Chapter Four: An Off Colored Hand

As Dawn broke, the suns light peeked through the cover of the trees, hitting Steven's face and forcing him awake. He was about to sit when he felt something pressing down on his chest. It was Spinel. The mermaid had somehow made her way over to him in the middle of the night, perhaps to share the blanket that he'd given her? She was resting her head against his chest; their bodies rather close with the blanket draped over both of them. Steven stared down at her, unable to keep the blush from his cheeks. She must have been facing him before falling asleep, because he could clearly see her face. He called her beautiful when he first saw her and commented rather easily on her looks since then, but now he felt a little embarrassed about it. Seeing her sleeping face, he was reminded once again, just how lovely she was. Were all mermaids like this?

He didn't want to disturb her sleep if he didn't have to. Instead, he looked around their little camp. The fire had long since died out and though Spinel said they would take shifts on keeping watch, but she had clearly fallen asleep rather than waking him for his shift. That was a little dangerous, but at least no one had come looking for them that night.

"Spinel…" Steven began quietly, gently shaking her shoulder.

The mermaid shifted lightly in her sleep, her eyes fluttering open to see Steven looking down at her with a smile. At first, Spinel was confused, until she heard his heart beating against her ear. She was laying on his chest? Quickly pushing herself from him with reddened cheeks.

"Good morning," Steven chuckled. "Did you sleep well?"

Spinel panicked internally, trying to remember how this happened. Mermaids didn't usually have to sleep much, but being out of the water made her weak. Though she had hoped to keep the first watch last night, she remembered feeling more tired than usual. She'd felt bad for using the only blanket on her own, so she dragged herself to Steven's side and was in the process of placing the blanket over him until she noticed the peaceful expression on his face while he slept. Smiling just a bit, Spinel leaned over to get a better look. After a moment, she found herself resting her head against his chest as she watched him sleep, being slowly lulled to sleep by the calming sound of his heartbeat.
The mermaid covered her cheeks in a bashful panic. How had she let herself get so close? She never thought she'd feel so calm and comfortable around a human. Was it because he had helped her?

"U-Um yes—Good morning," stammered Spinel, slapping her cheeks lightly to try and come to her senses.

Steven got to his with a smirk and started to gather their things. "We should hurry along. If that woman is in the next couple of towns, than we have a long way to go." He explained, rolling the wheelchair over to her side.
"Hopefully we will come across a lake or something on the way. It's the middle of summer and I'm sure you're not feeling well."

Scooping Spinel up in his arms, Steven placed her in the wheelchair, put the blanket over her tail, and handed her the cloak so that she cover her fish-like features.

"…that's true…" Spinel replied, no longer too embarrassed when Steven had to pick her up. After all, it's not like she could walk on her own.
"How long do you think it will take to get to that town mentioned on the map?"

"A couple of days, unless we can find a faster way to travel, but I don't think we're likely to hitch a ride with someone."

Steven handed Spinel their bag of supplies and lifted the chair up over his head with her in it, startling Spinel once again. "Wh-whoa! At least warn me before you do that!" Spinel exclaimed as she clung to the arms of the chair, not all too keen on heights.

Once they were back on the path, Steven set the chair down and set off through the woods again. Steven started to wonder if it wouldn't have been better to simply travel at night. Surely it would be more comfortable for Spinel rather than trudging on through the heat of the day and they still had such a long way to go. Though it was unlikely, Steven hoped that he could find some faster way to get her where she needed to go.
Hours went by peacefully, Spinel had actually fallen back to sleep in the chair, leading Steven to believe that she was weaker than she let on. How could she not be? She hadn't been properly submerged in water in a while and she didn't get much time in the tub before they had to run off. Drinking water probably helped a bit, but it could only do so much. As he rolled her along, Steven began to hear footsteps and immediately panicked. There was only one path through this forest, so unless he wanted to dart behind some more thorn bushes, he would have to remain as calm as possible. Luckily, Spinel was asleep because he worried she might try to fight rather than hide. Steadying his breath, Steven tightened his grip on the handles of the chair and pushed on, hoping he could pass Spinel off as just a sick human.

Preparing himself for the worst, Steven saw the stranger step out from a circle of trees and was relieved beyond words when what walked out looked to be a little girl. Though he did question what a little girl would be doing out here in the forest alone. These woods weren't exactly safe with the crystal creatures that roamed around. As harmless as the little girl seemed, she appeared to be heading straight for them. Steven tried to pretend he didn't notice her at all, but that was impossible once the child firmly placed herself in his path. Steven stopped, unsure how to handle this.
"…Uh…excuse me? Could we…pass," he asked awkwardly, glancing around and hoping she had parents nearby. Though he was starting to worry if she could even see him; the child's bangs completely covered her eyes. What's more, the girl had a dull orange color to her hair and what appeared to be some sort of jewel stuck to the top of her right hand.

"You are going to meet someone new in the forest," the little girl said with a smile.

A hushed whisper came from the trees, "who let her go out there alone?"

Steven was immediately alarmed upon hearing another voice. Were they trying to surround him? He was sure to be faster on his feet than if he were pushing a chair which might get stuck in a hole or something. Trying to remain calm, he released his grip on the chairs handles and readied himself to grab Spinel and run.

