To Be Proud: Revamped

Chapter 10: Bones Among the Dead

~Thwok~

I underestimated the sheer kindness that the bone monsters had to give. In books, Bone Island was described as a place for the dead, a sanctum of sorts for those who couldn't move on. The monsters were said to possess an eerie ghostly aura, further amplifying the island's already dead atmosphere. The books I read were wrong for once, for the monsters brought life instead to the supposed "Island of the Dead."

Upon meeting the other monsters, I found myself conversing with the local Thrumble. From what I've read in various monster books, Thrumbles are able to eat their meals whole, mashing their food up which leaves ample time for their meal to be pulverized through intense humming. If they hum on an empty stomach, they're giggling tends to be lighter and much more frequent. It was once said that their humming moved the clouds in the sky, making them useful for weather control.

While conversing with Thrumble, I also found out a lot of useful information regarding Kayna. To start, Kayna was able to read an astonishing ten books a day, easily tripling my best record. She was also known as the island's medic due to her impressive handling with medicine and careful procedures. She was able to heal many different types of monsters, from Natural to Mythical-maybe even Celestial. More importantly, Kayna owned an airship that resided towards the back of the island. The airship, however, was damaged during one of Kayna's voyages to the Natural Islands and needed to be fixed in order for it to fly again.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Bona walking around alongside another monster. She and Bona were similar in the sense that they were both skeletally structured. Other than that, I couldn't see anything else in common with them: she was graceful and he was not, she was extravagant and he was simple, she walked with quick steps and he leisurely took long strides. One of the most important differences that I saw was that she was interested in him, but he was not in her.

      "Are you alright, hmm?" I jumped a bit and looked at Thrumble.

      "Oh, uh, I'm fhine." Thrumbles, according to some of the monster books, were also very good at picking up on social cues, making them easily adaptable to a variety of social situations.

      "Worried about your monster, hmm? Go on, I won't stop you, hmm."

Thanking Thrumble, I rushed over to Bona and the new monster and tried to make small talk with the both of them. The other monster didn't seem to show interest unlike Bona, but I wasn't too concerned with her at the moment. Eventually, I got Bona to follow me towards the larger fossils at the side of the island so that we could chat alone. Once I turned around to speak to him with such a fury, he knelt down and threw his arms around me.

      "Thank you," he said with relief filling his voice. My frustration immediately turned to confusion.

      " 'Thahnk you?' Fohr whaht?"

      "For saving me. From her." I pulled away and studied Bona for a moment.

      "Ona, whaht ahe you ohn abouht?"

      "For the past few minutes or so I've just been listening to her ramble on and on. Her accent didn't make things any better, or make understanding her any easier. She started talking about the future, about us-"

      "Uhs as in me ahnd you, ohr uhs as in-"

      "Me and her." I could feel my pegs starting to twist and my fur starting to stick up.

      "Oh, thaht's noht gohing to hahpun. Noht on my cohgs."

      "What's not going to happen?" a voice started. Bona and I both jumped and looked over at the monster Bona was with before, the monster he was worried about.