Valentine woke without pain.
The last thing he remembered was the long trial of the jungle, and falling into the mud before Red. The boy must have found help, because Valentine found himself in a simple, yet comfortable house. It was made from stone, weathered round and smooth from wear, and a freshly thatched roof that filled the house with hay smell.
Valentine sat up, and the pain returned. His eyes drawn to his gunshot wound, Valentine saw it was covered with fresh bandages. Through the pain, he pulled the bandages away from his body, finding the wound cleaned and neatly stitched closed. The handiwork of a doctor, no doubt.
Valentine didn't know how, but Red had done it. He couldn't guess how far Red had dragged his unconscious body through the jungle, or how on earth Red found Doctor Aria in that endless wood.
Valentine swung his legs off the cot-more pain-and made to stand, but was cut off by two people bursting in the room. Red was here, looking more relieved than Valentine had ever seen him, and he was with someone that could only be Aria. She wore clothes similar to the townspeople and blue hair, with sharp eyes that skewered him to the cot.
"You're up, how do you feel?" She stepped to his side, and placed two fingers against his pulse point. The sudden contact made Valentine wince and draw a sharp breath, but he didn't withdraw. Aria regarded his reaction with a raised eyebrow, but quickly returned her focus to his pulse. As Red began to speak, she studied him up and down.
"Valentine, this is Doctor Aria." Red introduced. She had dark skin dotted with tattoos and piercings, and she wore a vest and wrap made of light fabric. She had blue hair and striking yellow eyes with uncanny slit pupils.
"Just Aria now, thank you. Valentine, do you feel any discomfort? Symptoms of the poison, such as headaches, burning, or paralysis?"
Valentine felt himself choking, the light pressure from Aria's fingers felt strong enough to squeeze his windpipe. When she asked about discomfort, he couldn't stop his eyes from drifting to her hand. The discomfort from a touch was far greater than that of a gunshot wound.
"I..."
Whether she noticed his unease or simply finished reading his pulse, she took her hands off his skin and it felt like a hot poker had been lifted off of him.
"Do you?" Red prodded.
"I'm fine now, thank you." Valentine breathed in relief.
Red and Aria both looked upon him with some great expectation. In their eyes, Valentine had escaped Death's grasp, and they waited for his undying thanks for his saviors, or at the very least a sarcastic remark, which Valentine was usually very good at. But Valentine said nothing, and didn't even gracious or surprised at his own survival.
His mouth seemed glued shut. He'd thank them if he could, but he couldn't find the words for two people that saved his life.
"I should give you some time," Aria said, dismissing herself
"Why… Why did you help us?" Valentine asked.
"Helping people is my way of giving back." Aria said. "You don't owe me anything, seeing you alive is it's own reward."
Val could only blink as she left the room. Her answer only left him with more questions. Why would she ever help him? He had no berries after buying his way aboard the fishing vessel, and she stood to gain nothing.
He peeled himself out of bed, wondering how long he'd been laid down for. He stretched-more pain-and stood to his feet. He'd been relieved of his coat and belt, which left him without his knife, but Aria had at least left him in the simple clothes he wore underneath. The thought of her undressing his unconscious body sent shivers down his skin.
"I swore you were a goner. I lost track of how many times I thought you were dead" Red said with his usual lack of grace, "it's unbelievable you're standing right now."
"What happened after I passed out?" Valentine asked.
"I carried you as long as I could, until I found Aria in the forest." Red said. "When I passed out, Aria carried us inside. She makes her own antivenom, no wonder they busted up her hospital."
Val wobbled his way to the door, waving off Red's help, and stepped outside into a massive cavern. It was more than a stone's throw high, and more wide than tall. The cavern was dominated by a dark pool, fed by small streams trickling down a mossy slope. Beams of light poked through cracks in the cavern wall. The water was a shining silver in the dim light, clear enough to see pale fish dart away at the sound of Valentine's feet crunching gravel. Along the water stood ruined foundations, the broken skeleton of dozens of buildings.
Strangest of all, a ship lay beached on the shore, with its sails removed.
"What is this place?" Valentine asked.
"I haven't the faintest clue." Aria said. She sat around a fire, where their wet clothes dried. "It looked about the same when I found the place, years ago. I took up the least broken building for myself. I wish I knew how old they were."
"Have you excavated any of the ruins?" Red asked.
"I'm a doctor, not an archaeologist." Aria shrugged. "Other than scavenging for any useful tools, I try to leave the ruins undisturbed."
"And what exactly brought you here?" Valentine's eyes scanned the area. He'd already seen her bounty poster, he was mostly asking to see how she'd answer the question. The information people left out was often more valuable than what they said.
Aria swallowed. "I assume you went to the hospital in Elder Falls first, ." That's where I used to work. But, well you saw what happened to it, I had to flee for my safety. I was able to reach this place, there's no better place to hide."
"Everyone has to hide sometimes," Valentine said. His mind drifted to her wanted poster: Wanted for the crimes of theft and heresy.
