20.
Darkness began to fall and it set in quickly on the first day of activity on the return to an island of horror and violence, and both Roland and Al wondered as to if the other had made it to this moment thought neither wondered very long as they both were sure that the other was doing quite alright. When the darkness had completely set in, Damien Meadows, a now uncaged cage fighter, had a fire going quite strong.
In a way he was hoping it would attract further competition, even the sound of wolves howling in the not too far off distance caused Damien no distress or worry. If anything, the howling could be a partial soundtrack to who and what Damien is. Anger most certainly is not something new to this place, and Damien has plenty of it to disperse as he sees fit.
Damien would watch as one such wolf would appear to the left of and off past the far side of his fire. This wolf would move across the fire, keeping its distance, and even make eye contact. It was quiet and had moved slowly, almost assessing this Damien fellow. It had stayed only for a moment or two and would move on without incident. Damien put out his fire before moving on himself, to find a place to spend the night.
Who is going to attack in places where even the wolves fear to tread? And indeed, the indigenous life had been created though not all creatures are animals, as Roland can attest to, ... his canine friend from the previous year to this one, had been more Human than most humans he had ever met in his life.
Morning came and Al had found himself some fruit trees not far from where he had spent his first full night back on the island. At first, he wondered as to how safe this fruit would be to eat though that thought would not stay with him very long and nothing seemed to be happening directly after having consuming said fruit apart from the fact it was aiding with filling a hole in his tummy.
'I am sure you have plenty there, friend, if you don't mind sharing' spoke a voice not so far away from Al.
The voice belonged to Dolph Anderson. A man more used to being confined to a prison cell than not.
'Sure, just help yourself ... friend.'
Al noticed no immediate danger though he would stay vigilant. There is a fair distance between the two men and this other fellow did not act in a manner as to suggest he came here looking for a confrontation ... Al will not instigate anything, not just yet anyhow, though wary he will stay.
'Thank you.'
'Not a problem.'
'So, what do we do now?' asked Dolph, 'do we fight now until one of us is seriously injured or dead?'
'Oh, I wouldn't recommend that, not right now anyway' responded Al maintaining a gap of at least thirty feet between himself and the stranger, and spying something not all so far away.
'And why would you not recommend such a thing?'
'See, friend, if you turn around you will see a good friend of mine approaching so odds would not be in your favour.'
'Hope you are not trying to distract me friend, and besides I have successfully overcome many two on one encounters in my past.'
'I am sure you have, though I would still recommend leaving it for another time.'
Roland and Al had indeed found each other, and Dolph would watch as the two men greeted and hugged one another. Roland took a couple of steps towards Dolph.
'Who have we got here?' asked Roland.
'My name is Dolph, and I am only passing through right now, an encounter may be better left for another time perhaps, as your friend has already suggested.'
