Snippet #2342277

"Here it is. Impressed?"

As the mist from the morning parted, its tendrils curling away from the landscape, a truly impressive scene unfolded before them. It was something one would only see in paintings. They were on a sandy beach, but there were no waves ebbing onto the shore. Before them stood an endless expanse of water.

Completely clear, completely still water.

None of it was deep. One could see all the way down to the bottom. The deepest was perhaps ten feet in some spots, and no more. But that was all it was for miles and miles. Here and there, a tree sprung up, weeping its leaves into the water, but they were few and far apart. The solitude of the area was heavy. There was no life. No fish. Just sand.

"Shyshallow. The most dangerous and largest lake in Sozo," explained Ateles. His voice was the only thing to pierce the silence. That, too, was heavy. It bore down upon them like an elephant on their shoulders. "We'll need a boat."

Taylor gazed out across the open water, struggling to remember the last time she'd seen so much of it all in one place. With a sigh, she glanced back to the animals they'd brought with them, before walking over and beginning to remove the bags they'd strapped to the saddles.

"Suppose we can't wade?" she asked, glancing back towards the lake. "How large is large?"

She began to look up and down the coast for some kind of boat. If not, they'd probably have to put one together themselves.

"You want to die early?" Ateles asked Taylor. He rolled his eyes. "One foot in, you'll probably die. The water's fresh. Completely drinkable. But I wouldn't drink it. It'd be better for you to see."

He walked down the bank, the mist curling away like a frightened herd. "Follow me. There's a pier down here...somewhere. It's been a while since I've been here."

As he walked a ways, he eventually found himself squinting at something in the distance. A dark shape. "Found it. Now...try not to react too badly to the ferryman. You'll probably not see his face, but in case you do, it's alright. Alright?"

"Alright." Taylor replied, picking up a satchel and slinging it over her shoulder before following after Ateles. The whole time, she kept looking out over the lake, wondering at what the danger could be. Then again...

She thought of Luli, how delicate and soft and beautiful that woman was. She was quiet, innocent on the surface, but deceptively deadly.

Adopting that mindset about anything she might happen across in Sozo, Taylor pulled her eyes away from the water, and followed Ateles along until the ferryhouse came into sight.

"Y'know, I used to have a wicked ugly scar that went all the way across my face." she informed him mildly. "So, this ferryman of yours probably won't surprise me too badly."

Ateles looked over his shoulder at her, taking his toothpick out of his mouth.

"It's not scars that you'll be afraid of. Scars leave you without, not with extra."

He bit lightly onto his toothpick again and walked on down into the ferryhouse.

Pursing her lips, she jogged after him, coming up to his side as the ferryhouse came up close. There was the boat, the pole that would push them across. While Ateles went inside to meet with the ferryman, she went out on the dock, taking a moment to look down into the glass-clear water, at the boat that was meant to carry them across miles of water.

Pausing a moment, she gazed out towards the horizon, wondering and hoping that Duke was alright. Even though she knew he'd be fine, for now, it still made her anxious.

That collar...

"I'll come on my own time." she whispered under her breath. She would not go running to Luli like some dog.

As she neared the boathouse, the rott was the first thing she would notice. The wood was black and peeling. The walls were falling apart. The floor creaked beneath Ateles' feet uneasily.

"Hello?" he called. "Anyone in here?"

It was barren, save for two chests in the room.

Taylor came back, glancing into the room after Ateles. Her eyes flickered around, looking for some kind of sign of the ferryman.

"All of that anxiety for nothing," she murmured, walking in and walking over to the chests. "What do you suppose is in here?"

She reached to open the first.

Ateles grabbed her wrist, his eyes directed down the hall tot he next room of the ferryhouse. "I woldn't do that." he said to her, trying to pull her up.

There was a creak behind them. The sound of water trickling.

There was someone at the entrance.

Taylor slowly stood, both hands coming up in a surrender position. Glancing behind her, the woman kept a wary eye out for whoever was lurking nearby.

"I don't like learning the rules as the game goes along." she said in an undertone to Ateles.

"I didn't think you'd go ahead and open something that's obviously not yours." he replied,

"The shack was empty..."

He looked behind him, at the long shadow cast upon the wall. "You certainly seemed to think so."

The shadow peeled from the wall, standing as a very tall, dark figure in a cloak. It swayed from side to side gently, staring at them, no features able to bee seen. The ground beneath it began to flood with clear water.

