Iguanatopia - ONC 2021 (Completed)

2: Pettopia

"The beast is guarding the map!" a shrill voice called out. The crew was gathered in a circle around the small raft, which had been pulled onto the ship with a net. They all seemed frightened of the creature that had followed along.

"You move it, Joe," Pedro ordered and pushed the one-eyed man in front of him. "You did say you would be the captain today, and this seems like a duty for a captain!"

Joe slowly walked towards the iguana, a stick in his hand and a terrified expression on his face. He reached the stick toward the creature to try to make it move. The animal snapped at him and let out a wheeze. Joe jolted backward and let out a very unmanly scream that sounded something like "Ihhhhahhhh".

The iguana looked mightily pleased with itself as it puffed up its mane and rattled its tail against the deck.

Alba jumped down from the mast and walked decisively towards the horde of men.

"Let me in," she said and the men surprisingly all stepped to the side to form an aisle for her to walk up to the iguana. They were probably relieved someone seemed brave enough to approach the creature. The only one brave enough so far was the cat Oliviero who stood about a foot from the creature with his paw in the air and his back arched, probably wondering why the lizard was entrenching on his territory.

"Ollie, get away from there," Alba warned the cat. She was afraid the lizard, which was twice as big as the cat, would hurt the fluffy feline. Oliviero was a sweet creature but, like most cats, way too confident. In his own mind, he was probably a big and ferocious jaguar who no lousy lizard could possibly take on.

A leftover weaponized turnip laid on the deck. Alba grabbed it and rustled the leafy parts in front of the iguana.

The animal perked up at the sigh of the greenery and took a step away from the bottle with the map. All the men gasped. The iguana took another step and another. Food was after all a strong motivator for most animals, as well as humans. Alba knew she could probably have corralled most of the men in the same way if she dangled a bottle of rum, or perhaps a glazed ham in front of them.

Once the animal was a sufficient distance from the map she put the turnip down in front of it. The iguana dug into the treat right away. The surrounding men looked at her like she had just performed witchcraft.

"Did you just tame the dragon?" Pedro exclaimed.

Alba sighed. "It's not a dragon, it's an iguana," she replied. Captain Ignacio had kept a library of books about flora and fauna in his cabin and she had read them all in her spare time. An iguana was no match for her to identify.

"It certainly seemed like a dragon the way it guarded the map," Pedro retorted. The same moment he said the word "map" he realized that said map was now free for the taking. The man dived in headfirst towards the coveted treasure. Of course, Joe realized the same thing at the same time. Soon they were, once again, entrenched in a battle on the deck, cheered on by the deckhands.

Alba decided to focus on the iguana instead and bent down next to the scaly creature. It was impressive in size, about the height of a grown man from nose to tail.

"How did you get that map, buddy?" she asked the animal. She got no reply. The iguana didn't seem chatty.

Alba knew from the books that iguanas dwelled close to the ocean, dived into the waves for food, and on occasion could be seen surfing on boards or logs. Perhaps both the map and the iguana had somehow got stuck on the same piece of driftwood.

A clinking sound made her look away from the animal. The bottle with the map came rolling towards her. The wrestling men must have forgotten all about it. Alba put her boot up to stop the rattling bottle and then picked it up.

"Aren't you guys forgetting about this?" she called out.

Joe and Pedro both looked up, startled and confused. Pedro's peg leg was on top of Joe's cheek and Joe's fist was on a trajectory towards Pedro's jaw. They immediately released their holds on each other and hurried over towards Alba.

"Give that to me!" Pedro yelled. "I'm the best map reader around, so I should have it!"

"No," Joe protested. "Give it to me! I'm the current captain and a much superior map reader."

Alba held the bottle up above her head to keep it away from the men. She wasn't very tall but luckily tall enough for the men not to reach the bottle. That didn't stop them from trying though. Very ungracefully. Pedro's peg leg made jumping inadvisable and Joe's attempts surprisingly weren't much better.

"I'll give you both the bottle if you promise not to fight over it," Alba said. "You can look at the map together."

The men gave out a sigh in unison. "That's not fair," Joe mumbled. "Not fair at all," Pedro concurred.

It was probably the first time ever they agreed on something.

"Well, then I'll just throw the bottle overboard instead," Alba countered and moved the bottle in a throwing motion.

Once again the men reacted in unison, this time first a squeak left their lips, followed by a "Nooooo!"

"We'll cooperate," Pedro grumbled. "As long as he behaves it shouldn't be a problem."

"I always behave myself," Joe protested. "You're the one who can't behave!"

For a moment it looked like the men were about to start up their fight again as they grunted at each other. But, for once, they held back.

Alba handed them the bottle. They both put their hands on it at the same time and walked away with it between them. It looked kind of cute.

She wondered how long it would be until they fought again, because she knew they would. It was a fruitless task to stop their bickering completely.

So she chose to not bother with the men anymore and instead bent down next to the iguana. "What are we going to do with you?" she asked the creature.

The iguana still wasn't chatty.

Looking at it up close it was a really pretty creature. Its scales shone in warm orange and green tones and across them dark wavy lines were scattered. On its back were spikes about an inch long and under its chin was a frilly beard.

Cautiously Alba stretched out her hand towards the animal, afraid its sharp jaws would snap her fingers. But the animal remained still as she carefully traced the scales. The iguana gave her an insulted look but let her keep at it. She was surprised at how soft and smooth the scales felt, like small beads that together formed a colorful mosaic pattern.

"Perhaps you can stick around with us until we reach an island," Alba said. "It seems mean to just throw you overboard."

The iguana didn't reply. But it did look straight at her, almost like it was trying to say something.

"I'll call you Ignacio," she said with a chuckle. "You do look like the captain a bit, after all. He also had a red pointy beard. But he did have fewer scales..."

Captain Ignacio had been a kind man. He did have a fondness for the bottle, but his habit never made him mean or violent. Only talkative and unsteady on his feet. She missed him a lot. Perhaps the iguana would make her feel less lonely now that he was gone.

Suddenly, Alba remembered the supper that Grace had promised was served. Better make sure to get there before the men did, because afterward there would only be scraps left.

As Alba got up and started walking towards the kitchen she heard a skittering sound. When she turned around she found the iguana right behind her. It seemed to be following her.

"Are you coming with me?" she asked.

No reply. But when Alba continued to walk the skittering was once again right behind her. It appeared she had acquired a pet.