Chapter Twenty One: Carefully Concealed
Things are not always what they seem.
Outward form deceives many;
Rare is the mind that discerns
What is carefully concealed within.
-Phaedrus
xxXxx
Bearskin tried to choke back a sob, but it was no use. For the second time in years, she wept in the open air, not caring who was around to hear her. With all the tender care she knew, she gathered her cat into her arms and just held him.
She didn't want to believe that he was gone. He had been such a rock to her ever since stumbling into her life. But she had never meant for him to become a literal rock.
"Baron… I'm so sorry. Should have made you stay behind… so sorry…" she fought to say through her sobs. "It should have… been me…"
It was breaking her heart, not to hear his comforting mew or feel his rough tongue caress her face. How could she have been selfish enough to take him along on her quest for a cure?
"… You're a woman," a raspy voice said from behind her, but Bearskin couldn't be sure how long the silence had been.
She held Baron closer, being careful not to chip him. "Yes," she whispered, completely lost in her grief. "You should have done it to me," she struggled to say without sobbing. "Baron was an innocent, he never hurt anyone."
"Well, I never meant to hurt anyone either!" Medusa snapped, shattering a statue with her long tail. "But now look at me; cursed to live eternity as a freak, and that's if someone doesn't kill me!"
Bearskin shakily raised one hand to wipe away her tears, although her heart was still howling in agony. "I know how you feel."
"How could you understand? You're accepted as a hero wherever you go!" Medusa hissed, making more stone crumble from her violent temper.
The pale girl rubbed one cheek against the rough stone of Baron's fur. "But before I was accepted as a hero, I was just a cursed trapper's apprentice. The villagers tried to kill me a few times, just for being different. If they had succeeded, I'd be a fairy's slave for all eternity. I understand better than you think."
A moment of stunned silence followed her simple statement. But the trapper didn't move from her kneeling position, her dearest friend still wrapped in her arms.
"If… you truly understand, why were you just trying to kill me?"
Bearskin took a steadying breath before answering. "I thought you were killing people on purpose. Are you?"
"No! I never wanted to hurt people. I still don't," Medusa started crying as well. "I was just trying to hide, I swear…"
The trapper sighed and eased her legs around to a more comfortable seating position. "Since we've obviously stopped fighting, why don't you tell me your side of the story?"
"… You really want to know?" she asked timidly, sounding almost like a child in the process.
"Might as well. If you were a true monster, you would have killed me when you had the chance. What happened?"
Medusa sighed, the series of snakes almost doing the same as her coils rolled along the grass; possibly so that she could sit down as best she could. "For as far back as anyone can remember, there has been talk of the gods. What their names are, what their separate jobs are to keep the world running, even what dalliances they choose to take up with mortals."
Despite her grief, Bearskin's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Why are morals so underrated?"
"Good question. If I had thought to ask that, I might have thought twice about becoming a servant in one of the temples after my family died." The hisses had returned, low and ominous.
"I wouldn't have minded the work, except that the high priestess was a judgmental woman with the strangest whims. There were several nights in a row that she ordered me to get up around midnight to fix her tea and bread for a snack. It got to the point where I had a dream about her calling me to do that and since it was so realistic, I got up and headed to the kitchens. But… then I noticed that there was a light coming from one of the rooms. Since it was my duty as a servant to report any suspicious happenings in the temple, I snuck close enough to overhear what was being said."
Bearskin almost looked behind her, but then forced herself to keep her eyes forward. "Who was it?"
"… It was a secret conference between the high priests and priestesses. I thought they had already concluded their business earlier that day, but the more I heard, the more I realized the earlier meeting was a sham."
"Sham? What were they talking about?" the trapper asked curiously.
"What spells they could use to keep their positions important!" Medusa spat, destroying another statue with her tail. "There were never any of the gods they praise and demand worship for. They're a clan of powerful witches that give blessings and curses under the guise of religion."
Her pale mouth fell open in shock. "So that's why he didn't mind me!" she gasped. "No true priest has ever been that flattering toward me! I met Prince Hercules, is he one of their 'blessings'?"
