7

The night was chilly because of the water on the animal's pelts, but it soon became warmer. The light breeze and the warm sand felt perfect after the hours of freezing water and blistering sun. A humid breeze whispered from the jungle, promising strange sights.

As they slept, ancient mysteries breathed through the island. Mysteries that had been sleeping for thousands of years, untouched by anything but winds racing across the waves, had awaken. It seemed as if the island had sensed a change; a foot fall, or a warm breath.

No one ever planned a trip to this island, for it had never been heard of. If a seagull had been given the power to speak and you asked it to tell of the island, it would have never heard of it. Even if it had, most seagulls or living things would be scared off by the evil presence.

Then why would the crew of animals swim up to the island willingly and shout for joy when their paws scraped the ground? When desperation claws at your heart, tighter than any beast's deadly grip, you will do anything to be free from it.

As they slept peacefully, an unearthly creature watched them from the safety of the jungle. If one could look at him close enough, they would call him a wolf, or maybe a monster-dog. But why would someone stop to stare at such a demon? His heart is set to kill, and to guard what is his. The old trees whisper that the dog wants to protect his territory, the triangle, and the mighty treasures within. Treasures from other worlds that have slipped through cracks in time and being and fell into his paws.

But what if he desires to protect something more? Maybe he desires to safeguard unnatural virtues, such as selflessness and generosity. Such feelings never came from the earth; from the beginning of time, there has always been push and pull, greed and envy. These emotions were born in humans. The natural man wishes to own it all. It seems as if those who desire nothing but to help others came from some extra terrestrial reign, like a kingdom from somewhere unknown and unseen.

The dog was quiet. The only noise that came from him was the hush of the forest, as he was apart of the forest, in a way. The island accepted him, and the dog loved the purity of it. The solitude, and lack of human life . . .

To be honest, he didn't hate humans. The emotions he loved lived in them. But the emotions he hated lived in them even fiercer. Fiercer than any other animal, plant or rock. They took whatever they could see and called it theirs, like a mewling child. They claim to have conquered nature, when they have only stepped in it's domain!

I promise, I shall rid the Earth of the humans. They will a return to their deity, the king of peace and charity, and he will be displeased with their acts of greed. Nature will always take back the earth. Seasons of great species have risen and fallen, and the Earth reverts to it's original state. As it always has. The dog thought, growling with the shake if a tree.

He gazed at the foolish animals one last time, then turned deeper into the jungle.

Witless animals. I admire their bravery, but there is a fine line between being dauntless and being senseless.

He enjoyed the quiet of the forest. It would all be spoiled by their talking and clumsy foot work tomorrow, but they would get what they deserve. The island would stay pure, and the earth would have seven less insignificant souls.

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Rocco woke so peacefully compared to the jittering shock that came with the ghost dog. The island whispered its wake up call through the ocean's waves and the rustling foliage. He felt free, but embraced comfortingly by the warm sand and quiet morning.

Shades of pale pink and blue licked the sky and heavens, preparing a path for the sun.

Rocco waked slowly. By the time he was awake, he decided to just lay there till the other animals started stirring. It felt so good to just do nothing. So good to have escaped the ghost dog's terrible curse.

After a while, Rita stood up and stretched. Rocco watched quietly, not wanting to leave his warm spot on the sand.

She blinked a few times, then rubbed the tiredness from her eyelids. She started waking up the animals.

"Dondigo! Wake up, we have to find food." He shrugged her off and mumbled something.

She stepped on his face, and he was quickly awake. "Ack! Your paw smells like seaweed!"

"Wake up! We have a lot to do!" Rita barked.

"Alright, alright." The squirrel stood up slowly. "I'll help you wake them up."

Dondigo leapt to Rocco first and shook his pelt. "Wake up!" Dondigo yelled in his ear.

Rocco grumbled. "I'm awake! I hear 'ya"

"Get up!" Dondigo barked again, shaking harder before jumping to Bjorn.

Rocco stood up grudgingly. He wanted just a bit more sleep, but with a few blinks of his eyes, the tiredness slipped away.

They woke up the rest of the animals. Snaggle almost bit off Rita's head when she woke him.

"Gunter, what do you propose we do first?" Rita asked.

The old sheepdog yawned before speaking. "We should find fresh water and food first. You cats can work on hunting and gathering fruits, since you're best at climbing."

