Qu Wren silently floated on top of the surface, enjoying the pleasant sunlight. The small waves slowly lapped against his body, bringing him a whole new level of peace. "Ah, why didn't we do this long back?" he mumbled, with a pleased smile on his face.
"I don't like this at all," Hachin grumbled softly.
Wren rolled over and glanced at him. The little white-haired man was frowning deeply. "What's wrong?" he swam closer and gently held his forearm.
"I—I don't know.... I don't feel comfortable enough," Hachin whispered, touching his slightly aching belly.
"Is your tummy still aching?" Wren gently touched his smooth belly.
"ash!!!" Hachin shouted and swam back instantly. "A—it hurts.... it hurts real bad," he mumbled with a grimace.
"Are you hungry? Or is it something else? Did you catch flu?" Wren worriedly looked at him. He shuffled though his small pouch searching for the special herbs that were prescribed for them, but he was not able to find any. As he pulled the pouch's mouth wide, he was able to notice a small hole in the bottom. "Oh, lord... I lost our medicines....."
"It's okay.... I just want to rest," Hachin tiredly whispered. They had been swimming for almost a night and a day. His legs were burning from all the workout. "Is it far..."
Wren immediately took out the small scroll he had hidden in his shirt. This was his father's travel log when he had gone to the surface. It even had a map and all the directions on how to get there. He keenly looked at the spot the little forest was drawn in. "I think land is little over a mile to the east..."
"So far!" Hachin grumbled loudly, holding his aching stomach.
"I—I can piggy back you." Wren swam to him immediately and held his hand.
But the pain intensified every time Wren touched him. It was as if his body was repelling him by force.
Hachin shouted and moved back at least a few feet until the pain disappeared. "Wren..... something is wrong with me?"
"Tell me, is the fever back? Shall we.... go back home. I don't want you to get sick," Wren mumbled with a slightly hurt expression. He glanced at his hand and at Hachin and pouted. "We should probably go back... this was not a good idea to begin with."
The hope he held instantly diminished. He slightly touched his tummy and sighed.
"No! We shall continue! Wren, we are going to find your baby's daddy for sure." Hachin shouted all of a sudden.
His white hair shimmered in the sunlight, and so did his resolute eyes.
Smirking Wren nodded, but a small worry still resides in his heart. He glanced at his small friend intently. 'Why is Hachin getting tummy hurts all the time... its weird? Is he perhaps?...'
"Hachin!! Are you pregnant as well!!!!!"
The little white oyster snapped his head towards him. "No way in hell! I am not pregnant, you silly Wren you are!"
"but we never got to read your report..."
"I did read my report. It said that I had advanced to Qi condensation realm." He proudly raised his head at him.
Wren nodded, still unconvinced. "We should still slow down our phase. This way it won't put a strain on your body," he whispered softly to him. Hachin blushed and nodded.
Feeling reassured, Wren happily pulled out a parcel of dried octopus from his pouch. "What should we have for lunch? We have octopus and octopus and.... dried octopus,"
"You didn't pack anything else?" Hachin mumbled with his eyes narrowed.
"I might have forgotten...."
As they were talking about this, a small silver shimmer underwater caught Wren's sight.
He swiftly pulled Hachin closer and pulled out a dagger from his hips.
"Are we in the shark territory?" Hachin worriedly glanced up at him.
"No..... but I think we might have drifted closer to the Mer's territory," Wren mumbled with a frown. Mer's were their oyster clan's allies but at the border region like this, rogue Mers also existed that hunt any creature that they could sight upon.
"Hachin, stay close to me," Wren slowly plunged in with the dagger tight in hand.
He slowly glanced around the blue waters searching for the predator, but something flashed in front of him and swam swiftly away.
'It's fast!' he increased his vigilance and peered around.
As he was watching around, Hachin swam under and stood protectively next to him.
"I told you to stay up!" Wren glared at him.
"You are with a child. You should do any strenuous activities." Hachin glared back at him.
"Hachin go up, it's too dangerous here." he gently pushed him up to the surface. But the stubborn oyster swam back down and hovered next to him. "You never listen, don't you?"
"When have you listened to anything I've told you," Hachin glanced at him with his eyes narrowed.
Right then the white flash returned, but this time it brought along a huge trident and slashed at him. Wren swiftly moved back with Hachin hugged protectively in his arms. 'Trident? They are not rogues!'
"Wait! Wait, we are from the oyster tribe we mean you no harm!!" he shouted aloud.
The white tailed Mer swam up to him at high speed and hovered right in front of his face. "You are in our territory!!" it hissed loudly.
"Sorry, the waves took us here," he seriously whispered.
"There is no exception. Anyone who tried to infiltrate will have to die!" the Mer gripped the trident tightly and slashed towards him.
Wren brought his dagger over in front of them, trying to parry with it. 'Shit, I should have stolen Ren's sword...' he deeply regretted his choice of weapon at this point. But he could do nothing to change it. He watched as the trident swish closer.
"Stop!! I command you to!" a softer voice shouted from behind. A beautiful black-haired Mer swam closer to them.
The white tailed Mer immediately stooped and bowed towards the Mer behind her. "Commander.... these are infiltrators. As per our order we should kill them," she said in a gruff tone.
"No, they are runaways that the oyster clan is searching for. Bring them back unscratched. They seem to be carrying valuable asset with them,"
And so the two little oysters were brought over to the Mer Island by the commander.