To my best friend, John "Jackie" T. Guckin, who taught me that working together with friends can solve any problem, big and small.
Prologue: A Warrior Awaits
A hero, born of great skills and courage, stands firmly on top of a majestic mountain, next to him his horse stood, the fastest steed ever known to all. Looking across the plains, the hero notices an ominous tower, glooming under the dark skies. There, a princess lays captive to an evil king, and who's army was standing in front of the tower, their face masked, but their eyes glowing menacingly through them, standing between the tower and the hero.
Quick as a whip, the hero leaps onto his steed and charges downward towards the sinister army. He pulls his sword from his scabbard across his waist; he hoists the shield from his back, and prepares for battle. The army notices him, and with vindictive battle cries they charged towards him, flailing their clubs, spears and swords in the air as they went. Through the helmet, the hero smirked, and with every swipe he took upon the army, many would go flying into the air, unable to endure or move ever again. His sword slashed again and again, dwindling the army before his eyes. At one final slash of his blade, the army was defeated, and placing his sword back into the scabbard but keeping his shield tight onto him, he snapped the reigns of his steed, and he charged towards the tower. Just as he was nearing towards the gates of the tower, an earthquake shook the ground before the hero. Suddenly, an eruption of earth and stone took place in front of the hero, and out of it came a gigantic beast, as big as the tower, but far more foreboding. It's teeth were like broadswords, it's scales were as hard as steel, it's nostrils flaring with smoke, and it's claws and horns sharp as daggers. There standing upon its head was the king, once a kind gentle face, turned sinister and grim. He barked with laughter at the sight of the hero, amused by his presence, and claiming he was invincible. Once again, the great hero smirked, and leapt on top of his horse, pulling his sword out once again, and raising it towards the monstrosity. With an instance he leaped off his steed and soared towards the monster's head. The king ordered his creature to attack, and the beast let out a blast of flames. As the hero and the flames draw closer together, one hopes to think that this would be the greatest battle ever to be emitted.
However, this never happened, because this is not the true story. The story has things like swords and creatures and battles between good and evil. But there was no army, nor a king or a princess of any sort, at least not yet. There wasn't even a brave knight in shining armor. There was however a young boy, a boy who wouldn't ever believe that anything special would happen to him, and who thought that no grand adventures would come to be. He, however, never knew of the path that he was about to take, a path leading to the unknown, the mysterious, but a terrific one indeed. That is when this story begins…
Chapter 1: A Vacation to Remember
Earth. A world full of life and beauty. There are many places in the world to go to, from the beautiful Rocky Mountains in Colorado, to the Great Wall of China. Our focal point, however, starts in the port in Miami, Florida. People around here do different things. Some go exploring around the docks, some work around to keep things intact and neat. Others would often go on a cruise, where they would journey out into the waters beyond, where they can explore strange new areas. One family would soon experience that thrill of adventure and mystery.
As people started boarding the cruise liner, a woman was searching for someone. She had long, blondish-red hair, a short sleeve shirt, and a skirt. Her name was Anne, and was showing a slightly irritable look. "Where are they?" she wondered. "I hope they didn't get lost."
Just then, a hand reached out and touched her shoulder. Turning around, she saw a man, with brown hair, a bushy mustache, jeans, and a Hawaiian T-shirt. His name was Drew, who was Anne's husband. "Don't scare me like that," She said, frowning at her husband. "Sorry," replied Drew, "It's kind of hard to call for you in this crowd." "Never mind that," said Anne, looking behind Drew. "Where are the kids?" she asked. Drew was about to reply when suddenly two voices were shouting not far away. "Jackson, Give me back my purse!" cried a girl's voice. "Only if you catch me!" replied a boy's voice, "Too bad you can't!" Drew turned around and sighed. "Found them," he said. Running through the crowd of people were two kids. The chaser, which was the girl, had long purple-dyed hair, a polka-doted blouse, and a skirt. The boy who was being chased had blondish-brown curly hair, a short sleeve shirt, and shorts. His name was Jackson P. Peterson-Hirsch, and the girl's name was Cocoa F. Peterson. Before I get any further into the story, let me tell you about these two children.
