They made their way towards the edge of the ship over the wrestling ocean beneath them. Gusts of wet wind blew in their faces followed by a metallic salty smell. Hilo's heart raced as he wondered what they would find on the island. He looked over his side at his companions. Oran and Leon stood there quivering as they dawned giant grins on their faces. Clint gripped Leon's hair as he buried his head in his scarf.
'Hey don't forget this.' Jetta said handing over one end of a rope. Irene reached for it only for it to be snatched away by the female warrior.
'Thanks.' She said.
Irene clenched her fist and let out a slight chuckle. She turned to the warrior who although having her face covered was clearly smiling underneath. Her head tilted a bit to the side as she twirled the rope around.
'Okay everyone partner up. We jump on the count of three.' she said as her tattoo began glowing before covering her entire torso. All of her muscles tensed up as veins started popping up. The other three activated their tattoos as well. The female warrior grabbed Irene's hand. 'Hold on.' she said before leaping from the ship onto Alo's foot.
Irene pulled her hand back. 'The hell was that?' she said.
'Thought you'd need the help.' The female warrior said.
'I don't.'
The female warrior shrugged her shoulders. As soon as the other three made it onto the foot they all punched downward causing the foot to lower before launching them into the sky.
'What the hell is wrong with you people? Ouch, Clint stop!' Leon said as they fell through the sky and Clint began pulling at his hair.
A mixture of muffled sounds adorned the sky as Leon and Oran screamed for their lives. Hilo and the female warrior on the other hand were laughing hysterically. As they started falling a pristine temple could be seen on the shell's center surrounded by a thick forest.
When they were closing in on tree length to the ground the Warriors pulled the person whose hand they held closer. The female warrior offered her hand to Irene who ignored her and grit her teeth bracing herself for the fall. Covering their partner in their arms the warriors crashed into the ground causing the trees to quiver a bit followed by the cries of birds fleeing their homes.
The dust settled and everyone seemed fine. The warriors deactivated their tattoos. The female warrior tied the rope to the biggest tree she could find. "This should hold." She thought.
Leon dropped to the ground and lay on it. 'This is where I belong, on the ground.' He said.
'We're never doing that ever again.' Oran said. His legs still shaking as he stumbled to his feet.
'That was awesome.' Hilo said jumping to his feet.
'Of course, you'd think that.' Oran said as he helped dust off the dirt on Hilo's white shirt.
'You're not half bad.' The female warrior said as she walked up to a squatting Irene. Rising to her feet Irene stared the warrior down. They were about the same height and probably around the same age.
'I don't think I got a name.' Irene said.
'Oh sorry. I'm Sky.' she said taking off her mask. Her sharp hazel eyes stood out even when contrasted with the red paint around them. The red beads that held her hair up jingled as she pulled the feather part of her mask off. Hooking her mask onto her leather shoulder straps she turned to the other warriors. 'That's Drizzle and the big one's Viper.' she said gesturing at them. They both took off their masks.
Viper's blue paint-covered face had a giant grin on it as well as a thin leather band going over his forehead. But what stood out the most was the star-shaped scar on his face. It looked like it was made by some sort of blade but too precise to have been an injury. The incision ran from over his left eye to his bottom left cheek where it crossed with another incision. 'Hello, nice to officially meet you.' he said.
Drizzle's face held a contorted expression as he glared at Anoki. The silver loops pinching his ears peered out through his long flowing black hair. Realizing he was staring Drizzle tried to play it off by turning to the side and nodding his head.
'Not much of a talker huh?' Oran said.
'I hope you won't take it personally. It's just that Drizzle can't talk. Ever since we were kids actually. Madam Night believes it's-'
'Sky!' Anoki interrupted.
Realizing what she had just said she turned to Drizzle who was staring at the ground. 'Drizzle, I'm-I-I didn't mean-' Sky stopped when Drizzle raised his hand.
