A/N: Thanks for bearing with me. Quicker update than last time so be happy. :]
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The tunnel was narrow, dark, and dank. As they moved through it, small droplets of water sounded as they hit the earth floor every few seconds in random order. The smell was the kind one only smelled when inside a cave or underground. The lighting was never great, but the torches continued to illuminate the way, though the came less often than towards the beginning of the tunnel. Every now and then a rat's eyes would glow at them from a shadow, and then disappear into the tunnel walls, or a bat would be suddenly startled out of sleep and flap above their heads before heading off ahead of them. For the most part though, they were all alone.
As they were underground, none of them knew when nightfall came, or when dawn approached. They rested when they grew weary, and when they all woke up they continued walking until they needed more sleep. There was no telling how far off they were from the real time though, for sometimes they walked longer and slept less, others they slept more and walked less. It was impossible to keep up an organized routine.
The other problem was the lack of food. They hadn't marched into the Bandit Camp with the intent of heading underground, and so they hadn't thought to bring any food supplies, or even water. Sparrow wasn't sure how long it had been since their last meal, but her stomach seemed to have been growling nonstop for a long while, and her throat was parched. The sound of the falling water droplets was torture, knowing that they were wasted, and every time a rat would scamper past was depressing. None of them really had much of an appetite for rat meat, but if Reaver could hit one then they would have gladly eaten it out of desperation.
Sparrow wasn't sure how much longer she could go on in this environment. She didn't even know if it would be better to turn
back or just keep going. All she knew was that the lack of nutrition, light, and water was having a bad effect on all of them. She was losing the will to keep chasing after whatever it was they were pursuing. Survival was the top priority now for her body. In the back of her mind she remembered a more important reason for the torture she was undergoing, but it seemed just out of reach.
Words were lost to them in the earthly silence. Sparrow felt so weak that speaking seemed not to be worth the effort. It wasn't like anyone had answers, after all. But…maybe Reaver had one.
As they walked, she tapped him on the shoulder. He looked over at her, and she slowed her pace. He slowed as well, and luckily Garth didn't notice in his weariness. The other man continued walking, probably lost in his own thoughts.
"What is it?" Reaver asked, his voice cracking slightly.
"Can we die of starvation or exhaustion?" Sparrow whispered, not trusting her own voice.
Reaver sighed. "No. But it's still extremely painful, trust me on that. I've had to hide out for long periods of time before."
Sparrow nodded. That explained how Reaver had managed to seemingly disappear from his enemies in stories she'd heard. He could just hide in a hole and wait until they died or something before coming out.
They subtly quickened their pace and caught up with Garth before he noticed their slacking. Conversation was lost just as easily as it had been before. Sparrow suddenly felt worried for Garth, though. He wasn't immortal; he could still die if they kept on like this. How were they going to get him food or water? She then came to the further realization that Garth didn't even know she was immortal yet. What would he think if he started getting weaker and weaker, and she just stayed at the same level of weariness? Perhaps she would have to tell him before it got that bad. Hopefully it wouldn't get that bad though; hopefully they would come to the end of the tunnel soon.
The journey lasted only a little while longer. Suddenly light streamed down towards them, and they all quickened their paces slightly. Abruptly, the tunnel sloped upwards and then revealed the sunlight, trees, the sound of birds chirping and wind blowing, overall, life. At first the light was overwhelming. Sparrow's eyes took an unnaturally long time to adjust. She probably would have been close to blind if there hadn't been torches in the tunnel. It only took a small amount of time in darkness to do that to one's eyes. She was suddenly very thankful for those torches. When her eyes finished adjusting she looked around to appreciate all the sights that being above ground hailed. Reaver and Garth seemed just as pleased.
With a rush of adrenaline and enthusiasm, they went in search of food and water. Not until after they'd replenished and eaten did any of them think about where they were.
"Wraithmarsh for sure." Reaver announced when Sparrow mentioned it.
She looked around and noted that although it looked similar to Wraithmarsh, it didn't look precisely the same.
"We're not in the heart of it, mind you. This is more like the outskirts of it." Reaver furthered.
Garth, who seemed too tired after eating and drinking, had dozed off. It was strange to be having a conversation without his voice making his opinion clear. When she looked back at Reaver he was smiling at her.
"What?"
"He's…asleep." Reaver said, slightly playful.
Sparrow arched an eyebrow. "And?"
The pirate stood and started into the slightly bogged forest, turning his head at her in a beckoning manner. Confused, she stood and followed him. The bog seemed to swallow him up and he disappeared for a while. She slowed down, not sure if this was smart.
"Reaver…" Her voice trailed off in the thickness of the air.
Suddenly she heard a swift movement behind her and then a hand was gripping her just below the throat, and another wrapped in front of her waist. For just a second she was about to let loose a full-scale blast of heat in self-defense, and then she realized she recognized the hands. Relaxing, her lips broke out into a smile.
"Very funny." She said.
She heard him chuckle close to her ear, and then his lips brushed up against her neck. She should have guessed he'd be in this sort of mood after not having had her for over a week now. She twisted in his embrace and as he leaned in to capture her lips, she whispered softly, "You should be more careful with those surprise attacks…" She waited as he looked at her questioningly. "I almost set you ablaze with an unforgiving fire."
