Jack reacted within less than a second. He ran at full speed towards the spot he believed Harle was aiming at. He spread his arms, ready to catch her at all costs. However, he was wrong. Wrong to think that Harle wanted to kill herself. With a shocked expression, he watched Harle pass right above his head. By the time he turned around, Harle had already dived into the ocean behind him. He stared in disbelief at the untamed surface of the water, and waited for endless fifteen seconds for Harle to emerge from it. However, by the time she did, she was already about forty metres away from the ship, and the distance was increasing quickly.
“Harle! Come back!”, he shouted desperately as he saw how vigorously Harle was pushing herself through the waves, farther and farther away from the ship. It seemed as if she was trying to escape from them, or rather, as if she was chasing something. However, Jack couldn’t see anything in front of Harle, and didn’t really expect to, either.
“Hurry! The rowing-boat!”, Jack commanded, despite being in no position to do so. The other sailors quickly obeyed and loosened the ropes to set the boat afloat. Jack all but leapt into it, grabbed the paddles and rowed as fast as he could. He had almost lost sight of Harle and he had no time to lose.
The waves were high and strong and Jack had trouble to overcome them without going off course. To him it seemed like for every metre he managed to paddle forward, the waves pushed him two metres backwards again. Jack repeatedly shouted after Harle, but she didn’t react at all. She just kept on swimming, farther and farther away from him. Jack wondered where that strength came from. Just half a day ago, he had saved her from drowning and now she was seemingly trying to swim across the whole ocean in this state. And what surprised him even more, he even believed that she could do it.
“Come back Harle!”, he cried out, standing up, “Harle!”
She was nowhere to be seen. Jack thrust his paddles down in anger, trying to control this despair and utter helplessness he was feeling. How could she just go away like that? It wasn’t fair. He kept staring at the waves, wishing from the bottom of his heart for Harle to come back. She didn’t.
After a few minutes, he picked his paddles back up and rowed back to the ship. The other sailors gave him odd looks, wondering why he hadn’t been able to catch up to Harle. However, they kept silent as they saw the angry and confused look on his face.
“We have no time to lose! We have to chase after her! Fast!”, he shouted, already running over to the front of the ship to prepare the first sail. The others followed and started for the other two sails.
“Hold yer sea horses!”, the captain suddenly shouted and the sailors immediately froze, barely managing to turn their heads towards the captain.
“Whaddaya doin’? I believe I’m the captain here, so why are ya followin’ his orders?”, he asked and grunted in annoyance. He shot Jack a warning glare, but Jack wasn’t silenced by that in the least.
“We must hurry or she’ll escape!”, he shouted, stepping closer to the captain.
“Escape? Since when is she our prisoner?”, the captain countered, ignoring Jack’s furious attitude.
“You don’t understand!”, Jack now yelled, clenching his fists.
“I understand very well actually.”, the captain said and turned around, “We can’t do anythin’ for her right now. With this wind, a bloody duck would swim faster than us.” And truly, the wind was blowing directly into their faces. Even with no wind at all, they could be faster just by paddling.
“But you have to understand! She’ll die if the storm gets any stronger! The waves are so high already!” Jack didn’t give up. There just had to be a way.
“No ya bloody have ta understand!”, the captain shouted as he rapidly gripped Jack’s collar, lifting him off the ground, “Ya can’t do anythin’ for her right now!”, he yelled and loosened his firm grip just as fast and left. The other soldiers, who had just been standing and watching until now, dared to move again and went back to their places.
“You can’t do anything for her.” This sentence repeated itself over and over in Jack’s mind, and with each time, it seemed a little bit more believable. It was the unmistakable truth. Despite wanting so bad to help her, he couldn’t do a thing. She had gone on her own will. She hadn’t stayed even though he had wanted her to. He was useless. He wasn’t Kidd.
Jealousy gripped him despite his efforts to suppress it. She hadn’t listened to him. She didn’t even care about what he said, or wanted. Probably she didn’t even recognize him. But she would, someday. Someday, she would see him for the man he was. But first, he needed Kidd. He hated to admit it, but it was unavoidable. Right know Kidd was the only one who knew what had been really going on in Marbule and what had happened to Harle.
