The further into the forest they went, the louder the birds chirping got as if a warning cry as darkness fell over them bringing a slight chill with it. The deeper they went, the larger the roots that covered the ground got. This only worsened the situation with them slithering on the floor every time someone touched them. The trees blocked out most of the sky, making the already rugged terrain harder to get through.
'Careful, they don't like being touched.' Hilo said.
'So- How far is your village?' Marco said.
'Village?' Hilo mumbled to himself.
'Your home.' The stowaway said.
'Oh, so village means home? Thanks, stowaway.'
'My name isn't stowaway; it's Oran.'
'Oh, so ya did have a name?' Aaron said.
'Oran…that's a weird name.' Hilo said.
Oran ignored both of them and focused on the road ahead. The further they went the quitter the area got. Aaron's ears started twitching.
'Hey kid, why don't we just take these?' Aaron asked.
Pointing at all the fruit on the trees they kept on passing.
'Keola will get mad if you touch them without his permission. You'll also have to convince those guys.' Hilo said pointing at the roots.
'This Keola ya chief or something?' Aaron said.
'Chief? Keola is my friend.' Aaron turned at Marco who shrugged. Oran suddenly froze before tugging at Aaron's shirt.
'Yeah, I know.' Aaron said.
Realizing that the birds chirping had stopped, a dead silence filled the forest as the feeling of being watched fell on the three outsiders. The men stopped, refusing to move forward they moved closer to each other.
'What's wrong?' Hilo said.
Reaching for his dagger Marco is stopped by Aaron who shook his head, knowing they would be at a complete disadvantage if they started a fight in such a closed-off space.
'Nothing, we're just tired yeah?' Aaron said turning to the other two who nodded their heads.
'We're almost there.' Hilo said.
The three followed the boy deeper into the abyss. Finally, they arrived at an opening with light shining through and a small cabin made mostly of straw sitting at its centre. They walked up to the door where a stack of cut wood sat.
'I have fresh water inside.' Hilo said.
Marco decided to stay outside and collect the wood as Aaron and Oran followed Hilo into the cabin. The back of the cabin had an open door that lead to more forest. A neatly done bed on the right side of the room with a large bookshelf at its side. On the left side of the cabin sat a single canvas with countless pages scattered on the floor. Hilo went in as the two stood cautiously at the door. Oran's eyes fixated on the bookshelf, whereas Aaron's were on the peculiar painting. Oran went straight to the shelf to only find a single book.
'The Adventure of Captain Rhodes?' he mumbled.
'Have you read it?' Hilo asked with a large smile on his face.
'No.' Oran said.
'Really? You have to read it it's great. It's about Captain Rhodes and his adventures around the world.' Hilo said with a giant grin on his face.
'Yeah, sounds great' Oran said, pushing the book into Hilo's hands before slowly walking towards Aaron standing over the canvas. A portrait of a man with a scar on his chin was on it. But it started from the cheeks and went down, the upper half wasn't done.
'Ya do this yourself?' Aaron said.
'Yeah.'
'What's it supposed to be? A stranded? I've seen a few on Shani's temple walls. But this looks different.' Aaron said.
'Stranded? No, it's my grampa.' Hilo said
'It looks finished, so why is it only half of his face?' Oran said.
'I…don't remember the rest.' Hilo said
'Why?' Oran said.
'I haven't seen him in a while.' Hilo said.
'Wait then why don't ya ask that Keola person ya spoke about before?' Aaron said.
'They don't like talking about him and Keola isn't a person.' Hilo said.
'What?' Aaron said.
'Let me guess he's not a person; he's your friend.' Oran said picking up one of the pages on the floor.
'Yeah he's my friend but Keola isn't a person. Kai said only mortals are persons.'
'Now that's just ridiculous. Let me guess he is the strongest on your island, so he considers himself a God? A lot of people in these smaller areas love to say stuff like that.' Oran said while letting out a few chuckles.
'No, he's a Kupua. Kai said they're made from the world's mana, making them different from me. I'm the only mortal on the island.' Hilo said.
'Kupua? I haven't heard about that before but that birth process sounds similar to that of spirits.' Oran said.
Oran turned to Aaron who's tail and ears had stiffened. 'A-are you trying to tell me this is Holy land?' Aaron said as tiny meows slipped through. Aaron grabbed Oran as they headed to the door.
'We need to leave n'-
The sound of Marco's piercing cry followed by a falling tree interrupts them. They all rush out to find a giant flaming lizard standing before a knocked-out Marco. Aaron pulled a pole that grew into a lance in an instant. The tattoo on the side of his face and his eyes began to glow. The tattoo grew down his face to his cheeks as a large amount of energy started emitting from it.
'Hilo, get to the shore with that squirt. I'll take care of this. Since ya live here they shouldn't hurt you. I'll follow behind as soon as I get Marco.' A scowl grew on Oran's face.
'I'm not some child that needs to be saved, and if that's a spirit, you won't be able to take care of it on your own.'
'Don't doubt me kid there's a reason why I'm the Pearl's vice-captain.'
'Do you think I'm an idiot? Abanoub isn't a battle God.' Oran said as his eyes began to glow and a tattoo grew down his arms to the black bracelet on his wrist. Flicking his wrist 2 beams of light came out, forming a bow.