He smiled at her before nodding his head. He wasn't mad because no matter what anyone else would say it didn't hurt at all compared to when his father would talk about it. From his scornful eyes and his constant reminder of how much it would have been better if he had never been born. Followed up by his mother's obsession with his little brother after having given up on him. So to him, nothing anyone could say would ever come close to that.
The sound of the leaves fluttering flowed through the forest.
'You've already met Sky's little brother Anoki.' Viper said. The sound of the trees dancing returned before Anoki let out a deep sigh.
'Hello.' he said as he took off his mask. He had pitch-black eyes with the same paint as his sister around them. His braided hair was tied up at the back with a red rod. 'Let's start moving we don't have much time.' Anoki said.
The others followed behind him. They went up the slope that lead to the temple that stuck out of Alo's shell. They passed a few strange-looking deer that were both blue and had scales instead of fur. Since the warriors seemed to not find this strange Irene and the others decided to ignore it as well.
'So do you lot have names or?' Sky asked.
'I-' Leon interrupts Irene.
'Handsome, but you can call me Leon and this is Clint.' Clint leaned from Leon's shoulder presenting his paw. Sky stared at them not sure what to do as the sides of her smiling face began to quiver before the smile went away.
'What? I'm sorry but what is a Clint?'
'M-my monkey.' Leon said.
Clint leaped from him onto her shoulder.
'Really a strange creature this is. Viper look at him.' Viper went closer and Clint leaped from her to him running up his muscular arms onto his shoulder.
'Haha, you're a weird one aren't you.' Viper said while tickling Clint's stomach. The chimp began tossing and turning from laughter. The last time he'd been tickled like that was when Leon was much younger and they'd live off what little they had on the streets of Port Kousa.
'You traitor.' Leon mumbled to himself sneering at the monkey.
'Nice try Osborn.' Irene said flicking Leon's forehead.
'I'm Irene. That's Hilo and the Brat.' She said.
'Seriously?' Oran said.
'Irene? A strange name.' Sky said.
'It's not like your names spark wonder either.' Irene said.
Sky chuckled. What was this outsider talking about? Why would her name need to spark wonder? A name is a gift from Bennu why would there need to be anything more than his will in it. 'You're funny.' she commented.
'Do all your visitors get such great treatment or are we a special case? Another weird thing is that I'm pretty sure I'd remember hearing about a giant floating turtle.' Oran said.
The warriors all froze in place. Sky cleared her throat before looking back at Oran with a straight face. 'No outsiders have set foot on the island for a few centuries now and I would appreciate it if you referred to the 'turtle' as Alo or The magnificent floating one.' Oran looked around and noticed all the warriors were glaring at him. All of their faces were serious except for Anoki who was clearly pissed. His eyes were wide open overflowing with rage as his eyebrows contorted.
Oran cleared his throat. 'The magnificent floating one is a bit hard to miss so I find it even harder to believe no one would have been able to stumble onto him for a decade much less a few centuries.'
'We have our ways and it's a good thing we didn't get any guests for that long. It let us get over that.' Sky said pointing down at a section of the forest that was a completely different color.
Instead of bountiful greenery, long-lifeless sticks of charcoal decorated the pitch-black ground they stood on. Patches of what seemed to be white fluff sat on the surface. The sight sent chills racing down Hilo's back as he could hear what sounded like screams coming from the area.
'That's what outsiders do…' Anoki said.
'What happened?' Hilo asked. Anoki looked at him not sure why he would want to know. "It's not like he would understand what this forest means to us.' He thought to himself.
'About a thousand years ago the founder of our island and our people's first leader fought to protect our people from outsiders. She stood her ground and repelled all of them but one. The human in the white mask. They say he could spit fire and catch lightning with his bare hands. A single punch from him could cause the heavens to shake. Our leader held her own but died stopping him. That forest is a reminder of her resolve and determination towards her people.'
The pumping of Hilo's heart felt like a beating drum.