Jackson was 7 years old, and was a crazy little child. He loved to run around and have fun. He enjoyed practicing swordplay, and had taken fencing and kendo. He was rather impatient, and he was always trying to find something new and exciting in his life, and he would go on adventures to find them. His favorite occupation was to annoy his sister as much as he can.
Cocoa was 8 years old, and was sort of a hot-tempered girl. She always likes to prove how good she was in everything, and has also learned the arts of self-defense, such as karate. She was dedicated to her friendships she made, and prefers siding with people she cared for, whether they were right or wrong. Her favorite occupation was to pester her younger brother in many ways.
Now both Cocoa and Jackson were very bright, so bright in fact that they skipped a year each. As such, they were always competitive, and both were even in the same acrobatics class. Both were better than any of the other students in their class, but Cocoa was slightly better. It didn't matter to Jackson, considering he proved to be faster that her sister every time they enter the running track. Jackson loved doing mathematics, and he sometimes enjoyed writing stories. Cocoa preferred Social Studies and English, and would read books instead of writing them. Now that you know about them more, lets get back to the story.
Cocoa and Jackson were maneuvering around the crowd, not knowing that they were heading towards their parents. When they got within earshot, Anne cried "Jackson! Cocoa!" Both of them screeched to a halt, and realizing who called out to them, they nervously turned around to see both their mom and dad glaring at them. "Uh, oh" said Jackson, "Were in trouble." "Were in trouble?" replied Cocoa, snatching her purse out of Jackson's hand, "You should be the one in trouble!" Jackson turned to her, a frown forming in his face. "Hey, you're the one who can't take a joke!" He said, "It's not my fault that you don't have a sense of humor." "I do!" Cocoa snapped, "It's your jokes that are lame." "What was that?!" Jackson retorted. "You heard me." Cocoa replied smugly, and lightning shot from their eyes at each other.
"That's enough!" cried Anne. She walked right up to her children and grabbed them at the scruff of their necks. "Honestly," She protested, "Of all the places to start this… You should be ashamed, you two!" "W-we didn't mean to upset you," stammered Jackson, "Cocoa just can't take a joke." "I don't care!" said Anne, "I want you two to be on your best behavior, this is a very special cruise for all of us, and we paid a lot of money to go on one. I don't want any more of this from you two, is that clear?!" Under the glare of their mother for which no child of hers could overpower, they replied, "Yes mom." Her face softened into a smile. Cocoa and Jackson always know that she is always kind, but upset her in anyway, and you might as well dig your own grave. Drew was waiting patiently for them, and once they were done, he lead the way towards where they were to board, holding Jackson's hand while Anne was holding Cocoa's hand.
They boarded onto the ship, where a woman was waiting for them. "Hello," she said cheerfully, "Welcome to the Caribbean Cruise Liner! I shall be your tour guide, Mrs. Cyan."
"Hello," said Anne, "Were the Peterson-Hirsch family." The guide looked down the list in her hand to check if the name was there. "Peterson…-Hirsch! There you are," She said, "Well, shall I give you the full tour?" The family agreed, and they set off. Mrs. Cyan showed them their rooms first, one for the parents, and one for the kids. Afterwards, she showed them the lobby, the restaurant, in which Jackson drooled upon sight, the theatre, the docks, and all sorts of places. After the tour, the family went to the deck and watched as they set off from the port and off to sea. They were heading for adventure.
Once the family was done watching, they split up. Anne and Drew took a walk around the deck, Cocoa went to the lobby where she meet another girl at, and Jackson went to the game room, where he spent a lot of his money on video games. Both his mom and dad yelled at him for doing such a stupid thing, and Jackson grimaced on his dumb ordeal. Well, I guess that leaves six more days not to screw up. thought Jackson as they went to get dinner.
The next day, the ship stopped at the Key West, where the family got to learn how to snorkel. Jackson spend a third of the time trying to figure out why water came into his goggles, until he found out they were upside-down, and that made everyone laugh. After the lesson, they spent the rest of the time looking around at all the shops, where Cocoa bought herself a new purse, but Jackson couldn't buy anything due to his past mistake.
