"Don't be lazy," Ethan muttered when John stopped in the middle of their trek to catch his breath. John hunched over breathing in and out before looking up to give Ethan a dirty look. He straightened up soon after before continuing the trek with Ethan.
"These men have barely had legs for two days and they're keeping up fine," Ethan mocked, as they continued to walk. John ignored him, looking down at his boots as they stumped on the coarse sand.
They'd been to two out of the three islands and this was the third one. They'd searched by the beach before deciding that if the witch was attempting to stay hidden she would probably be keeping Jeffery in a cave or by a rocks giveaway.
Aquas walked about, fiddling with the collar of the long sleeved cotton shirt he was wearing. Everything from it to the trousers and the boots he had on were unnervingly uncomfortable. Aquas frowned in irritation, rolling up the baggy sleeves although he was well aware they'd roll back down within minutes.
He turned to his side to observe his brother, his best friend and the gatherer's head Althorn. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who was finding the clinging pieces of cloth uncomfortable.
He wondered how humans paraded in them, especially the women who he saw occasionally on the decks of ships with their puffy garments and towering hairstyles.
A feeling of anxiousness and strain started to take over Ethan when he saw that the search was becoming fruitless.
John, seeing his friend's frustration stopped the search and asked everyone to take a break. They soon set up a small camp, lighting a fire before getting comfortable around it.
Aquas and the other mermen stayed far away from the fire. John and Ethan had made fires in front of them prior to that but it still instilled fear in them. The myths regarding fire and the destruction it could cause still unnerved them even though John tried to assure them it was safe.
Aquas kicked off his boots soon after, wigging his toes. His toes were pink and bruised from being squashed too long within small-sized boots. He watched his toes with a mixture of curiosity and disgust. Toes looked like overfed worms to him, and it became apparent that he wasn't the only one who thought so when Ramie glared at him to stop wiggling them.
The afternoon passed before their very eyes and it was soon officially evening. Ethan and John only had the night and the next day left on the harbor. If they couldn't find Jeffery by that time they'd have to leave without him.
When the others slipped from small talk to sleeping, Aquas wasn't sure what to do. He'd fiddled with his fingers as he looked from sleeping person to sleeping person. Their camp wasn't exactly sited on the beach. They were a little into the vegetation.
Aquas sat up blinking back tears that had started to whirl up due to worry. He blinked furiously, cleaning his eyes with the back of his hand. He was frustrated and he wasn't sure why water was coming out of his eyes. He wondered whether it was normal for humans before his thoughts drifted into wondering why Encaca wasn't there yet.
He sniffed, running a hand through his hair as he looked at the fire that had burnt out to a brightly glowing red pile of sticks and ashes.
His attention was soon taken by the sound of shuffling in the dry leaves. He panicked, hugging his knees to himself. He'd seen walking creatures on land and they scared him. He held his breath again when the shuffling resumed, briefly contemplating whether he should wake the others or not. He didn't want to make a scene over nothing, so he settled with shaking out of fear until whatever animal it was passed by.
The sound of shuffling became more clear — closer. Aquas shivered as it became evident that the sound was coming from behind him. He blinked furiously, biting his lip to prevent himself from letting out any sound. The noise faded away soon after, but it got the best of Aquas' curiosity when he spotted moving human legs from the gaps in the bushes.
It's a human? He thought to himself, placing a hand on his forehead as he tried to recover from the fright he had just received.
Aquas mind started to wonder what in the world a human doing on the beach this late at night in the beach when he began to feel calm. It didn't make sense to him, no one lived around.
A small gasp left Aquas' lips when a wave of realization overcame him.
The witch. He thought, getting up before looking down at the others. He contemplated waking them up but the thought of the witch getting far made him think otherwise. Without even slipping his feet back into his boots, Aquas hurried into the bush, following the small path of newly tampered grass. His heart sunk in fear when he spotted the witch's strolling figure in front of him. He slowed down his pace, making sure to stay by the bushes as he followed her through the path.
His heart beat against his ribcage as he thought of what would happen if she just decided to turn. It would all be over and he wouldn't be able to see his human again.
He followed her until they came into a clearing in the bushes filled with displaced rocks about a small hill.
Aquas' eyes widened. They'd only been searching the caves that had been carved out by erosion by the beach, they hadn't thought of looking within the vegetation itself.
He paused, watching the witch disappear into a cave whose entrance was skillfully hidden behind the vegetation surrounding the hill. Aquas hurried after her, making sure his feet didn't make any noise as he tried his best to walk on his tiptoes in other not to crush dry leaves and twigs.
He let out a breath of relief and lowered his feet when he got to the cave's entrance. He flatted himself against its side, peeping through the vegetation to stop Jeffery who was bound into a rock with a series of ropes.
Aquas' heart fell at the sight. He couldn't miss Jeffery's hopeless expression. It was getting dark and the burning candles on the table the witch was working on at the corner of the cave was the only thing providing dim yellow light. Aquas looked on at Jeffery in the partial darkness until the witch turned her head making him look away.
"It will take a while. I don't have everything I need..." Aquas heard the witch's voice trail. Her steps were almost soundless against the cave's floor but Aquas could hear the low gasp Jeffery had let out. He clenched his jaw, knowing that the witch had made her way to him, and was hurting him in some way.
"Be a man and bare the pains, I only need a substitute to carry on with my spell. I've been away for a while. My Madame only gave me a few days grace. I don't have the time to source for the actual ingredients. I just hope it works. Time is running out..." Aquas heard the witch trail. She continued to talk in a hushed tone, her voice only interrupted by the occasional growl or whimper from Jeffery.
Aquas hugged himself as the chill breeze of the near night started to wear on him. He started to ask himself why he'd decided to come alone knowing fully well that he couldn't help Jeffery. He didn't know his way back to the camp either since he'd been more concentrated on following the witch instead of putting a thought into marking his path.
More hushed tones then a scream was what sent Aquas yelling in panic. His hands clapped over his mouth when a realization of what he'd just done hit him. He let out a gasp of fear before scrambling for the nearest bush in sight.
"What was that?" Aquas heard the witch's voice ask as he hugged his legs to his chest. His hiding spot was unfortunately itchy and crawling with disturbed insects but Aquas tried to shut out the stings and bites he was receiving. There was no way he was letting himself get caught.
Aquas shivered when bright yellow light painted the clearing outside the cave. The witch was obviously out with a candle searching for whatever made the noise.
Aquas watched as the light beamed brighter then faded off from time to time. She was searching the areas around him and it seemed like an actual miracle that he hadn't found him yet.
A feeling of relief filled Aquas' chest when the light faded into the distance. The witch was wondering away, leaving the clearing for the distant bushes.
Aquas observed the light completely disappear into the bushes before he got up from the hell hole of stings and bites before hurrying to the cave the witch had abandoned. Aquas heart skipped a beat when Jeffery let out a gasp at the sight of him.
Aquas didn't say anything as he approached Jeffery before hugging his bound body awkwardly. The human rested his head on the merman's shoulder as the merman ran a hand through his blonde hair. Aquas' hand left Jeffery's hair to feel the line of small fresh slashes on his arms. Aquas blinked back his tears. What in the world had the witch done?
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