Oran and Irene looked at each other in confusion. Clearly, there was something missing in this story it didn't add up. Luckily for them, Hilo wasn't the smartest of people so he wouldn't even notice the inconsistency.
'Wait you said that you haven't had people on the island for a few hundred years but the forest thing happened one thousand years ago. That doesn't make any sense.' Hilo said. Oran palmed his face as Irene pinched the bridges of her nose.
'Yes, after the incident we decided to not let our biases control our decisions and occasionally allowed outsiders like yourselves onto the island but they all simply wanted destruction thus we stopped and remained hidden until today when we noticed your island.' Sky explained giving Viper slight glances.
'Oh, makes sense' Hilo said.
"Like hell it does." Oran thought. He glanced over at Irene who slightly nod her head.
'Um guys what is that?' Leon said.
They suddenly noticed the three giant furry humanoid creatures with wooden masks with only eye holes on their faces hanging on the trees. Using their long arms they swung down to the ground. They stood there slouching over not moving in the slightest. Their abyssal eye sockets seemed to suck in all the light in the area. Irene reached for her sword.
'Stop, please wait it's just the forest's guardians. They're very passive.' The creatures dropped on all fours as they crept closer to them. The tree hangers carried the strong suffocating aroma of freshly cut grass with them. They circled the group moving closer with every round. Irene placing her hand on her sword she readied herself for anything.
'For passive creatures, they sure don't act like it.' Oran said gripping his bracelet.
'No, it's fine.' Sky said as the other warriors looked at her concerned. Sky gave them a little nod reassuring them although not actually sure what was happening. She had never seen the guardians act like this. They'd normally ignore them which led her people to believe they were passive creatures.
The guardian's rattling heads occasionally snapped erratically from side to side as they circled even closer. Hilo's heart began racing as he stared at the creature's bloodened eyes. Their white fur slowly darkened as they closed in. The three of them crawled up to Irene, Hilo, and Leon staring straight at them as the white glow drained from their fur leaving a pitch black. Their wooden masks began cracking as the rattling stopped.
'That doesn't look good.' Leon said.
The creatures let out a piercing screech as their masks ripped open where the mouth should have been. Claws shot out of their long fingers as they slashed at the outsiders. Hilo and Leon jumped out of the way.
Irene on the other hand wasn't going to be scared away by some snowball. She pulled out her sword and blocked the attack. She turned her sword as the creature's claws slid down the side. Turning for a high kick her leg was stopped by Sky who hurled her over her shoulder to the side before jumping out of the creature's way.
Irene landing on her feet turned to Sky enraged and ready to cut her down. 'The hell are you doing?' she said.
'I'm sorry but I can't let you hurt it.' Sky said.
'What are you on? These things just tried to kill us.' Irene said.
The creatures turned around huffing heavily as light growls could be heard from them. 'Look at them. I don't know if you people know what being passive means but that ain't it.' Irene said. The creatures charged at them again. They all dodge and don't attack it.
'Never bring harm to the forest. That is our people's only rule. Fighting the guardians would harm the forest so I can't let you do that.' Sky said entering a fighting stance against Irene. The other warriors did the same moving closer to her.
Irene began to cackle. 'Are you kidding me? I'd like to see you try and stop me.' She said reinforcing her muscles with mana which sent out a shockwave blowing a large gust of wind out causing the trees to start dancing. The guardians jumped in front of the smaller trees to stop them from being blown away. Their bodies expanded as they covered the trees. The warriors activated their tattoos.
'Irene stop! We're guests here.' Hilo said
'The captain asked us to not cause any trouble. You can hold your own against them but what about Leon and me. There's no harm in following their customs this is their land after all.' Oran said.
Irene glanced at Sky and then turned to Viper. They would be the hardest to deal with and the others could get hurt during the clash.
'Bloody hell.' she said dispersing her mana. 'What should we do then?' she said.
The other warrior deactivated their tattoos except for Anoki who kept it on in case Irene tried something.