That evening, Jackson got lucky. He won some money in a game of bingo, which paid off his debt, with a little extra to spare. Jackson was so relieved that he got that over with, but Cocoa was upset by Jackson's luck cause she was having way too much fun making fun of him.
The next afternoon, the passengers were told that a storm was about to come their way, and it would arrive within a few hours. This didn't bother Jackson and Cocoa, considering they were having fun splashing in the deck pool. After they were done, they dried off, got dressed, got dinner with their parents, and went to their rooms. Cocoa sat up on her bed, where she pulled out her book and began to read. Jackson began searching around for his magazine, but it wasn't in the room. "Oh, no," he groaned, "I forgot to get my bag when we left the pool!"
Cocoa sighed. "Jackson, you'll lose your head if it wasn't screwed on." she replied, looking over her book at Jackson. "I have to go find it!" declared Jackson, sitting up and grabbing his shoes. "You can't go out there," said Cocoa, "You heard the captain, there's a storm approaching." "I'll run for it," replied Jackson, lacing his shoes up. Cocoa looked disconcertingly at Jackson. Finally, she said, "All right, all right, you can go. But I better come with you just in case you do another dumb thing." I was thinking the same thing about you. Jackson thought to himself and, once they were all prepared, they set off outside.
The clouds were a deep gray as the two came outside. A sprinkle of rain was starting to come about, the wind was starting to whistle, and the waves were starting to grow larger. Cocoa and Jackson dashed towards the edge of the pool, where sure enough, Jackson's bag laid. Jackson took a quick look to see if everything was there, and Cocoa looked around nervously. "Come on!" she exclaimed, "Let's go before we're spotted." "Your so overdramatic," replied Jackson, hoisting his bag over his shoulder, "Were absolutely fine, what could possibly go…" BOOM! A fork of lightning shot through the sky, with the thunder a millisecond behind. Cocoa screamed, Jackson leapt in terror, and without a word they charged towards the door.
They couldn't run cause the swaying of the ship was too much; and the sky suddenly turned inky black, which made everything around them completely dark. The rain pounded on top of them, and the wind howled with all its might. Cocoa and Jackson had no choice but to grasp onto the bars on the side of the ship and slowly creep along the side towards the door. The storm was so deafening, that Jackson couldn't even scream to Cocoa, even though she was a foot away. Jackson couldn't bear to think that anything would be worse than this, but somehow it did.
A great wave whipped the side of the ship, jerking the side opposite to them upward. Cocoa braced on for dear life, but Jackson wasn't so lucky. He felt his feet lift off the deck, flipping him over the guardrail, just barely holding onto the wet bars. Cocoa noticed this in a split second, and quickly came to Jackson's aid, grasping both of his arms. Jackson tried to pull himself up, but all of his strength seemed to be focused on holding himself up by the bars. Cocoa, however, was using all of her energy trying to lift Jackson up, but it was too difficult for her alone.
Just then, a pair of headlamps came out of nowhere. One of the sailors spotted them from the further side of the deck. He was rushing towards them, and Cocoa, noticing this, thought that they were safe. Oh, how wrong she was. Another huge wave slapped the ship again, making the sailor stumble to the side, but it made Cocoa flip over the guardrail as well, sending her and Jackson plummeting into the water. They splashed into the water with tremendous force, but fortunately they held their breath before they sank in. Both Cocoa and Jackson were great swimmers, and tried their best to swim to the surface.
They came up from watery depths, holding onto each other, gasping for air, the rest of their energy keeping them above the surface. They could barely hear the sailor cry "Children overboard!" over a loudspeaker, notice the headlamps moving towards the place they fell off, and see a pair of life vests thrown towards them. "Put those on!" cried the sailor. They did so, fitting the vests over their head, keeping them above surface. "Hold on, I'll get help!" he shouted, and saw the headlamps move towards one end of the ship and disappear.
Just then, Cocoa and Jackson heard a rumbling from behind. They turn to see a gigantic wave coming towards them, higher than the ship's deck. Both were paralyzed, screaming in fear, watched as the wave was right on top of them, and then it fell, consuming them in it's wake. The storm, the waves, all sounds were extinguished. Complete silence filled every crevice of their ears, as they slowly drift downwards into the depths below.
