The quiet sloshing of the sea against the shore relaxed Isel as he stared into the distance. His silence was answered with silence, and the sea didn’t take any mind to his observation. But just as the water ebbed and flowed, pushing up against the land, Isel had to pull himself away from the shore just as quickly as he had arrived. He couldn’t risk being out alone during the night, even if he had a weapon. He traced his steps back to the small cave, tripping more on small branches that the dark obscured.

  Siphos had since returned to staying on his back and staring at the roof of the cave. He grabbed some nearby leaves and shrubs to cushion his back while he lazed. Isel fell back onto the wall of the cave while he looked out to the direction of the sea. It was beautiful; he wished he could have stayed to gaze at it longer. A metallic clink startled him as he looked back to Siphos. The tall man was removing more of his armor, dropping it to his side as more of his undergarment was revealed.

  “You’re too loud.”

  The particular complaint did not come from Isel, however. It came from a weak voice from the end of the cave. It was Charine’s—still laying in the same position she was left in by Siphos. As soon as he heard her, the remaining tenseness he wasn’t aware of left him. Regularly, he would have gone to her side in a heartbeat, but he was far too exhausted now.

  Siphos sighed at the complaint he had received.

  “We’ll be fine, trust me.”

  “You’re too quick to let your guard down.”

  “You’re one to be talking.”

  He took off a piece of armor from his forearm, gently placing it on the ground. Charine huffed quietly as she remained laid across the floor.

  “I apologize.”

  Isel shook his head, though it was too dark for the others to see.

  “No need.”

  Siphos added on to him.

  “I’ll accept an apology for having to transport you, you’re heavier than you look.”

  A short silence followed, Isel swore he could feel Charine’s gaze briefly pierce Siphos.

  “Uh huh, where are we?”

  “The shore.”

  While they conversed, Isel stepped out of the cave momentarily to grab flora to support himself through the night, getting the idea from Siphos. He made sure he could still hear Charine as she continued to talk.

  “We can walk along the shore, then.”

  “It’ll take a lot longer to get to Loite like that.”

  “It will have to do. It’s safer than the path we were walking, and I’d prefer to avoid any more encounters.”

  Siphos sighed as he discussed travel plans with Charine. Isel wished he could provide his input on the matter, but he knew nothing of the geography of Aeshval. He entered the cave again with his arms full of densely packed grass and leaves, laying some near Charine before returning to his regular side of the cave. Setting the rest of his collection to the ground and slumping to his side, Isel let their conversation pass. His exhaustion started to take hold of his mind, though he tried his best not to let his eyes close.

  The next thing Isel saw was Charine hovering above him. Her hair cast shadows across his face as the sun was rising. A few seconds were shared between the two making eye contact. Isel exhaled through his nose while Charine adjusted her position and spoke.

  “It’s morning.”

  Isel rose off his back and rested back against the wall of the cave. Charine remained nearby, sitting with her legs crossed. She held her unwrapped firearm and wet cloth in her hands and wiped it across the mostly unused weapon. She continued after he settled.

  “We’re in no need of food at the moment, and the both of you found us a nice shelter.”

  “He did most of the heavy lifting, literally.”

  Charine rubbed her shoulder and glanced back at Siphos, who was still sleeping.

  “In any case, that means we don’t have to leave immediately. It might actually be better to wait.”

  “Why?”

  “We were just attacked, so those people still might be closeby.”

  Isel nodded as he watched Charine slide the cloth over the warped metal. She applied pressure softly to ensure she never cut herself along the sharp bends and formations. He had never observed the weapon closely before, but the impracticality was now being displayed to him as they conversed. Chaine pointed to Siphos and explained.

  “He was on the side of staying here, though he didn’t specify for how many days before he fell asleep, so what about you?”

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  “I don’t mind staying, there isn’t much of a rush is there?”

  “No, not really. All it means is that we’ll have to spend more time gathering food.”

  “Is that troublesome?”

  “I can hunt.”

  Charine pointed to her weapon before gesturing towards Siphos.

  “And if you remember, he knows how to do so as well, so we’ll be fine.”

  Isel exhaled once more, staring outside of the small shelter. Although hardly visible from where he was, he could still make out the light blue tinge of the sea poking through the dense flora outside of the cave.

  “Then I’m all for staying, how long were you thinking?”

  Charine looked away from her lap and to the ceiling of the cave momentarily.

  “Two or three days should be enough to let alertness die down.”

  Isel nodded before crawling out of the cave. Charine wrapped her firearm in cloth before storing it on her back and following him.

  “Have you left the cave yet?”

  “No.”

  “Then come look at the sea.”

  The two walked in silence towards the calm shore, dodging roots and branches before finding the opening to the sea. Once arriving at the view, Isel sat with his legs crossed. Now he had the chance to enjoy the view, he could take in everything he was seeing and relax. The water made almost no sound as it flowed slowly, and waves never came crashing onto the shore. The sea was simply there, completely still even as it extended on into the horizon. Charine stood beside him before sitting with her legs spread out on the soft soil. She spoke without facing him.

  “You seem to be enjoying this.”

  “You don’t like it?”

  Charine fidgeted.

  “No, it’s not that. It’s pretty, actually.”

  Isel nodded. She was right. It was captivating, and he was glad he was given the opportunity to stay and appreciate it. It would have been fine if he was given just an hour, but now he had two days to himself. Unfortunately, his peace was interrupted by another voice.

  “Wanna go for a swim?”

