Adventures Together (England/Port)

[Portugal]

It had been a good three weeks since Arthur had found Afonso collapsed in the desert. And a good two and a half weeks since he’d left the Grim to return to La Madre Maria. Where he had received one of Antonio’s rare lectures, and been put on bed rest for three days; despite feeling perfectly fine. And during that time he learned of the treasure hunt his absence had derailed.

A ship had sunk somewhere by Hawaii. A ship which captain held a piece of the legendary map. Antonio had known the captain, and thus had planned to set out to retrieve the piece. Of course, with the navigator missing, they had been unable to go anywhere. Afonso had felt guilty about derailing their plans. The guilt adding to the guilt he already felt for worrying Arthur so much…

But soon a thought had settled itself in the Portuguese mans head. He knew, roughly, where the ship wreck was. After all, he was La Madre Maria’s navigator, and despite what Antonio and the others said he was a damn good one. He just had the misfortune of getting lost. And while technically this thought would lead to him betraying (in a sense) his crew well…

Well, he would maybe finally make it up to Arthur. He would be able to thank the pirate captain for saving his life.

So carefully he had snuck to the radio, contacting Arthur (as the two had exchanged frequency, for emergency purposes). Though first he had to endure an Australian boys teasing before Arthur had taken the radio from him. And still Afonso had heard the boy, James, shout something. Afonso hadn’t heard what, but he did hear Arthur threaten to tie the kid to the mast. Soon they had come up with a meeting place and time. All Afonso had to do was come up with a reason to leave the ship for a few days…

Of course, that turned out to be rather easy. The navigator had been known for wandering off to explore and update the maps he had. So he simply told Antonio (and swore on his mother’s life that he was not in any way shape or form sick) and off he was.

Standing now on the outskirts of the trenches, he waited for Arthur, hoping that the captain wouldn’t get lost. As well as hoping if maybe this would make it up to him…

(Pfft that was so fail. Sorry England ;u; )

[England]

A couple of hours by himself in one of the small boats he kept on his ship, and he was still bright red in the face and cursing James up and down for his parting comments as Arthur left the ship to go to... wherever it was that Afonso wanted to meet him at. Swearing once again that he'd force the austrailian youth to scrub floors and toilets for months when he got back, he turned green eyes back to looking for their meet-up location. Fumbling the portuguese man's compass, he wished that he was better at navigation than he was...

What had to be much longer past his anticipated arrival time as he'd had to just follow the coast until he found where Afonso had landed, he quickly hopped out of his boat and tied it down before trudging through pale sands to the other's side.

"... sorry I'm late." he said sheepishly, looking away in embarrassment. "Just... just got a bit lost." Coughing into his hand, he asked with a slightly higher pitched voice. "So... what exactly are we doing?"

[Portugal]

Afonoso wouldn't lie that he was a bit nervous when Arthur was late. It just didn't seem like the pirate captain to be late for things. Then again, it could just be nerves getting to him. He must have checked his pocket watch ten times within a minute while waiting. But he refused to admit that he was nervous of all things. It wasn't like this was a date. And even if it was it wasn't their first date... If you would count going to eat the day they first kissed a date.

Shielding his eyes from the sun he scanned the beach, finally spotting the familiar mop of hair. And a sigh of relief escaped him. Afonso waited until Arthur reached him, resisting the overwhelming urge to just sweep him up and kiss him.

And he did manage, that is until Arthur told him that he had gotten lost. And then he just looked too adorable. Afonoso grinned, leaning forward and planting a quick kiss against the others lips. not being able to resist. Really, did Arthur realize how adorable he looked when embarrassed? "We're going on a treasure hunt silly."

(-REREADS THIS 20 ZILLION TIMES- OTL; I hope no typos this time... Sorry that I failed hard core earlier...)

[England]

He wasn't able to stop the flush that crept across his face at the kiss, nor the rather goofy grin that bloomed in it's wake. God, every time he met Afonso, it was like... - he would never admit this out loud to anyone ever - it was like falling in love over and over again. It was bright and refreshing and he wished that he never had to leave. But... he'd respect Afonso's choice of staying with Carriedo, even if the thought of the spanish man doused his happy mood like being tossed in the Atlantic.

