Climbing down the cliff was no easy task for Rocky who had never before gone rock climbing. It was not difficult for Ash who climbed down so fast, and then jumped when it remained a few feet. By the time Rocky had reached the bus, he had a few bruises and cuts, and his hands, he believed were going to form blisters. He really couldn't wait to shift.
"We need to be careful," Ash said. "The bus is not balanced well and it may fall if we upset it."
Rocky looked at the long drop below and gulped. A few loose rocks fell and landed with a thud.
They both went in through the back window which was broken. Rocky was careful to not let the shards of glass, that still protruded from the window pierce him. Surprisingly, there was not a single body on the bus. He had mentally prepared himself to see a body or two of the passenger who had lost their lives in the accident, but it wasn't the case. They searched for some minutes until Ash saw a black backpack.
"Is this it?" She asked.
"Yes," he said excitedly and moved forward in a rush to retrieve the bag but only upset the bus, which lurched forward, throwing them off their feet.
"Be careful," Ash said. He crawled slowly to where she was and saw that the bag was opened and his clothes were scattered everywhere. He searched for the box, but it was nowhere to be found. It seems that someone got it first.
"It... it's not here," he said. The bus bent forward again, making a groaning sound.
"Quick! Rocky, we need to get out of here," Ash said. He quickly packed his clothes which were lying around and put them in his bag. They rushed to the window and climbed out quickly. The bus lurched forward again and then, slipped off the two rocks supporting it. They watched as it plummeted and landed with a crashing sound.
The climb up was harder for Rocky and even though Ash had offered to help by carrying his backpack, his muscles ached and his hands were red with blisters.
When he reached the top, he lay on the ground, panting heavily. "I think I need to exercise more to be fit," he thought.
"Come on, lazy boy," Ash said. "We need to start moving.
As they walked back to the village, he pondered on who had taken the box.
"I... I don't understand," he said to Ash after he had searched the bag again, turning it over to spill out its contents. It had only a few of his clothes, and some money tucked away in an inner pocket in the bag, but the box was not in the bag.
"Where did it go?" He asked himself. "And the key is still with me." His hand reached for the key, which hung on a chain around his neck. He had kept it there to be safe, as he tended to lose things sometimes.
When they reached the village, Ash turned to him. "I'm sorry that someone took the box but I have to go home now. Maybe tomorrow we could meet and try to sort this out, okay."
That night, Rocky couldn't sleep, his mind thought about the box and its importance. He wondered who took the box, and he knew that there was no possibility that maybe, he had left it in his house at Arisgore because he remembered having packed it. Then where did the box go, or did it magically grow wings and flew away? These questions were asked Rocky and it wasn't until the early hours of the morning that he fell into a troubled sleep.
It was the night before the full moon and Gaea'na was bubbling with activities. There was hunting the past week and Rocky saw many shifters transform into their animal form. It left him with the feeling of wonder as he saw bones break and deform and skin change only to align and rearrange themselves to form a new creature that is more powerful, quicker. A creature that is beyond the understanding of mere humans.
He had gone out with Ash and her friends to the bar in the village. It was busy and it brought back the memory of his time working in the bar at Arisgore. He had agreed to come to the bar to keep his mind away from the missing box. He pushed all the thoughts about the box and finding his father to a far corner of his mind. "Let me just have fun and enjoy," he said to himself.
The bar like all the buildings in Gaea'na was built with wood. It had intricate designs carved on the walls inside and outside and it gave the house a mystical look. It was busy that night and noisy too as everyone was having fun. They drank mulma with bamboo cups and danced to some native music which was played by a band. He danced with Ash, moving his body to the music without a care in the world.
Suddenly, there was a large crashing sound and some noise. He turned towards the sound to know what the matter was but instead was met with a blow which sent him flying across the room to land on some chairs and a table, which broke due to the force. He lay sprawled on the floor, his head ached and spots clouded his vision. He felt something warm and wet coming down his nose, and he reached for it with his hand and saw that it was blood.
This created a distraction in the bar and everyone stopped what they were doing in shock. Before he could stand up and face his attacker, someone jumped on him and pummelled him. He tried to defend himself, giving as many blows as he could to his attacker. As suddenly as his attacker had jumped on him, he was lifted off by some other shifters.
Rocky stood up, holding his broken nose. He looked at his attacker who was struggling with the people who restrained him; he was tall with a muscular body. His hair was so white but his face was that of a young man. He said something in Grale and then switched to English.
"You bastard. You dare put your hands on my girl again and I would rip off your intestines."
Ash who had come close to Rocky, spoke. "Ice, this is not the time."
"Ice?" Rocky repeated in his head. His mind went back to that day when he had first met Ash in the forest. She had said that the wolf she fought was called Ice. He looked at the shifter who had attacked him for reasons he could not understand and his vision clouded with anger. At that moment, he felt stronger, his senses became sharper and with an animalistic growl, he attacked Ice. This time, no one could hold him down and he drove his fist into Ice's face without restraints.
He was pulled back when the struggling Ice had stopped moving.