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CHAPTER 14

NIGHT OF THE FOURTH DAY

A Night for Healing.

Night eased over the island, Drigos and Skreemin having had no luck finding our heroes. At this moment, Drigos was too tired to continue flying. His wings ached, and they were sore with even a flick. He'd actually never done so much non-stop flying in a day before. That, and he never carries people on his back either. Deku scrubs may be light, but they still weigh some- not to mention Skreemin was weighed down with what ever items he had in his rucksack.

The draconic monster pulled up a log and sat on it, sighing a deep, gritty, guttural-growling sigh. His monster eyes pierced through the dark as he watched the bald deku walk over to a large rock protruding from the ground. No telling how big the rock actually was, for it was buried in the earth. Skreemin sat down on it and removed his rucksack and bow from around him, placing them next to the rock. He then took off his mask, having worn it all day. After some silence, Drigos quietly stood and walked into the jungle a ways to pick up some wood. All the while, Skreemin never said a peep. He was busy looking over his mask in thought. When he finally did speak, it was just some talk to himself.

"If not for this island, I'd have already finished the job by now." Skreemin muttered.

A while after Skreemin said that, Drigos came walking back with some wood in his arms. He didn't walk too far to grab it, so he could hear Skreemin while he was away. Drigos used his clawed feet to dig an area to set the wood where it wouldn't catch grass on fire. He turned to use one of his axed tails to smoothen the fire pit, then lazily threw the wood in.

"Not that I care or anything, but you may want to move, Snipe." Drigos said gruffly. He wasn't much for nicknames, and thought it stupid to call Skreemin that instead of calling him by his actual name. "You're in the line of my fire."
The deku moved from the other end of the fire pit long enough for Drigos to breathe a bright stream of fire at the fire pit. Once the fire was lit, Skreemin sat back down. He placed his mask down now, reaching into his rucksack for water. He took a swig, then glanced at Drigos. He could feel Drigos looking in his direction. Though, turns out he was looking at the fire instead.

Drigos puffed some smoke out his nose, before speaking. "So... You're doing all this for your head, huh?"
"... Yeah." the deku replied lowly. "Why?"
The dragon shrugged lightly. "You're asking for quite a lot..." he paused "... Hmpf, I'm actually a little impressed by you. I never thought I'd meet another deku with so much guts."
Skreemin leaned back a little. He never spoke back, though.

"As for your deformity. What caused that, eh? Born like that...?" the creature asked with a low unintended growl in his tone.
"That's not really any of your concern..." Skreemin grunted. "All that matters is that I get it fixed."
The Dragalfos was honestly interested in getting to know more about Skreemin. The master never told Drigos much about him- only for Drigos to find him.
"What about you, Scales? You seem to know a lot about these guys we're chasing. What history do you have with them?" came a question from Skreemin.
The beast sighed "They murdered my chief and many of my people three years ago."
"Ah, revenge then..." Skreemin chuckled lowly "Guess you really do have a good reason for wanting them dead."
"After how many of my people they killed? You bet your plank-skin I do." He stoked the fire a little with a long stick as he spoke "We had plans for taking over Termina three years ago. We would have succeeded, too. Our chief somehow learned this-... Dark magic, and created these crystal prisons. We used those prisons to capture the Great Fairies from around Termina-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa... Wait. You managed to capture Great Fairies?" Skreemin responded, actually sounding somewhat surprised. "... They're pretty much dimi-gods... That must've been some powerful magic." Skreemin actually seemed to doubt that the Dragalfos could come up with such a plan.

"It was all our chief's idea. But Jace and Iris... They started infiltrating all our bases and saving the Great Fairies. In the end, we gave up after a mass massacre during a fight with Jace."
Skreemin quirked a brow "... You're serious? That little runt?" he wouldn't say it out loud, but Skreemin knew that it'd be hard taking down just Drigos on his own. Skreemin shot Drigos with an arrow clean in the arm when they met, but Drigos just pulled it out like a splinter. It probably didn't even pierce his hide enough to do much damage. So, Jace killing loads of these guys on his own…? Though unlike Jace, Skreemin was unaware of a Dragalfos' weakspots.
"Of course no one would believe us... But, he suddenly had strength beyond ours, we had to flee. While he did that, his little girlfriend killed our chief." Drigos seemed deeply troubled. He couldn't put together in his head how those deku did that. But, was ignorant to Majora possessing Jace at that time- and ignorant to Majora's presence in the first place... So, it wasn't actually Jace's strength that killed all those Dragalfos warriors. Had Jace not been under Majora's power, he'd have been dead in minutes from the overwhelming amount of Dragalfos in that room that night- or forced to flee.