"They consider him to be their crowning glory, yes. But in order to secure his place as the greatest hero that ever lived, they were discussing how to find some monsters for him to fight. They were saying bad things about you because you already took care of all the dragons in existence."
"That's a lie! I've never seen a dragon in my life!" Bearskin snapped, her emotions on a short leash thanks to Baron's death. "It's the people that like to think of me as a dragon slayer, but it's just a fairy tale."
"… I thought for sure it was real. But back to what happened," she added hastily. "I didn't know what to think, so I tried to sneak away to clear my thoughts. But they caught me. I stayed tied up for hours while they tried to decide what to do to silence me. They chose this." She shattered another statue as the hissing returned with a vengeance.
As she calmed down, Bearskin was able to think clearer. "What is all that hissing? It's not you, since it's happening when you talk."
"That's my hair. As if turning me into a giant half-snake wasn't bad enough, they even turned my hair into snakes. When I told them I still wouldn't fight, they changed my sight so that I automatically turn anyone I lock eyes with into stone." She sighed in heavy depression. "The idea was to summon Prince Hercules to slay me. What's a hero without some monsters to vanquish?"
"But if that's so, why hire me to take care of you?" the trapper asked aloud, still rocking a stone Baron in her arms.
"Good question. You're not exactly known for failure. I guess it doesn't matter, they still want me dead so I can become a footnote in their precious mythology."
Bearskin started growling under her breath. "I have a good mind to march back to that temple and behead all the priests. This is so needless!"
"As much as I'd love it if you did behead them, it wouldn't stop their coven," Medusa informed her sadly. "You would have to wait another eight months for their next conference because if you tried to go from temple to temple, they would have time to build up defenses against you and they'd just draw you into their web of lies. About the only thing you can do is walk away from here and leave me alone. I swear that's all I want anymore."
The trapper traced one of Baron's stone ears with her thumb. "Is there a ritual of some kind that can restore my cat?"
"I can change him back, if you promise to leave me alone. At least I know he won't try to kill me again after waking up, like some of these morons." A sharp tapping sound was made against solid stone, possibly from sharp fingernails.
Bearskin opened her mouth to accept… but stopped herself. 'Even if I walk away, it won't be the end of this. The people won't stop talking about the priests or 'gods', hunters of all kinds are going to come after her. There has to be another way.'
As gently as she could, she eased Baron into her satchel to prevent any chipping. 'Sure hope he isn't conscious of anything like this.' Then she stood up, marked where all the statues and rubble were and closed her eyes to begin pacing.
"I wouldn't think it's that difficult of a decision," Medusa pointed out, slithering off to the side to avoid her.
"It just seems like a one-sided arrangement and that's not fair to you. Oh, right," she sighed, taking out a roll of bandages with a jar of her healing ointment. "For the wounds I gave you." She awkwardly held them out, feeling a bit silly when the snake woman took them from the side instead of in front of her.
"… Thank you. You know, you were much more of an opponent than the men were," Medusa complimented as she saw to her injuries. "None of them lasted ten seconds before sneaking a peak at me."
"You'd think they'd know better than that, no offense…" Her voice trailed off, remembering what the captain had said, all those months ago in a flash. "No place for travelers," she whispered as a wild glee gripped her.
"What? What's no place for travelers?" the snake woman asked.
Bearskin took in a deep breath to calm down. "I'm going to make you a counter offer, Medusa. Earlier this year, Baron and I were shipwrecked on an island that's almost constantly covered in mist."
Medusa inhaled sharply. "How did you get out alive? No one's ever come back from those islands."
The pale woman laughed harshly, now turning away so that she could open her eyes. "Because the ones who try to go there were men and those waters were thick with mermaids. Turns out that their singing has no effect on women."
"… You don't say," the snake girl said in numb astonishment.
"I do say. Baron and I lived on that island for several months until I could build a boat to take us here and there was absolutely no one on the island other than wildlife. It's very beautiful and quiet there, plus the mermaids would protect you from anyone that might manage to find where you are. If I bring you to that island and stay long enough to be sure you can survive on your own, will you restore Baron?"
