Through The Marsh

"Alright, you guys ready to head out?" the guys say as they all exit the tavern after having their fill. "Well, I'm all boozed up and ready to go. how about you two?" Tetsuga says as he pets his belly before looking to his left to see Cherry and Derrick. "Well, I'm pretty much ready to go myself!" he replies. but Cherry still had some suspicions about the new guy. so much so that she signaled Tetsuga over to speak with her. "Hold on, this'll be a second," he tells the new guy who will be joining them before going off to the side to talk while Derrick and the guy are left alone together.

"I'm still not sure about that guy," Cherry whispers. it was obvious that no one who has a brain to think of them joining them wouldn't have an ulterior motive behind their actions. But the most perplexing thing to her was that Tetsuga was more than fine to let the man join them for the time being. "Crazy talk, Cherry. that's crazy talk," Tetsuga would reply, which irritated her. "What do you mean crazy talk!? that guy literally forced himself in; are you blind!?" she angrily yells as he forces his head to face Derrick and the other man in the party. it looked to him that the two were getting along quite fine. but Cherry knew something was up. they were going to find out the hard way, and then Shell would tell them all she told them so. but for now, there wasn't much evidence to convict him yet. while the two had their talk, the other two decided to have a small talk of their own as they conversed with each other."I really appreciate you helping us out here." Derrick starts off by thanking him for his generosity, but what he was met with was a dry reply and silence. "Uh, oh, yeah, kid, no worries," they say before going silent. Derick wanted the conversation to keep going, but he didn't know what to change the topic to, but then he found something he could hook onto. while in the awkward silence, the guy was fidgeting with a rock that Derrick recognized and was equally interested in after seeing it again in person."Is that Luminite? I heard they were." Derrick was about to spew more facts. but apparently the guy was also well versed in the world of minerals and gemstones as he cut him off. "They emit a lot of light because they're packed with energy inside during formation.? head it before, kid. I'm pretty much a whiz at this stuff." They bragged as they rolled the small miner around their hands. "Oh, okay, another avid enjoyer of rocks? he thought he was the only one. Every time he tried telling someone, they'd usually tune him out and let him ramble until his mouth started to run dry, and ultimately, he'd be happy that someone else knew the importance of such rocks, but not with him. he just felt like he was being undermined, but he wasn't too sure of it.meanwhile, with Tetsuga and Cherry. "Whatever the matter, the two of them look like they're getting along, and besides, if he does something, I'm sure we can deal with it," Tetsuga assures her as he slips away from her grasp. Cherry wasn't convinced that he would try anything. but seeing the confidence, she decided to just let it be for now and let the man roam within their circle a little longer. "Now let's get going. I'm supposed to get you back home." Tetsuga urges her to come along and pick up the pace. all of this was technically for her, so she followed behind him and everyone else. even if she had suspicions about him, there wasn't actually any proof for her statement. so he drops it for now."Alright, the kingdom should be through here; just follow me and don't get lost. we might not make it there by tonight, but if we go right now, we might make enough headway to reach it by tomorrow," the guy says as he leads the three through the woods. exiting the seaside and into the mainland as they traversed across the mangroves and the beaten path ahead of them. the trees swayed, and the bushes were teeming with vines and other creatures that inhabited the land. "By the way, I kind of forgot to ask for your name. what is it, by the way?" they ask as they keep up with them while the other two straggled behind."Oh, they usually call me Pyxis. you can call me by that!" he tells him. Pyxis is a nice and unassuming name, according to Tetsuga. but Cherry, as well as Derrick this time, kept a close eye on him. the minutes turned into hours, and the day had become a lot darker than before. "It looks like we should set up camp right here. is everyone okay with it?" they ask, as they want everyone's opinion on it. "Eh, I'll set camp anywhere as long as its comfortable," Tetsuga said as he yawned. "This is alright, we can," but then Pyxis didn't seem to care about what he thought of it as he immediately moved onto Cherry."How about you?" they ask as Derrick let out a quiet 'oh' as he did. "I mean, I definitely had better," Cherry said. it was true. She would be sleeping in an apartment if she was with Archibald. but she was with them, so she wasn't really in a position to argue with the options presented to her. With everyone agreeing, they eventually set up camp and were ready to doze off to sleep. the first one to go was Cherry, surprisingly, as she had fallen asleep on a rock as Derrick sat next to her. still very much wide awake. "I guess she was a little tired," Derrick commented as he looked back at the two. Pyxis was tending to the fire, and Tetsuga just sat up against the tree and admired the night sky over them. "Good to know she can fall asleep as fast as she did in these conditions. It saves us much trouble," they say as they keep admiring the sky with their hands propped up on the back of their heads."Its getting pretty dark. Ill take the first shift," Pyxis said as he urges Tetsuga to go to sleep first as he continues to take care of their fire. "your the man," they say as they close their eyes until sleep overtakes them. Derrick decides to join him on that, leaving Pyxis the only one awake. as Derrick closed his eyes, he felt good about everything, despite the troubles that came up. He made new friends, got out of the kingdom, and is going on adventures that he didn't think or expect to be on. but there was this sinking feeling in his stomach. it was bothering him so much that it stirred him back awake, and he came upon a sight that he didn't expect to see.It was Pyxis with a knife about ready to stab while he hovered exactly right over Tetsuga. "What are you?" Derrick was about to question him, but the sudden movement took him by surprise as Pyxis quickly stabbed the knife down as it made an impact with something. Derrick, seeing this, goes into fight mode as he takes a fighting stance. "Mr. Tetsuga!" he yells. thinking that Pyxis had just killed the man, but much to his surprise, Tetsuga rises up from his sleeping position to respond. "Wah! What's going on!?" he exclaims as he frantically looks around for any signs of danger but luckily finds none, which relaxes his nerves a little bit."What was that about?" Pyxis asks as he looks questioningly at Derrick. "You were about to stab him! Look!" Derrick says back as he points to how he still had the knife embedded into something. "Oh, you mean this snake?" Pyxis says as he shows the boy the dead snake that he had just stabbed to save Tetsuga from being bitten by it. "Oh crap, there was a snake? thanks for saving me." Tetsuga thanks as he pats them on the shoulder before going back to sleep. leaving Derrick to be dumbfounded. his eyes played a trick on him. maybe Pyxis was here on his own good will. and maybe Derrick was thinking too hard about it."Mmmhh... would you guys keep it down? I'm trying to sleep!" cherry yells at them before trying to go back to sleep. she wasn't appreciating the noise much, which Derrick sighed at. "I'm sorry, Pyxis. I guess I had a wrong impression," he apologizes, which Pyxis accepted without question. "Oh, don't worry, it happens," they assure him. Derrick decides to go back to sleep and let Pyxis watch over them for the shift. Pyixis left him a smile before their eyes shut and let the sleep overtake him. but the feeling never went away, even after that... weird.