To Be Proud: Revamped

Chapter 39: Humid Hassles

~Kayna~

It had only been three days, and already I had felt the need to collapse and faint over a hundred times. If it wasn't the situation that stressed me out, then it would be something else that popped up that would. As much as I wanted to curl up on the floor and cry, I had to keep strong for the Wublins that were accompanying me. They needed someone to stick alongside them, and I couldn't afford to have anything happen to them.

On the first day, I followed the Wublins throughout the island as they were taken on a tour. The monsters had been especially prepared for our arrival; it was as if they had known about my return beforehand. We were fortunate enough to be led by Riff, the island's Boss, who was more than happy to meet the Wublins. Thwok took interest in him immediately, intrigued by his modifications, while Bona appeared to be more hesitant. I had a smile on my face as we were eventually taken into the island's castle.

As Riff talked on and on about the history of Air Island, my mind has started to wander off into another plane of thought. I had just over two months to save the monster world, which was not a lot of time at all, and there were only two other monsters that I could turn to before I was completely on my own: Riff being one of them, and the other residing on Water Island. They were more reasonable, thankfully, so I thought that they would agree with me and help where they could. Something in my mind, however, told me that it wouldn't be easy to convince them.

Every now and then, I pondered the idea of roping the Wublins into the mess to see what they would make of it; I would refute the idea, however, because of the dangers that surrounded the situation on every front. I didn't want the Wublins to get hurt whatsoever, so telling them about what was going on would create a lot more problems for me to solve, more than I was ready to handle. As I thought about it more, I realized that the Wublins truly had no matter in the situation despite them being affected by the result of said situation. They were torn from their home, now miles away from it, and I wasn't ready to pile years of stress and anguish on their shoulders.

      "Aero, over here!"

I shook my head, snapping out of my thoughts as I looked around. Towards the end of the hallway, I could see a figure standing tall and looking over at us. Immediately I recognized them as Aero, and I waved to her as she walked over to us. As she laughed and chatted with the group, I noticed the few discolored patches sewn into her wings as well as the slightly dented metal that made up the frame. The lenses to their goggles were also slightly cracked, patched up by a glue or sap of sorts, which must've been terrible to try and see through while flying.

Soon they flew off, albeit a bit too quick, and we were right back to the tour in no time. As we walked out of the castle and back on to the main land, I could feel my head starting to sting in pain. Smoke started to leave my mouth, and my body slowly went numb. The Wublins were whisked away thanks to the island's Mammott, completely oblivious, which left me alone with Riff. Feeling my legs starting to give in, I instinctively grasped on to the mechanical arm of the Boss and fought to be able to breathe.

      "K-Kayna?" Riff asked nervously. "Are you okay?"

      "I...to...ship," I struggled to speak, gripping on tightly as my vision started to blur. I was lifted from the ground and flown through the air, and soon I was sat down on what I could only assume was a stack of boxes.

      "Kayna, please stick with me," Riff quietly pleaded as he held on to my arms. I looked at the orange mass in front of me, trying my best to keep a hold on my consciousness.

      "Bag," I muttered as I pointed to the purple bag resting by the skyship controls. Riff looked behind him and rushed to grab the lilac blur, flying back to me to hand me the feathery bundle. Pulling out an ice cube, I dropped it into the top of my head and coughed as clouds of smoke left my mouth. My vision cleared, and I could see the concerned look on Riff's face.