Welcome to Gaia! ::

“Urghhh” that was the first thought to enter Jessie’s mind since the odd calm unconsciousness had brought upon him.

Last he recalled, he had been talking to that girl, Hailey, he’d gone to get something drink and then decided to go to bed early, since the weather had turned sour, and he could no longer enjoy the scenery. Though fate had conspired against him, and the storm settled in, and the tossing and turning had keep him wake.

After that the ship had tuned far more than should have been safe. He and his family huddled in their room, the only thing they could do was hope it would pass. He was scared, curled in his blanket; he’d never admit it, not to anyone. But then there was that horrible sound, that noise you seen in movies when the submarine starts to break apart, metal bending and warping. It came and when with the rocking for some time, or at least what may have been a long time, it was impossible to truly gauge it in such a fearful state.

For the time behind his mind calmed itself down, repeating various mantras to ease him. But that couldn’t last forever, the ship had started to break. The sudden lurch, and rack of metal was unmistakable. The walls where torn up, and he was cast out into the cold water, choked and unable to breath, he had struggled to reach the surface in the churning water. But he couldn’t last forever, he passed out. And then he came to his current thought

Where was he now? Only one what to find out. He lifted his still wet body up from the sand (Some of which still clung to the back of his shirt). A beach? It went on for some distance on either side of him, but it curved out of size. No, it was an island.

“Crap”

His family where gone, or worse, dead. And now he was stuck here, on some god for shaken island. As I his life could have gotten any worse at this point. At least there where crate scattered about the beach, he’d have food, for now. And there was a black and white football not far from him. So he’d have company.

He got to his feet, his muscles noticeably sore, dribbling the football as he went. He headed off towards a few of the crates which had clustered at the shore. Completely unbeknownst that an octopus now shared a small portion of his soul.

After Jessie had left that Leonard guy to nap in his newly acquired car, he headed off along the beach, eyeing the various pieces of drift wood and wreckage as he did. He stuck to the tree line, the islands weather was far to warm to go off in the open sunlight on the beach, especially now as it approached noon. He spotted a few intact crates, they are least warranted investigation, unlike the pieces of shrapnel that was lying here and there. He headed off down the beach hurriedly, the less time he spend sweating it out the better.

He hunched over one of them, which reached up to his was it, and proceeded to try and open it up like he and Leonard had earlier, by jamming another piece of wood into the seems. He tried in vain for a while, until the wood eventually cracked, and the nails that held the crate where rendered useless. Unfortunately, by the looks of things, so where the contents of the crate. CDs, all neatly packaged in their slips, blanks ones too.

“Urgh, these aren’t any help”

He wiped his brow, the heat has getting to him now. He bent down at the shore, and splashed some of the sea water into his face to cool himself off.

After the latest spat with Leonard, Hailey found herself just walking--more like pacing--along the shoreline. Her jacket and shoes were tucked underneath her left arm while her white shirt was unbutton completely. Thank God the woman wore a white tank top underneath such a shirt, otherwise if someone saw her all they would see…well in frank, would be her bra.

The beating sun continued to beat down on the poor girl while an occasional sea breeze would come in to bring some relief to her. She didn’t want to go into the water…at least not yet. No, after she was done pondering and trying to figure out what the hell she would do. Going to the camp with Leonard wasn’t an option….nor was staying out in the open at night. How those people on the how survivor…well survived was beyond her.

A glimmer of hope came her way, amber orbs spotted another person! Slowly she came up to the other person, with each step she took her mind recalled where she had seen this youth before…and it was just her luck! It was Jessie…the boy she was going to let go the second they would’ve reached mainland… ‘Way better than Leonard though.’ She thought to herself as she approached him further.

“I didn’t know you were here.” She said happily, a smile on her face talking to someone who was kind and considerate.

Jessie washed his face off a little in the shallow surf, not bothered to care that small ripples from the waves where lapping and his knees. It was hot anyway so getting his clothes damp right now would be a comfort at the moment. Some of the cool sand slipped a little into his loosely laced shoes in the process.

He spotted Haileys shadow out of the corner of his eye before she greeted him. For a moment he thought it might have been Leonard, as the shadow was distorted on the white foam the waves produced. But that thought was quickly correctly, it was far to slender to be him and it looked like it had longer hair. He rubbed some of the salt out of his eyes, just to make sure.

He got up as she spoke and turned to her, still rubbing his eyes. He recognized her voice, Hailey, that girl he’d met while on the ferry (And the one who’d pulled at more than one of his heart strings).

“Oh…H-hi, good to see your okay too Hailey, seen anyone else around?” he blushed a little, his flustered nature returned momentarily. He was a little taken a back at Haileys open jacket, it leaved little to his imagination.

Wesley awoke from unsettling dreams amongst the underbrush. From the position of the sun, it was what, two hours since he first slept? The tide also had barely changed. He was so tired... what woke him? He felt no pain, except for an empty stomach. That pain was blatantly real. The hunger, having no sation, gnawed at his mind instead. But this was the third day without food, and he hadn't awoke before.

So what must it be? He raised his ear to the wind, hearing the trickling water of the stream a ways behind him. No, that sounded more fluid, constant. This was broken, choppy, intermitant. It.. it couldn't be... people? He stood up. From here, he could just barely see the beach - and there, there were two kids talking on the beach, not a hundred meters away! He had walked a great length of the island, but there had seemed no human inhabitance They looked, at first glance, ten years younger - but that hardly mattered - they were people! People meant a chance at food! He grabbed his jacket from its place on the ground and started sprinting forward. "Hey! Hey! HEY!"

For a moment, Hailey found the nervous tone in Jessie’s voice to be a little cute. Not only did it enhance her ego--what woman didn’t want a man to quiver at her feet--but made her laugh a little inside at his facial expression with a blush staining his cheeks. She forgot about her open shirt with her tank top, the only piece of clothing hiding her bra from the outside world, because it was hot and the heat made people forget about certain things. Like covering up for instance!

At his question of seeing anyone else on the island she briefly shook her head. She didn’t think Jessie needed to know about her little spat with Leonard and hopefully the two didn’t meet each other yet. As lucid lips parted to add in the conversation did another voice come to her ears. There was another person…and it wasn’t Leonard!

Turning her head over did she see a new person, sprinting like a mad bull towards them. A thin eyebrow hitched up, was he here before them? Or had the man gone mad from the heat? Either way, it was a chance to meet a person, get more help to get off the island--and of course add another person to do her bidding. The last thought was quickly changed once Hailey got a closer look at the guy…older than her but still, he would have to do.

“Uh, hey to you too. You okay?” She asked the newcomer before looking back at Jessie with a ‘do you know him’ type of look.

“Hmm, oh well, there’s gotta be more people around, I did meet this other guy, Leonard, but he’s off napping or something” Though, for the moment Jessie believed Leonard was sick, and oblivious to the fact he was just hung over. “We found a car though in one of the shipping containers though, so at least that’s something.” As he spoke he made sure he smiled politely and kept his eyes on Haileys face, and not anywhere else. After all, she was his crush, he’d do as much as possible to impress her. And her believed he that he was doing just that at the moment.

Jessie gave her a quick shake of the head, to silently answer the question her face seemed to ask for her. He didn’t recognize his new person, but he was a person, that’s what mattered given the current situation. He waved him over, as Hailey already greeted him before he could.

Wesley slowed a few meters short of them, hobbling a little. He had completely forgotten his hurting ankle in the rush, which now was throbbing. He planted his metal staff in the sand every other step, and while sinking a fair amount, it did help with the pain. He was breathing a little heavily while recovering from the sprint, but it was barely a hundred meters, after all.

His social etiquettes kicked in.Through slightly labourous breathing and leaning on his staff, he gave his typical introduction. "Roberts. Wesley Roberts. Diplomatic attache to India from Britain - or would have been." He remembered the girl's question, and nodded. "Yes, yes I suppose I am, considering all that's gone on in the past days. I'm bloody starving, though. But you weren't on the oil tanker, though, and no one was on the beach days ago. How DID you get here?" His breathing had returned to normal by this point.

So Jessie did meet Leonard--much to Hailey’s dislike. Amber orbs rolled in their sockets hearing the jerk was napping somewhere. ‘Or maybe he found some whiskey and decided to drink it all.’ Her mind snickered at that thought. She tucked away what Jessie said about the crates. Maybe the create that contained her jewelry washed ashore! Then when they got rescued she could still sale them! Though the question of how they would get rescued was still in the brainstorming stage.

Seeing the new person come closer with hobbling walk did she see Jessie give her the answer she didn’t voice. The young woman gave a mental wince seeing the condition of other gentleman. A little voice in the back of her head--was it sincerity or something along those lines---hoped he would get better. She was a little surprised to see him break out into social etiquette…and he had a accent! The gears in her mind began to turn while a little clock set off--how long to get this one under her spell?

“Hailey Elizabeth Santoro of the Santoro Jewelry line.” Her voice was soft and sweet with a small sheepish smile on her lips. It was only fair she give her own introduction but she wanted it to appear as though she were embarrassed to say what her family did for a living. At Wesley’s question of how she and Jessie arrived on the island did she turn to look over at Jessie. “How did we arrive here? All I recall before blacking out was a storm…” She let the line trail off before looking back at Wesley to explain what she meant. “We were both on a cargo ship heading towards mainland but how long have you been stranded here?”

