Warren, Mirage, Jake, and Aurora trudged through the trees that lined the beach. Finding food was going to be hard enough, but they had promised not to go so far that they lost sight of the sea. For a while it was almost silent except for the rolling waves and occasional bird calling from the treetops.

"You want to know what my problem with this little scavenger hunt is?" Warren asked the group, glaring at a branch that has swung back after jake passed it and hit him in the abdomen.

"No." Aurora said instantly.

"Which problem? You've given us at least twelve already," Mirage muttered.

Ignoring them, Warren went on to say, "Any of these little fruits could be poisonous. I mean look at that pink thing. Unnatural."

"It's a Myrica rubra," Jake cut in. "It's edible, I promise."

"Weirdly enough I don't a thousand percent trust your judgement."

Raising an eyebrow, Jake turned around, grabbed a piece, and popped it in his mouth. "Okay?"

"Aight... fine."

"Thank you."

Warren stared down at the little fruit-berry thing. It was so much easier to get food at home... He thought.

~~~~~Warren~~~~~

The university cafeteria is buzzing with activity. Everyone is sitting where they usually sit. There are groups of friends, individual studiers, and couples sitting in corners giggling at each other over their food. Warren stands in the middle of the biggest group of all.

"Listen, listen, listen," he smirks, his arm draped around his at-the-time 'girlfriend', really a three week hookup. "It's not cheating if you don't get caught."

"Yes it is," the girl giggles. "You idiot."

"Who's up to split a pizza?" A girl in Warren's group of friends speaks up. "They're cheaper today."

"Yeah because I really need that extra two dollars I'd save." Warren smirks.

"Hey, some of us aren't as rich as you seem to think you are, moneybags!"

"Well..." He shrugs. "Not my problem."

~~~~~~~~~~

Warren zoned back into reality when his boot caught on a twisting tree root sticking up from the ground. He get out a quick yell as he pitched forwards, catching himself quickly and straightening up.

"You good?" Jake asked, holding an arm out just incase. Aurora and Mirage held back laughs.

"Stupid," Aurora muttered.

"Mm, I'm good." The stumble had been more of a hit to his inflated ego than anything else. "Don't worry about it."

It kept getting hotter and hotter as the day went on, and even the shade from the trees wasn't doing much to stop the four of them from sweating. The humidity in the air caused a strange smell that they could barely describe, like walking into a greenhouse for a moment. Their arms were tense filled with the food they had managed to find and trying not to drop any of it.

"Maybe we should head back to the beach and then we can see where everyone else is with... everything?" Mirage suggested, stepping over a large, copper coloured puddle.

"And see if the old man's caught any fish!" Warren added gleefully, his previous problems seemingly forgotten.

Jake looked to Aurora for her approval. She glared back, still seething with anger towards him. "Fine."

Nicole stared over the edge of the cliff down at the turquoise sea. On the horizon was a severely tilted, huge grey ship partially underwater. I looked much smaller than it was at such a great distance. The shoreline below Nicole was littered with bits and pieces of things that had been washed from the ship's top deck or that the waves had somehow managed to pull them from the decks below.

Her eyes widened. "Is that..."

"Our ship?" Paradox finished her sentence, stepping closer to the edge. "Yes, it is."

"Can we get to it?" Oliver asked.

"Why?" Paradox furrowed her brow.

"Because maybe there's someway we could call for help! With their computer and navigation systems?"

"There isn't." She turned away from the cliffside. "I already tried that last night."

"Well, maybe one of us can try then?" Kithara suggested quietly.

Paradox turned around quickly as her face contorted into a look of both offence and confusion. "You don't need to."

"Ah..."

Paradox turned back around and went towards where they had climbed up. The other three exchanged a look behind her back and slowly followed. "We can't get help, but we could get something else. Let's go tell the others."

Getting down was harder than getting up and took twice the time, but once they hit the ground they were off in a run. Even Nicole chased after them with her armful of firewood, thrilled at the thought of taking things from the ship.

"We're back, we're back, and we bring fire food!" Kithara skipped into their little camp. Oliver smiled instantly.

"Well we've got real food, kitkat! Beat that!" Warren, laying face up on a trunk with his arms resting behind his head, called back to them. If his eyes weren't closed he'd be staring directly into the sun.

"We have something to tell you all." Paradox's voice was loud and commanded attention. "Something that may be important."

"Oh goody." Warren sat up. "I can't wait."

Aurora walked closer, smacking Warren upside the head as she went.

"Ow! Assault!"

"Get over it." She took her spot beside Paradox.

"Mmm." He smiled sweetly. "I hope the rest of your day is as pleasant as you are."

"Well if you go jump in the ocean and stay there—"

"Hey!" Logan glared. "Enough, you children. Listen to Paradox."

"Ah yes. Go ahead Ghost," Warren said, putting his chin in his hands and grinning at the girl who stood with her feet shoulder width apart, resting her weight on one side. She looked powerful until you looked at her best friend standing beside her with daggers practically shooting from her eyes.

