It's a human? He thought to himself, placing a hand on his forehead as he tried to recover from the fright he had just received.

Aquas' mind started to wonder what in the world a human doing on the beach this late at night on the beach when he began to feel calm. It didn't make sense to him, no one lived around.

A small gasp left Aquas' lips when a wave of realization overcame him.

The witch. He thought, getting up before looking down at the others. He contemplated waking them up but the thought of the witch getting far made him think otherwise. Without even slipping his feet back into his boots, Aquas hurried into the bush, following the small path of newly tampered grass. His heart sunk in fear when he spotted the witch's strolling figure in front of him. He slowed down his pace, making sure to stay by the bushes as he followed her through the path.

His heart beat against his ribcage as he thought of what would happen if she just decided to turn. It would all be over and he wouldn't be able to see his human again.

He followed her until they came into a clearing in the bushes filled with displaced rocks about a small hill.

Aquas' eyes widened. They'd only been searching the caves that had been carved out by erosion by the beach, they hadn't thought of looking within the vegetation itself.

He paused, watching the witch disappear into a cave whose entrance was skillfully hidden behind the vegetation surrounding the hill. Aquas hurried after her, making sure his feet didn't make any noise as he tried his best to walk on his tiptoes in other not to crush dry leaves and twigs.

He let out a breath of relief and lowered his feet when he got to the cave's entrance. He flatted himself against its side, peeping through the vegetation to stop Jeffery who was bound into a rock with a series of ropes.

Aquas' heart fell at the sight. He couldn't miss Jeffery's hopeless expression. It was getting dark and the burning candles on the table the witch was working on at the corner of the cave was the only thing providing a dim yellow light. Aquas looked on at Jeffery in the partial darkness until the witch turned her head making him look away.

"It will take a while. I don't have everything I need..." Aquas heard the witch's voice trail. Her steps were almost soundless against the cave's floor but Aquas could hear the low gasp Jeffery had let out. He clenched his jaw, knowing that the witch had made her way to him, and was hurting him in some way.

"Be a man and bare the pains, I only need a substitute to carry on with my spell. I've been away for a while. My Madame only gave me a few days of grace. I don't have the time to source for the actual ingredients. I just hope it works. Time is running out..." Aquas heard the witch trail. She continued to talk in a hushed tone, her voice only interrupted by the occasional growl or whimper from Jeffery.

Aquas hugged himself as the chill breeze of the near night started to wear on him. He started to ask himself why he'd decided to come alone knowing fully well that he couldn't help Jeffery. He didn't know his way back to the camp either since he'd been more concentrated on following the witch instead of putting some thought into marking his path.

More hushed tones then a scream was what sent Aquas yelling in panic. His hands clapped over his mouth when a realization of what he'd just done hit him. He let out a gasp of fear before scrambling for the nearest bush in sight.

"What was that?" Aquas heard the witch's voice ask as he hugged his legs to his chest. His hiding spot was unfortunately itchy and crawling with disturbed insects but Aquas tried to shut out the stings and bites he was receiving. There was no way he was letting himself get caught.

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