"Are you mad? Of course I will!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around Bearskin from behind for a warm embrace.
'She still has arms.'
It was only then that Bearskin noticed that her skin was scaly, although still the pale copper shade she probably had as a human. One scaly cheek was pressed against hers, making her instinctively recoil.
But… it had clearly been months since Medusa had enjoyed an embrace. From the way she was clinging to her, she desperately needed it.
Taking a deep breath for courage, she closed her eyes and loosened the snake-girl's hold so that she could turn.
"Wait…" she tried to warn, but Bearskin was still safe from her gaze.
The trapper ignored the hissing of her snake hair and gave Medusa a warm hug. She felt guilty about feeling grateful that she was wearing enough clothes to only feel scales on her face, as well as the tongues of her snake hair as they licked her skin and hissed softly enough to almost be purring.
"… You… hate snakes…" Medusa stammered after a stunned moment.
Bearskin didn't see a reason to deny it. "Yes."
"But… you… you still…" she started crying anew as she fiercely hugged the pale woman. "You still…"
"Yes," was all the trapper answered, knowing that nothing more needed to be said.
ooOoo
"But doesn't this go against your code of conduct? Everyone knows that your word is your bond."
"Actually, I said that I'd take care of you one way or another. I hate killing people and I never directly said that I'd do what Xenos wanted." She gave a shrug. "Granted, if I try to claim the reward that was promised, he'll say the agreement was for your death and nothing less. Good thing I wasn't interested in the weight of your head in rubies and emeralds."
Medusa shuddered from her place just behind the trapper. "Thank heaven."
"But back to business. We're both fugitives of a sort and every moron with a knife and ambition is going to try to go for at least one of us. While they are fairly easy to brush off, they do tend to bring unwanted attention. We'll be best off if we do our traveling at night and sleep during the day." One gloved hand traced their current position all the way to the coast. "Once we've reached the shoreline, we'll need to move northward to about the middle of the Lutian forest."
"Why don't we just go by boat from this country?"
"Because I get seasick at the drop of a hat and I'm pretty sure you don't want to watch me throw up for over a week as opposed to three days."
"Wait, if you get seasick so easily, why take me to the island? Isn't there someplace safer on land?"
"None that I can think of and the only things I hate more than seasickness is ignoring a cry for help or never hearing Baron's purr again."
"What is so special about that cat?" Medusa asked as she traced the same trail with a scaled finger. "I've seen dozens of cats that look just like him."
"Look, yes, personality, no. Baron's the first animal that didn't run from me or try to attack me. He's my friend, and the smartest person I've ever met. If not for him, Queen Blanche would have been buried alive."
"… A cat?"
"Yes. Even strangers remark on how unusual he is. The weather's probably still a bit cold in Lutia, though. Will you be able to withstand it?"
"I honestly don't know," Medusa admitted, withdrawing a bit. "I've never been outside of Nexa before. What do snakes do in places that have winter?"
"Hibernate, I think. But even if we have to wait until spring, it shouldn't take more than two months to get you to the island. The weather should be warming up by then, since it's warmer in this area of the world than in the Northern Kingdoms." Then she stopped, surprised at herself. "Never thought I'd refer to them like that. So, do you feel like starting right now?"
"Certainly. Want me to change your cat back now?"
"… No. Baron has a thing against snakes, plus we just proved that he's less careful about looking at you than I am. I think he'd appreciate staying stone for now." 'Even if I'll miss his purr something awful.'
"… Very well. Let's get going, because I'm sick and tired of people trying to kill me."
ooOoo
Another bounty hunter swiped his sword at the pale trapper, but she was too familiar with that move. She bent backward while tripping him and, just as it did with Prince Hercules, the man fell flat on his face.
As he was still gasping for breath, she gently touched the pressure points on the back of his neck to make him lose consciousness.
"I do not envy the headache you'll have when you wake up," she informed him while dragging the ruffian off the road so that travelers wouldn't have to dodge him. "But since you'd have a headache whether I did that or bashed you in the head, I think you'll prefer this kind of headache. I hope you think twice before coming after me again."