Skreemin thought it all sounded like a load of bull, but only questioned in silence. His reply was a somewhat changed subject. "You never did mention that Ilye girl. Was she not around?"
"No. I think Jace and Iris just met her recently. She's been a real thorn in master's side, so good on ya' for getting her."
"I bet Jace and Iris are busy digging her a grave right now, haha." Skreemin chuckled. "Kinda shocked I never got caught, but I had a pirate to thank for that. Next time, I'll get 'em good."

Pirate stronghold...

Iris stood looking out a small round window a little bit outside the ward, Jace sitting next to her on the ground with a little wash cloth, dabbing his torn open shoulder softly. Iris had wandered throughout the base earlier asking for the location of the hotspring so Jace could clean up... He was covered in dirt and blood, so not only his shoulder needed cleaning. He'd go wandering around himself, but it'd be his luck he'd walk into the wrong room unauthorized and end up with more than a tear in the shoulder. The pirate Iris asked was busy delivering some things to another part of the fortress, so promised to show them once she got back. Iris couldn't remain calm anymore, and began pacing slightly. And Jace- well, he was far too quiet to be calm. Iris was rattling to herself worst-case scenarios, much to Jace's irritation. Irritated, because she was making him think about worst-case scenarios.

"What if Ilye dies? Oh goddesses, what if she lives, but is mortally wounded the rest of her life!? What would we do...? What if she's already dead!?" Iris panicked in a low tone, walking back and forth in front of Jace now. Though, her questions were only aimed at herself. "W-we can't stay back waiting for her to heal, Twilight is coming... But we can't leave without her, we may need her! And Skits, my poor brother, where are you!? I hope some monster didn't eat him-!"

The blond deku finally groaned as he pulled the wet cloth from his shoulder, speaking in a tame disgruntled tone "Iris, please stop panicking."
Her leaves pressed downward and she went silent. "Gees, sorry." she muttered toward his tone.

After hearing her tone, he knew he hit a sour note with her "... Sorry. Just... Sit here with me and calm down, everything will be fine." he answered, more light-heartedly this time.
Iris could only grumble as she sat down next to him. It earned her a glance from her partner. He was pretty sure he was starting to see old Iris a little. He knew very well she has matured over the years, but the jumpy, cranky, hot-tempered Hylian he fell for would always be there inches beneath the surface. He wasn't gonna say anything about it, though.

"... I know you're worried, but Ilye's tough. And as for Skits? Please, he's like a homing pigeon, he'd never get lost. He's probably taking refuge right now, then he'll find us in the morning." Jace said confidently.
Iris nodded a little. "I guess you're right..."
Jace had a lot of his own thoughts on his mind. He certainly wasn't cozy enough to start venting, though. He'd save it for another time. Today was a huge bite to swallow, and he was still sort of choking. He's done a dang good job of not letting it show, however.

They silently waited, Iris fidgeting with her hands. Jace had something to do, so didn't bother fidgeting. He finally made use of that medicine he bought at Yuriko Village, and began rubbing it on his wound. After cleaning it out, it was open and tender. He'd cringe a little, but never made his pain audible.

"Hey scrubs." called a woman's voice. Both deku looked in the direction they were called, and a woman stood firmly with her arms crossed "I promised you I'd show you where our spring was, but it appears you all will be staying the night given your friend's condition, so first thing's first; Let me show you your sleeping quarters."
Jace was hesitant, and still didn't trust anyone in these fortress walls. For all he knew, they'd end up shanking them and stealing everything they own... But maybe he was just being paranoid. 'Great, I'm starting to think like Iris.' he thought to himself.

Iris stood, Jace following soon after her. Jace put his things away, and Iris began "Lead the way then."
The Gerudo woman nodded and turned to walk away, assuming her guests were following. She lead them up a flight of metal stairs a ways from the ward and up to story two of the fortress. They reached a wall that had several doorways leading to different quarters. Here, there were swords unlike any other Jace had seen- which involved one pair of swords crossing to make an Xbetween each doorway. Jace would usually be jumping with excitement at seeing new weapons. But currently, it was just unsettling how conveniently close a weapon was to each room... Out of Jace's reach, no less. So only a taller race could reach and use them if need be. Each sword was at least as long as just one of the deku.

