Chapter 2: Evergreed Island
"Guys, take a look! There's a whole island there!" Our heroes arrived in the view of a faraway island surrounded by green fields and a gigantic mountain that seemed to be standing in the fog, escorted by a crew of roving pirates.
"That's true, young travelers, this is the "Evergreed Island," a breathtaking natural wonder! We'll ask for assistance in getting you a ship once you've gotten your feet on the dock; after all, you'll need it if you want to reach the "Outer-Sea Barrier,"."
Elliott's eyes twinkled with delight as he gazed at the magnificent view of the island and the long-awaited surface. "I can't believe what I'm witnessing! First, I get to ride with pirates, and then I get to step foot on such a beautiful island, where there must be a plethora of sexy girls!" as Elliott fantasized about meeting a lady Tim and Codey had opposite reactions.
"At long last, some delicious food!" Their shrill voices blended together, and they screamed with joy as they stretched their arms above their heads. "Wait a minute, food; we're on our way!" Meanwhile, the two heroines remained silent. "It's embarrassing to be around them..."
"Hey, Codey let's race! The first to reach the island gets to buy the loser lunch!" With rivalry and confidence in their minds, they both gazed at each other with rivalry and conviction. "Well, it won't be me 'cuz I'll be there before you!" They hurried for the ship's fence and prepared to leap into the water, but before they could reach the water, Ayuka grabbed them by their collars and calmly held them up.
"Be patient, there's no need to rush; we're guests here, so don't go racing around causing a disturbance; besides, you'll both get food. when we get there." The two boys battled to free themselves from her feminine grip and gave up earlier than expected.
"Ayuka, let me go! I need to win a race against Codey in order for him to pay for my lunch!" As they hung and strained, they exchanged agitated looks, and Codey began squeezing Tim's cheeks with wrath.
"Who do you think you're fooling by making me look like I'm going to lose to someone like you? I could be there three times before you get close enough to walk on it!" Tim retaliated by yanking Codey's curly hair, and the two of them got into a fight.
"No way, I'm a lot faster than you in terms of physical prowess!"
"I'm smarter, so even if I'm slower, I could outplay you!" As Ayuka sighed, their grumbles and pulling were audible. "You two can be such children at times..."
Ayuka turned to Slade, while the two continued fighting and glaring at each other. "Slade, I realize we're not in a hurry, but these two are irritable right now. Sorry for bothering you, but could you just go a little faster? These two are currently worse than Elliott. Elliott, help out-" Nina began waving her hand in front of her cheeks with an embarrassed smile when she looked at them again.
"I think you just about missed him..." Nina slowly pointed her finger over her shoulder, confusing Ayuka, who quickly realized Elliott had already swum through the water like a jet. "You lovely ladies, please wait for me! Captain Elliott is on his way to snuggle up to your pillows and warm up, woo-hoo!"
The ship had finally come to a halt, and our heroes had landed with it. "We're here! Food here I come!" Tim's screams had already driven several children away and stressed out the rest, who were keeping their distance from others while our heroes overheard people talking about pirates as if they were here to steal them of their riches.
They spoke softly and quietly in the hopes that our soldiers would not be able to hear them.
"It's the pirates, they're here to rob us,"
"But these outsiders, the young ones, they don't appear like pirates at all..."
"Perhaps they're undercover, or maybe they're here to help the pirates..."
Tim settled down with his screams and stared at the civilians, puzzled. "Why are they staring at us like that? We're not a bunch of monsters" The concern in the civilians' eyes should have been enough to explain the situation, but Ayuka went over it again. "It appears they are afraid of us; it's probably because those guys are pirates..." Tim turned to Slade and his men whose faces were quite serious, then gazed back at the people when he heard a man cry out of nowhere.
"Those pirates are here to deprive us of our sole source of wealth! Men, get ready to confront them!" Soldiers began forming a ring around the citizens, brandishing spears and pointing them at our heroes.