"We found our ship."

"We did what now?" Nicole's husband raised his eyebrows.

Kithara cut in. "It's stuck way out on its side on a sandbank thing! We could probably get to it somehow, the people among us who are good swimmers at least! I mean Paradox did basically already swim the distance last night."

Aurora stiffened and turned towards Jake as Paradox replied.

"I didn't swim."

The eleven shipwrecked prisoners stood on the beach closer to where the wreck was. They had started gathering things that had washed ashore already, like half of a life raft and a metal bar that no one could figure out the purpose of.

Oliver hovered over Kithara as she took off her heavy boots. "Are you sure about this?" He asked for the second time. "You're just a kid."

"Yeah, a Hawaiian kid. I can swim perfectly fine."

"I'm sure you can I just..." He looks down at her. "Ignore me."

"Relax..." Kithara drags out the word. "It's not like I'm your sister or something. If I die, you don't even know me."

~~~~~Oliver~~~~~

"Oli!" The black haired girl screeches from on top of Oliver's shoulders. She was only in her early teens but looked older. He hated that. "I swear to god if you drop me..."

"I'm not going to drop you!" He laughs. "You have no faith, Liv."

"I do, I do. But you did drop me that one time..."

"I was eleven!" Oliver protests, swinging in a circle just to scare her.

"Ahh!" She screeches. "And you got in so much trouble!"

"When am I not in trouble?" He rolls his eyes, only half joking.

Liv sighs. "Oli..."

"Hey, let's get home before Mom and Dad get too upset about us being gone too long."

"Yeah so we can do their work for them and  listen to more of their bullsh—"

"Olivia Stewarts, watch your mouth!" He snapped.

"Yeah yeah..."

~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey? Oliver?" Kithara put a hand on his forearm; being only 5'3 she wasn't tall enough to reach his shoulder comfortably.

"Ah, yeah sorry. What?" He shook his head quickly.

"You zoned out."

"Yeah I—"

"Okay, you three ready?" Logan asked loudly, addressing Kithara, Jake, and Aurora, whom the group decided were the strongest swimmers. Paradox had wanted to go, but the salt water against the gash around her wrist was too much.

Aurora, with a scarf of Audrey's —that took almost an hour of convincing to get before Aurora simply walked up and ripped it from her hand— tied around herself didn't bother to reply to Logan's question. Instead, she waded out into the water until it was against her waist, then she dove. Jake and Kithara followed only seconds later, as the remaining nine stood and watched.

Foster spoke up for the first time in a while. "I think we could use what we've found here to start building a real camp, out of the elements."

"What's wrong with our circle on the beach?" Audrey asked, a judging tone in her voice. "It seems pretty safe to me. The trunks to shelter us and having everyone close just in case."

"Yes but," Mirage cut in. "When it rains or storms, which is probably a common thing at certain times of year here, the trunks aren't doing much but getting soaked with us."

"Thank you," Foster nodded. "I suggest we make something over where the treeline and the bottom of the cliff meet. Solid on one side will be safer if there's anything on this godforsaken island..."

"Whoa hold up, like what?" Logan, from his place on a large piece of driftwood asked, leaning forward. "We don't even know where we are, there could be like bears here or some crap."

"No bears," Paradox replied with her back to them all, still watching the gentle waves for the three scavengers. She had to raise her voice slightly for them to hear her properly. There was a slight breeze that made little ripples in the water that almost reached her feet and swept her hair to the side. "It's tropical."

"Ah, leopards?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe?" Audrey screeched. "Why aren't we working on getting off this place rather than just accepting and making a stupid campsite like tourists!"

"We can't work on getting home if we're dead, princess," Warren said before walking over to Paradox. Audrey protested as he walked away, but he ignored her.

"Hey, Ghost," he whispered as he approached, setting a hand on the small of her back.

"Hey, playboy," she replied with a small smirk.

"Ouch!" He laughed. "Is that what you think I was?"

"That's what I know you were." Paradox laughed lightly with him, still watching the water. "what you are."

"Yeah well, this place has changed me." He sighed dramatically. "I'm a new man."

"Shut up, a few hours on an island isn't going to make you a saint."

He smiled again, moving his arm to rest across her shoulders. She looked at him cautiously and stood stiffer than before but didn't say anything about it.

"I guess you're right."

"Obviously."

"Are you okay?" Warren turned slightly to look at her.

"What do you mean, of course I am." Paradox shook her head like her body was disagreeing with her mind.

"I meant your arm. Don't worry, I know you're a badass."

"Ah." She snorted. "That."

"Yes, that. Are you okay?" He asked again, sounding more serious than before.

Finally she stopped watching the waves to look at him. "I'm okay."

Hey guys!! How's it going?
I just wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who reads, votes, comments, and loves this story. It's because of you guys and the motivation you give me to write that WE GOT FEATURED!!! That's right, Why We Sank is currently a featured novel. Let's make sure it stays that way! ♥️