Chapter 1: Odo Island
Friday Morning, August 20th, 1954. A cloudy, foggy morning on Odo Island.
Odo (Ohto) Island, southern most island in the Ogasawara islands, also known as the Bonin Chain. A speck of land housing a small Japanese fishing village with a population of less than two-hundred residents. Its landscape is similar to the other Ogasawara islands; steep terrain and cliffs. A concave coastline thins inward along the gradually increasing heights of the hills and ridges. The town is situated inside this concaved bay area, bordering the sandy shoreline a little over three-hundred meters and extending up the slopes roughly two-hundred meters. Houses become sparser with elevation. The hills around the town are farmed and tilled, though the agriculture does not make the bulk of the resident's diets. Fishing is the town's livelihood. A few market merchants border the shoreline, along with a menagerie of boats. Most of the fishing boats are small two or three-person sized, but a few are slightly larger for ten or more. On top of the hill overlooking the town is a ritual shrine used for ceremonial activity. In the center of the town is a twenty-five meter tall wooden tower. Many homes are bundled close together in the village and along the coastline.
Among one of these homes lived nine year old Ishiro Sato, along with his one year old baby sister Megumi Sato and sixty-five year old Grandmother Emi Sato. A picture of Ishiro and Megumi's mother and father hung, framed on the centre wall. Dates scribbled on a small wooden plank under it showed the dates of their birth and death. Their father dying from leukemia as a result of being in Hiroshima two years prior, while their mother died giving birth to Megumi. Their paternal grandmother Emi Sato currently cared for them.
Ishiro, while prepping for school and getting his bag ready shouted out, "Grandmother, I'm leaving for school now. I'll be back home around noon."
He ran for the school on the far southwest side of the village, passing several other kids walking along. He turned the corner of a home and met his longtime friend, Akira Tanaka, a year older than him. They nod silently, slowly merging to walk side-by-side one another towards the minuscule school building. Gradually slowing their pace, they sheepishly eyed several classmates Ishiro passed up walking past them. When no one was in visible sight, they nonchalantly veered towards one of the small alleyways. Akira popped the corner of his head out, hiding his face under some lose cloth dangling from the side off a wooden pole. They watched as the last of the students entered the school.
"How much trouble could we get in Akira?"
"Definitely a lot if we get caught, but we will miss the best fishing by the afternoon staying here. The adults always get the biggest, best ones early while we get puny ones in the afternoon. We'll come back to school later."
"So how do you figure they won't go looking for us if we're not in class?"
"My sister's in class right now. She knows I want to catch a good fish, so if the teacher asks, she'll say we were sick. When we feel better, we'll come back and finish the rest of the class. We were not feeling well, get me?"
"Yeah. I think we're going to get in a lot of trouble for this, but yeah, I get you Akira. Let's go, before we get caught."
Akira pulled out his Komabue and played a horrible, loud note.
"HEY! Someone might hear you! Put that back!"
"Who cares Ishiro? Why not make this a little interesting? This is almost too easy."
"Akira, play it when we get into the bay. NOT NOW."
Akira chuckled, tucking the instrument back into his pocket in his clothing. Both cautiously proceeded through the fog-laden village, taking care not to run into anyone they new or the fishermen prepping their lines. Akira and Ishiro sneaked past a small group of them talking about the crew that left the two nights ago.
"That is a good question Akira. Where are those fisherman anyway? I thought they'd be back last night?"
"Probably still out Ishiro. It's been really bad fishing out there lately."
"Then why are we going out fishing if it's that bad?"
"Because I won the bet. Today's my day, and I say we go fishing!"
"Don't remind me Akira."
As the bay came in sight, Ishiro and Akira were stopped dead in their tracks by a grungy old local fisherman playing a Shamisen. The melody was a ritual tune used by the elders to ward off the "demon of the sea" as they described it. The old man looked at them, cocking an expression of fear while looking at the sea. He ripped out a small, putrid smelling fish from his pocket, dangling it between his fingers. He crawled from the ground, put his hands on his knees and rocked back and forth.
