Chronicles of Yugure: Plummeting into Uncharted Depths

Day Eleven

I awake to a glistening sunrise. Luckily, I have no dreams to haunt me. The clouds have rolled away and the water is calm. I look over to where Milah had slept, his spot is empty and his bags are packed.

Taking a few steps over to my right, I find him fishing for breakfast. "Good morning, Milah." I greet him with a helping hand, taking one of the corners of his net and pulling it up to the rock's edge. It is full of many different species of fish. We have to throw some back because Milah says that those kinds are inedible.

"Ah, thank you, Enoki," he nods as we move the net further into our little rock island. I didn't notice it at first, but Milah had already set up a bonfire. He sparks it with his yellow dragon fire, and begins to cook four fish. It is a quiet meal, for we both know this will be goodbye for now. Again, the feeling of being alone sinks in.

I help clean up the fire, the fish remnants, and assist Milah in attaching his load of fish to his back. He hands me a gift of five fish for the road and one of his tridents. I politely try to refuse the gift, for I do not want to be taking his tools, but he insists, "Please, you need something to catch food for yourself on this journey. I have plenty of other equipment, and besides, I still have that spare."

"Thank ye Milah, for everything. I don't know what I would 'ave done without ye." I lower my head in thanks and he takes off in the direction that we came from.

I sigh, and pack my things up in my knapsack. Luckily, the trident folds up neatly and I can manage to fit it into my bag. 'I wonder what Shadequill is doing at the moment,' I think to myself as I do a once-over of the island to make sure I didn't forget anything. 'I bet she and Blacktalon are working on some long experiment. Oh, how I wish I could attend! Do they even know what I am up to? I never did get to say goodbye to any of m'friends before I embarked on a much longer journey than any of us expected. I wonder what m'mother is up to. Do they miss me?'

My thoughts flood my mind for a good long while. I keep to the direction of where the star once was. I am heading south, more towards the west than east. My sundial is out, along with my compass, and I make sure I have it secured on my wrist. Who knows what would happen if I lost my one and only way of knowing which way is north.

The ocean is all around me. I am feeling very desperate. 'Will I ever make it to Sendaar's tribe?' This repeats inside my head many times. I feel that this journey will take much longer than two days. Maybe I am just being melodramatic. I want to explore the islands I keep passing, but I do not want to waste time.

Then, knowing my luck in timing an adventure, the clouds begin to return. "Ugh, could I possibly ever 'ave a good day?" The answer to my question? No. No I cannot. Apparently, the clouds are holding a grudge on me. Hail begins to be pelted at me and it hurts rather bad on my soft organic frame.

"I guess I will be exploring an island anyway," I say bitter-sweetly. This does give me a chance to explore and study the native wildlife and plants. Time is of the essence, however, and I do need to get to Sendaar as soon as possible.

Green, that is all I can see as I land on the shoreline of the large island that I picked to take shelter on. 'I guess I won't have any problem blending in,' I think to myself, amused at how many shades of green these plants can be. Tall palm trees stand as a wall, protecting the other plants from the ocean water and other elements. There is barely any space to squeeze between the tropical flora. I scan the perimeter of the island, trying to find a good space to start adventuring inward at. The hail hasn't let up yet, and my wings are not the best umbrella made.

"Finally!" I exclaim, seeing two of the palm trunks bent oddly. They make a perfect hole for me to enter the jungle. My body seems to squeeze through the hole perfectly. The antlers atop my head, however, manage to snag on the limb of the right tree. Grunting irritatedly, I lift my head and try to remove my much needed accessories.