Pᴇʀғɪᴅɪᴏᴜs || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ Bᴏᴏᴋ Fᴏᴜʀ

Chapter two// Familiar Faces

Tazi
"Finally, off this wretched ship." Lizzie muttered, stepping up to the railing beside me.

"Yeah, I guess." I shrugged and turned away slightly.

Lizzie frowned, reaching out. "Sorry, that was insensitive of me." Her hand brushed my shoulder carefully.

I sighed. "No, my bad. I've been wrapped up in my own feelings." My eyes drifted up from the water, meeting her concerned blue ones.

She squeezed my arm, offering a reassuring smile. "That's okay. It's been a weird few days."

"To say the least." I muttered, nodding in agreement.

"Anyway," Lizzie clasped my hand, causing my heart to flip and miss a beat. "Ready for Nilo?"

I laughed bitterly. "Ready for our last stand? Not a chance. Ready for the truth? Heck yes, it's about time."

Lizzie giggled, though she didn't seem as relaxed as before. "Yeah, I gotcha. I just hope we all make it back to Greenhaven in one piece."

I opened my mouth to reply, but Tyler emerging from the mess hall interrupted me. He waved for us to gather around before speaking. "So, we've arrived. Hoya shouldn't be far, but I have much more important news." His grace gaze swept our ranks, "we found a stowaway."

"What?" I furrowed my eyebrows, looking over at Lizzie. She didn't seem surprised.

"He has yet to reveal his identity, but we cannot leave him onboard the ship. It's too dangerous."

"So, we're taking him with us?" Sasha called out.

Tyler silenced him with a nod. "Indeed. As a prisoner, of course. He may be useful for ransom."

"Ahem." The captain of the ship, The Tellun's Pride II, was standing behind me. "Are you planning to leave soon?"

"Yes." Tyler acknowledged him with slight inclination of his head. "We've secured the stowaway, and are ready to move." His eyes scanned the crowd before settling. "Sasha, you get prisoner duty for today. Everyone else, let's move."

I fell into step alongside Zay, who gave me a single nod in greeting. "Ready for this?" I asked, feeling a quick sting as Ian flashed into passive.

She rubbed her arm and sighed. "I wish. The Four Fallen's betrayal has set us all on edge."

"Yeah," I agreed, "I didn't think that the Conquerors would go that far to get what they want."

"Mhm." Zay sounded thoughtfully unsure. We all climbed down off the boat, waiting on the beach for Tyler and Sasha to catch up. The latter had the prisoner slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, his face turned into Sasha's back. Tyler leapt nimbly from the ship, saluting the captain before turning to us.

"Alright, I believe Hoya was supposed to meet us here..." Tyler peered around, as if expecting her to explode out of the sand. "Hm. Anyway, we'll be returning here once we've found the Amber Leopard. It's said to be in the Red Orchards, which is where Uraza had hidden it before the first war. It would make the most sense to start our search there, although it is possible that it's not-"

"It's there."

I whipped around, my gaze catching on a shorter woman.

"Hoya!" Tyler's cheerful shout identified her.

"Didn't she lose her spirit animal?" I muttered to Zay, who nodded in reply.

"Yeah, and I'm surprised she survived. Not many do." The Stetriolian girl murmured, "although she doesn't look as well as she did in Amaya."

It was true, Hoya didn't look very well. Her hair, from which the pink seemed to be fading, hung limply by her face, which looked pale and unhealthy. But she beamed at us nonetheless, as if we couldn't see the grief and pain shadowing her still-young eyes.

"So it's confirmed?" Tyler interrupted my thoughts, "the Amber Leopard is in fact in the Red Orchards?"

Hoya nodded, "yes. It's there, though again protected by five animals."

"I see..." Tyler mused.

"Are we actually going to be walking today?" Sasha called out, depositing the prisoner onto the hot sand. "Cause this guy's heavy."

"And you stink." The boy's voice rang out from beneath the sack over his head. It was followed by an oomph, indicating that Sasha'd kicked him. I snorted slightly, glancing toward Zay. Her eyebrows were furrowed, as if she was trying to place the boy's voice.

Again, a voice broke into my rambling thoughts. "What about Canal?" It was Sabien this time, and he was mentioning the dolphin partner of his fallen friend. "We can't just leave her!"

Tyler sighed, "no, but what else can we do?"

"Do with what?" Hoya squeezed past me and stepped up to Tyler's side. Her eyes widened at the sight of the dolphin. "Oh dear Tellun..." She murmured.

Tyler places a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Indeed..."

"Why does this keep happening?" Hoya asked in a soft manner, her lips trembling slightly. She couldn't draw her eyes from the dolphin.

Tyler shook his head. "I'm afraid I cannot answer that."

Hoya released a soft sigh and gave him a pained smile. "I know. She will have to stay here, for we can take her to Greenhaven once we return."

"Alright." Tyler nodded, making a sign to Sabien, who crouched by the water's edge and whispered soothingly to the dolphin. "Now, we should get moving."

"Do I have to carry him?" Sasha complained loudly.

Tyler rolled his eyes with exasperation. "No, he can walk himself."

"But I can't see!" The prisoner protested.

"Shut up!" Sasha growled, fiercely tearing the sack off the boy's head.

There was a shocked silence, then Zay's mouth fell open.

"Zarlo?!"

Dun dun dunnnnn! I'm evil I know :) Next chap out soon, stay tuned! (I am so bad with update schedules oof. Maybe I should try to make one, but I'm almost positive I would screw it up lol. Thoughts?) Also, I loving hearing your ideas and theories! Please vote and comment! Thank y'all sooooo much!!!!!!
(Also: another ranking!!!! Spiritanimals #15!! Crazy! Y'all are awesome! 😘)