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The ice almost screeched underneath his weight as he took another step, a thin line forming on it’s most upfront layer.
Wemmbu’s eyebrows knitted, nose scrunching up, as he looked down then back up at the avian-hybrid in front of him.
“Dude…” he mumbled, as if the volume of his voice would snap it completely. “I think we got a problem, Parrot..?”
Parrot shifted slightly to glance right over his shoulder, eyeing the demon with confusion before noticing the fracture behind him. He sighed.
“Okay — let’s just… take it one step at a time, yeah…? Don’t want to pressure the ice too much but don’t want to be too slow,” he instructed, remaining as calm as ever — unlike Wemmbu — who was now wearing an awkward grin that told, ‘Nothing is going to go well and I fully believe that,’.
Nonetheless, he nodded, following Parrot’s instructions carefully. Though, he couldn’t help but ask himself, ‘What was the worst that could even happen?’ After all, if the ice really just broke underneath Wemmbu, he could just climb out of it before the chills consumed him whole.
Another fragmenting-like noise broke out from beneath his feet.
“Yeah, no—!” A yelp could barely escape his lips as the sheet completely separated apart, drowned out by the freezing water.
And oh was it cold as fuck.
The sudden temperature decrease practically killed Wemmbu’s thoughts and brain as a whole. He shut his mouth with the only minute amount of oxygen he hadn’t gasped out when he let out a noise of distress to alert Parrot.
Everything was a blur around him. His eyes couldn’t adjust to the water as it swished him around, and long before, he couldn’t see where he’d fallen from.
In a panic, Wemmbu tried to swim forwards again to find the hole in the ice, but it was no use. And more movements would just tire him out even more.
So he stopped in place to try and at least tap the ice so Parrot would know where he was — only for it to be useless as his punches were slowed down by the drag of the water.
‘Why did it have to be me…?!’ Wemmbu hissed, mentally. ‘At least I wouldn’t take this long to find someone underneath the ice!’
It was getting more difficult to hold in his breath and the brief amount of oxygen he could collect before sinking was not enough for his body to be sustained. If he had just reacted fast enough, maybe he would’ve gotten a lot more than this. And maybe if he was that lucky, Parrot could actually find him before he passed out and sank to the bottom of the floor.
His heartbeats rose to the inside of his ears, thumping loudly with every second passing by. Wemmbu’s eyes were starting to hurt from the salt water — but he didn’t want to shut them in fear of swaying somewhere further from his current position. The further he was from his initial position, the less likely Parrot would be able to find him.
Wemmbu could feel how there was a slight, internal press to his nose and chest as his body was trying to gasp for air. But he couldn’t let go, otherwise his lungs would stuff up with liquid and he’d eventually suffocate and drown.
But with one final, dull and coaxing push, he accidentally let his mouth open.
The water seeped into his throat instantly, taking up all the space it could before he shut it again — only for his body to instinctively gasp again in an attempt to find oxygen.
‘Shit, shit, shit—!’ He could barely process his own thoughts as his throat and lungs began to burn, the pain sparking like someone had just lit his organs on fire with a matchstick. Wemmbu could feel his eyes gloss up, his tears getting lost in the ocean. Eventually, it felt like all he was made of was the damn saline liquid. His ears were unequally pressurised, he realised with the sounds on his left ear being way quieter than the other.
In another attempt, out of how desperate he was, he scratched as harshly as he could at the ice with the hope of the sound somehow passing through. He waited a few moments.
And a few more.
Before he spotted a soft shadow.
‘Parrot—!’ He wanted to scream, which resulted in only his mouth moving due to extremely obvious reasons. With a few, agonisingly slow punches, it seemed like Parrot had noticed him from the other side.
His eyes twitched, wanting to droop, but he kept them as open as he could. The water stung his eyes again as if it was to warn him. He didn’t care.
It felt like hours before a block of ice opened up for Wemmbu, a hand reaching out to reach for him. He took it, holding with a surprisingly tight grip as he was pulled out and pushed right back onto the excruciatingly cold surface.
“Gosh, I am so sorry—!” He could barely register Parrot’s voice, head dizzy and shutting down from the lack of air. The avian’s eyebrows furrowed in concern as he pressed his hands roughly onto Wemmbu’s chest.