"Ah. Good to know you haven't left," said Ateles. "I'd like a trip across Shyshallow. My friend and I. You...can do that...right?" Ateles looked back at Taylor, briefly widening his eyes as if to say, "Well...get ready."

Taylor felt the compulsion to stare, but schooled herself not to. She took one look at the ferryman, offered a brief smile, and then looked to Ateles. Her eyes widened in response as she hooked a thumb over her shoulder.

"I got all the stuff sitting by the dock." she explained. "Ready when you are."

With that, she backstepped before turning on her heel and disappearing out of the boat house.

Soon after, Ateles walked out after her, his gait slow and easy. "Do you have everything?" he asked her, motioning toward the Zulf, who sat by calmly, expectantly. Tails wagging. "We can't take them. They'll sink the boat."

"Yeah. I'm sure I do." Taylor looked back towards the Zulf, a frown pulling at the corners of her mouth. With a quiet sigh, she moved towards them, jogging up and taking one of their great big heads into her arms.

"Head back home," she murmured. "You guys know the way. We can't take you with us."

The one she held emitted a pathetic little whine, it's great big tongue dragging across her shoulder before it pulled away, giving the human pair a pitious look before turning and walking off into the woods. The other one hung back, watching them, as if waiting for some signal that they were only playing.

Then, with a whine of its own, it too disappeared.

Taylor's brow knit. "That was oddly emotional." she muttered under her breath, before turning to walk back to Ateles.

"I'm ready if you are." she said, looking from the ferryman to Ateles expectantly.

He nodded, slipping his bag over his shoulder as he walked off over the pier. Each and every step groaned and squeaked dangerously, but Ateles walked confidently across the boards. As he walked down it, the mist would part again to reveal a boat not unlike a gondola. The ferryman was at the tip, with his back to both patrons. His cloak dipped into the water, trailing.

The boat was made of the same rotting wood as the ferryhouse, and it gave off a very musty smell that caused Ateles to wrinkle his nose. At the front of the boat was the carving of a skeletal humanoid, which held a lamp and a burning flame out in front of them.

Taylor followed after, confident as a result of Ateles' confidence. She paid the squeaking no mind, carrying the burdens over her shoulders before handing them off to Ateles and climbing into the boat. It rocked, which unsettled her a moment, but she regained her footing and quickly found a seat.

"How long should this take?" she asked in a low voice, unwilling to disturb the peaceful quiet that had settled over the lake.

"A few days, if we go quickly. There's no wind and no current. We also have to be very careful." replied Ateles, stepping into the boat, which sunk momentarily with his weight, before bobbling back up. He sat, cross-legged, in the middle of the boat. "There should be a few islands in between. We do what Mass Boatman, here-" He jammed his thumb in the direction of the willowy figure at the head of the boat, "-directs us to do. He knows this place better than anyone. Ever."

As soon as they were both comfortable, the pole that the ferryman had been holding pushed them off, and they were sailing across Shyshallow. Ateles looked toward the pier before the mist began to gather around it.

Briefly, a sense of anxiety would grip them both.

"There's no turning back. We're at the complete mercy of Shyshallow now. Can't even swim to the shore at this point."

She closed her eyes, taking a few slow, deep breaths before opening them and looking to Ateles. "So, what is it about this place that makes it so dangerous?" Of course, she wasn't trying to be a smartass, she was genuinely curious.

"Is there magic here? Spirits?" She looked out towards the shore, which at this point she could no longer see thanks to the mist. She continued to speak in that low tone. Anything barely above a whisper sounded too loud, like she was shouting.

It was going to be a long boat ride, she realized.

Ateles leaned back, and scratched the spiky stubble on his chin. "No magic." he said. "There's one spirit, but not one that'll hurt us." He looked out over the water, then fished something out of his pocket. A small piece of leftover bread, a few days old. "Bossman," he called, holding it up. The mysterious wraith turned sluggishly to look at him, then nodded.

With his approval, Ateles tossed the bread out into Skyshallow.

It didn't even hit the water before there was a great splash, and the food was snatched out of the air. Then, stillness. Silence. "Shyshallow is only bountiful in its predators. Anything that enters can and will be eaten."

Taylor's eyes were wide.

"Good enough reason." she murmured, shifting positions so she could peer over the edge of the boat. She could see nothing but sand, and as tempted as she was to run her fingertips across the surface of the water, she resisted. Even though she couldn't see the dangers lurking, she knew, certainly, that something was going to bite her head off if she got too close.

