Marix and Eilownia lay in the grass in a deep sleep. The sun had already risen and was high in the sky, warming their previously freezing, soaked bodies.

Marix’s eyebrows furrowed as he heard something. It took him a bit to come to and remember the situation they were in. He lay there, listening, trying to figure out what the sound was.

As he came to his senses, he realized it was distant mumbling. He held Eilownia tighter against him as he tried to focus in on what he was sure were voices.

"I can’t believe they escaped!"

"Captain’s not gonna like this!"

"We’re dead meat!"

He recognized the voices to be the two guards who had taken them to the prison the night previous.

"Whin. Wake up." He shook her gently as he whispered in her ear.

She grumbled and furrowed her eyebrows, keeping her eyes shut in protest.

"Whin. We have to get going. Now!" He shook her a little harder until her eyes opened.

She stared up at him, blinking away her exhaustion.

"What’s going on.....?" She mumbled quietly as she rubbed her eyes.

"The guards know we escaped. It’s already..." He looked up in the sky, "Looks to be about afternoon. We need to get going."

He stood up and grabbed their clothes, hissing as he felt how damp they still were.

Eilownia gasped as he tossed her dress at her, feeling the discomfort of the sudden moisture in opposition to her cozy skin that had been warmed up by the sun and Marix’s heat.

They dressed as quickly as they could and stayed low to the ground as the headed back to the town.

They arrived quickly, the path from the cliff down to the town was surprisingly easy. It seemed that area of the rock had more land on it rather than just stone allowing for a more even, less slippery descent.

When they got to the town, Marix quickly led them to behind one of the buildings. Eilownia pressed her chest to his back and held onto his arm tightly as he peeked around the corner.

The houses and businesses were spread out awkwardly with no real rhyme or reason. Most likely due to the fact that they were on such rocky terrain and probably filled them out as people settled on the island.

There were hardly any people on the streets although he could hear them laughing and chattering loudly.

’Probably at lunch somewhere....’ He thought to himself as he looked around.

It didn’t seem like the guards had arrived yet and he knew they had a limited amount of time to get things figured out.

As he scanned the area, he saw a glimpse of a few articles of clothing hanging on a clothesline.

"Wait here." He whispered as he stepped out from behind the building.

However, Eilownia was already walking there on her own.

"Whin! Whin! Get back here!" He whispered, reaching out for her, but it was too late, she was already speed walking to the clothesline. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

He cursed underneath his breath and darted back behind the building, watching closely.

Eilownia slowly approached the clothesline and looked around before grabbing the clothes and efficiently ripping them down from the line and running back to Marix.

"NEVER! Do that again! When I tell you to wait, you wait!" Marix yelled quietly, his face red with something more than anger.

"Don’t you think it would look more suspicious for a man to take clothes off a clothesline if they saw you? It’s better for me to do it."

He sighed as they changed into their stolen clothes, knowing she was right, although he hated the idea of her endangering herself even more.

When they finished switching their attire, he grabbed their originals and bunched them up, tossing them as far away as he could.

Marix then grabbed her hand and led her to a tight alleyway nearby. It was in the shape of an L, helping them to stay concealed, although it also cornered them.

At the back, there was a large bin with what looked to be trash. Eilownia watched as he began to dig through it.

"What are you doing?" She asked in a hushed tone.

"I’m looking for any supplies. We’re sitting ducks as we are. We need something. Anything."

He found a few pieces of stained cloth and tossed them to the ground as he continued to rummage.

Eilownia picked one up and examined it.

"Aha." He whispered as he pulled out a sharp shard of glass. He picked up one of the clothes on the ground and wrapped it around one side, creating a handle.

"It’s not much, but it’s something."

As he placed the glass shard in his belt, he heard the voices of the two guards passing by. He grabbed Eilownia and covered her mouth as he yanked her back to his chest and pressed them against the wall.

She blinked and grabbed onto his arms as she stared up at him.

"Do we really need to tell Captain? The two probably drowned or got eaten by sharks. I doubt they managed to survive."

"The man looked very strong and he’s clearly resourceful considering he managed to break out of our prison. We should inform Captain and see what he thinks."

The other man sighed, "Fine...."

After they heard the voices fade into the distance, Marix let Eilownia go and relaxed a bit. He began to pace back and forth when Eilownia approached him.

"What is it? Are you feeling unwell?" He asked, stopping in his tracks.

She shook her head and got behind him grabbing his hair.

"What are you doing?" He asked as she tied his hair up in a bun with one of the discarded pieces of cloth she’d torn in half.

"They’re looking for people with long hair and our clothes. We changed our clothes, so let’s change our hair too to try and throw them off."

Marix chuckled, "Smart girl. Here."

When she finished with his hair, he turned her around and did the same to hers before kissing her on the back of the neck.

Marix then continued to pace back and forth as Eilownia watched him.

"Is this helpful?" She asked as she began to pace with him.

"I’m just thinking."

"What is it you’re thinking?"

He grabbed her hand as they paced the area, "I doubt Izka gets visitors here since it’s a pirate hide out. Regardless, we’ll probably stick out like a sore thumb. Everyone here probably knows everyone. We need to lay extremely low."

Eilownia nodded, "We can probably manage to slip past at first glance, but if they look further they’ll recognize us?"

"Yes. Exactly. I also don’t know the layout of the town. So I don’t know where to go.....or have a plan exactly on how to get out of here."

Eilownia rubbed his arm, "That’s okay."

"No. It’s not okay. We need to get back to our ship and we need supplies. There is much more at stake than just our survival. We have to get off this island with supplies. There’s no other way. A small boat isn’t going to work either. We’ll probably have to kidnap a crew member."

He huffed and rubbed his face with his hand.

"It’s okay. We’ll figure it out." She said with a smile.

Marix stopped and leaned down, kissing her cheek.

"Okay," He closed his eyes a moment and took a deep breath, "We need to find a hiding place until nightfall. Then we can move around more easily, scope the town."

She nodded, "I’ll follow your lead."

"Alright. Stick close to me" He headed out of the alleyway and peeked his head out from behind the wall, holding one arm behind him to protectively keep Eilownia in place.

She pressed her chest to his back and firmly held onto his arm.

When he realized the coast was clear, he jerked his head towards the streets.

They walked casually, with her arm hooked in his, hoping to avoid any suspicion and walk freely amongst any other pedestrians.

As they walked, Marix scanned the area, taking note of the layout of buildings and any landmarks.

A few people passed them, chit chatting together about their lunch from one of the nearby restaurants, not paying any attention to Marix and Eilownia.

The two of them relaxed their shoulders when they realized their plan was working.

They turned a corner and discovered an open window. Marix looked around and peeked inside. The coast was clear.

He picked Eilownia up and helped her inside before lifting himself up and over, climbing in himself.

He looked around. There was a desk, a safe, a tall cabinet filled with alcohol. He could hear the loud laughs of people in the next room and gritted his teeth.

"Damn it." He realized they were in the backroom of a bar and he knew the place would be absolutely crawling with pirates.