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A Faceful of Muck
"It's no good," Felix sighed in despair as he looked around intently, hoping that perhaps a boat might even pop up in the swamp, but of course boats did not simply just pop up out of nowhere. They had seen a boat a few paces back, but it was not in very good condition and they had passed up the chance of taking it along. "I think we're only going to end up drowning in there, look, it's a swamp, what's the use?"
"There's no way I want to walk into the swamp," Jenna said gloomily, cringing away from the expanse of swamp water that looked like it would suck up everything in sight and automatically reaching up to touch her long cinnamon hair. "Do you realise how long I spend every morning brushing my hair and making sure it looks all right? If I go in there, I'm going to stink and my hair will be ruined!"
"I never took you for being the vain type." Sheba smiled wickedly, looking up at Jenna, who could have sworn that there was a devious glint in her green eyes. "You certainly don't seem like it."
"I'm not vain!" Jenna protested loudly, turning her back to the cheeky Jupiter Adept and scowling crossly. "A girl's just got to look her best, but I suppose that you're so young, you wouldn't understand. Just you wait, Sheba, you'll look back at this day we went to the swamp and you'll cringe thinking of yourself covered in foul stinking mud!"
"Apparently, there's a lot of forgeable stuff in the caves," Piers reminded everybody, looking down at the murky depths of the swamp. "There could even be a Djinni too. Don't you think it's worth it? It's only really mud, there's nothing to be worried about."
"No, only drowning," Felix said sarcastically, throwing a withering glare at Piers as if he was completely insane, which Felix was almost on the verge of thinking that he was for just suggesting they go into the swamp, which was of course the last thing the somewhat unlucky Venus Adept wanted. "I'm not going in there, you can't make me." Naturally, almost drowning in a river, getting death threats, leaping off a lighthouse and being hit by a tidal wave had made him rather jumpy and nervous.
"I do believe we could," Kraden answered brightly, his eyes twinkling. "It would only take a push to get you in there..." Felix automatically edged away from the old man, shivering violently at the prospect of being pushed into the swamp, which he simply could not bear to happen to himself.
"He's got this fear of drowning," Jenna explained, a sweatdrop rolling down her head. "It stems back from about three years ago, he nearly drowned in a storm... come on, Felix, the swamp wouldn't carry you away or anything. I'm more worried about stinking. No girl should have to stink."
"You two are so hopeless." Sheba broke away from the group and skipped over to the steps. She cautiously made her way down and then ended up standing on the surface of the murky swamp water. "It's half solid, but..." She took another step forwards and felt her feet sinking beyond the greenish surface, although they came to a stop shortly. "I think we'd sink if we went on for too long. See? I'm sinking."
"Get out of there, Sheba!" Felix cried out in alarm, seized by a sudden panic as he watched Sheba making her way through the muck, sinking further with each step until now she was waist deep in the marsh and yet she still went on. "You could drown in there!" However, Sheba did not stop even as he asked her to.
"I'll be fine... honest..." Sheba said hesitantly as she stared down at the gloomy water which edged slowly up her body as if trying to swallow her up with a single gulp. It was a good thing it took many steps for it to do so, but would she be able to get back? Sheba looked around hopefully, gulping as the swamp water came up to her chin causing her to stop in her tracks and she saw a bubble next to her, which burst upon the surface to be joined by another. 'What causes bubbles in water?' Sheba thought, frowning as she considered the possible answers, then her face lit up. 'Of course! Air!'
"Sheba!" Jenna called out. "You're not stuck are you? We could get some rope or something... maybe... just don't take another step... No! Sheba, what are you doing?" Her voice rose to an incredulous wail as Sheba grinned and stepped towards the bubbling area. "What...?"
"Of course, it seems that there are vents underneath the swamp which blow up air and the air currents pass through the swamp, causing the little bubbles on the surface," Kraden explained at length. "Fortunately, the air is powerful enough to support a person and give them leverage out of the swamp water."
"Sheba's quite clever if she figured that out all by herself." Piers smiled as Sheba turned and ran back towards them, gasping in relief as she was yet again saved from a dangerous situation from the nearest air bubble. Sheba walked slowly up the steps, panting. She was now covered head to foot in greenish brown mud, yet she did not seem any worse for her experience.
"Look at you, Sheba." Jenna wrinkled her nose and took a step backwards, trying to stay far away from the Jupiter Adept. "You stink... you smell like something that's dead!"