"I think Duke mentioned this place once." she murmured, knowing Ateles could hear her. "He never talks at length about anything, but he did mention a lake clear as glass, miles wide and filled to the brim with dangerous creatures."

Gazing out across the water, she folded her arms and rested her chin on top of them. "What's Desera like?"

"What's it sound like?" he asked her, chuckling. "Endless dunes of sand and mountains. I came from Fespa, that borders it. The people are browner than my own and are experts with magic. It's where the use of magic originated." he replied. "They use boats to sail across the sand. It's a useful way to travel with all the wind. There's plenty of old temples and the sort all over. A real place of adventure."

She grinned. "Sounds like a good time."

Glancing down at her hands, she flexed her fingers in towards her palms, turning them one way and another before resting them on top of her knees. "He said I could find answers there." she said to herself, shaking her head as she looked out across the lake. "Perhaps the answer lies in the magic. I don't know." She rolled her jaw, before leaning her face into her hands and rubbing at her temples.

"Hey, Ateles..." she started, her brow furrowing in thought. "Have you heard of these..collars," she made a ring around her neck to demonstrate. "Thin and black, they meld to the skin with a spell, some sort of a spirit binding...have you ever seen them?"

"Hmm..." said Ateles, letting his head lean back on a seat as he thought. "Spirit bindings...I've seen it happen, mostly with marriages. When I visited Jedaris there was a lot of human traffiking, and thay used 'em to make sure the slaves stayed in place. Who's it you know that's got one? Is it you?" he asked her inquisitively. "Is it that bad?"

She shook her head, her brow furrowing a little. "I had one, but I managed to get it removed." For a price. "No, it's Duke. I don't know how it happened, but the woman he used to travel with," that he was currently traveling with, "...managed to get a second one on him. I just...wasn't sure if there was a way to bypass the fail-safe."

She was hoping there was a way she could remove it without killing him, or herself, in the process.

Ateles mulled the thought over a bit whilst taking a pipe from his pack. He stuck it in his mouth, but didn't pack it. Not just yet. "I know slaves who made a contract with a greater spirit, but sometimes the price wasn't all that worth it. Something that ties in with the collars that makes the tie absolute is a specific emotional attachment. It doesn't have to be love, or even any other kind of fondness, but any kind of strong feeling for the opposite person. If he can get rid of that, then he'll be on his way to getting rid of it."

Hatred.

If there was one thing Duke knew, it was how to be angry, and not just angry, but hateful. He could cling to that feeling and let it fester until it made him a diferent person on the inside. She'd watched it, and watched how different feelings had made him a different person towards her.

Perhaps not love, but definitely friendship. There was no doubt in her mind that he cared for her well-being, probably in a way he'd never cared for another person in his life. Not since meeting Luli, anyway.

"I see." she said, her eyes dark with contemplation. She glanced to Ateles. "It's...difficult, but your answer's probably the only one that has made any sense." How long had it been? Years?

"Just can't stand the thought of him being subject to her. Not again. At the very least, I know now what it is that she really wants."

Ateles nodded, but gave a moment of contemplation.

"You think there's a part of him that likes it?" he asked her.

Her brow knit contemplatively. Her first impulse was to rebel, to immediately deny it, but as she thought more on it, she couldn't help but wonder.

"I think...I think it's all he's known. Since coming to maturity, what he was familiar with was that relationship with her...so, perhaps...not like it in the sense of taking joy from it...just that he knows what to do, how to behave. He could identify himself that way, in relation to her."

She bit her lower lip thoughtfully. "Maybe he doesn't know how to be his own person. Not really."

"Hmm. Are you sure it's something he actually wants to end?" He leaned back, hand coming to his chin. "He's taken so much time just to get as far away as possible." His eyes aimed at the sky. "And when I first met him...there was something strange about the way he carried himself. Not twitchy, but...hungry for something. He was restless. I don't think I saw him sleep the whole time."

"I'd like to think so." she said softly, this time sounding unsure. She shrugged, trying to play it off as if it were nothing. "It's hard to say. It's rare that I get a decent conversation out of him, and he's been gone for so long..."

Her eyes were distant as she stared out over the still water. "I wish I knew what he was thinking, half the time."

The other half, not so much.

"I've always thought that he was a little odd. He's thought things I'm sure I'd never want to inquire about. Not that he'd give me the answer." He leaned his head so far back that he was staring at the ferryman. "What do you see in him?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "It's difficult to explain. At first there wasn't much of anything except irritation. He used me to get away from her, and I felt compelled to help because, well...I had nothing and no one. I was looking for my mother at the time, and traveling with him became the only option." She thought about the collar, the poison, things Duke had later apologized for.