"Akira, let's go. He's creepy and tells horrific tales of sea demons destroying his village."
"Those are just stories Ishiro. The adults tell us that to keep us on the island, but even they know the elders are just grand storytellers. I mean besides that smell of rotting fish on him, he's basically-"
The old man picked up the small fish and bit the head right off, swallowing it whole. He then threw an empty bottle into the waters, then another towards a seagull, promptly making it fly away.
"...harmless...maybe. I guess that's why only the elders talk to him."
The old man wobbled up and walked over to Ishiro and Akira. He stared at them, drunk-faced and one arm against a wall. "Going out fishing when nobody's out there? It's always out there you know," he gargled out. "It destroys... kills everyone. It's a god, a demon of destruction-"
The old man began mumbling "... sea-god, demon, beast, the dead whales, people dying..."
"Thank you for telling us this information," Ishiro interrupted him, " but we must be headed for-"
"IT'LL COME BACK ONE DAY! IT WILL. It will, it will, it will..."
The grungy old man dropped to the ground. He curled up and played the ritual melody on his Shamisen again.
Both ran straight to the bay to their dinghy on shore. They threw their bags in the little boat, pushed it out and hopped in, paddling outwards towards the furthest, deeper parts of the bay. The fog was still thick, the air moist, warm and muggy.
"That was unsettling...Hey Ishiro! Bet I can catch the biggest fish!"
"Stick to your Komabue; you're actually good at that."
"I can play it right now you know. We're far enough out in the bay, and all the fishermen are still at the docks. I thought of a new melody. Want to here it?"
Akira already had it pulled it out, ready to play. They both turned their heads towards the shore for a moment. A bland outline of the island was visible, but the village was completely blanketed from view.
"Sure, but how are you going to fish and play your Komabue at the same time?"
"Easy," he said, taking his left sandal off, tying a line around his toe and dangled his left leg over the side. He threw the line out and started to play. While his leg bounced up and down from the gentle motion of the waves, Akira played the instrument gently, almost soothingly. The salty-tasting fog rolled pass them. It seemed to be carrying the melody towards the coastline, slightly reverberating off the cliffs to their distant right.
"It's a very nice song Akira. You're the only one I know who can fish with their feet and play an instrument at the same time. Your elders must be so proud."
"My grandpa taught me this trick before he passed."
"He was a good fisherman Akira, probably one of the best fishermen in the whole village."
"He taught me the fun aspects of fishing, but I didn't really listen to the techniques. He gave you those...I, I GOT SOMETHING!" Akira shouted while wiggling his left foot. He put his Komabue down, pulled the line in. Out of the waters popped a fish the size of Akira's pinky finger.
"Good job Akira, you're family will dine for many nights to come."
"Shut up Ishiro."
Akira cut the line off from his toe and threw it in the water. Both boys laughed a bit, before around them several huge jets of water came gushing out of the surface.
"WHOA, WHAT IS THIS AKIRA?"
Numerous large smooth backs and massive tails whipped the surface, rocking their boat with enormous force.
"I THINK THEY'RE WHALES. THEY MUST BE FEEDING ON THE FISH!"
They looked out of the corner of their eye. One whale breached the surface on its side, almost slamming into their boat, the tail making a huge wave that nearly rolled them over. Another whale came jetting out to their left, almost slamming right on them. The wave made by the other whale's tail pulled them out of the way at the last second.
All around them at least a dozen whales breached out from the waters, the waves soaking them and knocking most of their belongings from the boat. Ishiro managed a moment to see the moving pod's general direction. They were accelerating fast out of the bay towards the open ocean again in one huge group.
The wave action thinned as they disappeared into the fog. The waters quickly calmed again. Both were soaked head-to-toe.
"MY KOMABUE! WHERE IS IT? It...IT MUST HAVE WASHED OUT TO SEA! NO NO NO!"
"Akira, we were almost killed. I'll help you make a new one. Come on-"
"MY GRANDFATHER GAVE THAT TO ME BEFORE HE DIED ISHIRO!"
