Pony asks: -Native?
The boy responds quickly for fear of losing momentum and no longer having the courage to continue. Even if he stutters, even if his whispers are difficult to hear, everyone listens:
-That's what the ferryman calls these... beings who live here...
Dust avoids the gaze of others. He breathes in and out. After more than a minute without any intervention from his companion he assumes with relief that he will not contradict him in front of the rest. This thought gives him more confidence:
-We should hurry, the Ferryman has a rule that prohibits us from passing if all the natives have left this place.
Dust has nothing more to add now, but that is not the case for those who have listened to it so far.
Pony frowns like Potatoes.
The first one says:
-Why board the boat? Let's try to get around the lake, maybe we can get out of here without losing our lives throwing ourselves into a crowd of maniacs...or we could try to swim across.
The second grumbles, the dark tone contrasting with his high-pitched voice.
-There's no way I'm going to cut off anyone's head.
The old man seems thoughtful, his gray eyes turning towards Handsome who is still supported by the two girls.
-Given my age I will not swim across a lake if it is very large. But I won't be fighting with a dozen people to reach a boat either. And most of us don't have the head to pay...
The woman with the ponytail insists through gritted teeths:
-Then let's go around this lake! In any case given the number of these... Natives, there is time before they are all gone from here! We can always change our minds!
Dust doesn't like the way the discussion is going. The lake is very big, he Saw it when he was on the shore.
Let's not even talk about the old man, the boy himself doesn't think he has the physical fitness to cross with just his arms and going around the water point?
He wants to scream in frustration. Given everything they encountered when they arrived here, it's not hard to imagine that nothing good will come of playing adventurers in the swamp any longer. And dodging a problem doesn't mean it's solved.
Dust really thinks that they have a better chance as a group to push their way through the cohort of living dead. After all, the natives kill each other too. It is not like their attention will solely lay on them.
Charismatic massages her shoulder while not letting go of her knife, her black hair frames her face which expresses nothing other than fatigue.
Handsome has to be heavy.
After a sigh she tilts her head towards the man she supports to add more weight to her words:
-Look at him. We may have time to discuss and explore different solutions but not him.
All eyes converge. Maybe because he feels so many gaze on him Handsome raises his head a little.
Dust's mouth opens in surprise.
Handsome has the blue complexion of a corpse... Like a native.
Sweat runs down his temples, his breathing is irregular and his wide-open eyes are lost in the mist.
He says :
-I do not feel good...
Pony shrugs and push higher Handsome's arm around her neck. Faced with Dust's surprise, she explains:
-He was bitten by a spider. There are plenty of them on this side...
She points to part of the forest behind.
-We were chased by these... natives until then. But as soon as we arrived in this part filled with spiders they left us.
The man leaves his mouth open, his saliva falling into the mud, he speaks as if his mouth was numb:
-A spider entered my body...
Dust shudders at the mental image. How did the spider get into his body?
The others in the group also seem uncomfortable. Why would such a beast enter a human body?
...
Handsome's head drops suddenly like a puppet whose strings have been cut, the only reassuring thing about all this is that he can apparently still speak as he adds painfully:
-I have difficulty moving...
Potatoes stamps in the mud, with a worried look on his face. There is a heavy silence which is then broken by Pony who refocuses the subject on the lake:
-We will never be able to make our way with the natives to the lake with him. He's having trouble standing so fight? Or run? Let's get around it and everything will be better...
Dust grimaces, coughs and clears his throat. He feels the fever rising with his despair.
He has the impression that everyone is trying to avoid the inevitable.
From the beginning there is only one way out. The Smuggler.
Otherwise, why go to the trouble of creating these kinds of scenarios that are as surreal as they are complex if you can avoid them so easily?
Red intervenes again:
-If we put him in the center, and arrange ourselves accordingly with the most vulnerable members of the group in the middle and everyone else around, we could reach the Ferryman.
Pony comes forward as if to contradict him, Potatoes too but the old man blocks them first with a "Let him explain"
-Like Dust did with the boy in the mine.
-Dust?
Charismatic asks and Red responds by pointing at the young man next to him.
Suddenly Dust tucks his head a little more into his shoulders.
-Yes. We arm ourselves and go back. Not all natives are going to jump on us. They are fighting among themselves and we could take advantage of the chaos at the last moment. The two girls hold our wounded man and pull him and we reach the bank Just before the ferryman arrives. We won't need to fight if we trace.
The old man seems interested unlike the others since he asks more questions:
-How do we know when the smuggler arrives? We must not miss it if I understood correctly, because when he is there we can no longer move forward, is that right?
The red-haired man nods:
-if we observe the trip two or three times we will know more or less how long it takes the ferryman to cross the lake and thus predict when he will arrive. We only have one try.
