Chapter 5: Finding A Safe Haven

The winds were beginning to pick up, making the waves swell to at least twice their normal size. The boat rocked furiously as the water pounded its sides. Rain pelted down upon the three wary passengers, compromising their vision and sense of direction. The island that once seemed so close was lost in the storm…

“There it is!” Zell jumped to his feet. “I see it! I see it!”

Seifer slowly pulled himself to his feet. Raijin and Zell kept yelling that exact phrase over and over again, every five or six minutes. He was miserable, tired, and irritated. In Seifer’s opinion, someone was going to die…he could only take so much idiocy!

“Oooooo,” gasped Raijin, “I think I see it, too, ya know?”

“Of course you see it….” Seifer muttered under his breath, “….after all…you’ve been SEEING it for the last hour. You and Zell seem to share a brain or something… ‘I see it’…then the other does too…sick, just disgusting….”

Zell narrowed his eyes and stared at Seifer. “You got somethin’ ta say?”

Seifer sighed and spoke with a biting sarcastic tone, “Where’s the island THIS time, eh, Chickenwuss?”

“What did you…” Zell, unable to walk because of a broken leg, groped the deck around him, searching for something to throw. The answer suddenly presented itself: the broken paddle. Gripping it in his hands, Zell chucked the splintered piece of wood at his nemesis.

Seifer, his attention no longer on Zell, didn’t even see the stick flying through the air towards his head. He gasped in pain at the impacted, reeling backwards. Seifer, having the wind knocked out of him, had completely lost his balance. He hit the side of the boat and tumbled instantly over the side. The sudden change in weight made the boat capsized, tossing Zell into the rough, dark, swirling water along with Raijin.

Zell paddled with his arms as if his life depended on it, which he was sure was true. He tried to kick, but his leg ached and sent streams of pain through his body, paralyzing him momentarily. The depths kept pulling him down as the current pushed him further and further. Finally, his breath ran out. Zell tried one last time to use his legs, only to be plagued with instant mind numbing torture….and then everything went black as he lost consciousness.

Seifer shivered as he trudged out of the ocean. He was thoroughly soaked from head to toe, and seaweed, disgusting seaweed that combined with sand, was plastered all over his body. Stumbling through the last few feet of water, he dragged himself a little ways up the beach and collapsed in exhaustion on the sandy shore. Seifer coughed, spitting on the ground beside him in hopes of getting rid of the horrible salty taste.

The last hour provided one of the worst experiences that Seifer could ever remember having. First, Zell had hit him square on the forehead with the splintered paddle, which not only created a huge gash running from temple to temple all along his hairline, but also caused their boat to capsize. After being thrown into the rough current, Seifer had had to swim towards an island he couldn’t even see. Light-headed from loss of blood, Seifer had practically given up. He had been just too tired to swim anymore, but then he had remembered Zell. Seifer wouldn’t allow that yellow-bellied, scum-faced, piece of shit to get away with what he had done. The thought of revenge, of a fight, fueled his devotion to keep going. Finally, after an hour of merciless pounding by the waves, Seifer had discovered that he could stand. It was a sand bar! Peering through the sheet of never-ending rain, he had made his way to the shore.

Now, as he sat on the wet sand, he noticed that the rain seemed to be letting up a bit. Taking advantage of the situation, Seifer clamored up the beach towards the tropical-looking palm trees. He fumbled through the foliage, making his way deeper and deeper into the forest.

As he walked, Seifer thought of a hilarious idea: what if the others hadn’t survived? He grinned as he realized Zell had a very slim chance of surviving with his broken leg, and Raijin was so STUPID it would be a miracle if he ever found land. Although he had to admit to himself that it would be a BIT bored being trapped on this island all alone, it would on the other serve the others right.

As these thoughts passed through his mind, Seifer let out a loud cackle that echoed through the treetops.

In what seemed like less than a second later, a large object came hurling through the air directly at him. Seifer yelped as he tried to take cover behind a tree trunk, but was hit hard in the arm. He was under attack, and unfortunately his gunblade was lost when the boat capsized………….another thing Zell Dincht would have to atone for.

Breathing heavily, Seifer ducked low, flattening himself on the forest floor. The ample supply of shrubs, bushes, flowers, and trees proved a wonderful hiding place. Listening with all his might, Seifer heard footsteps coming closer and closer, bringing along with them the sound of…….voices?

