The Rise begins...

Thousands upon thousands of fans cheer and stomp in rhythm for the hottest rivalry in the country. A sea of gold on one side and a sea of silver on the other, the atmosphere is tense yet exciting as the enthusiasm of the audience makes the stadium quake. Down below on the field the grounds are dominated by the same colors of ink, a heated battle taking place as both sides exchange fire in this turf war. Gold ink clashes with the Silver ink, territory shifting possession by the second. The golden side player with such refinement it was difficult to root against them, but the silver side fought with such aggression that one couldn't help rooting for their efforts to pay off.

"With only a minute left in the Inkopolis cup, both Special Forces and Beacon Hills high are showing us exactly why they're the top two teams in the country!" the Commentator narrates as the two continue to duel; "Gold is the standard of Special Forces and today they're showing us why they're the defending Spring Champions!"

"Not so fast!" his partner interrupts; "Here comes Beacon Hills with yet another splat. They're the team that dons silver, but today they've shown us that silver can outshine gold!"

Ink splatters across the strong white walls like a novice artist with an inkbrush; the scene on the field similar to witnessing an offensive war with both sides refusing to defend and instead pour all their energy to striking the other down with the sharper weapon. A Special Forces player wearing a number "10" shirt continues dishing out commands, appearing to be the leader of this squad as they yet again scatter like leaves in the wind. The more that Special Forces spread, the more it tempts Beacon Hills to bite on the obvious trap and shut them down. The number "7" of Beacon Hills continues yelling furiously in reaction to any subltle changes made by the enemy squad, desperate to defeat his bitter rivals by any means. As thirty seconds remained in the fight, it's a toss up on who will grab victory, the fast pace of both sides assuring the audience that they are in for a climatic end to the first trophy of the new season.

"Wow...they're moving so fast I can't even keep up with the action!" A boy awed watching the game on the TV, leaning in closer to see the final moments of the Inkopolis cup. If turf wars are this fun, then I should join! He thought, enjoying the thought of being on television with the world watching him play for glory.

"Zule, turn that rubbish off!" a girl's voice yells from another room, her tone so agitated just from hearing the game blasting in her ears.

"Sorry sis! I'll turn it down!"

"Not down, off!"

"But Sis!"

"No buts!"

Puffing his cheeks, he lowers the volume anyways and snickers, thinking himself to outsmart her by simply ignoring her request. His attention returns to the game as the final moments of the game unfold. He can't wait to see an end to the match, especially with the two team captains going head to head; surprisingly, they looked quite similar like siblings. Just then, his sister walks in with a bottle of soda and a devious grin on her face sneaking behind her little brother. She hops over the couch and lands next to him resting her feet in his lap and snatching the remote from him to change the channel. His face turns pale and in an instead he turns to her in protest.

"I warned you~!" She winks, wagging the remote in front of him. "Zule, I told you to ignore that game."

"But you play it, don't you? Why don't you watch the game?"

"Let's watch something we both can enjoy." she said, surfing through the channels to a disgruntled Azule. A classic interaction between siblings, their situation looks like the average pair on the surface, but there is quite a lot to unravel about the Royale siblings, and how they came to be.

"Do you know them?"

Sky glances at him with an annoyed look, returning to surfing the channels. "Special Forces and Beacon Hills. They're the strongest teams in Inkopolis, I hate them with all my heart."

Azule pouts as he's stuck with seeing a table of people discuss news on Television instead of the thrilling match and sinks into back the sofa looking at the calendar in the distance, noticing the big red circle marked over the date of tomorrow-"August 24th, the first day of school"-it read in the Inkling's native writing.

15 years old and about to enter high school with his older sister, Azule recently moved to the metropolitan area known as Inkopolis City, the capital of the nation of Inkopolis; The most populous nation on the continent of Inkland. It's been a few months since he first began his stay with his sister, Sky, who is 17 years old, and though they made progress since then, it was very rough in the beginning. What started out as a chance encounter led to the re-establishment of their strong bond they once had as little children. They spent a chunk of their childhood living in an orphanage for cuttlefish and other species nearby the border of Inkopolis, and for them, it wasn't much a place for living as it was for survival. When Sky suddenly left one day, it all went downhill and when they once again reunited, their relationship worsened. She explained that she left for an education in the city and promised to one day return and get him out of there, but that debt was never paid as she left him to suffer in solitude. Despite pleading with him for forgiveness, she could could see the hurt in his bight blue eyes whenever she tried to explain herself, understanding that maybe her decision was selfish, but it worked out fine since they were back together, right? As the days went by and they became weeks, she noticed he warmed up to her again, having minor comments to share with her, and now after a few months, he could show her that same smile that gave a different warmth than what the son could provide. Once again, they could play around like ordinary siblings, they could share jokes, eat together, and look after one another like they did back then.

"Speaking of that, we need to get you situated for your first day. Let's get you some supplies." she said, quickly getting up; "Go get dressed and meet me downstairs."

Leaving him behind to get and change as well, Azule looks over to his camouflage hat that had inkling lettering with a gold crown on top that spells "LARS"-a hat he always leaves home with that felt like his identity. A fair skinned boy with Royal blue tentacles, matching colored eyes, and a near permanent smile, he enjoyed visiting the city as long as he was with Sky. Meeting her outside, he saw her tan complexion sparkle in the sunlight along with her sky blue tentacles bringing out the shine in the same irises as her brother's. Side by side, she's slightly taller by a few inches and wears a black and sky blue sporty bobble hat to join her brother as hat buddies. On their way to the city, they take a trip down memory lane. Three months ago, Sky was passing through a bad side of town when she noticed a boy sitting on the streets in the alleyway close to a motel. At first, she was hesitant to head over since she seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere, but there was a nagging feeling that she had to know about this child seemingly left for dead out in the open. When she walked over and recognized his face, her heart sunk. He looked broken, no light in his eyes, his body covered in burns and scars, and a face so worn it was difficult to believe that was her little brother she hadn't seen in a little over 2 years. Without a moment's hesitation, she took him in. She carried him in her arms, hearing him ask the same name over again like a broken record. Are you my sister? Sky is that you? Every time she heard his weak voice, she was on the verge of tears-she couldn't imagine what he went through on own.