The bounty hunter didn't answer her. He was still out cold.
That was just fine by Bearskin as she shouldered her bag of supplies and left the road behind her. After a good hour of weaving between the trees and rough terrain, she reached a small cave that was safely sheltered from prying eyes.
Medusa briefly woke as the trapper began transferring her purchases to the satchel, keeping her back to the serpent woman.
"Why so many books?" she asked sleepily.
"I got the mermaids addicted to poetry last time I was there. It couldn't hurt to offer some more books to help them agree to welcome you. But there's one gardening book for you, since you'll get sick on a diet of strictly fish."
"You're resorting to bribery?"
"Absolutely. It's how I got off the island, so it would make sense for it to be how you get on it. Besides, they might try to keep me again and it couldn't hurt to have a back-up plan."
"I guess not," Medusa yawned, pulling her blankets a little tighter. "See you tonight."
"See you. Or not, I guess."
ooOoo
The moon was full and bright as they crossed the border back into Lutia. It was already colder than Medusa was used to, but not as cold as Bearskin remembered it being.
"The weather's already warming up. Such short winters down here," she muttered under her breath.
"What do you mean? It's freezing!" the snake woman gasped as her hair shivered in agreement.
"Bah, this is not cold," the trapper informed her while fishing a coat out of her satchel and awkwardly handing it behind her, since their usual traveling had the Gorgon slither behind her guide. "This is balmy."
"It's still cold! But thank you for the coat. How much longer do you think it will be until we can head out to sea?"
"Five days tops." She pulled out her map of Lutia for confirmation. "Dang it, the Mist area isn't very well documented."
"It's not like people are as brave as you are, Bearskin."
'Why does that feel like a lie?' "I'll buy a small boat in this village, Hiu. I should be strong enough to carry one big enough for us to sail off without any observers," she decided as they approached a deep river. She pulled out her water skins to refill while she had the chance.
"Um, how small?" Medusa asked nervously. "I'm not exactly a midget as a snake."
"Well, how big… long are you?" Bearskin asked curiously.
She paused for a moment, perhaps taking a good look at herself. "About twenty feet, I think."
The trapper bit back a snarl as she finished with one water skin and started with another one. "Dang it. A boat of that size will take more time to row there. Oh well, we'll manage."
As the light from the moon flickered across the water's surface, Bearskin's eyes flickered to it in bemusement. But then she saw something else in the water, shocking enough to make her stop in her tracks
Bearskin gaped in surprise and whirled around.
Green…
ooOoo
Scaly lips withdrew from her cheek as a hand stayed pressed over her eyes. "What were you thinking, looking at me?" Medusa scolded angrily. "You of all people know better than that!"
"But I saw you in the water," Bearskin protested as the world seemed to tilt under her feet. She raised her own hand to her eyes so that she could safely tumble to the ground. "I didn't turn to stone at seeing your reflection!"
"Hmm. I guess you didn't," she conceded, withdrawing until she was just behind the trapper. "I just assumed that I was the only one immune to my 'stone cold gaze' because it would have been too easy to kill myself if I just looked in a mirror."
"Mirror… that's it!" Bearskin cheered, taking out her mother's small mirror. She opened it up and angled it just enough to catch Medusa's face with it.
It was a heart-breaking sight, now that all the details were sharp and clear. Her human nose was replaced with that of a snake's and there were small fangs present when she stared back at the trapper with an open mouth. Her snake hair was black as a raven's wing, probably the same color as her human hair had been. The green that she had noticed just before turning into stone were her eyes. They were deep emeralds that were almost as dark as her snake hair. The mirror was too small to see how long her serpentine body was.
"Oh Medusa…" Bearskin whispered; her voice filled with compassion. "This is too much."
The reptile woman attempted to give a brave smile. "The worst part is that they knew I was deathly afraid of snakes."
The trapper immediately put the mirror in her satchel, closed her eyes and held her arms out to her companion.
Medusa did not need an invitation for a hug. She nearly crushed the pale woman in a desperate embrace.