"But there was something about him, something in me that drove me to want to know him better, to see beyond thick skin and his guarded eyes. We went through so much, and over time I learned that we weren't as different as I'd thought we were. He understood what I'd been through, in a way no one else could."

She glanced to Ateles. "I don't even know if it's love so much as fondness, or appreciation. I'd die for him, even though I'm certain he'd hate me for it."

This time, instead of asking more difficult questions, Ateles smiled. Why, she was so much like her.

"I guess there isn't much more I can say, then." the assassin told her. He adjusted his position, laid his head down, and drifted off to sleep.

Taylor stayed awake for a long while afterwards, her head swimming with thoughts she'd rather not let worry her. None of it mattered, right? Duke didn't return the feelings, so all of this was just...well, water under the bridge, a lost cause. Duke wasn't hers, so it didn't matter why he was in the collar. It didn't matter if he wanted to be that way or not.

But...was that why he didn't want her following? Not for safety's sake...but because he simply didn't want to be rescued?

Disconcerted, she lay down and forced herself to close her eyes, unable to wipe the vision of his eyes, bright with anger, fixing on hers as his lips curled into a snarl.

-------------

It had been several very long, very slow, silent hours.

There was no sound at all except for the ferryman's occasional paddle through the water. No flutter of wings. No splashes. Not even Ateles' small snores were able to pierce that maddening pressure that brought the silence down upon them. Nothing, it seemed, would be happening. Not anytime soon.

...or perhaps not anytime at all.

....

....

....

The hours crept by. One by one.

Would it stop? Would there be an end in sight?

One, two, three four.

One, two...three...four...one...two....three...

"...do you hear that?" Ateles suddenly said, his eyes flying open. He didn't move. Just spoke and listened. "It's faint, but I can hear it. Just barely. Do you? Wings. I hear wings."

It took her a moment to recognize that he was speaking to her. She followed his example, keeping unusually still as she looked towards the sky. She closed her eyes and struggled to listen.

"...yes. I do. Is it something we should be concerned about?"

"Perhaps. Birds don't have any reason to come here, now, do they?" He tried to peer through the mist, up at the sky. Shadows dodged from here to there, right out of the corner of his eyes. "Don't make any sudden moves."

She lay still, having caught sight of the shadows that he was seeing. Swallowing down her nerves, she slowly turned her head, just an inch or two, to look at Ateles. "What is it?" she breathed, her eyes flickering to the ferryman.

Apparently he was going to be of no help. None at all. He was simply standing still, trying to get them across the trecherous lake.

Ateles, very, very slowly, reached for his sword. "Get ready. I don't know what it is, but it's nothing good."

They were flying in a circle around them, now. The shadows all lined up. They were large. How large, Ateles couldn't tell, but big enough to be harmful.

Taylor glanced towards her bow, lying just to her right. The quiver was elsewhere, above her head and beyond her reach. She'd have to move quick, and under Ateles's cover if she was going to be useful at all.

"You've never seen those before? Huh. They look a little familiar."

She edged her toes into the wood, gently scooching herself, inch by inch, closer to the quiver.

"Familiar? Well...I can't quite tell. I don't know what they are. I can't see them, spirits be cursed." he muttered, his fingers sliding down the textured hilt of his Rataan. Then, before either of them knew it, before either of them could react, one of the shadows swooped down, grabbed the ferryman in its claws, and disappeared into the mist.

"Now! Now, Taylor, quick!" hollered the assassin, leaping into action. He drew his sword out with a short shick and whirled around madly, trying to find out where the next bird would swoop down.

She snatched up her bow, before reaching for the quiver and rolling to her knees. Getting one foot underneath her, she knocked an arrow to the bow, aiming at whatever she thought was suspicious, and lying in wait.

"Why the hell would they take the ferryman?" she muttered, glancing to her right and carefully aiming her bow wherever Ateles wasn't looking. The rocking of the boat disturbed the water, and she glanced curiously towards its surface, wondering...

"I don't think the boat could be smaller."

"I couldn't agree more." The boat rocked dangerously as Ateles turned around, trying to find out where the ferryman had gone. "He's the only one that can get us across." he replied. "They're trying to maroon us." He looked toward Taylor. "Are these the enemies you were talking about? That you seem to make everywhere you go?"

