Chapter 15: A Useful Discovery
Meanwhile that night...
"Grrrr...I can't believe you let that stupid swine get away!" Kane shouted, once again slamming his crown into the dirt. Bucky hung his head in shame, once again feeling useless...and defeated. Before the boar got to the beach with the Wither Team, it had started rampaging in the ferret tribe...eating all their food and ramming itself into every miniature hut that stood in it's way. Since having dealt with wild boars before, Bucky saw the opportunity to prove himself loyal to the tribe...but things didn't take long to go awry, as the white ferret just couldn't fend off the large swine for some reason this time. And that only resulted in the entire tribe getting mad at him. "I'm sorry, Kane!" Bucky said.
"That boar was just too tough for me this time!"
"You said you've had a quarrel with any animal that one could name from this dimension, and if I remember correctly...I believe that includes a dragon. SO WHY COULDN'T YOU STAND UP TO A STUPID PIG????" Bucky shrunk, and said nothing more upon being startled by Kane's outburst. He realized that the large badger had a point, but refused to admit it out loud due to also being convinced that he could fix the situation. "No answer, huh?" Kane continued. "Of course..." Another ferret ran up, and tried to salvage what was left of the fruit in the tribe's food pile. "Are we seriously gonna have to find more food? We had enough in this pile to last for weeks!" He complained. Kane crossed his arms, and gave a hard huff. "Don't worry about that now, I'll send out a hunting party at dawn." He then looked at the demolished pathway leading out of the tribe that had been left by the boar. "Heh, at least some good came out of this." Kane said. "The boar probably made it's way to the beach, where the Wither Team would have to deal with it's rampaging butt. What are the odds of them standing a chance against—"
"Chief Kane! Chief Kane!" Everyone directed their attention to a group of ferrets that had just scurried in the village. "The Wither Team killed the boar!" In an instant, gasps of astonishment erupted from the crowd...and Kane gave a gesture for the leader of the small group to come forward. "That's impossible. If they're too weak to beat us, there's no chance that they'd survive an attack from that thing!" He said. "But they did, sir, I saw it with my own eyes!" The ferret explained. "The ginger girl ended up holding it down, and then the tigress ran in and chomped on it's neck...and didn't let go until it stopped moving!" Kane stared at his tribe member for a good minute or so, before turning to another group of ferrets nearby. "Chuck, take a hunting party to go retrieve the boar." He ordered. "Uh...actually, Kane?" The other ferret said, stopping Chuck and his hunting crew. "They already ate it." The large badger's jaw dropped, and his eyes widened with complete and utter astonishment. "You have got to be kidding me..."
"Well, what did you think they were going to do with it?" The ferret asked. "They were obviously starving to death!" Kane growled to himself as he facepalmed with both of his hands, before turning to Bucky and grabbing him by his neck. "This...is all your fault." He snarled. "Now, now, mate...n-no need to do anything you'll regret!" Bucky said, as Kane held him higher. "Um, Chief Kane?" Before he could do anything to Bucky, Kane looked over to one of the younger ferrets of the tribe. "Yes?" He replied, trying not to look too angry. "Since the Wither Team managed to get food, does that mean that they're stronger than us now?" The young ferret asked. Kane didn't respond, but took a moment to think about what the kid just said. There was no doubt that the Wither Team would pose a bigger threat now that they have their strength back, would Kane be able to lead his tribe to victory against them if needed? "The kid's got a point, Kane." One ferret piped up. "What if those guys want revenge, and we fall under pressure?"
"Don't be stupid, this tribe never falls under pressure. Especially not to weaklings like the Wither Team." Kane then pointed a clawed finger at Bucky. "You, hunting party at the crack of dawn. Everyone one else, get some rest...and be prepared for the Wither Team if they make the dumb decision to attack." Every ferret gave a quick nod, before going back to their business...and Kane glared daggers at Bucky, as the white ferret sulked back to his cabin.
Back with the Wither Team the next morning...
After waking up as early as possible, the Wither Team had already made it to the far side of the island...where they immediately discovered that their predictions were correct. Every tree and every bush had some sort of exotic fruit growing from it, and the gang picked up as much as they could carry...even holding some in large leaves if their arms were already full. "Guys, I think it's safe to say that our luck has officially turned around." Eden said. "I mean, look at all this! It's been almost a week since we've seen so much food!"
"But it's all just a bunch of fruit." Ham said, looking up at a mango in a tree. "Yeah, but it's all we have...might as well make the best of it." Petra added. Cloud suddenly came running from some direction, holding a fruit by its stem in his mouth. "Guys!" He shouted. "I found a pineapple!" In an instant, Eden's eyes lit up with excitement. "Jackpot! I love pineapples!"
"Oh, I guarantee that you'll love what I found more than some pineapple." The voice came from Wither Sickness, who had been scouting ahead to make sure there wasn't any danger nearby. "Follow me." With fruit still piled in their arms, the gang went after Wither Sickness...and noticed that the terrain started to change. The grass started to fade, and everyone seemed to be treading on charred, black dirt...in which looked like it had been burned by some sort of fire. Then, after walking a bit further, the gang came across what appeared to be a massive cargo plane...in which had somehow crash landed in the Imagination Dimension. "Whoa..." Eden said, crouching on the edge of the chasm that contained the broken down plane. "This is...definitely not what I was expecting to find out here at all."
"No doubt about that, but I'm mostly wondering how this ended up in a different dimension." Ham said. "You don't remember?" Cloud asked, as the others shook their heads. "Cyril and the rest of the Horned Birds have often mentioned that planes and other vehicles from you and Eden's home dimension randomly crash here sometimes. Nobody really knows why or how, but a lot of the inhabitants here have been using the supplies and metal that's left behind for their own needs." Eden glanced back down at the massive plane, and noticed that quite a few boxes and crates survived the crash. Whatever was in them definitely had the potential for good survival supplies, and all the scrap metal from the plane could be useful for building a shelter. Eden jumped down onto the wing of the plane. "Eden, what are you doing?" Witherstorm asked. "Seeing if any of this is salvageable." Replied the tigress. "But this stuff isn't ours!" Ham said. "What if we get caught?" Eden chuckled, and nonchalantly pulled a human skeleton out of the wreckage. "You really think this guy'll want his stuff back?" Ham shuddered, as Eden threw the old pile of bones out of her way...and proceeded to open one of the supply boxes. "Let's see here, we got some old rope, a safety net, a...really big hatchet, and—ooh! A flare gun!" The others jumped down as well, and also began to search the wreckage. There was plenty of scrap, and tools that could help the gang survive for longer on the island...in which was almost the most pleasing thing to find out during their stay. "And the ferrets tribe thought we were going to die out here." Ham said. "Well, the jokes on them! 'Cause I'm pretty sure that this is the best thing we've seen all week!"
"Yeah, this is definitely a good find." Petra added. "Though there's no telling what the ferret tribe is planning. I know they seem to leave us alone if we don't go near their territory, but I don't trust those annoying little rodents one bit." Everyone nodded in agreement, and kept lugging boxes and crates out of the ditch...before picking up the food they found and heading back to the beach. The plane crash was sure to be a great reset button for the gang's survival, and as long as the ferret tribe stay out of the picture...the Wither Team would be thriving in no time.
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