After some sight seeing, they reached an old dusty, cobweb-covered room at the end of the wall. She pointed them in, and they walked in cautiously. Iris' flaming orbs scanned each side of the room. She'd left her gaze on a spider web with a still living spider on it, and shivered. Jace himself wasn't too impressed with the room at all. Had some decent bunks that actually managed to look more comfortable than the floor, but that was really all that impressed him. The room was a rusty color. Construction metal and wood were lined up at the left side of the room against the wall. Some was scattered about.

"I'll be out here when you're ready to head out to our spring." The pirate added in disinterest. She walked out, leaving the two to settle on the surroundings. Iris approached the bunks and ran her hand along a metal railing on the side, dust covering her hand afterward. After wiping it off on her grass skirt she looked to Jace. "Well this is... Quaint." She commented rather sarcastically.

Jace sat down on a bunk, dust flying up everywhere. He took in an unintended breath, and sneezed heavily. He sniffled, then replied to Iris lowly. "Better than the jungle floor I suppose... This isn't a vacation, so don't expect a luxury room with exquisite service."

"Well I certainly didn't expect that much anyway." She scoffed. She removed her sword's scabbard from around herself and laid it against the wall, Jace doing the same. He then took off his fingerless gloves and tossed them aside carelessly. Iris picked up where she left off "The room's so dusty, it'll be hard to deal with."
Jace found himself chuckling, leaving Iris surprised he found something to be humorous about. He spoke his mind, more than likely aiming to earn a laugh "It'd certainly be a crappy place for a honeymoon." he commented as he sat his rucksack down on the bunk. He then stood and walked over to a large crate at the other side of the room.
Iris just let out a small "Pfft.", then rolled her eyes. "Of all things to think about, you're concerned about that?"

Jace removed his ponytail, letting his messy, grassy, leaves fall "It's the sweetest concern I've had all day." He replied with a smile in his tone, sending Iris a jokingly saucy glance- a suggestion that even a blind person couldn't miss. He turned around to lay the ponytail on the crate by the wall "Besides, don't you want that to be special...~?"
Iris chucked a dusty pillow at the back of Jace's head flippantly, blushing slightly "Just shut up and go take your dang bath..."
"Hahaha! Alright." Jace began walking out, rubbing the back of his head. Iris intended to stay back to see what she could do about the dust. It really would be unbearable sleeping on these bunks the way they were…

Jace stepped out into the hall and looked around till he saw the pirate who lead them in from afar, waiting patiently near the stair case. He approached her. "Alright, I'm ready."
The dark-skinned woman seemed to keep her blank, unimpressed look, as she gazed down to the deku scrub. "Alright boy, follow me." she continued on, leading him down through the fortress. She kept her word and showed him the way out the back of the fortress. This path directed him straight back outside. By now, he was alone and it was completely dark out- the night was eerie with animal noises and overgrown greenery with only the moon's light shining barely through the jungle's vines and trees. The jungle canopy's thickness made him think of the swamp, reminding him of how much he wanted to be home right now. He walked his way down the path until he found himself meeting a tidy-looking spring lined at the edges with torches.

"They certainly have this place set up." He commented. "... Finally, a chance to sit and relax..." he finished with a burdened sigh. He stared out at the spring water for a while, before finally preparing to actually get in. It wasn't until after taking his clothes off and looking them over that he realized how filthy they actually were... Meaning he himself must've been even more so.

Jace laid back silently in the water as he watched the sky, his bare back to a rock. It was a dark and warm night. The only form of light were the torches at the side of the water's edge and Jace's spirit-lit eyes. Then you could count the moon too, which gave a haunting dim glow to the earth below. However, deep in the jungle's canopy, it was hard for any light to reach the ground. This shallow spring sat in a clearing, granted the vines that strung across one group of trees to the other. Jace took this opportunity of alone time to wash his clothes and clean up. His clothes had blood on them, and he didn't feel like ruining his fathers vest. Though, deku blood- or rather a sticky red sap to other races- was very hard to wash out of clothing. He'd spent more time washing his clothes than tending to himself. After finally finishing that job, he was just sitting lost in thought, not really realizing just how long he'd been there. But adding up the time he spent washing his attire, bathing, and sitting in thought- he'd been there a good hour and a half or so.