"At this point, I wouldn't be surprised." Taylor stumbled briefly, groaning and readjusting her footing before taking aim again. She watched the flickering in the clouds, her one eye narrowing slightly while the other remained wide open for aim.

With a soft sigh, she released an arrow high, watching it sail away, and hoping that it might hit something.

"I'm used to enemies of substance, that bleed..."

"Enemies of substance..." muttered Ateles, spinning around on the boat, none too roughly. For such a rough man, his steps were startlingly delicate. He looked down at the water, then at the boat, then gave his eyes to the sky. "We're in a very unfortunate position, Taylor."

Yeah, no kidding.

"Do you have any spells? What combats shadow? Darknes...think!" he rasped.

Taylor's brow furrowed in thought, eyes closing briefly as she wracked her brain for a solution. What fought shadows? What dispelled them? Light? But from wh-

"Fire." she breathed, her eyes finding her bow. She glanced back to Ateles.

"Brace yourself." she warned. "I'm not sure how this is going to turn out, but it's better than nothing."

Whipping out an arrow, she knocked it to the bow, drawing back hard on the string. Her knuckle rested against her cheek, eyes straining to find the shadows that streaked overhead. She saw them, hovering just out of sigh, watching and waiting.

She murmured something under her breath, a word that echoed faintly across the waters, in many voices. 'Oros'

She released the arrow, watching with wide eyes as a spiral of fire errupted from the arrow's head, splitting the mist like a knife through butter.

As soon as the fiery arrow burned through the mist, the shadows became frantic and wild. The arrow struck one of the shadows dead in its heart, and it plummeted down to the water. There was a loud, echoing spash and a sizzle. The remaining shadows seemed to dissolve into the mist after the loss of their brethren. Ateles stood still in the center of the boat, cautiously keeping a lookout, listening intently just in case they decided to come back...

And when he was sure that they would not, he brought his gaze down onto the water, toward where the bird had fallen. "We need to get over there." he told her.

"If you want to grab that pole," she jutted her chin towards the fallen pole that the ferryman had left behind. "You can push us along that way and I'll keep us covered." Her eyes never left the sky, another arrow knocked to the bow as she watched and waited for an attack that was almost certain to come.

Ateles looked down, spying the pole that had fallen whent he ferryman had been snatched up. He made sure to grab the dry end, and stray away from any water that splashed onto the boat. Even if a small drop got onto his skin...it wouldn't be lethal, but it wouldn't be pleasant.

He dipped the pole into the water, and began to move the boat over to the spot where they had seen the shadow fall. The mist curled around them, allowing them clear view of the water below the boat, but nothing above. What they came upon had Ateles frowning in digust.

"Spirits Staretel and Liina..." muttered the assassin, "...those weren't shadows we were fighting."

In front of them lay the corpse of a giant bird, the flaming arrow stuck in its throat. It had fallen upon a rock, its wings, twenty feet from tip to tip, sprawled out to either side, trailing into the water. Where the water and the wings touched, Shyshallow turned onyx.

"Ink magic. Who exactly did you piss off, Taylor?"

Taylor glanced to the monster, her attention faltering as she took in the whole of it. Eyes wide, her brow furrowed, she stepped delicately towards the edge of the boat, staring at the creature in wonder.

Inside her chest, she could feel something stir, some kind of warmth that flared, before clenching tight on her ribcage. It startled her, causing her to drop stance and clutch at her chest.

She grimaced, shaking her head for a moment to clear it, before looking to Ateles.

"I think there's something I have that...that they want."

That blue light that Duke had given to her...

Ateles looked up, staring at the ranger. "What's that?" he asked her, reaching out the pole to prod the animal. In a flurry of inky feathers, it spasmed, then dissolved entirely into ink. "...huh."

"I wish I knew." she rubbed at her neck, shaking her head before looking skyward. "Where the hell are we going to find the ferryman?"

He scratched his chin, then began to push away from the ink bird. "I don't know," he replied gravely, "But it'd be best to just get away from all this black water. Ink magic is bad luck. It's got strange properties to it- stranger than other magic. Even if someone isn't using it...it's got a will of its own." He had them sailing away until the waters became clear again, and all noise once again subsided.

She relaxed a little, watching Ateles as he began to push them along. The look in her eye was almost apologetic.

"I wish I could give you the fine-print about helping me." she told him, sinking to a seated position. "But I'm afraid I don't even know what the rules to this game are. If it was as easy as 'someone wants me dead', then the objective would be clearer, but..." she shrugged, shaking her head.

