Uncharted Waters || A Jiara Story

Chapter Eight

Despite the horrible storm, the sky now reflects the beautiful color of the ocean water, not washed away by a single cloud in the sky. The bare sun radiates harsh heat that seems to make the palms leave shrivel up and wilt, folding within itself to hide from the light.

The group is sitting around the remains of their previous fire, yet a lot of the wood has been soaked and thrown about from the storm. Much of the morning was spent collecting the fish that had washed ashore and the fruits that had fallen from the plants and trees.

(SARAH POV)

Everyone is talking and laughing, but I look over at Kiara as she seems to have fallen silent.

"Kie how are you feeling?" I reach over to touch Kiara's knee as she sits upon a log diagonally from me.

She looks over and wipes a bead of sweat from her face. "I'm good. Really, I'm fine." She re-affirms with a faint smile and nod.

"Good." I smile back and take a sip of water, while also wiping some sweat from my cheek.

I look to my left at John B and see him laugh, his smile radiating more light than the sun above. He seems so happy to be here on this island, surrounded by all of the people he loves. I smile as I'm finally happy to see him happy, even if we're treasure-less and stuck on this island. Stuck. We're stuck. Reality and recent events have been creeping into my brain lately. Everything with my dad. I thought he was dead and then he wanted me dead. He looked at me with these cold eyes, of pure void. He was going to kill me and just remembering his rough hands around my neck, choking me lifeless, gives me chills. I feel tears begin to build in my eyes and I snap back to reality, shaking the thought to the back of my head...where it's been hiding since we've gotten here.

When I snap back I see John B looking at me. "Hey. Is everything alright?" He asks while wiping a stray hair from my face.

"Yeah...yeah. Yes." I smile and reassure him, trying my best to hide my doubt.

"Okay." He smiles and cups my face, while giving me a soft kiss on the lips. We both pause and look at one another, almost sending a non-verbal message that everything will work itself out.

"Oh man.....how cute are you guys!" Cleo exclaims from across the firewood, as she uses her knife to sharpen the tip of the wooden spear she had been working on.

John B and I both smile.

(JJ POV)

"Okay lovebirds as much as I love sitting around and watching you two kiss...we really need to find some other food because if I have one more fish I'm going to grow some gills and swim away!" I exclaim while falling backwards from the log, laying my head and back into the sand.

I pause for a moment. "Actually.....that would be freakin awesome. Like a superhero! Call me Gill Man or...or Fish Boy!" I say with excitement. "And then I could swim and get us help! BOOM! Gill Man saves the day!"

"Hey Gill Boy! As that is not only extremely unrealistic, but also extremely stupid...how about you work on sharpening some tools so we can catch some more food!" Pope exclaims while throwing a stick towards me, landing beside me in the sand.

I groan and close my eyes, feeling the warm sand start to sink into my body.

"No, but I'm serious. We need to find other food...there has to be anything other than fish on this island," I mutter.

"Fish Boy's right," Cleo exclaims. "We have to explore the rest of the island. For all we know there could be a 5 star restaurant with steak and potatoes!"

"Please don't say steak and potatoes right now...." I groan.

"Okay you're right. We need to plan to travel a bit, so we should start by collecting some water and supplies to start hiking. We don't know how big this island is and what is out there, so we need to be prepared. And we should also make sure - " Pope begins to stand with excitement, I could just see his nerd gears turning.

"Sorry guys - I'm just really tired. I'm gonna go lay down for a bit." Kie says, interrupting Pope. She stands from her logs, brushing wet sand from the back of her legs. "Could we maybe just do the adventuring tomorrow?" She begins to walk from the group and towards the hut.

I shift up and watch as she walks away. She had been quiet for most of the day...which isn't like her at all. I look over at Sarah and our eyes meet, she nods her head. I shift and stand up, brushing off hot sand.

"Where are you going?" Pope asks, squinting to see me between the sunlight.

"I'm just gonna make sure Kie is good," I say, rustling the sand from my hair. I begin to walk towards the hut.