Now you might think that this is the end of these children, but it is far from over. This is barely the beginning for both of them, and one of them hasn't even started his true adventure yet.
Chapter 2: Life on an Island
Many people have heard rumors of the Bermuda Triangle, about ships and planes disappearing, on all the mysterious rumors of unnatural activity. In that triangle there are a few islands, some of which haven't been discovered. It is fortunate that one of these undiscovered islands just happens to be where two young kids lay unconscious upon its shore, and I believe we know whom they are.
Jackson was standing all alone, seeing nothing but white light all around, and his own shadow. Looking at his shadow, he noticed that the shadow was not his own, but of someone behind him. Looking around, he was blinded by the brightness of the light, but he could see a man. Was it God? thought Jackson. His instincts told him that it wasn't God, and his instincts were rarely wrong. His eyes were adjusting to the light, and he could see the face of the man before him. He looked familiar to him. He was taller than Jackson, and he carried two swords. Though the hair and face looked just like his. Is that…me? Jackson asked. Suddenly, the light grew brighter as the man walked away. "Wait, hold on!" Jackson shouted, but he was blinded by the light.
He opened his eyes. His body ached all over. His mind felt waterlogged, and his mouth felt salty. He coughed up any seawater that was in him, and looked up. The sky was clear, with a few puffy clouds scattered here and there. Off in the distance he could hear seagulls chirping, the tide going back and forth, the swaying of palm trees, and someone breathing beside him. He tilts his head to the right and saw his sister's face, calm and quiet. He sat up. Then he reminded not to sit up so quickly as his head started to spin.
He shook his head and got onto his knees. He felt the sand underneath his hands. He crept over to his sister, and started to shake her. "Sis?" he croaked, "Sis, wake up." He shook her a bit more until he saw her eyes slowly open. He heard her groan, and then she started to sit up. Jackson supported her back, raising her up until she could support herself. Cocoa put her hand to her forehead and slowly looked around.
"What happened?" she whispered. Jackson thought to himself. He remembered seeing that huge wave coming upon them, and then it crashed on top of them, but he couldn't remember anything afterwards. "I think the wave knocked us out." Said Jackson, slowly and conclusively, "Then, somehow we managed to wash up on shore." Cocoa stared all around. "Wow," she said, her voice still soft, "I think we managed to land on an island." Jackson looked all around as well. There were palm trees as far as the eye can see, some of them had coconuts, some even had bananas. The jungle in front of them looked dense and damp from the storm. There were boulders here and there, and the shore was nothing but sand.
Jackson got to his feet to get a better look. It was then he noticed he was wearing his life vest, and so was Cocoa. Now he knew how come they didn't drown. That wasn't on his mind at the moment. What really concerned him was that he couldn't see any signs of people anywhere. There were no footprints in the sand. No man-made structures or sculptures anywhere. It seemed desolate. He turned around to see the open sea. There were no other islands from this viewpoint.
"I'm gonna go look around," said Jackson. He turned to his sister. "You stay here and catch your breath." Cocoa nodded, and Jackson walked off. He kept looking around, shouting once in a while. He didn't go into the jungle, just in case if he would get lost. After a half hour, he found himself walking back to Cocoa, having walked around the island, with no signs of other people, no other islands, nothing. They were all alone.
Jackson told her the bad news. She curled up into a ball and started to cry into her knees. Jackson rarely ever saw her cry, considering she was a tough sort of girl, though he never told her that. He admitted to himself that he was scared, really scared. But it wouldn't do him any good to sob over it. He sat down next to Cocoa, and put his arm around her shoulder. He tilted his head onto the other one, making sure that she was loved. For about an hour she cried, until she started to make dry little sobs, and then became silent. All the while, Jackson continued to look up into the sky, watching the clouds go by.
