Red woke to the sound of nature. Birds tweeted in the distance, and the sounds of bugs filled the small cave. Water sloshing against the rocks and the slight whistling of the wind made him pause. A thin beam of light fluttered into their abode from between the clouds. Red grabbed his clothes and threw them back on.
He took a moment to curse himself for dropping onto the sand the previous evening. His coat took the worst of the damage and now looked terrible. He was worried it would end up like Vizim's overalls. So stained that the original color couldn't be seen anymore.
That was the only a minor annoyance. Unfortunately, sleeping next to the sea didn't help them dry very much either. His guns were still screwed up, too. The water had definitely done a number on them. Red realized that Derrin wasn't there, although Vizim was still out cold. He clicked the parts of his shockblasters back together but chose not to add any more mist. Better not to risk it.
He decided to take a peek outside. Rising to his feet, he had to lean against the cave wall to keep himself from stumbling. The aches from the previous day's journey were still prevailing. He briefly wondered where Derrin had wandered to. He wasn't worried about his safety, but more about what he found out.
Red hopped down onto the rocks outside the cave. He had been so out of it upon their arrival that he hadn't noticed that this part of the beach turned to gravel and rock. That was probably a good thing because he hadn't even thought about footprints. The ones from the previous night had been washed away, luckily.
It was at that point that he was suddenly reminded of his stomach. He groaned slightly from the hunger. The last time he'd eaten was the previous morning. That needed to be a priority for them. If they couldn't find food, they'd be too weak in the event they were forced to fight.
Red took a moment to drink a mouthful of seawater. The connection between the sea and the heart would help bolster his own body. Besides, he was extremely thirsty. As he rose, he spotted a shape ducking out of the jungle in front of him. Derrin's familiar figure moved quickly across the rocky ground. When he spotted him, his eyes widened.
Red opened his mouth to speak as Derrin reached him, but he hissed, "Inside. Now!"
He was startled by the urgency in Derrin's voice but complied. The two of them quickly climbed back into the cave. Derrin unsheathed his sword, and Red realized how extreme the circumstances were.
"What's going on?" Red whispered.
Derrin threw him a side glance, "Wake him up. We don't want any sudden noise."
Red sighed and poked Vizim awake. They were lucky as the man practically yelped in surprise. Red barely managed to cover his mouth in time. Vizim's attention sharpened instantly when he noticed Derrin's blade. Red slowly released him.
They all turned towards the jungle where Derrin had come from. A pair of figures wandered into the clearing. Red paused when he saw their outfits. They were the Valencian military standard colors. Teal.
But Derrin still hadn't let down his guard. That made Red uneasy. There was something that he saw or knew that Red didn't. Whatever the reason for Derrin's weariness, it was probably safe to only watch for now.
The pair was chatting quietly amongst themselves, and it was just barely too faint to hear. Red glanced at Vizim, who was now fully awake, but a constant frown was on his face. He hoped that he wouldn't do anything stupid.
Red decided to try the same trick he had for the swim to the surface. Using his mist, he concentrated it into his ears. After the harrowing swim, it seemed like his mist reacted more promptly. It also didn't fight against what he wanted, at least for simple tasks. Increasing his hearing capabilities proved to be anything but simple.
When he had used the mist on his lungs, he hadn't been increasing their ability to hold air. Being able to hold more air would not have benefited him when he didn't have enough to begin with. Instead, he had used mist to essentially heal his lungs from the lack of air. It wasn't healing in the traditional sense because running out of oxygen would still have killed him. It was more of a temporary healing.
Increasing the hearing capabilities of his ears was another thing entirely. It was more akin to when he was enhancing his punches and kicks during training. It seemed the mist felt the same way because it did not want to listen. Not only that, he still had regained his full strength. After a lot of annoying pushing, he finally managed to do something.
The wind suddenly became clearer, and the waves sounded louder. The noises from the wildlife also reverberated. It was like being able to individually hear every sound at once instead of all at the same time. Red was surprised by the sudden influx of hearing. This could be a dangerous tool. If he enhanced his hearing and someone were to make a loud noise, it could potentially burst his eardrums.
However, for this, it was enough. The voices of the two people suddenly became clear in his mind. It was a strange sensation like listening to someone through a long pipe. Red shifted uncomfortably as he listened. His own breathing was louder along with the others. He wouldn't be able to sustain this for long without serious drawbacks.
"...here we are," the voice was male, "and like I said, there is nothing here but junk."
"Would you just shut up already? All you did the entire way here was complain, but you were too much of a coward to say anything to the boss." This one was female.
"Do you think I'm insane?" His voice grew tight, "Something like that would end with me strung up. I am not interested in dealing with that punishment."
"And yet you won't shut up about how bad our orders are. Someone needs to teach you a lesson," the woman let out a long sigh.
"We haven't gotten to do anything fun recently! Isn't that a problem, Cartha?"
"Not particularly, no."
"Well, it is for the rest of the boys and me. We didn't even get to fight. We've just been sitting around with our hands in our pants since taking the island."
"You got to shoot the cannons at that ship yesterday, so I don't want to hear anymore, Murdock." the lady paused to pick something off the beach.
She briefly glanced at it before tossing it back on the sand.
"Oh come on, Cartha…"
"Murdock! Do you want me to report you to the king?"
This caused the man to shut up. Red scratched his head. He was totally confused. What did she mean by king? What did Murdock mean by take the island? And were they responsible for shooting their ship the previous day? What for? Red barely noticed as the pair wandered back into the jungle, now in silence.
"Well, that's done," Derrin said.
Red cursed and clutched his hands to his ears. The amplification of Derrin's voice made him sound like a siren. He lost control of his mist, which he luckily didn't need anymore.
Vizim didn't seem to notice his pain and asked, "Why didn't we go out there? I couldn't hear a thing, but they're clearly Valencian."
"That's where you're wrong," Derrin finally said, turning to them when the pair had vanished completely. "Those are not Valencian soldiers."
Vizim looked confused.
"How did you know?" Red asked now that his ears had recovered.
"I noticed it immediately when I saw them in the jungle the first time. The man's clothes are too tight, and the woman's are too big. That wasn't enough to decide anything in and of itself. However, you two clearly haven't seen enough Valencian military. Women and men wear similar but different outfits. Those ones are exactly the same, just in different sizes."
That seemed like sound logic to Red. Vizim was still lost.
"Those weren't Valencian soldiers?" He scratched the side of his head, "Then who exactly are they?"
Derrin shook his head, "I am not totally sure, but based on this last conversation, if I had to guess, I'd say they are pirates."