If Only In Our Dreams

Chapter 9 - Life and Death With a Hint of Fate for Flavor

Between bursts of flying, finding local forms of travel throughout the lands, and sneaking onto ships to make out into the middle of the Caribbean, the hybrid finally found himself at his intended destination after five days from leaving Iceland. Since he had snuck onto that final cruise ship to get him out into the middle of the sea where that specific island happened to be, it was easy for Eekainine to simply jump out and swim the rest of the way to shore. After all, no type of vehicle ever visited the island anyway, and he definitely would not want to draw attention by flaming up his wings to fly over towards the island.

Eekainine did his best to keep his bag filled with food and water for his long trip up above the water to not get it drenched, all the while finding the most efficient and least tiring way to swim like that all the way to shore. Thankfully, with no predators lurking in the waters, he was able to make it to land in just under half an hour. Depleted of breath and muscles aching, the hybrid crawled up onto the beach and sat in the sand to take a brief break. The hybrid yanked a bottle of water out of his bag, pressing it up against eager lips to let the liquid quench the exhausted thirst.

As he rested a hand back and stared up at the clear blue sky above, however, his left hand dug into the sand, feeling the individual grains between his fingers and getting trapped under the many rings decorating his skin, he couldn't help but think back to that dream about the beach and that odd boy. His eyes quickly scanned the area around him, making sure he truly was alone while on the beach this time. The only notable things those drained green orbs could see was the lush and vibrant forestry leading into the island itself. The beach itself ended about ten feet away from where he sat, the incoming waves smoothing out and stopping just before the spot where he had dug his heels into the sand.

Eekainine decided to wait and slowly finish off the bottle of water while he dried off by the rays of the sun. Of course, his pants and shoes were still soaked and the t-shirt hanging loosely on his chest now clung to his form from its dampness, but he was ready to start moving again by the time his mixed black and blond hair flew loosely in the breeze.

"Can't afford to waste too much time."

The hybrid mumbled to himself as he shoved the empty bottle back into the bag, zipping it up before forcing himself back onto his feet. He stared into the depths of the deep forest while slinging the bag over his shoulders to hang off his back, letting out a short sigh before beginning his trek into the land.

Eekainine had been to the island before, centuries ago when he needed guidance on how to first deal with M'koyna and the journey of having him trapped within his own soul and body for so long. Since that was, quite literally, centuries ago, though, the hybrid couldn't recall the exact memory of the path that lead to the specific summoning location. All he could remember was that it was located in the middle of the island. So, as long as he kept moving, he was determined to find it.

The hybrid walked as quietly as possible through the gorgeous nest of nature he suddenly found himself in. Trees arched and loomed overhead, only allowing bits and pieces of sunlight through the cracks and spaces between leaves and branches. He was surrounded by a sea of primarily various greens and browns, but colorful flowers and animals broke the consistent color scheme ever so often. Eekainine did his best to avoid disrupting the natural order of the land by ducking under the low hanging branches rather than climb over or move them out of the way. He had to abruptly come to a halt on multiple occasions before walking directly into the middle of an intricate spider web, only seeing it out of the corner of his eye due to the sun beaming off of the lines of the web as he came close to it.

The simple smell of the forest was intoxicating enough. The clear air, the scent the trees that encompassed the surroundings as well as that familiar scent of the nearby running water, and that smooth easy breeze was well enough to let Eekainine's mind settle and come to peace with himself, even if just for a brief moment until he remembered what he was progressing towards and why he was there. Admittedly, the hybrid had been in such a negative mindset ever since All Hallows Eve night that he forgot what it was like to appreciate the simplest of things like how he felt walking through those untouched lands.