  Both Isel and Charine turned back to Siphos, who was now standing over the both of them. He had removed all of his armor, and now his entire body was covered with his thick black undergarment. He stretched as he walked past both Isel and Charine and stood right in front of the shoreline. Isel replied to the man's sudden questions.

  “I can’t swim. I don’t think I can at least.”

  “It can't hurt to try though, right?”

  “I only want to look at the sea.”

  Siphos sighed and looked towards Charine with hope in his eyes.

  “No.”

  The tall man turned back to face the grandiose mass of water before dejectedly sitting down. Charine called out to him.

  “Well why don’t you swim?”

  “If I do it by myself it seems a little…”

  “Pitiful.”

  “Yeah, that.”

  The wind picked up, blowing small leaves and shrubbery across the shore. Isel continued to stare towards the sea until he was urged to move closer to it due to his growing thirst. He had almost gone a day without a drink. Siphos looked back and lit up when seeing him walk to the shoreline.

  “So you’ll do it with me?”

  Isel shook his head reluctantly.

  “I’m just thirsty.”

  Siphos frowned and lifted himself to his feet before taking off his footwear, as he had already removed his armored boots.

  “I’ll just take a small dip, then.”

  Isel’s face wrinkled slightly while looking down at his naked feet.

  “Please, after I drink…”

  Siphos grinned.

  “There are worse things in the sea, Isel. Surely these don’t concern you more than the fish excrement?"

  Isel backed away cautiously.

  “No, they definitely do concern me more.”

  Isel hurriedly walked to the sea, eager to drink before Siphos could leave the water tainted. Charine watched as Siphos chased Isel towards the water before looking down at her own boots.

  While the two men had argued, she removed her boots and footwear just as Siphos had and walked to a further end of the land that protruded more into the sea. She sat and laid her legs into the water.

  Turning to her left, Charine could see Isel now completely drenched in water. He had tripped and fell into the sea, and now Siphos sat in front of him on the shore with his feet under the water. The sea where Isel was came up to his mid-thigh, and he trudged out of the water while trying to clear his eyes.

  “How’s the water?”

  “Salty.”

  Isel’s eyes had finally stopped stinging, allowing him to look around once more while his back faced the sea. To his left he found Charine sitting leisurely decently far away from the two, who gave him a brief wave. Isel wondered if she considered his concern for limbs being in water he was about to drink, but that matter had unfortunately become irrelevant. He felt the cold creep up on him as his clothes had been soaked.

  “We might need to stay here a while longer, walking like this would be horrible.”

  “I’m sure it’ll all be dry by the time we were going to leave originally.”

  Isel sighed.

  “I hope.”

  Isel tried to come out of the shallow water, but as he walked something tugged against his ankle. He attempted harder to free himself, yet he couldn’t remove his leg. Siphos squinted as he saw Isel struggling before getting up and walking towards him.

  “What? You can’t get your foot out of a plant?”

  “It’s tough…”

  Isel moved and pushed his foot around in the water in an attempt to free himself, yet a faint tension kept him in place as he squirmed. The ocean wasn’t shallow enough here to see what was under the water. With another push he kicked something more solid, but with a soft texture. A frown came on his face as he plunged his hands into the water, hoping to grab at whatever could be beneath the thick film of water blocking his sight. He got a firm hold on a solid, dreadfully familiar object. Perhaps from the shock of what he grabbed, he slipped on sand on the floor of the sea and fell back. He still had a hold on what held him in place as it broke the surface of water as he lifted it up with his fall. A tan arm with a limp hand. He already had an idea of what it was ever since he found it under the water. Siphos came to his side and also grabbed hold of the arm, pulling the rest of the body above water as Isel scampered back to do the same.

  By the time the men had reached the shore, Charine had arrived as well to observe the commotion. She was just in time to see them pull a woman out of the water. Her shirt was furled up enough to see that she was incredibly skinny, so much so that her ribs were visible. Her blond hair was only slightly shorter than Charine's, her clothes torn, ripped, and soaked. Isel could only stare. It wasn’t apparent if she was breathing, and if she wasn’t he was unsure of what he could do.

  Charine rushed to the woman, crouching down and feeling around for her pulse while checking for her breath. She spoke briefly to confirm with Isel, her pace more heightened than usual while turning the woman over to her side.

  “Do you know how long it’s been? Isel?”

  His mind was awry with thoughts, he stumbled over his internal monologue as he tried to find a suitable answer.

  “She grabbed me, just now.”

  Charine grimaced while she checked the woman once more.

  “She’s still breathing, but…”

  Neither Isel nor Siphos could ask her to finish her sentence. All three were left in a deathly silence while observing the situation and assessing its urgency. If there were something, Isel figured Charine would have taken more action.

  “Help me carry her to the cave, we need to wait for her to come.”

  Her voice had become more confident now, recognizably brief and ever knowing. All three of them carefully carried the woman back, doing their best not to make any abrupt movements. After laying her down, Charine kept her held to her side on a cushion of leaves.

  Laying to rest in the silent cave, Siphos stared towards the woman that Charine supported while Isel looked outside towards the sea. He was given plenty of time to observe the sea, and now he had time to observe his worries. Behind the closed eyes of the blond woman is where most of his concerns had laid at the present moment. But before her eyes opened he would never find a treatment for his worries. Not the where, not the what, and not the why. And so he gazed to the sea, waiting for her to open her eyes, waiting for the world to dictate his life.