”Heh He was quiet relieved to see this new fellow, at least he wouldn’t be the only British person on this island. Though his own accent far less pronounced or immediately recognizable as Wesley’s.

He continued a forced smile as he was a tad nervous at the sudden formal introductions. ”Jewelry?” So it was just like he’d suspected when he first met her, Hailey really was a rich heiress. He forced smile soon quickly converted to a real one, he could help feel like he’d scored big time. It was selfish, but…he was a guy.

“Jessie Fitzpatrick” he said on queue after Wesley and Hailey. (Unfortunately he didn’t have any fancy title to add to the end of his name)

“Erm…there was a storm and our ship sank” he nodded, agreeing with what Hailey said. “I guess that Leonard guy was there too” he thought to ask about Wesley, but Hailey already beat him to the next obvious question.

Upon hearing the names, he wrote them down in memory. When hearing the jewelry title, he gave a feigned recognition - a silent "ah" - something he had practiced far too often at international gatherings. Unfortunately, there were far too many organizations in the world to commit to mind.

A Brit was nice surprise, though Wesley somehow doubted they would be sitting down to tea any time soon. His accent, pretty hidden, sounded Northern to him, though not a Pudlian.

The story of their ship sinking was surprisingly brief - though they appeared to be confused, not lying. The jeweler seemed to be prideful, and asking about something in a memory gap is not what one does to display confidence.

His attention snapped back sharply at the mention of another - "Leonard? There are more of you?"

He heard the jeweler madame's last question, and let out a sigh. "Three days. At least since I woke up in my motor boat - its wrecked, a few hundred meters around the corner, though -", he repositioned his hand on his staff, eyeing the former rail, "it has come in useful."

He made a grimace at what he was about to say, but there was no proper way to put it, not with the chasm inside him. "You wouldn't happen to.. have any food, would you?"

Perhaps Wesley had heard of her mother’s company by the way he gave the small recognition of ‘a’. Then again he could’ve been faking it, he did work with India--as far as Hailey knew the company wasn’t international just yet. Hence why she was on the ship, she was setting up the first deal to sell her mother’s jewelry in Spain then in France to set up the whole international trade thing. The company was doing fine as it was but it never hurt to expand.

But now that wouldn’t happen since she was stuck on some stupid island. ‘At least I’m with two British boys…one who I have wrapped around my finger…but this one…I’ll have to approach differently.’ She thought It would take a while--not too long of a while though--to figure out how to get to Wesley…but for now, she rolled her eyes at the name of Leonard again. She should’ve taken that chance of tossing him overboard for the sharks to feast on his body…but in either case he would’ve ended up on the same island--much to her displeasure.

“Yeah, there’s another one of us. Leonard…jerk. But umm…” Her hand went into the pocket of her jeans to search for anything she could find…the only she thing she had on her persons were some necklaces she wanted to polish up before the ship docked. After pulling her hand out of her pocket did she shake her head sadly. No food for Wesley which made her a bit uneasy.

What were they going to do for food?

Jessie too had never really heard of Haileys company, though, it was one that produced jewelry, so it was highly unlikely he would have heard of it anyway. Why would a seventeen your old guy know about women’s jewelry?

“Yeah, Leonard is over that way” he said as he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder in the direction he’d come. “With any lucky he’s woken up and looking around for useful stuff.”

Three days, oh well, he was hoping there for a moment this Wesley would know his way around the island, Like that guy in Treasure Island, despite having read that book for English class the name escaped him.

He caught Haileys adding of the word “jerk” to Leonard’s name, so had she really met him? Or maybe it was earlier, before the storm. He’d though to ask, but now hardly seemed to best time to potential unravel a web of lies, given the present company.

“Sorry, I’ve got nothing…maybe there’s something in one of the crates, or the jungle, there’s always fruit trees there right?”

Wesley slumped his shoulders at the lack of food. And if they did find any food, they would be splitting it not one, not three, but apparently four ways.

"Well, I haven't found anything within a few hundred feet of the beach. I have remained near the beach in hopes of rescuers - or crew from the tanker. No luck, though. I have a small 'camp' just where I came from. Barely flattened grass and a burnt out campifire at the moment, but... it's all I have. The boat was too big for me to drag in, but you're welcome to it - it's out of gas and there seems to be something wrong with the motor."

He eyed all of the wreckage and crates, sighing. "At least least these materials are something."

A small sigh left her lips, what were they going to do? Perhaps the crates had some food…or perhaps not. Perhaps there were some fruit trees…but what were the chances of the fruit being poisonous? ‘I knew I should’ve flown instead…why I didn’t listen to my woman’s intuition is beyond me. ‘ The thought went through her mind as her right hand raked through her long locks.

“Should we see if there are any others here? Or start a base camp or something along those lines?” Hailey asked, trying to hide the bored look on her face. Just when would they get rescued? Surely with two ships sunk to the bottom of the ocean someone would come for them. But in the mean time…

With the sun so high in the sky--bringing the pun ‘high noon’ to her mind--did the youth place her blazer and shoes down to take off her all ready open shirt. Maybe later she would go for a swim to cool herself off.

Jessie’s own confidence in the jungle slipped a little when Wesley explained what he knew about the island so far. But perhaps there where fruits deeper into the foliage? What did they have to loose, right? But there was hope, Wesley had a boat, perhaps if they where to fix it up they’d have some escape method.

“Leonard already stared setting up a camp, we’ve got a car there, and some bed sheets, it’s a start…This crate here’s got CDs in it, I doubt they’ll be useful, but at least the timber might be useful.” He finished tapping the crate next to him with his foot. “We should gather everything up.”

Seeing Hailey run her hand through her hair, Jessie subconsciously wiped the beading sweat on his forehead, and pushed some his hair off his face. It was getting hot, and he was getting thirsty. It’d be best to retreat to the tree line soon.

"Well," Wesley postured, "I doubt we'd want to make camp on the beach. Ignoring the tide, storms in this region are pretty fierce, and sand is hardly the best foundation. I would suggest, should we make a camp, that we do it within the treeline."

Listening to the gathering suggestion, Wesley agreed. "Definitely, my good man. If, as you say, this Leonard is setting up a camp, it would be bewst that I investigate it. " Seeing them perspirate and glance at the sun, Wesley resisted the urge to smack his forhead with his forgetfulness.

"If you two are thirsty, I found a freshwater stream, not nine paces from my camp - it's why I chose it. It may only be a few inches deep and a span across, but it's surely heaven this time of day. If you'd like, I could show you."

Jessie did have a good idea but at the mention of water, Hailey didn’t know how thirsty she was. Her mind began to work, how could she get Wesley along for her to work a spell on him? ‘He’s the bookwormish type…how to deal with him is the most important question…’ She thought to herself, debating what her next move should be. Welsey offered fresh water…and Jessie had a camp set up--her nose wrinkled a little thinking Leonard was there.

But maybe she should get water later, the only way to cool her hot body down--hot in both tenses. If she wanted to attract Wesley’s eyes--she all ready had Jessie whipped like a dog--she would have to go about cooling herself down tastefully.

“Jessie you got with him, I need to do something else to cool off. Water is good but in a moment, I think a good dip will calm my nerves.” She said, placing her coat, shoes and white collared shirt on the crate. In order to be tasteful she would have to leave her pants on--she didn’t plan to go in too deep but deep enough to reach her knees to cool off thoroughly.

Jessie nodded as Wesley spoke. “Yeah, we should start setting stuff up, maybe we should gather up some water and go back to Leonard and his camp? Me and him gathered some stuff up there that should be useful, I guess I can’t say the same for these CDs though”

Jessie hated to admit it, but he stared at Hailey as she was changing out of the corner of his eye, but he quickly responded to her instructions. “Okay, we’ll get some water and go see Leonard right?” he said, forcing his attention towards Wesley.

Wesley started turning in the direction from where he came. "This way, if you'd like some, but unless you've got some kind of container, this Leonard is going to go thirsty. Either way, we're going to need food soon."

An indignant growl came from his stomach, to which he murmured, "very soon."

Hailey was slightly pleased with the reaction she got from both men. Jessie liked what he saw--even if it was out of the corner of his eye...while Wesley, he didn't seem to care or notice at all. "You guys go ahead, just come and get me when you're done." She said, walking towards the shoreline. Her mind began to conjure up ways to make Wesley at least notice her before the sun set.

“Okay, we’d best go look for something then…but if there’s water there, the stream must go through parts of the jungle. It shouldn’t be too hard to find something with all this stuff around here” he said as he followed Wesley off towards the tree line.

He turned around and walked backwards for a short distance as he went, partly to eye Hailey when she could see him, and partly to say “Hailey, we’ll head back to the clearing okay? It’s over that way” he pointed over in the direction Hailey and he had come in earlier.

Jessie wandered out from the dense jungle back out to the clearing where he’d left Leonard and the car. He shook his feet of clear the small lumps of mud that had stuck to him during his troll through the stream not far behind him hidden amongst the trees. He looked around, the car was still there in the same spot they’d left it earlier, and with a quick glance over to the shore, he confirmed that the sheets they’d found where also present.

