It had all started about three days ago. They had stopped in Moldor to gather some much needed supplies. Amy, who had been living on the Sirius for about a year at that point, had assigned herself the task of keeping a strict inventory of the ship's supplies. An unfortunate run of the flu had spread on board the previous week, and took up most of their medical supplies. Amy had suggested to Eduardo that they stop in the nearest port and make sure they stocked back up on their supplies, to which he had agreed.
While everyone else went about to gather up supplies, Captain had once again snuck off to the local bar. While there, some of the locals had told him some wild tales of a treasure on an island called Staplings. The story goes that some natives that once lived there had abandoned the island due to mysterious activity, but they had left all of the treasure of their people behind, and that no one had been able to find it. Once they all had returned to the ship, Captain told everyone the tales he had heard.
"Captain, no offense, but don't you think we could make better use of our time than following some old legends a bunch of drunkards babbled on about?" Nathan had said.
"I agree with Nathan. Shouldn't we continue heading east like we had previously planned?" Thomas chimed in shyly. They all had planned on retreating to Candor, an island that was well known for its luxurious beaches and beautiful weather. The crew had looked forward to spending some much needed vacation time there.
"I know, but as you all know, this treasure could help us a lot right now." Their funds were rather low lately, and they all knew that they could use the extra money. With a collective sigh, they all had agreed to go. Luckily, Staplings was only a two day voyage from Moldor, and with the high winds they'd been getting lately, it likely wouldn't even take that long.
Captain slapped Eduardo and Russell on the shoulder, as they looked rather disgruntled by the whole thing, and laughed. "I promise that as soon as we collect the treasure, we will go to Candor!"
The crew had gone about setting the sails and such, while Amy quietly made her way to the supply room. Taking out the slip of paper she used to account for inventory, she made a quick check of the supplies and tallied them up on her sheet. They had gotten enough supplies to last them for at least another month, but after this excursion, she made a note to see if she could encourage Eduardo to make another supply stop before they went to Candor. She blew a loose string of hair out of her face and tucked the slip of paper back in its place.
Not wanting to be a hassle to the guys, Amy wandered to the back of the ship. She leaned against the railing, watching the horizon begin to set behind them. She sighed as the cool breeze hit her face, closed her eyes and enjoyed listening to the sound of the waves splashing up against the ship.
"What are you doing?" A voice inquired of her, close to her ear. She jumped in surprise and grabbed the railing, afraid that she'd stumble forward. She threw a glare over her shoulder at Russell, who looked rather amused at her reaction. He laughed and crossed his arms, leaning back on the railing next to her.
"Jesus Russell." She shook her head at him, but couldn't help but smile slightly.
Russell laughed again. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself."
She shoved his shoulder playfully, and looked back out at the horizon. They had been dating for several months at that point, and it seemed to be a special hobby of his to surprise her in such a way. His favorite was to scare her at night when it was dark, so she was grateful he did it when it was light outside this time.
"Well, I guess our vacation will have to be put on hold for a little while."
"I guess so. Sucks though, I was looking forward to seeing you in a bikini." He sighed and shrugged as he eyed Amy. It took a second for his words to hit her, and when they did, her face visibly flushed and she shoved him playfully again.
"Very funny." She muttered.
He chuckled. "Doesn't matter as long as I get to spend some time with you."
He leaned in towards her and placed a gentle kiss to her lips. His lips were warm against hers, and even though they'd probably kissed a thousand times by now, it still made her heart flutter as if it were the first time.
Russell had changed a lot in the past couple of months since they had gotten together. He had matured considerably, and his childish outbursts that he had been known for had practically disappeared. While he still teased her mercilessly, he had grown up quite a bit. During that time, he'd also grown stronger, having put a lot of his pent up energy into training. His dedication to training showed off in his newly toned physique.
She rested her forehead against his. "Well hopefully we can find this treasure easily."
"Come on, how hard can it be?"
She smiled and pressed another quick kiss to his lips, then separated from him. She held her hand out to him. "Come on, I think I heard Nathan call out about dinner." Russell took her hand and walked with her back towards the deck.
Several short days later, they had finally arrived at the island. The sun had disappeared behind a large batch of clouds, and hadn't been seen the past few days, and Amy silently hoped that it wouldn't rain on them. The crew stood out on the deck as Captain made his way towards them.
"Alright boys, Amy here was kind enough to make up some maps of the island for us. Good job Amy." Captain patted her head and rustled her hair. During the past few days, Amy had spent her time in the ship's library researching the island, and had drawn up some rough maps for everyone. There was very little information on the island itself, so she'd had to improvise with what she had. She'd based most of it off of some larger maps Eduardo had lent to her, and the rest she gathered from what information she could find. The island itself wasn't very large, about a fourth of the size of a place such as Candor, but it was inhabited by large forests, which would make it an easy place to get lost on.
"I suggest," Captain continued after he was satisfied with her disordered hair, "that we split up into teams, and meet back on the beach on this side of the island to report any findings."
"I'll go with Amy." Russell inserted quickly before the rest of the men could say anything. Looking rather disappointed, the rest of the crew quickly paired off with one another. Eduardo had anchored the ship and they all climbed into their two smaller boats.
Christopher laughed, as they lowered the boats into the water. "Russell always gets to pair with Amy."
"Yeah, it's not fair. We never get any time with her." Nathan teased.
"Well yeah," Russell said, "I wouldn't leave her to you wolves for nothing." Amy giggled quietly as they rowed towards the beach.
Once they safely reached the shore, they pulled the boats up onto the sand.
"Alright, Nathan, Captain, and I will go this way." Eduardo stated as the two of them started walking away on the beach along the coast.
Christopher shrugged. "Well Thomas and I will go this way. Good luck you two." The two walked in the opposite direction and made their way through some of the brush.
Russell looked at Amy and smiled. "This'll be fun." She smiled back at him, and the two of them walked directly into the forest in front of them.