"How would you know what something dead smells like?" Sheba retorted, shaking her hands and dislodging some wet mud which clung to them. "Ugh... it was nasty in there, the water was all clammy and mucky, and it went all the way up to my chin, I hated it..."
"We can't go in there," Felix said decisively. "I refuse to. Besides, there's probaby no Djinni in there, what Djinni would want to go into a swamp?"
"Perhaps a little Djinni who likes its element?" Piers asked teasingly. "The swamp is mostly mud and water, so perhaps we could go in there and find a little Mercury Djinni... or a cute little Venus Djinni just for you. How about that?"
"I don't know." Felix put a hesitant step forwards, his eyes trained on the steps, but he did not get far before he shrank back, cringing. "But what if we put a step wrong and we drown? Besides, we will get all smelly and muddy in there..."
"It won't hurt you, Felix." Piers smiled sinisterly and walked towards the swamp, standing on the steps and kneeling to scoop up some of the muddy green water in his cupped hands. Some of it trickled slowly through his fingers and clung to his hands, yet the Lemurian was not bothered by it. "It's only muddy water..."
"Muddy water that will stick all over." Jenna grimaced. "Look at Sheba, she looks more like a monster than a Jupiter Adept..."
"Oh, yeah?" Sheba wiped a hefty amount of swamp water off the front of her chest, which made a slippery, sucking sound as it came off, and then she flung it at Jenna. "Well, you can look like a monster too!"
"You..." Jenna looked down at her mud spattered clothes, her mouth hanging open. "You..." She raised her head to look at Sheba, her dark purple eyes full of fury. "You will pay for what you just did to my clothes..." She threatened in her most sinister voice she could possibly manage.
"Catch me first then!" Sheba turned, laughing wildly, and she ran with the hotheaded Mars Adept in pursuit, growling angrily as she pursued her. "It's only a little bit of mud!" The Jupiter Adept protested, keeping her distance from the furious Jenna.
"I do believe that crossing the swamp will be quite safe," Kraden protested. "As Sheba said, it doesn't hurt, so what say we make a move on, hmm?"
"Only muddy water..." Piers stood up and walked towards Felix, his yellow eyes gleaming with something that Felix could not quite identify. "I'm quite sure that you will like it. Perhaps you would like to try some?"
"No!" Felix raised his arms and shielded his head as Piers flung the swamp water full at him, splattering his green tunic with similarly coloured mud. "It's all over me..." He dropped his arms and looked sideways at Piers. "You're going to be in very big trouble for that, you know."
"Oh, really?" Piers smirked cattily, folding his arms and grinning at Felix. "And may I enquire what exactly you intend to do to compensate for your poor ruined clothes? They can be washed you know, it's no great loss."
"Come here..." Felix said in an ominously low voice which was almost a growl, narrowing his deep brown eyes. "Just come a bit closer, Piers, I'm going to give you a taste of my Psynergy, and you're not likely to forget it in a hurry."
"No, you come here," Piers responded, deliberately stepping back into the swamp and standing upon one of the air bubbles, almost levitating in the air which was quite a strange sight to see, it was almost as if he was hovering. "Come here if you dare, Felix, or you can stay there while I continue to mercilessly splatter you with even more mud... you do quite like mud, don't you?"
"Hah! Okay, fine." Felix hesitated, wondering if he was making the right choice by following Piers into the swamp. A splash alerted him and he turned to see that Jenna had managed to push Sheba into the swamp. Fortunately, the Jupiter Adept was now wading towards a nearby air bubble and had switched to yelling curse words while throwing large globs of mud at the Mars Adept. "Um, just hang on a second... I think I forgot something in Yallam..."
"Chickening out are you?" Piers chuckled, placing his hands on his hips and tilting his head sideways, giving Felix a strange look. "You're nothing but a little chicken, really. A little chicken with a mop of brown hair on what it calls a head... so cute. Can you make little clucking sounds too? I should quite like to see you doing that, why don't you try it, little chicken?"
"Quit calling me little chicken!" Felix shouted at him, his bottom lip sticking out in a pout. "I just don't want to go into the swamp... what if we drown in there? And if I'm a chicken... then you're... you're... um... a... pig! Yeah, you're a pig!"
"Great comeback, Felix." Piers clapped his hands together in a teasing manner, winking at the Venus Adept. "Mind you, I think I'm quite unpiglike in that pigs tend to live in muddy sties and eat too much for their own good. I think that I could be a fish, while you're a mole. I think you could be a cute little mole if you tried."