"Judging by these ruins, I'm not the first one who has hidden here. So far, I've found a better fate than my forebears."
"You said you carried us in here?" Red scanned the cavern. Valentine saw his point, the only entrances were broken sections of cave hundreds of feet in the air, where light poured in.
"Yes, why?" Aria said.
"It's nothing… Let's walk, if Valentine doesn't use his muscles soon he looks like he might fade away."
Red insisted on seeing the ship, so Aria led them there along the shoreline. It sat on its side like a beached whale, waves lapping at its hull. It was free of barnacles, and seemed in perfect condition.
"This ship was put here very recently." Red said. "It looks like it just left the yards."
"It's been here longer than me, and I've been staying here nearly four years."
"That's impossible…" Red paced around the ship to the deck, tilted towards them at a steep angle. "There's no mast either. It wasn't removed, it was built without one. Built here, likely. There's no way to bring it inside."
"There's the sea gate." Aria pointed at the far wall of the cavern, behind the dark pool. The cavern wall was in fact a huge man made stone gate, tightly sealed. "You can hear the ocean on the other side. This side is pooled fresh water, so it hasn't been opened in many years."
"It doesn't make any sense…" Red muttered. "Have you gone inside the boat?"
"The deck below is locked up tight, and I don't have the heart or tools to bust her apart. Live and let live, I say."
Red continued to marvel and curse the ship. He showed no signs of stopping, and Aria could only drag him away with the promise of lunch. Val was at the limit of his constitution, and eager to sit down.
Aria brought out fruits Val had never seen, in strange colors and shapes. They ate voraciously, their bodies starving for sustenance after their ordeals. A wash of fruit juice poured down Val's chin and hands.
"I need to make a trip to town-Valentine, don't eat the rind." Aria said. "I won't be gone long, you two should rest until I get back."
"You're a wanted woman, is it safe for you to go back?" Red said.
"Every week, I deliver antivenom." Aria slung a satchel over her shoulder.
"And they accept it? I thought antivenom was heresy?" Valentine asked.
"I leave it outside town, and it's always gone when I return. I don't know if they use it, they could be destroying it for all I know. But the people deserve a chance at survival, they deserve more than the snake-cult gives them."
She slipped between the ruins, and was gone. They didn't see how she left the cavern.
For the first time in awhile, Red and Valentine were left alone. The only noise in the cavern was the bubbling streams and Val tearing apart fruit. They sat in the few blissful moments of nothing . Val's mind wandered to things he hadn't yet the time or peace to consider.
Niramor was searching for him, likely across the whole South Blue. He couldn't trust a soul, other than Red or Aria. There was no way to know how many soldiers and undercover agents would be out looking for him.
He felt gratitude for Red, for carrying him through the jungle. How many miles did Red carry him through the night, while he lingered near death? He would trust him implicitly now, if it weren't for those two words from the bounty poster: Cipher Pol .
"What's Cipher Pol?"
Red froze. His gold eyes seemed to glow with fury. "The less you speak that name, the safer we are."
"You were a part of them, weren't you? Don't be coy, the ruins don't have ears."
"I'm not joking. You don't understand, Valentine." Red shoved his thumbs in a melon, and split it apart in a swift motion. "I don't associate with them anymore, but back then I was the least of them. They're monsters. They can be anywhere, disguised as anyone. They hear things from across the seas. Our leader could sink a Ship of the Line with one hand. If even one of them finds us, it would be over before you could blink. I'd be dead, they'd capture you and drag you back to Niramor."
Valentine swallowed a stone.
"I regret asking."
"I'm doing everything I can to keep them off our trail. Just keep their name out of your mouth, and I'll keep us safe."
"Thank you for that. Keeping me safe." Red's mind seemed elsewhere, but Val continued. "I wouldn't have made it here without you. I don't know why you're helping me, but I owe you everything."
"Listen, do you hear voices?"
Valentine bit back a response, straining his ear to listen. Faintly between heartbeats he could catch the sound of voices. He stood up to listen, and the voices disappeared behind crunching gravel.
"Shh! " Red hissed. Valentine held his breath, and slowed his heart. Slowly, the noise shaped into broken words.
"If you hadn't been on the rum-"
"-nothing to do with it!"
"-fuck is the harbor?"
Val whispered to Red, only as loud as he dared. "Where?" Red pointed to the sea gate, and the gaping cave mouth that lead to the sea. It was too far to hear normally, but the cave seemed to bend and amplify the echoes of their words.
"Captain Alistair please-"
"-Cat-o-nine you wretched lot."
The voices drifted off, until they could hear nothing.
Captain Alistair, hearing the name again made his bullet wound ache with pain. How had the Cobra Pirates followed them? Their ship was underwater last he saw it.
"That voice was the guy that shot you."
"Yes, I know !"
"I don't know how they survived, but we're safe here. They don't know where we are, and if they came looking the jungle would consume them first."
"And Aria?"
Red checked his pocket watch. "Back soon, I hope. Aria's made of tougher stuff, I'm sure she will be fine."