Zohan:
(curious and having a weird gut feeling)
"Everyone is here, but... where's Shinji?"
The question echoed in the empty building as Sato and Omi stood in silence.
Shinji:
(appears from behind Omi)
"I am right here! Relax, you don't need to worry, I am completely fine!"
Yin:
(still in shock after meeting Pharus)
"I am scared of this...BEAST"
Kitagawa:
"I am still skeptical about this! Keeping a wild animal such as a wolf without any safety measures isn't only dangerous, it's also really stupid. Sure, Pharus is smart and whatnot, but can we truly trust something like this? Can we trust her?"
Pharus:
(calmly)
"I understand your concerns, but I pose no threat. That is, only until I am harmed by you humans first!"
Jin:
"I know that you guys fear her, and to be honest, I did too when we first saw her, but I understand her true intentions. When she says she means no harm, she isn't lying!"
Karuno:
"How can you be so sure?"
Yin:
(smiles)
"He is a vet! He loves to treat animals, and trust me when I say this, but out of all of us, he is probably the only one we can trust in this situation. He knows more about animals than we do!"
Jin:
(proud of himself)
"I can tell that Pharus isn't lying by her body language! Although it might not be 100% accurate since Pharus isn't ordinary, I think we should give her some time to prove her loyalty."
The group, petrified of the beast that stood in front of them, wanted to kick Pharus out, but her gaze sent chills down their spines; they had no choice but to trust in Jin's words that this beast would prove to be harmless to them.
Shinji:
"I think the bigger problem at hand is not this creature but instead water; none of us has drunk any water at all, and it's been almost 24 hours since the crash. We are also tired. We need to find some water!"
Sato:
"That's true, on average, our bodies would be able to survive about 100 hours without water in this weather, but keeping in mind the fact that we have exhausted our bodies trying to survive i suppose we won't last more than 18 more hours!"
Yin:
(concerned)
"So, how do we find water now? And what about food? We need both of them!"
Pharus:
"There is a bridge to the otherside of the island! There must be some rivers there!"
Sato:
"About the bridge....It got destroyed."
Kitagawa:
(confused)
"What? How'd that happen?"
Pharus:
"You humans do realize that the bridge was our only way to the other side of the island!"
Karuno:
"There is another side to this island?"
Pharus explains to everyone her own story that she was born on this side of the island. Told them that since she was born on this side of the island, she had little to no knowledge about the other side.
Upon being questioned about her species, she made clear that she belonged to the species of highly intelligent wolves that had mutated because of the acid rain, but she had no idea if others like her even existed. There were none of her kind on this part of the island; the only person in her knowledge that shared the same species as her was her own mother.
She revealed that she had lost her due to starvation since green wolves only came out once humans appeared on this island, and her kind could only feed on them. Her mother never took her to the otherside and when she grew up, she simply lost interest in finding out what was on the other side.
She never learnt how to jump as far as her mother could anyway, so she couldn't cross the old bridge without it snapping regardless. The only way she had known of the other side was because of what her mother had told her about it. She called it HELL. There was something about the other side that her mother hadn't told her, but what Pharus did know was that there were entire mountain ranges on the other side, and rivers.
Pharus:
"Obviously, I don't know for a fact whether this is true or not. But at least I know for a fact that the other side does exist."
Omi:
"You are probably the most usefully useless creature I have ever seen."
Pharus:
(growls)
Yin:
(scared)
"Omi, I think it's better if you don't mess with her!"
Gayo:
"Guys, if the bridge is destroyed, then how about we try finding water in a cave!"
Shinji:
"That's a really good idea, Gayo!"
Karuno:
"It's not that good of an idea; we will need to find clean water, and caves usually have still water that is just not fit for drinking whatsoever. But then again, underground rivers also exist."
Shinji:
"Then that's the only thing that can keep us alive!"
Pharus:
"Fortunately, there is a cave on this side of the island. I live there, but I never went too deep. I can not fit in the narrow parts of the cave, that's what stoppedme from going deeper."