“Where did it go!?!?” cried a person in a frustrated tone.

“I don’ know…….did ya hit it?” questioned a second man.

“What do you mean ‘did I hit it?’ …..of course I hit it! Maybe it’s hiding,” stated the frustrated, and now what seemed to be annoyed voice.

Hearing these few phrases, Seifer immediately knew who the two people were: they were no other than his OWN boating ‘companions’!

“So Zell and Raijin made it after all,” Seifer muttered in a raspy voice. His arm ached with pain from where it had been unexpectantly hit as he continued to listen to their conversation.

“I just don’t get it….” Zell shook his head to indicate his dismay. “You heard it, right?”

“Yeah,” Raijin hesitated, “……it was like a bird call or something, ya know?”

“I SAW it,” Zell exclaimed with frustration. “A big, dark, tall thingy with a tail………..it was right here!”

Seifer lay not even twelve feet from Raijin and Zell, listening to all they were saying. It was cracking him up! He literally had to shove both of his hands into his mouth in order to stifle the laughter. Seifer’s whole body shook with the folly and stupidity of it all until he couldn’t contain himself a minute longer.

Picking up two fairly heavy rocks, Seifer eased himself to his feet.

“CHICKENWUSS!!”

With that, two stones went zooming through the air, directly at Zell and Raijin. Seifer was so close that neither of the two had time to do anything but look straight at the source of the yelling. In that instant, the rocks took dead aim, hitting Raijin square in the neck and Zell in his jaw. They both were reeling backwards from the impact, and then Seifer heard two soft “thumps”.

Seifer bounded happily out of his hiding place towards his fallen victims.

“Hey there Chickenwuss,” Seifer said innocently as he extended his hand to help Zell up off the ground.

“Seifer!!!” Zell exclaimed, obviously shocked. “You made it, and…Hey! Did you see it too?”

Seifer smiled to himself, “You mean that…big, dark, tall monster?”

Raijin, who had just regained his breath and footing, yelled out in triumph, “YEAH!! And, and, and it um made a weird noise….like a bird, ya know?”

Seifer continued to play along, “I heard it and came running towards it. I thought maybe it was some kind of animal I could kill for food. Then I saw it, crouched in those trees over there…..”

“Really?” Raijin questioned, “Zell, it must ‘uv been hiding behind that tree trunk the whole time!”

“…..yeah,” Zell looked skeptically at Seifer.

“And that thing,” Raijin continued proudly, “threw those rocks at us!!!”

Seifer chuckled. He just loved manipulating people into thinking he was a “hero”. If someone owed you for “saving” them, they tended to be easier to handle when he wanted them to do something for him.

“I yelled as soon as I saw the vicious creature,” Seifer smiled. “After all, I knew Zell had a bad leg, and even with that split-contraption you have made for yourself, I seriously doubt that you would be able to out run, or limp, anything. So I, thankfully for you, screamed out the first thing that came to mind which of course was Chickenwuss…….”

“Thanks, Seifer,” Raijin’s eyes were full of wonder at his “hero”.

Zell, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes at Seifer’s tail of heroic and hesitated.

“…….riiiight,” Zell stated sarcastically. “Sure. A monster that throws rocks, eh?”

Seifer smiled wryly at Zell, “Looks like it hit you pretty hard.”

Zell wiped the blood off his jaw and shrugged, “It’s not that bad.”

“Anyway,” Seifer made a point to change the subject after seeing the fire in Zell’s expression, “we need to find some shelter.”

“Oooo!” Raijin piped in, “Earlier on, I saw a cave, ya know. Can we use that?”

Zell and Seifer both turned their heads towards Rajin. “Cave?” they questioned almost instantaneously.

“Didn’t I tell ya?” Raijin asked sheepishly. “There is this cave thingy over on the other side of the bluff.”

“Why the fricken’ didn’t you say that earlier!?” yelled Seifer. “We could have built a fire and dried off, instead of standing in the middle of this goddamn forest, soaking wet, and talking about monsters!!”

Zell sighed, “Alright, Raijin, why don’t cha just lead the way to this cave before Seifer explodes..”

“Okay….” Raijin said sadly, “But I am really sorry, Seifer…..I just wasn’t thinkin’, ya know?”