"I THINK HE'D BE MORE CONCENRED ABOUT US DYING YOU IDIOT! LET'S CLEAN UP AND GET BACK TO SHORE!"
WHERE IS IT!?...HERE IT IS! Fell into my bag. What are the odds?"
They hand-paddled for the real paddles that fell out and floated some distance away.
"Hope they didn't scare all the fish away," Akira said while leaning over and waving his hands in the water for the paddles.
"What do you think that was that all about Akira?"
"I don't know. They acted like they were spooked."
"Akira, what scares whales away?"
Bubbling sounds abruptly started popping up in the water behind them. They both looked behind them, out towards the ocean. Tiny pieces of kelp and small pieces of wood floated towards the surface in the bubbling slosh.
"BRACE YOURSELF! I THINK MORE WHALES ARE COMING UP!" Akira shouted.
Something lazily surfaced further out in the bubbling water. It was hidden in the fog, bobbing up and down, moving towards them slowly. Ishiro and Akira, shaken, stayed still while the mass slowly floated over to them. As it grew closer and less cloaked by the fog, they recognized it.
"Is that what I think it is?" Ishiro asked Akira.
"It is."
The remains of one of the big leased-out fishing boats that went out to sea several nights ago. It looked like it was smashed and set aflame. Ishiro saw half a soggy black corpse fused on one of the railings. The face looked as though it saw terror before he died. There were several shadow imprints in the impression of human figures coated on the large metal containers used to house the caught fish. The shadow imprints looked like they were covering their faces.
"How many of our villagers were on this one?"
"About twenty-three. There were nine smaller boats out there with them. We need to tell the other fisher-"
Suddenly all around them, the remains of several other fishing boats bubbled and bobbled out of the water. The terrifying sight petrified the young boys. The cracked, creaking wood, the moaning metal, all looked like it was set on fire. Bodies floated up and down, tangled in nets, ropes and string.
As suddenly as the wreckage rose from the waters, it lazily sunk down to the depths. Only a fisherman's hand and leg, some kelp and dozens of loose bits of the broken boats still floated around the two boys in the boat.
"Those were the other ones, the other fishermen, weren't they?"
"Yes...they were. We should go now Ishiro," Akira said and a quiet, trembling voice.
"I agree. I don't want to be out here anymore."
Ishiro and Akira began turning their boat. As they were, a huge rumbling sound came below the boat. It sounded like whales, but much, much deeper and grittier.
Akira cursed in fear and paddled harder. Ishiro turned his head to the side to see if there was anything else popping out of the water. He looked towards the ocean, and he saw something in the fog, a spiky formation jetting from the water, moving fast. It looked like it was increasing in size as it came closer. Akira looked in the same direction and saw the formation.
"Is that a whale fin?"
The formation grew, little by little, until it shot over three meters in height, closing fast.
"MOVE THE BOAT, MOVE THE BOAT!"
The formation smashed right through their boat, splitting it in half. Both struggled to the surface from an intense and unusually strong undercurrent. The bottoms of their feet and ankles were scratched by a fast moving set of jagged objects underwater within the current. Gasping for air, they saw the spike rise even higher out of the water, surrounded by more and more spikes like it, as big, some even bigger than their homes. The sound of crashing water roared as if something else huge was rising out.
"SWIM THIS WAY ISHIRO!"
A huge dark tail came out of the fog to their left, smashing into the waters near them. The violent waves rocked them up and down as though they were in a tsunami. The waves quickly settled around their frantic water-treading and they got their bearings again. Looking up they saw the fog wisp around a colossal figure, charcoal-grey in color with rows of massive jagged spikes on its back. The opaque silhouette towered over everything, the size of the hills and cliffs on the island. It was moving towards the village.
"WE HAVE TO WARN THEM! IT'S COMING. THAT THING. THE VILLAGE, MY GRANDMA, MY SISTER!"
"ISHIRO, YOU THINK THAT'S THE SEA DEMON THAT CRAZY OLD MAN WAS TALKING ABOUT! WHAT THE ELDERS WARNED OF?"