"This has to stop," Bearskin whispered. "I don't know how or when, but they'll pay for what they've done to you and so many others."
Her companion began crying softly as her hair licked the trapper's face. "If anyone can, it's you."
ooOoo
"… Along with your smallest pane of glass," Bearskin finished reciting her list of supplies, tapping a thumb against the counter in her urgency.
"Glass? It'll break if you're planning on transporting it," the shopkeeper warned her.
"That's perfectly fine. Please hurry before soldiers show up."
He nodded and carefully picked out one piece of glass. "Will this do? It's intended to be for a hand mirror."
"It's perfect," she assured him while leaving the modest pile of coins on the counter to accept the glass. "You have a nice day, sir."
"You as well, Bearskin," he wished as she stepped out of his small store… and directly into a company of soldiers.
"By the order of the king of Lutia-" the captain began to say with a pompous air.
"You are hereby ordered to get beaten into a pulp by a cursed trapper in a hurry," she snapped with a glare. "Step aside and we'll skip the beating."
Despite the fact that half of them looked scared of her, they chose the beating.
ooOoo
Medusa woke at sunset, to a sharp scraping sound. She winced in displeasure, but rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as her hair began to hiss awake. A small distance from the cave she had been sleeping in, Bearskin was working with her back to her, hunched tightly as she scraped something against a rock.
"What are you doing," she slurred sleepily.
"I'm making a present for you. Sleep well?"
"… A present? You're already taking me to a place where I can live without fear and you're offering more?" Medusa asked as she slithered up behind the trapper to see what she was doing.
The scraping was focused on a shard of glass the size and shape of a chicken's egg.
"It's partially a gift for me, too," Bearskin admitted as she did her best to round off the edges of the shard. "But even if I manage to avoid your gaze for good, the mermaids like to make eye contact. This should make it so that you can look at anyone you want without stoning anyone."
"How is a shard going to help with that?" she asked as her hair stuck their tongues out in confusion.
"I'd have gotten a pair of glasses to make it easier, but as far as I know, you don't need corrective lenses."
"I don't. But can glasses really be all I need?"
"If it isn't, I have a back-up plan that should work. It might make it harder for you to see, though," she concluded nervously.
Medusa couldn't help but sneak another hug around the trapper's shoulders. "We'll make it work," she said, repeating the words that her new friend had been saying for the past few weeks of travel.
She could see the side of Bearskin's face curl into a smile. What did her smile look like from the front?
"We'll find a way," the trapper affirmed, taking a small break to hug the snake woman's arms. "If you'd like to rest today, I might have your glasses done by midnight."
"That would be wonderful. I'll make dinner if you'll…"
"Sounds fair," the pale woman agreed, fishing out the usual supplies from that marvelous bag of hers.
Medusa adored Bearskin like a new sister, but soup got plenty boring after having it every night.
ooOoo
"Okay, I think they're done!" Bearskin exclaimed as she finished bending the wire around the glass shards. "You might not have ears anymore, but you'll probably be able to use your snakes to keep them in place."
"I should," Medusa agreed, taking the glasses when the trapper awkwardly handed them behind her. Two locks of her hair obediently curled themselves through the loops and encouraged them to sit fast against her face, since she no longer had a human nose.
"They're on. It's actually pretty comfortable," the snake woman admitted as the trapper rose to her feet.
"Please let this work," she prayed aloud before turning around.
But just as before, as soon as she looked at Medusa, she became still and changed into a solid statue.
She hissed her irritation before moving forward to cure her. "Maybe the back-up plan will work." Keeping one hand over her friend's eyes, she gave a quick kiss to the woman's cheek.
It immediately became soft and the trapper gave a moan of dizziness.
"It's a good thing I can reverse the process. People like you are rare enough without being stone," she attempted to laugh, but her disappointment was still clear.
"Dang it! All right, give them back," Bearskin sighed, turning around while sitting on the ground again. She grabbed a brush and black jar from her bag.
"So, what's the back-up plan?" Medusa asked as she attempted to convince her hair to let go of the glasses.
