Alternate Battle for Dream Island

ABFDIA 9b: Long-lost

Despite all the tension, everyone ultimately agreed that the best course of action was to move on.

Everyone in the Battle for Dream Island had somebody that they hated more than everyone else; even if it wasn't some all-consuming, all-powerful grudge that fueled them to keep going- such as Firey and Coiny, or Pin and Coiny -there'd still be somebody they could name that they... moderately disliked more than everyone else. Someone they could name in the complete hypothetical where someone asks them if there was someone they wished could just... disappear. Maybe it was Rocky, the one that did nothing but stand around and vomit everywhere. Perhaps it was Woody, who was deathly afraid of everybody and didn't hesitate to let *everybody* know. Or it could be Spongy, who had such a disgusting stench that it could be smelled even if you were 2,763 paces away. It was just nature. It was a certainty that they weren't truly, fully, 100% happy. It was an inevitability that there was something with the world that irked them the wrong way, something that kept them on their toes, even if it was just every once in a while. And there was definitely *somebody* that they loathed, somebody that they can't see eye-to-eye with regarding *anything*.

In most cases, anyway.

If the contestants of the Battle for Dream Island could agree on anything, it was on the fact that Flower was the absolute worst person they've ever had the displeasure of breathing the same air with. And even *that* was quite an understatement. Everyone else had some attribute or other that made them unlikable to a certain person, but she seemingly had all those and more. And *worse*. She always thought about herself, considered her to be the absolute pinnacle, the *best* in every positive category imaginable, and anyone that voiced even the slightest hint of doubt towards that *totally* unbiased viewpoint would be dealt with swiftly and mercilessly. She hated everyone, and so everyone responded in kind. Even Leafy, the one that's known for trying to see the best in everyone regardless of the circumstances, has been caught mumbling negative things about her once or twice, whenever she thought nobody was looking; if one somehow manages to upset *Leafy*, of all people, then perhaps they were doing something objectively wrong with their life.

But if there was another thing that the contestants could agree on, it's that there were far, *far* better things to worry about than the fact that they had her tagging along now. Whatever Firey ended up doing to her, it seemed to work *wonders*; instead of just shouting down everyone's throat and angering them to death, she mostly just kept to herself, maintaining a solid distance away from everybody, farther still than how they already separated themselves. All that extra room gave them ample area to stretch their arms. Stretch their legs. Stretch their *arms*. Really take in the fact that they were 2,763 miles away from all they knew, from help or refuge, and they seemed doomed to forever wander these endless green grasslands until the end of time. Or until whatever interesting things are occurring have come to pass. They *could* just resolve that boredom issue pretty quickly by shouting and fighting immediately, but after everything they've been through... that just didn't sound right.

Or something.

Bubble, Firey, Flower, and Snowball would make their way up to the nearest hilltop and look around, looking for any sort of landmark that'd give them a sense of direction. Somewhere to go to. After a little bit of rumination, they decided that the best course of action was to try and go back to the place where they spent a good chunk of their lives fighting over some dumb island. They felt that they had a better chance of finding that place. They could recall (somewhat) that there were plenty of big landmarks in the area, and those were bound to stick out like a sore thumb amidst the vast green sea. Surely, *surely*, it wouldn't take any more walking than they've already done to get back.

After all, every path they've taken always seemed to bring them there.

And so, they walked. And walked. And walked. Again, and again. Over and over. Repeatedly. Time and time again. And so on, and so forth. Sometimes they paused, sometimes they caught their breath. Sometimes they talked, sometimes they felt close to death. One step, then two, then a dozen, then 2,763. The sun rose, the sun fell, then it happened all over again. They kept passing by near-identical trees, unremarkable rocks, and they wondered plenty of times whether or not they've been going around on a huge circle. The feeling of progress seemingly there, but ultimately going nowhere.