"I DON'T CARE, WE HAVE TO GET OUR FAMILIES OUT OF HE-"
Loud thuds and booms came from the shallows, like footsteps, but magnitudes bigger. The things tail waved low in the fog again. Then the unholy sounds. Buildings being demolished and pulverized. Screams and shouting. The massive thuds and steps from the thing didn't shroud the screaming, the yelling. It was slowly moving into the village.
"HURRY UP AKIRA! WE'RE ALMOST THERE!"
Something big fell from the figure. It landed on the shoreline with a huge crash, crushing several docked boats and sending a small wave towards the frantic boys. They got into the shallower water, swimming harder and harder.
Their feet finally touched sand. They started jogging in the water towards the shore. On their right the boys saw what the huge spiked silhouette dropped; the head of a whale, mangled with blood gushing profusely and chunks of fat and tissue dangling off its mangled jawbone.
The thing's outline grew dimmer as it travelled inside the town, disappearing in the thick fog.
The placid shoreline they left ten minutes ago was now a scene of chaos and calamity. Boats bordering the waters were pulverized, the buildings and homes now woody piles of debris, some on fire. Bodies along the coast were flattened, crushed into the sand. One young woman's lower body was smashed inside a massive crater while her upper torso was sticking out, motionless on the ground. The worst destruction seemed to follow deep crater outlines within the earth. Low booms and bellows still reverberated throughout the landscape.
"ISHIRO! ISHIRO! I'M GETTING MY SISTER AND MOTHER TO THE HILLTOP. I'LL MEET YOU UP THERE!"
"OKAY AKIRA. BE SAFE AND DON'T STOP!"
They both quickly hugged, then spilt up. Akira headed towards the west side of the village, Ishiro the east for his sister and grandmother. Ishiro noticed the grungy old man from earlier yelling from under an upturned boat, pointing at the figure.
"THE SEA DEMON! IT'S BACK! THE DEMON HAS COME BACK! IT'S COME BA-"
It's enormous tail came out of the fog and landed on the old man and several villagers, smashing them deep into the sand.
Ishiro looked for the main village road. It was littered with the derbis of homes and buildings, bodies smashed or burnt, villagers screaming, crying and yelling. He could still see the silhouette's tail, tauntingly swimming above him in the dense fog. It came from the direction of his home.
"No. No. NO NO NO NO!"
Ishiro ran through the rubble with all his ability. Down destroyed alleys, past mangled bodies, past grieving mothers, past people who screamed for help out of the rubble. Many were trying to locate the screams from the destroyed homes. Several just ran for the hills, in the unintentional direction of the silhouette.
A mass of wood and debris flew in Ishiro's direction. He ducked behind a derelict fishing boat smashed in a house. Then, echoing out of the chaos the sounds of a loud gong. He turned to the source of the sound.
"The central village tower!"
Flames and smoke partly blocked most of the view, but a patch of dense fog had faded around the top of the tower. He could see multiple villagers on it, blasting away in unison, warning everyone to head for the hills.
Out of the fog came the enormous dark tail again. It smashed into the center of the tower, splitting it in two. The deck with human figures dropped out from the sides, falling into the raging fire and rubble below. Ishiro noticed the booming steps from the towering silhouette emanated from the area Akira headed into.
Ishiro turned the corner. He saw his home, tilted against the splattered remains of the adjacent dwelling, now a mass of woody debris, black smoke and red flames. He stepped into the rubble of his home, trying to see through the choking black smoke consuming him.
"GRANDMOTHER! GRANDMOTHER, ARE YOU IN HERE?"
Nothing but the creaking of broken timber and chaos outside the home.
"MEGUMI! CRY, PLEASE...WHERE ARE YOU!"
He checked all the rooms, but nothing. Nobody. He crawled past the torn portrait of his parents. A smoldering, fiery log crashed through the roof above Ishiro, nearly missing him but setting the remains of his parent's portrait aflame, along with most of the ceiling above him.
"HELP, HELP US! PLEASE!"
