"I'm tired of this rain," complained Carla, looking out from the rock overhang. "Do you think it's going to slow down any time soon?"
"Probably not," said Vonn, glancing at the overcast sky. "We should just resign ourselves to getting wet. We can't stay here much longer, in case any of those crazy mystic elves come after us."
"You're right, but I hate the idea of traveling in the rain. What if we get sick?" she said rubbing her chin with worry.
"Mom, if we get sick, we'll just stop and hunker down somewhere until we get better," said Gia, finishing up the last tie on her backpack and standing up to put it on.
"That looks much better," said Vonn with a nod. "You can't even see the rip on the side."
"I'm just mad that I lost my extra shirt. It was ripped to shreds," said Gia taking off the backpack and putting it by the entrance.
"If you hold on to the scraps, we might be able to use them as bandages if someone gets hurt," said her mom, moving her bag by the door as well.
"I'm not sure how well they'll work, but I didn't get rid of them," said Gia.
"I guess I'm ready to go," said Tom, standing up and pulling his cloak hood up.
"It's going to be rough with all of the debris that's washed up on the beach," said Carla helping him secure the front of his cloak so it wouldn't blow open.
"I can't wait to get out there," exclaimed Mikey excitedly, gently putting his Limcheez pouch under his shirt before securing his cloak. "There's going to be all sorts of things washed up that I've never seen before!"
"Why don't you make a basket really quick, out of those branches over there. We're not going to burn them, and that way you have something to carry some of those things you find in," suggested Vonn, pointing to the pile of branches that were still against the wall where he had collected wood last.
"I've never made a basket before," said Mikey with a frown. "Can you show me?"
"Alright, but we'll have to be quick," said Vonn.
Gia watched as he made a quick basket for Mikey, explaining each step. She couldn't help but think about how good he was with kids. When they had their own, she was sure he would be an awesome dad.
"Let's go, the tide has just gone out," said Gia, looking out over the exposed beach.
Everyone grabbed their bags and made their way down to the beach, making sure not to slip on the wet rocks.
"This is going to take a while," said Tom sadly, as he struggled not to fall over the plethora of debris.
If it wasn't dead trees with their long straggly roots, it was giant boulders that had fallen from the washed-out cliff beside them. Tom used his stick to judge how big things were and whether he could climb over them, or if he should go around. Carla was mostly sticking close to him and helping, but she kept spotting pretty shells.
"Mikey, grab that big pink one!" she said, spying another shell.
"Mom! I can't carry every shell on the beach!" he complained, picking it up and adding it to the dozen he was already carrying. "These things get heavy!"
"Alright, if I see another one, I'll have you put one you've already pick up back down," she said with a sigh.
"Do you see any good pieces of wood for me to carve?" asked Tom after a moment, the excitement in his voice the first bit of excitement he had shown in a while.
"I'll look for you, dad," said Gia, scanning the littered beach. She had been the one who brought him wood back home, so it shouldn't have been that hard for her to pick some out here.
"Be careful," cautioned Vonn. "There's all sorts of things that the water had washed up. Some of these things might be dangerous, even if they are dead."
"I will," Gia said with a laugh, stepping over a large log and almost on top of a giant snake.
It snapped at her and hissed, causing her to scream and scramble away from it in a panic. It chased her over the log, still trying to bite her. Screaming, she raced towards Vonn blindly ignoring everything else.
As she drew close, Vonn stabbed with a stick and pinned it to the ground.
"Mikey! Quick! Bring your axe!" cried Vonn, as Gia quickly checked her legs for any bites.
The snake writhed and fought against the stick, biting at it and trying to get to them. Mikey arrived quickly with a determined look, and swung the axe. The snake's head was severed, but it continued trying to get to them and bite them. The body writhed in place, scattering rocks and debris in every direction.
"Is it dead?" asked Gia, watching the snakes mouth open wide, exposing long sharp fanges.
"Yes, it just doesn't know it yet," said Vonn with a sigh. "I don't recognize this type of snake, but the shape of its head shows that its very poisonous."
"Really?" asked Mikey, looking at it curiously. "How?"
"Do you see how its head is puffy here and here? That's where it has venom pockets. When I was your age, I would hunt snakes to get those. There was a guy in the city that paid very well for the poison. I stopped hunting them when he was arrested by the city guards."
"I would imagine so!" chuckled Tom. "That's very illegal. It's a good thing you didn't get caught providing him with it. Are you okay, Gia?"
"I'm fine," she said, pulling her pant leg back down. There weren't any bite marks, but she wasn't taking any chances. "I can't believe it was so aggressive. I didn't even touch it!"
"Some of them, you only have to get close enough to startle them, and then they chase you, like that one did. I once spent an entire night up in a tree, because a snake kept trying to get up to me. I kept knocking it down with a stick before it could get me," said Vonn.
"Did it finally give up?" asked Mikey.
"No, a boar came along and ate it," said Vonn.
"A boar?!" exclaimed Carla in shock.
"Don't ever underestimate those wild pigs!" laughed Vonn. "They may prefer to eat plants and roots, but they won't miss an opportunity for meat. They'll eat a man, too, if given the chance."
"That's horrible! How can people stand to raise pigs, if they're so dangerous?" she asked.
"Oh, tame pigs are just fine! It's the wild ones that are mean. Though, it doesn't take long for a tame pig to become wild," said Vonn thoughtfully.
"It's alright, mom," said Mikey. "That's just another animal we'll have someone else grow, and we'll buy from them for the meat!"
"That's right," laughed Tom.
The rain was starting to let up, and Gia was noticing that birds were starting to appear everywhere.
"What are all these birds doing?" asked Tom. "I can hear them all around us. Surely there's not that many things around for them to eat?"
"Yes, dad. There's a ton of dead things around!" exclaimed Mikey. "There's star fish, and ugly slug things, and huge bits pieces of grass. There're huge shells everywhere and some of them are still alive! I can't open them, either. There's even these spiny things that are all different colors, but I don't want to touch one because they look sharp."
"Wow, I could hear the birds going crazy, and I could smell something had died, but I had no idea there were so many different things around us. Be careful that we don't come up against any more of those snakes that Gia found," Tom said.
Gia sighed as she stared out at the crashing waves. Vonn was discussing with Mikey about which of the things they were finding might be edible for supper that night, and Carla was still finding shells she thought were pretty and shoving them in her bag. Tom had found a large log to sit on, that wasn't too wet.
There was something on the horizon that she had been watching for a while, but as it drew closer, Gia realized what she was looking at.
"Vonn! Come here!" she called, barely daring to believe her eyes.
Vonn rushed over, thinking there was another snake, because Mikey was right behind him, with his axe out already.
"Do you see that in the water?" she asked, pointing at the approaching figure.
Vonn squinted out over the water, as the sun had just decided to peek out from behind the clouds. Gasping in surprise, he turned to her.
"Quick! Everyone! Get close to the wall! Away from the water!" he cried, rushing over to help Carla get Tom over the large log.
"Why? What's going on?" asked Tom as Vonn lifted him up and over the log.
"I don't know what that thing is, but it's got big sharp teeth!" said Vonn as a loud splash behind him heralded the creature's arrival.