It looked like this would be the ideal place for a camp to be set up, it was nearing noon, or at least it seemed like it with the sun now riding high in the sky, and yet the car and the sandy ground around it where still basked in patchy cool shade.

Aiden stirred slightly from inside the car, slowly waking up from his nap. Oh, it had been nice to get a peaceful nap; even if it was in a car, it was better than the beach. As it was, he still had sand in places he'd rather not have anything granular. He stretched out long and yawned, his neck and back popping. He kept his eyes closed and sprawled out across the car seat again.

For one moment, he forgot where he was. Forgot he was utterly stranded on a stupid island. But as he lay in the car, listening to the sounds of the jungle- which were oddly...peaceful for lack of a better term- and the distant roar of the waves crashing against the beach, he remembered. That sort of thing was hard to forget for too long, anyways.

He sighed heavily and finally opened his eyes, pulling himself upright. He felt a little more energized, but still fairly achy. But he figured he would be for the next few days. He fumbled for the handle and popped the door out, stumbling out rather ungainly. He slammed the door shut and walked around the car, figuring he should go get his art kit from the tree line where he left the crate of soda and box of silverware.

He trekked down and grabbed the case with his art supplies in it by the handle. He considered grabbing another soda too, but decided against it. he was fine for now, and if there were more people, they'd need to ration the soda until a) they were rescued b) they found fresh water or c) they found a village/civilization.

He headed back up to the camp (which wasn't all that far away, incidentally), art kit in hand. When he got there, he noticed another person. He walked to the car and set his art kit down on the hood before turning around the address the other person. he was sort of excited to see someone else, another survivor, even if it wasn't someone he recalled seeing on the boat.

He jumped up on the hood next to his art case and waved at the other person.

"Heeeey!" he called out, grinning a little at the sight of another person.

Loud splashing could be heard at a distance from the camp, and then cackling like some rabid hyena. With a rustling of leaves and snapping of twigs, Wesley burst out of the underbrush behind Jessie. Not noticing the new person, or acknowledging the car, Wesley had an open-mouth grin plastered on his face when he shoved a small twig-like plant six inches from Jessie's nose.

"Fiddleheads! Ahha, food! Bloody food! All along the riverbed!" Wesley went nearly crosseyed just looking at it. "Mind you, it'll have to be cooked so that we don't get sick. I've had some grilled from the garden a few time, so a campfire will do." Wesley scratched his already mussed hair, looking around. "You don't seem to have a campfire here so - " He froze, realizing Aiden's prescence. His social etiquette had gone through the window! What was he doing?

Looking at the juicy-looking fiddlehead reluctantly, he lowered it to his side in his side. Coming closer to the car-climber, he reached out with his other hand, a humble expression on his face. "Roberts, Wesley Roberts. You must be Leonard, the fellow with the car."


The sound of something getting set on top of the car woke Leonard up. Not much, just enough to to ruin the dream he was having. He probably would have fallen back to sleep, but some idiot came running into camp shouting something about fiddles. He would have said something, but the guy quieted down.

He was starting to drift back to sleep again, when he heard his name mentioned. It looked like he'd have to get up after all. "What about me?" He went to get out of the car, but his leg was asleep, so he only succeeded in falling out of the car.

"Ouch."

Paul was wandering the island again, exploring what he thought was his own personal hell. Slowly, he was becoming acustomed to the rules of this place: he must still eat and sleep, he must rest and still need water or else he might fall down to a deeper, more terrible circle. The loneliness didn't bother him; he WAS a hermit for most of his adult life.

But this was different. It was all very mystical, very religious, very philosophical. Paul got the feeling he wasn't really "on Earth," anymore--call it a hunch or something. That and the fact that he did just try to kill himself by jumping off a boat (that, as far as he knew, was still heading to its destination) and he hadn't yet run into any other people.

Hey, aren't all the artists philosophers anyhow?

This was a part of the island that he hadn't yet explored for the last few days, crossing a stream when he heard voices that were so faint that he thought he dreamt them. He paused for a moment, grasping a vine to catch his breath before walking again. Paul took a step, and heard it again.

Voices.

Not in his head, no, he wasn't imagining them. Voices, actually people.

He started to run, through the woods. He had never really craved human contact people; Paul hadn't really wanted people and only really met with people after his breakdown was on this god-foresaken trip his cousin wanted him to take...but you don't know what you miss until its gone.

He came to a clearing. With a car in it. And people.

Paul stood in the woods and watched, listened, trying to clear his confusion. Were there other people trapped in this hell too?

Jessie was, to put it lightly, a little surprised by Wesley’s sudden and in his own opinion overly excited reaction to what looked like a weed to him. But whatever it was, at least it was food, and from Wesley’s rambling they where everywhere.

“Okay okay, good” he shoved the fiddle away from his face. He was a little disturbed by his excitement, but Wesley had his reasons, he’d been starving for three days now.

“Wesley that’s not Leonard that’s...er, I don’t know…” he gave one of those nervous embarrassed smiles. “Hi, you where on that boat too huh?” he waved politely at the new person.

Aiden swung his head around at the sound of sudden movement in the brush. He arched his brows at the sound of hysterical laughter, watching curiously as another man came stumbling and crashing into camp. He seemed the be quite taken with the fact he had...what, a fiddlehead? He chuckled a little at the absurdity of the situation- this guy must have either been there longer than Aiden to be so excited over such a food source, or maybe he just did handle island life well.

As he rounded on Aiden, the red head pulled his legs up onto the hood and inched back slightly. The man- Wesley- seemed to have calmed down some, so Aiden reluctantly moved forward a little and let his legs hang off the hood again.

"Ah...nice to meet you." he said, shaking the other man's hand. "Leonard? Ah no...that's..." He gestured back behind him at Leonard just as he toppled out of the car. "That's Leonard; I'm Aiden. Ah, you found fiddleheads? My mom used to make those back home." he smiled faintly, feeling a wave sorrow wash over him inside at the thought of his mother. He wondered...how was she doing now? Had news of what happened to the boat reached them yet. He winced a little at the thoughts and pushed them away. He took a deep breath and forced a smile again.

He looked around Wesley at Jessie, his eyebrows arching again. "While we're giving introductions, you are...?"



People are just popping out of the woodwork, now! Many more and we could starve, even with the fiddleheads. Another name, though, to the registry book in his head. Aiden. Glancing between the three present, he had to ask, to no one and everyone in particular: "Err, how many were aboard your ship?" None of these people looked like any sort of sailor, but Wesley was thankful for an older face, all the young faces were beginning to remind him of Lord of the Flies. As the new person just lay there, Wesley hoped it wasn't serious. Trying to 'wrap his voice' around the car, he called out, "Are you alright, back there, Leonard?"

This was turning out to be quite the large campsite plan.

He pushed himself up, leaning against the car, as his leg was still asleep. "Yeah, I'm alright." At least no one had seen him face down on the ground, since the car hid him from view. He gingerly touched the bruise on his face again. luckily he hadn't hit it to hard in the fall just then.

He turned to the new guy. At least there was someone else who was older. Leonard felt like he was babysitting the rest of them. "Westley, huh? So you weren't on the cargo ship?"

His leg was getting some feeling back, so he walked around the car. "And what the hell is a fiddlehead?"



The little dip in the water had cooled the young heiress down a bit. The saltwater weren’t as luxurious as the spas in France but for the time being they had to do. It would only take a matter of days before help would come, which meant in the mean time Hailey would just have to tough it out. Amber eyes glanced up at the sky in search of a sign of an airplane or anything that could get her butt off the island. What graced her sight were some white clouds and a few seagulls.

Sighing to herself, the young woman poured more water on her head and over her body before heading in the direction of the camp site. Carefully she styled her hair to give it the ‘wet look’ many models wore in those swimsuit magazines. It was hot, sexy and very alluring making it perfect for Hailey to use. With her top wet and some parts of her pants would the young girl be able to sell her wannabe Baywatch attire to the rest of the males on the island.

Hailey walked down to the base camp with her sandals and blazer tucked under one arm and her white shirt in another. A tempting smile on her lips while a smoldering look was in her eyes. Once she was at the camp site, the young woman was surprised to see more people than she expected. “Hey Jessie! I’m back!” She called, offering a wave to the others.

Wow things where certainly getting crowded now, only just that morning Jessie thought he was the only one where, but that had soon advanced to two, then three, and now five people. Things where looking up from what he saw, he hadn’t considered the new problem of sharing food though.

“I’m Jessie” he waved at the new face Aiden, at least he was dressed like he was on holiday, unlike everyone else he’d met so far.

He ignored the others talk of fiddleheads when he saw Hailey watching up towards the camp, and she was wearing even les that before. He smiled at her “Hi Hailey, this is that camp I mentioned before”. In the back of his mind he hoped he wouldn’t start blushing again.


Paul still stood at the edge of the jungle and listened. Shipwreck? More people? Camp? What was this, some sort of island of those lost at sea? He felt like he had seen this in a movie or television show somewhere before.

He still wasn't comfortable jumping out into the camp yet; still the old introvert that he always thought himself to be. It was, however, hard to hear: despite the relative quiet of the jungle, it seemed like the voices were getting further away, fading into the background noise of island wildlife. If Paul wanted to keep listening, he would have to wander around the clearing to a closer part.