"It's actually an idea I got from churches. I've noticed that in a lot of countries, churches have stained glass windows- thank you," she cut herself off as Medusa handed her the glasses. "I've also heard a few glass smiths say that glass with color in it is harder to see through, so if I darken these, it might be enough to keep people safe." She cracked open the black jar, revealing that it was only the ink inside that was dark.
Medusa watched over one pale shoulder as the girl carefully began painting both sides of the glass shards. "What if it's not enough?" she whispered.
"I don't know, but if I can be safe with a mirror, this should be all right." She blew on the ink to help it dry and added a second coat. Then she stopped cold. "Medusa? Did I turn grey as a statue?"
The snake woman shook her head, although the trapper couldn't see it. "You were still as pale as a cliff rose."
Bearskin sighed sadly and resumed adding the second coat of ink. "Even as a lump of stone, my curse holds fast. But there's an idea; if I get near the end of my life and still not find a cure, maybe I could just go to the island and have you turn me into stone forever."
"What? Why would you want such a thing?" Medusa demanded.
"Because if I die, I'll turn into a bear, remember? One that's going to be a fairy's slave for all eternity? Being stone isn't half bad in comparison. Actually, it's sort of comforting," Bearskin admitted as she blew on the ink again. "It means that Baron isn't suffering as a statue. It's literally like time stopped, just for you."
"… Now I wish I could turn myself to stone," Medusa said wistfully. "It sounds peaceful."
"But the whole point was to deny you that peace." Satisfied that the ink was dry, she handed it over the shoulder the snake woman was watching from. "Let's try again," she pleaded while closing the jar of ink.
"My hair seems to like these things a little too much," Medusa tried not to complain as the same two locks slid through the curls without the aid of her hands and pulled them tight against her eyes.
Everything was immediately darker, save for the moon, the small campfire… and Bearskin. Even through the blackened glass, she was as white as the snake girl's favorite flower.
But she decided to keep that information to herself, not wishing to distress her again. "Ready when you are."
The trapper took a deep breath and turned in her sitting position to look at her. Although she did not change again, those black eyes melted with compassion as she took in Medusa's complete appearance for the first time. Her gaze trailed the full length of her impressive tail before coming back to her human-like torso and head.
A sad smile crossed her lips. "Medusa?"
"Yes?" she asked nervously.
"Why didn't you ever say you needed a shirt?"
ooOoo
"… So that's pretty much our situation," Bearskin finished, once again on Mist Island and surrounded by mermaids. "If you can find it in your hearts to accept Medusa, she can finally be safe from all those bounty hunters that want her head."
"Plus I know a ton of stories," the snake woman added nervously. "I know now that very few of them are true, if any, but they're exciting and I can make up more when I run out."
Tila flicked her tail disdainfully at Medusa, who was playing with the hem of her shirt from nerves. "This arrangement seems to be one-sided, Bearskin. What if we get lucky and another ship gets close? She would turn all our little toys to stone and then where would we be?"
"I can change them back," the snake woman protested, but then the trapper waved a hand.
A brilliant idea had sparked to mind.
"I will never call Medusa a monster again," Bearskin said slowly, smiling warmly at her. "However, others are much less accepting. Let's say I don't hide the fact that she's on the island."
"Hey!" she protested.
"There are always stupid muscle-bound boys bent on proving their mettle, especially when it comes to slaying. If I make it known that Medusa's here, just think of all the men that will come and try to slay her."
She had the mermaids' undivided attention now.
"They won't be weaklings, either," she added with a grin. "We're talking all brawn and no brain. All you'd have to do is help hide Medusa when they come, ruin their boats after they anchor, and wait a few days for them to get nice and bored senseless before approaching them. Even without your voices, they'd be more than happy to accommodate any of you. You do have to admit that it's a lot more efficient than crashing the boats and hope that some of the occupants survive."
Tila grinned widely before turning to her sisters. "All in favor of letting her live here?"
Every single one of the mermaids sang a high, exultant note that told so much of their joy.
