Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!

A/N: I just wanted to thank you all for being so patient, not only in me not updating ANY story in two weeks, but also not updating in forever on this story. So sorry that it has taken me forever, but recently a million and one things have attacked me at once. Hope you like it.

Chapter Four: Natives…

It took Joe and Clarisse about two and a half hours to investigate only a few miles of the island. This was greatly due to the fact that Joe's knee was aching terribly and Clarisse spent a great deal of time attempting him to sit and rest. His splint did not help anything, either. So by the time they finally returned to their cave, they were both drained of energy and incredibly exhausted. Joe sat down with incredible difficulty, expressing his discomfort with a series of groans and grimaces.

"This is horrible, Joseph," Clarisse muttered. She sat down next to him and gave a very un-lady-like sigh, followed by a very un-queenly slump of her shoulders. She looked down at her hands, which rested in her lap. "We have been here less than twenty-four hours and already I feel as though we have been here for years." Joe could hear her voice shake slightly and it made his heart fall into the pit of his stomach. He had never seen her look so defeated and it pained him. He rested his left arm around her shoulders and pressed his lips to her temple.

"Ssshh," he whispered against her. He felt her relax, if only slightly, against him. He lifted his head and rested his chin upon her head. He then proceeded to rub her back as she relaxed even further into him. "Do not worry, my love. We won't be here for long, I promise. I will find a way home, somehow."

"How can you be so sure, Joseph?" she asked, not once moving her head. "How can you be so certain we will make it home? Will we be rescued? And even if it were, certain we would be rescued, how do we know we can survive until that time? We have no idea how long we are to remain here, whether that time is a day, a month, or even a year." She had, by this time, raised her head to meet his gaze. "How can you truly promise you will protect me?"

"Do you doubt my abilities to keep you safe?" he asked jokingly. She frowned.

"You know I don't," she said. But we are not dealing with bomb threats or men with guns this time. We are dealing with natural elements. We must face the uncontrollable weather with only this cave for protection. You cannot deny that neither one of us has been properly trained to deal with this kind of situation. My expertise is limited to dealing with heads of state and other high ranking members of society. And as far as you are concerned, you can only protect me from so much." She stopped short when she saw the hurt look upon his face. His smile transformed quickly into a frown and he had the air of a man who had just been insulted. Clarisse instantly regretted what she had said and sped up her explanation before he could comment. "Oh, don't misunderstand me, my dear Joseph. You are, indeed, a great protector. You have proven yourself time and time again. But you cannot stop the rain from falling any more than you can ask the wind to stop blowing or the sun to shine. And what of wild animals?" Joe smiled once again.

"Now, there is one area where my, as you say, 'area of expertise' may come in handy, my dear," he said. After all, I was quite the marksman in my youth." He beamed at her and she laughed… a genuine laugh. "Am I to assume by that charming little laugh of yours that I am also a comedian?" Clarisse placed a gentle hand upon his warm cheek.

"You have amused me, if that is what you mean," she replied. He covered her hand with his and squeezed it, not once loosing his smile.

"Good," he replied. He then became serious once again. "My dear, I love you. Very much. And although my history of protection only involves bomb threats and men with guns, I have always cared for you and kept you as safe as I possibly could. Now that we are married, my desire to keep you safe has increased, if that is at all possible. I may have no power or control over the elements, but I do swear to be here for you and protect you from whatever I am capable of protecting you from. My knee may currently be out of service, but my heart is most certainly not." Clarisse smiled at him with shining eyes. Oh, how she loved this man.

"I love you too, Joseph," she breathed. Without a second thought to their surroundings, she leaned up and kissed him gently upon his lips. Joe responded, also forgetting time and place. Even his injured knee did not weigh upon his mind. He could only feel, and right now he felt nothing but love and adoration for the woman in his arms. Soon, they reluctantly pulled apart again. Clarisse looked him in the eye.

"You are a great man, Joseph. I am so lucky to have you in my life. I shudder at the thought of what I might have been if I had never known you. I did care for Rupert, but I did not love him; at least, not in the way most women love their husbands. I suppose, for an arranged marriage, it was as much a success as any. But with you, I-I am different, somehow. For the first time, I know what it is to truly love and to be genuinely loved by another. And I do love you, Joseph. You know that, right?" Joe smiled.

