Academy Island

Descent

A monster of fire haunted every step of my dreams.

I heard a noise. I know I did. Sleep clung to me as I lifted my head from my numb arm, blinking in confusion from my nightmare and listening. Nothing. My body ached, heavy and bleary. I was sure I'd slept enough, but I was still tired. I cuddled back to the ground. The sun hadn't risen, the sky still dark. I wasn't ready to face everything just yet anyway. Sighing, I closed my eyes, letting the morning quiet take over my thoughts.

Those thoughts were rudely interrupted by an explosive bang.

I flipped over on my back, wide eyed, then scrambled up in panic at the abating hissing filling my ears. I looked wildly about, not catching up to what I saw for a few moments. A hazy veil of steam rose from the center of the concave that was the mountain top where I'd been sleeping, the ground where I shakily stood unnaturally warm despite the morning cold, just as it had been when I'd dropped off to sleep. A sudden jet of high pressure steam erupted a stone's throw away, making the sound that had woken me, an exploding hissing scream warning me to stay back.

And I had slept right on the rim of it. Cuddling up to the warmth of a fire god, so to speak.

The panicked climb down was murder on my hands and feet, dark blood making it's first appearance on the rocks that I found hurried footing on. Climbing up here had been a mistake, but I wasn't sure how I was going to get on without making a few. I knew nothing of this place other than it was completely encompassed by water, and that it had a bunch of...ow...men that I didn't trust on it. The light was bad, leaving few shadows to base perspective on. Loose rocks under my foot gave way, my stomach jumping all over as I tried to catch myself. A hold of sharp stone ran over my scraped palms, giving me the needed friction to stop my fall. Dust gritted between my teeth as I held there, resting as I waited for the sounds of tumbling rocks to come to an end. Everything on this island wanted to kill me, or maim me. Tears pricked my eyes, my anger at myself forcing them back. I had to just do what I had to do, cry later when I had the luxury. If I ever had that again.

It was a long rest waiting for more light before I raised the courage to look around myself for my next foothold, a forced calm set in my jaw. I calculated each step, made sure each move down was thought out. Going down took just as long, if not longer, than going up. It was difficult not to be impatient. I jumped down another short ledge at the crack of dawn and began run-walking as the slope leveled out to a safer angle, finding solace in the swaying pink edged palms that greeted me at the base.

Making a grab at the nearest one, I used it to lean on as I caught my breath. It was solid and soothing like an old friend, resting my forehead on it and patting it while I waited for the stitch in my side to abate. I looked back up at the hopefully dormant volcano, it's top bathed in a rosy hue. I had probably gotten far enough away from immediate danger here.

It wouldn't be far enough if that thing decided to erupt though.

I shook my head. Not much I could do about that if it did. I couldn't believe I had stupidly slept right on top of that thing, shuddering at the thought of what a jet of boiling steam could have done if one had let loose underneath me while I slept. I inspected my feet, cringing at the raw state they were in. That I could do something about, even if it was just getting them clean. I sat, so carefully, and pulled my shirt off, holding it up to examine the stains that would never come out, and used it to wipe away the smeared blood. I had to find water. My thirst was even worse with the heavy wheezing I had done to get down here. My stomach growled, announcing that too had to be taken care of. Seemed I needed everything, just like yesterday. Only more urgent.

I needed to focus on one thing. Running around the island like a chicken with it's head cut off would get me nothing but dead. I rose to my stinging feet and put my shirt back on, frowning at the red mess that made the shirt stick to my stomach. Gross. Water seemed the most pressing, so I decided to stick with that. I stared in the direction of the men's camp for a long while while the jungle lit up slowly with the rising sun. They had to be camped near a source of water. Punky Pirate wouldn't have been able to do his laundry without it. I would either have to snoop around the men's camp where I was sure there was a source of water, taking a chance that I'd get shot at again, or go hunting for water like I had yesterday, only finding one salty stream that lay on the other side of their camp near the shore. I wasn't sure how long that would take, or even if there was any other source of water at all. I shifted on my feet, unable to find a place free of pain. This wasn't going to be fun, trekking through jungle with bleeding feet. Sighing, I moved forward anyway, putting one tender foot in front of the other, working toward a steady rhythm of limping and ambling.

I rested often, using up valuable time. I couldn't help it though. I was in pain, and getting bouts of dizziness. Another wave of vertigo leaned me against one of the orange berried plants I had seen yesterday, almost landing on my face since the twiggy bush didn't support me very well. I gained footing again and stared at the tempting fruits, waving brightly at me from their twigs. I had no idea what they were, had never seen anything like them. I was disturbed at how much I wanted to pop them in my mouth despite the danger of poisoning myself. They seemed too pretty to be bad.

I moved on, before the temptation became unbearable. I had found a coconut around the men's camp, knew that was safe to eat. I couldn't take any more chances that had the potential to kill me. The thought of another one laying about, maybe even water, moved me on. It was too much to hope for, and not enough.