Chapter 37: Isle of The Skye Pt. 1

Shen Yi woke up, the cold making her shiver. It was still early, way before they'd continue to The Isle of Skye.

"Man... Again?" She said aloud, looking at the sleeping Theriault and Hunter, 'Oh they get to sleep soundly?' She thought as she rolled her eyes.

Laying down again she closed her eyes, trying to force herself to sleep to no avail. Shen Yi tried everything from counting sheep in Mandarin, Chinese poetry, to singing songs like "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", yet nothing worked.

"Damn it," She said, finally giving up and just waking up fully, any chance at a full night's rest gone. As soon as she stood up though there was rustling to the side of her where the two boys were sleeping. Looking towards them both realized that someone else had woken up.

She saw Hunter's eyes looking back at her, smiling as he stood up. "Can't sleep?" He asked, chuckling as she nodded.

Hunter got up and walked over to where she was, yawning but fully rested nonetheless. "Yeah me neither... Wanna watch the sunrise? Fenghuang says he misses doing things like that..." Hunter said casually, reminding Shen Yi that he had her family's patron deity in his mind at all times.

"How's that going? Especially with two keys... I know the slave mark the elves gave you reacts terribly with it..." She said, looking at his exposed tattoo-like mark.

Hunter looked away shyly, "It's fine, I hardly even notice it..."

She could tell by the pained expression he had on his face that he was lying.

"Let me see," She said, not waiting for a reply as she grabbed his arm carefully, making sure to avoid the black mark.

Hunter tensed as he looked at her, 'She's so close...' He thought, her hair in his face as she examined the mark.

Hunter took a deep breath, accidentally inhaling Shen Yi's scent, coughing a bit as she let go of his arm. 'Damn it I forgot none of us have showered in weeks, of course she's not going to smell good...' He thought to himself as they locked eyes.

"I'm sorry, it's kind of my fault huh?" Shen Yi said, bowing her head slightly as he chuckled.

"Hell no, it was 100 percent those devils that call themselves Elves, if Theriault wasn't such a pushover I would have burned them too... Well that doesn't matter haha, hurry the sun is coming up soon," Hunter said, looking to the right and grabbing Shen Yi by the wrist, leading her to the ledge of the mountain they were on.

Looking out at the ocean below her she felt nervous as well, wondering what was in store for today after having been basically useless yesterday when Theriault had been bedridden.

"Look..." Hunter said, pointing his hand out as she looked in the same direction, a yellow shine slowly rising at the brink of the ocean.

"He says this is his favorite part..." Hunter said softly, noticing how close they were but not saying anything.

She turned her head slightly as the first ray of light hit the ground, seeing a beautiful scene unfold. It was an endless sea of gold, sparkling beneath the morning rays.

"You can really feel the magic here can't you? It almost makes up for all the shitty times we've gone through this past month... At least it was with you and..." Shen Yi's words faltered as she looked up at Hunter, who was looking at her with a strange expression.

"What is it?" She asked, touching her face, thinking she'd forgotten to wash any dirt that had been there as he grabbed her hand.

"No you're not dirty... Uh, you're just..." Hunter paused and gulped, he was reminded of the romance shows and movies he had watched with his aunt. This almost felt like a scene straight from the movies. Wasn't this the part where he...

Hunter let go of her hand, his face burning as she looked at him with a confused expression. "Yeah you just had some leftover bread crumbs on your cheek," He said as she hurriedly wiped her face, cursing to herself.

"Did I get it?" She asked, getting close to the boys face.

"Yes Yes!" He yelled quickly, stepping back. The 17-year-old had never been in such a situation with a girl before, as much as he didn't want to admit it, he was not socially prepared for these kinds of moments... Though he did enjoy the moment in general.

"Good job! Now come on it's time we wake up that lazy ass who calls himself our leader," Shen Yi said as she laughed, stepping away from Hunter and pulling her long pink jacket closed to conserve heat.

As they walked back down the mountain, Theriault came into view, white fog blowing from his mouth as he breathed in and out sharply, practicing some techniques.

"One..." He muttered, spinning and forming a slashing movement with his hands as if he was carrying a two-handed sword.

"Woah, you mean to tell me that you actually do train and you're not just some lucky prodigy? Amazing," Shen Yi said, causing him to look over at the two with a blank expression.

"The hell? Did you guys go on a date or something, wasting my time, you guys know we leave when I wake up," Theriault said, ignoring Shen Yi's words and picking up his jacket, putting it on and zipping it up. "Wasting my time and shit..."

"We're almost to the secret entrance that Uathach talked about... Let's keep pushing," He finished, walking past the two of them.

"Wait why did we even come down if we're going back up!" Hunter complained, his nervousness gone as Theriault yelled from a few yards away. "Hurry it up!"

"Easy for you to say we're wasting your time when you were the only one not up..." Hunter murmured, though he respected Theriault, he was starting to see what his father had meant by "The Laziest hard worker he'd ever met."

They kept on, climbing further up the mountain until they reached a natural spring well.

"Well, now that we've reached something other than jagged rocks and ocean, is this the right spot?" Shen Yi asked, glancing behind them and seeing just how much distance they'd covered.

"Huh, she did say a well of... Something, can't remember so it's probably not important, we just enter, find the intersect and allow it to transport us directly to the secret pathway of The Isle that leads to Scathath's residence..."

With those words, Theriault pushed the rock cover above the well, revealing a 2 foot wide opening, though he could only guess how deep it was. "You guys ready to possibly die? Maybe say your vows before then just in case?" Theriault teased, not waiting for either one to protest and jumping cleanly in the hole.

They waited for bit, not hearing any thud that Theriault had fallen, nor any yell from their self proclaimed leader. He was either gone to the isle, or dead.

Hunter and Shen Yi looked at each other. "Do we... Maybe wait?" Hunter asked, stepping toward the well and looking down. If Theriault had landed then it was at least a mile down, because he couldn't hear the faintest sound.

"Well... Here goes," He said, diving in headfirst, lighting his hand with a flame so he could see as he fell.

Shen Yi watched the flame go for a few seconds before it didn't reach her eyes anymore, he was too deep.

"Well fuck me." Shen Yi said, breathing in and shaking her head as she jumped into the pit.

After what felt like hours of falling deeper underground she finally felt a switch.

It felt almost like Vertigo, her stomach twisted and turned and finally she saw an opening underneath her feet.

Flying through it she widened her eyes, she was upside down. Luckily, Hunter and Theriault caught her by her ankles, both of them laughing at her.

"You know when you feel you turned upside down it's probably smart to get ready to get through, use that brain of yours for something besides trying to seduce men yeah?" Theriault said, letting her go without bringing her to safety, Hunter got that pleasure.

"Fuck you asshole... What the hell happened, I don't think I'll ever be able to do a trustfall again..." She grumbled at Theriault, standing up on her own and looking around.

It was bright inside, though dimmer than outside, obviously. She guessed it must have been a cave or some kind of building.

"Well... Welcome to The Isle of Skye... I can tell already..." Theriault said as he walked up to the wooden door next to his side of the room. It had a red symbol on it that Shen Yi didn't recognize.

"Why? That's just a four-leaf clover... That's pretty good luck actually, what a nice sign," Hunter said as his nose began to itch.

"Your Irishness is rubbing off on me Hunter..." Theriault said with a sigh, "Because my nose itches..." He finished, not going to scratch the itch as he opened the door... And that would prove to be a mistake.