The sight of the turtle as it fell on its back made all fall silent, their eyes wide from shock.
"A-are you sure, Brother?" Kael stuttered.
"Of course I am, you requested this, now give it a quick death," Blanc replied.
And Kael did not wait for another word.
He unsheathed his sword, placed it in the middle of the turtle's belly, and with a nod from Blanc, stabbed it deep, snuffing the life out of it in moments.
"Begin your harvest, Little Kael. We decide what to do in the meantime," Blanc said to him.
"All right," Kael muttered, kneeling on the ground and slowly placing his hand on the turtle's chest, above the wound he gave it, his mind going below the surface of the world.
"Well then," Blanc spoke, turning towards the others as Kael's mind left them, "What do we do now?"
"Where did this turtle come from?" Celine asked, still looking at the dead beast on the ground.
"From the underground tunnel," Blanc said.
"It swam against the strong current you mentioned?" Celine wondered, now looking into Blanc's eyes.
"It did," Blanc nodded, "When I was trying to understand the workings of the water being pulled in, it swam upwards from underneath, escaping the current with ease."
"Doesn't that mean it isn't that dangerous?" Celine kept throwing question after question, her mind working swiftly.
"It most likely means that the turtles know how to navigate it, while we don't," Blanc replied.
"Yeah, I don't think it's a good idea," Miyanna added.
"I second that," Blanc said before speaking his own thoughts, "But it's weird. I caught it with ease, meaning they don't hold that much intelligence. And we've been fishing for days, yet we haven't caught one nor seen another pass."
"You're right," Celine nodded, "I thought it might be worth waiting near the waterfall and trying to catch them as they leave the river, but who knows, we would have to wait to see another one. I think it might be best to attempt to go into the tunnel, all of us."
"That's suicide, Celine," Miyanna sighed, hearing her.
"Yeah, it would be madness to attempt it," Blanc replied, looking towards the river, "But I can go alone."
"I can't have you risking your life every single time," Celine replied to Blanc's proposition.
"And I can't have all of us drowning and dying in some underwater tunnel," Blanc sighed, "We can stay and see if we catch more, give up on the turtles, and try to find a way to pass the gap, or I can go alone into the tunnel, see where it leads, how hard it is to cross it and how can I come back here once I find where it leads," Blanc explained, "Those are the only options. None others."
"Celine, fuck the turtles, I say we give up," Miyanna said, not liking the idea.
"Sister, wait, let me think," Celine replied.
It made sense why she was so hesitant to just give up. Blanc also understood why.
Now that they had caught one and saw where it came from, the possibilities were endless.
And the thought of finding more of them was more than enough reason for one to risk their lives in hopes of being right.
The river also showed itself to be calmer than Blanc first expected, so that it could have been the same inside the current.
The Vita gave Blanc a sign, a clear sign that the turtles were alive and well.
Now it all came down to what they decided on.
It was funny, for the hopes of a longer lifespan, one had to risk their life obtaining it.
Or so it seemed in this case.
He was ready to attempt it, but Miyanna was against it, and Celine was considering it.
"What do you think, Little Flower?" Blanc asked.
"I don't want you to die for some turtles," Lune muttered, looking at the ground.
"Me neither," said Kael, as he opened his eyes, his harvest complete.
"Is that so?" Blanc replied, "Let me see your Mark, Kael."
"Here it is," Kael said, turning to the side, showing off the side of his neck where the outline of a whole turtle stood.
"The White Mark of the Turtle," Blanc whispered as he looked at it, "Congratulations, Kael."
"Thank you for giving me the first turtle, Brother," Kael bowed deeply, "And even if I didn't hear what you all were talking about, I can guess you want to go in for more, and my answer is that I don't want you to."
Blanc sighed as he turned to watch the river.
"Fine, we vote. Two are against, I am for going in alone, Celine, Miyanna?" Blanc asked.
"Of course, I'm against-" Miyanna began speaking, but Celine stopped her.
"Wait," she said to Miyanna, "Could we talk alone, sister?"
"Fine," Miyanna sighed, moving away from the rest.