"It isn't, and it's driving me mad trying to figure out what exactly is going on. The only thing I know is that we're going to find more answers on the other side of this damned lake."

Ateles steered them as best he could, but without the ferryman, they were completely lost. A small fear was slowly easing its way into Ateles' gut. It was incredibly easy to become lost in Shyshallow. Very, very few knew how to navigate it. Ateles was not one of those few.

"Not to put a dampener on things," he told Taylor, "But we might not be able to get on the other side for a very long time...if at all."

"Huh."

She took her bow, stringing an arrow and loosing it over Ateles' head. The fire errupted shortly thereafter, burning away the mist. It was an attempt to try to clear a path so that they might see what's going on.

Of course, she didn't know that it would work, but it felt better than sitting in the boat and panicking. What she didn't expect was for the arrow to hit something ahead, and create a gigantic torch out of a standing tree. Ateles stared.

"Good job," he told her, moving the boat towards the tree. "You either have dumb luck or someone's really looking out for us..." As they approached it, the boat hit something. Sand. A bank. Ateles perked a brow and leaned over to inspect it more. He nodded. "Looks like we've found ourself an island."

Taylor grimaced, staring at the massive, burning tree. "That was a bit more dramatic than I expected it to be..."

But, the idea of getting out of the boat was sorely tempting. She stepped closer to Ateles, looking past him, and the bank, to the small forested island. "How big is it, do you think?"

With the mist, it was difficult to tell.

"I don't know, but there aren't many islands in Shyshallow. If we're lucky...or if I'm right..." He reached out a foot to step on the sandy bank, hopping away from the water's edge, "Then this should be Maynei Island, which is quite huge. Populated by a tribal people." He took the head of the boat and drew it half onto the shore. "Lets hope that I'm right."

Taylor hopped out of the boat, before grabbing onto the edge and helping Ateles pull it up the rest of the way. Afterwards, she reached to grab a few of the satchels, swinging them up onto her shoulders before hauling them further up the shore.

"Well, whoever's on this island is going to know we're here." She looked again to the tree, which burned with an eerie intensity. Something naggled at her, a sneaking suspicion that the fire she used wasn't like normal fire at all...

"Maybe that'll let them know we aren't ones to be messed with..."

"Or maybe you've caused us to attract some unnecessary attention." Ateles replied, one hand on the hilt of his sword as he further ventured onto the island. It was covered with wiry, dry bushes with no leaves that towered over their heads. The foliage were all a tangled mess of black and white branches. It made sense why Taylor's arrow had burned at the tree so easily. But there was something odd about the growth of the dry twig forest. They made a sort of...arch, and there was a definite path that lead deeper into the island.

"Perhaps we should venture further. What do you think?" Ateles asked.

She took a deep breath.

"I think our only other option is to sit around and wait for the ink magic to find us again." she replied, glancing to meet his eyes. She took one of the satchels with her, making sure her bow and quiver were within easy reach. She looked to the boat, wondering if the ferryman might find it before they returned, then turned to the path.

On unusually quiet feet, she ventured ahead, cautiously taking in her surroundings the way only a Ranger could.

Ateles traveled after her, his steps as light as her own. He glanced behind him every now and again to make sure nothing else was bringing up the rear. He did not like Shyshallow. It was filled with too many surprises and too many unknowns. Even the crowded courts of the palace didn't make him so jumpy.

They would walk for another good ten minutes through the brambles, occasionally having to duck and weave where pointy branches grew into the path. Eventually, Ateles placed a hand on Taylor's shoulder to just stop.

"I'm going to go mad if this goes on for much longer." he told her, closing his eyes. "It feels like it's just not going to end."

"I'm glad I'm not the only one." Taylor replied, feeling compelled to whisper. "Should we go back?" she wondered, reaching up to give his hand a brief squeeze before stepping out from his grip and taking a few steps ahead.

She wondered why the branches were so dry. Everything seemed dead, and with so much water surrounding this place, it hardly seemed likely that the island couldn't survive.

"What would we go back to?" he asked her, running his fingers through his hair. "There's got to be some sense to this. Maybe if w-" He paused, whipping around. "...did you hear that?" he said, whipping around again. He began to sprint down the path, a thorn catching his shirt and dragging him back.

It went off again.

It was almost a scream, but low and raspy. It wasn't human at all, but...perhaps it was a bird. "Again?" The flutter of wings. Not the big, heavy wingbeats of the ink birds, but a distressed flap.