"ARGH!" Jenna screamed in frustration as a lump of flying mud struck the back of her head, staining her beautiful brown hair to a green muddy colour. "It's not fair, Sheba's got the advantage, she's in the swamp while I'm up here on dry land. Kraden, what do you think I should do?" She asked hopefully, turning to the scholar who was currently watching Felix and Piers's conversation in fascination.
"This is quite a riveting conversation," Kraden gabbled. "Piers called Felix a chicken who called Piers a pig, then Piers said he was a fish and called Felix a mole... oh? Perhaps you should go into the swamp, then both of you would be in similar situations and nobody would have the advantage, but then nobody would be at a disadvantage either, which I do think is the better option."
"Ugh... fine..." Jenna ducked her head and narrowly avoided another flying lump of mud, which unfortunately for Kraden struck him in the back and stained his cloak. He did not bother to comment however, still watching the heated debate between a Valean and a Lemurian. Jenna ran to the jetty and leaped off, landing smartly on an air bubble. "Okay, Sheba, now you're going to get yours!" She reached down to scoop up some mud, a devious look in her eyes.
"And I think Jenna would be a lizard," Piers was currently saying. "In that they soak up the heat, which I'm sure Jenna does too being a Mars Adept. Sheba, now that is obvious, she would be a bird. So we've got a mole, a lizard, a bird and a fish. Quite interesting, huh?"
"Stop calling me a mole!" Felix yelled crossly, taking several threatening steps forwards and forgetting that he was coming closer to the swamp. "That's even worse than calling me a chicken! You're probably a nasty jellyfish or something..."
"Felix, I apologise." Piers had one hand behind his back, two fingers crossed over each other, which of course Felix could not see. He smiled and held out his other hand, fingers uncrossed. "Please accept my apology... shall we shake on it? I take it back about the chicken and the mole, I am really a big, fat, greedy pig..."
"Big, fat, greedy, oinking, smelly, dirty pig that lives in a sty," Felix added, grudgingly taking Piers's hand and noticing his joyful grin far too late. He was helpless as Piers yanked sharply, and all he could do was scream as Piers pulled him fully into the swamp and he ended up with his feet in the mud, yelling out several curse words as the swamp seemed to try to swallow him up. "I'm going to kill you!"
"You'll have to catch me first," Piers taunted, turning and walking off through the swamp, sinking lower with every step that he took yet coming ever closer to an air bubble. "You're in the swamp now, you might as well keep going, little chicken." He paused and looked back over his shoulder to see if Felix was going to come after him after all. He was happy to see that Felix set off after him with a murderous expression on his face.
"Stay there, Piers, stay right there." Felix scooped up a handful of mud and flung it full at the Lemurian's head. He was answered back with a faceful of muck and disgustedly spat it out. "This stuff tastes like crap!" He complained, spitting and gagging. "Why did we have to come in here? I think I'm really going to drown... and I haven't got anything to hold on to! This isn't fair!"
"You can hold onto me," Piers said suggestively, wading towards Felix, having already elevated himself using a handy air vent. "I shall not let you drown, little chicken, there is nothing to be scared of. Now, don't you think that playing in the mud is actually rather fun?" He asked, holding onto Felix's arm.
"Why would I want to hold on to a stupid pig like you?" Felix muttered, turning away with a deep scowl on his face. "It's all your fault I'm in this lousy, stinky swamp... how is this swamp helping our quest? I want to go back to Yallam." He winced as Piers dropped goblets of mud into his dark hair and retaliated quickly, flinging mud at Piers. Felix noted that swamp water actually looked quite good with Piers's sea green hair. "Suits you."
"Suits you too," Piers shot back, throwing a casual glance at Jenna and Sheba. They were now wrestling on top of the same air bubble, trying to throw each other off for some reason, but they were fairly evenly matched as well as evenly covered in mud from head to foot. "Now that we are all covered in a nice, tidy amount of mud, we should be making a move on, don't you think?"
"I hate you," Felix growled, refusing to look directly at the Lemurian. "Get stuffed."
"I'll take that as a yes, little chicken." Piers patted Felix's head... Felix promptly shoved him straight into the murky water and stomped away towards the steps, screaming as the swamp water came up to his neck. Mercifully, a little air vent saved him from drowning, and he curled up by the steps, dismally huddled over on the ground and cursing whoever was responsible for the abomination called Taopo Swamp.
"I do think it's time to get going in there." Kraden eagerly walked past the shivering green heap that was a mud covered Venus Adept and he excitedly stepped out onto the swamp. "Ooh! It is all squidgy and funny feeling! I do quite like the feeling of walking upon this fascinating swamp, it is surely an interesting creation of nature! You are being a very silly little thing by refusing to come in here, Felix, it's nice!"