"Treasure hunt?" his ears practically perked up at that. "Sounds wonderful!" And... could this be considered a date? he coughed lightly, trying to will his blush away. Taking a small bit of initiative, he reached forward and lightly grabbed hold of one of the portuguese man's hands. "Lead on, my dear." And in the other hand, he held up Afonso's compass.

[Portugal]

He had to laugh seeing how Arthur perked up at the mere mention of a treasure hunt. That is before he felt his cheeks heat up, glancing down at their hands. And then, with a shy smile, he laced his fingers together with Arthur's. Giving the linked hands a playful swing. Afonso couldn't help but feel a giddy warmth spread throughout his body. Honestly, every moment spent was Arthur was just... Just an adventure in itself to him...

The sight of the familiar compass made Afonso's eyes light up. Oh how he had missed his old compass. None of the new ones worked as well. With a grin to Arthur he nodded, fishing the map out of his bag. "Not even going to ask what we're searching for?"

[England]

There was that silly grin on his face again as Afonso didn't push him away. Taking that as a good sign, Arthur stepped closer, nearly right up against the other man's side, enjoying the moment. "I trust you to not be leading me on a wild goose chase." he blurted out without realizing. Flushing brightly, he looked away. He must have sounded like some kind of dope.

"Good!" He couldn't help but grin at the other squeezing Arthur's hand affectionately. He couldn't believe that the other was actually here. Part of him felt like it was some wonder, amazing, dream... But it wasn't. And that made his grin turn into an incredibly dopey one. "I think you'll like it too."

But... He couldn't help but feel uneasy. Was this betraying his crew..?

"So, which way? I believe I should leave that to you as I..." he cleared his throat rather embarrassedly, trying to not mention that he got lost not ten minutes ago. "... as you are a very good navigator!" he finished, covering over his near admittance with the compliment.

In all honesty, he was a decent navigator - after all, they hadn't ever gotten really lost ever since he'd gotten the ship - but... but thoughts of Afonso were so distracting, so easy to get lost into that he'd veered off course and... was horribly late because of it.

He stopped dead, looking at Arthur with wide at the comment. Good navigator? Arthur actually... He almost dropped the map, flinging his arms around the other and pulling him into a tight hug. "Re-Really!? You think I'm a good navigator!?"

Caught completely off guard by the sudden hug, Arthur lost his balance on the soft sand, taking the other down with him with a surprised yelp. Quite suddenly, he found warm sand at his back and a warm person on top of him. And a very warm face, because of the rather... compromising position. "Ah... yes. I do."

Afonso was so estatic he didn't even notice the compromising position at first. Instead choosing to hug Arthur tightly, laughing like a goof. Slowly though, he became all too aware of the position. Cheeks heating up slightly, he pushed himself up, bracing his hands on either side of Arthur's face, all but straddling the others waist. For a moment he just stared down at Arthur, before nervously clearing his throat. "Desculpa..."

Face bright red and shocked speechless, Arthur could only stare up at Afonso and wonder if it'd be okay if he just sat up and kissed the man because if this wasn't the gods giving them an 'okay' to enjoy themselves, he didn't know what would. After a long pause, he licked his lips and cleared his throat, searching for something to say. "It's... it's alright." He wanted to smack himself, because that wasn't the smartest thing to say.

He wanted nothing more then to just kiss Arthur right there and then. But Afonso resisted that urge, instead pushing himself up and off Arthur. Rubbing the back of his neck, and willing his cheeks to cool, he offered his other hand to the Brit. "Um, really, sorry about that... Toni's always making fun of my navigating so..."

So he had honestly been beginning to doubt he was a good navigator at all.

Rather disappointed, he took the hand that was held out to him and used it to pull himself off. Dusting sand from his jacket and pants he took the moment to hide his face, hoping that it would become less red if he had just a few moments.

Finally, he looked back up, faint smile on his lips. "This... this is another reason why I think that your Captain is an idiot. You're an amazing navigator." and he meant it... even if he didn't actually have any proof of the fact, he was just completely certain that he was.