"Are we monkeys now? Gathering plants in trees?" Trinket breathed, so quiet as to not even touch Gunter's ear hairs.

"The rest of us will look for fresh water. When you're done, return to this beach. It is directly ahead of the sunrise, East. If we're not all here by sunhigh, send two animals to search. Let's go!" Gunter barked, walking into the jungle while wagging his tail.

Rocco made a quiet whimpering sound. He was so sore from all the swimming yesterday, and the thought of walking around, even for a little bit, made him sick. But he got up with a grunt and followed the old sheepdog.

The cats veered to the left, towards a tall tree with a bright red fruit hanging in it's boughs. The rodents and Gunter headed to the right, where the slightest trickling sound could be heard to the keenest of ears.

The forest was humid and dark. Within minutes, it went from trees peppered here and there, with plenty of windows in the foliage, to dark as night. It was like walking through a cave; trees acting as stalagmites or stalactites and bushes acting as rocks. It was very quiet; only the rustle of trees in the wind and the animal's foot falls were heard. It was like no other animals lived here. Will the cats be able to catch anything besides fruit? Rocco wondered.

The fruit was plenty. Large, ripe berries of all hues and shades polka-dotted bushes, and fruits he had never seen hung at the top of trees. Were they poisonous? He saw some short, green things that somewhat resembled bananas, but the rest was all new to him.

"These fruits are really weird. How do we know which ones to eat?" Rocco asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the whist.

"The cats have been on islands before. Bjorn knows a lot about wild fruits; he lived with a troop of monkeys for a month before another ship stopped by and he snuck on."

"Wow." Rocco said.

He tried to imagine Bjorn living with monkeys. It made him smile despite the creepy atmosphere.

The water got louder as the walked on. It sounded like a river, or a steam; swift and smooth.

The foliage got thicker and they had to jump over and under bushes and fallen logs. "We're getting close; plant life grows thickest near water sources." Gunter said.

It felt like forever, but they saw the river. It was wide and looked shallow, sunlight glistening on small river rocks. Rocco walked right up to the water. It was calm, and the stones had been smoothed down over thousands of years of rushing water.

Parched, he gave it a taste. It was cold, and slid down his throat like ice. The taste of fresh water pushed the saltiness to the back of his throat. "It's so good! I was more thirsty than I thought!"

The other animals joined him and quickly lapped up more. He drank till his stomach was full. He felt less hungry afterwards.

"Come on, let's see where it comes from. That way leads to the ocean," Rita said, pointing to the right. "So we need to go that way."

"Why? I think it's perfect right here." Rocco said.

"Fresh water most likely comes from a spring. The closer spring, the cleaner the water is. And we might be able to find shelter." Rita replied.

"Oh." Rocco muttered.

They followed Rita down the side of the river, stopping often to get a drink.

In almost no time, a deep hollow with a pond at it's base came in sight. Water fell from a higher rock in a wide waterfall. It looked like the water seeped from the rock, coming out pure. It fell into the pond, then into the river.

Behind the waterfall was a cave one could swim into. It seemed to stretch back far, swallowed by darkness.

Rita ran to the edge of the hollow and jumped in without hesitation, even though the jump was at least fifteen feet. She landed with a big splash, and kicked herself up quickly.

She wiped the water from her eyes. "That was fun! Jump in, the water's refreshing!"

Dondigo followed. When he hit the water, it splashed up to Rocco's face. "Cold! Wait, never mind, I'm getting used to it."

Gunter jumped in. The huge wave was a mountain compared to the rodents' tiny splashes. It drenched Rocco.

Rita laughed. "Jump in Rocco! You're wet anyways!"

She was right. The water scared him, but he didn't let it get to him.

Before Rocco could think about it anymore, he ran off the edge of the pool and landed in the water. It hit him like a brick, and he found himself flailing his paws to get back to air. He sucked in deep when he found the surface and flicked the water from his eyes.

"It does feel good after the hot jungle." Rocco commented, trying to stay afloat.

Dondigo paddled around the pool, and Gunter put his sopping head under the waterfall.

"We should check out the cave." Rita said.

"Is it safe?" Rocco asked, already scared of the water, let alone in a dark cave.

"Sure! We won't go any farther than we can see. Come on."