Quietly, he took a step to the right only to have his foot find a vine. It felt like slow motion: Paul fell, hands grasping at the trees, cursing loudly and forgetting his vow of silence, landing headfirst into the clearing and the dirt that made it up.

So much for subtlety.

Aiden rolled his shoulders at Wesley's question. How many were on the cargo ship...? "I'm...not sure. It was just a cargo ship, so..." he trailed off with another shrug. Honestly, he had only met a few people, and so far, all he had seen thus far was Leonard. To Jessie he gave a small nod of acknowledgment. "Nice to meet you, Jessie." he said politely.

Aiden then swiveled around on the hood of the car to look over at Leonard. "It's a sort of green...it's actually a kind of fern, I believe. It's so named because the curly-que top kind of looks like the top of a fiddle. They're pretty good, though you can get food poisoning if you don't cook them good enough. Hopefully we find other food though, because I think mum used to say that if you eat too much, it can cause vitamin deficiencies or something. She said it wouldn't be a problem unless someone was eating only fiddleheads, though, so...yeah." he trailed off, looking down. Why did he have to know such useless information? Art and fiddleheads. How useful THAT was for real life and island survival.

He spun back around and blushed at his sudden outpouring of knowledge.

Of course, his head bobbed up at the sound of a familiar voice. That girl...from the ship...she was making her own way to the clearing, sopping wet by the looks of it, looking like the beach models he had seen so many times on the front of magazines. He simply arced a brow at her and grinned. He was glad to see another familiar face.

"Hey!" he called excitedly, waving back. "Enjoy a swim or did you fall in the ocean?" he smirked. Though the moment the words left his mouth, he realized how bad a comment that was to make- especially after a shipwreck. He followed the statement with a nervously high pitched hyena's laugh before going fairly red and looking down again. Damn, he was awkward. Way to make a lousy first impression.

He heard someone else topple into the camp- it literally sounded like they fell into the camp, too. He flicked his eyes up briefly, but for the most part kept his head down, evidence of embarrassment still fresh on his cheeks. At least he had fallen off anything yet...


Wesley recalled a sociopolitical lesson he had learned in his father's office. Any societal group can flourish if the numbers that are needed are present, and their needs are met. Britain and the rest of Europe are an example of this. Have yoo much of an imbalance, having far too many with too few resources, leads to disaster. Look at China, son. Millions starve each year, and they have already instituted poulation control. Wesley rubbed his temple with the hand free of fern and staff. He had found food, but he still hadn't eaten.

The new person didn't seem hurt, though aged, and Wesley really wasn't in the mood for more introductions. Just another cargo ship passenger, so he ignored him. Out of the woodwork.

Screw bloody, BLOODY democracy and diplomacy for now. Things needed done, and now. Maybe these teenagers would respond to some sort of authority figure. Worked well enough for Mussolini. He was not going to end up like William and Taen because of chit chat.

"Alright." Roberts was a little hoarse, and way too quiet for all of them to hear. He cleared his throat and continued much louder, though not yelling, not yet away. "Alright. If anyone is going to be eating anytime soon, we need to make a campfire. Beyond that, it can get bloody cold at night, let me tell you!" Wesley prayed this would work. "This area just in the trees looks suitable enough. I can see an area with no direct cover that would work so that the campfire doesn't start a blaze. I have a lighter, so I'll get started on clearing a space and lighting one. Someone needs to keep searching the crates in case there is more food or critical supplies! We also need more fiddleheads. I can show someone how to pick them if need be. Other things are useful; Firewood, clearing more area, anything. For those who don't know:", Weslet lifted his metal-railing staff and pointed, "there is a small freshwater stream not forty paces that way! That's where the ferns are." He set it down again. Turning to where he had seen the campfire place, Wesley simply walked past the older man. Throwing his jacket onto a nearby snapped branch like an old coat hook, he began to clear low brush and piling rocks. He made a point of not looking back, Roberts didn't think he could drudge up the confidence he just used up.

Not like William and Taen.

"Ah s**t..." It was muttered under his breath. He was really hoping Hurley would wander off and die. ((he still has her name wrong.))

"Well, lets get them cooked up then. I could use something to eat. Oh, and Jessie found some soda washed up. It's over there." He pointed towards the treeline at the beach.

The guy falling into camp caught his attention. "Woah, senior citizen down. Someone call the mortuary." His humor needed a bit of work on timing. Though it was still better than Aiden's attempt at a joke.

It irked him that the other old guy thought he could boss them all around. True, they needed the motivation, but Leonard preferred to be the one in charge. Still, what the guy said made sense. "Alright, I'll go check some other boxes."

A small nod was given to Jessie in return for his personal greeting. Her eyes swept over the ‘camp site’ casually, not much to work with …but it would have to do. The notion of, it could be worse, floated through her mind but she didn’t dwell on it too long. If she did then the young heiress would’ve jinxed them all to be worse, like along the lines of it raining or never being found.

Never being found…that was a laugh, with so many of them missing a search party had to be on its way. If not for them, then especially for her. Or so her logic said.

A voice caught her attention , it sounded very familiar and when she turned her head in the direction of the voice did her smile grow a bit. It was the guy from the same boat who wanted to hurt Leonard as much as she did! Maybe both of them could make a pact to get of the jerk with the suit. The greeting he gave her though wasn’t quite what she expected. A small chuckle came from her as she shook her head a little. “Nice to see you too, although I’m sorry to disappoint you. I didn’t do neither, just splashed around a little that’s all.” She replied walking towards Jessie a little--she needed to have some form of ‘security’ around her incase a fight or something along those lines happened.

Hearing the sound of loud cursing, Hailey turned her head to see…an old man. He appeared to be out of the ordinary and looked as though he could possibly be the same age as her grandfather--if the poor man were still alive, God rest his soul. A feminine eyebrow was raised at the old man but she didn’t bother to help the guy up or ask if he was all right from his fall. Besides, she could just say she didn’t ask because Wesley caught her attention more, since he was acting as the leader of the ‘group’ they had formed.

The heiress rolled her eyes at Leonard’s rude comments, resisting the urge to start a verbal lash with the man but held back. She needed to make allies first, not enemies. The more slaves, allies she had, the better off she would be. “I can go look for some firewood or get fresh water.”

Jessie heard a loud thud and like everyone else looked in its direction. Another person? A very old one at that. If someone his age had survived, maybe there was still hope for his family, much as he still held a grudge against them. “You okay?”

He stayed quiet as Hailey and the new guy Aiden exchanged rather sarcastic greetings. Boy did this girl get around, first she knew Leonard, now this guy.

Wesley was right, they needed to work together, good to see someone was taking the initiative to do so. “I’ll go look through the crates if you want.”

Paul tried to get himself up and push himself out of the mud. He never really was a strong guy in his youth, but years of drug use, atrophy, and just plain old age made even getting his body out of some mud a challenge.

"I'm fine, thank you," he said, with scratchy voice and thick Mersey accent. He hadn't talked since he had gotten on the island.

It was quite a struggle for him, but eventually he got up and stood upright again. Paul scanned the area--most teenagers or young folk, and the only one that really looked a little older had ignored him outright and started to clear the area. By far, he was the oldest Walter in this hell.

"Who are you all?" he asked indirectly, wiping his muddy hand on his old Lonely Club Tour '79 shirt.

Aiden eyed Wesley a bit, not fond of being ordered around by anyone, though the organization was needed at the moment. He considered his options for work- he knew what fiddleheads looked like, but he wasn't aware there was a certain way you had to pick them. He sighed heavily. Bother. Maybe he could collect firewood or go look for more crates. Or...he could try and haul the soda up to the campsite. He felt more rested now, so while moving the box would be a pain, it would be easier than before.

"Aiden." the red-head corrected Leonard. "And yeah...I did find some soda. I'm actually gonna drag the crate more up to the camp if anyone feel inclined to help." he said, projecting the second part to the people in the camp. He pushed himself off the car hood and smirked at Hailey.

"You look awful wet for just splashing around." He shrugged. "Can't say I don't blame you...I wouldn't want to swim too far around here. Probably sharks around...or poisonous fish with our luck."

He turned his head and hesitantly considered helping the older man up- there was the moral side of him, kicking in. But before he could do anything, the older man managed to get up on his own. Good, good.

"You alright sir?" he asked politely. "Er, we're all...shipwreck victims, I believe." he answered broadly, gesturing vaguely at the people in the camp.

Wesley ignored most of them. While they needed to get proactive about the camp, he wasn't about to give them specific orders just yet. To break in a horse, you have to first get it used to you being in control. Hailey mentioned getting water, but as far as Wesley knew, they didn't have any containers.

He perked up his ears at the older man, though, not only was he a Pudian, he seemed genuinely confused about the group. He didn't even look seventy, so cyniality shouldn't be a factor. Wesley then took his clothing into account. They were slightly ripped and heavily worn, the same or more to Wesley's. Coupled with the man's question, it clicked in Wesley's head. He'd been on the island for longer than the cargo ship group. So much for being alone for three days. He didn't get a chance to get a word out before Aiden began.