"No! No!" Felix sat up, arms and legs crossed with his back to the swamp, which meant that he did not see the thing coming through the swamp, towards him. "I refuse to go back into that swamp, you're all being very silly playing in there. It's dangerous..." He froze as he heard a splashing noise from right behind him. "Um... Kraden? Was that you?"
"RRAAAAGH! I'm the swamp monster!" Green arms promptly burst forth from the surface of the marsh and looped around the now screaming Felix, yanking him straight off the bank and straight into the muddy swamp. Felix yelled and kicked at the 'swamp monster', trying to make an escape, but before he could make that desperate reach for the bank, he was already sitting on an air bubble and trying to defend himself against the 'swamp monster', until he realised it was only a certain Water Adept.
Felix proceeded to yell at Piers using a steady stream of curse words, before turning and stomping off through the swamp. Unfortunately for him, he had misjudged the distance between him and the nearest air bubble, so the swamp water proceeded to creep up his body, just past his chin... he shouted out as he found himself completely submerged in swamp muck and flailed around, sinking into the greenish liquid, eyes closed against the foul, slimy mud that clung onto him. All he could see was darkness around him, feel the muddy water being sucked through his fingers as he desperately tried to emerge, suffocating... and then he blacked out just as strong arms wrapped around his body.
Felix awoke to a ring of people sitting around him, staring intently at him. He was relieved to be out of the swamp and lying on solid ground, it was better than drowning. Kraden started chattering animatedly as he noticed that Felix was awake, Jenna started yelling at him for almost getting killed, Sheba almost fainted with relief. Piers just smiled.
"You moron!" Jenna yelled at the top of her voice, punching Felix in the shoulder. "Why didn't you look where you were going? We don't want you to get killed... I don't, not after I thought you were dead for about three years! You need to be careful!"
"You were unconscious," Sheba spoke softly, her emerald eyes like huge saucers. "I was worried... but you're okay..."
"Unn..." Felix struggled into a sitting position. He blinked rapidly, looking around at the numerous faces. "Jenna, I'm fine, you don't need to show me how much you care. Sheba, of course I'm okay. Who got me out of that stinking swamp anyway?" He had a suspicion, it was not likely that it could have been Kraden, and he did not really think it was Jenna or Sheba either.
"It was me." Piers gave Felix a Look. "I thought that would have been obvious. You must learn to be more careful, little grasshopper, otherwise you will never get through the swamp and we'll never find the cute little Djinni waiting for us."
"If there is one," Jenna said sourly, glaring at the murky, gloomy marsh with a look that could have killed. "If there isn't, somebody is going to be punished severely..." Everybody knew this was no idle threat and they all gulped, wondering who Jenna would choose to exact revenge on.
"Grasshopper?" Felix spat out. "Make up your mind already! Am I a chicken, mole or grasshopper?" Everybody exchanged amused looks at Felix's question but he just scowled, glaring at Piers.
"Shoudn't you be thanking me first, chicken?" asked Piers, smirking in his special Lemurian way.
"One more 'chicken' and you're dead," Felix said sinisterly. "I really don't see how I am comparable to some smelly, clucking bird that lays eggs all the time and often goes in an oven."
"Felix, thank him!" Jenna ordered. "It's the least you could do, he saved your life remember?"
"I could have got out of there myself," Felix lied. When he realised Jenna and Sheba were giving him homicidial looks, he quickly changed his tune. "I mean, thank you, Piers, your help is very much appreciated."
"The pleasure was all mine." Piers winked. For some reason, Felix felt a chill going up his spine and he shivered in spite of himself, aghast at the effect a simple wink had on him. Of course, he had never been winked at like that before and especially not by a man. It was just frightening. Piers was frightening.
"Now I do believe that we should be making a move on," Kraden said, jumping to his feet. "Now that Felix has recovered from his previous scare, we should be getting back into the swamp. Felix has learned to be careful now and we should be very careful in the swamp, remember to judge the distances carefully, and we'll find the djinni in no time, if there is indeed one down there which I believe there is. Shall we go?"
Several collective groans rose up from the group as they all, some of them grudgingly, got to their feet and followed Kraden who was talking giddily as he ran onto the swamp. Felix wanted to run away, but nobody would let him, he had no choice and besides he was covered head to foot in swamp water. He was more concerned about why Piers kept calling him animal names. What did it all mean? What did that stupid wink mean? Did he really care? Of course not... then why was he thinking about it? Felix smacked his head in annoyance and just concentrated on making his way across the swamp, trying not to think about Piers.
