Iguanatopia - ONC 2021 (Completed)

14: Turtletopia

After a day of pampering in the hot springs, and a good night's sleep aboard the ship, the crew headed out toward the third and last island. A white sandy beach greeted them this time, with lush palm trees spreading shade and big round rocks scattered throughout.

Or perhaps it wasn't rocks. Because as Alba set her feet on the soft shore one of the rocks started to move. A head and stocky legs stuck out from underneath a shell and the creature slowly but surely walked toward her. Soon the other rocks had sprouted heads and legs as well. All over the beach were sea turtles, their shells ornate with conic shapes and their limbs mosaic-patterned. They appeared as remnants of another time; when giant creatures ruled both land and sea.

Most of the animals didn't take notice of the crew's arrival. They stayed put in their cozy spots in the sand or chewed away on some tasty palm leaves. Ignacio skittered around the shell-adorned creatures, who stuck their heads into their portable houses when he came near. Apparently, they were not in a social mood.

The pirates knew what they were looking for on this island. A purple oddity hidden somewhere among the creatures. But they didn't know where to find it.

In a communal effort, they all went to work. They looked under every rock and in every bush. They even lifted the turtles to look underneath. The animals were not amused by this.

But no stone in sight.

Alba sat down in the sand with a sigh. "Ignacio," she said and patted the iguana who had appeared by her side. "Do you know where to find it? You did seem to know what was in that jellyfish pond."

The lizard didn't reply. It seemed he had spotted a sand bug and ran across the beach after it. With his shovel-like paws, the animal dug down in the sand right by a big rock to catch his prey. Showers of sand flew behind him and into Alba's face. She coughed and attempted to shield her face with her jacket.

"Could you not do that?" she asked the lizard.

Ignacio didn't reply but it seemed his answer was a clear no as the iguana jumped between several spots in the sand to dig new shallow holes. Alba decided it was probably best to move out of the way from the sand clouds that were the result. Instead, she moved over toward Joe and Pedro who were taking a break in the shade of a tree. Luckily Pedro kept a backup peg-leg at the ship so he no longer struggled to move around.

But their tender grip on each other made her change her direction. Joe's arm was draped over Pedro's broads shoulder and Pedro's hand was stroking Joe's shaggy hair. It was probably better to leave them alone for a while.

So Alba walked along the beach and scanned the surroundings once again. Trying to surmise if there was anywhere that they hadn't looked. The island wasn't big, if there wasn't for the trees she would probably be able to see across it from where she stood, but that still meant a lot of hiding places. She could see crew members climbing trees and crawling into bushes to inspect every branch and leaf.

But still no stone in sight.

When the sun started to set a few hours later the pirates were still without loot. The creatures of the island all started to move toward the ocean, eager to get their evening swim in. Although, even when they were in a hurry to get somewhere turtles didn't move very fast. The hard-shelled animals walked at a leisurely pace over the sand, each move of a leg followed by a short break. Alba watched the turtles' tedious journey from under a tree and while she stood there Ignacio ran up to take shelter between her legs. It seemed he was tired of looking for stuff as well, both sand bugs and stones.

Joe walked up behind Alba, apparently he was finished cuddling with Pedro now. "What should we do, captain?" he asked, looking at Ignacio for answers.

"I guess we should set camp for the night;" Alba said. "Perhaps a good night's sleep will give us some ideas."

"Pedro and I will start setting up the tents," Joe replied and walked away. It seemed as if he hadn't even noticed that she was the one replying, not the iguana.

***

Alba woke up early, while it was still dark out. A lingering thought of having missed something haunted her. It nagged in the back of her mind every time she was about to drift into dreams. A clue or hint she hadn't been able to interpret but still had somehow registered.

Unable to fall back to sleep she ventured out of the tent. On her way out of her cot, she accidentally kicked Ignacio, who laid sleeping beside her in the tent with his long tail draped over her legs. The lizard let out a low wheeze and threw her an insulted look. For a moment it looked like he pondered if he should stay asleep in the cozy tent instead of following Alba into the cold night, but eventually, his attachment to Alba won out and the lizard skittered out of the tent right behind her.

A fire still burned in the middle of the camp. Despite Joe and Pedro, who was supposed to watch it, having fallen asleep against each other's shoulders beside it. Alba grabbed a stick from the fire and held it in front of her as a torch while she once again walked across the now familiar beach.

The stone had to be on the island. That's what the map had told them. Three stars on three islands. And those stars would then lead them to the treasure.

But where was the last stone?

She swooped the torch in front of her to overlook the beach. A small black dot moved over the sand. Then there was another black dot, and then another. As Alba sneaked closer to investigate she realized the dots were actually baby turtles, newly hatched and struggling to get to the water. They emerged one after another from the sand next to a big rock, where their eggs had been dwelling for months while the turtles grew. As the sun started to rise over the water they took their first steps, followed by their first paddles when they reached the ocean and threw themselves into the unknown.

That's when it hit her. Alba knew what she had missed.

The rock where the turtles appeared was the same one where Ignacio had dug for sand bugs earlier. But perhaps the iguana had actually dug for something else. Perhaps he knew all along what dwelled in the sand.

She hurried across the beach and crouched down by the rock. Carefully, she moved cracked shells out of the way. A small turtle was stuck underneath the rubble and she gently placed it in the sand above. The little trooper soon moved along toward the water where his siblings already had been taken away by the stream to destinations unknown. Alba followed the straggler with her eyes as it took its first steps on a long journey.

To her horror a big seagull swooped in from above just before the turtle reached the waterline, threatening to take the defenseless turtle with it. It was too far away for her to save it.

But it wasn't too far for Ignacio. With a growling wheeze, the lizard galloped, because apparently this lizard could gallop, across the sand and startled the bird just as it was about to snatch the small turtle away. The seagull flew away, realizing other prey would be easier to come by, and Ignacio nudged the turtle gently with his nose to encourage it to continue. The small animal soon regained its courage and escorted by Ignacio the rest of the way it soon was able to surf away on the waves.

Alba exhaled. She had been holding her breath the whole time she followed the precarious journey.

Now she could continue searching for her treasure. When she had moved all the cracked shells out of the way she could hint it. A purple gleam in the light sand. She reached her hand down and felt its sharp edges against her palm.

As she held the purple star-shaped stone up in front of her Ignacio skittered over and sniffed it slightly. As if he wanted to say "I told you it was here hours ago. Took you a while realize."

Alba gave the creature a pat on the head to acknowledge his efforts. He had told her, but she hadn't listened.

Now they had all three stones. The question was just how to use them to find the final treasure.