That made his cheeks flush more, Afonso pointed looking away in embarrasment. And he couldn't help himself from shaking his head at the words. No, he really hadn't been that good lately. After all, that whole problem with those Aztecs probably would have never happened...

He couldn't help but rub his head at the reminder...

"Toni's just... An air head. But he's not an idiot. 's right. I get lost a lot..." Granted, he got lost often because he was day dreaming and thinking about Arthur, but that was besides the point.

Coming to the sudden realization that while they were talking, neither one had let go of each others hand. With a faint snort, he lifted Afonso's hand up to give it a quick peck. "I find myself doubting that. Shall we carry on?" he blustered his way onwards, feeling like he was trying to swim in this whole 'love' thing. And he knew how piss poor he was at that.

He chuckled a bit, grateful for the somewhat subject change. Nodding he followed after Arthur, lacing their fingers together with ease. The other hand holding the map up again as he paused to gauge their surrondings.

"We'll have to be careful once we get into the trenches. I've heard a few nasty stories from the villagers surronding this place..."

[England]

(ahaha... I color coded most of this... then my internet randomly closed. So... you guys get to figure out who's saying what now because I'm too depressed to try again =3=)

(EDIT: All your color codedness belongs to Lilymod ~w~b)


"I've heard a little bit about them. One of my former captains crewmen took a ship down here and only barely made it out." Except he wasn't too worried about it. The man had foolishly taken a full galleon down the trenches. The two of them were either going by boat or by foot, which wouldn't be as likely to be damaged in the narrow passage. "What did they say about them?"

Afonso simply shrugged. "Oh, they went on about how people wander into the trenches only to never come out again. That demons and ghosts haunt the area. Mostly superstitions."

He chuckled a bit, remember some of the wildest ideas very well. "I didn't believe any of them."

"Demons and ghosts, huh?" he mumbled, thinking of the few spells he knew to take care of those specific supernatural occurrences. That was certainly one thing they wouldn't have to worry about. "Are we taking a boat or going by foot?" he asked, absently giving Afonso's hand a squeeze as he stared at the entrance to the trench.

"I thought going by foot would be easier. Some of the waterways become incredibly narrow." At least according to the maps he had managed to find. He smiled at Arthur as they reached the entrance. "You ready?"

Incredibly glad that he'd worn his good pair of rubber-soled walking shoes - even better, he wasn't wearing that one pair he had in his cabin that had a bit of a heel to it - Arthur nodded, giving back an assuring smile. "Indeed I - wait." he paused, taking into account exactly where they were going. "... to be on the safe side, let me go grab that first aid kit out of my boat." Because he was not chancing something happening to them and having no way of taking care of it.

"Ah... That would probably be a very good idea..." He had neglected to pack his own. Which was silly in his opinion. Especially since it was Arthur he was going on this adventure with. And knowing the mans track record of getting hurt... Yes, a first aid kit was a very good idea. "Let's get that first aid kit."

Hustling back to the boat, Arthur grabbed the relatively small kit. He'd filled it with the basics, from bandages to painkillers and took a moment to send out a wordless prayer that he wouldn't have to open the dratted thing at all. Shoving it into a small bag that he hooked over his shoulder, Arthur picked up Afonso's hand again. "Let's try that again." he said, amusement tinging his voice. "Now I'm ready. Let's go."

"Sure you didn't forget anything else?" He asked, even as they were walking back to the entrance. Pausing at the entrance again, Afonso couldn't help but hesistate slightly. But only for a moment. Squeezing Arthur's hand, he shot the Brit a warm smile, crossing over the thresh hold and into the trenches. "Let's get going."

"Positive. It's not like I'll need to be bristling with guns for this adventure. Most everyone, as you say, avoids this area." He scoffed. "I'm hardly afraid of rocks attacking me." Stepping forward, he took his first good look at the trench - even from where they were standing, they were at least a good ten feet in the air above the bottom where the water was. Right beside them was a waterfall, and, thankfully, the sides of the trench were worn away in such a way that they could walk relatively easily along the sides without falling. So long as they didn't slip, he thought in retrospect.

