Academy Island

Pink

When we arrived back in camp, sunshine returned with us, a rare blessing that soon had us panting hard, the humidity rising to almost drowning levels with the new heat and thoroughly sodden jungle. Sweat crawled over my body in an uncomfortable sheen as Kota and I entered Gabriel's hut, birds announcing us before Gabriel could turn from the table he sat at with the day's mending already laid out. His eyes flicked from the birds we held to me, to Kota, uncertainty dressing his brow. Kota placed his squawking burden on the table, turning it so the bird faced his inspection. The bird pecked violently at a bit of bark that fluttered down, and Kota's eyes smiled as he flicked it away and glanced over at Gabriel.

"Up for a dye job? We have a couple of customers for you if you are."

Gabriel huffed, but his eyes lit up and he stood. The birds reacted, shuffling, then scrabbling, only a few tiny down feathers escaping for all their efforts. Gabriel leaned on the table as he bent to inspect them himself, poking a lean finger in that instantly got pecked. He grimaced, retrieving his hand and rubbing at the unbleeding injury, but his eyes didn't leave the birds for an instant. 

"What kind of color were you thinking? Green? Blue?"

 Kota was quick to shake his head. "Something bright, noticeable. Out of the ordinary."

Gabriel scoffed and finally looked back at Kota, eyes flicking to me and back again to him. "You realize what I'm going to have to use to get those mothercluckers 'noticeable', right? That shit's a pain in the ass."

"I'll help you." I offered, and he blinked in surprise as his brow loosened and shoulders, that I hadn't realized he'd been holding tense, relaxed. I stared up at him, unsure what it was that was so obviously bothering him, too tight in the stomach to even think of asking him what it was that had him nudging me further into the room and quickly dismissing Kota with a shooing motion of his hands. Once Kota had left though, he clapped his hands together, rubbing them with anticipation, all signs of something amiss gone from his eyes as if nothing had been wrong at all.

"Let's get started then. Those birds won't dye themselves."

Five hours later, I crouched in one corner of the sun pierced hut, peering in on two dyed, washed, bored looking birds, blinking at me out of their wooden cage. Gabriel wiped his stained hands with a ruined cloth and rechecked them for the umpteenth time, to make sure their feathers were 'drying in a natural state'. I noticed his hands, a rich purple brown well past his wrists. It looked so permanent.

I nodded at his hands. "Will that come off?"

He withdrew a hand from his rag, spreading the fingers wide to inspect it. "Eh, it'll be fine. I was shooting for red, but I guess this color will have to do.

One of the birds cocked her bright pink head in his direction, watching him carefully as if she was trying to understand what he was saying. I giggled.

"I like it. They look like mini flamingos."

He grinned wryly, giving me an elbow to help me up. "Well, if nothing else, they'll be the envy of all their birdy neighbors. We can try some other colors too, orange, purple, anything that will catch the eye. This island is going to be so punk."

I nodded enthusiastically and helped him gather his equipment, bottles and clay jars, a mix of modern things with the primitive they had made themselves. I sniffed at a scentless jar of white powder as I followed him, quirking an eyebrow at the contents.

"What is this stuff you used, anyway?" I asked, mystified.

He looked over his shoulder at the little pot I held and snorted.

"I told you not to touch that. I'm kind of winging using whatever we gather from the island. I know a bit about chemistry, so that helps, but sometimes it's hit and miss. I thought that was a soap alternative when I gathered the roots, but when it gets re-moistened..."

He took a pinch of the powder and sprinkled it in a standing bowl of water. It reddened in spots, like he had sprinkled blood instead. I raised my eyebrows at him, and he grinned.

You should have seen Luke after he took a bath in that stuff when we first got here. I think he's been trying to get the perfect revenge ever since."

I covered my mouth to keep amusement down and handed him the jar so he could place it on the shelf. We gathered the birds, fluttering nervously in their shedding cages, carrying them both outside and placing them on a rough wooden table in the sun so they would dry. Nathan and Dr. Green approached, eyeing the newly minted hue they sported. Dr. Green folded his arms and bent down so he could get a better look.

"Well, it looks a sight better on them than it did on Luke."

Nathan squinted at them and rubbed his jaw. "So it'll last at least a couple of weeks then, give or take?"

Gabriel nodded. "Sure, at least. They should still be noticeable even after three, I'm thinking they'll fade to a pale rose by then."

The others had gathered around the birds while he talked, Kota pushing to the forefront so he could inspect them as well. The birds fluttered their brilliant wings, increasingly nervous at all the attention. I stepped back, trying to give the others some room, and bumped into Blackbourne. He steadied me, a light touch on my back, a polite nod, his hand gone in a moment. I'd gone rigid, an aware chill rolling up to my shoulders that wouldn't settle even after his hand had fallen away.

"All right everyone. Time to let them go. They aren't doing themselves or us any good down here in a cage." Gabriel announced, still wiping his hands on the cloth.

Kota nodded and began unfastening the cage's hatch. The men naturally backed up until they made a circle around the two men releasing the trapped fowl, both birds spreading their wings as if they knew they'd be airborne again soon. I peeked over the top of Victor's shoulder, lifting to toe to see. Two flapping, pink blooms huffed over dirt for less than a second before rising, twisting together and sailing over the huts, cutting through palms and dipping out of sight on their way back to the ocean.

I breathed a sigh and let down to my heel again. The only thing left to do was hope.