Iguanatopia - ONC 2021 (Completed)

12: Jellyfishtopia

Jagged rocks scraped against the hull of the dinghy, threatening to break it. Ignacio threw a suspicious look down below and moments later disembarked with a loud splash.

"It seems the captain is telling us we should swim the rest of the way," Joe surmised and threw off his shirt to follow. His faith in the iguana, and it being Captain Ignacio, seemed to be endless.

Pedro followed suit into the waters right after. He swam surprisingly gracefully for a man with a peg-leg.

Before joining the rest of the crew in the water, Alba made sure they were anchored properly. Apparently, no one else had thought of such matters before disembarking.

She threw off her heavy jacket before diving in. The cold embrace reminded her of the last time she had gone swimming. When she met a certain marine creature with soft pearly lips and mesmerizing deep eyes.

Ignacio made it to shore first. His physique was, after all, made for traversing moving waters. The wide webbed feet worked as paddles and the tail as a rudder.

Luckily, Oliviero hadn't come with them in the dinghy. Because the spoiled kitty would not have liked the wet last leg of the journey. Instead, the feline had stayed on the Estrella with Grace, who had said she would prepare dinner for their return. But Alba suspected the other woman was mainly probably tucked away reading romance novels while she let Lucien do most of the work. The boy would never complain though, as he enjoyed the skillful nature of cooking. When Grace didn't listen Alba had even told him that she preferred his version of turnip stew.

Sharp barnacles and treacherous rocks made the trek ashore tricky for anyone who wasn't an iguana. Lizard skin was much thicker and more durable than human skin. Alba was happy that she had left her boots on while swimming, otherwise her feet would have become torn to shreds. But her hands were still at risk as she stumbled on the uneven rocks. In front of her, she could see Joe putting his arm around Pedro to ease the one-legged man's journey. Peg-legs were not made for balancing on sharp rocks.

When Alba finally made it ashore, with only a few cuts on her hands, Ignacio sat on the rocks with his nose deeply entrenched in a tuft of seaweed. A true delicacy for an iguana. The lizard showed no interest in the humans until he had devoured his snack. Then he skittered up to Alba, who sat on the rocks and tried to dry the blood on her hands with some grass.

"I blame you for this, Ignacio," she mumbled and patted the iguana on the back. "You need to remember that we're not all lizards and that the dumb-dumbs will obey your every move."

The iguana didn't protest the blame. Although, Alba had to admit that going closer with the dinghy would have been foolish. It could have sunk the whole thing, and then they would have been in a world of trouble. Especially since the island they found themselves on seemed to offer little in the way of vegetation. No branches or logs that could have built them a raft, just grey sharp rocks.

"Are everyone alright?" she asked the crew around her as they all crawled ashore and collapsed on the rocks while cursing cut-up hands and bruised knees. The iguana by her side repeated her question as a few crew members didn't seem to have heard her.

"My leg seems to have cracked," Pedro replied with a sigh. "I don't think I can walk on the rocks like this."

He pointed his hand toward a big crack at the bottom of the peg-leg. The cliffs seemed to have done a number on it.

"Perhaps you can stay behind and guard while we explore the island," Alba said. "We need to make sure the dinghy doesn't get pulled away by the currents."

"I'll stay with you," Joe offered immediately.

"Well, you do have two keen eyes to see with..." Alba couldn't help but poke the formerly one-eyed man.

Leaving the two men behind, sitting curled up together, Alba and the crew split into groups to explore the rocky wasteland of the island. Of course, Alba got paired with Ignacio. There really wasn't much to see on the island. Just cliffs, and more cliffs. Once they got over one cliff, there was another cliff behind it, and then another. A few tufts of grass and scattered flowers grew in crevasses.

Alba didn't even know what they searched for, or if there was something to discover. But she was determined to scour the island to find out. They would look under every rock and scale every cliff.

But as Ignacio skittered over another high cliff, making the ascent seem so easy, she started to despair slightly. The crew was all busted up from the jagged rocks and weary from exploring under the scorching sun with no shade in sight.

With muscles aching and hands burning she made it over the top of the cliff and looked down onto something else than a cliff. A round pond surrounded by cliffs on all sides. Like a deep bowl right in the middle of the island.

Ignacio already stood by the side of the pond and looked down into it. Perhaps admiring his handsome reflection or longing to take a refreshing bath. Alba longed for that as well.

"There's something here!" Alba called out to the crew and soon they all came tumbling down the cliff behind her.

There certainly was something there. But was it what they looked for? The pond certainly looked mesmerizing. The sapphire blue water sparkled in the sunlight and gave it an otherworldly sheen.

Although, when Alba walked up to the edge she realized that a refreshing bath in the pond wasn't a good idea. The water was riddled with gelatinous creatures adorned with colorful strings. Blue, yellow, orange, and red threads formed an ever-changing artwork below the water. Like smudges of watercolor that constantly moved across a canvas and created new motifs.

Jellyfish might be beautiful to look at, but Alba knew they could be deadly to the touch. The toxins from the wavy threads could seep into your skin and paralyze you in an instant.

So swimming was definitely not advisable.

Ignacio didn't care. Just as the other sailors made it to the pond he dove in. Alba reached out her hand in an attempt to stop the lizard, but it was too late. Soon she couldn't even hint his tail under the colorful blobs in the water.

Alba really hoped lizard scales protected against jellyfish stings.

They waited a long time. That's what it felt like to Alba at least. Perhaps it was only a minute though.

"Is the captain gone?" pot-bellied Tom asked. "Perhaps he has abandoned us."

"No, just wait," Alba replied. Because even though she knew Ignacio wasn't the captain she did trust him to come back. If he could.

And soon a familiar scaly head grazed the surface and gave out a signature wheeze. "Ignacio!" Alba called out and ran over to hug the lizard. She had become awfully fond of the animal during the time they had together. The iguana accepted her embrace without wheezing or rattling his tail.

That's when she realized the lizard had something in his mouth. Something purple and shiny.

"What is that?" she asked and tried to pry whatever it was from the animal's jaws. Ignacio reluctantly let go of his prey on the cliff right in front of the crew.

The object bounced against the ground a few times before lying still. The shine seemed to diminish somewhat as it landed. Like its inner light disappeared once it was out of the water. Alba bent down to examine it. A purple stone shaped like a star. It was about the size of a turnip, her main reference for scale these days, and the color looked almost unreal against the stony grey backdrop. Too bright and vivid to be of this world.

Alba didn't know what it was, but she knew it was what they'd been looking for.