Currently, Iris came walking out of the room and sighed. She waved her hand in her face to blow dust away, and she coughed. She was kinda surprised Jace wasn't back yet. She figured maybe he was and he'd gone to see how things with Ilye were going. She was aware Jace was troubled, but he wouldn't voice it- she thought the first thing he'd do is go check on the one horridly injured person in their party.

Over the hour and half spent, she'd tried her best to at least clean up the bunks back in their quarters. They were clean enough now that they could actually breathe without gagging when laying on them, but all the dust sorta migrated onto Iris. "Yeesh... It wouldn't have hurt to have a little help." she mumbled. Though, she knew she was asking a bit much when wanting help from the pirates. If anything, the fact that they're tolerating the deku scrub's company was pushing it, as well.

She walked down the stairs to the first floor and wandered around till she found the one who gave them the little detour earlier. After asking for the spring's location, this same pirate pointed Iris in the direction of the hall that lead out the back of the fortress. Iris was familiar with the Gerudo from Hyrule, so didn't seem all that surprised by their Terminian counterparts' respect toward her- more than likely for being female. Doesn't mean they like her company, but they seem to respect her more than Jace.

She actually remembered a time in her young teenaged life where she wanted to join the Gerudo in Hyrule- having once been an active thief herself, she felt they would've been the only people to give her respect. And had she stayed in Hyrule, she'd have probably pursued that goal... Or die in a trench somewhere. She looked back and realized how silly it sounded for a deku to be one of the Gerudo. That, and the Gerudo would've just laughed at her and mocked her... Hyrule was pretty full of deku racists anyway… And she now realized being a common forest deku, she'd have PROBABLY been dead pretty soon in the desert, unless she happened to be a desert or tropical deku, which would mean she could handle the extreme heat. Sometimes she wondered if she was one. She handled cold poorly, and Summer heat wasn't as miserable to her as it was for Jace, nor was the island's heat very bothersome to her… But she was mostly convinced that she was just defective.

Iris stepped out the back door of the Pirate's Fortress and onto the jungle path. She was silent as a mouse as she walked through the dark night. It made her shiver a bit, as it was quite long and spooky. She was so scared something would jump out at her from the shadows. She soon saw the dim sparkle of water through the plants and sighed a breath of relief that the spring was nearby. Just as she stepped out of the trees and into the area, she'd stepped on a branch- startling Jace.
"Who's there!?" He shouted defensively. Iris' leaves jumped and she squeaked, taken aback. She was more so scared that someone was there, rather than who, and instinctively drew her bangs over her eyes so not to see who ever was there at the moment.
"I-Iris! Sorry, I-I thought you were someone else." Jace blushed a bit, his leaves pinned back sheepishly. Ever since being ambushed by the pirate and Ilye getting shot with the arrow by the unknown enemy, he was very alert and defensive... And a little paranoid.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were still here... I-I'll go back and wait for you to finish up..." Iris turned away, and Jace tilted his head a bit.
"..." He blinked, then looked as if he was kinda sad she'd leave "... You can hang around if you want, I don't mind. Y'know what? Why don't you get in now? It's really nice out... Maybe take some time out to relax."
"No, I'll wait." Iris responded awkwardly before she cleared her throat, then began walking back. She was just thankful there wasn't a naked human out here. Jace sighed, then leaned back against the rock as he rubbed his shoulder.
"Oh... Well, okay then." He said, sounding a bit saddened. He was actually under a lot of inner stress, and didn't necessarily want to be by himself. And out here away from all the pirates was the only place he could let himself think- he knew it'd help if he had familiar company to let his thoughts out to. Iris was walking back, but stopped. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing him sit quietly with his eyes pointed sadly to the sky. She felt a bit flustered, but it was just them for once. Might actually be a good thing. She turned back toward him, and asked "How much longer will you be here?"
His eyes pointed themselves back toward Iris, surprised she was still there. "U-uh, well... If you want me to get out now, I will. I'm not really doing much of anything anymore, just listening to the night... And kinda waiting for my clothes to dry. But if you need me to, I'll get out now-"
"No, that's not why I asked." Iris paused, then smiled weakly "I... Kinda want to hang out with you a bit in private." she finished, figuring now was a good time to talk in private with him.

