King Kong: The Legend of Skull Island [Wattys 2017]

Chapter 6

Godzilla wiped his brow. He, Gorosaurus, and the other warriors had defeated the Crawlers, but the battle lasted long into the night.
"Whew. That was intense." He said. "Good thing that's over."
"It's not over." Gorosaurus said. "There will be more. They're a curse on this island that comes from the darkness within it's heart."
"Heart? Wait, is this island alive?" Godzilla asked.
"In a sense." Gorosaurus explained. "There are legends that say the island is in fact sentient, and all the life present is controlled by it. All I know is that whenever someone new comes to the island, the Skull Crawlers show up."
"What do you mean by that?" Godzilla asked.
"I just noticed it. When the tribes first came to the island, the Skull Crawlers appeared." Gorosaurus explained. "Our first king imprisoned them. Then you and your boat appear, and they're back."
"Oh. Well, if you're right, then I'm sorry." Godzilla said.
"It's not your fault." Gorosaurus said. "It think it's the island's fault. Anyway, it would be best if you go back to your boat now."
Godzilla nodded and made his way back to the beach. He ran into the captain first.
"Godzilla, thank goodness you're here." The captain said. "Is Hana with you?" As soon as Godzilla heard the name, his eyes widened in surprise.
"Oh shit, I completely forgot about Hana!" Godzilla said. "We got separated, but then those Skull Crawlers you were talking about showed up and I forgot to find her."
"Don't worry. She's a smart girl. I'm sure she'll be fine." The captain said.
"Not with those Skull Crawlers running around." Godzilla countered. "I'm gonna go find her." He began to leave, until the captain grabbed his arm.
"No, we need you here for the night." The captain said. "We'll look for her in the morning."
"She could be getting eaten as we speak!" Godzilla said, pulling his arm away. "You focus on keeping everyone safe inside. I'll find Hana and bring her back."
Before the captain could object, Godzilla ran back off into the jungle.

Hana couldn't sleep. She was curled up in her sleeping bag while Kong slept silently beside her. The environment she was in felt so unfamiliar that she was uncomfortable. She sat up and reached for her bag, which held her silver water bottle. She took a long drink from it. While she was sitting up, she noticed the dim light of a fire outside. The various bugs and animals outside made silhouettes on the tent wall. Hana felt relaxed watching the shadows move around outside. She was about to fall asleep, until she heard and felt a mosquito land on her arm. It wasn't a normal mosquito, as she soon found out. It was massive, about the size of her thumb. Before it bit her, she yelped and swatted it away. After watching it buzz out the entrance of the cave, she brought her sleeping bag back up over her shoulders and buried her head into her travel pillow. She couldn't help but tear up a little bit. She was a little bit homesick. Hearing her move around made Kong wake up. He felt bad about forcing Hana to stay the night. But he knew that if the villagers saw her leave now, they would most likely assume that she did something to offend him, which would result in them killing her. He turned his head to face her.
"Are you feeling alright?" He asked.
"Y-yeah." Hana sniffed. "Just homesick."
"I'm sorry I have to keep you here tonight." Kong said.
"It's not that." Hana said. Kong could still tell this was part of the problem.
"Tomorrow, I'll escort you personally to your camp." Kong said. He could tell this made Hana feel better.
"Thanks." She said. Kong smiled and rolled over to his side of the bed, but his smile fell when he saw a shadow on the side of the tent. At first, he thought it was a villager, but after hearing the familiar hiss, he realized what the shadow truly came from.
"Hana, don't make a sound." Kong whispered.
"What? What's going on?" Hana asked before Kong covered her mouth with his hand and shushed her. She was about to ask why, but she saw a similar shadow on the other wall of the tent. Kong removed his hand and grabbed his knife.
"Don't move until I get back." He said. "I'm gonna take care of this."
Hana nodded, eyes fixed on the shadow of the Skull Crawler outside the tent. She had never seen a creature like that before. Kong knew that where there was one, more would come. He exited the tent, seeing the 5 Crawlers lurking around outside. They didn't notice him. He needed to get their attention somehow.
"Hey!" He shouted. All five creatures turned their attentions to him. One of them immediately pounced at him, ending up with Kong's knife stuck in his eye. After he was sure the Crawler was dead, Kong blocked an attack from another one by swinging his arm. The Crawler's claws scraped his flesh, making him hiss in pain. His kicked the Crawler away, and slashed at another one. He saw two more Crawlers bounding towards the area. His chances were starting to look slim. Suddenly, he heard a slashing sound as a blue beam of light ripped through the air towards the two Crawlers, ripping them in half. Kong turned towards the source of the beam, and saw a figure in a long green coat. He held a long metal sword, the likes of which Kong had never seen. A thin blue smoke came off of the sword, and Kong guessed that's where the beam came from. The figure ran in and faced the other Crawlers, which were now crawling towards him.
"Who are you?" Kong asked. Godzilla was surprised that he could understand Kong, but quickly snapped out of it.
"Godzilla." He said. "Who're you?"
Kong's eyes widened, realizing this was the Godzilla Hana had spoken of. "I am King Kong." He replied. Godzilla looked at him again, more surprised than before. He smirked.
"So the legends are true." He said. "Have you dealt with these things before?"
"Yes, a few times, unfortunately." Kong said. He took out his knife, but realized it wouldn't be enough as more and more Skull Crawlers began to appear. Before they arrived, Kong ran to the side of a small hut and grabbed a spear made from a long stick and a large shard of bone. He ran back to Godzilla, and the two stood back to back, facing the Skull Crawlers that were circling around them.
"Are you ready for this?" Kong asked.
"No, but that's never stopped me before." Godzilla replied. Kong smirked, and the two rushed into the battle.