Hey there!
Thanks for those who reviewed: CajunBear73, PengyChan and Lorien Urbani.
I'll post chapter 3 some time next month and depending on the feedback will decide if I'll keep continuing with this little project.
Disclaimers: see chapter 1.
CHAPTER 2: THE ISLAND
To say that the boat ride to the island was awkward would be an understatement. Drakken had not spoken a word during the whole time, instead being quiet and in thought. Miss Go had whispered to Ron that this was a good sign since otherwise he would be shouting and ranting and probably had thrown Ron to the sea.
Ron sat silently at the end of the boat, watching as the jungle island became closer and closer to them. The big man with mullet was walking back and forth in front of the animal cages, looking either nervous or excited. The animals seemed to dislike his precense, for they backed away in their cages whenever he was close.
"Edward, get away from there!" Miss Go shouted, having noticed this also.
As much as Ron tried he couldn't figure out what it was in this Edward guy that seemed so strange. His face, the expression he would made, the light hair covering his body, the way he moved his limbs… it all seemed unnatural to Ron and gave away impression of some strong deformity. But Ron simply couldn't specify what it was.
When they finally arrived to the small dock, Ron could three men waiting for them. They were all dressed in only shirts and pants, which looked very worn out to him. The men themselves woke the same kind of reaction on Ron as Edward had. The two of the men were also covered by hair and one of them was strangely crouching. Third man had no hair but his skin was strangely pink. All of their faces and movements seemed, as Ron would so eloquently put it, wrong sick.
The men tied the boat to the dock and helped Dr Drakken and Miss Go out of it. When it came to Ron's turn, they did nothing except stared him with open curiosity and confusion.
A lashing sound was heard and all three men jumped around. Drakken stood on the dock with a whip in his hand.
"Help the young man up" he said very plainly.
Two men quickly took hold of Ron's arms, with unnecessary strength he thought, and pulled him off the boat. Once Ron was on dock Drakken turned to Edward who was still on boat.
"You're in charge, Edward. I want all the cages out of the boat by the time I'll drive back, you understand?"
"Seriously" grunted the mullet head.
Drakken instantly turned walking towards the beach. Miss Go followed without a word, giving Ron a little nudge to follow them. Ron looked around him and saw a wide sand beach that seemed to circle the island around its edges, just before the thick jungle started. On the beach there was a pickup truck waiting for them.
Drakken turned around and spoke to Ron. "Now, Mr…"
"Stoppable. Just call me Ron".
"Ron, you are here as an uninvited quest, you understand?"
"Of course".
"You may find some things strange here. I must rely on your caution while you are our visitor and to your silence when you leave".
"No trouble, sir, Ron-man can stay out of your way" Ron assured.
Miss Go didn't say anything, but it looked like Ron as if she really wanted to.
"Now, Mr… er, Ron, I fear you must go to the platform. There isn't room for three and I would not dare to ask Miss Go to go so…" Drakken said.
Miss Go rolled her eyes but smirked as well. Ron climbed to the platform as the other two got up to their seats. Ron took a last look behind to the dock and saw how Edward and other men were pulling the animal cages from the boat with an enormous strength.
The engine started and the truck drove towards the jungle. While the jungle was thick there was a road wide enough for the truck to drive on it, but it was very bumpy and Ron had to hold on tightly so he wouldn't be thrown off. He'd have enough of that already for a lifetime.
After a while the truck arrived to an enclosure that was surrounded by a fence. They stopped just long enough for the gate to open in front of them. It was opened from the inside of the enclosure and when Ron looked harder he could see couple people there, just as strange as the ones on the beach.
They drove in and Ron looked around himself. There were three different buildings in the enclosure. The main building had two stores and looked pleasant enough to be lived in. Second building was smaller and further off. Looking so modest Ron thought it might be storage. Third building was closer to main building and was very wide.
The truck stopped and Ron climbed off with a bit of a wobbly legs. Miss Go got off as well but Drakken remained seated in the driver's place.
"You must be tired after so many ordeals in such a little time. Miss Go will show you a room you can use. I must get back to beach" Drakken said and was already going before Ron truly understood all.
"Well, you heard the man, I'll show you where you can sleep" Miss Go said and started heading towards the main building.
As Ron walked after her, not knowing what else really to do, he spotted a small garden of flowers and plants next to the wide building. Ron didn't usually pay much attention to anything concerning biology but he had to stop and stare in wonder. The flowers were like nothing he had ever seen; mixture of different colors, shapes and sizes. They almost looked like out of a fairy tale.
"That's Dr. D's little hobby" Miss Go said, having noticed what Ron was looking. "When he needs a break from his work he relaxes by working with the plants".
I wonder if I could take one of those for KP, Ron thought but kept it for himself. He resumed walking after Miss Go and they started climbing stairs to upper stores balcony. Ron started to feel a little uncomfortable with nothing to say.
