1 1: Arrival
I didn't know what I was getting into when my Father told me the Government wanted to send 14 young adults to an island to survive. I'm 16 and I'm one of those kids. I pack my bag full of extra (warm and cool) clothes, a separate bag for 35 water bottles, a tent that 4 people can comfortably fit in, a bow and 50 arrows, a hunter's knife, katana, and a flint and steel bracelet. Than a survival guide. I brought toiletries, and blankets, with a sleeping bag.
That's when I said goodbye to my family, took 4 framed pictures of them and set off for the island. 7 boys, 7 girls. All in our teens to survive on an island. A girls sits next to me. "Hi, I'm Luna. I brought all the survival stuff. What about you, what's your name?" She asks.
"I'm Lilac." I say.
Then I point to my hair when I was 15 I dyed it a very light shade of lilac. For my little sister. "I brought a tent and weapons, and of course, water." I say.
"That's smart." She admires.
"Time for take off." Announces the pilot.
We buckle and wave to our families, some people cry. I allow one tear to fall. I let it fall into my lap. Then I wipe its trail. We couldn't say no to the government. So all of us are forced to come to this strange island. Away from our families.
The ride goes fast. I read and watch all my favorite movies. I most likely won't be able to watch these again. I watch 'Stitch', and a lot of other Disney movies.
The pilots explain to us we will get a monthly supplies drop, full of water, food, wood, tents, and letters from our families, in turn we can write letters back. We aren't the only ones there. I see about three other people. So there was more sent here?
The island is large, with strange creatures on it and surrounded by green-blue saltwater. This is like sending children to the hunger games, except instead of us killing each other we're seeing how long before we die on a strange island recently found.
I grab all my stuff and put my sword on my belt, my quiver on my back, and my bow on my shoulder with my bags. I pull my sword out. We were given a map, I look at it and find where we are supposed to go. My feet hit the solid ground as we leave the sandy beach. I let a boy lead with me not far behind. Other trail behind with heavy bags, I slow and get the bags off their shoulders. I carry their bags up front.
Before this I went to the gym every morning. I would run and work out to increase strength and stamina. I have a healthy weight of 98 lbs. I'm 4'5 in height. So short. I cut my hair to waist length before this trip. Right now it's in a tight bun. I brought scissors so I could cut it if I needed with a mirror.
We enter a jungle. The plants are bigger than me and the trees are larger than anything I've ever seen. The plants are a vibrant shade of green, purple, yellow, and dark green. Some are large flowers that look pretty but are probably deadly. I admire the trees but still watch my footing. All of a sudden I see an orange animal like blur come flying out of the woods. I jump in the front, losing the bags. The creature lunges people scream, I sidestep and thrust with my sword hand. I penetrate it's heart and it howls in pain. I flinch and finish the job. I then grab the tiger like creature and let another boy grab my bags.
People compliment my skills and pat me on the back. Then we keep walking, I make sure no blood gets on me.
When we get to the camps and we gasp. There's at least 3 huge tents but like 50 other tents and 32 people. I bring the tiger thingy over to the closest person and ask where I can skin it. He says by the edge of the camp over on the left side. I go to the left side and find a few large rocks that have been what looks like cut in half. The rocks are flat on one side but round where it touches the ground. I lay the tiger down and see it's a large adult female, I skin and gut it, grab the meat and put it aside, food. I clean the hide and walk to a large cooking area.
I put the meat on the table and tell them it's meat for food. If we cook it, we can eat it. Then I go get a proper look at the place. One side has a lot of tents, another has a forge for weapons, the farthest from me looks like an eatery/ meeting area with at least 50 tables, the closest to me has storage from what it looks like. I head towards the tents and find a spot in the back to set up my tent, after getting my stuff. I set up my blankets and sleeping bag, then my clothes goes in a foldable 4 compartment storage box. I put my under-things and socks in the top, then my pants/shorts in the next, the 3rd is for letters to my family and ones I receive, and the last is for shirts. I have around 40 soap bars, 28 conditioner bottles, 28 shampoo bottles, 4 hair brushes, 12 toothbrushes, and 43 toothpaste tubes. Then like 8 towels. I brought over 150 hair ties.
Then I set by food/water bag aside and put my two pillows on my small bed. That's when I left the tent. I'm probably the youngest out of all the explorers. So I might as well make some friends who can give me tips. The monsters here aren't like anything I've ever seen. The tiger thing had three hearts, all in a row.
I go towards some of those I know, like Luna. "Hey Luna! This is so weird! Everyone is wearing leather!" I exclaim.
"I know! The animals here aren't anything like back at home! I guess this is my new home…. oh well. I've seen these weird pets, kinda like dogs but larger. Or like big wolves." She explains.
"I haven't seen any." I say.
"Look over there. See that boy? Look next to him." She says, pointing to a dark skinned boy with dark hair.
I can't see his face but the animal beside him is like a wolf, but it's the size of a horse. Bigger. I look at it and it moves like a wolf. Long black fur, strong build, large paws. It sees me watching and nudges it's owner. He turns and sees me watching. He looks at me for a second before starting to come over here. He is wearing fur like the rest of them, but he wears it differently. He doesn't wear it like he is proud he killed those animals, but like he honors them by wearing their hide.
"Ma'am I just caught you looking at my wolf. You like him?" The man asks when he comes over.
"He is handsome." I say.
The man has a scar on his face, running from his right eyebrow to the right side of his face. His eyes are a endless blue that I could get lost in. Tan skin. Dark hair. Around 6'8 almost 7 feet tall. His smile is pretty, marred by the scar. Still pretty. I wonder how he got his scar.
"I'm Henry. This is Max." The boy says.
He points to the wolf when he says Max. Cute name for a huge wolf. "I'm Lilac." I respond.
"Cool name. Do you want a wolf? Max's mate is gonna have a whole litter." Henry offers.
"Yes! Thanks! When are they due?" I ask.
A howl pierces the air. It sounds very pained, the creature is hurting. Max looks alert at the howl and quickly responds with another howl. "Now. Wanna come and pick your new companion?" He asks.
"Sure. Can Luna come and pick out one too?" I ask.
Luna shoots me a grateful glance. She wants one. "Of course. Cmon this way." Henry says.
Me and Luna follow him straight to the heart of the camp, then to the back. Then further. I see a wolf up ahead, along with huge puppies, wet newborn puppies. The wolf let's out a howl every time another pops out. When it's over I count twenty. It lasts about 2 or 3 hours for the whole litter to be born.
The mother cleans her babies. They drink from her and she stays very still. I walk up and put out my hand, she lifts her huge head and sniffs. She accepts me. Luna gets accepted too. I look at the puppies I want. One is black with a white marking just above it's left eye. Another is a copper colour. The third is the smallest in the litter. "Choose as many as you like. I see you eyeing the runt, who will probably die if you don't choose her. Then your also eyeing the largest in the litter, the black one. You can have them. Along with the copper one your looking at too. What are their names? They'll open their eyes in a week. They will grow so fast you won't know if there's a problem with it or not. They are supposed to get around Max's height in a year." He explains.
"How old is Max?" Luna asks.
"Two years old." Henry says.
"They grow fast!" I say.
