Chapter 14

Ok kiddos. Heres more of Ne'igalo. If you havent noticed. I love this child the most. We'll return to RT and Tian shortly, so dont fret. But... I may or may not have modeled Ne'igalo after my betta fish named Asshole. Omo... I thought itd be awesome lol. Anywho. Heres this chapter. I edited it while on a hay run. Almost to the house so hope I can post this before were loaded.

Axel: Tian doesn't love me 😭😭

Ne': I AM LITERALLY RIGHT HERE!?!?!

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Purian stepped back in shock, or fear as he couldn't tear his gaze from the fully functioning gills on the boy's neck. The closer Ne'igalomeatiga got, however, the more dried out and sickly he looked. His skin was papery thin and scrunched up with an unnatural tone to it. Like his kidneys were struggling to function properly, Axel had seen that happen quite a few times back home. Axel couldn't tear his gaze from the boy's eyes, though. They were absolutely gorgeous, but they were scattered and unfocused, to.

Axel had seen the look once before from a group of friends he'd had that'd come from a different mountain tribe. That village naturally mined inside the Rocky pass, and they were a pretty rich village for it. However, the group had gone to work one morning and a cave-in happened. Only one had escaped, and he'd been the smallest and thinnest of the entire group. After the accident, the boy's eyes had been wide open, day and night. He almost never slept, so eventually, dark rings started to pop up. He was constantly overcome with ferocious nightmares, even in the daytime. The unfocused gaze, though, always gave Axel the eerie feeling that perhaps his friend's body had made it out, but his friend was still deep in those mountains. He'd seen something so horrible that the fear plagued him years after until he'd slit his own throat at the new year. It was eerie to see that look once more, long after his friend had died.

"Call me Ne'igalo for short. Our names are always long," the boy said with an abnormal ring to his voice. The introduction seemed rehearsed, there was no pride in his voice. He brought his arm up towards his face to stop a rib shaking cough.

"You're from the water clans! I've heard about your people. You guys are natural sailors, and completely functional above and below the water," Axel commented. "But those tattoos, I didn't know those were traditional."

The boy shrugged simply. "They're like coming of age for our people. Each tattoo represents a feat I've done or accomplished."

Axel pointed to the biggest tattoo on his chest. "What one was that one?"

"My two year long voyage. The toughest battle I ever fought."

"Ne'igalo, Axel will be your partner from here on out," Mirik commented, putting his hands on Axel's shoulders. "So don't make him sick please."

"Great, try not to die. I've already lost two partners," the boy answered before turning around. He stopped at the edge of the water.

"Boy, you probably want to leave those shoes behind. You're going to be somewhere you need your bare feet," Mirik chuckled.

Axel nodded numbly before sitting down long enough to unlace the leather. They were already soaked from his journey down, and rubbed against his skin. He set them in a pile near Mirik's feet before rising once more. Purian grabbed his arm before Axel could follow after the other boy.

"I know we don't know each other well… but… be safe down there. Don't get yourself killed, we both have families to return to," then Purian let him go to follow after Mirik, deep into the caves.

Axel inhaled slowly before treading over to the edge of the river. He looked at the fast flowing water than to the boy. The film was over his eyes once more, creating an eerie haze that sent a shiver down Axel's spine.

"We're going to pass beneath those rocks over there, so hold your breath and swim hard. You'll get swept away if not," then the boy dove into the water effortlessly, his form perfect.

Axel sucked in his breath and followed suit. As soon as he was below the water, he felt the pull of the river heading in a different direction. It pulled and rushed all around him, but ahead of him, Ne'igalo swam effortlessly. His webbed limbs gave him enough grip to slide through the rock and disappear on the other side. Axel fought all his way there, cracking the back of his head against the rock as soon as he passed underneath.

All the air rushed out of his lung and he inhaled water. Fuck. That was the only thought in his head then as he started to choke. Blood pooled around him and his vision was swimming. He should've looked at how low the damn rock was before crossing. He was an idiot. However, something grabbed his arm and pulled him through the water, shooting towards the surface. Axel choked as soon as they broke through the surface, but steady hands held him up.

"Thank you," Axel wheezed. The boy reached around to press his hands against his skull. "Normally I can swim a lot better than that."

"You hit your head didn't you? First day and you almost died already. You sure you can swim? I should have told you to dive deep, so that's my fault," Ne'igalo sighed, water dripped down his neck from the gills. "You're going to have to work with the wound, though."

"That's fine," Axel stated as they swam to the shore, this time a sharper incline. His youth had been constantly filled with injuries ranging from minor to major, Axel had been accident prone since the day he could walk.