Kitagawa:
"How are we supposed to see anything in the cave, though? We don't have any equipment!"
Omi:
"I can start a fire, and well, I guess we'll move inside using those."
Shinji:
"That's perfect, fire is exactly what we need."
Gayo:
"I will stay up here with Yuri and maybe try to find some way to the other side?"
Pharus:
"I'll be staying up with these humans after leading you to the cave. I'll assist them in making another bridge to the otherside of the island."
Karuno:
"I suggest I stay up here too, I am scared of the dark, I don't wanna go down there."
Yin:
"Me neither!"
Sato:
"You know I'd like to stay up here too-"
Omi:
(interrupts)
"Sato, I don't give a shit what your opinion is. YOU ARE HEADING DOWN THERE WITH US. We'll need a doctor just in case."
Sato:
"I don't have any equipments and I don't know how to work with herbs and stuff. Yes, I am a doctor, but what am I supposed to do with no equipment?"
Omi:
"A doctor is a doctor!"
Yin:
(makes a joke)
"Yeah, Sato, why are you scared? It's not like there are apples down there!"
Zohan:
(peak of sarcasm)
"Haha, funny!"
Yin:
"Really?"
Zohan:
"No!"
Kitagawa:
"Shinji, do you wanna head down with us? You know, if you can really see the future, it will be handy down there!"
Shinji:
"I don't know Kitagawa, I think I'll stay up here!"
Kaboto:
"Well, I guess we should leave all of the children up here because it may be dangerous down there!"
Zohan:
"Thanks for your concerns, but I'd rather not stay up here. I wanna head down!"
Kaboto:
"Dude, you're still a child. I know you think you are all big and strong, but you are still just 15!"
Omi:
"For the first time, Kaboto seems right to me!"
Zohan:
"I AM COMING! I don't need you to tell me what is wrong or right, I know it myself!"
Kitagawa:
"If he wants to come with us, let him, regardless of whether he is a child or not; he is still stronger than me and Sato combined!"
Shinji:
"We need to work on this quickly before we all die, guys!"
Pharus carries Sato, Omi, Kaboto, Kitagawa and Zohan to the cave entrance. She leaves them there and goes back to the rest of the survivors waiting for her at the building that everyone has resided in ever since they all crashed on this cursed island. They face towards the entrance of the cave, which is quite big at first.
Kitagawa:
"So how exactly do we plan on moving in, I mean, sure Omi can burn a fire, but how will we carry it forward? It's not like we have alcohol."
Omi:
"Guess we'll go in there blind!"
Sato:
"Are you insane? We'll die like that!"
Zohan:
"Animal fat could work! Pharus said she rationed her food, and she lives here, so there have to be some green wolves' deadbodies here. I can even smell it!"
Kaboto:
"Smells Disgusting if I am being honest!"
A dead green wolf lay near the cave wall, stiff and half-decayed. Kitagawa dragged it out of the shadows, the body scraping against the stone and leaving a dark smear behind. She took a breath, held it steady, and pulled a sharp piece of metal scrap from her coat pocket. The blade tore through fur and skin, peeling the hide back to expose the thick, yellow layer beneath.
She ripped the skin free and held it up.
Kitagawa:"Does this work?"
Sato:"Not exactly. We need the fat from the body and coat the skin with it. Once that's done, if Zohan is correct, we can put it on a stick and burn it. It'll make a torch."
Omi:"I'll start a fire then!"
Omi struck stone against stone. Sparks jumped until one caught, and an ember glowed. Kitagawa cut deeper, slicing into the yellow layer of fat. Sato sat beside her, taking the skin she had cut earlier and rubbing it against the fat, slow and precise, coating it until it darkened and shined.
The flame would come next. The torches were lit, and the stage was set with nothing at hand for protection, and their lives at stake, they looked at the entrance of the cave with their hearts beating faster and faster by the second. They knew it could kill them, but not doing anything would result in the same fate.
Kitagawa:
"Let's do this, guys!"
They take their first step into the cave.
To
Be
Continued