"Do you think we should be deciphering the verses now?"
"No need. These verses are Aarons. It's one thing to know the words of a praise but it is an entirely different thing to believe and act upon them. We need to help him find peace, but in the process find peace amongst ourselves as well."
"Croak. I think Aaron has already found his peace. It's your turn to find yours."
"I see waters edge! Leviathan here we come.
"Wait, we can't approach having Aaron look like this. What should we do, Croak?"
"You should leave now while I still give you breath to do so!"
"Where'd that come from? Everybody, gather around me and protect Aaron."
"I smell him but don't see him. What comes to my nose is rotten dying flesh. Whosoever did this awful deed against me should speak now and start explaining. For what is worse than water that is neither hot nor cold? It is lukewarm water which you will be and you kow what God does to people who are lukewarm."
I felt a push from behind and stumbled forwards.
"H….He spits them out of His mouth."
"Ooo. Someone who understands me. But I don't recognize your...blood."
It's not my blod that connects us nor do I deserve to be counted worthy of speaking to you. Hopper's spirit burns from inside me and that is what links us. The rest have held Aarons staff so they can hear you but can do nothing more."
"Ahh yes. I see. Now I know who you are. Hello Wanderer. Going from town to town taking whatever you want and not caring who gets hurt in the process. You're a fake, a thief, a liar, a snitch, and an embarrassment; but above all....you're a murderer. You don't think I can't smell your blood on Aarons body? You don't think I know that it was your hands that pierced him with the sword that killed him where he lay.
I know what you want but I'm not going to just hand it over. Especially to someone like you. For years Hopper has taken the town out on adventure after adventure but no matter how outrageous the adventure was he always brought everyone back in one piece. Your first day as a leader and you can't seem to not mess something up. You not only killed Hopper but his dad, his uncle, and Swift in less then a few hours separating them all. You did nothing to stop Swift from taking the Bible but only stood by….and watched. If you don't deserve to be a leader then what makes you think I'll give you these shoes? You have no peace. All you do is hurt people wherever you go. Float Aarons body out to me then leave."
"Croak, what should we do?"
"Do as he says."
"But Croak. We need those shoes. He doesn't understand all the trials and losses it took us to get here. All the blood, sweat and tears it took us to arrive at this point and he thinks he can just toss us aside like none of that mattered? We toiled and grumbled. Does he not care?"
"Kid, just do what he says. We don't belong here. We...I killed everyone that could make sense of this adventure and what's happening. Now there's nothing left. Just give him the body and we'll go home."
"Home! Home! Croak, there is nothing left for us at home. If you have forgotten our pond is full of blood and for all we know we're the last survivors. You're just going to run and flee at the first sign someone tells you the truth that drives to the bone. You do that everytime...….Time to change that."
I looked at the ground then back up at the kids eyes. I could've sworn I saw her before but then again I remember that when we set out you wanted no girls to come along so didn't know what to think.
"No! This can't be how it ends. We didn't come this far to have a sea creature doubt your every move."
The rest stood silent as I stood there and watched the kid drag Aaron from the banks, down to the water's edge, then set him adrift.
"You can have your Aaron but know this. Aaron isn't all like what his brother made him out to be. Aaron did some things in the past but we all have done things. I heard Croak talking to him and calling him out on it. Croak kept repeating the words, 'How could you; How could you," over and over again. Croak could've exposed this to everyone and shown everyone how cruel Aaron really was but insead he helped Aaron become the person we knew him by. Might've only lasted a short while but you could see the change in him. He was really trying hard to walk right and whenever Aaron messed up or had fault in his speech Croak was there to rebound and assure us that Aaron was back for good. I say Croaks' days of not caring for people are over. He has made peace within himself and realized that when you care for one person it's not only them you're caring for but their whole family as well it is reflected upon. Oh, and another thing. Not everybody has to be as great as Hopper. Everybody has their own flaws and makes mistakes...Hopper included. If everybody were the same…...then the world would be a very dull and boring place pretty fast."
When she said those last words she turned to me and my confidence gained a boost.
"Yes, I killed Aaron. Stabbed him right where it counted too but it wasn't him I was killing. He had a bad spirit named Swift who had burrowed his way in. Now there's only one type of people that bad spirits enter. They only pick people who are strong in faith and a drive to be pure. Those are who they select."
"Or they select people who are weak and want to grow strong in something. They don't care who they have to hurt to get what they want so that's a perfect place for a bad spirit to be burrowed in."
It took all my energy to contain my composure as the Leviathan said those words but I was strong in what I wanted to say.
"People with faith already have their heart and soul turned but they're still young in the faith and trying to figure it out so it's the bad spirits mission when they enter to ultimately turn that person's heart back to where that person was instead of who they could be if they continued to grow. That means Aaron already had given peace and wanted to start changing again but Swift knw that if Aaron kept changing he would have no one so Swift entered him with the goal to change Aarons heart back and take over his soul. He tried to do that but I stopped him when I killed Aaron. Now do you see?"
"Okay. I see you both are attempting to change by telling me good things about others but I have one final question to show if you truly are changed or if you're just wasting my time. You answer this to my liking then I'll give you the shoes. You guess it wrong then your path to redemption ends here. Am I clear? Are you ready for salvation?"
"Salvation? Yes, I'm ready for…...oooh! Salvation. That's the next piece we need to find. The Helmet of Salvation. Sir, I'm ready for any adventure that may lay ahead. I've made my peace and am willing to walk the straight and narrow."
"Hoping you'd say that. Now hop in the water before the lice arrive. Follow that stream over there until it flows into a smaller gorge. There it will lead you all the way up to dry land. Once you land you will find a fig tree that bears no fruit. Under the cursed fig tree will be a blanket and all your things on it that you left behind. In addition the ready equipped shoes will also lie there and a scroll tucked in one of the boots will be awaiting you. This will contain your next clue and verses to decipher. Good luck and Godspeed.
"Frogs! Listen up. Time to return to the water in which we were born.
THE END: Hate to leave you on a cliffhanger when their will be 3-4 more books to come but if you want to keep going on the adventure with Hopper then they'll be in my store. Just keep an eye out for when they're uploaded. https://www.bookemon.com/store/902015
Love you all and thanks for checking me out, staying with me and tuning in. I wish you all the best of luck on all of your journeys and stay strong in who you are. Remember; people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Have a blessed day.