Chapter 17: Chapter 17

The vibration of the ship made my grip on the taffrail tighter. Some pirates slid down when the ship almost sank. It shrieked as it quivered with the sound of a thunderstorm.

The screams of those who fell to the sea enveloped my ears. Aggressive whirlwinds came approaching nonstop. The tides shivered while it kept banging the ship.

Kylo rolled down toward me with knitted brows. She tightened her grip on the railing beside me. The ship made a sudden movement that shook all of us. It surprised Kylo enough to let go of the railings, but I caught her right hand in panic.

“Hold on,” I said with greeted teeth.

I clenched my jaw to gather some strength.

The waves were teasing us as it moved from side to side. Kylo’s fingers slowly slipped from my hand. She splashed to the water together with the other pirates. Before I knew it, lightning struck in front of my eyes that I went blind.

It was the last thing I remembered.

I could only see darkness. The birds were chirping music to wake me up. Cold air whispered in my ears, words I couldn’t understand.

“Wagner.”

Someone shook my shoulders.

“Wagner.”

I slowly opened my eyes as my vision of Kylo came back. Her hair was wet, and she has grains of sand on her cheeks.

I extended my body in a reclining position and yawned. There were chunks of broken parts from the shipwreck. Three pirates survived the incident.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“I will tell you if I know the name of this place, but we are on an island.”

She held my hand and helped me stand up.

“By the way, Osca told me that the ocean will lead us to an island where we could find the ritual that will break this curse. I think he’s talking about this place.”

“You met Osca?”

Her eyes glimmered.

“Whatever. Focus on the part where we must find the ritual. So that was Osca? I was expecting a lot better than me.”

I walked toward the remaining pirates and told them to gather some firewood and make a shelter. Kylo and I unraveled the forest in search of food.

“I’ll go right and you go left.”

I was about to walk away from her when she grasped the tip of my blouse. My brows furrowed.

“What?” I asked.

“Are you sure that it’s a good idea for us to split up? I’ve seen movies about unfamiliar islands, and all of them were creepy. People went missing. Scary creatures lurk during the night and it enchants most jungles.”

She said those words to me like she was telling a horrifying folklore. Her eyeballs moved side by side and her wheezy, cackling voice went deeper.

“Do you see cameras? Are we filming right now? We’re not. So stop imagining things because we have to survive. This is a reality show, Kylo. If you’re in trouble, call me with your lungs out.”

I left her dumbfounded.

My footprints cracked the dry leaves on the ground as I ventured the unknown. Insects seem to gossip about me as their noise rose in a higher pitch. It wasn’t something new to me because I expect islands to be like this.

I followed the battalion of red ants as they lined up toward their destination. My nostrils smelled a mildewy and fermented scent. The ants raced to the top of a tree where yellow bananas hang freely.

“There you are,” I uttered.

It wasn’t hard to harvest all of them. A banana has important nutrients that are enough to fuel us in the meantime. A medium-sized banana has about 150 calories, and it is rich in fiber and antioxidants.

It reminds me of our training when I was younger. After we graduated, they sent the five of us to an island where they trained us. They gave us instructions on what to do. It was more of a torture.

The challenges we had were hard to bear. We survived on our own for ten days. They also sent two robots to hunt us. Those robots looked like humans and they have a shotgun to kill us.

Within those days, we developed a strategy to win against those robots. It was those days when I cared little about my looks and fragile skin.

My smile vanished when I heard Kylo’s voice.

“Wagner! Come quickly!”

I ran in her direction as I followed the path she made.

“What happened? Are you hurt?”

I held her wrist and examined her body.

“No. I’m fine. We hit the jackpot. Just look at that.”

She smiled and pointed at somewhere really amazing. My eyes were wide opened as I exhaled. They splattered fruits and Vegetables in front of us. It seems like a garden perfectly nourished and cultivated.

Kylo was about to pick them out, but I stopped her.

“Don’t you think it’s weird? It’s impossible to have an abundant garden in the middle of a forest unless we are not alone. There are people here aside from us.”

“Then it’s a good thing. At least we can survive with all these plants.”

“How sure are you they won’t harm us? Let’s be cautious. We can’t just trust anyone. Do you understand?”

She nodded.

“But I think it’s not bad to get a few of them.”

She cheerfully went straight to the garden and picked some fruits.

“Look at you. I’ve never seen such a healthy plant like you.”

She even talked to them and hugged them like a pillow. I shook my head in disbelief.

At night, we set a bonfire, and the pirates caught some crabs and fishes. The flame flickered through thin air as the wind softly embraced us.

“Wagner, why don’t you try this?”

A pirate handed grilled meat to Kylo. She chewed it and closed her eyes.

“Not bad. It suits my flavor. What is this?”

“It’s a lizard.”

Kylo choked and pounded her chest. She stood up and vomited. We watched her with laughter.

“I thought you said it was good,” I said.

“Not before I knew what it was. Geez.”

“Well, there are two things I can say about that. First, there are people who dressed themselves in a white cloak. They smile at you with good intentions, but inside that cloak they are disgusting. Second, things are not as bad as they seem. If you put the right amount of energy, you’ll coincide.”

She narrowed her eyes.

“Wow, you sound like a philosopher.”

“Philosopher? I’m a genius.”

She rolled her eyes.

I drifted my attention to the pirates.

“How was your quest? Did you find anything suspicious?” I asked.

“So far, we have seen no one. It looks like we own the entire island.”

“There are no signs of human activity.”

“It’s peaceful.”

“That’s odd. I’m sure that people made the garden. Maybe they are hiding somewhere.”

“What if they are not people? What if they are aliens or unknown creatures observing us?”

Kylo interrupted. Her witch voice came back.

“There you go again with that nonsense. It’s time for you to stop watching those movies.”

“I’m serious. They are good at making no noise and camouflage. They can be in any form.”

“Are you saying that they can have eight eyes, sharp teeth, multiple legs, and horrifying faces?”

She looked at me earnestly.

“I once had an encounter with changelings, so I believe such things exist.”

“Change what? You had a fun adventure.”

“I’ve been a pirate for two decades and I haven’t seen one.”

We stared at the pirate who spoke.

“Being a pirate must be cool!” Kylo said.

“Well, it isn’t always like that. We are not swashbucklers who live a life with pleasure and fighting only when we have to.”

“I’m curious about where you leave your stolen treasures.”

Kylo seems interested in the life of a pirate.

“With the business that we have, we don’t expect to live longer. Planning for our future wasn’t high on the list of our concerns. We spend all our wealth on liquor and women as quickly as we could. Our only genuine desire is the pleasure right now.”

The pirates chuckled.

Her eyebrows lowered and pulled closer together. I know what she’s thinking. She pities them. I want to hit her with the truth that life will get worse each day. Finding your own happiness is the only key to ignore the sad truth.

Happiness doesn’t solely lie in having someone by your side. As long as you have yourself, you can be happy. Losing yourself for someone you don’t deserve isn’t love, it’s idiocy.

“Look at them, their eyes tell genuine happiness. A smile can deceive anyone, but the eyes are honest,” I whispered to her ears.

“Why are you telling me that?”

“Because you may not change the script, but you can change how you perceive your life.”

She sighed.

The darkness was attentive while we shared our opinions about random topics. Crickets were like choirs, repeating their sound. The water slowly raced to shore as it touched the shells which glow under the moon.

We were the only one out there, that’s what we thought.

“Let’s not worry and get a good night's sleep.”

Our belief that we were safe disappeared when arrows pierced through the sand. We leaped in nervousness. Our eyes wandered to the woods. Behind the tall trees hid our predator.