Markus’ breathing was shallow, he was pale and shivering. He felt cold, even though he was burning up. His mouth and jaw hurt from being gagged for so long, and he hadn’t had any water or food since they had set sail. Someone had made sure he had drank something and had a bit of bread before, so he wouldn’t die most likely.
He felt like he was dying, though he was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to. So he was probably being kept alive, even though he was sick.
Markus didn’t notice Oliver, he was barely conscious. And in the bad lighting inside the ship here with the supplies, and his paleness, the white patches on his skin caused by his pigment disorder were easy to be overlooked.Oliver hesitantly moved a little closer to the odd barrel, noticing that it was shaking. They couldn’t have put a living person in there… why would they? Then again, why would they place a corpse among their food stores for the next month or so?
“…are you alive?”, he asked. The question sounded rather silly when it was said out loud. Even if the answer was ’ yes ’, the person inside the barrel would have made some kind of sound if they could. If not, he would look like an odd foreigner talking to a corpse. It could potentially be worse.
He took a fresh piece of bread from the food storage and held it out. “Do you want this? Y’know, if you’re alive and I’m not speaking to a dead body right now.”
Markus heard Oliver. He needed a moment before he realized someone was talking to him, and wanted something from him. He hadn’t expected anyone who didn’t know about him to find him, yet alone speak to him.
He blinked his eyes open blearily, leaning his head back to look up at Oliver. The cloth tied around him and efficiently gagging him was bound visibly tightly, just like the ropes around his wrists and ankles -which were badly bruised by now.
He couldn’t answer Oliver even if he wanted to. He didn’t even think he could get his voice to work after days, or weeks?, of not being able to use it.
emptynarration 