Silence filled Jace's reply for a moment, but he then smiled a little. "O-okay. Well, I guess I'm not going anywhere yet."
Iris was hesitant, feeling a bit awkward. But in all actuality, what was there to be awkward about? Jace waited, then glanced as he saw her step in when she was ready, though with obvious second thought. He found it silly, considering that deku's really don't have much to hide… The only reason she had to be uncomfortable were for the scars on her back. Iris was sensitive about it.
She sat down a ways from him, and rinsed her clothes silently. They really didn't so much as share a glance for quite a bit, and only listened to sloshing of water and faint jungle noises. When Iris finally finished what she was doing, she laid her clothes up on a vine to dry, then sat down far from Jace, pretty much doing what he was doing- nothing.
She laid back against the large rock, when her eyes found themselves looking to Jace. Just his body language screamed something was wrong, and that he was lost in thought. He was hunched over and staring endlessly into the night. This would usually be when Jace would make a crude joke at the situation, but nothing... He was being very out of character. She looked over his leaves for signs, and even they said a lot in the tense way they were pinned back on his face.
"Jace...?" Her voice chirped concernedly. He put his attention on Iris as a glance from the corner of his eyes, then his head toward her completely when realizing fully that she wanted his attention.
"Y-yeah?" He answered.

"... I'm worried about you..." She responded, the glow of her eyes moving slowly. Jace could see the flame-like spirit movement of her eyes better at night. They captured him and reeled him in from his thoughts.
"..." Jace's pride made him shut up for a bit, then spoke "... I'm just..." He paused as he looked at his face in the water's reflection. "... I'm so confused, Iris. And worried, and scared."
Iris was speechless as she kept her eyes on him. She knew he was, but he was never one to just up and admit he was scared of anything. Though, lately, he had been showing a lot of fear on this journey. He even admitted some fear back when they had a moment to themselves at the goron's place. And he showed fear in flying when he became a Watarara. Before any of this happened, Jace was one of the gutsiest and most daring people she'd known, and was always willing to take on dangerous challenges and adventure. He was fearless back when they first met. She knew he still was, but this adventure happened too suddenly- even for him.

"We almost lost Ilye today- and may still, and I almost lost my arm. Then Skits vanished. We still don't know who attacked us, and they could be hunting for us as we speak- obviously someone on this island wants us dead. If I hadn't been so foolish to wander off, none of this would have happened. And now I'm paranoid about these pirates- one tried to make me lame, then the rest took us in... I mean, what's that all about!? I've always heard they were all ruthless bandits." Jace placed a hand over his face. "I'm so afraid of what's next or who I might lose, it's all been one surprise after the other. But I feel like a coward admitting all this... It's like my back is breaking. There's just too much to carry at the moment. If it had all hit me at a slow pace, I probably wouldn't be so discombobulated."
"You're not a coward." Iris answered "I'd be worried if you weren't worried, anyone with common sense would be scared with all this emotional weight... And it's not your weight to carry- it's all of ours." She moved a little closer to him. "Teams take things together, y'know."

Jace placed his hand on Iris' as it sat on the rock in the water. He was silent, before finally saying "I want to protect you and Ilye... But with my curse gone, knowing I'll live, and that I have more control of my life... I'm terrified of failing now that I have things to live for. I've never had a family to live for, so this different feeling of sheer fear... It's very new to me."
"Jacon... Stop putting more weight on yourself. We'll be fine... Where's that take a chance, or die trying Jace I knew for the past three years?"
"He's been put on hold till I find out how to sort myself out." the boy sighed.
"Well... Just know that you're probably not as mentally panicked as I am." Iris admitted "You're no coward. The boy who dove into Ikana River after me after I acted like a fool? Or how about the boy who put his soul on the line for mine? I'm selfish, geez."

He took a deep breath and looked at her, her eyes piercing through him. She reached up and moved a leaf out from in front of his eyes, and he smiled. Iris continued with a smirk "What I'm saying is, this isn't the first time you've agreed to do something stupid for a stupid person such as myself. What's one more stupid thing to do? Heh, and this time, I'm completely agreeing to do this stupid journey with you without question. Be it because I love you, I'm completely insane, or both- is up for debate."

She leaned close and kissed him, making him blush slightly. She leaned back again, and chuckled at his expression. She was hesitant for a moment, but leaned against his shoulder a little- careful while doing so since it was his bad shoulder. He didn't seem to care, though. She looked around elsewhere, thinking the area being somewhat similar to the swamp. They were soundless for the time being, and Jace leaned back with his eyes closed.