The animals paddled behind the waterfall and swam into the cave. Lines of the water's reflection danced on the ceiling like fire. Drops hit the water every few seconds, and they could hear the roar of the waterfall. The damp chill felt good on Rocco's sunburnt ears.

As they swam deeper, they could see farther. It was like the light chased itself off the water and deeper into the cave.

"Cool . . ." Dondigo muttered, his voice echoing all around for several heart beats.

Soon the waterfall became a quiet whisper, and the daylight became a crumb of bread. New, orange light flickered on the water.

When they turned the corner, a torch blazed on the wall. The water grew into wet stone, reflecting orange in the light like a mirror. The ceiling was low for a human, but not too low for an animal.

"Let's explore it!" Rita said, gasping with delight.

"I don't think we should . . ." Dondigo said. "It's got a creepy feeling. Like when the ghost dog first came on the Black Rose."

Dondigo was right. The cavern whispered promises of misfortune. A taut feeling entered Rocco's breast, like the feeling that comes when you expect to see something creepy, like a skeleton or a spider.

It almost sounded like the tunnel was speaking to them. Follow me . . . Follow the trail of greeeed, I promise great ritchessssss,

"Maybe you're right." Rita said, trying to sound disappointed as to cover her fear. "Let's go." She said quickly, turning around.

They left the pond after seeing the creepy tunnel. They drank some water, but it tasted more like smoke when they knew it came from the creepy tunnel.

They trekked back the way they came, heading towards the beach. The sun had slipped slightly past noon. Each swishing blow or twig break made them jump. The darkness was haunting; it reminded the animals of night on the ship.

To see the white beach was such a relief. Rocco ran a few steps onto it before rolling, getting his pelt all muddy. But it didn't matter; anything was better than the forest!

The cats had gathered a fine pile of fruit. It all looked delicious and new to Rocco, but the cats looked underwhelmed by it. They probably hated fruit; cats can't taste sweetness.

"You're back, finally." Trinket said, licking her paw leisurely.

"Did you find any water?" Bjorn asked, perking his nicked hears up.

"Yes," Gunter said, not sounding thrilled. "I can show you to it. It leads to a cave, but it's dark in there. Probably can't go very far in it." He said, trying to convince the cats to not gain interest.

Trinket stood up, waving her tail. "Really? This, I must see. Cats have great eyesight, you know. We see very well in dim light."

Snaggle nodded in agreement, following Trinket like she was a queen.

Gunter showed them off into the woods, leaving the rodents to the fruit. They could hear the sound of Trinket's endless babbling for several minutes.

"I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. I'm gonna eat some of this fruit." Rocco said, walking over to the fruit pile happily.

He licked his chops hungrily as he selected a bright red and green fruit the size of a peach. Rocco took a single bite, and very sweet flavor hit his tongue. There was an almost spicy after taste.

The other rodents tried some. "This is good. Tastes kind of like bread." Rita said, taking another bite.

Dondigo nodded in approval.

They ate till they were filled. It felt so good to have something more substantial in their stomachs. They waited impatiently for the other animals to return, eating a fruit here and there.

The cats and Gunter arrived before sunset. The rodents could hear Trinket going on and on about whiskers long before they saw her. "My whiskers grow so long and straight, then they just fall out! It takes sooo long to grow them to the perfect width. There was one cat I knew who had perfect whiskers, all long and slightly curled. I asked her how she did it, and she said that fish oil helped. So I caught fish for the next few months, and my whiskers did the same thing as they always do! She must have lied, because I eat fish all the time and my whiskers have been nothing but long and straight."

"How can she talk so much?" Rita asked rhetorically.

"And how many times did she say 'long and straight' in the last minute?" Rocco asked.

As the sun set, Trinket kept talking. Her white pelt would bristle at random moments when she would remember something, then she would go on talking.

The others got bored soon and they fell asleep. Eventually Trinket got tired of her endless gabble and went to sleep. They all slept in a huddle to share body heat.

It was a quiet night, and Rocco noticed the glinting stars reflected off Trinket's earring when she exhaled. She was and interesting animal. She was so vicious at first, and chattery as a canary later. Her white pelt was flawless. Rita had a pretty clean pelt for an animal as rambunctious as her, but not nearly as alabaster as Trinket's was.

She was like a silver coin reflecting the moonlight, ready to be owned by the next passerby.

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