| For a total of three days, Doirn rowed northeast. Sleeping only when he was exhausted and eating sparingly, he wanted to put as much distance as he could to wherever he was going before his food ran out. While Brightvale’s fruits were plentiful, the distance to the land the he sought in King Hagan’s book was much greater. Also, there was no telling if Crim had escaped the attack of Brightvale and Meridell’s army. Doirn hoped dearly Crim was subdued, and even if he did escape could not possibly chase him all the way out into the ocean. But deep in his heart Doirn believed that could happen, and needed to make haste.
It was in the afternoon when Doirn’s fears came true. He was eating a Dewy Apple when heard Crim scream out, “I’ve finally found you!” the sudden surprise shocked Doirn, and the Dewy Apple flew from Doirn’s hands and went into the ocean. Quickly looking around, Doirn saw Crim flying in from the south, haggard and barely able to keep above the water. He must have searched the whole ocean to find me, thought Doirn as he quickly put his paddles back in the water. If I can out row him, maybe he will exhaust himself and fall into the water.
With not even a minute into the chase, Doirn realized this was not to be. Crim was only fifty feet away and would be upon him within twenty seconds. “You may as well *pant* give up, Prince,” said Crim. “I’m *pant* not letting you go if it’s *pant* the last thing I do.”
Doirn realized his capture was inevitable, and put all his strength in using one paddle, spinning his boat around as fast as he could. Crim finally came upon the boat, crashing onto the bow, laughing as he did. “Trying to *pant* stop me from coming onto the boat, are you?” laughed Crim. “Nice try, but not good enough.”
However, Doirn kept rowing, spinning the boat around in circles as fast as he could. “Stop that pointless rowing!” cried out Crim, trying to sit up on the boat. “I’m sick enough as it is, and don’t need anymore reasons to clobber you.” Doirn reluctantly pulled the paddle from the water and set it across his lap, sighing softly. “Thank you,” continued Crim. “You are a crafty one, Prince, but it was all for naught.”
“So it would seem,” said Doirn, gripping the paddle tightly. “Tell me. How did you find me out here in the middle of the ocean?”
“It was luck really...along with the assistance of a crystal ball,” to which Crim pulled clear crystal ball out from his bag and held it before Doirn. “The only tool Lord Darigan gave me on my quest, to which I’m now very thankful for. It may have only shown me you were in the ocean, but it was enough, and I’ve been searching far and wide ever since.”
While Crim closed his eyes and smiled at the good luck his crystal ball gave him, Doirn quickly lunged and swung at it with his paddle. Too tired to react, Crim cried out as the paddle struck the crystal ball from his hand, sending it flying into the ocean. “You fool,” cried out Crim as he knocked Doirn away, quickly looking over the edge of the boat and saw the crystal ball sinking ever deeper into the ocean. Scowling, Crim picked up Doirn and said, “Prepare to go overboard, Prince. You’re getting my crystal ball back.”
“I’m most certainly not,” said Doirn as he fought back against Crim. “And it’s not like it would do much good. We Scorchios can’t survive the water long, and by now it’s probably too deep for only the Koi to get now. Face it. It’s gone.”
Crim growled all the louder and tossed Doirn back to his seat with his paddles. “Fine, have it your way,” Crim said as he sat down. “It’s not like I need it anymore anyway. I found you, and you’re going to lead me to the dung just as planned. Start paddling, Prince. With me here your supply of fruit isn’t going to last much longer.”
“Again,” said Doirn as he crossed arms, “I’m not going to help you.” Crim looked at him with confusion, to which Doirn sighed and said, “If I lead you to the dung in this boat, I’m going to become useless to you once again. Not only that, I know for a fact you do not mean to use the dung for the good of all. To prevent such evil, I’m not going anywhere.”
“You must be kidding!” laughed Crim. “We are in the middle of the ocean. If you don’t take us anywhere, we will starve. You won’t let yourself starve, no would you?”
“Really?” asked Doirn, smiling slightly. Crim jumped to his feet and pointed at him, saying, “Fine! I don’t need you anyway. You were rowing to the northeast, and I just need to go in that direction till I hit land.”
“Or was I rowing in that direction?” said Doirn, smiling all the more. “I mean, I could have just been rowing away from you instead of the direction of the dung. And are you even sure it was northeast and not another direction? You looked pretty tired, and I don’t think you could be able to tell north or south if you wanted to. And what direction was I facing? I spun my boat around so much—”
“Enough, Prince,” growled Crim as he sat down. “I get your point. Is this what you intend to do then? Sit until the both of us starve in the middle of the ocean?”
“If it means not letting the dung in your hands...yes.”
And so they sat there, with Crim looking at Doirn with utter hatred as he ate the remainder of Doirn’s food, the winds blowing about the boat in random directions. After only a single day, all the food was gone, and both Scorchios were laid out across the boat as the hot sun shown above them. Crim took a deep breath through his nose, then slowly sat up, breathing again, and smiled. “It was northeast,” said Crim.
Doirn looked at Crim in confusion, which made him smile all the more as he stood up and stretched. “You played me like a fiddle, that is for sure, but it was the northeast alright. I mean, take a whiff of the winds coming from that direction.”
Not understanding what Crim meant, Doirn smelled the air, and was immediately disgusted by the noxious smell. Such a smell would have filled him with joy were it a different situation, but now it only filled him with horror. It was the distinct smell of dung described to him in the legends.
“That’s right,” said Crim. “And now that I know where it is, I don’t need to stay here anymore, do I?”
In an instant, Crim slammed his foot through the hull of the boat, breaking it in two. Crim flew into the air with a laugh as Doirn slipped into the ocean waters, holding onto a piece of the shattered boat.
“Thank you for the hospitality, Prince,” said Crim as he bowed to Doirn, “but I must be going. Lord Darigan wants his dung, and his dung he shall get.” And Crim flew off to the source of the smell as he left Doirn stranded in the ocean, laughing all the way.
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