"Easy," she nearly shouted, jogging after him and gripping his shirt as well as the thorned branch to unhook it. The thorn caught her, drawing blood, but she ignored the sting and looked forward down the path.

"Come on," she encouraged, jogging rather than sprinting, ducking low to avoid more thorns and glancing left and right in search of whatever was crying out to them. Part of her wondered why they didn't go the opposite way, but Ateles was right. There really wasn't anything back there except the bank.

Hearing the animal cry again, she skittered to a stop, and turned right, trying to peer into the mist. "I think its this way..."

Ateles followed after her until the brambles gave way to a small clearing. It went off into several other paths, their destinations unknwon. But there was one thing that caught their eye.

There was a bird, a pure white bird, stuck in a mess of brush and thorn. It flapped frantically, crying out its grey beak into the air. Blood dotted its white feathers from the gash in its talons.

"...a real bird." mused Ateles, right in time for his stomach to complain. "Speaking of which...I really haven't eaten anything in the last few hours."

"Wait, wait," Taylor moved past Ateles, jogging towards the injured animal before reaching to help release it. Her own arms were protected from the white sleeves of her outfit, but that didn't stop her hands from getting caught. By the time she actually managed to free the bird's wings, her skin was scratched all over, and bleeding. She got a hand around its neck, above the shoulders, and grasped its feet before pulling it free.

"Shh," she cooed, looking down into the creature's strange red eye. How curious. "Do you often see animals like this around here?" she asked the other.

"I haven't," he told Taylor, "But I don't come around here often." He looked at the animal, which curled its legs in towards itself, and stared at Taylor, and only Taylor. It seemed to incline its head at her.

The woman thinned her lips, staring at the bird before glancing to Ateles. "I get the sense that it understands." she said, suddenly feeling very strange, holding the possibly-sentient bird the way that she was. Gingerly, she released its neck, and allowed it to adjust its footing so that she was holding it on her hand.

"Next time don't go throwing yourself into a thorn bush." she reprimanded.

The bird flapped its wings stubbornly and grasped Taylor's hand in its two claws, then began to crawl up her arm to her shoulder. There, it cawed, not quite like a crow would, but with the same raspiness. Ateles looked at the bird doubtfully. "You think it'd run away..." he told her, walking alongside her as he looked at the ocean of brambles around them.

"So...what to do now..." he mumbled.

"I've got this thing with animals." Taylor tried to explain, taking care to keep her face turned slightly away. She didn't quite trust the animal to not attempt to poke her eyeball out. She turned, planning to head back towards the path they'd originally taken. "Perhaps the ink magic dropped the ferryman around here somewhere?" she suggested. "I mean, it's either continue to explore, or go back to the boat."

She wondered how difficult it would be for her to shoot with the bird sitting on her shoulder. Regardless, she walked with the intent to continue along down the path.

"If it dropped him, you think he's got high chances of surviving?" Ateles pointed out, motioning to the sharp, dry branches all around them. If he had fallen on them, then he was either torn into shreds, drying, or dead. "I'm trying to be realistic. We'll probably not have the chance to find him again. Either he's birdfood or he's been claimed by Shyshallow."

The bird, from Taylor's shoulder, called hoarsely at Ateles, as if to argue, and them fluttered from Taylor's shoulder to a nearby branch, which stuck out from the rest of the brambles. It called for them again, and then began to fly down one of the many paths around them.

"He never struck me as a physical being," Taylor retorted. "Then again, if the birds could carry him away, then it would make sense."

The bird's cry startled her, and she ducked away as the bird burst into flight, alighting on a branch and crying at them once again before disappearing down one of the paths. For a moment, she stopped to watch and then, with a glance at Ateles, began to follow.

"Beats standing around here," she said in explanation as the mist swallowed her steps. Ateles glared at the bird, watching Taylor follow it down the bramble path. He grit his teeth, looked to the side in embarassment, then followed them. Reluctantly.

"...it's a friggin' bird..." he muttered. "You really think it's gonna lead us anywhere but a dead end?"

"Do you have any better ideas?" Taylor asked, her voice floating towards him through the mist. It was on all sides, and the bird was staying just ahead, enough to lead her on in the way that she should go.

"I'll keep track of where we're heading in case we get lost, don't worry."

"...mnn, alright." he mumbled, giving a shrug as he continued to follow the white bird and Taylor. The raven had landed in the middle of the path now and was walking down it as fast as its little legs could carry it.

"It's waddling." Ateles commented.