The Hylian deku felt pretty content. Of course, before her spirit-flamed orbs landed their sights on a medium sized eight-legged menace on the side of the rock she was laying her back against... Her eyes widened and she squeaked a little. "... Shoo... G-go away..." she blew on it, but it stayed where it was. Jace opened his eyes when he heard her and felt her push against him.
"What...?" He asked with a raised brow. He glanced over with curiosity, before his stare of curiousness became a stare of amusement. He stifled a slight chuckle that went unnoticed by his fiance.

She continued pushing back, before Jace stood and walked off- making her nearly fall backwards in the water now not having support. He continued snickering to himself as he grabbed a rock by the edge of the spring, walked back, and smashed the spider. "Ah geez... There, it's gone."
He sat back down with a smirk, and Iris sighed. "I wasn't scared of it, I was just... A little spooked, because I didn't know it was there."
"Uh-huh." he answered. "So if there was another, you wouldn't be cowering like you were earlier?"
"No..." she grumbled. "And I wasn't cowering."
"Huh, kinda cool you're over your fear..." He leaned back, letting the quiet of the night take hold for a few seconds, before he blurted out suddenly- "Oh my gods, a Skulltula!"

Her first reaction was scrambling to hide on the other side of Jace. "Where!?
His response was an amused guffaw, before he put his hand to his snout and continued snickering. "You are so scared of spiders!"
She felt her face run hot. At first, she was embarrassed. Then it just turned into frustration. She glared at him, before shoving him off into a deeper end of the spring. He quickly came back up, and laughed.
"Jerk!" She barked, sitting down with her face turned from him.
He coughed, but he looked amused afterward. "Aw, c'mon babe, it was just a joke..." he continued to laugh off and on, pulling his leaves out from in front of his eyes.
"... Save it." she grumbled.

Jace crawled out of the deep end and back up to where Iris was. "You're cute when you're mad..." he paused, then added as he continued to laugh "But it was funny…!"
Iris just puffed up her cheeks and continued to look away, her face flushed. "Yeah, it was just hilarious…"
He chuckled to himself, before shaking his head like a wet dog. The water slapped Iris on the side of the face, which earned him a glare from her. She just sighed, before she got nudged in the shoulder.
"Cheer up, I'm feeling better."
Iris scoffed "I can see." she sloppily took her hand and slapped water at him. "Glad to see you're in high spirits all of a sudden."

"You helped." he chuckled, wiping water off his face.
"Obviously." She gave a still disgruntled glance at him, before it turned into a somewhat happy expression. She should've known he'd pull a joke after a while. He wasn't one to hold onto negative things for long... She's known him for so long, his antics shouldn't surprise her, but they still sorta do. And given how serious the last few days have been, seeing him joke around was sort of a breath of fresh air.

A good hour passed, when they came walking back into the pirate's fortress. Jace was smiling as Iris spoke. "And... Y'know, I always wanted to be one of the Gerudo."
"No kidding?" Jace laughed. "It just... Sounds ridiculous."
The Hylian girl ran her hand along her leaves as she had them over her shoulder- wiping water off. "I know that now. But, I made a living off stealing. It was the only society around where you could be a thief and be respected for it. And, they were all women, so I thought 'Hey, I'm a woman, so maybe they'll let me in?'" she ended what she said with a stifled laugh. "Maybe I could try again here?"
Jace just stared at her blankly, before he quirked a brow. "Nope."
"Oh, don't ruin my fun." she scoffed.
"No, you said it yourself-" he paused, before making his voice sound girly "I wanna stay in Termina, so I can restart with a clean slate!"
She rolled her eyes at his impersonation of her, before responding "Oh c'mon, I don't mean it."

"You better not..." he shook his head a little.
"You and I both know I'm not the only one here with bad habits, Mr. take now, pay later citizen." Iris said as she poured some salt in the wound. She reached to the necklace on her neck and dangled it to rub it in- making Jace remember how he had to get them...
Jace crossed his arms "Hey! At least I pay them back! Only time I do that is when I have no money and need something right away. Besides, when I got these, Keaton had stolen my wallet- if you don't remember? And I wanted to get the anxiety of proposing out of the way, y'know...?"
"Yeah, yeah. Excuses." she couldn't help but laugh. "Stealing is stealing. To be honest, you have the makings of a great thief."
"... Please don't say that." He chuckled lowly.
"No, no. Coming from me, that's a compliment." She smirked a little. Though, Jace didn't feel too proud.
"Well, it's not something I deserve a medal for."
"Ah geez. It doesn't change the fact you're a good guy. We're only mortal. You're not perfect, I'm not perfect- doesn't mean we're bad. We may have done bad things, but we learn from them, no?"
"You can say that again." Jace rubbed the side of his head where his birthmark used to be. "At least I'm capable of learning. And sometimes, lessons hurt."