"Knowing your luck though, a rock would attack you." He teased, not able to help himself. Taking in the terrain he nodded to himself, carefully beginning to walk along the sides. Holding onto Arthur's hand tightly. The last thing he wanted was for one of them to fall. "Watch your step, alright?"

Stepping up behind Afonso, Arthur snorted rather inelegantly. "It would not!" he huffed, lips twitching into a smile as he couldn't help himself. But he did take that advice into account, keeping a careful eye on his every step. The chances of not hitting a protruding rock on the way down wasn't very appealing... and if he survived that, falling into the water was almost a death sentence for him. It had been a couple months since his last lesson with James as he'd been running around, away from the Grim more often than he spent time on board. If he could keep himself afloat, he'd be amazed.

Glancing back at Arthur, Afonso couldn't help but chuckle a bit. But said nothing more on the subject. Instead he focused on the path in front of him. Keeping an eye out for any obstructions or things that would trip them up. Soon though, the need to break the silence became too much. "Where does your crew think you are? Because he doubted Arthur had told them the truth.

"My crew?" Arthur rolled his eyes, remembering. "James - err, that loudmouthed australian that wolf-whistled us when we met up in europe - he heard us speaking over the radio. So, in other words, the majority of my crew knows exactly where I am and are probably making horrible, dirty assumptions as to what I'm spending my time doing." Except, maybe for Alfred. Despite being his aide, the boy tended to not notice things like this very often, he found. "And yours?"

"They think I'm exploring the area." He laughed a bit, just imagining what Arthur's crew was probably saying. "Which might be best for us. That my crew remain in the dark a bit. Especially because, well y'know Antonio..."

"I do know." he said, warily watching his step as there was a growth of very slippery looking moss beneath his feet. "Sometimes I wonder exactly why we hate each oth... er..." he paused, stumbling on a missed step. Of course he knew why he hated the man - right? They.... they'd fought, right? He could have sworn they'd been enemies.... he just couldn't quite remember when or where.

Afonso came to a halt, glancing back a bit confused. Something in the stumble didn't sit right. Tilting his head to one side he looked back at Arthur, a frown tugging at his expression. "Is everything alright..?" And then, he couldn't help but wonder... "What did happen... To make you two hate each other so much?"

"I...." he paused, a rather odd and unpleasantly fuzzy feeling coming over him. "I... could have sworn we.... fought each other..." he felt every inch as uncertain as his voice. In fact... when had he met the captain? He could picture the man in his head, he could remember seeing him from a distance... but when he'd met Afonso for the first time, when he'd been captured by Carriedo's ship... the captain wasn't one of the people who'd roughed him up. Had.... he had to have met the man, fought with him. But... why couldn't he remember doing so? "I... can't remember..." he frowned, losing track of where he was for a long enough moment that his foot slipped off the edge of the rock wall.

Afonso began to grow more and more worried as Arthur continued to speak. Something was not right. Could it be that... Had Arthur and Antonio never actually met? But that would make so sense, why would they hate-

His arm jolted as Arthur slipped, sending the Portuguese man off balance. And he only barely managed to stay on the ledge, suddenly incredibly grateful that they had still been holding hands. "Ar-Arthur! You okay?!"

He came back to himself with a jolt, hand gripping Afonso's convulsively, toes digging into the stone as well as he could. He stopped falling, one arm pinwheeling in the air for a long moment. Using Afonso to pull himself up, he grabbed onto the other mans arm when he managed to get back onto level ground. "Holy..." he gasped, shivering lightly. "I'm... I'm alright. Sorry about that." his heart beat began to slow back to normal pace. "What were we talking about again?" he couldn't quite remember, having been distracted by the sudden slip.

Afonso couldn't even remember what they had been talking about. Instead, he pulled Arthur into a tight hug the moment he was sure the Brit was not going to fall again. He said nothing for a long while, doing his best to ease his own heart beat. That had been too close. Far too close for his liking. "Don't... Don't do that again." He finally managed to choke up, just barely loosening his grip.