But where could she be? Going back to Marbule contained a great risk, whatever waited there for them had to be dangerous. But also, Jack couldn’t even begin to think of anyone who could have done this to Harle, and Kidd too, wherever she was. He knew Harle had talked about the dragons, but the dragons being alive again…it was ridiculous. Jack sighed. It was hopeless.
Jack walked up and down the ship in thought. They had been just there to search for the treasure marked on the map…so what could have happened? Maybe the demi-humans could have something to do with it?
Jack felt bad for suspecting the demi-humans first, but there weren’t many humans in Marbule, or rather, none at all. But what could they have to do with the treasure? Did they know of the maps?
Then, it struck him like a flash of lightning. Under different circumstances, he would have laughed at his own stupidity. It was so clear and yet he had already wasted so much time.
“Captain!”, he shouted and dashed for the captain’s cabin.
“Lend me that sword of yers for a moment.”, Kidd said and turned towards Eve with a smile.
“S…sure.”, she answered and lifted the sword tentatively, her suspicion evident in her voice. She wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to give away her only weapon, but if Kidd really wanted to, she figured, she could get it anyway. She had already lost against her twice.
As Kidd noticed it, she just started to laugh, patting Eve’s shoulder reassuringly.
“Don’t worry, I’ll just need it ta chop a few trees down. My dagger’s just useless for that kinda thing. Here, why don’t ya take it and look for a few lianas or somethin’ ta make these soon-ta-be logs hold together.”, Kidd said while taking the sword from Eve and placing the dagger in her palm instead.
“So…you want to make a raft?”, Eve asked, looking around self-consciously. Somehow this environment, while seemingly peaceful, gave her the creeps. She didn’t like being in the wild like that, barely able to defend herself from wild animals which just might be waiting for her here.
“Of course! How did ya plan ta get off this island?”, Kidd asked, slightly amused by the soldier’s behaviour. She looked kind of scared and uncomfortable with this whole situation and the wish to leave this island as soon as possible was written all over her face.
“I…I thought about waiting here. Surely my comrades will come here to pick me up…after all, they must have seen in which direction we swam…”, Eve answered, trying to sound as confident as possible.
Kidd just grinned in response and turned to look out onto the ocean, holding her right hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun. “Well…if ya ask me, it looks pretty bad. Don’t see ’em anywhere.”, she said and tried to suppress a laugh. And truly, the ship was nowhere to be seen, although it should have been easy to follow them over this relatively short distance.
Eve cast her a mock-glare and started to laugh along with Kidd. “Man, this isn’t even funny.”, she said and tried to be serious again, “My comrades don’t give a damn about me and if I’m found cooperating with pirates, I’m busted.”
“Don’t think of this a cooperatin’, girl. You’re still my hostage.”, Kidd said with a smirk and pointed the sword at her.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I’m stuck here on this creepy island with an evil, cruel pirate holding me captive. God, what should I do?”, Eve said with a dramatic voice.
“Well, going off in search for lianas, for starters.”, Kidd laughed and pushed the woman gently towards the forest in front of them, while she herself turned back to inspect the tree right in front of her. “I’m in a hurry, I have ta get off this island as soon as possible. And once we reach the mainland, ya can go wherever ya want.”
Eve was just about to go off into the forest when she noticed the serious tone in Kidd’s voice.
“Why do I think that hurry of yours has something to do with me?”, she asked grinningly, trying to cheer Kidd up a bit. Somehow it was unsettling to see her serious or angry, even though she had known the whole time, that Kidd was merely pretending to be happy and carefree.
“It doesn’t. If ya don’t plan ta get in my way, that is. I need ta go back ta my crew. They must be waitin’… and Harle too.” Kidd’s voice grew more serious with each sentence. She looked down, trying to suppress a few tears which threatened to escape her eyes.
Harle…after hearing about this dragon from Eve, she wasn’t so sure anymore. If Harle still lived, or if she had died already. Of course, she wouldn’t give up hope until it was completely confirmed, but the fear nagged at her constantly ever since Eve had told her about the happenings at Marbule. She still didn’t believe it, though. This whole dragon thing. Eve had said she didn’t know much about it other than it being something Viper had great hopes for. It was ridiculous. Dragons would never cooperate with humans if they didn’t gain anything from it. And also, she had seen every single one of them die. There wasn’t such a thing as resurrection or dragons from other possible worlds repeatedly being dragged into this one. There was no such a thing…
Still, the last sentences of the Sky Dragon God haunted her mind, now more than ever.