"That counts as a yes," she informed Medusa with a grin. "Now the next problem; where's a place on the island that they won't be able to find you?"
"That's easy," Eela giggled. "She can live in our secret place."
"Except that she can't hold her breath long enough to get there, remember?" Tilia told her tiredly. "Remember the men we've tried to take there? They all drown before we're halfway."
Bearskin looked at her sharply. "How long is it between here and there?"
"About fifteen minutes through an underwater tunnel. No human that comes through here can make it even to five minutes. Such a shame," Eela mourned. "It's the middle of the island and surrounded by cliffs. No human could hope to reach Medusa if we had her live there with us."
The trapper bit her lip in concentration, her eyes trailing over to the decent-sized boat she had rented from a fisherman. "If we turn over the boat and have the mermaids pile on top of it to make it sink… do you think that would give us enough air to last fifteen minutes?" she asked the snake woman.
Medusa looked scared. "Maybe if we breathe slowly?"
"It would be safest with one at a time," Tila decided, nodding at a few of the sisters for them to turn it over. "Which one's first?"
"I'll go-" Bearskin volunteered, but then Medusa pulled on her hand.
"No. It's my skin you're trying to save and you've done so much already. I'll go first."
The pale woman nodded and sat down on the beach as her serpentine friend slithered back into the water and took a breath before slipping into the overturned boat.
"We'll be back soon," Tila promised as the mermaids began piling themselves on top of the boat, forcing it under the waves with their weight.
Bearskin sighed and sat on the beach to wait for their return. "Please let this work. Please let her be safe." 'Please let me hear Baron's purr soon.' She opened up her satchel to run her fingers along her cat's stone back. "We're almost there, my friend," she whispered warmly. "Everything's going to be back to normal soon, I promise."
He said nothing, but then again, she wasn't really expecting him to.
After some more minutes passed, the pale trapper realized a detail that the mermaids had overlooked.
Since she wasn't interested in taking more underwater trips than she had to, she immediately stood up, jogged to where the stone box was and lifted the lid off to start placing the familiar books back in the satchel.
"What are you doing?" Nilu asked as she experimentally poked her head out of the water.
"Is there more stone in your sanctuary? I'm worried that when men start coming, they might ruin the books if they're left out here," she explained while setting the last of them into the satchel.
"Come to think of it, there is. Thank you again, and you did say you have more poetry books, right?" Nilu asserted worriedly. "The philosophy one gave me a headache."
"No problem, and there's definitely more poetry this time," Bearskin assured her while jogging back to the first beach, where the overturned boat was bobbing in the water. "Medusa made it through okay?"
"Yes, but she was running out of air near the end. Remember to breathe slowly and we'll do the rest," Eela assured her as the trapper stepped into the water as well.
But she turned the boat onto its side long enough for fresh air to get in. Then she gave the mermaids a brave smile and took a deep breath for courage as she set the boat over her head.
The seat was now a good place to hold onto, as she walked into deeper water with it so that the mermaids could submerge it again. The boat sunk once more, sparking a seed of panic as she was literally swept off her feet by their swiftness. Her legs were forced upward and behind her, making it that much harder to keep her head above the salty water.
'Baron's going to hate this part when we leave.' But a smile still crawled onto her lips, thinking about having his comforting weight on her shoulders once more.
Her ears popped painfully as they seemed to dive deeper and deeper under the water, until there was no light at all.
Some water splashed over her mouth, making her spit it back out again. "He'll definitely hate this part," she muttered, doing her best to keep her breathing slow and shallow. She even thought about kicking the water to increase their speed, but wasn't sure if there was enough air to compensate.
Inside the boat was turning warm and heavy from her own breath, making her almost loosen her grip on the boat as it began to rise again. Her head was starting to spin dizzily and her lungs heaved, but the air was no longer sufficient…
"We're here!" Eela cried out as she and two others pushed up on the boat's side.
A wave of fresh air slapped across Bearskin's face, making her breathe in greedily. "Oh, that's nice! I didn't think I was going to make it!"