Ishiro listened as calmly as he could, trying to eject the noisy combustion all around him. The cries for help were muffled, but he could tell they were from outside. He ran out through a broken part of the wall and called out again.
"GRANDMOTHER? GRANDMOTHER, WHERE ARE YOU? ARE YOU OKAY, IS MEGUMI OKAY?"
Ishiro looked inside the area of their home's partially collapsed wall leaning on the neighboring home rubble. There inside, cramped and uncomfortable looking but safe, Grandmother Emi shouting for help, holding Ishiro's baby sister Megumi.
"ISHIRO! What are you doing here? You're suppose to head for the hills. Get help!"
Ishiro crawled around inside. His grandmother was curled and stuck between the downed wall, still holding his sister in a tattered cloth.
"I'll get you out Grandmother!"
Piercing screams came from the distance before another series of booms and thuds.
"Get help Ishiro. This is too heavy for you!"
"Grandmother, almost everyone around here is running away, dead or dying! No one is coming to help us!"
Ishiro angled his back against the downed wall, put his legs against a still standing portion of the wall, and pushed with all his might. He forced the angled wall upwards long enough for Grandmother Emi to squeeze out.
"CRAWL OUT NOW GRANDMOTHER!"
She crawled out slowly with Megumi. Seconds later the wall Ishiro wedged his back against began crumbling down under the new stress. Ishiro ran out of the space just in time before it caved in with burning embers and dust. Several other villagers crawled out the adjacent burning home. One man caught fire, dropped onto the ground, rolled several times before the flaming home smashed into him. The other villagers wailed at the happening.
"TAKE YOUR SISTER AND HEAD FOR THE HILLS!" Grandmother Emi shouted, handing Ishiro his baby sister. Ishiro still tried to escort his elderly grandmother from the ruins and horror around them.
"Be more worried about your sister and yourself. I'm holding you back. GO NOW!"
She waved her arms and slapped her hands at his stomach, shooing Ishiro several steps back.
"RUN ISHIRO! RUN, RU-"
BOOM!
Ishiro was jettisoned backwards, slamming into the ground with Megumi still in his arms. She began crying loudly, woken up from the sudden motion. Ishiro opened his eyes.
Grandmother Emi, villagers and the fiery debris behind them disappeared. Something smashed down where they were.
"Grandmother?
In front of Ishiro was huge dark charcoal-grey formation, rough and scaled. At one end there was what looked like a huge clawed toe.
"GRANDMOTHER!"
Ishiro got up, holding on to Megumi as tight as he could and ran. He ran as hard as he could. His eyes burned red, his heart pounded, his blood boiled. His vision was getting watery. Behind him a low, primal bellow pierced his boggled mind.
"I, I don't have time to cry now," he mumbled to himself, trying to regain his bearings towards the hills.
Huge low bellows rocked the surroundings again. His hearing was nearly shot, but he used the vibrations his body felt from the thing's bellowing. He ran away from those.
Scarlet fires raged all around them in the dusty smoke-laden landscape. He could feel the heat. He could feel the constant stream of dust, particles and hot moving air all around him. He felt the bellows and booms from the darkened silhouette still only slightly visible in the chaos. Everything in plane sight was smoldering, pulverized, dead or dying. Ishiro tried to cover Megumi's ears and face so she wouldn't be impacted by the growing waves of scalding heat.
He never looked back. Only forwards.
Ishiro finally found the ridge trail through the destruction, blocked by an intact home completely flipped over. He crawled around it along the hilly landscape. He climbed, still holding onto Megumi for dear life. She was fusing, but appeared unharmed.
Ishiro savagely climbed up the trail. He looked towards his feet for a moment, then onto the trail itself. There were no footprints. No indication that anyone else went up the hill. No hope for survivors. He faced the town for a moment. The silhouette outline moved through a small valley, passing into a denser fog layer inside the island. A low, thunderous echo came from the valley, the sounds of a landslide. It was followed by a rhythmic pattern of thunderous booms.
The fog still covered the village and whole island. The black smoke and raging fires from the village destruction below meshed into the opaque mists, the cries dwindling in number and volume, but the silhouettes immense steps still continued on in the far distance.
