VOYAGE I: Onwards To Utopia

Chapter 14

Thundren

Desire had soon reach the target destination, Thundren. It was a jungle like skyland as the first you'd see upon arriving there, was the dense mass of trees that covered most of the place. 

The crew disembarks the ship and eyed the place with both warry and awe, as they walked around to check the surroundings. It was nothing but trees, lots of tress, tall grass, wild plants, as well as flowers.

Hongjoong beckons Seonghwa and Yeosang."Should we go straight ahead?"he asked pointing to the direction of the woods.

"I don't really know, we have no map about the place."Yeosang replied with a small frown.

"And the skygers could be lurking anywhere. We should stay close."Seonghwa adds.

Hongjoong nods and calls the attention of the other members."We'll go straight ahead, but be cautious. There are skygers here after all, so hang onto your weapons and don't stray from the group. I'm looking at you, San and Wooyoung. I repeat, do not wander away on your own."he deadpanned, and the rest nodded, while the two aforementioned members aggressively nod.

"Yunho, please stay in the ship with Shinji and Daehee."

"Aye, Captain."

And with that, they went straight into the wilderness. Not knowing what awaits them there was scary, and every step they took was filled with anxiety. Getting deeper and deeper into the thick mass of grass, and wild plants, while the surrounding got dimmer and the way they came in get smaller. 

Some of them wanted to head back, or run back to the ship to be more precise and those members are no other that the three that were behind the group. Namely San, Wooyoung, and MIngi.

As they reached the center of the woods, a mist suddenly appears out of nowhere. It was already gloomy, so the mist made everything creepier. Rustling sounds then came by from somewhere and the three mentioned before all let out a high pitched screech.

"Calm down."Jongho scolds them.

"Gah! Look!"San points his finger towards a figure of a creature, who's shadow was the only thing they could see due to the mist. The shadow grew larger as if approaching, and before they knew it, the three had scrammed for their lives, all going in different directions.

"Yah! I said don't stray from the group!!"the Captain shouts after them.

"Uhm, Captain. It's getting closer."Yeosang who hid behind Jongo motions to the front.

Hongjoong pulls out his cutlass, as well as Seonghwa, and Jongho his musket. They positioned their weapons in front, towards the approaching creature. Sweating nervously, as they anxiously wait to see what it was.

Once the mist subsided, all their worries and fear seemed to have evaporated. The creature was indeed a skyger, with sharp teeth and claws. But the thing was, the creature appears to be a baby.

"Meow."meowed the little white kitty with blue stripes and wings, as it sat in front of them.

"Aww it's adorable."Jongho cooed, crouching down to see the skyger closer.

"What the?"Seonghwa mutters.

"This is the man eating beast?"Hongjoong raises an eyebrow, pointing his cutlass at it.

"It's a baby hehe."Yeosang shyly rubs the back of his neck.

"Look for the others, it's parents may be the dangerous ones."says Hongjoong."I'll look for the clue.

The three left in the direction of the other three earlier, while Hongjoong proceeded to walk straight on. The cub kept following him too. He soon reached a cave, and contemplated on entering by himself.

If the cub's parents were there, then he'd have to face them alone. He knew he didn't stand a chance against two huge man eating beasts. Either way, he decided to go in, after making himself a torch to light the way.

The cub continued following him, until they reached a dead end in the cave. There was nothing there, except bones. The remains of what the skygers probably had for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

He then retreats the cave and finds the other members all together outside. Mingi had twigs sticking out of his hair, San was soaking wet, and Wooyoung was covered in dirt.

"Did you find anything?"Seonghwa asked, walking up to the other.

"There was nothing in there."he answered, crouching down and staring at the cub, who stared back at him."He kept following me."he reached out his hand, hovering it above the creature.

The cub rubs it head on the Captain's hand, and it was only then when he realized that the cub was wearing a collar which had something tied to it. He pets the cub, before taking the the collar off it's neck. attached to the collar was rolled up leather, and inside it was a piece of paper.

"I think we found our second clue."

***

When they got back to the ship, there was another ship the was docked beside Desire. It was quite a recognizable ship. The maroon color and the specific symbol of a triangle that was similar to a fishbone on the flag gave it away.

It was no other than A.C.E