He stopped trying to remember what they'd been talking about - he could literally feel the distress radiating off Afonso and that took up his attention. "Shh, shh. It's okay. I'm okay love." Arthur held him close, running a hand soothingly up and down his back, the other tangled in his long hair. "I promise. I'll be careful." he mumbled into Afonso's ear, pressing a dry kiss to his temple. He kept murmuring soothing things until Afonso pulled away.

He nodded slowly, loosening his grip until he had let Arthur go. And afterwards he couldn't help but smile sheepishly. "Sorry..." But he couldn't help himself from panicking. The moment Arthur had slipped... The image of a bloody and lifeless Arthur had flashed through his mind. And for a moment, he had been afraid that image was a premonition then just a passing panicked thought.

At times like this, Arthur was glad no one could see them, as he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Afonso's lips. "Don't be sorry. It's alright." he said before his mind caught up with the rest of him. Did... did he really just kiss him? Out of the blue and everything? Christ... he could feel his face turning redder as he backed - very carefully making sure he wasn't backing off the wall again - a step away, clearing his throat self consciously. "I mean... there's nothing to be sorry for. Nothing bad happened."

His cheeks warmed slightly at the out of the blue kiss. But that soon faded into an almost dopey smile. Nodding, though not necesarrially hearing what Arthur had just said, he took the others hand. Stepping forward again. He had only gotten one step though, before he had to stop, leaning forward and kissing Arthur's cheek. "You're so cute when you blush."

Blushing stronger at that comment and the kiss to his cheek, Arthur ducked his head in embarrassment, stepping around Afonso and taking a few steps ahead in his haste to try and cool his flaming face. Then he stopped, paused for a minute, then came back and grabbed Afonso's hand, not wanting to leave him behind or look like he wanted to leave him behind. "M-moving on!" he nearly squeaked, he tugged them forward, paying especially good attention to the ground again.

Laughing at Arthur's reaction, he nodded allowing Arthur to lead for a while. After all, they could only go straight at the moment. Relaxing he let his eyes drift away from the ground that he really sound be watching. Instead looking around the trenches. There was an an sense of beauty to them. A dangerous sort of beauty, but beauty none the less.

The shelf they were on ended abruptly before them, leaving a wide gap between where they were and the next shelf. Stopping and pondering how to get across, Arthur knelt down and leaned out a bit, checking to see if there was a way down. The two shelves came down in a bit of a 'v', with the other one having broken into two definite parts. "Look, we can climb down here and keep going on that lower shelf for a good bit." he pointed it out to Afonso.

Afonso had nearly walked right into Arthur, snapping out of his musings at the very last minute. Looking over the others shoulder he nodded a bit, before sorting through his bag. "I packed some rope, it might make climbing down a bit easier." And a bit safer.

"That'd be great." he quickly looked around and found that there was a hole in the rock wall - perhaps strong enough to hold up a persons weight. Tying it securely through the hole, he tugged once, then harder, then with all his weight. It held. "Alright. Here I go."

He reached out, grabbing Arthur's upper arm with a frown. It really didn't like the idea of Arthur going first, what if the rope didn't hold? The image flashed through his mind again, Afonso shaking it away. "Let me go first."

He shook his head, frowning. "... don't take this the wrong way, Afonso, but I think I'm heavier than you. If it can hold my weight, you should be fine coming down afterwards." He chuckled rather ruefully. "Rather, if I came down after you and it broke, I wouldn't want to crush you by landing on you."

He rolled his eyes at the comment. Not being able to help but chuckle. "I doubt your much heavier then I am Arthur." Honestly, Arthur was shorter then him, and thin. Where did he get that idea?

Going down the rock with almost squirrel like speed, Arthur found his feet quickly planted at the bottom, safely and in one piece. "There we go, Afonso! See? It was fine!" he laughed. "Come down - if you fall, I'll catch you!"

"I think I'd crush you!" He called down, but couldn't help but laugh along with Arthur. Really, he was worrying for nothing, he decided as he began to climb down the rock. Though not as fast as Arthur had gone.