Finally, Cocoa looked up. "W-well, we got to set up camp." She stammered. She shrugged off her brother's arm and stood up. "Why are you sitting around here doing nothing?" she said, looking down at her brother. "Come on, we got to get everything prepared before nightfall." Jackson sighed. He knew her sister was quick on the draw when it came to being her normal, ignorant self, even though she did ball her eyes out. He stood up as well. "Which one should we do first?" he asked, "Fire? Shelter?" A loud groan came out of nowhere. "Maybe some food would be a start." said Cocoa as Jackson put a hand to his belly. He chuckled and both of them set off. They climbed up the trees, where they grabbed some bananas and coconuts. They used the surrounding rocks to crack open their coconuts, and then they sipped and ate there bananas and coconut milk.
Once they had their fill, they decided to explore the jungle itself. So they went into it, where they found a lot of other foods, including some native chickens. Cocoa spotted a small spring filled with crystal clear water. They were both thankful they found water that wasn't salty.
Afterward, both Cocoa and Jackson did their best in building a small fort. It wasn't sturdy, but it provided shelter. They also found a rock that, according to Cocoa, was the perfect igniter for a fire. Jackson gathered some wood, and they made a fire, where they had warmth as they ate more bananas and coconuts. "If we only will eat this stuff for now on, we'll turn into monkeys!" complained Cocoa. Jackson laughed, thinking of her sister as a monkey. "We'll, at least it'll be an improvement," replied Jackson. Then they spent the rest of the evening Cocoa chasing Jackson while Jackson made a monkey impression.
Now you might think two children wouldn't last long on an island, but this is a different story. There was something about Jackson that made him a very lucky person. Maybe it was just luck that he was really lucky, or maybe he was gifted that way, but otherwise his luck seemed to save them the next week.
Cocoa and Jackson were tired of eating just fruit and coconuts all the time, so they tried to catch fish with their hands, but it proved to be impossible for them. They were just about to give up when suddenly Cocoa noticed something. From a small distance, Cocoa could see what looked like a giant wooden crate. Both she and Jackson swam over to see, and their assumption was right. They pushed it up to the shoreline. It was about as high as Jackson's chin, and it was very insulated, not a sign of a hole in it.
"Wonder what's in it?" asked Jackson. "Maybe it's clothing," suggested Cocoa. "It could be food," said Jackson. "Well let's open it up and find out." Said Cocoa. They used a couple rocks and started smashing the top of the wooden crate until they finally started to break it open. They tore off the lid to find something they least expected; books.
"Aw, man!" Moaned Jackson. "Were on an island with nobody on it, and still we can't get away from the library!" Cocoa picked up a book and flipped through the pages. She was always a bookworm in Jackson's point of view. "Wait a second," said Cocoa, her eyes scanning through the book. "This book is all about how to make shelters and forts." She put the book down gently on the dry sand and picked another one from the crate. "This one explains all kinds of plants and fruits in the world." She said, her expression full of amazement.
"You're kidding!" said Jackson, his face turned from gloomy to shocked. He started to pick up books. There were books on survival tips, some on how to weave clothing, a couple on animals and fishing, and one, for some odd reason, talked all about blacksmithing.
"Wonder where all these books came from?" asked Jackson, searching the insides of the covers for a name. "Look over here." Said Cocoa, staring at the side of the box. Jackson walked over to Cocoa side and looked at the box. There were some words pasted on it, and even though the water faded a bit of it, it was still readable.
Exploration Books: Surviving the Amazon.
Cocoa and Jackson stared at each other, then at the inscription. "It's a survival kit?" asked Jackson. "I guess so," replied Cocoa. "Must've belonged to a ship that was heading to South America, but I guess this crate fell off."
"Well that's a pity for them," muttered Jackson. "Nowthey won't be able to survive." Cocoa and Jackson stared at each other, and then they balled with laughter. They couldn't believe how lucky they could be. Of all the things they needed, they got everything they wanted in the form of books.
The first of the books that they used was the book on fishing. Cocoa found a page on how to make fishing poles and harpoons. Jackson looked through another book, and found a chapter on how people in the old days built canoes and rafts. Within a few hours they gathered some logs, tied them together with palm leaves, and shoved it out into the water. Cocoa fashioned a couple fishing poles, used the island fruit as bait, and within an hour had caught four good-sized fish.