'Everyone split up we'll meet up at the temple.' Sky said pointing at the top of Alo's shell. They all paired up and left in all directions. Leon with Viper, Hilo with Anoki, and Oran with Drizzle. Two of the spirits went after the others.
Leaving Irene and Sky with the third one. It slouched over growling as it dug its claws into the earth.
'You're lucky I'm being nice otherwise your head would be on the floor already snowy so why don't you just calm down.' It lunged at her. Irene brought her sword up to block but was pulled aside by Sky. Landing on the other side the beast crawled around looking for an opening.
'What was that? I was just gonna block.'
'I was just helping.'
'I don't need your damn help.' Irene said pulling her arm back. The beast lowered itself and prepared to pounce.
'Look I'm the one with the sword here so between the two of us I should be the one protecting you. Don't get m-' Sky kicked Irene back avoiding the beast's attack.
The beast missed again. Sliding back Irene clenched her teeth as her eyes widened. She glared at a smiling Sky.
'Sorry. You seemed distracted. It didn't hurt did it?' She said.
"You little- - No, calm down we need to focus." Irene thought walking closer to her. 'So how are going to take it down?'
'We're not. How do you feel about making a bet?' Sky asked.
'Go on.'
'Okay, I bet I could get to the temple before you. If you win I'll owe you a favor.'
'And If I lose?'
'You'll owe me one' Sky said as the smirk on her face got bigger.
'Bet.'
The two dashed away up the mountain passing flashes of what seemed to be trees. The rattling sound of the beast behind them crept closer.
'Try to keep up.' Sky said passing Irene.
Looking at her back Irene's heart started beating faster finally some sort of challenge. With a giant smirk on her face, she passed Sky leaving a gap between them. The sound of the beasts rattling got softer and softer until they could no longer hear it. 'You sure are slow for someone this damn confident.'
'Do you even know how to get there?' Sky said taking a sharp turn.
'Of course, I do. Just go straight!' Irene said Jumping onto the trees to get a better view of the temple. She flipped from tree to tree heading to the temple.
The Leon and Viper group had a large gap between them and the beast that was chasing them. Mainly because Leon was too slow so Viper decided to carry him and Clint. They zoomed through the forest with ease as Viper expertly weaved past the trees.
'So…What's the deal with that woman from before?'
'Huh? You mean Irene? What do you mean by her deal?'
'I mean does she have someone.'
'What? Man, what are you asking me? Wait. Haha, don't tell me you're interested. Look trust me she's a loon.'
Viper looked at Leon confused why he would think he was interested in her. 'Loon? I didn't ask because I'm interested. I meant to ask…Is she…Does she…How strong is she?' he finally utters.
Leon squint his eyes as he stared at this man who was clearly lying. "What a mad lad." he thought. He and Clint shook their heads having pity on Viper they humored his question. 'She's really strong. Like monstrously strong and emotionless.'
'Really?' The sides of Viper's face curved into a smile. "So she's a challenge then. Nice." He thought to himself.
'Like demonically strong and unpredictable.'
'I don't mind a bit of competition.' He mumbles to himself.
'Like if a dragon and a demon had a baby, strong.'
'I get it.'
'No, I mean like unholy, strong.'
'Yeah, I get it.'
'No, I don't think you do. I mean she could rip you apart with a look, strong.'
"Are we talking about the same person? She seemed pretty normal for a human though." Viper thought to himself. 'Okay, I got it.'
"No, he's already in denial. I need to save him while I still can." Leon thought. 'In some areas of the sea, she's used as ghost stories for pirates. Do you know how bad you've got to be for that to happen?' Leon said poking Viper's head. 'A menace sh-'
Viper chopped at Leon's neck knocking him out. 'You talk too much my friend.'
Oran and Drizzle tried outrunning the beast. Neither of them was specifically proficient when it came to combat. When their breathing caught up with them so did the beast. Drizzle turned around and stood between the beast and Oran. He activated his tattoo gave Oran a nod.
