'What If...' No. 1

Chapter 3 - Ahoy! Stowaway!

I sat there on the ship, occasionally checking the map to make sure I was going the right way. The wind and fuel kept the ship airborne, but even if it were to drop out if the sky, only sea was beneath me anyways. Smiling, I opened the picnic basket and took out an apple, taking a bite from it with a loud crunch. Once the apple was eaten go the core, I placed it into a conveniently located bin. Opening my bag, I took out my journal and a pen, turned to a blank page and began to write;

'Day 1- The journey to Snaktooth Island is a long but worthwhile one. I have a strong feeling that there is something hidden on the island that I will share with the world. The others may wonder where I am, but that isn't something I need to worry about right now. Only the stories awaiting me and the dangerous nature of such delicious and unique creatures are things that are needed to be discovered.'

I put the pen and journal down onto a table where the map was and walked around the ship. Realising there wasn't much to do, boredom struck me like a strong wave from the sea. I then leaned over the edge of the ship and looked down at the sea below. Only the sounds of wind and birds could be heard for a while.

Suddenly there was a loud 'CRASH'. I swiftly turned around and slowly began to walk towards the noise. A voice spoke from somewhere on the ship. "I appear to be in a slight predicament. If you so happen to be nearby, I require immediate assistance." The large words immediately told me who it was without me needing to see them. Turning the corner, Floofty was stuck in the corner with a shelf ontop of them. Seeing Floofty like this made me break out into laughter.

"I would prefer if you helped me out before laughing about my current situation." I could tell from Floofty's tone of voice that they were annoyed. I calmed myself down and walked over to Floofty, pulling the shelf off of them and grabbing their hand to pull them out of the corner. They stood up straight and brushed themselves off before looking me dead in the eye. I stared right back at them.

"What are you doing here?" I crossed my arms as I stared at Floofty. "I could ask you that exact same thing. However, it was quite obvious what you were up to when you continually stared at the ship." I stared at Floofty for a moment as I slowly nodded, trying to think of what to say. "Well... erm, w-why are you hiding out on the ship? It's not like you to spy and be sneaky, that's Beffica's job."

Floofty just stared at me blankly as they adjusted their lab coat. "Is it not clearly obvious to you what I am doing? But then again, you always were of low intelligence compared to me, so I would expect your simple mind to ask these silly questions." At the same time as feeling annoyed, I also understand what Floofty meant. It was obvious that Floofty wanted to find out what I was doing since I was acting quite suspicious earlier.

Sighing, I decided to tell Floofty the truth. "Ok, I-" "No need for you to speak." Floofty quickly interrupted me. "With the map on your desk, the words written in your journal which you have stupidly left open wide, it is obvious that you are heading back to Snaktooth to try and discover something that is there. That is to be expected from a journalist like you, secrets and information always capture your feeble minds." Of course Floofty would find out without any need for me to speak.

"Y-Yeah. That's exactly it." My mind took a few moments to comprehend how quickly Floofty pieced that together. But then again, it's not like it was that hard with the amount of evidence just lying around. "Alright then, approximately what time is the expected arrival of this ship to land at the island?" In confusion, I stared at Floofty, "I'm sorry, what?" Floofty sighed, "Of course your simple mind will need the baby language." They stared at me, separating each of the words like I was a child who couldn't speak well, "Do you know what time we will get to the island?"

Ok so maybe I did need your baby language to understand. Floofty walked over to the front of the ship "I think in about an hour or two." I said, sounding quite sure of myself. "Well your calculations are clearly completely off as the island is already in view." My face switched to one of shock. "Wha?! How?! I could've sworn it takes much longer than this to get to the island." Floofty turned around to face me. " Like I just said. Your calculations are wrong. If you do not believe my intellectual mind, then you may come over here and see it for yourself. Knowing your simple mind, you will most likely come look for proof."

Walking over to the front of the ship, it was quite obvious that Floofty was right. Not that far in the distance was Snaktooth Island, with a somewhat majestic appearance. "Woah. You were right Floofty." Floofty turned to me and stared at me like I was stupid. "When have I ever not been right?" I went to try and think of I time when Floofty wasn't right, but there hasn't been a time like that yet. "Good point."

As Snaktooth slowly came closer and closer, Floofty looked at me, speaking with a tone of confusion. "So, why did you feel the need to come back to this place? The possibilities of there being anything left to uncover here are numbers that your mind could not understand." I thought about what they said for a second, before I responded with a smile and eyes filled with pride. "A journalist just knows."