Felix lay awake, staring though the darkness around him. It was so dark that he coud not even see his hand in front of his face and it was quite unnerving. He shivered and crept further into his sleeping bag, pulling it up to his chin. It was eerily silent in here except for Kraden snoring and Sheba murmuring something intelligible in her sleep from time to time, plus Jenna was turning over a lot and tended to be quite noisy about it too. Whether Piers was awake too or able to be silent as a mouse while he slept, Felix had no clue. It was quite unnerving to think Piers might be awake, so he setted for thinking Piers was asleep.
Felix turned his head to look in the direction of where Piers was sleeping, somewhere close by. Considering how stagnant the swamp water had been, it could have been possible to smell him out, but the problem was that everybody smelled of swamp water and it was likely their clothes and sleeping bags would smell of swamp water too. They would have a lot of washing to do after this.
"Are you awake, chicken?" A soft whisper reached Felix's ears and he winced, realising that Piers was very much awake. He should have just kept quiet after all, now he had given Piers reason to talk and that was miserable enough.
"Yeah," Felix whispered back reluctantly. "Why do you keep calling me chicken?" He heard the sound of rustling and sensed that somebody was coming closer, sitting next to him. For some reason Piers must have shifted his sleeping bag closer to Felix, for some reason he could not fathom.
"Because you really are like one..."
Felix's eyes widened as something brushed against his hair, despite it being all caked up with swamp water. He wondered if it was Piers playing games or a monster. He wasn't sure which one he would prefer it to be, considering that it was so dark in here.
"Fussy..."
"Am not," Felix complained, pushing away the offending hand. "Go away."
"Warm..."
"Shut up, Piers," Felix muttered. "We're warm blooded, we're SUPPOSED to be warm..." A hot flush was rising up in his face, and he was beginning to feel extremely embarassed in the process. What was Piers playing at?
"Likes to eat out of my hand..."
"You're full of it!" Felix hissed. "I do not eat out of your hand!"
"You will be," Piers murmured softly, stroking Felix's cheek with a finger. "Just wait."
"I am not a chicken." Felix sat up, glaring angrily at where he believed Piers's eyes to be. As it was, he misjudged it and ended up colliding with Piers's head. He winced as the collision caused his head to hurt. "You're a pig... a smelly pig..."
"You can be MY chicken," Piers said softly. Felix let out a squeak, frozen where he sat, staring at utterly nothing in complete disbelief and wondering if he needed a headcheck. "My warm, fussy, finicky, scaredy chicken..."
"What are you playing at?" Felix demanded, now feeling extremely awkward. He was feeling very strange... and it was Piers making him feel like this! Something had to be wrong here.
"You haven't figured it out yet, have you?" Piers asked gently, a trace of gentle laughter in his voice. "Never mind, I'll help you out. All it takes is a little gentle persuasion. I would tell you to close your eyes, but it's so dark you can't see anything anyway, so I don't think I'll tell you to do anything. Just sit still."
Felix couldn't have moved if he had wanted to anyway, he was still rooted to the spot, struggling with all these conflicting emotions inside him. It was so strange... he was feeling things he had never experienced before. Then something soft brushed against his lips. They felt like... lips? Piers's lips... against his own? Felix was almost ready to put Piers in his place with a Ragnarok, but he realised that he actually liked it.
"Piers..." Felix spoke as the lips moved away.
"I know..."
And then Piers lay down and fell silent. Felix sat there in stunned disbelief, before lying down as well and pondering. It really wasn't that bad if Piers liked him, not if Felix liked him back. It was strange to think that he might be like this, but he guessed it explained why he had never really fallen for girls. He didn't need girls... not if he had Piers...
"Goodnight, little chicken..."
"Goodnight," Felix curled up in his sleeping bag and dropped off to sleep with a happy smile on his face. He was happy enough now to be Piers's 'little chicken' now that he understood exactly what Piers was aiming at. Then he could just come up with his own special name for the Lemurian. Pig did sound a bit harsh after all... and very unfitting for the Lemurian.
Sheba: Please review, and remember, a flame is not really a review. We stress, do not flame. And we assure you that Kyarorain is a fellow OBHL and does not think Piers is a pig... she is also a PGBHVA as well... Thats Psychotic Groupie of a Brown Haired Venus Adept...
Felix: And everybody knows OBHL is Obsessors of a Blue Haired Lemurian.
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