Oran hesitated for a moment not only didn't he know the way to the temple if Drizzle was taken down he would be next. Instinctively he turned around and ran he would figure it out on the way.
The beast loomed over Drizzle who stared it back in the eyes. The beast's ominous eyes didn't scare him. He'd seen far worse in his 20 years of being alive. The beast raised its hand and whipped Drizzle straight into the forest.
As he flew through the forest Drizzle dug his feet into the ground to slow himself down so as to not knock down a tree by accident. Coming to a stop Drizzle fell to his knees as he tried to collect himself but this didn't last as Oran's cry shot into the forest.
Back to Oran who had fallen back on the floor. "Damn it, I can't believe I'm having to take it off this early" Oran thought looking at his ring.
It suddenly came to a stopover him as it stared at his golden eyes. Its heavy breathing stopped as its eyes reverted to their chilling silver tint. The cracked opening in its mask closed. It reached its claw out pointing at the burnt forest before putting its other long hand out towards Oran. The claws had retracted and its hand had turned into a paw similar to that of a dog's.
"Does it want me to follow it? Like hell, I'm doing that." Oran thought.
An echoing screech came from it notifying the other beasts to stop their pursuit and return to the forest.
The rustling from the forest startled it and it ran away as Drizzle came out to Oran laying on the floor. He cautiously made his way towards Oran before staring at him with his eyebrows raised.
'I don't know what happened either. It probably got bored.' Oran said. Drizzle squint his eyes before shrugging and helping Oran to his feet. As long as they made it back home in one piece it should be fine.
'What was that?' Hilo asked.
Anoki carried on walking.
'It doesn't look like we're being followed. Lucky us huh?'
Anoki kept his head forward not even looking at Hilo. If he didn't have to interact with the outsiders he wouldn't.
'So does this happen a lot?'
The crunching leaves under their feet were his only answer.
'You know I understand how you feel. I came from an island similar to this. The forest and its residents meant everything to me. If someone had just destroyed a large part of it I would be angry as well.'
Anoki's eyebrows contorted as he clenched his teeth and he let out a heavy huff. "What the hell does he know? Outsiders especially humans would never understand us. All they do is take and destroy. Even that woman from before tried to kill the guardian.' Anoki thought. His fist began shaking from the amount of pressure he put on it.
'I know you probably don't believe me but not everyone is the person that destroyed your forest. I've had both bad and not as bad people as my enemies. By meeting them I realized things aren't just good and bad we all have our reasons.'
'Reasons!? You think the man that burnt down our home and killed our people had a good reason!?'
'I didn't say good reason.'
'I know what you said! This is the thing you outsiders do. You're like a fire. You burn everything you come across and don't concern yourselves with what it is you've touched.'
Hilo couldn't believe what he was hearing. Why was he being called the bad guy when all he was doing is try to comfort someone? He grit his teeth and clenched his fist.
'How would you know?! We're not all the same! Stop batching us together. We're not the ones who burnt down your forest.'
'You might as well have been.' Anoki said. His glossy eyes dilated and veins began pulsing on the sides of his templates.
Hilo slugged Anoki straight in the face sending him a few steps back as blood started flowing from his nose. Wiping it Anoki lunged at Hilo. Pushing him off balance Anoki got Hilo on the floor and started slugging at him. The two wrestled on the ground each landing multiple hits on each other.
Hilo after a while of being on the receiving end managed to kick Anoki off and roll to the side. Hilo stumbled to his feet with a swollen eye and blood coming dripping from his nose. Anoki made his way to his feet and wiped the blood from his nose. His eye was also swollen.
The two stood there glaring at each other. One thing they understood was that any more of this and the other person would actually get serious. Realizing this they both stopped fighting.
Anoki turned around and led the way to the temple as Hilo followed up behind him. The rustling winds coupled with the sound of galloping hoofs that would pop up occasionally were all they heard on their way to the temple. A light humming sound could be heard coming from ahead of them out of the forest.