Ishiro dropped down with his sister still in his arms. He cradled her.
"I'm sorry Megumi. I'm sorry I couldn't save Grandmother."
She stared back at him with a small frown. She fused over the minor layer of dust and dirt on her cheeks. Ishiro ripped a piece of his still wet clothing and wiped her face off.
"Better? Grandmother would not want you dirty and breathing in this poison."
Her fusing subsided. She drifted back to sleep within minutes of Ishiro's nuturing.
Ishiro turned to look at the opposite ridge. The fog was still dense, but he could make out several fellow villagers. They were climbing up the steeper trails below to another ridge trail. Ishiro couldn't tell how many villagers were climbing. Six or ten of them maybe. They were too far away, semi-cloaked in the fog. He felt some hope swell back into his heart. Ishiro thought he could meet the villagers. He ventured down the ridge trail towards them. Up ahead in the fog he saw the remains of the rope bridge entrance. The entire span between this and the next ridge was taken out by the silhouette.
"But, where were they going?...THE SHRINE!"
They were heading for the shrine where the ceremonies took place. It must be safe over there.
"Ishiro, is that you?"
The question emanated from behind him. He turned, stunned to actually hear another living soul through this carnage. It was Masako, Akira's older sister by two years. Her clothes were ripped and coated in a thick layer of ash. She had gashes scattered all over her arms.
"Masako!"
Ishiro ran to Masako, Megumi still in his arms, giving her a one-armed hug. He was so happy to see her, another person, someone he new well. She hugged back, and Ishiro noticed her ash-coated face. It was cut-up, with murky lines cut by several tears. She began crying on his shoulder.
"Akira saved me Ishiro," she chocked out.
"Masako, where...where's Akira? I thought he went to ge-"
"He came back to the school. He found me under some desks after the building was smashed in. No one else in class made it but me Ishiro..."
Ishiro looked blankly at the village. She coughed up some dust.
"Akira pulled me out. He told me to run up the ridge trail and meet you here. He gave me this."
She picked up an object. It was wrapped up in wet clothing, a torn piece of Akira's shirt from earlier. Sticking out slightly, was his Komabue.
"Masako, where is he?" Ishiro asked forcibly.
"He said he was going to find mother and bring her up the trail. I ran after him instead of going up the trail, through the village. There were dead people everywhere. Everything was destroyed and on fire. I found our house; it was on fire. I ran for the house to help him. Akira was helping mother out of the house, then...then-"
"THEN WHAT MASAKO?"Ishiro yelled out. Masako broke down into heavy crying
"-no." Ishiro whimpered.
"IT KILLED THEM ISHIRO!" Masako cried out, choking on her words. "They're gone..."
Megumi began crying in Ishiro's lap.
"Ishiro?'
"Your mother is gone...Akira... my best friend is gone..."
Masako and Ishiro wrapped themselves together around Megumi, holding each other as they cried into each other's shoulders. They stayed like this for several seconds-
BOOM!
The thunderous footsteps again. Masako and Ishiro instantly turned their heads. They saw down the ridge trail; the villagers at the shrine began panicking, some running in the shrine building, others back down the makeshift trail they just came up.
BOOM!
Ishiro and Masako turned their heads again, in the direction of the low valley. The massive silhouette in the fog was overlooking them now, lowly rumbling primal bellows.
Out of the dense fog came the huge tail. It slammed into the ridge area where the villagers and shrine were, smashing several outside villagers and taking the top of the shrine off, the force causing it to collapse. More cries of agony and horror.
Then the whole ridge area began to tremble.
"RUN MASAKO!" Ishiro yelled. They ran further their side up the ridge trail. The tail came out again and slammed into their side of the ridge. Jostled but still standing, they ran towards the far end f the ridge overlooking the ocean. Both sides of the ridge valley began quaking, before seconds later both of them began collapsing, forming one titanic flowing landslide. Ishiro and Masako heard the horror and screams emanating from the few village survivors at the shrine, carried off and pulverized by it rolling mass of earth. Part of the hill downslope of them began to move with the one giant formation, flowing and breaking off straight into the burning village. Where Ishiro, Megumi and Masako were was now gone.
