Due to being very much pissed off at Archie's words, the Wither Team decided to prove him wrong as soon as they got to the beach...despite the fact that he wasn't going to see it. They finished the SOS sign, but used the rest of the sticks and branches to spell it out instead of tracing it in the sand. And rather than saying SOS, they ended up spelling the word 'help'...since they had so many branches to work with. By the time they were done, it was getting very close to dusk...and they were anything but energized and ready for anything. They had soon found themselves lying on their backs and staring up at the sky, simply waiting for someone to rescue. "I can't believe Bucky ditched us." Ham said. "What do you think he's doing right now?" Eden gave a small shrug.
"Probably just hanging out with his new friends, while they rant about how lazy we are."
"He makes me so mad most of the time." Witherstorm said, narrowing his eye at the thought of the white ferret. "We're gonna get him back some day." Petra rolled her eyes. "No we're not, we never do." She said, as Witherstorm sighed loudly. "I know..." Silence filled the air rather quickly, except for a familiar sound that the gang now knew all too well. Petra adjusted her position on the ground, before resting her hands on her empty stomach. Oh, man..." She said. Eden turned to her.
"What's the matter?"
"My stomach's grumbling." Petra replied, briefly rubbing it. "Oh yeah..." Eden said, also as she rubbed her stomach. "Ours too."
"I've never been so hungry." Witherstorm said. "I can only imagine the things I'd do for food right now." Ham licked his lips upon thinking of the same thing.
"Yeah, I'd do anything for a slice of pizza."
"Come on, guys, please don't talk about food. It's bad enough that I can already almost smell it." Petra said, as Eden gave a small nod. "I know, we might just be hallucinating a bit." The silence returned again for a few seconds, until the four suddenly realized that they were not having a hunger induced hallucination...and began to heavily sniff the air for the thing they smelled. "Wait a minute..." Ham said, sitting up along with the others. "I do smell food!" Petra added. "But where's it coming from?" Witherstorm asked. They continued to sniff around for the source for a bit, until they eventually realized that the scent was coming from the jungle...giving them a pretty good clue of who was making it. "I think I have an idea of where the smell is coming from." Eden said, gesturing to the jungle. Ham let out a long groan, upon realizing that she was referring to Bucky and the ferret tribe. "Ugh! I hate those stupid ferrets!" He said. "We need to confront them right now!"
"What's the point?" The gang directed their attention to Cloud, whom had just gotten up from sunning himself on the leaf bed. "It's not like they're actually gonna give us anything to eat."
"Well...it's worth a shot, isn't it?" Ham asked. Everyone shared undecided expressions, before Wither Sickness came to join the gang. "You all must be really desperate for food...if you think those low life rodents will give you anything." He said. "But on the other hand, Bucky is with them. He may do something to help."
"Then it's settled. We're going to confront these ferrets." Eden said. Then, the gang started making their way down the path to the village...praying that the ferrets would be nice enough to spare a small bite to eat.

Ten minutes later...