"I'm not sending our husband to his own death, Celine," Miyanna said once they were a bit of distance away.
"I don't want that either, Miyanna, dear. But I'm sure we are just overthinking this, and everything will be fine," Celine replied.
"Are you okay with risking that?" Miyanna asked.
"For a longer lifetime together? Yes. Yes, I would," Celine muttered the next moment, with no hesitation in her eyes.
"Why would a longer life fucking matter if I'll be alone again?" Miyanna whispered.
"You will never be alone again, sister. You have me and Blanc. Always," Celine comforted her, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Look, how about this-"
Blanc could not help but listen to the conversation his wives were having.
They were a bit of distance away, but not far enough for his sharp ears.
At this moment, two were for and two against, with Celine trying to convince Miyanna.
They were at a draw for the time being.
A draw that made Blanc think, and between those thoughts, a whisper made its way.
A whisper that said, "Just go, do it."
He wondered how mad Miyanna would be when he came back, if he came back.
It was a fun thought that made him chuckle, almost making him jump in the water just to see how angry she would be.
"Brother?" Kael asked, seeing Blanc laugh to himself while looking at the water.
Blanc knew that, to calm Miyanna's mind slightly, he had to offer her something.
Something that would make her happy.
He knew what that was and how to give it to her.
And he will when he returns.
"Kael, Lune," Blanc said as he walked towards the edge of the shore.
"Brother, what do you think you are doing?" Lune muttered, her voice growing louder with each word, loud enough to draw the attention of Celine and Miyanna.
"I'll be back," Blanc said, turning slightly to his younger siblings, just as he saw with the corner of his eye how Celine and Miyanna were running towards them.
But by the time they got there, he was in the river.
The river welcomed him as he entered the water and swam swiftly towards the waterfall.
It did not take long for the current to grab his body and take over his momentum, leading him straight towards the tunnel.
But as the current caught him, he rotated into the water and began swimming against the current.
It took a lot of strength, but he managed to escape it after a few seconds.
Perfect, Blanc thought, before reentering the current.
The current pulled him towards the tunnel at great speed, but slow enough for Blanc to look upon the entrance before being pulled in.
From a distance, it looked narrow, but the entrance of the tunnel was wider than he hoped, with a circumference of at least ten feet.
But the examination came to a swift end as the water rushed him into the tunnel.
In less than ten seconds, he fell into a deep pool of water.
He swam upward against the falling water and grabbed onto a rock floor, which he used to pull himself up out of the water, falling back-first on the rock floor.
As he took a deep breath, enjoying the taste of the air, he looked at the constant water that was falling into the pool at his feet.
"It will be hard to swim back up against that volume of water," Blanc muttered.
But a small tap on his scalp made him raise and turn to see what that was.
It was a small baby turtle that broke a few strands of hair and began chewing on them as it watched him.
And behind the baby turtle was not only a larger turtle, who, by the anger on its face, was most likely its mother, but there were over eight turtles, smaller and larger in size, that were now staring at him.
He rose to his feet, looked around quickly, and saw that the cave he found was going deeper and deeper.
He was happy, knowing that Celine was right, but he didn't have time to celebrate as the mother of the baby turtle was slowly approaching.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you," Blanc said, taking a step back towards the water, "But I'll be back soon."
And as the large turtle snapped at where Blanc's feet were, he gasped for air and jumped backward into the cannon of water, and began swimming upwards.
In less than a minute, he was out of the tunnel and back into the river, since swimming back up top was easier than he expected.
Seeing that he was back successfully, he rose at great speed towards the surface.
"I found the turtles!" he yelled as he gasped for air.
"Blanc!" yelled all in unison as they ran towards the edge of the river.
Blanc rushed out of the water as he spoke, "It's just below, it's easy to get back."
"Is it?" Miyanna asked as she approached him.
"Yeah, it's-" Blanc spoke, but got interrupted by a slap from Miyanna, which made him lose his footing.
"I have to fucking kill you three times just for the scare you gave me, bastard," Miyanna hissed.
But Blanc could only smile warmly at her as he wiped a tear off her cheeks, "Get to it then, my love."