Taylor, thoroughly amused at this point, started walking side-by-side with the bird. "Indeed it is. Definitely a more graceful flier than she is a walker." The bird cawed in responce.

She continued to look on ahead. "I wonder if this means we're getting close."

"Close to what? What could it possibly be trying to show us?" asked Ateles, irate even as the bird suddenly took off into the air again. It vanished into a patch of mist ahead, and called to them from beyond.

"Who knows?" Taylor said with a shrug, deciding to jog after the bird this time. "Damn all this mist! Where the hell did it come from anyway?!"

"The water's always warmer than the air, here. Closer to Desera it clears. Well, a little." replied Ateles. As they walked further into the wall of mist, the man stopped. He lifted his hand and pointed ahead. "Look."

There was a faint glow ahead, just bright enough to take their attention. It was also tangled within the brambles- something hung by a thin black chain. Perched above it, on a branch that stuck out and was devoid of thorns, was the white bird. It bawked at them.

She paused in her steps, leaning forward and peering into the mist. "Why does that make me more nervous than the bird did?" Still, she drew close, to the point where she could see the chain...even reach for it.

So she did.

"If I die here," she told Ateles as she grasped the chain, "I wouldn't recommend eating the bird."

The bird flapped its wings, but did not leg go of the branch as it watched Taylor reach her hand into the brambles to snatch the chain. When her hand wrapped around it, the amulet's glow died completely.

Ateles sniffed. "Kinda disappointing...I thought it'd explode or something."

"How morbid." Taylor replied, pulling the chain out and holding it in her hands. Lifting a brow, she looked pointedly at the white raven. "What's this for?" she asked it, sighing as she ran her fingers over the smooth surface of the pendant.

After a moment's thought, she slipped the chain around her neck, surprised at how light it felt.

"Keep walking then? Back the way we came or further into the island?" she asked the assassin.

Before Ateles could reply, the bird fluttered from the branches, grasped the chain of the amulet in its claws, and pulled it off of Taylor's neck. The amulet flared to life again in the birds grasp, much brighter than before, piercing the mist as it flew. Ateles began to bolt for it.

"Something's really strange!" he cried back to Taylor. "If you couldnt' tell already! Follow it!"

Oh, yeah. So he was the one advocating to follow the thing, now. Taylor watched him run for a second or two before shaking her head and running after him.

"Damned bird was just using me to get to the necklace!" she shouted, catching up to him and pacing herself just behind his stride. "What exactly do you expect this is going to lead to?"

"I don't know!" said Ateles, skidding in the sand as the bird suddenly changed direction, flying down another path, "But it better be worthwhile, because it's going to get us lost in this place!"

"Not if I can help it." Taylor muttered, skidding and changing directions. What would Duke think of this? The whole chase was for the birds.

So to speak.

"Yeah, and what are you gonna do?" the assassin cried back. He looked behind him, just as the bird turned direction again. He frowned, then pulled his sword, whacking at the brambles with it and making a noticible missing chunk in the dry bushes. "There we go."

He made the turn, and just as he did, skidded again, this time to a halt. Water sloshed up on shore, and Ateles held a hand up to tell Taylor to stop. He was right at the edge of the bank, looking at the bird with the amulet.

And that bird with the amulet? Was on top of their boat.

"...well, spirits." he smirked.

She skidded to a halt just behind Ateles, staring at the boat, the bird, and the ambulate, before heaving a sigh. "Ground zero." she said with a small smile.

Glancing to Ateles, Taylor raised a questioning brow. "That amulet supposed to help us?"

It was clear that there was something she was missing.

The bird lifted the amulet in its talon and jingled it, calling after them in that hoarse voice. "I guess so." said Ateles, hopping into the boat. He picked up the pole, and looked towards Taylor. "Coming?"

She climbed in after him, for once welcoming the rickety old boat. Anything was better than the maze that island had turned into. She hoped, more than anything, that she might see some sunlight soon.

"I was born here, yet I can't help but feel more and more like an alien on my own planet." she muttered to him, checking to make sure she had everything she'd brought with her.

"Your own planet?" Ateles asked quizzically. "Where else would you be from?" He shook his head. "I think this lake is getting to you, but that's alright. It's getting to me, too." He pushed off of shore, and just as they floated out into Shyshallow's waters again, the bird took off, the amulet dangling, clearing a path for them.

Ateles stared, but not for long. He was sharp, and caught onto what was happening fairly quickly. "Smart spiritdamned bird..."