Once they got back to shore, they started a fire, where they roasted the fish and ate them. Delicious. It tasted so good in their mouths after having nothing but fruit and coconut milk to eat. As they munched on the fish, they discussed what should they do next. Cocoa recommended refurbishing their fort. Jackson squashed this idea by saying that they would need tools to build a better one, and they had none. They decided to look in the book on blacksmithing. It showed all kinds of ores, how they can be used to make certain tools and weapons. Within reading about the ores, they set off looking for some.
They went deep in the jungle until they found a few large boulders with tons of ore, which turned out to be iron ore. They found a couple rocks that looked almost like chisels, grabbed a couple more that would be used as hammers for the chisels, and started pounding away at the rocks until they got a lot of iron ore. They brought it all back to their beach, and tried their best in making something out of it. It was rough and tedious work; messing things up, gaining only scorch marks on their hands and arms, wondering if they were able to do it at all. Cocoa was all in for giving up, but Jackson wouldn't take no for an answer. He was always like that, cause when he sets his mind on something; it sticks there until it is accomplished. Cocoa left Jackson alone to do the work and started looking at a book on weaving. Jackson felt he could do it, regardless of his inexperience in doing something like this.
It took a week for Jackson to finally figure out his mistakes, and with the last of the ore he finally made a crude, yet sharp dagger. Cocoa was amazed by Jackson's accomplishment, and said it would come useful to them. But Jackson didn't stop there. Now understanding how to make a small dagger. He went back to the ore and chiseled some more out of the rocks. He gathered all he got and brought it back to the beach. Before he got down to business, he gathered a decent sized rock, a short thick branch, and some tree sap. Jackson did his best in putting a small crater in the rock, put some tree sap in it, stuck the branch into it, and tied it firmly together with palm leaves. Within the next day, the sap dried up, forming a decent looking hammer for Jackson to use in his blacksmithing.
He found a hollow stump that Jackson thought would be used as a bucket for water. He started to get to work in forging another utensil, using a fire to heat the iron, the hammer to shape it, and the water in the bucket to cool it down. By nightfall, he finally forged a blade, and used another thick branch as a handle. Sticking it in place with tree sap, he finally created a machete. Jackson, his face covered with soot, his arms and hands singed, parts of his shirts and shorts burnt, but his heart was delighted by his work. This made things much easier for him and his sister with chopping down logs and getting island animals.
During the time Jackson was doing all this, Cocoa figured out how to make clothing and stuff out of palm trees and bark. She even made a belt buckle for Jackson and Cocoa's new weapons. With the use of the machete, they chopped down a few more trees to fortify their fort. He even got one of the chickens and they learned how to pluck off its' feathers and roast it over a fire.
This was a big step in their lives. The books sure taught them how to survive on the island much longer than anyone could ever predict. For children, they were successful for lasting a long time. However, they would never expect anything could be more unusual than this. Their adventures were only beginning.
Chapter 3: Gem of Wonder
Cocoa and Jackson were lying on their backs, staring up at the stars. The only sound that was to be heard was the soft wind rustling the palm tree leaves and the crackling fire between them. Jackson turned to Cocoa, noticing how much her skin has darkened due to the sun exposure, seeing her long hair, no longer purple, but her natural brown. He looked at his skin, seeing how much it had changed, too. His hair was shortened, it was dark blonde, but was still curly. Jackson finally spoke up.
"Have you been marking down the days, sis?" he asked. "Everyday," replied Cocoa, still staring upwards. "Know what tomorrow is?" asked Jackson. Cocoa turned over and stared a Jackson with a smile. "Tomorrow is the same day we came here," she answered, "Day three hundred and sixty-five."
Jackson looked up again. He couldn't believe how long its' been since they arrived, and how long they survived. "We did good." said Cocoa "At least, for a couple of kids." Jackson smirked, agreeing with her in his mind. Cocoa looked back up at the stars. "Wonder if anyone is still looking for us," muttered Cocoa. Jackson knew the answer to that, but he didn't reply. He knew that nobody was looking for them, thinking that they drowned or something. He did miss mom and dad, but he did enjoy the island adventure he and his sister were having.
