The next minutes felt like an eternity, the next hours like hell.
Joe was able to push himself to the surface, trying to stay over water but the waves were so wild, and Joe couldn't swim. He slurred salt water, couldn't keep himself over water and drowned. Again, and again the same fight until the waves finally began calming down. Joe paddled with his hands and feet, trying to get his head far enough out of the water to see something, someone. The only thing he saw was a piece of wood drifting not far away from him. Fighting like hell as not to drown before reaching it, Joe managed to grab a hold of it. His hands grabbed the wood, finders digging into it and not letting go. He spat out more sea water. 'NICOLO.''NICOLO' no response. Looking around him he saw nothing; it was still dark outside, and the waves had not completely calmed down.
Nicky's eyes flew open as he came back to life, his lungs were somehow filled with air but he was still far from getting out of the water. He looked up, the surface seemed miles away, it was very dark and cold down here. He tried to get out of the fishing net, his fingers bleeding from taring at the sharp material. If he could have, he would have cut off his legs if it meant finally getting some air. But his wish was not granted, he was unable to get his sword out of its scabbard in order to cut the ropes. He drowned multiple times before finally getting out. He didn't give up, he had to find Joe. As he pushed up, his head breaking to the water's surface, a wave hit him in the back of the head, knocking him out and breaking his neck. Nicky slipped in and out of consciousness until his back finally hit solid ground.
With the sun coming up, Joe started paddling east hoping to reach a coast. His legs were burning, and his throat felt as if he had bitten down on a solid rock due to all the saltwater, but he kept going. Every now and then he screamed Nicky's name. No response.
Nicky woke up as the sun was already shinning, he felt the sand under his hands. His hand searched for his necklace around his neck then moving down to the sword Joe had given to him, both miraculously still attached to him. 'Thank you,' he said. Slowly he got up, his head hurting like hell, the thirst was already killing him. He needed water and he needed to find Joe and Izzet. So, stumbled forward, unsure whether to go north or south.
Joe needed until the end of the day to reach a coast. He fell down in the sand, exhausted. Water, was all he could think about in the moment as darkness began to close in on him.
The sun was burning Nicky's skin and the reflection of the lightning rays on the water was making his headache worse. The sun was already setting, and he still hadn't seen anyone or any clue where Joe might be. He didn't have the strength to walk any further, so he let himself fall into the sand. He closed his eyes wishing to see a vision of Joe in his dreams.
A hand in his arm woke Joe up. 'Nicolo' he thought and quickly got up, but it was not his Italian lover before him. 'You alright my friend?' the old man said and held out some water to Joe which Joe took gratefully. The water seemed only like a drop on a hot stone, but Joe felt better. 'Where am I?' 'Somewhere around here is the border between the Guzz Turks lands and the lands of the Sultan', his Arabic was clearer to Joe than what they had spoken in Alania. 'At least I've landed on the right side of this damned water' Joe thought. 'Have you seen a shipwreck around here somewhere we got into a storm and stranded?' 'No. But I can take you to the next city'. And so, Joe followed the old man and his packed donkey.
Nicky woke up the next morning feeling very unwell. The dehydration started messing with his mind. He got up, frustrated because he hadn't seen Joe in his dreams. Since he didn't have a choice, he started walking again. As he passed over the next dune he saw a piece of wood swimming in the waves. More wood lying in the sand. He ran towards the scattered pieces of the ship. 'YUSUF. IZZET.' He recognized these wooden walls lying before him, they had been part of Izzet's cabin. Much to Nicky's despair, the two men were not to be found by the shipwreck. Nicky tried to look around in the dunes, screaming Joe's name very few seconds. But no response. One time, Nicky had thought that he had seen movement under some debris, but it seemed like his mind was playing games on him. He was tricked again an hour later, his eyes showing him an oasis at the horizon that he was never able to reach. Nicky collapsed again that evening, alone, desperate and dying of thirst.
As Joe arrived in the town, he ran to their well, drinking entire buckets. He felt the water running down his throat into his stomach. As the water filled him up, he felt alive again. The old man had propositioned to take him to back to his home, but Joe had declined. He didn't want to impose on the old man and from now on he would spend every minute awake looking for Nicky. He walked down to the coast, asking fishermen if they had seen or found anyone. Joe checked the inns and walked to the small square where the markets were held. He didn't find Nicky, and nobody had seen a European running around. Joe decided that he could either stay in town, hoping for Nicky to show up by himself or go out there and find the man he had fallen in love with.
Nicky walked less and less every day, he was slowly dying of thirst, getting up again, cursing the saltwater that had already tricked him multiple times. Whenever he got up again, he felt weak, he always came back, but these conditions were taken their toll on his body and mind. He had lost a lot of weight, rips showing. The hallucinations were getting worse. This morning he had thought that he had found Joe, he could feel his lover's arms around his waist but as he tried to lean into the touch, he fell headfirst into the sand. He looked up at the sun, the heat driving him mad.
Joe had waited 3 days for a sign from Nicky, working for the local fishermen. That way he would work in very early in the morning, help getting in the fish they had caught during the first sun rays and be back in the city by midday, looking for Nicky. As Nicky still hadn't shown, Joe decided to take the money he had and get food and water and go out looking for Nicky himself.