No Longer Freedom

14. Osmo's tropic.

Tom's POV

Behind the bath of the sirens a yellow glowing ball raised, painting the sky with warm tones of orange, red and light purple while the tropical air washed over me and Tord. Over the sound of waves hitting the rocks I heard a snoring behind me. I assumed that Tord had fallen asleep in the middle of the flight but welp, it was not my fault if he missed the meteor shower. I tried to keep him awake so he couldn't blame me, right?

I grunted and decided to land on the lonely looking little island from the distance. It was the familiar Osmo's island where I have lived before. It was the place where I was the happiest, and here I was, carrying the man that I hated the most to my happy place. Come to think of it, I could just easily drop him to the ocean by 'accident' or set him on fire. Why didn't I do it? I didn't know. Maybe it was the knowledge that stopped me from doing it. If I would kill him Patryk and Paul would face a terrifying betrayal. They trusted their secrets to me and they have suffered too much. I didn't want to cause any more pain to them so if this is what they wanted too, I will do it for them.

The white sand under my feet warmed them up as I twisted my head to see the sleepy man hugging my scales. I grunted a bit but he didn't move. Does he sleep well? Though, why would I care?

I shook him carefully with my hard warm muzzle but I didn't get any reaction. Was he acting again? Well, whatever, I thought while picking him up with my teeth by his clothes. Slowly, I placed him down on the sand next to me. However, as the sun rises, the brighter it gets so I covered Tord with my other wing so he wouldn't burn himself or wake up in the middle of the dream. Even the thought of a tired and angry Tord gave me the icky feeling. It would be a pain to be with him if he would be annoyed, so it was better to keep him happy then put up a fight with him.

As the time passed, the bird's started to sing and the sun shone above us. It felt like it was summer again when I heard mumbling under my wing. "Where am I? TOM! WHERE ARE YOU!?" Tord called. I couldn't really tell if he was annoyed or worried but, if I had to guess. I would bet on anger.

I sighed and changed myself back to the humanoid form. As I got smaller I felt how Tord's arms were wrapped around my leg all along. When I finally stood on top of the sand with my two feet I stared down at Tord who was hugging my right leg with his strong arms. As he started to realize what was going on he slowly raised his lashes to me. "Aww what a wonderful view to wake up. Were you protecting me? You are such a good soldier." His smooth smirk didn't leave on his face even when he just woke up. "Get up." I hissed and pulled my right leg forcefully away from him, causing him to fall to his stomach on the sand. "Ouch..." He mumbled as he rolled on his back. "Where are we?" He hummed as he stood up. Cleaning his clothes from sand, I replied with a simple answer. "We are on Osmo's tropic. It's a tropical island far away from your kingdom."

"So we are on a vacation together? How fun." He joked and poked my side with his elbow. "Whatever." I sighed and rolled my eyes. "I will show you around. Don't get lost. I won't come to seek you." I made myself clear and started to walk around the tropical forest with him.

I showed him the vivid misty forest full of life, the hills covered by tacky leaves, the waterfalls and the endless white beach. Caves which I had called home back then and the turquoise lakes. Everything, I showed him everything, like an eager child that wanted to show his friends what he just found. Like a brain dead kid, that was what I was...

I tried to remind myself of all the bad things he had done, but this strange feeling of comfort tickled my heart when I got the chance to tell all the things I knew about this paradise. Come to think of it, Tord has been kinda suspiciously nice to me lately. Maybe he really changed? Maybe... He argued with Paul and Patryk but when he saw me his mood switched immediately. Maybe he really tried to be friendly.