“Even if you killed me, that won’t change your fate. Other dragons will come here to kill you, over and over again, until Harle is dead. You won’t change anything by killing me.”
It couldn’t be true could it? The Sky Dragon God couldn’t have predicted something like that. But what if? What if these new dragons were really ones from other worlds, just like he had said? Kidd couldn’t even start to imagine the impact this would have on Harle. To herself, it wasn’t much. In her eyes, the dragons were merely monsters and she would beat them time and again if she had to. But to Harle, they signified a life full of pain and nightmares, something she fought so hard for to escape from.
Kidd took a deep breath and tried to concentrate. If she were in Harle’s place, if she had had to deal with these dragons her entire life, suffering so much from them, and if she were only be able to live normally with the knowledge that they were gone, what would she do? What would she do if confronted with a dragon again?
A few tears fled from her eyes as she realized the answer. “Suicide.” She heard Eve’s voice pronouncing that word slowly and carefully, with this cold and emotionless voice she had when she had first spoken to her. But no, the dragons having returned was impossible, and so was Harle committing suicide.
A faint sob escaped her lips, and her arms, with which she leaned on the tree in front of her, were shaking visibly. Eve uttered a gasp and stepped closer, only to be stopped by Kidd’s hand waving in front of her, motioning for her to go away.
“We…we have ta hurry. Better get goin’.”, she said quietly as she straightened up. With her free hand she wiped the tears from her eyes and soon began to ram the sword into the hard surface of the tree with full force. It didn’t do so much as a scratch, but Kidd just continued vigorously, not minding the poor result each hit had. She had figured that a sword wouldn’t work very well, it was no axe, after all. However, it had to suffice. She wouldn’t let something stupid like that stop her from getting to Harle.
Eve watched her for a few moments, but then obeyed and walked deeper into the forest, trying her best not to worry too much about Kidd. She couldn’t really relate to her feelings, but she understood how much it must hurt to not know if a dear person was still alive or not.
Suddenly, Eve felt that familiar pang of guilt again, something she had felt ever since she got to this island, chasing after Kidd. And also something she felt she had to get accustomed to.
But why was that? Why was she feeling guilty? She had only done her job, and she didn’t even have terribly much to do with the happenings in Marbule. She had been on the ship the whole time, waiting for the soldiers to return from Marbule with their targets, Kidd and a girl named Harle. But still, something was wrong with that.
Viper had told them that they had stolen something very valuable from him, and had to be caught at all costs. He never told them what Kidd and Harle had stolen, though. And Eve couldn’t even think of something worth so much to go so far as to drive the targets into committing suicide, with the help of a dragon no less.
The dragon…something was up with that. Eve told herself that she would have to speak to Viper about all that once she was back. She just had to know. Something had changed him, and it had to be related to the dragon, and that woman…
“Captain!”, Jack yelled as he stormed into his cabin, yanking the door open. His face was red and excited and he seemed like he was about to burst at any moment.
The captain looked up from his desk, only mildly startled. He knew of Jack’s concern for Harle and it had been only a matter of time until he figured out what had to be done. Saying nothing, he just nodded to Jack, allowing him to speak.
“It’s Viper! It must be, he’s behind all this! Of course he knew we were heading for the places marked on the map, so he set up a trap!”, Jack all but shouted, unable to contain himself.
“Thought that too. The question is, what will we do?”, he asked calmly, trying not to be upset from the fact that this boy in front of him was repeatedly daring to shout at him. He didn’t care about being called ‘sir’ or anything, and he didn’t care if people liked or disliked him, agreed or disagreed with him, but he did care about his subordinates treating him with at least a modicum of respect.
“We have to go back to Marbule, no matter what. It’s the only way of finding out what had happened there. Otherwise, we’re completely in the dark.”, Jack said eagerly, now a little calmer than before.