At this Seifer let out a long, well over due laugh. “Yeah… wasn’t thinking….that’s a good one Raijin….”

Raijin, although obviously unaware of what was so funny, became instantly more cheery as Seifer laughed. Now, he proudly showed his “hero” and Zell the location of the cave, which was ONLY a ten-minute hike away….

“Here it is!!!” Raijin boasted, as he revealed a cave, no bigger than eight feet all the way around at the base of a small bluff.

“Umm…..great,” Zell smiled at Raijin. “Let’s just go, the wind’s picking up again along with the rain…”

“Yeah, oh wise cave finder,” Seifer said mockingly, “Please lead us into the depths of this dangerous looking tunnel.”

Raijin jumped at the opportunity to be the “leader”. He rushed forward, beaming happily.

“Wait a sec,” Zell grabbed Raijin’s arm to get his attention. “We should get some wood or something first, so we can light a torch.”

“All right, Zell,” Seifer patted him roughly on the back. “ Why don’t you go get some wood?”

“Me?” Zell asked innocently. “You know with my leg and all, I can only do so much…but how about you, Seif, why don’t cha go get some sticks for us, eh?”

Seifer scowled, but quickly reached down and picked up one thick branch. “Well, I’ve got my torch. Good luck to the rest of you.”

With that, Seifer strided past Zell and Raijin and went into the cave. Calling on some fire magic that he had recently drawn from a monster in the outskirts of Timber, he lit the stick and continued to walk in to the cave.

“Wha…….HEY!” Zell yelled as he limped as fast as he could in to the cave after Seifer. He could tell this was going to be a bad idea the minute he walked in to the tunnel. Chills ran down his spine as he tried to follow the dim glow of Seifer’s flame that was ahead of him by at least twenty or so feet.

“Stop, ya know,” Raijin, who ran along side Zell, shouted. “Please, Seifer!”

Suddenly, the light stood still, as if Seifer HAD stopped! Raijin and Zell quickened their pace.

“Hey, girls,” Seifer mocked as they approached him, “Were you afraid that I would leave you without any fire, in the dark?”

“That….wasn’t…..fun..ny,” panted Zell.

“Riiight,” Seifer responded sarcastically, “Not one bit.”

“Shut….up,” Zell scolded as he tried to catch his breath.

“Ooooo!!” exclaimed Raijin. “It’s a CHAMBER thing!!”

Zell followed Raijin’s gaze and saw that he was right: Seifer had lead them into some sort of tunnel that had suddenly opened up, revealing a room like place over thirty feet all the way around.

“Yep,” Seifer stated. “This is where we’re gonna sleep. But, first, we need to build a fire.”

Eventually, after a lot of arguing, they three party members managed to obtain a sufficient amount of twigs and leaves to start a small fire. Seifer laid out his shirt and coat to dry, and Raijin, along with Zell, both followed his example. Then the all settled down to relax and talk…..although Seifer had his own agenda.

“So how did you survive, ZELLY?” questioned Seifer.

“Well, SEIF, I was knocked unconscious, but you’ll be happy to know, Raijin rescued me,” answered Zell.

“Really? How interesting, ZELLY.” Seifer mused. “Raijin saved YOU?”

“This is a fact, SEIF,” Zell nodded.

“Then, Raijin, how did YOU get to the island with ZELLY?” inquired Seifer as he continued to pick the seaweed out of his hair.

“Well, gee,” Raijin said bashfully, “I just grabbed some of the wreckage of our boats and saw Zell, so I grabbed him, too, and umm paddled with my hands all the way to shore.”

“Wow,” Seifer exclaimed. “That’s amazing! PADDLED to shore, you say? Amazing, just extraordinary..”

Zell sighed as he had a foreboding feeling as to what was coming.

“Well,” Seifer smiled wryly at Zell, “I swam all the way, no drift wood and no one to carry me. So, I think you’ve now EARNED the name ‘Chickenwuss’ forever.”

Zell, looked away. If he didn’t respond, didn’t make a big deal about it, Seifer would drop it. He just needed to ignore it…

“Cat got your tongue, eh, Chickenwuss?” Seifer laughed.

Zell fumed and turned quickly to meet his nemesis’s eyes.

“Ummm….” Raijin stuttered as even he saw the incoming storm approaching as clearly as he saw the one going on outside. Though, he feared, unlike the weather, this fury would take a life…………