Chapter 6: The Oceanside
The duo and their dragon friend were out of the forest within twenty minutes. Flora had let them borrow the book, which Janice had her nose buried in as she walked, and Zephynn had inquired about Ladon. Flora didn't give him a straight answer, but she had blushed a little when he had asked.
That all aside, they were now walking along the beach. They stopped for a few moments to rest as the sun was beginning to reach its height. Zephynn stared out at the ocean with a hand shading his face.
"What are you looking for?" Janice asked, as inquisitive as ever.
"Strange activity," said Zephynn, "I'm not seeing any at the moment." Theseus was busy playing in the water. He made little splashes with his tail and wings. At one point he swallowed in some water and shot it out his nose, shooting himself backwards into the sand. He shook his head and returned to his play.
"He just loves water," said Janice, "I don't have any idea why. He just loves it."
"Maybe he's a water dragon," said Zephynn.
"Huh?"
"I mean, I've heard that there are all sorts of dragons out there," said Zephynn, "Fire Dragons, Wind Dragons, Ice Dragons, and the like. Perhaps he's a water dragon."
"Maybe…" said Janice, looking upon her little friend frolicking in the ocean. Zephynn took another look out on the ocean. He still saw nothing.
"Let's keep moving east," said Zephynn.
"Right!" Janice exclaimed, jumping up, "Come on Theseus!" The dragon ran up to her and climbed to her shoulders. They began to walk again.
The desert thinned out into the beach as they walked further. They eventually came across a shack on the back half of the sand. A lake was nearby. Zephynn easily remembered where they were.
"A friend of mine lives here," said Zephynn, "Let's drop in shall we?" Janice nodded and they approached the shack. Zephynn rapped on the door. They heard stumbling from inside. Then the door cracked open.
"Who's there?" the person who had answered asked.
"It's Zephynn," Zephynn replied. The door opened to reveal a man with messy blonde hair, tied into a small tail at the back, and blue eyes. He wore pants torn off below the knee and a muscle shirt. Sweat beaded his forehead. He walked barefoot.
"Oscar," said Zephynn, a little surprised.
"It's been awhile," the man said smiling, "Come on in." He shut the door behind them and sat down on the bed.
"So what brings you two here?" he asked.
"We were just dropping in," said Zephynn, "What are you doing here? Where's Forde?"
"Downstairs," said Oscar, "He's been helping me with something that I couldn't accomplish on my own." Zephynn nodded. Oscar got a look at Janice.
"Say, who's this with you?" Oscar asked. Janice, seeming to realize she was on the spot, immediately perked up and began speaking.
"Hi, I'm Janice," she said enthusiastically, "And this is my pet dragon Theseus." The little dragon crawled onto her shoulder and she pet his head. Oscar examined Theseus.
"Looks like he's a water dragon to me," said Oscar, "He's got the flippers and the wingspan of one for sure."
"You can tell?" Zephynn questioned.
"I'm a son of Poseidon," said Oscar, "And a bit of a fantasy geek."
"Son of Poseidon?" Janice asked, "Does that mean you can do crazy stuff like Zephynn?" Oscar laughed.
"No, not necessarily," he said, "I wasn't born that way. You could say that I was… adopted by the god of the sea after my mother died. The event kind of left my sister and I alone." Zephynn was a bit stunned at this remark.
"You're not blood siblings?" he asked. Oscar shook his head.
"Nah," said Oscar, "But we act like it. And Poseidon acts as though I am his son as well. So I treat him as though a father."
"That's cool…" said Janice, "I wish I had a god for a parent! I didn't really have any parents at all growing up. They died when I was young. But then the gang took me in and…" The door from the cellar suddenly burst open. A man who looked like a hermit appeared hunched over in the doorway. He was sweating up a storm, his long red hair and beard hanging down like a wet rag. His eyes were milky blue and his pants ash colored.
"Ah, friend!" he cried charging up to Zephynn and hugging him tightly, "So good to see you!"
"Nice to see you too Forde…" Zephynn said, trying to pull away. Forde let him go.
"Been awhile eh?" Forde said in his strange accent, "You see? I have taken apprentice!"
