Ring of the Artisan

Act III Ch. 16: The Light of the Sea

You stood up tall and stretched your aching back. Patching up the ship was terribly hard work, especially for you. You and Lloyd were the only ones who had the ability to summon wood, but Lloyd wasn't as well-versed as you were.

You were also only mediocre at best, but it was better than nothing.

The others had buckets and did their best to dump out all the seawater they could. The process was very slow, despite everyone on the ship being down here and helping to the best of their ability.

You glanced at your hand, which was tightly bandaged. You flexed your hand, your injury still stinging in pain. Starteeth bites hurt so much more than you could've imagined...

"This sucks," Lloyd complained.

"You can say that again," Kai groaned as he tossed another bucketful of water out of the Bounty. "Those Starteeth can go to hell, for all I care..."

"And what, consume hell itself?!" Jay hysterically asked. "No, thanks!"

"Well, thanks to them," Kai retorted, "we've got this huge hole in the ship, and our rudder's completely busted. We're just drifting aimlessly through the sea!"

"Once the hole's patched up," Cole began, "we'll fix the rudder..."

"We'd have to go underwater for that," Nya sighed. "That, or find an island to park on..."

"As if there are any islands out here," Jay complained.

"I could perhaps fix it," Zane mentioned. "I don't require air to survive, and..." Zane trailed off. He dropped his bucket, and a strange look crossed his face.

"Uh, Zane?" Kai set his bucket down. "You good?"

"Brace yourselves!"

The boat suddenly crashed. You were thrown off your feet and landed on the ground, the water around you soaking your clothes once again. You got up in surprise as the Bounty creaked before settling down. It didn't rock with the waves.

"Well, uh," Jay nervously laughed, "we've got our island?"

You followed after the others as they appeared on the Bounty's deck. The ship was beached upon the shores of a rocky island. A tall, broken lighthouse stood at the top of the mountainous hill, and a set of rugged stairs lead to the entrance. There wasn't a spot of green anywhere, save for the rather large garden just beside the lighthouse.

"Who would build a lighthouse all the way out here...?" Lloyd quietly asked.

"This isn't a lighthouse," Zane stated. "It's a prison..."

Zane led the way up towards the lighthouse. You had stuck close behind him, and Lloyd was right beside you.

You heard a distant, low rumbling, similar to that of growling. You nervously took in a deep breath. After the Starteeth fiasco, you do not want to face off against another sea-based creature.

"Oh, I really wish I packed another pair of underwear..." Jay muttered.

"Can't even listen to your own mum," Kai growled as he painfully elbowed Jay.

"We must keep going," Sensei commanded all of you.

Zane approached the front door, you and the others right behind him. You looked up and spotted a camera beside the door, high up and out of reach. The camera began to move. It stared at the many of you for a moment, humming as it zoomed in.

"Uh, are we supposed to smile?" Jay jokingly questioned.

The door was violently thrown open, and an elder man appeared. You were surprised at how old he seemed, with stark white hair and many deep wrinkles in his face. He wore classic overalls stained with oil, and wireframe glasses that seemed too small for his face. "Zane!" He exclaimed and threw his arms around Zane. "It's you! You found me!"