Jackson pondered a second on the next question he was going to ask, knowing it would be a stupid one. "Hey, sis?" said Jackson. "Mm?" moaned Cocoa. "Remember that day when we arrived here?" he asked. "How could I not?" snorted Cocoa. "Well, did you see anything before I woke you up?" Jackson asked, "You know, like an image of some sort in a dream?" Cocoa was silent for a moment, then replied "No, can't remember. Why do you ask?" "Well," Jackson started. "I do remember seeing something before I woke up." "Really?" said Cocoa, silently chuckling. "What was it, a plate of drumsticks?"
Jackson turned to look at his sister, his face showing annoyance. "It wasn't like that." He replied. "Well, what was it then?" asked Cocoa, turning to look at Jackson, still smirking. Jackson paused for a second, thinking for what he was about to say, then he answered, "I think I saw myself, but I looked different, much older, carrying swords, something like that. I'm not sure why, but I felt like that was the future me. That was who I was gonna be." Cocoa looked up again, thinking about what Jackson said. "Probably the seawater got to your head," replied Cocoa, "You were delusional. I doubt that would happen." "It could…maybe," muttered Jackson, who started doubting himself a bit.
Both of them went quiet for a while. Finally Cocoa sat up and stretched her arms. "I'm gonna hit the sack." she yawned, "You coming?" Jackson shook his head, still thinking. "Suit yourself," she replied, and walked back to the fort, leaving Jackson all alone.
Jackson kept thinking about that person he saw. He knew he wasn't being delusional, but was having a hard time contemplating what it meant. Jackson thought so long, that he was starting to get tired. His eyes were starting to droop, and he was starting to fall asleep when suddenly something shot straight across the sky. He opened his eyes a little. "Was that a shooting star?" he wondered. Suddenly there was another one, and another, and finally a whole bunch of lights were shooting across the sky. "Wow, look at them all!" wondered Jackson. He wanted to stay awake to watch the whole thing, but already his drowsiness was overtaking him. He laid back and closed his eyes. The last thing he saw was one light seemed to be a lot closer than the others, and before he drifted off to sleep, he thought he felt a slight vibration on the ground, like something hit the ground. But before he knew it, he fell asleep, and thought no more.
The next morning, Jackson polished his morning meal of fruit and fish much quicker than he usually did, washed his face, and tore off into the jungle. "Where are you heading off to in such a hurry?" asked Cocoa, who barely got through half of her breakfast. "Why does it matter to you?" said Jackson, stopping only to grab his machete. "I was just wondering." said Cocoa, shocked by Jackson's tone, "You just look like you are anxious to see something." Jackson made sure he had everything, and then he rushed into the jungle, only shouting, "I'll tell you later on." This left Cocoa feeling curious by Jackson's actions.
Jackson kept charging through the forest, leaping and ducking as he went. He was sure that what he saw and felt was real, and wanted to see if one of the shooting stars fell on the island. Jackson kept staring around him, looking for anything out of the ordinary, considering he knew the island very well. He checked by the watering hole, by the iron ore boulders, he even searched all around the edge of the island, but no sign of the shooting star. He decided to look in one last place before he gave up, so he rushed to his small training grounds, which was basically an empty space within the jungle, where Jackson continues to train his swordplay.
He broke through the canopy to his spot, and looked all around for anything different. He didn't see anything unusual at first, but then he saw something within the shadowy edge of the jungle. He rushed forward to get a better look at what it is. It looked like a small crater, with something glowing in it. Excited, Jackson crept closer till he was standing at the edge of it. Looking down, he saw the shooting star, but it was far different than Jackson imagined.
It was not a meteorite, but it was gem. It shined a sort of bright magenta color. It was crystal clear, shaped perfectly like a diamond in a jewelry store. Jackson couldn't believe how beautifully crafted it was, even though it was a shooting star. He wondered if it was safe to pick it up. He slowly knelt down and reached out to the gem, waiting for the moment where it would burn him, but it never came. Jackson touched the gem with his middle finger. It didn't feel hot, but it was sort of warm.