"Well… not really…" Oscar said sheepishly. Forde wrapped an arm around him.
"Of course!" Forde cried, "He is prodigy! The sea god has good taste for children!" Oscar pushed Forde away lightly.
"Yeah…" said Oscar, "Anyways, where are you two headed?" Before Zephynn could ask, Janice cut in.
"Zephynn's on a quest and I'm helping him!" Janice exclaimed.
"Yep, that's about it," said Zephynn quickly, "It's nothing important."
"But if it's a quest, it must be important," said Oscar.
"It's private matters," said Zephynn, "Between me and the wind gods." Oscar nodded in understanding.
"I see," said Oscar, "But why is she traveling with you?" Zephynn, making sure Janice was focused on something else, like Theseus or Forde, shrugged his shoulders. He leaned in to whisper.
"She kind of insisted," he whispered.
"Ah," said Oscar. Forde stepped in.
"Strange things in ocean right?" he asked Oscar.
"Yeah," said Oscar, "That's what dad has been saying to me. I'm getting suspicious though…"
"So you've heard about that too?" asked Zephynn.
"Son of the sea god here," said Oscar proudly, "Yeah, somewhere out in the middle of the ocean there's been hurricane weather." He gave an eye to Zephynn. "Who told you about it?"
"Someone we met earlier," said Zephynn.
"You think it has something to do with your quest?" asked Oscar.
"Perhaps," said Zephynn, "What made you bring that up?" Forde pointed over at Janice, who had the book opened up to the page with Osimi again. Theseus stared down at it. She was watching the conversation until Forde pointed. Then she averted her gaze back to the book.
"Oh," said Zephynn, almost unsurprised from a day of running around with this girl, "So where exactly is this weather? The middle of the ocean could be anywhere."
"Let's step outside and I'll point you to it," said Oscar. They began to walk towards the door. Janice, seeing the movement, began to follow them. Theseus jumped up on her shoulder eagerly. Oscar stopped and looked her up and down.
"You aren't armed," he said.
"Yeah, so?" said Janice. Forde took a step towards the cellar.
"No Forde," said Oscar, "I think we'll keep an eye on her for Zephynn here."
"Hey, who says you get to make the rules?" Janice asked in protest.
"Me," said Zephynn, "Stay here. I don't want you to get hurt like last time." He shot a look at her. She looked confused and looked up to Theseus at her shoulder. The dragon seemed to shrug.
Zephynn and Oscar stepped outside and walked down to the ocean. Oscar pointed to a small speck in the distance, a little northwest of them from what Zephynn could see.
"There," he said, "Just that one spot has been getting pummeled by hurricane. It hasn't moved in quite a while. It's about a five mile radius of pounding wind. You'll have to find your way into the center of it, the calmest part, to be able to observe anything about it."
"Right," said Zephynn, "So how do I get there?"
"Leave that to me," said Oscar, flashing a smile. He knelt down to the sand and touched his hand to it. He whispered a few words under his breath. To Zephynn, it sounded sort of like a prayer. Suddenly, the ground rippled beneath their feet. The ocean's tide suddenly washed in at their feet. The waves became wilder and closer. Zephynn almost started panicking. Then, the seas calmed and the waves receded. Oscar stood up. As he did, squares of light blue light appeared on the ocean, one by one, reaching far out onto the sea.
"This path should get you out there," said Oscar. Zephynn looked at him dumbfounded.
"But… how did you… if you're not…"
"Have strong enough faith, my friend, and you can move a mountain," said Oscar. He gestured for Zephynn to step upon the path. Zephynn took a tentative step onto the first square. He felt the water on the bottoms of his feet through his sandals. He took more steps. He did not sink as he stepped on the squares. He looked back at Oscar, who nodded. He nodded back in thanks and continued on his way.
A/N: I feel like a noob. I've had this chapter done for two or three months now, probably longer, but I never posted it and then forgot I hadn't posted it. I apologize. Please enjoy while I go face-palm myself in a corner before returning to publish chapter 7, which is also done. Please leave a review! Please? *makes puppy-dog eyes*