The mass smashed into the smoldering village. In less than a minute the landslide entombed what was left destroyed and on fire. The subtle cries were gone. The flames went out, puffs of black smoke rose out sporadically across the new earthy landscape. It's impact into the bay waters echoed loudly all around the ridge. Seconds later they could see several large tsunami rolling towards the shorelines below them. From their new vantage point on ridge edge they saw what looked like several escaping fishermen down below in the waters. They were smashed into the rocky bluffs below. No one swam from the destroyed boats.
Ishiro looked up again. The silhouette, taller than most of the hills around them, was now towering directly above them. Its breathing was heavy and forceful. The fog around it started thinning slightly. It looked like it had a dragon's head, with spines running up along the course of its body, the biggest ones towards the center of its back. The head had amber-colored eyes piercing through the fogbank, staring and the young, lone survivors.
They gripped each other tight. Both of them held on to Megumi, waiting for the inevitable. Ishiro kissed Megumi's cheek.
"Goodby Masako...goodbye my little sister."
Then a roar. A powerful, blaring thunderous blast disturbed a huge wave of fog that flowed all around them. Masako and Ishiro covered Megumi's ears to lessen the deafening effect. The roar vibrated the already shaken landscape, destabilizing weak spots along the slide and surrounding ridges. Leaves shook off shrubs and tree branches. The sound was enormous, powerful, primeval. Louder than rain, thunder and lightening, so much more. It echoed everywhere across the island, . Megumi stopped crying ...petrified to silence.
The figure in the fog still loomed above them. It made one more low bellow, before it moved back into the ever-thinning fog in the valley towards the sea. The thunderous footsteps felt like continuous small quakes.
"Ishiro, Ishiro... I think we're alive."
Masako saw its tail destroying several trees in the valley below. It was leaving, after all that, it was finally going back to the sea.
"Megumi? Little sister, make a sound?"
Megumi babbled a little, before crying again.
"Good."
Masako and Ishiro looked at the surrounding landscape. The island changed, with many ridges and hills collapsed into the lower areas.
The worst was the village. There wasn't a village, not even the smoldering remains of the village or their friends and family. The space was now a huge mass of earth blanketing an area once occupied by people bordering the bay. Only Ishiro, Megumi and Masako survived. Everyone else, their fellow villagers, friends and family, were entombed.
"Ishiro, the village, it's not even there anymore. It's buried. Everyone we know and love is gone." Masako broke down in Ishiro's arms again.
She was right. There was not even an outline of a bay anymore. No sign that more horrific events took place. No fires, no buildings, no corpses. All that suffering, all that misery and pain, that merciless death and destruction caused by that thing... everything, and everyone, was all gone. Odo island , their home, was gone. It was a cruel, inhumane tragedy with no chance to ever be properly explained.
"Not...not everyone, Masako. We have to leave this place. It's not home anymore. I need to think of Megumi and you."
"Me Ishiro? Why?"
"Because your brother and I made a promise. If something happened to either of us, the surviving one would help keep safe and secure the other's family as well. Masako, you and Megumi are all the family I have left now."
The footsteps of the silhouette stopped momentarily. The fog was now extremely thin, but it was far away, still too blurry to make out. It let out one last low roar, before heading into the waters. A stray dense fogbank rolled in the line of sight, causing them to loose their sight of it. They listened.
The immense footsteps were gradually muffled by sea waves. Eventually the rhythmic thuds dissipated away. The fogbank evaporated. In the center of the bay waters Ishiro and Masako saw the huge tail and spikes of the thing sinking deeper and deeper, before finally disappearing under the waves in the distance.
They looked down below inside the valley. The subtle outline of shrubs and trees all mangled along its walking direction, covered by many small landslides. The bent trees were angled towards the bay.
"Ishiro, look at the beach."
There on the beach, lay gigantic footprints.