"What the hell is going on?" Codey was well aware that pirates were normally the nasty ones, but after seeing them and seeing how easily they were supported, he had no suspicions about the Slade and his crew.
"Oh, for God's sake, where is Elliott? He swam here, but now he's gone missing. He's such a moron, ugh..." Nina, who was attempting to keep her voice down so as not to frighten the soldiers any further, heard Tim speak. "Hey, don't worry, you're all secure; we're not here to harm you or steal your belongings. Please get those spears out of the way."
"Yeah right! Why should we put our faith in pirates like you? We've already been robbed of far too much of our wealth!"
"But, we aren't here to cause any trouble! Please, trust us, we only want some food and water, as well as a place to sleep for the night." The men and women were on high alert, their fearful expressions on their faces.
"Get off our island before we kill you!" But then a man stepped through the mob of islanders, and based on his inflated appearance, he appeared to be thinking in the opposite direction. "What are you doing, Jaro? Please take a step back and let us take care of them." However, a man named Jaro, who appeared to be his real name, disagreed with them and instead greeted everyone politely.
"Please pardon our surprise attack, but I'd want to inquire as to why you're with those pirates; you don't appear to be from around here either." When Ayuka had the unusual impression that there was more going on than what greeted the eye, she kept a tight check on Slade and his team from the corners of her eyes.
"They came here with their ship to aid us since we were stranded in the middle of the ocean. I promise we're not here to steal or do any harm; all we want is some food and water."
"Ah, you only want some food and water? I suppose we could help you with that, However, those pirates are not allowed to approach our village any farther than they have already." Nina was puzzled by the rationale as she listened and intended to persuade the folks otherwise. "They should be somewhere else, not here; the pirates have already taken enough from us, and we can't afford to lose any more."
Tim's chin was held up as he was being overly careless. "I don't care about anything else; just let us have some food!" His saliva was on the verge of drooling, but he managed to keep it buried beneath his tongue.
"Excuse me, but what did you say?" Shivers ran up our heroes' spines; they felt a frigid, paralyzing sensation all over their bodies as they turned to face the pirates.
"We were so gracious in allowing you to board our ship, and now you choose to disregard our gratitude? Unless you want to see this town in ruins, we deserve a treat of respect as well." The rest of the party was concerned by the Slade's abrupt change of demeanor, and they began to withdraw, leaving the young heroes to face the pirates.
"These people don't want you on their island, it's not our fault!" When Codey saw Slade's frightful visage, he grumbled and moved away to a safe distance.
"Does that mean you won't share some of your food and drink with us? We've been on the ocean for a couple of days and have had difficulties storing our food since there are so many of us, so share the food or we'll force it out of you." Slade's crew prepared for Slade's command by forming a line on each side of his two arms.
Jaro acted bravely and stood firm in the face of their menace. "There's no way we'll share food with the pirates!" While the "Evergreed Island," guards appeared terrified of the pirates' crew and lacked the resolve to fight them.
"There's no way we're going to beat these pirates, Jaro!" Slade and his men were on the point of deciding to destroy the town, and the orders came with it. "Prepare your weapons, Slade's Pirates, and destroy this village!" The pirates accepted the command and armed themselves with their cutlasses. "Yes, captain!"
A abrupt halt, though, dragged itself out. Tim's hooded eyes and serious look appeared out of nowhere, grasping the tip of his scarf, as the gust formed a whirlwind and swept south. "Is that so...?" The pirates' hands were trembling as they peered forward, terrified.
"Do you know what I hate the most about pirates? Their continual blackmailing of innocent villagers like these, and before I believed you were different, but I was wrong in every way, I assume you'll have to go through a very fascinating trial to get that food..."
Tim's deeper voice, which communicated rage, disdain, and disappointment, drew Slade's attention. "What trial are you talking about?"
"If you're as strong as you claim to be, the trial will be simple.... defeat me and if I lose, I'll let you conquer this people's town. I won't even let my comrades to fight thereafter." The others weren't happy with his decision, but the trust was growing all around them.
To be continued...
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