Wesley got up briefly to dust himself off. "Not all of us. The tanker I was on died in the water. Navigation, fuel, boilers, everything." The man hadn't been on the Ancient Peace, either. Wesley would have remembered him for sure. "Good man, exactly how long have you been here?"

Leonard had wandered down to the beach, trying to block out the chatter. There was a box just behind the shipping container the car had been in. He tried to move it, but whatever was in it, it was really heavy. Taking a step back, he gave it a few hard kicks, until the top came loose. Prying it open the rest of the way, he found tires.

"Oh great, just ******** great! Now I have an extra set of tires for my car! JUST ******** GREAT! GODDAMN TIRES!" Most of this was punctuated by more kicks to the crate. It was definitely audible to everyone in the camp.

He remembered that he had set his briefcase done by the shipping container. Walking over, he popped it open and grabbed his whiskey flask, and took a swig. He'd be out in two days at this rate.

Grabbing his briefcase and a few tires, he walked back to camp. He threw the tires into roughly the middle of the camp. "I found these. Can anyone think of what to do with them?"

Without anyone instructing him to look for crates as he suggested he headed off along the tree line to look for anything he missed in the opposite direction of the one he’d headed in earlier.

“I’ll go look for stuff he called back” Just before everyone else heard Leonard cursing loudly. Hopefully he’d find something more useful than tires.

In an effort to stay on the good side of the other stranded people, Leonard was working on organizing the camp. At the moment, he was taking used soda cans to the stream to fill them with water. That way they'd at least have some extra on hand.

On the way back, holding an armful, one of his formerly nice shoes caught on a root and he stumbled. dropping a few cans to the sandy ground. "Ah ******** ME! Why the hell can't anything ever go right?!

Jessie had failed to find anything he could declare truly useful along the short distance he walked on the opposite stretch of the beach. Most of it was comprised of more drift wood, to be honest, the tires would probably be more useful. He spent a bit more time of the afternoon bringing the sheets he and Leonard had found back to the camp and folding them by the car. Which to him had become the unofficial hub of the camp.

He tied one sheets ends to some nearby branches, and it’s other ends to some longer sticks he’s pruned from other trees to from a tent of sorts next to the car. He hummed under his breath, his thought wondered on slightly happier topics than being stuck on this island. But it’s train was soon broken by Leonard’s cursing.

“You okay?”

Jessie, it seemed Leonard, was the one person he hadn't pissed off yet. Everyone else had come under fire from his sharp tongue at some point. It was sure not to last long though; Leonard would chew out the kid eventually. <********, I'm fine. This whole island thing is just pissing me off, is all." Screw refilling the cans. Someone could do that later. Taking the one's he hadn't dropped, he set them down by the car. He noticed Jessie's shade cloth. "That'll work for shade, but we're screwed if it rains very hard."

“I know…don’t let it get to you, keep yourself busy” he turned his attention back to the tent. He shook its supports a little on purpose, it seemed stable enough. But Leonard was right, it wouldn’t do much against rain, especial the kind of downpours that occurred in tropical climates.

“I guess it’s something, at least there’s the car if it rains.”

"I'm trying, but everything I'm doing is reminding me that I'm stuck here." He got down under the sheet and sat down. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a cigarette pack and pulled one out.

"God I wish I had a light." He stuck the cig in his mouth. It felt a little better to have one there. "You know I'm supposed ti be opening up my trading firm right now? Even if I get off this island, I'll be lucky if I can still get it started up. I do not want to go back to New York."

He shrugged, Jessie was just better at spacing out than Leonard.

His reference to lights reminded him they’d need a camp fire soon, before nightfall. Jessie however only knew rubbing two sticks together would make fire, and from everything he’d ever seen that involved that method, it was very difficult.

“Sorry” He couldn’t really say much more than that, right now this was a slight improvement, back home his life wasn’t going anywhere special.

Think of his investment going down in flames did little to make him feel better. "It's not your fault" He muttered.

An idea popped into his head. "Hey, I just had a thought. If we stack the tired next to the car facing the ocean, it would help block the wind from a storm if there is one." He stood up to go get the tires, but forgot there was a sheet over his head, and ended up pulling over some of the supports.

Jessie was fully aware nothing that had happened to Leonard was his fault, apologizing was just one of those sympathetic knee jerks.

“Heh, yah, any kind of shelter will do, you sure there’s enou-“ He was promptly cut off as Leonard knock the supports of his half tent over, and the sheet wafted down covering him. He let out an annoyed sign, brushed the sheet off him and went back to work to set it back up again without a word.

Leonard pulled the sheet off, looking away fron Jessie so he couldn't see the embarrassed look on Leonard's face. "Err... sorry."

Leaving Jessie to fix the shelter again, he walked over to the crate the tires were in, which they had moved up to the camp. Grabbing a couple, he sat then down in a line, one touching the rear wheel of the car. Going back, he grabbed two more, and laid them in a line next to the other two.

"There, now if we alternate tires on top of those, that should work."

As Leonard was setting up his wall he continued to work on his tent, though the problem with it at the moment was, while it provided shade, there wasn’t anything other than the ground to sit on underneath it. Perhaps a cushion or chair might have been good for this.

Still, he lay down in the sand, his head on one of the trees roots. It was far from a comfortable pillow, but it was something. He wasted more time staring up at the sheet above him, watching the shadows of the various leaves above sway in the wind.

“Shouldn’t we get some kind of shelter before we start making walls to protect our camp?”

Leonard had stacked two more tires on the others. He wiped some sweat from his forehead. "I figured these would act a bit like a shelter, at least from wind."

He decided it was time for a break, and got down under the sheet again. Grabbing a can he had filled up, he took a sip. Looking up at the leaves, he got another idea. "Why don't we get some big palm leaves and cover the sheet with them? That'd make it semi-waterproof at least."

Jessie took one of the other cans than hadn't been spilled and helped himself. The water as rather dirty, but it was water, and that was all that mattered for the moment.

"Hmm, I'm not sure it'll hold though" Jessie was rather clueless when it came to camping and survival. All he could do was do as Leonard said, and hope he knew more about what he was doing than him.

Leonard had no idea what he was doing. For all he knew he would get them all killed. But it seemed like he was the only one doing anything, so someone had to. He wasn't so concerned with everyone else's survival, just his own.

"Well, we could bury the supports deeper in the sand so they won't fall over. And then cover the sheet with big leaves. That should keep us from getting really wet at least."



By the sounds of things Leonard had given Jessie a whole new list of things to get done now. He’d have to dig a few holes of the sticks, maybe get new longer ones too. And he’d have to figure out how to get the palm trees leaves too, their leaves were very high up, he’d have to climb up one, and figure out a good way to cut them off.

“How am I going to get them though, their quite high up”

He wasn't exactly giving him things to do, just some ideas if he didn't want to get soaked. Leonard wasn't worried about getting wet; he had the car.

There's got to be some younger trees, right? Just take thoes leaves. Wait, hold on a sec." Careful not to pull off the sheet again, he made his way to the car. Pulling out his breifcase from inside, he opened it and pulled out a stainless steel letter opener.

"If we sharpen this, it'd make a good knife."
“Okay, I’ll sharpen this on some rocks or something” He said taking the letter opener. That’s what people in these kind of scenarios did on TV.

“Maybe later though, I need to eat something” he placed his hand over his stomach as it made a distinct sound. “I’m going to go see if I can find anything other than those fiddleheads”

"Food?" He guestured towards a certain spot in the jungle. "If you go straight that way, there's some sort of fruit tree. I don't know what it is, but it tastes alright."

Leonard reclined under the sheet. His clothes were already ruined anyways, what was a litle sand? "I think I'm going to take a break from the heat."

“Thanks” Jessie spluttered through his water filled mouth. Fruit he said? It didn’t matter what it was, it was fruit, and that was already sounding better than fiddleheads. He crawled out from her the makeshift tent, making sure he didn’t knock it over like Leonard had and dusted himself off.

“I’ll bring some back then” he walked off in the vague direction Leonard had pointed him in, his stomach already growling at the prospect of it’s first meal whilst stuck here.

Long after Hailey had left the confines of the car in her pain stricken hurry, Jessie had managed to get to sleep. But not before the newly formed tentacles had stop writhing to and fro. He’d spent what seemed like countless hours, and eternity, curled up in a fetal ball on the floor at the back of the car.

Shivering with fear.

What the hell was this? Was he mutating or something? Or did he catch something? No, that couldn’t have been it, so disease made you grow freaking tentacles.

He didn’t get much sleep, he awoke early, before everyone else. Before anyone but Hailey could see him, he grabbed a few of the left over sheet and headed off into the jungle.

Jessie spend the next few days like a hermit, avoiding the rest of his fellow castaways, eating what he could find in the jungle. He was sure they already knew of how he’d changed, but he’d rather avoid the normal people, this was far too freaky for comfort. For him and the others.

He’d set up a small temporary camp of his own, some fifteen minutes away from the main camp, far deeper into the jungle. And he was certainly starting to show the signs of his hermit life. His trousers where torn and ripped from the various fauna, and he had long given up on his shirt, and left it to hang on a branch above a dirty pile of sheet he called his bed.