“No, that’s just not possible. We can’t go back ta Marbule and risk bein’ overwhelmed by Viper’s army. I’m responsible for all of yer sorry arses, and I know that Viper could easily wipe us out if he put half a mind ta it. He’ll be expectin’ us. And with Harle gone, we don’t even know what else awaits us there.”, the captain said, hoping Jack would understand. There had been too much trouble lately and he didn’t want to argue with him about his decisions again. That boy was just too reckless. The captain smirked. It was one of Jack’s good traits, too.
“But what then? We have to start somewhere and we don’t have an idea where to look for Kidd. She’s the only one who might know what’s going on with Harle.”, Jack said, growing desperate. He understood the captain, but there wasn’t much they could do besides facing the danger that awaited them in Marbule. Jack sighed. He felt useless.
“We’ll be headin’ ta Porre.”, the captain said firmly, placing one of the stolen maps onto his desk, motioning for Jack to take a look at it. Jack did, but couldn’t help but frown at this decision.
“Why Porre?” He asked, deciding to disguise the many questions running through his mind as harmless curiosity. He didn’t want to upset the captain any more with doubting his every decision. He did, but seeing how he wasn’t on particularly good terms with the captain lately, he decided not to push his luck.
“It would have been our next target, if the mission on Marbule had been concluded without any trouble, that is. But even if we don’t know where Kidd is, I know she’ll go there. I’m confident that she freed herself of any trouble that might have occurred, and is headin’ ta Porre right now. So we should, too. We don’t have a bloody chance ta find her any other way, even if we searched all El Nido for her. Also, Viper’s boys might not be prepared for us to strike so soon, and even if they are, Porre is too big and lively ta send a whole army there and get away with it. He wouldn’t dare to start a full-scale fight with us.”, the captain explained patiently, hoping that his decision was right. “So tell the others ta get ready ta head for Porre right away.”
Jack listened carefully, trying to make up his mind. “I’m afraid we can’t do that.”, he said after much deliberation. The captain tensed slightly, trying to suppress the urge to kick this disrespecting boy out of his cabin. However, as he looked up to meet the boy’s eyes, he saw a wide grin on his face.
“Our remaining supplies won’t last until we reach Porre. We’ll have to stop by Guldove and restock before we head to Porre. That’s just my opinion though. If you’re okay with letting half of the crew mutiny due to lack of food, I won’t argue with you.”, he said and chuckled as he saw the surprised expression on the captain’s face.
Then, without another word, Jack turned to leave. He agreed with the captain’s decision and tried to put as much hope into Kidd as everyone else did, hoping that everything would turn out fine, for all of them.
Just as he reached the door, he abruptly turned around and bowed deeply, facing the ground. “I apologize for being so rude today. I hope you won’t hold a grudge against me, sir.” With the last word, he looked up again and smirked.
“Just get outta here ya brat.”, the captain shouted, but smiled as Jack left the cabin.
The water was cold and merciless. Her arms were already numb from the cold and with every wave that toppled above her head, it got harder and harder to reach the surface again. Harle took a deep breath and prepared for the impact of the next wave, which immediately came rushing towards her, threatening to drown her. As the wave crashed upon her head, she was yet again reminded of her growing tiredness, as she helplessly swirled through the water, trying her best not to lose focus on the directions.
Suddenly, she felt this pressure in her ears, indicating she was already deep down, maybe a bit too deep this time.
“So zis iz it…lately ze water has been challenging moi…isn’t zat correct, Water Dragon?”
Harle’s eyes tried to follow that shape in front of her, which was too deep under the surface of the water to be bothered by the huge waves, which hadn’t ceased yet. However, Harle’s legs tried their best to push her upwards to refill her lungs with the oxygen they sorely lacked right now. With every passing second, she could feel her mind slipping into the grasp of unconsciousness a bit more, but she refused to let that happen just yet.
As she reached the surface at last, she took a deep breath and pushed onward without a second thought, putting all her remaining strength into it. Her entire body hurt from exhaustion, but she wasn’t about to give up. Not yet.
“Moi will not disappoint you…moi will prove mon strengt’ to you…”
Soon, the waves got smaller, until she finally felt the soft ground under her feet and managed to stand up. Her legs trembled as she walked towards the beach in front of her, and she fell down on her knees, shaking with pain. Crawling the remaining few metres, she finally managed to reach the beach and lied down on the dry sand, which was still untouched by the water.
“Where angels lose their way…and where demons find it…”