The gang soon arrived at the ledge that allowed them to look over the village, and discovered that the thing that they were smelling was indeed food...a wild bird that was roasting over a fire, to be precise. Eden couldn't help but to notice the hungry eyes of her teammates staring down at the massive bird that the ferrets were feasting on, surely they had plenty to share...right? "What is that?" Wither Sickness asked. "It's dinner, Wither Sickness." Ham replied, licking the drool off his lips. "And I want it right now." The tabby cat crouched down as if he was about to pounce on some sort of prey animal, but Eden stopped him before he could cause any trouble. "Don't even think about it, Ham. You'll look like an intruder if anything, if you launch yourself at their food like that." She said. "We're already intruders, Eden." Petra retorted. "It's been made pretty clear that these guys want no part of us."
"Well, let's talk to them and get it over with." Witherstorm said. Eden nodded, and led them down to the village entrance...where Bucky was there to greet them with a smile.
"Hey, guys! What brings you—"
"FEED US! Give us some of that bird!" Ham shouted, causing the tribe to direct their attention to them. The team stood there in silence, clearly embarrassed for a moment before they all shot Ham a glare. "Way to sound desperate." Petra said, elbowing him. "Sorry to interrupt, Bucky..." Eden said, hoping that the tribe went back to their business, "but we want to let you know that we finished the SOS sign, and we couldn't help but to smell this bird you're cooking." The white ferret briefly looked at said morsel. "Oh yeah, turns out that there's tons of wild birds that run around this island every day." He said. "There is?" Witherstorm asked, as the others began to look hopeful. "Well...we caught the last one, actually." Bucky said. The Wither Team groaned, burying their faces in their hands and dropping to their knees in defeat. It just seemed impossible for them to find food at this point. "Would you like to share this one?" Five heads shot up upon hearing Bucky's words, and their stomachs growled simultaneously. "Yes, please!" They said in unison. Before they could all race inside the village and dig into what was supposed to be their feast, Archie and his group of guards immediately jumped in and stopped them. "I don't think so, Wither Team!" He said. "Food is already scarce around here, therefore...that makes this bird finders keepers!"
"Food being scarce is the exact reason why we came here!" Ham said. "You're just gonna torture us with the smell of this bird, and not even offer us some when we're starving out there on that beach?" Petra asked. The sable ferret nodded. "Yup, pretty much." He said. "Guards!" The next thing they knew, they were all being tossed out of the tribe once again.

Some time later...

The gang walked back to the beach, hungry, tired, and very much angry with the tribe. They had no right to be mean, especially on the count that the Wither Team never did anything to harm them since they've been on the island. Though at the same time, there's  always a very slim chance that any island natives would be friendly. Petra pulled Eden aside, as the guys walked ahead back to the beach. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" She asked. Eden nodded, and stepped back in the undergrowth. "What's on your mind?"
"It's Cloud." Petra stated, firmly. "He's younger than us, and I can't imagine him surviving very long without food." Eden nodded again, realizing that her friend had a point. The young Wolfdragon pup could easily starve to death much quicker than the rest of the gang, and since Petra has a insanely strong bond with him...this was most definitely a problem. "I know we haven't been out here for that long, but if our struggle to find food keeps up...what do we do?" Petra continued. Eden took a long moment to think about it, before she sighed rather loudly. "Cloud has to be fed first." She said. "If the most we can find is a couple of berries growing on a bush, it all goes to him." For a moment, Petra seemed undecided about that decision. She was really hungry as well, but of course...she was willing to make the sacrifice for her adopted son. "That's a sacrifice I'm willing to make, but what will the guys think?" She asked. "I don't know, but let's tell them tomorrow...Ham is already fuming about the ferret tribe." Eden said. Petra gave a nod, and the two went back to the beach to join the guys...who looked even more miserable than before they confronted the ferrets. "It's getting late, I think we should rest for the night." Petra said. Ham sprang to his paws. "Without any dinner?!" Eden nodded, looking disappointed. "Unfortunately, yes." She said. "We'll be going to bed on an empty stomach for the second time tonight."
"Well, hopefully tomorrow will be better." Wither Sickness said. "You guys get some rest, I'm going back into the jungle to find you something to eat." Eden smiled, and gave the pathogen a nod before sitting down on her leaf bed with the others. "Thanks, buddy. Be careful out there." She said. Wither Sickness responded with a hearty chuckle, and flexed his tentacles. "Don't worry, I can handle anything the wilderness throws at me." He said. With that, the pathogen was off, leaving the gang to hit the sack for the night. "It's going to be hard getting to sleep when my belly keeps rumbling." Cloud said, as Petra pulled him close. "I hear that, but I'll make sure you fall asleep. She began to gently rub his back, causing the pup to smile and curl up to go to sleep. "You guys are so cute together." Witherstorm said, as the others nodded in agreement before trying to get comfortable. "Night, guys." Eden said. Soon, they drifted off to sleep...hoping that their third day on the island wouldn't be as bad as the last two.