He knew he’d have to return to the camp eventually, but Hailey. He couldn’t let her see her like this. In the darkness the night he changed she hadn’t seen much, now in board daylight she’d see his new tentacles. He’d just scare her, his crush.

Every other night for a good week her stayed alone, curled up in the dirt sobbing to himself, with only his tentacles to keep him company.

The pair was nearing the camp. Harsher brush gave way to a span of fiddleheads on either side of the stream. Additionally, it was getting shallower. Just above the foliage a thin stream of smoke could be seen. Taking a left, they emerged onto dry land. Parting his way through the shrubs, Wesley found the edge of the camp clearing. There he saw Hailey, staring into the fire, looking distracted. With a grin on his face, Wesley decided to get her attention.

"Hey! Hailey!" Once said, he moved to the side, just enough to make the straggler clearly visible. "You wouldn't believe what you find lying around out here!"

Another day was going by so fast but still no sign of Jessie. She had gone off in a different direction while Wesley had gone the opposite way. Time was running out--okay not running out per say, but she was starting to think maybe Jessie didn't want to be found. After hours of searching, she decided to start up a fire at the camp to distract herself for the time being. The distraction was working perfectly well till a familiar voice caught her attention.

Turning her head tot he side amber orbs caught sight of Wesley. He appeared to be happy with the grin on his face. A feminine eyebrow rose, what could he be so happy about? She stood up, a bit confused to what the diplomat was saying.

"Don't tell me you found some rare species you want to discover instead of looking for Jessie!" She called, moving closer to him.

Jessie was still in the shade, just out of sight behind Wesley. He didn’t want to be seen, just yet, given his appearance. He was still filthy, he still had soil stuck to him here and there, and scratches over much of his currently bare torso. (His shirt was tucked into the back of his trousers)

Had Hailey really been looking for him with Wesley? She was sat down by the camp fire. But she sounded like she was angry at the though Wesley wasn’t looking for him. She did care? She really wanted to see him?

He peered closer, she had fin like feet, just like Wesley had said. But hers where bright yellow. That lump in the pit of Jessie’s stomach returned at the sight of them.

"Indeed, it IS fairly rare". You won't find another one of the whole bloody island. The scientific name, I believe, is 'Teenageria Britannia'." Wesley was started wondering what the hold up was. He thought Jessie would be glad to be back. Turning, Wesley peered behind himself. The boy seemed intent on staying as mostly conceiled as possible. Keeping his voice low as to avoid Hailey's earshot, he muttered, "This is a clinical case of delaying the inevitable. I assume you want to eat with us, tonight? Come, it would be difficult for it to become worse."

From Hailey's point of view she couldn't see Jessie. All she saw was Wesley and some of the beach foliage. Her hand removed a strand of hair away from her eyes, her hair was starting to get too long for her liking. Her eyes rolled in place at Wesley's explanation of what he found. 'He was suppose to look for Jessie!'

"Wesley, you better be joking because otherwise I will--" Her sentence stopped short stopping a few inches away from Wesley. Were her eyes playing games with her, or was there someone behind him? "What do you have behind your back?"
Oh why did Wesley have to say stupid stuff like that, it wasn’t making the only situation worse for him.

“Yes..” he muttered in response to Wesley’s question about food.

But it was too late to try and escape, Hailey had noticed his poor choice of hiding spot directly behind Wesley. For a brief moment running like hell seemed like a good idea. No, he could just run again like he’d already done.

Slowly he crept out from behind Wesley to come into Hailey’s line of site, in all his dirty hermit glory. He gave her a weak embarrassed smile. What to do now? Apologise? Or just say hello?

Wesley leaned back slowly onto the nearest tree. This was night his battle, but he was here to be the diplomat if need be. To be completely fair, he was keeping as close an eye on how Hailey acted as Jessie. Who knows how she got a hold of him like that? Best not let her give into temptation.

For now, though, he watched, and waited.

Though Wesley didn't answer her question, the 'thing' that was behind his back slowly came into view. Amber orbs widen slightly, it was Jessie! Wesley had found Jessie! Relief swept over the girl, Jessie was found and now she could apologize! Tears began to p***k at her eyes, the kid was home and appeared to be fine. She didn't bother to see how filthy Jessie was when she rushed--and tried not to trip--over to envelope him in a hug.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry I freaked out! I'm just so happy you're all right!" She cried, hugging Jessie tighter before feeling something around her wast...and other places. For a moment the girl forgot Jessie had extra limbs until she felt them...maybe it was best to move away. Slightly she pulled back--to keep his limbs at bay and to give the boy breathing room. A smile came across her face as tears came down her face, turning to Wesley her arms went around him as well. "You found him! You found him!"

Apparently Hailey was in a hugging mood considering most of her worries disappeared for the moment.

She was sorry? Sorry about what, she had every reason to freak out over Jessie growing tentacles. But she was hugging him, despite his current state. His new tentacles seemed to wriggle in excitement and hugged Hailey back of their own accord. He hugged back, placing his head on her shoulder letting his cheek touch hers.

She really did like him to worry this much. He smiled back as he went to hug Wesley too. “I’m…I’m sorry too” he sputtered out. Like Hailey his own worries seem to evaporate as well. Everything was going to be alright, he and Hailey could be together, even if there where both changed now.

Wesley was quiet as he graciously accepted the embraces thrust upon him. He knew this was just the beginning, though, and kept his mouth shut. Let them have this moment of happiness. They were but three of the nine people Wesley knew about on the island - while he had steered others to where Leonard had supposedly gone, having little or no contact with so many of the survivors kept the diplomat on edge.

Wesley startled a little as Jessie's waist growths flared to life. They're... they;re MOVING! They aren't just skin growths - they have nerve endings! And muscles! Wesley went a little pale. He had read enough medical books to know this wasn't any sort of normal infection - this was a whole new game unto itself.

Let them have their moment of happiness. Wesley would be getting to the bottom of this. Even if it kills me. From the looks of things, it could.

To say Hailey was happy was an understatement. She was ecstatic! She could make it up to Jessie for running away--though making sure she didn't keep teasing the young man on, which would be a tiny bit hard considering whatever she did only made it worse. Pulling back from Wesley Hailey gave him a small peck on the cheek, he found Jessie and deserved something other than a hug.

"Now that we're all here...in camp quarantine, what are we going to do?" She asked lightly, trying to make a joke of the situation.

Jessie was a little surprised to see Hailey kissed Wesley, he let it slide for now, he was in a far better mood, and he supposed Hailey had a good reason. Wesley had found him after all.

“Erm, I guess we should just say away from the people who haven’t caught this….whatever it is” he replied, looking down to his growths towards the end of his statement.

Well. In the time that they had been searching for Jessie, Hailey had leaned on him, held his arm, and more - but never a kiss. Wesley was, to say the leaast, a little flabberghasted. Why she kissed him and not Jessie he didn't know - maybe physical thanks was all she had been raised to know. Regardless, Wesley stood up straight after leaning on the tree. "Indeed. I had warned Mr. Flynn that we might send people his way, could they be warned before they came too close. I should think he has a camp somewhere with at least some of the others... But Hailey, you weren't near Jessie when you, you showed symptoms, I suppose? It was only after you had left. I just hope Leonard - and therefore the others - don't contract it as well. While there's really been no negative side effects besides initial pain, what it could mean in the future. I don't know."

Moving further into the campsite, Wesley gave a chuckle. "Starving to death will not do us any good, though. I'll get the metal sheet out and see if I can't roast some dinner."

True it was something almost shocking to see Hailey giving a peck to Wesley--after all she had been toying with Jessie and it seemed right to kiss him first to keep him as her love slave. But the man deserved it, he was there for her to hold, lean on...use as a walking stick and they did get along pretty well. All things considered maybe he forced Hailey to mature a bit and change her ways--just a little.

Hailey listened to Wesley and Jessie, nodding in agreement. "I didn't changed till a day after Jessie did...and I did show symptoms. My fingers and ears felt a bit warm but I thought it was because of the heat. Though my feet did hurt a lot..." She let her sentence trail on for a moment till the suggestion of dinner came. "I can tend to the fire, Jessie we have some extra sheets I think. You can wash up if you want."

Jessie also nodded agreeably with Wesley. He’d missed a lot while he was gone, and it would seem Wesley had taken it upon himself to organize arrangements for anything with this illness. But he jumped at the moment of a actually meal. “What do you have?, anything with will do, I’m starving”

He looked back to Hailey as she spoke, though he stared down at her feet. They where nothing like his or Wesley’s. They where quite large and fin like now. Just like Wesley had said. That pang of guilt came back, once he considered how it much it must have hurt or her.

“Oh thanks Hailey, yeah I’d best go for a quick dip in the ocean” He flashed his embarrassed smile again. He walked past her, patting her shoulder as he did, and headed off out of the camp.

As Jessie was leaving the camp, Wesley scratched at his growing stubble as he thought. He went to one of the spare tires, pulling out a few handfuls of Fiddleheads from their resting place. For a plant, they did not like the sun. Grabbing the flat metal sheet he used to cook them, he layed it down on a square of rocks surrounding the firepit, and sprawled about the ferns on the top. A nearby tree suspended a raincoat full of water, a couple feet from the ground. Wesley took several cup-like handfuls of the water - the membranes really did come in useful - and splashed them on the "frying sheet", where they began sizzling. Once this was done, Wesley allowed himself to think aloud, bouncing a few of his notions by Hailey. "Don't you find this infection odd, at all, even for a tropical disease? Three people, wildly different outcomes. You'd think we'd have the same signs and colours, but they couldn't be more different. Jessie has those red growths, which I might accept, had they might not have moved, and blue? What in the body causes anything to be blue? None of it makes sense, let alone having a single atatck of it, and be as right as rain, after."