"So, er, what is it exactly that you people do here?" he asked.
Miss Go turned around so sharply that Ron nearly fell back in his steps. She smiled but her eyes were hard.
"Do yourself a favor and don't ask questions here. And keep away from there" she said and pointed to the wide building. "Less you know the happier you are, got it?"
Ron nodded.
"Good boy" she said and turned around. They walked to the very end of the balcony and she opened a door. "It's not much but I'm sure you'll be fine. All the rooms up here are empty. They used to belong to workmen who lived here before doctor sagged them all".
The room was empty, aside of small table and one person bed. Still, at least it wasn't constantly moving on waves.
"Now, doc said you'd better rest and I do agree. You've had hell of a couple of weeks behind you. Take your time and I'll see you later".
Miss Go turned to leave but Ron had to ask her. "How long do you think it'll take before I can leave?"
Miss Go shrugged her shoulders. "I honestly don't know. A plane can't land here and we do not have any regular ship traffic. Doctor doesn't like to advertise this island to too many people so… I don't know. But we'll figure something".
With that she walked the steps down and disappeared from his sight.
She does have a point, Ron thought and practically crashed to the bed. He was far from being totally okay after everything that had happened and he was still in a bit of a shock of how he had been left to this island. The climate was hot and he missed his home terribly. With all those thoughts, he closed his eyes and was out.
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When Ron came around, it was to the animal sounds.
He stood up from the bed, feeling slightly better and refreshed than he had before. Moving to the balcony, he saw that sun had turn from blue to red, indicating that he must have fallen asleep for at least couple hours. Down below he saw how the strange looking men were moving the last of the animal cages to the wide building. Both Drakken and Miss Go were there supervising everything.
Ron yawned and stretched his limps, when he suddenly felt like being watched. Turning his head towards the stairs he saw there a girl, no older than him. She had oriental features, black hair and was dressed in a simple white dress. She simply stood there, looking like she didn't know if she should go forward or not. She looked at him with curiosity.
Ron did the only thing he could think of to do. He raised his hand and smiled. "Hey!"
The girl turned around and ran away.
"Was it something I said?" Ron thought aloud, totally bewildered.
Walking also down, after a minute or so, Ron didn't see the girl anywhere. Instead Miss Go walked to him.
"Up and running again, eh?" she smirked. "We'll be eating inside soon, go wait for us there" she all but ordered and walked away again.
Shrugging and feeling he shouldn't argue, Ron walked inside the house. The room he walked in seemed to be parlor, with rather nice couch, couple arm chairs, TV that looked to be from prehistoric era and bookshelves.
The walls were mostly plain, except of one framed document hanging on a wall. After taking a closer look Ron realized that it was a college diploma from 1989, granted for Andrew Lipsky for his "remarkable study of genetic engineering", whatever that meant.
That's a school word, I'm sure.
"My only trophy" a voice said behind of him and Ron turned around to see Dr. Drakken standing there, his hands behind his back. "The only recognition the great and glorious minds of the scientific academies ever gave to me".
Ron looked back at the diploma in confusion. "But it says here…"
"Drakken is merely a name I use here. It's safer than using one's own name" Drakken aka Andrew Lipsky explained. He turned around without looking at Ron. "Won't you join us for dinner?"
A rather embarrassing sound came from Ron's stomach and he followed the older man to the next room. This room was just as simple as the parlor with only a big dinner table middle of it. Miss Go and the girl Ron had seen previously were both sitting there already. The Asian girl held her head low, sitting very straight whereas Miss Go looked very relaxed and was already pouring some wine to her glass.
"Yori" Drakken said suddenly and the girl raised her head. "Yori, this is…" Drakken turned to Ron but stopped suddenly and stood there with a blank face.
Ron sighed. He didn't bother to remember my name? "Ron".
"Ron! That's right, this is Ron. And this is Yori. Yori, greet Ron".
Yori stood up from her chair and bowed her head. "Nice to meet you" she said with a shy voice. Her accent made her voice sound very eccentric in Ron's ears.
"Nice to meet you" Ron said and offered her his hand to shake. Yori stared the hand blankly, making Ron feel bit uncomfortable.
"Let's sit down" Drakken said.
The dinner was simply to say the least. Just some bread, salad and cheese.
"We do not eat meat or fish on this island. It's the law" Drakken said as he poured himself a glass of wine.
Miss Go snorted, as if having heard something amusing, whereas Yori seemed to stiffen up. Ron was merely confused. Must be some inside joke, he thought.
"It's alright. You know, with a little pepper and maybe some fruits this could be made into a delicious cheese salad".
Miss Go turned to Drakken. "I forgot to mention our visitor is a chef in training".