It was almost completely dark in the cavern they'd risen up into. His head didn't ache too much, instead the hunger raging in his stomach was more potent. The blood was already starting to congeal against his skull, saving him any extra worry. Axel stood with the help of the boy. In front of them lay a massive underground lake, complete only with the massive waterfall that rose at least two hundred feet upwards. The body of water that the waterfall connected to was much smaller, and darker in the shadow of the cave. It exploded from a strangely shaped mouth buried deep into the rock. It was impossible, but there it stood right in front of him. The sides of the cave were filled with glowing plants, creeping up the walls. But the lake itself was dark black, with water lapping at the edges. The water was, surprisingly crystal clear yet smelled horrendously sulfuric. On the banks sat humongous piles of rock, some precious stones, and some just regular granite.

"We dig this lake out," the boy commented before stepping towards the water. "Its hundreds of miles deep though and filled with a special kind of metal called Phosphoric Iron. The capital is built on it, it's lightweight and durable, but strong enough to hold massive buildings up. But it's a bitch to carry and swim with. It's created by the water that sits under the mountains. But between you and I, it's not the iron they're after."

"Then what do you think they're after?"

The boy shrugged simply. "Whatever it is, they're adamant on finding it. I've been to the bottom of this lake and there are things along the walls that I've never seen before. And I've seen a lot of languages, and met a lot of different kinds of people. I don't know what they mean, but I don't dare tell the men who own us either. I get the sense that the reason we're digging here is for this. It's all speculation though."

"Why don't you tell them? Wouldn't that earn you extra food or something?"

"Even if we found gold down here, we'd never get extra food. They have hundreds of village oriented people down here, they're not going to persuade anyway to betray someone else. Extra food, extra water has never been a thing. Plus, I know the story and if it is what I think it is, it's not my place to disrupt a people we never had qualms with."

"There's people down there?"

"Who knows? The pressure down there is too hard on me, I have to stop before I hit the bottom. It's like a natural barrier. I physically can't breathe the farther down I go. And with the energy I get from the salt water I have to drink, I have to conserve what I can."

"Salt water? Why would you drink from the river when you can drink from this lake or the water they ration?"

"Phosphoric iron is poisonous, the water it grows in even more so. A few of my people did try drinking it, though, but it didn't take long before they were laid on the rock bleeding from every orifice imaginable. I don't think you've seen just how sick I am, and I just breathe and filter the water through my body. It's slowly killing me by being near it. You have that to look forward to, but it should work its way through your system slower. I'm not given freshwater like everyone else," Ne' spat, glaring in the direction they'd come from. "We were too different even to the men that worked down here. If we could survive off of salt water, we did." 

"I'm sorry."

Ne'igalo shrugged, sitting up. "I cannot change people's opinion on my species. My mutations make me a prized possession to the rest of the Warriors and that's the only thing that's kept me alive this long. Since you'll be working with me, don't worry about having to hold your breath when you go below the water. They give us one oxygen tank so you won't have to breathe in the poison. Just don't drink any of the water, it's an unpleasant experience if you do."

"But you said the water was poisonous for you to breathe in! Take the damn oxygen tank, I can handle myself!" Axel argued but the smaller boy simply shook his head.

"It's ok. I'll keep breathing through the water fine. Thank you though but you don't have to play a hero down here. Worry about yourself, others come and go like the river that rages its way through the rock. Don't worry, you'll understand in time. Death is normal down here."

"But… it's killing you."

The boy sighed, hand absentmindedly tracing a multi figured tattoo on his small bicep. It was colored, unlike any of the other tattoos on his bare chest. "It's not like I have anything left to go home to anyway. Most of us down here have given up on going above ground, you'll get used to it."

"I'm… sorry," Axel sighed, looking down.

"It's ok, don't keep saying sorry. Trust me when I say you'll get used to it. I can't stress that enough."

"What if we slack off?"

"If you're not immediately caught and shot on the spot, then you'll starve to death. We all will." 

A part of Axel ached, deep in his chest. It ached like it did when Marie died and Tian lost control. Like when he lost his siblings. He couldn't shake the feeling, either. This boy was just as small, just as beautiful, but the hope was gone from his eyes. And a part of Axel wanted to wrap his arms around the boy's shoulders and take him away, back to the surface. Stupid, stupid feeling he thought to himself. He didn't even know this boy and he already wanted to take him away.

"When I break out of here, I'll take you with me. I'll take you to the ocean. That's where you want to be, right? On the waters again, living the solitary lives your people live."

"My people weren't solitary as most think. We lived together on huge home boats that'd been passed down to us since the first voyage," Ne'igalo chuckled, shaking his head. He sat down near the edge of the lake, dipping his toes into the cool water. "My last partner said that too though. Tried playing hero whilst trying to keep his son alive He took his son instead when I kept refusing, and I assume they didn't make it if you're here already."

"I was the strongest hunter in my clan. I hunted grizzlies, and those battles were hard fought. I have someone out there waiting for me to find him, I'll succeed on getting back to the surface and finding him."

"Then good luck Axel," The boy stated before sliding completely into the water. His hands trailed across the water's surface, creating small ripples.

"Not all of us have someone waiting for us anymore."

He disappeared below the water's surface then, shooting downwards.