Standing back so the other could climb down and not step on him when he reached head-level, Arthur took the moments where Afonso wasn't looking in his direction to... go red in the face as he appreciated the other man's backside. Watching all his muscles flex with quiet strength, the urge to just reach out and touch him was high. But, with a faint sigh and curbed desires, he kept his hands to himself. This was hardly the ideal place for.... anything romantic.

Letting himself drop the last few inches, he sighed relieved to be on solid ground again. Turning to look at Arthur he was about to say something, but stopped. Blinking at why Arthur was suddenly red. "You alright..?"

He shook his head, pursing his lips together and flushing brighter. "N-no reason!" he coughed, trying to will the redness away, but just glancing at Afonso made his face burn all over again. "Nothing at all!"

He chuckled a bit, leaning forward until his face was only and inch or so away from Arthur's. "Really? Because you look like a tomato. Did you catch my cold?" He couldn't help himself from teasing Arthur. He really couldn't.

Shaking his head again, Arthur turned and made the small jump across to the next steppe. "No, I'm fine... just... a little too much sun! I burn so easily!" he laughed half-heartedly. Turning back around to offer a hand to Afonso so he could jump across, Arthur tried his hardest to think of things that would be unattractive enough to make his blush go away.

"Maybe we should get you a parasol or something then?" He chuckled, hesitating slightly before taking the offered hand. Honestly, he could have jumped without the help but... Well it was nice to hold Arthur's hand. "I have some sun block if you'd like?"

"No, no. I'm fine. Really." he started leading, not letting go of the other's hand. Already he could see that this shelf wasn't going to go far - the one above them sloped down and soon enough, he was bending over so his head wouldn't scrape against the top. Soon enough, it came to a choice: climb back up to the shelf above, or go down further, closer to the water.

He frowned looking between their two options. While the walking along the shelf was probably safer, getting up there could be difficult. Plus, they had no way of telling how long it would be until they needed to get back down. And while the water wasn't exactly the safest, there was a thin bank. And it would just be a straight walk... "What do you think we should do?"

Biting his lip, looking both up and down, he frowned. Going up would involve climbing, and the water levels in the path had smoothed the surface of the rock down incredibly well. So, in all honesty... "... we should go down - it looks like the track goes much farther. How far do we have to go?" he looked at Afonso, who was still carrying the map.

Fishing the map out of his bag again he checked it. Frowning a little as he mentally tried to calculate just how much further they had to go until the wreck. "About a mile, but with this terrain we should go slow..."

Nodding, once again he leaned farther over the side, this time with more trepidation than before. Falling here would mean not only hitting rocks, but water. But he refused to back down in front of Afonso, so with his hands and feet and a sense of dread, Arthur dangled over the side as far as he could before letting go and hitting the slippery rock below.

He waited, holding his breath, as Arthur lowered himself down. The entire time Afonso couldn't help but remain tense, ready to spring into action should Arthur slip. But when he landed safely, he relaxed. A sigh of relief escaping him. Then he moved to dangle himself over the side. Taking a deep breath before letting go.

And then, the world tilted to one side. A sharp pain shooting out from his ankle as it twisted unnaturally. Afonso flailing his arms out to keep his balance. He was far too close to the edge for his liking.

He watched as Afonso let go of the ledge with bated breath. All seemed well for just a moment - then the other man began to fall, a look of pain on his face. "Afonso!" he yelped, as he fell straight for Arthur. Bracing himself didn't help - the ground was slick with water and slime and Afonso weighed enough that even his sturdy boots couldn't keep him upright. There was one thing he could do: push Afonso away from him before he hit... the... water...

He barely had a moment to panic as he went under the surface of the water before his head hit a rock and everything went black.

He had fallen over when Arthur pushed him back, landing a bit harshly. But within a second he was up again, ignoring the sharp pain from his ankle and reaching out to try and grab Arthur. But he was too late, watching in terror as he went under the water. And why was he coming up? Didn't he know how to swim? A frightened chill went through him. What if he didn't know how to swim... What if...

Without any further thinking, or any rational thought, Afonso was diving into the water, desperately fighting against the current to find Arthur.