"Wait," another hushed voice called out. This time, a head peeked out from the shadows of the trees. It was a woman. She had big dark eyes and red hair, waving a single hand as if beckoning Steven to follow her. "We're here to help. Guards have entered the forest, follow us, we'll get you out."

Steven wasn't sure whether or not to trust this woman. How did she even know they needed help? Could they tell Spinel was a Mermaid? He thought he had covered everything fish-like pretty well.
"What makes you think we need help…?" asked Steven cautiously.

"You wouldn't have entered this forest if you didn't need help," the woman whispered again. "Please, your mermaid friend won't last much longer. Follow us."

Looking down at Spinel, he could see her troubled expression just beneath the hood. She looked feverish again. It had to have been the heat. Though they were under the cover of the trees it was still the middle of summer and she was covered in a blanket of all things. Steven battled with himself on what to do, but when he began to hear more footsteps coming up the path, he lost the luxury of caution. Without losing any more time, he scooped Spinel from the chair and ran after the woman that had faded into the shadows of the trees. He could barely see the woman at first, until a small orange light appeared beside him. It was the little girl. She was running at his side and the gem on her hand was glowing gently. It wasn't enough to completely light the way, but enough to see the path beneath his feet. This is why there was only one way through the forest. If anyone strayed from that main path, the forest became a maze and was completely devoid of light. It's where the most dangerous creatures lived. There was no way the guards would follow them in here, right? Even Steven was questioning himself for following these people. They could just as easily leave him in the dark to die.
Still, he continued to follow the orange light, he wasn't sure how long they had been rushing through the trees until the darkness was suddenly parted by a soft light.

In front of him now, was a glittering lake, shining gently from the reflection of small blue orbs that hovered from the trees above. The light that reflected off the water was enough for Steven to get a better look at the woman he had been following. As it turned out, it was two women, just conjoined at the hip. They appeared to be twins, their bodies stuck together; sharing a single pair of legs and each torso only had one arm. Though Steven was a little alarmed, he simply stared at the women in silence, more concerned about why they led him to this place.
"…You're not going to hurt her," he asked quietly, holding Spinel close.

"Of course not," the girl on the left side answered. "We meant what we said; we just wanted to help you. Come, you should get her into the water. She needs to heal." They walked over to the edge of the water and stepped back, giving Steven space so he would feel safer.

That much was true. Spinel was breathing heavily and she felt warm. He was sure that Mermaids were not supposed to be this hot to the touch. He removed her cloak and took the blanket from her tail before kneeling down at the edge of the lake.
"Spinel…" Steven began softly, brushing the hair from her face in an attempt to wake her. He didn't want to just plop her in the water without warning. When her eyes fluttered open slowly, he smiled down at her.
"We're near a lake. I'm going to put you in the water, okay?"

Spinel was having trouble breathing, but she seemed to understand him. She nodded her head slightly in reply and Steven slowly placed her into the water. He watched intently as she went under, worrying for a minute that he should have made sure she was more awake. Or perhaps she was too weak after all. Anxiously, he waited for her to resurface, but when the water remained still, he stood up to jump in after her.

"Hold on," one of the twins urged as she placed her hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"What if she needs—"

Before Steven could finish protesting, Spinel's head surfaced slightly, and her magenta colored eyes shined brightly against dimly lit water. Steven didn't think it was possible; she was even more captivating as she peered up at him from the water.

"Ar-Are you okay?" he asked in concern.

Spinel came up a little more, just enough for the water to come up to her shoulders. Smiling, she nodded her head, still feeling a little weak, but being completely submerged in water was a big help.
"Yes. …who are these people…?" she asked, swimming up to the edge of the lake where Steven was kneeling.

Steven glanced behind him, unable to answer that question. This had all happened on a whim. He hadn't had the chance to ask anyone their names.
"We are the Rutile twins," the conjoined women answered together. The twin on the right pointed to the child now, "and this is Padparadscha. She was the one who told us you had entered the forest. …although…her prediction was a little late, so we couldn't get you until you had already been here for a while."

"And why would you come to get us?" Spinel asked, not just worried for herself anymore. Steven also stood to be punished or even killed if they were caught by the wrong people. "Wait. Rutile…and Padparadscha," Spinel repeated, "are those names…"

Padparadscha walked silently into the water without stopping. The gem on her hand began to glow again and the legs beneath her dress vanished in an orange light, replaced at once with the tail of a mermaid. Scales on her hands became visible and she moved her bangs to uncover a large, singular eye beneath them.
Spinel and Steven stared silently at the child, amazed that she had gone from appearing human to becoming a mermaid before their eyes. Steven noted that Spinel seemed to be equally stunned by this. So it wasn't just something mermaids could do.

"What is going on here," Spinel asked as Padparadscha swam over to her with a smile. "How did she do that and who are you people?"

"Who are we?" rang a young man's voice as he stepped out of the shadows and into the dim lighting from the lake. The young man had stretched earlobes, a wavy, light pink Mohawk at the top of his head, a scar that ran down over his right eye, and he wore a rather large black cloak that almost made him look like a pirate captain. Even with these odd features, the most noticeable thing about him was the bright pink hue of his skin.
"We're the Off Colors. I'm Captain Lars' and we're your only shot at getting out of this forest."