"Neither did I," Medusa giggled, grabbing her by the elbow to help her friend onto shore. "I'm just glad I never have to do that again. But isn't this place beautiful?"
Now that her lungs were full, Bearskin looked around in amazement.
Birds were chirping happily in the trees, which were beautifully rich in colored blossoms that left a pleasant perfume in the air. The grass was a rich emerald to match Medusa's eyes and, as promised, the paradise was completely surrounded by steep jagged cliffs that not even a goat would brave.
"Wow," she whispered in awe. "This is… amazing! What a place to call home!"
"Why thank you, Bearskin," Tila preened, sitting herself on a flat stone near the edge of the water.
For some reason, the rock reminded her of a throne, despite the fact that the only adornment was a little sea plant trailing up one side of it.
"You mentioned a need of a vegetable garden for Medusa," Tila added, pointing toward the flowered trees. "There's a nice space just beyond there that she can use, since it's close to a small stream with fresh water instead of salt."
Medusa sighed happily as tears streamed from behind her dark glasses. "I can't believe it. It's really over; no more stupid assassins."
"For you, anyway," Liah giggled in a naughty fashion. "I can't wait until all those men start showing up!"
Bearskin rolled her eyes before turning to her scaly friend. "Okay, Medusa. I've managed to secure a home for you on the island and you know me well enough by now to know that I'll stay until you can care for yourself. Would you be offended if I asked you to bring Baron back now? This separation thing is a little harder than I thought it would be."
"Actually, I was wondering when you were going to ask," she giggled. "Take him out."
As carefully as she could, the trapper eased the little statue out of her bag.
"Is that really Baron?" Eela asked as she crawled onto the beach for a better look.
"It is," she answered simply, holding him in her arms while offering Medusa the side with his head.
The snake woman leaned down slightly and pressed a single kiss to his forehead.
Stone immediately shifted into flesh, making his limbs flail around from the lack of ground as a dizzy meow worked out of his mouth.
"Baron!" Bearskin cried happily, holding him against one shoulder. "It's so good to have you back!"
"Meow?" he asked incredulously, looking around in complete astonishment before looking at Medusa. He stiffened as a yowl escaped his throat.
"Oh, be nice," his keeper scolded affectionately, kissing his face and scratching his ears in happiness. "She's a friend now, I promise."
"Meow?"
"Yes I'm certain, or you'd still be stone!"
"Can you understand what he says?" the snake woman asked curiously.
The trapper gave a laugh. "I wish, and I can assure you he wishes too."
Baron gave a loud, exasperated meow that screamed of agreement.
"See what I mean?" she asked before giving her cat a summary of what had happened while he was in his stone state.
His eyes were calm and grave, although he was pointedly keeping a paw at the side of his face to avoid looking at the mermaids.
"You know, I think you're right," Medusa said numbly once the trapper was done talking. "He does seem to know what you're saying."
"I told you so. Now onto the next problem; what can be done about the coven?" she mused, keeping Baron on her lap although she and the snake woman were now sitting with the mermaids. "I can't just let them keep manipulating Nexa, they might set their eyes on other kingdoms, and the Nexans deserve to know the truth. Who knows how many people will suffer fates like yours?"
"Knowing our mythology, more than we'll be able to count in a week. But even if you weren't wanted by every government on land, killing off an entire kingdom's religious leaders would make you hated by the common people."
"Plus they probably wouldn't believe me if I try to tell them what the priests really are. The common people are very fond of their religion," she concluded sadly.
Baron gave an agreeing meow while scratching his chin in thought.
"That doesn't seem to leave you with many options," Eela said while combing her hair out with a strange spiky seashell. "If talking to the people won't change anything, and killing the coven will make things worse, what's left?"
"I don't know. Oh, if only there was a way to make all those so-called priests come clean about what they really are!" she fumed while crushing a random rock with one hand.
Tila looked up sharply and glanced at her sisters with a question in her eyes.
They all grinned evilly and nodded their heads.
That wicked smile crawled onto her own lips as she looked at the trapper again. "While we can't make them speak truth, Bearskin, there is a way to take care of the coven for good."