He instantly rolled over to his side, retching out the water that had been trapped for so long. Parrot shuffled a little, hands flying up as if he were surrendering, taken aback by the sudden jolt of movement. Slowly, he placed his hand on Wemmbu’s back to somewhat ground him.
It took him a long time to choke out everything and gasp for the much needed air.
“It’s fine…” Another shallow breath and cough. Wemmbu could feel his body fall limp as he listed sideways, Parrot barely catching him.
He held Wemmbu carefully, cautiously moving his head to rest on his lap rather than the ice. He let go of him, pulling his maroon scarf off of himself and wrapping it around the demon instead.
“You’re freezing.”
“No shit.” He instantly shot back. “Why’d you even take so long to find— me?” His voice was hoarse from how it suddenly felt so dry.
Parrot slightly frowned. “Sorry. The ice isn’t too clear and my own reflection didn’t help.” He carefully took a bunch of firewood from his inventory as he set them up in a cone-like shape, weary to not move too much so Wemmbu could rest. Then, he took out a flint and steel and flicked it against the collections of bark and wood as a warm fire grew, tossing a few more pieces.
“…Can you sit up?” Parrot questioned, but he was already moving to help Wemmbu up. He groaned in protest for half a second before letting Parrot manhandle him.
The campfire didn’t help at first with Wemmbu’s lack of warmth, mumbling small complaints under his breath as he sat there impatiently along with noticeable shudders. But with time, the fire settled him into a more comfortable temperature.
Wemmbu’s eyes drooped slightly before closing for a brief moment as he let out a deep exhale from his nose. His eyes fluttered open, half-lidded.
“…We should go. The debate.” He reminded, voice quieter.
“No.”
That took him slightly off guard, considering how urgent Parrot was before. “Why?”
Parrot scoffed. “Bro, you literally just almost drowned. We’re not going until you’re mostly recovered.”
“But I’m already—” Wemmbu paused as he noticed the look on the avian’s face — one that challenged him to go on. He groaned. “Fine.”
“But only for a minute. Then, we’ll go.” His eyes were already ready to completely shut and knock the conscious soul out of him.
…God. He hated this.
‘He passed out.’
Parrot let out a sigh of relief. Finally, for once, Wemmbu was letting himself rest. He almost felt like he'd never seen the demon actually sleep with how his eyebags only — somehow, to this day — still worsened.
He let his fingers run through Wemmbu’s purple locks, drifting in and out of the strands. His hair was tied in a simple ponytail, reaching all the way to just a few centimetres above his waist, which was actually impressive. He’d never seen someone with (somewhat) long and healthy hair, while simultaneously being a fighter. Wouldn’t it have gotten cut off at some points?
Though, he did notice that some of the ends seemed to be chopped off forcefully. And it seemed like his hair was shorter than about a year or two ago.
Then he spotted another thing.
A few short, horizontal scars that barely scratched the surface of Wemmbu’s nape.
Perhaps someone did intentionally try or succeed into cutting his hair off, or those were attempts at killing him.
It was kind of… unsettling to think about why so many people wanted to kill each other. Couldn’t they just leave those who wanted to live in peace? Why was power, let alone strength, so significant in a world like this? Why did innocent lives have to be involved?
And who knows, maybe most of them don’t even want to fight. There may be people like Ashswag, but there’s also those like Wemmbu who are just trying to survive.
No one wanted this. Not ever.
Yet it seems like the server can’t get enough of this chaotic anarchy.
And Parrot would never understand.
Parrot’s thoughts were interrupted as he noticed a soft mumble from Wemmbu, eyes instantly glancing down.
“You good?” He asked casually. “Heard you say something.”
Wemmbu shook his head subtly, shuffling a little to turn on his side again. He seemed more comfortable than Parrot could ever imagine he’d like to admit.
Parrot smiled with a soft chuckle. “Alright. We probably gotta go now.” He tapped his shoulders lightly. Before Wemmbu could protest, he was already shuffling to get him off and force him to stand up.
“I don’t—” Wemmbu, as expected, tried to resist the small amount of help Parrot was offering. But with the roll of his eyes, he gave up and let him take most of his weight when pulling him up.
“Yeah, yeah, sure.” He mocked with a hint of friendliness. “Just hurry and get up.”