"I missed you." Azule hugged her after hearing her shaken reply confirm it.

It was a sudden encounter that changed their lives for the better with Sky taking him in and Azule making a recovery from the trauma. Although it was out of nowhere after less than a month being together, Sky decided to have him attend school with her since it would be better than having him holed up in the apartment all day and worked to get him scheduled for an entrance exam to the school she attended, earning a roster slot for him to take the test. The next few weeks she crammed as much information into his skull and sent him off, glad to learn he passed with flying colors when he returned. After that, she gave him a crash course on learning all the essentials an inkling needed to know going into high school. With the last couple of weeks being dedicated towards preparing for the new semester, Sky made sure to educate him on what to expect going into a public school and of how to behave himself, but after seeing how much he'd come to life versus how she found him initially, she had nothing to worry about.

The next day begins with a bright and pleasant morning with the yellow sun breaking the orange sky with numerous skyscrapers filling the atmosphere. Down below, the streets are already busy with cars passing by Moray Towers on their way to work, people crowding the sidewalks, and people opening their businesses. Sparkling blue water sways calm under Hammerhead Bridge as the construction workers wrap up on the major project. In what appears to be a guest room, Azule wakes up groggy headed. He leaves the room; dragging his feet like a zombie through the dimly lit hallway letting the aroma from breakfast guide him to the main room; he can hear pans colliding and see steam dancing above him to make him all the hungrier. He grabs his chest with an annoyed look, having them frequently since coming to live with his sister.

He peeks over the corner of the wall with curiosity, seeing the back of his sister in the kitchen working magic with her cooking once more; Sky's cooking was so delicious that it was something worth dying for. He goes over to the couch in the living room and plops right there to watch Inkopolis Live!They were discussing some highlights from a previous match between two teams in the PTWL- Professional Turf War League-that was being shown on the screen. The league was the highest level of competition for Turf Wars that took place immediately after completing the high school level of competition. The two teams were engaged in a heated battle with Lime and Blue ink splattering everywhere with the captains having a one-on-one showdown with the match on the line; both were captains by the designated yellow bands wrapped around their arms. The Blue captain had a dynamo roller while the Lime captain had a slosher, the Blue captain unveils his wrath as he charges in to grab the splat and seize the victory by grabbing the last piece of turf for the team, but a lime inkling with a kelp splatterscope splats the Blue captain-saving her own captain too. There was great focus on the excellent play performed by the sniper, highlighting the great reliability and clutch performance she showed in saving the match for her team; the Lime team won. Seeing the match only got Azule more excited to compete, learning from Sky that their school did plenty of turf wars as one of the premier schools in the country.

"Hey Azule, you finally woke up!" Sky said in a loud and peppy voice, pulling his ear gently as she spots him on the couch; Sky's always been a morning person, enjoying her day long before the sun would even think of waking up for its duty.

"Sky…why do you find it necessary to always pull my ear…?" He said holding his ear; Sky smirks at him.

"Because, you're super vulnerable behind your ears…!" she said with a cat's smile, playing with his ears; Azule begins to giggle as he barrel rolled off the couch and away from her, definitely ticklish around the ears.

"I knew it!"-She said slamming her fist in her hand as if having an epiphany-"you really are ticklish!"

"N-no I'm not!"-Embarrassed, trying to not show any weakness-"I was simply off guard was all!"

Sky's cat smile returned as she tilted her head to the side, "Would you like to try again?"

"No thanks!"

Sky prepared the table for breakfast, placing the bowls of fruit on the table and handing Azule his plate of pancakes and omelet with hash browns on the side with toast on another plate; Sky had the same plate but with beans instead of hash browns. They both sit down at the table and make a quick prayer to the Great Zapfish before eating.

"Uh-oh! You left your plate open!" Sky said stealing his toast from across the table and taking a huge bite and savoring the taste of the butter spread across the bread.

"That's mine!" he whined, trying to grab his toast back; that poor toast was already devoured before he could get the chance!

"Too late!" she laughed, giving him a nuggie right after stealing his toast; Azule takes up some of the fruits as a substitute for his lost toast.

"Maybe next time you'll be more alert!" pinching his cheek with joy, much to his displeasure.

"What a difference a few months make, huh? It looks like you missed me more than I thought." Azule said with a smile, putting his hand over Sky's hand that still pinches his cheek; Sky's face dropped realizing his statement held enough truth. IN just that span she cleaned him up, fed him, and educated him, ready to see him off on his first day for class.

She let go of his face and gently rubs her hand across his cheek with a soft smile, "You're the only family I got left, Zule." her sentimental tone full of remembrance and gratitude that she still had someone to protect. After finishing breakfast, they get dressed in the school uniforms and head on out, ready begin their new semester.


If you're reading this, thanks for giving this story a chance. I greatly appreciate it and hope you'll enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. Also, I'm in the process of cleaning up some of these older chapters to look a bit more presentable so apologies ahead of time if there are some inconsistencies down the line, I'm working on improving and presenting the most enjoying story I can without riddling it errors from when I first started working.