He grinned but swiftly continued to kiss her. All the feelings she'd been holding back since having Garth arrive seemed to come back like a river rushing through a dam. Beneath all her feelings though, she wondered how he could still have this sort of craving so near to his mortal enemy. Perhaps that just something males were capable of.
Nevertheless, she accepted him completely and actually enjoyed herself for first time since, well, since the last time. She realized she really could be happy with only him around for eternity. Only he gave her this sort of happiness. Desperately, she hoped he felt precisely the same way towards her.
"Ah hem."
Like a chain being ripped apart, Reaver tore himself away from her and jumped back almost a foot. Sparrow felt jolted, and turned in a daze.
"I try to get a little nap and of course you two run off on your first opportunity." Garth said, his brows furrowed in a completely disapproving, even disgusted way.
Sparrow heard Reaver sigh exasperatedly.
"Can you not mind your own business for about twenty minutes?" he asked, bitterly.
Garth's eyes narrowed, insulted, on Reaver. "You of all people shouldn't be thinking about such matters when the Shadow Court are most likely only hours away."
"It's not your job to serve as a personal conduct enforcer. It's not like we're not all adults here." Reaver retorted.
To Sparrow, she had to agree with Garth in the thought that Reaver probably shouldn't have been trying to get her clothes off when they could be under attack at any second, but then again she wasn't complaining. She couldn't help but agree with Reaver in saying that Garth was being unnecessarily concerned with their relationship as well. It needed to stop.
"Garth." She said, but realized he and Reaver were throwing insults at each other.
"Garth!" She said louder.
She got his attention and he looked at her, his eyes still hard and upset.
"You really do have to stop this." She declared.
Garth opened his mouth to reply, but she wouldn't let him.
"You have no rights to keep trying to 'separate' us, or whatever it is you think you're accomplishing by always keeping one eye on us and never letting us be alone. We are both adults and can take full consequence for our actions."
Garth didn't reply to this. He only glanced between her and Reaver, and then gave up. He walked past them, heading on into the bog.
Reaver's eyes met hers from where he'd sprung. She held out her hand and he took it, then they followed after Garth.
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Wraithmarsh slowly evolved into what Sparrow remembered it to be like as they kept going. No banshees appeared, as they were closer to the Shadow Court cave. As night fell, they stopped and made a small fire to cook with. When they'd finished the cooking though, Garth stamped it out.
"We need a battle plan." Garth stated.
Sparrow, sitting next to Reaver around the fire for the first time since Garth had arrived, looked up.
"What are the options we have?" Reaver asked, his voice constrained by his distaste for the other man.
"We can either go straight to Bloodstone and get rid of this dark wizard, or go into the Shadow Court realm. Which one seems more effective?" Garth asked.
Reaver contemplated for a while before speaking. "I think we should go to the realm."
"Why?" Sparrow asked. She personally thought it would better to save Bloodstone first.
"I believe the dark wizard is drawing his power from the Judges. If we eliminate them, then he becomes incredibly weaker and we can finish him off afterwards." Reaver replied.
Sparrow registered that if they killed the Shadow Court first, then there weren't Reaver's immortality. He'd be fighting the dark wizard as a mortal, with the risk of dying during the fight. That was much too hard to bear for Sparrow.
"No." She said.
Reaver turned his head towards her, and she felt Garth's gaze as well. When she looked up into Reaver's eyes, she knew he understood. He had understood what it would mean before he'd even said the words.
"You can't let something as trivial as that stop you from doing what will be easiest…" He said quietly.
"If that happens though…it would be much too soon, Reaver. I can deal with it if I've had at least a lifetime…but to have only had a month or so?" Sparrow replied, trying to be vague as Garth could hear.
She saw Reaver's eyes flicker towards the other man, and then shift back to her. "It will never be easier." He said pointedly. "Besides, there's no guarantee that it will happen."
"But I can't deal with that small chance…" Sparrow argued.
"I hate to interrupt, but what are we talking about here?" Garth finally chimed in.
Reaver looked up, and Sparrow knew he was going to tell the whole story now. "With the Shadow Court gone, I won't be immortal anymore."
Sparrow expected everything to be made clear now, but Garth still looked slightly perplexed.
"So?" He said.
"I could die fighting the dark wizard." Reaver elaborated.
Garth still shrugged. "And why is Sparrow so unhappy? You would lose her soon enough either way."
Reaver frowned. "It's not about me losing her…it's the other way around."
Garth shook his head, looking completely baffled now.
Sparrow put her hand on Reaver's and looked at Garth. "When Theresa healed me, she made me immortal as well." She said heavily.
Garth's eyes got bigger.
"If Reaver dies, then I'll be the one who lives on without anyone for years to come. Not the other way around."
"But if he says killing the Shadow Court first will make it much easier to kill the dark knight, then we have to do it that way, Sparrow. Otherwise we'll all just tire out fighting him." Garth replied, reason prevailing.
Sparrow hung her head. "I know."
"And…like he said…it's not guaranteed that the dark wizard will kill him when we battle. Just like it's not guaranteed that I'll be killed." Garth furthered.
Sparrow hadn't even considered Garth being killed. He could die just trying to kill the Shadow Court. She suddenly felt even more depressed. She was the only who would definitely walk away alive after both attacks. And she could very well be the only one.