Wesley jabbed at the ferns with a stick. None of this was making any sense, at all.

Amber eyes watched the multi-limbed boy head off to the ocean to clean himself up. 'Everything is back to what is was...okay not really but damn close to it.' She thought heading back to the fire to feed some dry beach wood into the flames. The flames crackled for a moment, blazing higher before setting down to 'chew' on the wood. Hailey found her seat, bringing her knees to her chest to hold.

When Wesley began to bounce his ideas off of her, she merely shrugged. The young woman didn't know much about viruses or how they appeared let alone spread. "Wes, honestly..." Hailey began, using a nickname for the diplomat while watching the fire for a moment. "Do I look like the person you would talk about medicine too? But I kindda get what you're saying. This would be something you would see on that medical show 'House'. But.." A sweet smile came across her lips. "You managed to bring him back, why waste a happy moment like this with medical crap?" She teased.

Jessie busily washed himself off in the surf, it was amazing how much soil alone could stick you to if you spent a week in the jungle. He removed his shirt and shoes to clean them as well. That was better, he was finally clean and cooled off. When eh was done he returned back up the beach to where Hailey and Wesley where seated, only dressed in his sopping wet trousers, his body glimpsing in the bright sun.

He followed the aroma of food being cooked and sat down next to Hailey as his stomach growled. He hadn’t heard any of what Wesley had talked about concerning there mutations while he was gone, he only caught the last thing Hailey had said on the matter. True why waste a happy moment? He reached over for some of the fiddleheads, he didn’t really like them, but there where warm, and they where food. He chewed on them contently, his stomach finally starting to feel full.

Wesley threw up his hands a little. They don't get it. They just don't get it. Kids these days... what did they learn in school? To be fair, he learned far much more geography and history than biology, but it still clicked for him. "Fine. I'll be quiet. But please don't mind if I ask to examine you two, later. It really is, important." He glanced at Jessie eating the half-cooked ferns. Hopefully the boy didn't get digestive problems from it. He might ignore that, too.

Hailey suppressed a small laugh at Jessie's stomach. It wasn't funny to laugh at someone who was starving for a week or more. She moved over a little to give Jessie more room to sit. Her laughter couldn't be suppressed when Wesley threw his hands in the air.

"I don't mind." She began with a shrug of her shoulders. "If all we've been eating are fiddle heads then it can't be the food that turned us...and we haven't eaten any fish so it can't be that either..." She said, marking off the 'food' as the cause for change off the list of possible causes.

“Humph?” Jessie replied to the new conversation that had just started through his full mouth. He didn’t have much to add to it, he had no idea what could have caused this. Until now he’d just assumed it had been some very odd and rare virus. But now their attention had turned as to where it had come from.

Jessie came up with the first smart thing he’d thought in a long time. “What about pollen? There where lots of flowers in the jungle.”

Wesley was glad they took at least some mediocre interest in the pressing subject. They were thinking logically, but as so far nothing Wesley hadn't thought of. It was a start though. "I'm definitely agreeing about the food. We all had the fiddleheads the first few days, and I'm dead sure Alcine, Ian and Mr. Flynn were the ones who discovered the fruit trees prior to us. Unless some have a natural immunity, it can't be the food." Wesley paused, letting Jessie speak up.

"Pollen doesn't work that way. Usually it's harmless to a large degree, and only if a person has an allergy does it do anything, and that's usually related to respitory problems or spots. Nothing like this," Wesley said, stroking his ear. It felt rather strange, beyond the point. On the inner portion was a great, flat surface. Featureless isn't something you'd ever decribe a normal ear as.

"The best idea I could come up with would be some sort of plant or animal toxin, like poison ivy or poisonous insects. But even then..." Wesley wasn't a medic. He believed he could set a bone in a splint, but anything like this was beyond him. Unless that new fellow that Leonard had mentioned was some sort of doctor, Wesley seemed the best informed to deal with it. And Heaven help me if it turns out to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Wesley chewed on a fiddlehead he plucked from the fryer. He didn't even notice it until it was sliding down his gullet.

Hailey listened to both Wesley and Jessie, they both had good points--though Wesley was more through with his guesses. Hailey couldn't blame the diplomat though, he had to be very analytical with his job. She placed her right webbed palm under her chin to think for a moment. Her eyes went to the fiddle heads then back to looking at Wesley. She wasn't quiet hungry at the moment but she would get something later.

"None of us have been bitten or stung or anything of the sort...unless its mosquito bites...but if that were the case then symptoms would've appeared right away considering it would've gone through the blood stream..." Her sentence began to trail off as her brain tried to think of other possibilities. After a few moments she shook her head, her mind had gone through many possibilities that were somewhat real...and no possible one.

Her mind began to wander from what caused their mutations to how she would deal with Jessie...and Wesley too. They weren't anything 'official' and it would awkward to ask in front of Jessie just what they were. Not to mention heart breaking to the young boy--speaking of which, what should she do with him? 'I'll just think about it later...'

Jessie listened to Wesley as he explained how pollen couldn’t have been the culprit. A poison or toxin? Maybe he thought, though considering how his best idea had just been shot down, any other ideas he would have would probably wrong too. My didn’t he ever listen in Biology class.

Jessie was getting a little tired of this though, what did it matter what caused this, what mattered was that they had to get off this island and get fixed back home.

“Shouldn’t we focus on trying to get back instead of what caused this Wesley?” Jessie may have had his own opinions on what had to be done, but he still saw Wesley has the authority figure here.

Wesley simply nodded his head and Hailey spoke. She was coming along in her think. She seemed to continue to think, but did not voice anything again. Jessie interjected again, not understanding fully. Wesley didn't mind, though, considering the sheer amount of time he must have spent reading over what they boy had.

"They're one and the same, really," he explained, sounding a little close to a teacher for his liking. "they're just different stages. Knowing the problem means finding the solution faster. Consider having a stomache ache. You may be simply really hungry, or you may be sick, but the methods of fixing it depend on what caused it. Can you somply eat food, or must you find medicine?"

He was out of conjectures, though, so he ate some more as he thought. There mut be some logical explanation for all of this.

More thoughts, suggestions and comments from the boys leaving Hailey to just listen. Jessie did have a good idea but then Wesley negated it. A small sigh escaped her lips, all this talk of trying to find what caused their mutations to figuring solutions was starting to get not boring but stale. Hailey didn't want to go into further detail about the topic but couldn't change it considering that was all Wesley wanted to talk about.

Jessie needed to rest after being in the jungle for a week. Nor was she hungry. What was there left for a girl to do? "I'll let you two hash this out." She began to say, standing up to stretch her legs a little. "I'm not really hungry and I need to bring some blood back into my legs, I'll be along the shoreline if you need me. Oh and Wesley just call me whenever you want that physical exam." Her right eye winked at him before turning her body to walk--or waddle--away from the two. her right hand flipped back some of her hair as she made her way to the shoreline.

Jessie couldn’t say he agreed with Wesley’s train of thought on the matter at hand. How was getting off this island , and figuring out what cause this one and the same thing? They could sit and talk til they where blue in the face, but it wouldn’t help them escape this island. But Jessie vouched out to speak his mind this time, as Wesley had taken on the role as leader.

“Okay, bye Hailey” he smiled as she left watching her walk away as she did. “I think I’ll rest too” he took a few of the sheets Hailey had offered him earlier and set down an area for him to nap in for the afternoon. Somehow, the sand in the camp was a welcome comfort over the soil, roots and underbrush in the jungle.

{Not over}

Jessie had gotten over his little run in with that black haired boy, Ian…that’s what Wesley had called him. In his own subconscious way of staying out of trouble with Wesley, the unofficial leader of the group, he’d done his best over the past few days to improve the camp with what he could gather. (Most of it salvaged from the opposite side of the beach to where Ian was).

His own part of the camp was now a mattress shrouded by the sheets he and Leonard had found on their first day, making it look much like a four poster bed now. One that was supported but the two trees it was nestled between, but one nonetheless. For this afternoon he was taking a nap in his bed, the sheets closed all around him, to keep the mosquitoes away.


Ta wasn't much an expert at survival, he never really expected to be on a semi-deserted island full of sick people. He couldn't help but feel a little excited at the whole prospect, to think, he'd still be in school right now, doing math problems and whatnot. Still, he couldn't help but feel a little homesick.

It was an uneventful day as he waited for Leonard or Ian to get back and start the fire again, how these people managed it the first time was beyond him, so he simply waited for someone to show how it was done. Right now, he was taking a nap, the warm sun had made him feel slugish.

Jessie was comfortable sleeping on the new mattress, it was far better than the sand and dirt he’d had sleep on for the past few weeks. (Leonard had hogged the cars back seat). He stirred from his nap, his stomach making a noticeable growl. He crawled out of his make-shift home, clad only in his tatty and hole punctured trousers.

