Red rose from his spot at the dinner table. Whatever the others thought, he couldn't get the unease out of his system. There was something wrong here. He was certain about one thing: it was better to be wrong about the missing man than to ignore his unease.
"Hey, is everything okay?" Vizim asked him.
The others had also stopped their chattering to look up at him, "I don't know. I feel like Wren should already be here by now. I think we should go look for him."
The sailors glanced around. They all seemed uncertain. They had known Wren for many years, so it made sense for them to assume it was him slacking again.
However, Red did not think he would just skip dinner entirely. That made no sense for someone as lazy as him.
"It'll be fine," Kalin muttered uncertainly.
"I am worried that something happened. So, you guys can stay here if you want, but I at least am going to find him."
"I'll come," Vizim rose, dusting some crumbs off his pants.
"Well, if you insist, then I guess we can find that blasted man."
"I swear if we find him camped out on the latrine, I'm gonna be pissed."
"You and me both."
Red didn't wait for the sailors to get up. He rushed out of the room with Vizim close on his heels. He hadn't even the slightest idea of where Wren could be. Perhaps the sailors were right, and the best place to check was the latrines. They funneled out of the mess hall after him.
"We should spread out," Red called across the gloomy fort, "Each of us should take a part of the fort."
"He's really taking this seriously," One of the sailors murmured.
Red ignored him and started off towards the fighting area. Vizim followed him more slowly at first, but eventually rushed to catch up.
With the sun below the trees, massive shadows loomed across the empty fort. There was no hustle and bustle, no talking, only silence. It all felt wrong.
"Red."
He continued forward.
"Red!"
Turning, Red found himself face to face with his friend, "What?"
"Are you okay? You seem very worked up right now?" Vizim asked.
He shook his head, "I'm fine. It's just…Well, I don't know. Something about this made me feel uneasy. After the jungle, I've begun to trust my instincts, and there is something off right now. I just, I don't know. He should have shown up."
"I understand, but maybe we shouldn't just jump straight to the worst-case scenario. I mean, it is perfectly likely that he just wanted an early night."
"I know, but we still need to check." With that, he turned back to the fort.
They continued their walk around the fort. They stopped and checked a few buildings along the way, just to make sure Wren had disappeared somewhere inside.
They found nothing.
The entire end of the fort was completely empty.
Vizim insisted that the others would have found him. Red knew that he was likely right. There was no reason for Wren to be at their end of the fort at this hour. It was far more likely that he had been off doing some random chore that he thought of…or was still sitting in the latrine.
His unease only continued to grow as he started back towards the rest of the fort.
He spotted six figures in the distance, and for a moment, he thought they had succeeded. That was until he sensed the power from the sixth figure. It was not Wren. It was Zara. She must have seen their strange actions and come to investigate.
"Oh, there they are…" Shaun trailed off, "You two didn't find him either."
Zara turned to them, "No sign of him on that end?"
"No, it was quiet."
She nodded, "Give me a moment."
The sailors all tensed at Red's declaration. None of them had found Wren. He had gone missing, somehow. Red watched Zara closely. She had her eyes closed, but strangely enough, it appeared that she was moving her eyes beneath her eyelids. Eventually, she opened them and looked around the tense-filled group.
"Are you all certain that he wouldn't have run off into the jungle to… I don't know, maybe join the pirates?" She asked pointedly.
"Absolutely not!" A few of the sailors yelled in indignation.
"Wren may have had his fair share of problems, but he wouldn't have abandoned us. That is simply not who he is."
Perhaps was, Red didn't say out loud.
"Alright, I am willing to believe you," Zara cut in before any more rambling could take place, "However, the fact of the matter is, he is missing right now. I can tell with certainty that no one has left or entered the fort. So perhaps he fell asleep somewhere. We can check again in the morning when we can actually see what we are doing."
The sailors nodded and began dispersing. Red didn't join them, and Vizim didn't leave either. They both watched the group go. Zara turned to them with a sour expression that told Red enough.
"You don't think we're going to find him, do you?" He asked once the sailors were out of earshot.
She shook her head as if clearing some thought, "No, I checked just now. He isn't here."
Red wasn't sure how that was possible, but he could never really be sure with those as strong as Zara.
"Then where is he?" Vizim cut in.
"I couldn't tell you. Since you all went to eat, no one has left the fort. However, that is all I can say. As for what happened inside, I wasn't watching."
"This just doesn't make any sense!" Vizim muttered, "How could someone have simply vanished straight out of the fort?"
While Vizim muttered to himself, Red didn't take his eyes off Zara's face. She stared back at him as if waiting for him to ask.
There was one obvious thing that Vizim had overlooked. He had overlooked it at first as well. But now it was starting to seem like the only plausible explanation, even if he didn't quite understand it himself.
It clearly didn't make any sense for Wren to have simply vanished. He hadn't even unlocked the first layer. There was no way for him to avoid Zara's detection. However, there was another, far more sinister possibility.
Perhaps it had not been Wren at all.
There were plenty of crazy abilities across the seven seas. While he hadn't experienced many, he knew that they were countless.
The possibility of one of the pirates or even the Pirate King himself having some strange ability seemed more and more of a possibility by the moment. One of them could have just picked Wren up and plopped him down without anyone noticing. Granted, that was likely not what happened at all, but something similar.
Instead of asking the obvious question, Red asked, "How could they have done it? Or who? And an even bigger question, why?"
Vizim paused his rambling and glanced at him, "What are you talking about?"
"Honestly, Red. I can't tell you with certainty. I had some ideas before this, and this event only hammered them home. There is no way for us to…" She trailed off.
"What is it?" Vizim asked.
Her eyes seemed to have glazed over, and despite them facing her, it was as if she wasn't present there at all. Zara stood there unmoving for a long moment. When her eyes refocused, there was a coldness within.
"You two should get some sleep."
"What is it?" Red asked firmly.
"Nothing you need to worry about. Now move it!"
He blinked in startlement. There was a franticness to her tone that he hadn't expected. That was enough to make both him and Vizim turn and head towards their bunks.
"What do you think that was?" He asked.
"No idea. I just know that something happened just now. What it is…I couldn't say."