Alek stirred as he heard someone call his name in the distance.
"Stop!" Alek thought. He didn't want to leave this safe, warm place he was in. He just wanted to stay and do nothing; no responsibilities and no problems to deal with. However, the voice kept calling, undeterred by Alek's reluctance. It grew louder and louder until Alek could no longer withstand it. Alek's eyes jumped open . Bright, searing light blinded him. He blinked to clear his vision, then Dylan's face came into view. His face was so close, only a few centimeters apart. Alek scrambled backwards, kicking up the sand into Dylan's face. Dylan softly cursed and drew his arm across his eyes.
"Blisters, calm down, ya daft prince!" Dylan growled. His voice sounded hoarse as if he had been screaming for hours on end. He put his arm down. Alek peered into his face; something in the back of his mind told him something was wrong with Dylan. As he stared at his unusually thin, petite face; he remembered. Dylan was a girl. Alek's earlier rage overwhelmed him again, and he looked away from Dylan, if that was even her name. He couldn't bear to look at her. She had lied to him!
He clambered to his feet, unsteady for a moment. He regained his balance and began to walk away. He heard scuttling behind him as Dylan followed. He suppressed his urge to turn around and scream at her. Instead, he quietly said, "Go away." He continued to walk forward. The footsteps behind him came to a stop and he heard a slight thump as if she had fallen. Concerned, he turned around to find Dylan on the ground with her head between her hands. He heard a soft sound and realized she was crying. Only once had he seen her cry, when she had told him about her father. He realized how important he must be to her to evoke such sadness. He suddenly knew why she couldn't tell him. She was in love with him.
All of his anger melted away, and bewilderment took its place. He valued her friendship more than anything, but he couldn't do it. He is a prince and she is a commoner. He would have to run a mile, but he just couldn't abandon their friendship; especially now when they had no idea where they were! Alek walked towards Dylan and put his hand on her back.
"Come on, Dylan. Let's figure out how to get back." Alek calmly said. Dylan looked up at him with puffy, red eyes and moved her lips, trying to say something. "What?" Alek asked.
"Deryn." She said, finally finding her voice. Alek cocked an eyebrow and Dylan said, "My name." Alek understood and nodded, glad to finally know her real name. He offered her his hand and she took it. He pulled her up to her feet. She swayed slightly, and Alek grabbed her to keep her steady. She nodded her thanks, and pulled away from him. She walked towards the shore, looking at the sky. "I can't tell where we are without the stars, but it's about mid-afternoon. We'll just have to wait." With that, Deryn turned around and advanced to the middle of the island.
"Where are you going?" Alek inquired, curious.
"Well, we gotta find some shelter, ya ninny. Not to mention, we have to figure out if there's someone or something here that can help us." Deryn continued walking and Alek followed. They walked for what felt like a half hour to Alek. Sweat had started to bead up on his forehead and it was starting to drip down.
"It's quite hot. We must be somewhere near the equator." Alek voiced his thoughts out loud.
"We must have drifted south. Our ship was headed towards North America, not south." Deryn replied, panting from the heat. Thousands of animal sounds echoed throughout the jungle as if responding to Deryn's voice. The jungle was hot and humid as though it was about to rain. Alek had no doubt that it would at some point. He looked up at the canopy of trees above him and made out a huge snake coiled on the branches above him. Alek quickened his pace. Alek looked around some more and discovered many beautiful flowers. He once thought he saw a jaguar stalking through the trees, but when he looked again, nothing was there. He figured it must have been a trick of the light, and the exhaustion that was slowly starting to wear on him.
Alek looked back in front of him, right in time to see a branch fast approaching his face. It was too late to dodge it , whacked him right in the mouth. Alek stumbled backwards from the blow. It had cut him on his lip, and he tasted blood in his mouth. Alek glared forward. Deryn was slapping branches out of her way; whipping right back into place.
"Be more careful, would you? A branch caught me in the face." Alek hollered.
"Sorry, your royal princeliness! I have to get these branches out of the way somehow!" Deryn yelled back. Alek grumbled, but otherwise continued forward; wary of the branches Deryn whipped back. He thought he saw a glimmer of metal to his right. Alek stopped for a second and looked again. Sure enough, he saw a little piece of scrap metal hanging on a branch. Alek picked it up and inspected closer. It looked like a small part of one of a walker's pistons…..
"What are you doing, ya daft prince?" He heard Deryn call.
"Dyl-Deryn, you should come see this." Alek motioned for Deryn to come back. Deryn tromped over to him.
"What's that?"
"I believe it's a part of a piston from a walker." Alek answered.
"What would one of those Clanker contraptions be doing here?" Deryn asked.
"No clue," Alek was thoroughly puzzled. "Let's check it out."