The shock of the cold water didn't keep him unconscious for long - but it was a dizzy and terrifying thing to wake up to. The water tumbled him around in all directions, he couldn't tell which way was up and he was quickly running out of air. Scrabbling around, he bashed his knuckles and knees on stones and other objects - some of which felt rather wooden - which told him which way was down, but gave him no grip or chance to even push off before he was swept further and further away. Dimly, as his vision began to tinge red, he wondered if Afonso was okay - if he'd managed to stay on the ledge safely...

He surfaced, only when his lungs began to burn too much. Gasping he did his best to remain focused, peering through soaking wet bangs to see if he could spot Arthur. But he couldn't, meaning he had to keep searching. His stomach knotted uneasily, panic running through his veins as he went under the water again, catching sight of different wrecks. What if he couldn't find him? Or what if he found him, and it would be too late..?

It was cold and dank. That and his legs were submerged in frigid water to the point of numbness told him he'd been out for a while this time. Getting to his knees proved impossible at first as the moment he moved his head felt as if it'd split open and the dizziness took over so much that all he could do was lay there helplessly and vomit. The stink of that and the smell of the damp sent him into dry heaves until he regained enough sense to drag himself away, inch by slow inch.

He would have kept going if his fingers had not touched something pointy and smoother than stone. Opening a bleary eye, he almost spat out the spell for light. And instantly wished he hadn't as he saw the mostly rotted corpse of what was once, he assumed, a sailor who lost his life in the trench. It freaked him out enough that he lost the concentration needed to keep his spell going and, with no little relief, it was dark again. Arthur shuffled back a bit so he wouldn't touch the body again.

Where was he?

He couldn't find him. No matter how many times he looked, Afonso couldn't spot Arthur. And if he hadn't surface yet. The Portuguese man felt a frightened chill run down his spine as he finally pulled himself out of the river and onto the thin bank. He could barely even notice how numb the water had made him, blank eyes continuing to gaze ahead at the river, as if praying a familiar mop of blonde hair would appear. Arthur had to be okay, he had too... Maybe he was just down the river? That had to be it. He refused to believe he had lost the other. He just did! So with this thought in mind, Afonso pushed himself onto unsteady feet. Ignoring how his ankle throbbed as he walked along the bank, keeping his eyes peeled for anything that screamed Arthur.

The intense cold of the water wracked his body with shivers as he finally managed to pull himself out of the water enough to tuck his legs in against his body. Not that it helped - all the warmth felt sucked out of him. About to mutter a warming charm, Arthur was distracted by an oddly glowing light above his head.

Looking up, he saw what seemed to be the transparent shade of his disturbing companion on the small ledge. Teeth chattering, he watched with trepidation as it came down from high above, slowly, ever so slowly - like it was swimming against the current just to reach him. Finally, a finger reached out to touch him...

And if he'd thought the cold before was bad, the slightest touch from the ghost felt like he'd been incased in ice. At first, his teeth were chattering so badly that he couldn't even mutter a spell to protect himself... but then, as the ghosts finger began to sink inside of him - and the strange double-feeling of possession started to crawl into his mind, he cast the first spell that came to mind.

It was, quite easily, the strongest light spell he'd ever cast. The lights could be seen outside of the cave he was in, heck probably from the top of the trench as well. It seared through the ghost, who dissipated with an otherworldly wail - leaving Arthur to shiver by himself, colder than he was before and wondering if he would soon be haunting this place as well.

The sudden light made Afonso jump a good foot, and land on his injured one. Nearly falling over he just stared at the spot in which it had come from. Arthur. He wasn't sure how he knew that Arthru was by that light but...

Before he realized it fully he was swimming through the water again. Diving beneath the current and falling the fading light. It was blinding really. But he ignored it, continuing foward. And then he spotted it, a cave from the look of it, that's where the light was coming from.

His lungs were burning, but he pushed forward, ignoring the sharp throbs from his ankle as the current shoved at it. He could make it, Arthur was there. Arthur was alright, right?

He surface in the cave, coughing and gasping for air. Afonso wasted no time though to rest, squinting through the darkness, though even darker spots were dancing in front of his eyes. Maybe staring at the light hadn't been too smart... "Arthur!?"

(will post next part soon~)