"An explorer of tastes, so to speak" Drakken said. "Wonderful. I like people with exploring minds. They are, I've found, more open for possibilities than others".
Ron merely smiled awkwardly, not really understanding what the man had just said. "Excuse me, doctor" he began "but how long do you think I shall remain your…quest?"
"Oh, we're going to have to work something soon. I do not like outsiders this close to my work. But it's not going to be easy either. This island doesn't officially belong to any of the countries on this sea, because they have frankly forgotten it is here. And I'd like to keep it that way. But we'll figure something".
Ron nodded his head, hoping he didn't look too depressed.
"You don't like it here?" Yori asked, with a soft, curios voice.
Ron didn't know what to answer. Of course he wanted to get back home, to his friends, folks and Kim. But the girl's question was so innocent he feared he might offend her in some way.
Drakken saved Ron from this problem by speaking. "I'm sure this will not be too horrible for you. While neither I nor Miss Go can keep you company, Yori will be your hostess here. She is lacking the company of young people so I'm sure you'll come along fine".
Now Ron's interest was woken. "Have you been here for long?" he asked from Yori.
"She's been here for six years now" Drakken answered for her. "I bought her here from Japan".
Ron's fork fell to his plate as he stared Drakken in wide eyed shock. Bought her? He was about to ask further when suddenly something jump to the table. It moved too fast for him to fully register what it was, but it was small, pink and had taken a piece of cheese from the table before disappearing.
Drakken and Miss Go both jumped up from their chairs and Yori dived under the table. A moment later she stood up holding something in her hands. Something that was wiggling very strongly. Ron could only see a pink tail moving.
Whatever the thing was, Drakken quickly took it from Yori and headed to the door. "Don't wait for me, continue eating!" he shouted as he dashed out.
Miss Go turned to Ron. "That's the price of living in a paradise jungle island. All kinds of rats jump to the table" she said and poured another glass of wine.
"What kind of animals are on this island, exactly?" Ron asked.
"All kinds, boy, all kinds" Miss Go said and chuckled to herself.
#####
The dinner was mostly eaten in silence. Ron didn't see Dr. Drakken during the rest of the evening anymore, and before he noticed it the sky had turned dark. Miss Go disappeared soon after that and Ron, being the gentleman, walked Yori to her room, which turned out to be and lower store of the main building. While Yori didn't say anything, she kept looking at him with the most curios eyes.
Ron dreamt that night of being back home and of Kim, her green eyes and red hair. The dram was turning from a good dream to a REALLY good dream, when Ron suddenly jolted awake. The sun was already high and atmosphere hot, but it hadn't been either of those that woke him.
It was those animal screams that woke him. They weren't like the ones he had heard yesterday. Not like the animals in cages. These sounded more like screams of pain.
Ron dressed up and left his room. He could instantly tell the screams were coming from the wide building where he was told not to go. Still, the screaming was absolutely terrible.
"You can't go there".
Ron turned to find Yori standing at the same place by the stairs he had first time seen her. She was holding a plate full of fruits.
"Breakfast" she said.
Ron grinned. "Thank you, Yori".
The girl blushed and turned her head away from him.
Another mighty wail of agony was heard.
"What exactly is doctor doing there?"
"You mustn't ask" Yori said while she kept her eyes on the ground. Ron sighed. Yeah, yeah, I know. Less I know and all that.
"Look, Yori…this is starting to be a bit uncomfortable. Is that noise going to keep up for long?" he pleaded.
Yori hesitantly looked him in the eyes. "Would…you like to go for a walk?"
Ron's mood brightened instantly. "I'd love to!" he grinned.
The two left the enclosure, walking the little road in the jungle. While the sun was burning down mercilessly, bringing back a chilling déjà vu for Ron that he was back in the little lifeboat in the middle of the sea, the jungle trees brought much desired relief.
Yori was as quiet as ever, and while Ron did feel uncomfortable, he decided to enjoy the many smells and colors the jungle offered. It was certainly a unique experience.
Yori suddenly turned to Ron. "Come, I want to show something" she said.
They walked off the road to the jungle. Ron tried his best to stay up with her, but the unsteady ground and huge tree vines made him nearly stumble with each step he took. Yori on the other hand walked with amazing easiness, never showing signs of uncertainty.
"Here" Yori said, waving her hand, showing first signs of excitement to Ron.
Ron followed her and they arrived to a pond. It was really like a scene from a fairy tale. The trees around were just wide enough apart to let sunlight shine directly to it. The surface was glimmering.
Yori jumped to a thick branch that was just above the surface. She stretched her hands and legs and basked in the sunlight. Ron walked to the edge of the pond and watched her. For the first time Ron saw her smile.
"You have a pretty smile" he said.
Just then something grabbed him by his ankle and pulled him into the pond.
To be continued…
This is AU. That's why Yori is monstrously OOC.
Reviews are appreciated.