but.. I’m just so awkward when it comes to that,’ She thought after taking a brief look at him. By the looks of her body language, it was clear she wanted to say hello but was too awkward to say hello. She wasn’t the best at suppressing her body language. She awkwardly looked away and put her phone in a pocket of her luggage. That was until the other Inkling decided to speak.
“Hey uh, you ok?” He asked Alyssa, which kind of caused her to jump a little. He seemed to have a very slight British accent. “You just seem kinda.. Sad? Lonely? I don’t know..”
“I guess you’re right with me being kinda lonely,” Alyssa said with a sad laugh. Her Australian accent was a lot more clear than his but she didn’t care if her accent was heavier than others’. She looked over at the other Inkling, loneliness obvious in her expression and singular eye.
“Well, I’m glad to be a friend!” He said, almost perking up. It was obvious that he was trying to cheer the other Inkling up. He didn’t like to see others lonely, he had experienced that himself. And coming from experience, it really felt bad to be lonely. So he started working on being more outgoing and started making his own friends. “I’m Roscoe! How about you?”
“I’m Alyssa,” She responded. She could feel herself smiling a little bit as she started talking to Roscoe about themselves. After a couple minutes of talking with one another but not telling each other how they lost their eyes, they both perked up as they heard a voice come over the plane’s speaker system.
“Good afternoon everyone,” A female voice sounded over the speakers. It sounded like she was starting to go over safety procedures before the flight took off. “Kingfin Airlines is glad to have you on Flight 462. Before we start flying to our destination, safety procedures will be briefly explained, so we will need all of our guests’ full attention.”
The person started to explain what Kingfin’s safety procedures were, with flight attendants showing what the objects being talked about looked like. Since Roscoe and Alyssa were in the middle of the plane, they could kind of see the flight attendants well. But it took a lot of focus, especially considering that they both only had their left eyes. After a few minutes of explanation, the whole spiel was finished and the two Inklings looked back at each other and started to talk again. There was another announcement for the passengers that told them to prepare for the takeoff of the plane. They both had already prepared for takeoff, as well as the long flight. It would last probably more than a day and last into the night.
“So uh..” Roscoe started as the plane started moving towards the runway. “This may sound like a really random question but why are you covering your eye? With the eyepatch? I get it if it’s personal, I’m just curious! That’s all!”
“That’s kind of a long story,” Alyssa said, laughing a slight bit. She didn’t know why but everytime she thought about how she lost her eye, she tended to laugh. Maybe it was because of how stupid those old friends of her’s were. “Well, I guess I wouldn’t mind saying what my story was but on a little compromise, too.”
“I’m listening,” Roscoe said with a slight grin, listening to what Alyssa had to say.
“As long as you tell your story as well,” Alyssa said, grinning back at him. He seemed to know what Alyssa was referring to, and grinned again.
“Sounds like a deal,” Roscoe said. “Wanna go first with telling your story?”
“Why not?” Alyssa responded and started to explain her story to Roscoe, who she deemed to be quite trustworthy already. The plane had already taken off at this point while they talked and they didn’t even notice it. Maybe this flight would be more bearable than Alyssa thought it would’ve been.