"Th.thee..thee.wa.wa.wat.water…is.so.co.co.cold", Anna stuttered as the group swam through the ocean.
Poke agreed as he was doing his best to keep swimming. "I still think it was best if we swam to the island, instead of landing on the island. With how big the dragon is we would be a huge target."
"For once I can agree with you", Sami added in.
"I.i.i k.n..noo.know..b..b.but it's s..s.oo.cold", Anna replied.
Angel sat crossed legged on the back of a turtle, water barley getting on her as the turtle carried her through the water. "Honestly it's not really that cold"
"I wonder why", thought the group as they glared at Angel. Upset with the fact she didn't have any other summons to help the rest of the group out.
Sami decided to stay quiet focusing on staying warm. He ended up agreeing to Poke's idea on approaching the island. The safest bet was to land far enough away so scouts wouldn't see the dragon.
Then sneak their way on finding a cave or some place hidden to make a base. Then warm up, and come up with an idea to find Lyra.
Sami couldn't help but think since asking him to join teams, Poke has felt darker. It's hard to explain, but since Lyra went missing, Poke has just seemed different.
Though Anna also seemed different as well. It's not that outlandish to say the kidnapping is making everyone more on edge.
After about ten minutes of swimming, which Onyx didn't deal with since she was safely in the familiar mark. Safe from the chill of the cold water. They finally made it to the island.
They slowly walked onto the beach, with Sami constantly on the alert for patrols around the island. So far no one was near them as they made their way into the small jungle.
The island looked like a normal island for the group, slightly larger than the average one. The jungle had a lot of trees and foliage yet no signs of animals. No noise or anything, it was odd.
Actually as they were swimming up to the island there were no signs of fish either. No sharks or anything to indicate the water had life.
Soon Anna discovered a cover hidden behind some branches. The entire group quickly rushed into the cave making sure to hide any trails.
Anna quickly stacked rocks in a circle before placing some sticks(that she apparently had on here.). At this point Sami has learned not to ask any questions when it comes to Anna lest he loses his mind.
Lighting the fire Angel, Sami, Poke, and Anna gathered around. Allowing their clothes to dry and eat a small breakfast. The breakfast was just beef they preserved using salt and cooked fully through.
"So what's the plan?"Angel questioned through bites.
Anna jumped up in excitement, raising her hand as if she's in a classroom. "Oh, Oh, I vote-"
Angel through a dried piece of bread off Anna's head. "Stop yelling you idiot", She demanded through gritted teeth.
Angel couldn't help but shake her head at the woman she considered her hero. She used to look up to Anna but man is she an annoying jerk sometimes.
"I think it's best if Angel stays back with someone watching over her", Poke recommended as he took his shirt off and put it closer to the fire to dry.
Sami looked at the rock ceiling as he thought. Without Angel none of them couldn't escape safely from here. "That's not a bad idea, it's best we keep her safe so we can leave once finding Lyra.", he agreed.
"Hey you can't just talk about me like I'm not here", Angel fumed. Punching her hand in anger.
"Be honest, how strong are you in a fight?"Sami asked as he looked at her.
Before Angel could answer, Poke added on to Sami's point. "When Lyra got captured Sami and I ended up fighting through hordes of goblins. When we killed one of them, two would replace the fallen."
"Well I…", Angel trailed off. The fire in her eyes dimmed realizing that they were right.
"I'd rather you wait here with someone in case we fail.", Sami said gently. "As long as you survive you can escape the island, and maybe bring more people here to avenge us."
"I..I u..n..under..stand", Angel whispered as small tears went down her eyes.
"Cheer up buttercup one of us will get to stay with you", Anna encouraged. Gently rubbing Angels back.
"I just don't want to feel useless.", Angel admitted.
Anna kept rubbing her back gently as Angel whipped the tears from her face. "You're not useless I promise. You're the most important part of the team! Without you we wouldn't have even made it this far."
Poke sat against the wall, an annoyed look on his face. "You're wasting time trying to reassure her. We came here to rescue Lyra right. So what is the plan before I end up going off on my own."
"You can have some compassion!"Sami shot back.
"Tell me how compassion is going to save Lyra," he growled. "Honestly it was a mistake teaming up with you"
"I mean there is only one person that hasn't been helping the team! Hint it's not Angel or Anna", Mocked Sami.
"That is it!" Poke yelled as he drew his two daggers from their sheathe.
"The dog with the loudest bark usually has the weakest bite", Sami replied, not moving from his spot. "You're not worth my time, if you can't work as a team then stay out our way.
"You louse use of a fucking magie I will-", Poke screamed as about to lunge at Sami.
"Enough!"Anna commanded her magic radiating off her making everyone in the room begin to gasp. "We are a team and we need to work together. Now sit down and shut the fuck up."
Poke angrily sat down on the ground, noticeable further away from the group. Sami was already sitting down, but he did quiet down.
"Now let's all chill out and take breaths until we come up with it!", Anna said as the fire flickered off her face. Casting an almost devil-like look on half her face.
The group finished breakfast, well in Poke's case he's just glaring at the ground. Spinning the daggers slowly in his hands as he just thought to himself.
After about five minutes Sami randomly phased through the ground. Coming back 30 seconds later two goblins knocked out in his hands.
While he was eating he felt multiple people pass by their cave. These two just happened to be on the verge of looking through the bushes covering the cave.
"Huh you've gotten better at using your spells.", Anna commented on how quick he went through the ground.
"No thanks to you oh wise teacher of mine.", Sami sassed back. "You left an inhibitor on my body so I could barely use any magic."
"You know why I did that right?"Anna questioned.
"Wait, you couldn't use your magic?"Poke inquired.
"I barely had access to it.", Sami answered Poke ignoring Anna's question as he began to tie up the new goblins.
Angel slowly walked up behind Sami looking at the goblins on the ground. "What are the plans for them?"
"See once they wake up I'm going to ask them as many questions as I can about this Island.", Sami stated as he smiled down at her. "Hopefully they have all the information I need
"Oh that's such a good idea!"Angel cheered. Her sadness gave way to a small smile as she tried to be happy.
Poke just went back to ignoring everything around him once again as he closed his eyes. He already was annoyed with this group, and if he didn't feel like Sami was stronger than him. Poke would've gone by himself to save Lyra.
Anna though titled her head as she tried to figure why Sami seems so different. SHe wonders if he finally unlocked everything she was hiding from him.
Admittedly she was scared that if Sami found he was part vampire he'd want to find a fast way to power. That and Anna seriously didn't want to be the reason Sami is hunted down for existing.
Being undead like a vampire, using necromancy, using magic to be a thief. Just evil stuff like that is a crime in the current kingdom. In the case of vampirism unless it was forced then it's punishable by death.
Anna has seen many people arrested for trying to learn the dark arts as it's been called. Heck the mission she just took was to kill one of her old friends that betrayed her. So she has seen many people fall.
She just hopes after this mission she can have a conversation with Sami about everything. Explain why he did the things so he could understand and maybe not hate her.