Jessie shook his head and parted his messy hair of his forehead, before noticing the new person lying by the fire. He’d only seen this guy briefly, only out o the corner of his eyes while he was busy round the camp, while the new person was doing his own things. He hadn’t intervened with him yet. But evidently he hadn’t met Wesley yet, or he wouldn’t be here, not in quarantine, what to do, wake him? He tip toes round him, he eed to tell Wesley.


It was only a moment after Jessie entered camp did Ta begin to wake up. He was in the state where he was practically awake with his eyes closed, but he didn't really want to actually get up. He had heard the shifting of mattresses among other things, he didn't know who it was, probably because one can't tell who anyone is by sounds other than voice.

Ta forced himself up to see who was around, he took his glasses from the sand and looked around to see the person who was making all the noise, trying to sneak away.

It didn't take too much for Ta to figure out why this person would try to sneak away unnoticed, he instinctively backed away when he saw the tentacles. There was a mix of curiosity and disgust on his face Whatever this disease was, it was both insanely interesting and extremely sickening at the same time. If there were any doctors on the island, they must've been having a field day studying this virus.

Still, Ta kept back, he didn't want to catch whatever everyone else had, after all, even if this virus was interesting, feeling it's effects firsthand didn't seem pleasant.

Jessie heard the faint sound of Ta getting up. Damn, too late, he was already spotted. Still, he stared back at the guy, there was no mistaking it, he was Japanese, the way he looked was a dead give away. That and his clothing, they looked like some of those uniforms you see those kids on anime in. Jessie wasn’t a fan of anime, but it was one of those stereotypes of Japanese teenagers the rest of the world had. He wasn’t infected either. Jessie kept his distance from him.

“Erm..hi” he waved politely at him. His tentacles seemed to curl up as his embarrassment at the whole situation grew, it was a defence mechanism he wasn’t in control of.

Ta was shaking again, but he didn't panic, his encounter with Ian taught him as much.

He's just sick. He thought to himself, Just like a cold or the flu... Completely normal.

He raised his hand tenetively and waved back, tryng to keep himself from crouching down into a ball again.

"H- Hi." Ta said, "Who- Who you?"

The Japanese guy was shaking, he couldn’t blame him. Jessie was pretty freaky looking, he and the other had just gotten used to it.

He didn’t sound like he could speak English very well, something he should have realized earlier out when he realized he was Japanese.

“It’s Jessie, nice to meet you” he replied, trying to sound as pleasant as he could, he didn’t want to scare the guy any further.


"Jessie..." Ta sounded out, "A- Ah, you have virus too? Like Ian and Hey-ley?" He didn't quite get Hailey's name right.

If Jessie thought that this was a virus, then he had reason to be shaking, and constantly backing away from the tentacled one. He didn't want to be rude, but at the same time, he didn't want to catch anything. Jessie would understand, right?

Speaking of manners.

"Oh, ah, my name is Takumi,- Ta shortened."

“Yeah I do, like err…” he paused as it took a moment for him to realize who he was referring too. “Yeah, like Hailey” he avoided mentioning Ian.

Jessie wasn’t angry at him, he was probably the freakiest one out of the lot, what with these grows, that moved of their own accord.

Takumi, Yeah, he was Japanese.


Ta thought for a moment, and then realized that he should ask now before he lost his nerve.

"Um... The fire, how did you do it?" Ta asked, trying to pry his gaze from those tentacles.

Personally, the tentacles reminded him of tako, which tasted pretty good, especially in this sauce his mother made... After this though, he may never touch seafood again.

Ta's stomach grumbled loudly, he was getting pretty hungry, from looking at Jessie no less.

"By the way, do we have food?"

“Fire?...um” Jessie wasn’t sure, he was never in charge of getting fires ready, Wesley took care of that himself when he prepares those fiddle heads. But he’s seen it enough times, he could rub two sticks together wit ha bow. To bad Leonard had gone, his lighter would have been useful right about now.

He approached Ta, bending his knees down so he was crouched by still on his feet in front of him. He took two of the sticks and started spinning one with his hands against the one on the sand. Maybe it would work. “I’ll try making some”

“Food?...”He paused to think ”There’s some fruit in the car”


"Car?" Ta asked, confused. This was new. Never had he heard about a car being on a deserted island. Mutations, fish-people and cars, this island was getting wierder and wierder...

"Could we get some fruit?" Ta asked, really hungry now. And Jessie being there wasn't helping.

“Yeah a car” he replied, not looking up still trying to heat the sticks up enough, to no avail. But Jessie was inpatient. “Its over in the clearing, not too far from here.”

“Sure” He got up, he was more than happy to give up on his attempts to make fire. He got up and started walking on the direction of the car. “Careful not to touch me though”, Jessie was admittedly begin lax with Wesleys quarantine rules, if he’d been here, Jessie would have already been knock back as far as possible from Ta.

Ta straightened up and followed, keeping his distance away from Jessie. Did he see him drool? That's probably why. Ah well, raw octopus has a reputation of being tough to swallow unless you cooked it, and there wasn't a fire to be seen. Well, he could go sashimi with the approach... Or...

Wait, what?

God, his stomach was right, he needed something to eat. Hunger was playing with his nerves.

"So why a car here?" Ta asked, wanting to keep himself busy.

Jessie carried on, blissfully unaware of the unusual effect his tentacles where having on Ta. He too was quite hungry, the fruit he’d found sounded like a great meal right about now, they’d be better than fiddleheads at the least.

“It was in the cargo of the ship I was on before I and the other got stuck here, we just use it to store stuff though, see?” He pointed at the beetle as it came into view, some more sheets draped over it’s windows to keep it cool, and part of a tent build along one side.

"Wow... How long you here now?" Ta was amazed, it was evolution at work, give a man a situation, and they will somehow find a way around it. He hurried to the car. Something bothered him still, if Jessie was capable of doing this, he certainly had the capacity to build a boat. So why hasn't he seen any attempt to get off this island yet? In all the movies he's seen involving deserted islands, the first thing people did was try to find a way to get off of it.

He let the thought pass, right now...

"Where's the fruit?"

“How long?” he scratched his hair as he thought, it was hard to just time without a calendar, or a Television. “Erm…two months?...I can’t be sure” It really had been a long time, but they where managing well enough, minus the mutations. Surely by now someone was looking for them, right?

“We keep them in the back seat” He pointed at the car with two of his fused fingers. He’d bets not hand Ta any fruit, let him get them himself. But for all he knew, that might be what have caused it. No, Wesley ruled the fruits out.

Two months?!

"And you did not try to find help?"

Unable to wait for Jessie, Ta went into the car and picked up a few oranges and tossed them to Jessie.

"Catch." He said.

Eager to eat, Ta stayed in the car and unraveled one of the orange peels. He quickly gobbled it up, he began to unpeel another one..


“Well, there’s no one here to help us, and we’ve got no way to contact the rest of the world…We’re just waiting til someone can find us.”

At least this guy was happy, though for how long he couldn’t be sure. He wasn’t sure how he could insure not to infect him, but thus far, Wesley and ruled out most explanations, he hadn’t even touched Ian when he changed. So he must have caught it somewhere else. Jessie shrugged it off, this stuff wasn’t his strong suit.

He gladly ate the orange Ta gave him. “Not to many, we can’t eat all we want around here. We’ve got to ration this stuff”

"Make signals! Look in all the cargo! Must be something!" Ta was waving his arms franticly. Did these people really think that no one was going to help them? They haven't tried anything yet! He finished his other orange and breathed.

"There must be plane that pass by here, least."

“We’ve got a fire, people should have seen that by now” he pointed out to the boy.

“We’ve already looked through most of the stuff that washed ashore, even if there was something I doubt we could get a signal from this far away.” He said in response to his second comment.

“Nope, no planes have passed either, we’ve pretty stuck” He smiled weakly, he’d come to terms with being shipwrecked. Ta just had to as well.

"Could make a boat..." Ta tapered off, and then frowned. Even if they could make a boat, they had no idea where they were, it could take months to find civilization. Jessie probably knew this as well. Better stranded on land than stranded by sea. Ta slumped against the car door, this was not good.


“A boat?” he mentally repeated. No, they’d never have the materials to make anything remotely large enough for all of them, or to hold food, or to find civilization. The list of problems went on.

It looked like he’d only upset the newcomer, well…he was stuck on a deserted island with complete strangers. “Don’t worry about it too much, we’ve survive d this long, we’ll keep going til someone saves us.”

Ta got out of the car sadly, so they were really and truly stuck here. He looked at Jessie for a moment. At this rate, he'd catch whatever everyone else had before long, it was either that or he starts his own camp, but he didn't see that happening.

"I guess I should not. I go back to camp to see if anyone start fire."


Er, yeah, that’s the spirit.” Jessie continued forcing his weak smile. What else could he do? Tell the guy he was stuck here forever and probably already had what had infected the rest if them? He didn was any person would have done, sugar coat it.

“Sure, you do that, I’ll say here, I think I’ll try and get more food.”

"Y- Yes." Ta looked forlorn as he walked back to camp. Eating the remains of his orange. To think that everything would be changed like this so suddenly, it was impossible.