He picked up the gem, and held it in his hand. It felt nice and warm in the palm of his hand, but he felt something else that was very unusual. The best way he could describe the feeling was as if there was some sort of energy coming from the gem, and it was coursing through his body. Just what is this thing made out of? wondered Jackson, holding the gem towards the sunlight. He stood there for a while just looking at the gem, with hundreds of questions popping into his mind, like where did it come from, or what it was.
For a while there was complete silence, then Jackson could hear Cocoa's voice. "Jackson, where are you?" came her voice which shouted over the canopy. Jackson heard her, but he didn't know where to hide it. He could hear a rustling of leafs being pushed around from the opposite side of him. He quickly placed the gem behind his back, hiding it from view.
Cocoa came tearing through the canopy, bent over, all out of breath. "Where have you been?" she panted, breathing between every other word. "Nowhere." replied Jackson, tilting his head towards the sky. "Oh, yes you were!" retorted Cocoa, finally catching her breath, "You went rushing into the jungle like something new showed up in there." She straightened herself and looked at Jackson with an expression of frustration. "You better tell me what's going, or else I…"
She stopped in mid-sentence, and stared at Jackson carefully. "What's that?" she asked, pointing at Jackson. "What's what?" asked Jackson, now feeling nervous. "There's something shining behind you," she remarked, walking towards Jackson with an expression of curiosity. Jackson was starting to back away from her, but suddenly her hand darted and grabbed the gem from Jackson's hands, which were still behind him. "Hey!" Jackson retorted, trying to grab it back, but he tripped and fell on the ground instead. Cocoa held it up to the sun, her eyes sparkling with the glow.
"Where did you find this beautiful thing?" she gasped, completely transfixed at the gem. Jackson got to his knees and coughed up some dirt. "It was a shooting star that fell last night," he spat, "and it belongs to me, now give it!" He quickly swung his legs around and swept Cocoa off her feet. She fell on her back, the gem slipped out of her hand, landing a few meters from both of them. Jackson jumped up onto his feet and darted towards the gem. Cocoa flipped onto her hands and knees and crawled as quickly as she could possibly can.
Both Cocoa and Jackson grasped the gem at the same time. Cocoa got to her feet as both of them were having a tug-o-war with the gem. They kept shouting at each other, "Let go of the gem!" "It's mine!" "Yeah, well I found it first." "So? I'm the older one." "What's that got to do with this?" "Everything! Now let it go!" "No way!" They both struggled with all their might, neither one letting up. Finally, Jackson took in a deep breath and shouted two works. "LET GOOO!", hoping that would shake his sister's grip. No sooner did he scream than something did happen.
The gem started to glow brighter and brighter. A high-pitched hum was coming from it. Cocoa and Jackson stopped struggling and stared at the gem. The gem was emitting some sort of energy. Jackson was completely in shock in what was happening. The gem was bursting with what seemed to be multi-colored streams, soaring above both of them and started to encircle around them. Both Cocoa and Jackson were staring around, wondering what in the world was going on, when out of the blue they were hoisted into the air, so that they looked like they were lying on thin air. Their hands still clamped firmly to the gem, not even tempted to let go.
Jackson was just about to think what would happen next when suddenly they were flying, flying through what looked like a rainbow-colored inside of a cyclone. They were both spinning upwards, screaming to the top of their lungs, frightened half to death. Their hands were still clinging onto the gem, almost magnetically.
"What is going on?" cried out Cocoa. "I have no idea!" hollered Jackson, who was looking all around and back at Cocoa, "But whatever you do, don't let go of the gem!" No sooner did he say this than he noticed Cocoa's hands starting to lose their grip. Apparently the struggle they had before weakened it. Jackson was about to let loose one of his hand to grip his sister's arm, but Cocoa couldn't hold on much longer, and let go of the gem.
Jackson reacted quickly by grasping one of Cocoa's wrists, and he tried his best in pulling his sister's hand back to the gem, his other hand still glued to the gem. Her fingers were just barely scratching the jewel did something else happen. A huge vibration just came out of nowhere, as if they were behind someone doing a sonic boom. The shock shook Jackson's grip loose from his sister. He screamed out to his sister as she drifted away, a look of complete panic in her face, her arm still reaching out. They had one last look at each other, then there was a burst of white light, and everything was gone.