'Neither is Har.' Aaron said. Oran pulled the string of his bow forming an arrow made of energy.
'Guess ya are worth something kid.' Aaron said with a smile.
'What are you guys doing?' Hilo said as he rushed past them kicking the lizard back and picking up Marco.
'What was that?' Oran said.
'An adapter. Where'd the kid learn to use mana like that?' Aaron said.
'Here.' Hilo said tossing Marco towards Aaron.
'Kid lookout!' Aaron said.
The lizard's tail swept Hilo through the cabin. 'Stay out of this Hilo!' Kalena said.
'Kalena what are you doing?' Hilo said from the rubble.
'Wait you know this thing?' Oran said firing an arrow at the lizards face but it disappeared before making contact.
'Ha, divinity of that level can't touch me.' Kalena said before spewing a beam of fire at them. They barely dodge it by fleeing into the house. Kalena stops her attack when it gets too close to Hilo.
'Hilo move.' Kalena said.
'So what's our next move?' Oran said.
'Our what?' Aaron said.
'Oh Har, we're going to die aren't we?' Oran said.
'Why are you trying to kill them?' Hilo said while hiding in the rubble.
'Hilo they're trespassers, and it doesn't help that they are mortals.' Kalena said.
'They're just merchants that got lost, we can't just kick them out. What if they know where gramps is.' Hilo said jumping out of the house.
'No one stumbles upon an island, especially ours. These people made it past our ruins, meaning they're both powerful and dangerous.'
'Do they look powerful to you?' Hilo said pointing at the group behind him.
'That's how mortals are Hilo; they play weak and helpless while plotting behind your back. Their greed is what drives them and they will turn on you if you aren't prepared.' Kalena said whipping her tail at Hilo who stopped it by reinforcing mana on his arms, protecting him from the heat.
'They didn't know about the island before getting here.'
'Hilo! Stop letting your emotions cloud your judgment. Mortals aren't to be trusted.' Kalena said. She opened her mouth, preparing to spitfire. Seeing this Hilo reinforced his whole body with mana before using Kalena's tail to hurl her into the forest.
'What about me? What about grampa? Aren't we mortals?' Kalena's body burst into flames burning everything around her.
'No, you're different. You're our Hilo, we raised you. We only hoped you'd have forgotten Rollo after a while but…'
'Why would I forget grampa? He's my family.'
'No Hilo he isn't. We are your family. We stayed with you, took care of you. When he got the chance to leave, he didn't hesitate. He left you. How many nights did you spend on that beach waiting for him? I thought over time you would have realized he didn't love you. He only cared about himself.'
'Because he left doesn't mean he didn't love me. Like Captain Rhodes had to leave his crew for them to escape. Gramps must have had a good reason to leave me and I'll wait for him to come back and tell me why.'
'Hilo! Why… why can't you-'
'Kalena stop!' Kai said while morphing into his humanoid form.
'Apela has ordered the removal of all the intruders from the island immediately.' Kai said. Kalena morphed into her humanoid form as well with her hair raging.
'Let me talk to the old man. I'm sure after I talk to him, he'll understand.'
'Hilo, I know you want to help these people so they can stay the night, but they are not allowed to leave the beach.'
'What!?, Kai what are you-'
'I'll take responsibility for anything that happens.' Kai said.
A sigh of relief came from the two in the back realizing how close to death they were; the relief of surviving made their knees weak.
'How the hell did I get myself in this situation.' Oran said. Kai stared at them for a while before turning to Kalena. 'Let's go.' He said.
Kalena looked at Hilo, whose eyes were fixed on her. She could tell he was confused, but the tears that started falling down his cheeks caused her her hair darkened.
'I can't do this anymore.' Kalena said before morphing into a smaller lizard and disappearing into the forest.. Leaving Hilo standing there wondering what just happened. The more he went through it in his head the fast his heartbeat.
'Don't mind her; she cares for you. She only said those things because she cared. You know that right?' Kai said as he pats Hilo's head before morphing into a bird and flying into the forest.
After wiping his tears Hilo turned to the two. 'Let's go.' Hilo said as he ran past them into the house.
'…Sure. Hey, kid can you help him?' Aaron said. As the glow disappeared from Aaron's eyes and the tattoo on his face went back to normal. Oran flicked his wrist, causing the bow to retract before turning to the injured Marco and placing his hands on his chest.
'It seems he's still alive just a few broken ribs and some internal bleeding.' Oran said.
'Wait, this is not going to hurt right?' A barely conscious Marco asked.
'Do you trust me?' Oran said.
'No' Marco said.
'Smart man' Oran said.
Oran gathered energy in his hands, the sound of cracking bones followed by Marco's screams brought a smile on Aaron's face as he helped his friend sit up.
'Thanks.' Marco said.
'If you died we'd have to carry your corpse back.' Oran said as his eyes returned to normal and his tattoos disappeared.
'I wouldn't want to burden you guys like that.'
'Too late.' Oran said.
Aaron and Marco started laughing.
Hilo came back with a round stone about the size of his hand. Aaron and Oran picked up the firewood, and they all made their way back to the shore.