"I most certainly do," he said. He stared into her eyes, and if Clarisse had been a lesser woman, she would have shrunk from the intensity of his stare. She could barely breathe when he lowered his head to kiss her yet again. Her lips parted, her eyes closed, and their lips were just touching when a hissing sound was heard. Clarisse furrowed her brows and began to open her eyes.

"What-?" She jumped when she felt a stinging pain in her ankle. "OW!" Joe jumped back when he heard her squeal and instantly went on his guard. He looked around and saw the snake. Just before the snake could strike again, Joe reached behind his back, grabbed the first rock he could find, and threw it at the snake. Unfortunately, he missed as the snake ducked and hissed loudly. Clarisse wanted nothing more than to reach her hand down and rub her ankle, but she did not want to coax it into an attack. Tears welled up in her eyes at the stinging, tingling pain as she felt her ankle begin to heat up. Great, she was about to have an allergic reaction with her currently out of service husband sitting helpless right next to her. Could this day get any worse?

The snake pulled back as it made to strike again. Clarisse leaned over and held onto Joseph, hoping something miraculous would happen. The snake hissed and lashed out, coming rapidly toward Joe's injured knee. They braced for the attack which they knew was to come. Joe did his best to cover Clarisse from attack, though it was not much. He closed his eyes as he braced himself for the pain. But nothing happened. He opened one eye and was shocked at what he saw. The snake had suddenly fallen to the ground, motionless. Joe frowned as he tried to discern what was going on. What was this? Clarisse looked around her husband and frowned as she saw what he saw. She quirked a brow as she placed her hand upon his arm, causing him to bring it down.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"I don't know," Joe said, frowning.

"Well I- OUCH!" Clarisse felt a shooting pain run through her ankle as she reached for her ankle. She had tried to move her foot, forgetting that the snake had bitten her. She impulsively reached down and began to rub her foot as tears began to spill from her eyes. She was in serious pain and she did not know what to do. Joe reached down and rubbed her ankle lovingly. She winced when he touched it.

"We have to do something and fast," he said. He looked at the snake. Why had it fallen like that? He took a closer look and saw something sticking out of its neck.

"What are we to do, Joseph?" Clarisse asked, her voice quivering. "My ankle is throbbing with pain, we have no idea how much worse it is going to be, since it is already ballooning up to the size of a grapefruit, and we have no way of stopping it." The tears spilled over as pain and fear gripped her. Joe tried to keep her calm, though panic also latched onto his heart as he attempted to find some way of controlling himself.

"Well we-," Fear paralyzed him as he looked at where the snake lay. A hand reached down and picked it up. It wasn't his and, and it was most certainly not Clarisse's hand. It was much too masculine and much too tanned to be either of theirs. Joe looked up to see something that seemed to come directly out of a movie. Standing before them, holding the snake in hand, was a big, muscular man in a pair of brown, furry pants that surely would not be found in any store in the mall. Well, they would probably not be seen anywhere, Joe was sure. He had long, black hair, which was braided down his back. Even then, his hair easily reached his waist. He was possibly in his mid-fifties, though he aged very well. He seemed very fit and healthy for a man his age, or so Joe could reckon. The man stood to full height, which seemed to be an impressive six foot one at the very least. Although the light was dim this far into the cave, he clearly had bright blue eyes.

"Did… did you do that?" Clarisse asked as she stared at the dead snake in his hands. The man only nodded slowly as he looked from her to her husband and then back again. "Th-thank you." Clarisse felt stupid for saying that, and for sounding so weak when she said it, but that was the only thing she could think to say. The man said nothing as he placed the snake inside his burlap pouch. He never once took his eyes off of Clarisse as he closed the pouch and pushed the pouch to his side once more, where it had been originally. Joe saw something in the man's eyes as they continued to bore into Clarisse's. Joe frowned, not knowing what he was thinking. He spoke up.