Dust reacts quickly when he hears it, he stammers to correct him:
-no-no. We can always try again later. When he leaves, if there are any of us who have not boarded, we can leave as long as the smuggler is still visible. As long as no one fights it follows the rules. What we should not do is go beyond the positions of others and use violence.
Pony's voice becomes more aggressive as she cuts him off:
-You said we couldn't move?
Dust almost chokes on his own saliva, he seems to have said that yes.
-I...I expressed myself badly.
Suspiscious' questioning look returns to rest on the boy's face.
Dust tries to ignore him.
Charismatic is perplexed but interested:
-It's only you who has a head, how do we do it?
Red's eyes leave him to look at the woman.
-The natives have heads with them. In the melee you could try to steal from them.
The man's voice is calm, convincing. Dust is grateful that his companion also agrees with him about crossing the lake. He can see that the rest of the group is starting to change their minds.
Follower who until now has said nothing speaks up. All heads turn towards her:
-I am for the idea.
Pony shrugs again. she seems to no longer be stubborn but still asks, taking a look at Handsome.
-It should be less risky to go around the lake, right?
Potatoes adds:
-I prefer to go around.
Two keeps his opinion to himself. Always pale as a sheet, he remains in Follower's shadow.
Charismatic hesitates from what Dust sees.
And the old man is thoughtful.
What tips the scales in favor of Red and Dust is ultimately the one who should be most opposed to the idea.
Handsome breathes in with difficulty then exhales in a whistling noise:
-with this... In me. I don't know what will happen to me. I would like to leave here. Quickly. If I leave here i may recover from this.
Charismatice pats his shoulder as if to comfort him.
They all ultimately decide to give it a try.
It is agreed that at the slightest problem they will run away.
Once everything is agreed, Follower leaves the group with Two to go relieve themselves.
There's something about their attitude that bothers Dust. When the two pass by him he notices the man is carrying a well-inflated bundle, with blackened fabric and a particular smell...
When they return, the young man is even a little paler.
Surprisingly, it is Potatoes who mentions Princess' disappearance. In a resistant way he asks if before leaving they shouldn't look for her.
As if , he said it to convince himself more than anything else. He add : abandoning a woman alone cannot be done.
But there is no one who seems confident enough to tempt the devil by launching such a search in this unfortunate place.
Dust hesitates, but like with Eyes or like with One, everyone follows their own destiny.
The boy and Red lead the way.
The mist is still thick and when they are walking the taller of the two mens leans towards the smaller to ask in a whisper:
- Why did you lie?
The question tenses the boy who quickly glances over his shoulder to check that the rest of the group is far enough before answering. When speaking with Red, Dust no longer stutters. He murmurs but his diction is clear, although tinged with a certain worry. He really hopes that his companion is not disgusted by his actions.
-If they knew that the Ferryman no longer comes if one of us succeed in taking the ride would they still try to work together? There is no second chance.
He swallows and continues. The desire to justify himself allows him to elaborate more easily than he would have thought:
- And if they knew that the Ferryman only takes 6 people while there are nine of us, what would they think? Could we really work as a team? Or will we have to fight among ourselves once we get to the shore?
This time Dust fixes his gaze on the steep arch of Red's nose.
The man's blue eyes stare at him without apparent judgment. They are like two mirrors, they reflect the boy dirtied's face and his Red cheeks because of fever without allowing the slightest emotion to show through.
His only reaction is a vague sentence:
-I hadn't seen it like that.
New silence.
The mist is opaque and in truth the only landmark Dust Can use in these place is the man at his side.
Only Red seems confident.
The big man is loaded with his bundle, a head, a stick which sinks into the mud and the lantern which he does not let go even though it is of no use. He ventures blindly into the white smoke with long strides.
And Dust follows him as best he can.
He is looking for a way to reassure himself. The young man doesn't know anyone here. With his memory lost, all are strangers to him. The one he knows the most so far is Red.
-You don't have a problem with that?
Red gives him another one of his special looks.
He examines him from top to bottom.
Dust insists:
-we're together in... This mess isn't it?
The man does not reassure him right away. He smiles first. It's a delicate smile that crinkles the corners of his eyes.
At this precise moment the boy feels that the man is changing his attitude towards him. For some reason that escapes him, Red seems more interested in their exchanges than before.
Instead of declaring that he would not attack or protect him a second time he... He give him a promise. He says this strangely with a deeper voice than usual:
-if you don't abandon me, I won't abandon you.
Dust is relieved, he rushes to nod but Red no longer looks at him.
-If you betray me Dust, you won't get away with it.
Not really knowing what to respond to the threat, the boy whispers:
- It's a deal.