To Be Proud: Revamped

Chapter 36: Following the Trail

~Bona~

The second I had landed on Air Island, I immediately knew that something was off. In between the Pomily nonsense and the semi-involuntary tour around the island, I tried to read between some of the lines that were given. I was convinced that something was going on behind the scenes, so I had made sure to keep an eye out and to have my guard up. I kept quiet and proceeded to play along in the monsters' little game, waiting patiently for my moment to arise.

Soon, about a quarter until dusk, we were all brought to the island's hotel where we would be staying for the duration of the Season. Immediately, I noticed a few differences: the hotel was more than one floor tall, which meant more rooms, and more monsters were occupying said rooms. As we passed by the monsters in the hotel, I couldn't help but to feel a weird sense of déjà vu, as if I had seen some of the monsters already. Since we were traveling with Kayna, we were allowed to borrow her hotel room while she slept on the skyship. Walking into room A-8 on the first floor, I waited for Kayna to leave the hotel completely before I made my move.

Immediately heading to the shelves, I glanced around at the large collection of books to see if I could find anything that struck me as odd or peculiar. Flipping through some of the books on the shelves, I found that the ones about Earth Island had tiny notes both written in the margins and tucked in between some of the pages. Placing a few of the tabbed books on the desk, I took a moment to search around the drawers for any clues, occasionally stumbling upon maps and documents written entirely in monstro-glyphics.

      "Ona, agaihn?" Thwok asked as he attached his tubing to a new oxygen tank. "Whaht ahe you looking fohr now?"

      "Uh, traps?"

      "Wight. In the books. In Kay's woom. Thihnk abouht thaht fohr a sehcohnd."

      "Hey, you never know. Bookshelves can house the most secrets." Thwok rolled his eyes.

      "In fihction, Ona, in fihction."

      "Yeah, well-I-ugh, whatever." I leafed through different books and papers, setting the ones I deemed important to the side. Glancing at Thwok, I saw that he was reading a book that he had stored in his bone bag. Curious, I slightly turned to him. "Hey, Thwok?"

      "Hm?" He looked up at me, his pretty purple eyes gently searching me. I could feel my cheek bones burn, but I shook my head to focus.

      "What books did you bring with you? Just curious."

      "Oh, I bwouhght a book abouht Urth Island, Down to Earth; a book abouht Stahenge, History of the Celestial Lands; and a book abouht the Beat Heuhaftuh, A Guide to Auxiliary Seasonal Monsters: Vol. 2. I'm weading the Stahenge book now."

      "Alright, just checking."

Glancing around the desk once more, I found a small journal that blended in with the desk's wooden surface. Picking it up, I flipped through the pages of the leather-bound book to see what was in store. Most of the pages were the same: a bunch of words with a few diagrams, but some of them were left blank. I recognized some of the handwriting as Kayna's, and I realized that it was her journal. Flipping through the pages quickly, I realized that she had been keeping a record on the Natural Islands throughout the years.

I jolted a bit as soon as a hand grazed my shoulder. Looking down, I saw Thwok who had placed his book down on the side table to come and comfort me. He looked me in the eyes, his violet irises glowing as he gently brushed his hand through my fur and held on to my hand. Placing the journal down, I turned to Thwok and placed a gentle hand on his cheek. He giggled a bit as he smiled happily, leaning into my hand and placing his own on top.