***
When the water-figure was satisfied that Sai was deeply asleep, it bent down and lightly ran its hand through his hair and down his face. Sai murmured something, and tilted his head in a similar way that a cat would when wanting more of a scratch. The water-figure smiled slightly and obliged with affection. A smile split across Sai's lips.
"Sai?" Came a distant call. The water-figure looked up at the sound
"SAI!" Another voice yelled urgently.
Sai grimaced, shifting in his sleep. The water-figure looked slightly annoyed. They were not supposed to come looking so soon! They were supposed to give it time to help him rest! Look at him! See the distress he felt just from hearing their distant voices?
It made up it's mind to give him all the time he needed. It bent down again and blew into Sai's ear. A cold mist snaked from it's mouth across the small distance between it and him, and drifted into his ear. Sai shifted a bit more, looking about ready to wake.
"Open your eyes." It spoke gently.
Sai's eyes opened half way.
"Come with me." It floated back towards the center of the lagoon, arms out to him expectantly. Sai nodded dreamily and slowly climbed to his feet, never taking his hooded eyes off the figure. The world around him was hidden within a fog that had suddenly appeared, and was made eerie by the echo of calling voices. Voices that he could hear, but not comprehend. There was only one he could understand, and that was from the water-figure calling him closer. His breath and pulse were loud in his ears as he placed one foot in front of the other and stepped towards the lagoon.
The grass beneath his shoes gave way to muddy gravel, then to mud, then to sludgy water. He gasped slightly as he felt cool wetness seep through his shoes. Another step and water flowed over his feet. Another step and the soft pressure of the water flowed up against his legs, raising further up his legs and body the deeper he stepped. His hands hung loosely by his sides, floating slightly as the water pushed them up from his body.
It was nice to be able to wade into his element like this. The water was cold, but not so bad that it was uncomfortable. The water-figure was smiling to him in a friendly way, lowering it's self into the water so it was below his eye level. He looked down at it's eyes, returning it's smile.
The voices were getting louder, but he still could not understand them. They were just noises to his ears, similar to a birds song maybe, but nothing understandable. They were unimportant any way.
The water-figure extended a hand to him and he clasped it easily, trusting completely. It pulled him forward, so now he was swimming with it, shoulders under the water, and ends of his hair dripping. Sai could feel it pressed against his chest and body like a solid thing, and laughed quietly, letting it draw him close with it's arms around his waist.
The voices were growing louder. So much so that one of them sounded only a small distance away. Maybe just back behind the trees, but that was unimportant. The water-figure pressed it's forehead against his and they sank beneath the surface leaving not so much as a ripple behind.
Ryo abruptly stopped running when he almost tripped into a large lagoon of sludgy off water, arms wind milling until he caught his balance. He recoiled at the wafting smell with disgust, and surveyed his surroundings. A thin mist hung amongst the trees, giving everything a dreary dead look. The leaves of the trees closest to the lagoon were an ugly yellow, the only real color to the place. Strange stick-like weeds grew in clumps in the mud. There were no sounds except three voices calling for their lost friend and the wind as it moaned through the trees.
Ryo shivered, clutching his arms around his chest. He should never have yelled at Sai. Not like that. Not over THAT. Neither should have the others. It was his own fault. HE stopped Rowan from chasing after Sai when he wanted too, and God only knows where Sai had gotten too now. Sai had locked them out of his mind the moment he had ran through the door, leaving only emptiness. An emptiness that had just grown more so. Ryo did not like emptiness. Especially not this kind.
Something caught in his peripheral vision. On the ground just near his feet. Foot prints leading into the water. Track marks that he recognized from Sai's shoes. He followed them with his eyes into the depths of the horrid blackness, feeling panic grow. There were no footprints leading out again.
/Oh no. Oh no. no no no... /
"GUYS!!" He shrieked.
**************
to be continued....