"You can certainly say that again." Iris repeated. By now, they were entering their quarters upstairs. Iris continued "Anyway... I'm sorry today was such a mess. Maybe tomorrow we can make some headway?"
The boy sat down on his bunk. He looked at it with silent surprise toward the cleanness. "I can only hope. I want to meet this Xakin guy the pirates were talking about, see if he knows anything important. If not, we're going to go visit the Tikoon Elder again. We really need to hurry, though. We've already lollygagged enough." he reached into his rucksack, pulling out some bandages. He wrapped his shoulder up so the open scar wouldn't get dirty. He'd have to remember to doctor it again tomorrow, though.

"I wonder how Ilye's doing?" Iris suddenly asked.
Jace finished tying the bandage as he responded "I dunno, I was gonna go check up on her actually." He laid his vest down inside his rucksack, before closing it up.

"I'm coming with you." Iris spoke up. As Jace hopped off his bunk, the couple began out of the room. They went downstairs again and walked to the door of the ward. It was open now, and only one pirate was in there.
"Can we come in?" Iris called.
The woman nodded, before turning around to grab a syringe. She poked it's tip into a small bottle of medicine and sucked some inside the syringe.
Jace walked in with Iris, seeing Ilye's bed still had the curtain half pulled around it. They walked over to see her, and she was still out cold. She looked like a wagon-wreck. Her leaves were still slightly wilted, but the arrow was out. They couldn't see her wound though since she had the white covers over her. The bloody arrow was laying out on a table next to her, making both Jace and Iris cringe a little.

"Don't worry. She may look like crap, but she'll be better. You're lucky this arrow didn't puncture any organs, or she'd have been dead before y'all even got her here." the pirate said as she approached Ilye. She reached down, injecting the contents of the syringe into Ilye's arm- which was difficult and required more pressure because of her hard fleshy wood skin. "This should help her sleep for the night. I guarantee she'd wake up in the middle of the night in pain otherwise."
The pirate sat up, then looked to Jace. "Be more careful next time... It could be you next if you're careless."

The pirate then walked over, cleaned and put the syringe away, then left.
The Hylian girl could only sigh, thinking of the events earlier that day. Jace patted Iris on the back lightly. "At least we got her here in time." Jace commented.
"It's just a shame it happened in the first place." Iris added on lowly. "I was hoping she'd be awake, but I guess not."
The blond deku boy walked over and examined the arrow on the table, trying hard to see if he could recognize the brand, when he answered "I'm pretty sure surgery was needed to get this out without tearing anything internally... She'll be out cold for a while."

Iris' hand brushed against Ilye's forehead to move leaves out of her eyes. This was the first time she'd seen Ilye without her headband or braid. She never did let her leaves out... But even now, you couldn't see the back of her hair because she was laying on it. After Iris finished looking Ilye over, she turned to Jace and spoke. "I guess since she's asleep, we better get to bed ourselves.", which Jace replied to with a quiet nod.

Iris turned to walk out with Jace "I imagine we have a lot of ground to cover in one day tomorrow."
"No doubt about it... Of all the places, this island has become a real doozy, and we haven't even traversed half of it yet. We'll need our rest too. It's become apparent to me that you have to be on your toes at all times here- don't want to be tired in the face of a predator-filled jungle, where everything wants something of yours… Like an arm."
"Thank you for summing that up." Iris murmured.
They continued chatting as they made their way up to their room. When they reached it, they closed the door behind them. They didn't spend much more time talking before they both laid down on one of the bunks. Just one bunk could probably hold up to three of their kind. Jace laid down, accompanied with the most satisfied sigh. Iris laid on her back next to him with a groan.
"So glad we're not sleeping on the jungle floor right now or in that smelly, drippy old cave." Iris commented lowly.
"Same..." the boy replied tiredly. He then yawned, before sitting up slightly to kiss Iris "Well, good night."
"Good night..." She answered. He smiled at her contently, before shutting his eyes. Iris turned over on her side and did the same, her arm finding it's way around Jace... Might as well sleep well tonight, because they don't know what to expect tomorrow...

To Be Continued...

Skreemon belongs to sgtpieman on DeviantART.