The King's Men

Chapter 4

The quartet that our story is centered around was back on the move.

Shayne was beat tired as the sun shined relentlessly upon him and his companions.

"Is there any drinkable water nearby?" he asked tiredly.

It was scorching hot, Shayne was sweating more than he ever has before. His feet dragged along the ground as he trudged along the path. The teen could've sworn his feet were blistered completely to the bone from the heat and overuse.

"Shayne, we've only been walking for thirty minutes. It's only been a mile, and you've been complaining since twenty minutes ago," Hiroshi said with annoyance.

"I wasn't complaining!" Shayne retorted. "I was asking if there was water!"

"And since ten minutes ago the answer is still no! You drank all the water within the first twenty minutes!"

Shayne pouted as Hiroshi turned back. As soon as he saw the teen's expression, unbeknownst to the tired boy, Hiroshi blushed and immediately turned away. Ikuno, however, did notice this, but he didn't flinch. He already knew his friend's secret.

"There's a stream nearby," Ikuno said smoothly. "We can go and purify some water to drink."

Relieved that Shayne would get to drink water flowed through the group... For different reasons, of course.

As Shayne drank thirstily, he noticed something shiny inside the river. Curiosity got the best of him, and he slipped into the river.

"Shayne! Are you okay?" Hiroshi and Ikuno asked worridly.

"I'm fine, but the water container is gone!"

The other three of the group groaned.

For different reasons.

Suddenly, a woman's figure emerged from the river. She had long, flowing hair (A/N: Get it? XD) and looked wise beyond anyone else's imagination.

She held up a beautiful gold bottle that had gems encrusting the bottom and top rims.

"Is this yours? It seems to have an amazing ability that allows it to refill automatically, and a single sip of the water keeps your thirst quenched for a whole hour."

As Ikuno was about to say yes, as it would be more convenient than having their old bottle, Shayne stopped him, and told the truth.

"No, our bottle is not nearly that amazing."

Ikuno was ready to argue with Shayne, however, the woman suddenly smiled.

"Thank you for your honesty. Because of your kindness, I'll let you keep this bottle anyways. It can change its appearance based on what you want it to look like."

Shayne, somewhat shocked at the water nymph's generousity, accepted the gift, and the woman disappeared.

The four men stood shocked for a few moments, but before they recovered, the woman reappeared.

"Oh, yeah, the water inside also has healing abilities if you pour it on top of what needs to be healed." After that, she disappeared without resurfacing.

Shayne transformed the bottle into one that was more like the previous bottle's appearance, then they all went on the move again.

"How did you know how to deal with that situation?" Waren asked, amazed.

"I didn't, but I also didn't want to be dishonest." Shayne noticed Ikuno's expression darken a bit.

"Hey, it's okay. You only did what you thought was best," Shayne assured him. Ikuno weakly smiled back.

"Let's get a move-on to our next destination!" Shayne cheered.

The others enthusiastically agreed.

*timeskip*

On their way to the next town, they never expected to go through what they just did.

Author's Note:

Do any of you guys remember the story of the three sisters, in which one was honest and had gems and gold pour out her mouth when she spoke, and then the other two who lied and ended up pouring frogs and snakes from their mouths whenever they spoke? This was a variation of that story. There are also gonna be other variations to other stories from my childhood, so be prepared! :P

-Vanguard12😋