Hunted|Haunted - Chapter 21 - Swamps of Woodmur

Cogs and Nexialist looked in the direction which Tove pointed to. And lo and behold, there, some half a mile-ish away, was a person. Probably. Honestly, they couldn’t tell whether it was a person, a regular deer or a tree.

— Where’s the rest?
— She’s not very geese-goose, but there are probably some friends of hers somewhere around. By the way, where’s the kid?

Nex was the first to look around and start swearing.
A nearby puddle, bubbling suspiciously, quickly caught his attention, but what was he going to do, exactly? He himself didn’t really know how to dive, nor how to swim.

Fortunately for Nex, who tried sticking his hands into the puddle to hopefully reach for Toma and drag the kid out by anything that could be reached, and for Toma, who actually was drowning in the said puddle, it didn’t last for long. The water rippled harder, and Nex barely managed to get his hands out in time, as a clawed, dirty arm shot out of the murky surface, holding the coughing Toma by the scruff of the neck. Almost simultaneously with Toma’s head and weird arm, something rose out of the water. It could be confused with a usual marshy mound of plants and earth, if from the hole in it on our brave adventurers didn’t stare cyan glowing unblinking eyes.

— Oh, that’s Miina’s friend

The eyes in the dark narrowed in clear suspicion, taking in the group. Until finally, after a few seconds of deliberation, their owner asked in a rough Redarish with a pretty thick accent, lifting Toma slightly higher over the water and looking at Harvey and Nexialist.

— Your whitebait?
— I wasn’t prepared to not breathe, sorry. — Toma coughed.
— Uhh.. Yes, can we have it back, please? — Harvey shuffled his deck hoping for something useful.
— Name me a reason to give you this kid. — The creature’s grip on Toma tightened slightly, and its voice grew a bit lower and sharper. — He doesn’t smell like you, that’s for sure.
— Mochvara, sir, do you like squid?
— Why is that your concern… We’re taking the kid to his dad.
— I have photos. — Harvey’s deck was moody today.
— Photos?
— All of them, name an event, I have a photo.
— I liked you better when you were high. At least you spoke in a way I could understand. But yeah, this fellow is a friend of the kid’s mother.
— Hm. — “Mochvara” thought for one more moment, before finally nodding, its voice slightly calming down. — Fine, good enough, I suppose.

With that, the creature swam closer to the nearest stable marshy mound and put the kid on it.

— There. Safe and sound now. Y'know any spells to dry yourself, little whitebait?

He sneezed, half-drying himself. So, half of the problem was solved. At least that partially calmed the swamp creature.

— Mochvara near my home looks like a very big goose, and she likes beans. Do you like beans?
— I eat everything, little bait. — Swamp creature noted lightly, before looking back at something on the horizon. — But if you ask what I like, fish and meat. So, yes, squids too.

The figure on the horizon scaled the swamp in seconds, grabbing onto a tree to stop itself.

— Soruk, the fuck-... and what are you trying to be?

Up close, the figure was definitely a savtktanque, though she didn’t look much like Tove. At least half a head taller. Different pronghorn shape, rounder face. Long, black hair. Thick, square glasses. And a very, very skimpy outfit of a crop-top, miniskirt and an oversized bomber jacket.

As soon as she was within reach, Tove attempted to hug her, but some sort of force field kept her at an arm's length

— Miiimiii!
— Ugh, not you again! — “Mimi” enjoyed Tove’s presence about as much as Neven did.
— Aww, your own territory, how cute!
— You’re with Teura, I assume? What a blessing. — If a savtktani could spew poison like a snake, she would certainly be wearing a court-ordered muzzle.
— I’d say she’s with us, but sure. — Nex nodded, then raised his fist in a victorious gesture. — Finally, someone else to see all the weird shit happening here!

“Soruk”, looking back at the group, tilted his head quizzically. Probably trying to understand what was going on, or if it is anything that could potentially bring trouble.

— Here, I got it from a Sandwich in Quine. I’m not sure what it is, but it has a picture of a squid on it, and smells like fish, so I guess you would like it.

Toma was laying sticky sheets on the water surface. It was very important to have a good relationship with your swamp, especially when it saved your life.

— A sandwich? — The swamp inquired, turning to look at him and seeming more interested in whatever Toma could tell it than in the strangers that were not done talking to each other.
— I said I was Toma, and he said he was Sandwich.

 

Soruk let out a low gurgle, which could be interpreted as a short laugh, then looked back at the food placed on the water surface. Still mostly submerged in the murky water, he reached with one hand under the makeshift hood of leaves and pulled down something that looked like a mask. It didn’t make his face more visible – probably due to how dirty it was – but his teeth glinted faintly, sharp like pike’s.