"Please, we need to get somewhere where my wife and I are to receive medical attention. Please, we need your help." It had only been when Joe spoke up that the other man looked away from Clarisse, his gaze resting upon Joe. Joe looked at him imploringly. "I beg of you, my wife is severely injured, as am I. My knee was injured last night and my wife was just injured by that snake." The man looked at Clarisse's ankle, which was now the size of a grapefruit. Not once did he say a word. He merely continued to stare from one thing to another. As he continued in his silence, he nodded and made his way towards the entrance of the cave. He looked up to the sun before he raised something up to his lips. It looked to be some sort of whistle or flute. He blew into it and the most beautiful sound emitted from it. It seemed to Joe and Clarisse to be some sort of bird almost.

With his song ended, the man walked back into the cave and slowly, and with great strength, picked Clarisse up. He was so gentle, so steady, and yet that did not stop Joe or Clarisse from being slightly perturbed by his actions.

"I beg your pardon, where are you taking me?" she asked. The man said nothing as he turned and began to leave.

"No, bring her back," Joe commanded, attempting to get up. His make-shift splint was of no help to him. The man stopped and turned around, keeping Clarisse safely in his arms. He looked at Joe as he tried to get up. For the first time since he had entered a few moments ago, he opened his mouth and spoke.

"Do you or do you not wish for my help?" he asked. Joe looked at him curiously before he reluctantly sat back. He nodded.

"I do wish for your help, sir," he said. "You just… scare me, that is all. I thought perhaps you were taking my wife away from me and leaving me here." He hated to admit it, but it had been true. The man stared at him.

"It would be a poor man, indeed, who would steal another man's wife from before that man's very eyes." As he said that, two more men walked up behind him and waited for his orders. He turned to look at them. He said something in a language neither Clarisse nor Joe could not understand and the others nodded before walking over to Joe and helping him to stand.

The small group made their way about half a mile down the beech before they made an unexpected left turn into the trees. They continued this way for some time before they approached an opening. Joe and Clarisse were shocked to discover a small community of houses. There could easily have been a hundred small cottages potted around the clearing. Men, women, and children were also scattered around, a few of whom stopped to stare at the strange newcomers. Children were playing weird games with long, odd looking sticks while the women did things such as converse with one another, and shopped. The men discussed things with each other as well. It seemed odd to Clarisse that the men and women should so easily separate from each other. Then again, she had spent many years as the queen of Genovia. She was used to dealing with many world leaders, most of whom were men. She had to squelch the surge of feminism she was beginning to feel at the thought of women being so easily separated from the men, although she really had no idea of how things really worked in this community.

They stopped when they came to one fine looking hut. One of the men who had come and was now supporting Joe on his right side said something to one of the two guards at the door. The man nodded and entered. A few minutes went by and the guard came out with another man following closely behind. He wore the pelt of a wolf upon his back and he looked somewhat fierce. Clarisse tried, and to no avail, to discern whether this man ever smiled or not. The man looked from Clarisse to Joe.

"Who are you?" he asked. Joe pulled himself up as well as he could.

"I am Joseph Romero and this is my wife, Clarisse. We were just on our way to our honeymoon when our plane met with a hideous storm and crashed. We landed on this island last night and took refuge in a cave not far from here. But please, my wife and I are in desperate need of a physician. Help her first, because she was bitten by a snake and I fear she may need more help than I do. I merely have an injured knee and can deal with it for as long as is necessary." The man listened to the explanation carefully, not once speaking, much as the man now holding Clarisse did. After Joe was finished, he merely nodded to another man, who in turn bowed and left. He looked back at Joe.

"Very well," he said. "My physician shall help the two of you. You may then rest here until we can get word to a loved one what is wrong. We only ask one thing in return."

"And that is?" Joe asked, eager to get Clarisse to a doctor. The man walked up to Joe and stared at him intently.

"When they come to retrieve you, you must go to one of the other islands which encircle our own island. We are a quiet group who do not appreciate intruders. We do not wish for people to discover of our whereabouts. There is no need to transform our humble lives into a tourist's attraction." Joe nodded.

"Agreed," he said. The man smiled as he looked at the newly arrived physician.

"Please escort Mrs. Romero to the woman's hospital and Mr. Romero to the men's." He looked at Joe. "Welcome to La Isle M'Orent."

A/N2: There we are. Hopefully it is worthy. Sorry, but I did not know for sure what Joe's last name was since I've never read the books and this seemed to be the popular consensus. LOL. Thanks for coming this far with me. Read long and prosper. Always Hopeful