 

— That’s the first time I've heard about alive sandwiches. — Despite a pretty menacing appearance, the swamp creature looked pretty chill, its tone joking and playful even as it reached for one of the squid stripes and bit into it. Then added, chewing. — Maybe you meant sand witches? Because those do exist.
— Oh, that makes sense. He was one of them.

Then, out of nowhere, for Soruk, that is, Toma started bawling.

Harvey was swift in swaddling him in a metallic heating blanket and pressing him with the opossum, but at this point, there was no stopping the tears. So, Harvey sat beside, while the child cried all over Bubba. While Soruk just looked at the commotion while confusedly biting into the squid offering. Eventually, he asked, glancing at Harvey.

— Is that… normal?
— That was very scary! — Toma wept.
— He nearly drowned, so yeah. Thought there were plenty of swampies and duckweeds around here?
— Plants – yes, witches – also yes. — Soruk nodded, then added, ending one stripe of squid and reaching for the next one. — I’m just… It’s weird to see your eyes leaking fluids, if you ask me.
— You’re leaking fluids as well.
— Not from my eyes.
— Yeah, yeah, fishfolk cry with their palms and soles, heard that. The point still stands

Soruk rolled his eyes.

— Hardy-hardy-har.
— … That was.. That was an actual thing I was taught, but go off. How far to the edge of the swamp?

The swamp creature seemed to think for a moment on this question, his eyes settling on Toma again for a moment. Then, finally, answered.

— Four miles, plus or minus a few yards, to the city. There are marshes all over, however, so… Unless you’re flying or swimming, you’ll need to walk around towards the road. Which is around eight miles from here.

Meanwhile, the adult conversation didn’t go as planned at all.

— Listen here you neon-faced mannequin look-alike sonovabich, I don’t care why and how you ended up here, but y'all stink of kuzhas, so either you fuck right off that direction or I’ll send you
— First off, that’s a second time people talk about kuzhas in my presence and don’t tell me what that even means.
— And you’re alive how? — She scoffed.
— I have my connections, one of them is currently bawling their eyes out, however.
— Well, no wonder you’re like that, if you’re this tall and never heard what a kuzha is.
— Mimi, pull the sticks outta ye arse, or kick him in the right direction at least!
— And stick those sticks down your throat after that. — Nex added, in a mock-cheerful tone. — Will make for an easier return for them into place.
— Is she always behaving this way?
— If 5 years is recent in your books, then it’s a recent development.

Miina got tired of Nex and his face, grabbed him by the shoulders and pressed him neck-deep into the swamp. Which caused Nex to screech like an angry cat and try to get out with such force that he almost got Miina to fall down there with him.

— WHAT THE FUCK?!

Continuing the motion, Miina swayed and stepped on Nex, pressing him back in. Thankfully, the miniskirt turned out to be skorts.

— Wash yourself, kuzhabaiter.

That was an incredibly sound judgment, as at least 15 little pink imps jumped from the trees, attracted by the noise. However, as soon as they had got out in the open, a loud rumbling growl stopped them in their tracks and caused them to look at its source. Which was Soruk, who now stood on the surface of the water like a very, very dirty son of Ermaera, covered in mud, leaves and all kinds of weeds, and glared at them. Even from under all the dirt, it was evident that his hands were glowing with the same green light as his eyes, and that the light was getting out, snaking around his hands like chains…

And then Soruk disappeared in an explosion of thick fog, which rapidly expanded over the clearing, covering everything. It was so rapid that Nex forgot to swear. A few splashes of water, and then the fog cleared, manifesting Soruk back, now sitting leisurely on the roots of a gnarled tree nearby and picking his teeth with his clawed hand. With no more kuzhas around.

— Omnissiah’s huge collection of various underpants… — Cogs shook his head, clearly surprised by what just happened.

Tove smacked Miina with Harvey’s broom a couple of times, and that seemed to make Miina reconsider her behaviour. With growling and murmuring, she pulled Nex out of the water. Next, she motioned for Soruk to come closer, scooped some swamp slime off of him, and smothered the “message” from the mother Nex still had on his arm.

— That will probably do it. The city is that way. Scram.

And so, she hopped back to where she came from. Nex honestly hoped that place was ultra-Hell. Soruk rolled his eyes, too unimpressed with her behaviour. Then got up from where he sat, spat in the water and, seemingly satisfied, motioned for the Rag-tag United to follow him.

— Come on, I’ll show you to the city, since the problem deer won’t.