Meanwhile, elsewhere on the island

"Kakalina, how much further?" Moana asked irritably as they walked on through the brush, glancing at her surroundings every so often to ensure that they were not being followed – and to also keep an eye on said person with her.

"We should be near one of the smaller lakes that feeds into the larger one near the centre of the island." Kakalina informed her. "But we should be careful because some creatures live in or around it, and then there's some dangerous plants too." She added anxiously.

Then we have to make sure we don't end up as a snack for something the young chieftain thought to herself, wondering again if they were going to end up in one piece by the end of the day.

Silence fell between them again, broken only by the usual, monotonous sounds of their feet hitting the ground, and the occasional call of a distant creature, its voice, despite the distance from the two, making them feel as if it would suddenly burst out of the trees at any moment and rip them apart. They had been on the move since early that morning, having managed to survive by hiding between the roots of a large tree further into the jungle. The howlers had not come after them again, but they had also not run into the others, meaning that they were either still alive and, hopefully, heading in the same direction as they were. When questioned again over what had driven the howler, Kakalina had said that she had no idea, but could speculate that it may have been Kong, the large ape creature she had mentioned previously, but it was just as much of a guess as anyone else would make given the circumstances. Not exactly knowing made them only more apprehensive as to what could other creatures, unknown even to Kakalina, could be lurking here.

Moana tried to keep her head on getting to the lake, but the possibility of something charging out and attacking them – or worse, stalking them – was terrifying and she could not help but perpetually glance at her surroundings. Though a part of her wondered if even that would be helpful, considering that they were on an island where the animals were completely different to the usual lizards, birds, fish etc. of her home islands. Something predatory or herbivore in nature could be watching them right now, and they might not even know about it.

Such things made her think of a horrible possibility that had been absent from her mind until then. What if her someone else came looking for them? More specifically, her parents? Depending on how long they would stay away from Kalea and Montunui, would they decide after some time to send out search parties and come looking for their daughter and the party? If so, there was a chance they could end up here on this island, and if that happened well … the events of the last two days would be an obvious sign to anyone unfamiliar with this place.

Would my parents find me? Or would I just be a pile of bones for them, or anyone else that happened across this island?

All of them were horrific scenarios; morbid, yet at least realistically possible.

"Moana?"

Kakalina's voice snapped the young chieftain out of her trance and turned her pondering/anxious gaze to meet her companion's one of hesitancy, fearful over trying to initiate a conversation with someone who clearly despised her right now.

"Moana, I …" she spoke but trailed off, glancing ahead quickly to ensure that they were not wandering off in another direction and that there was nothing up ahead they might run into. For now, they were okay. "Moana … I'm …" she paused and sighed heavily, regretfully. "I know it's late and pointless to say this, but-"

"Kakalina, there's no point!" Moana interrupted her gruffly, giving her an annoyed look. "It doesn't matter what your intentions were, what you did was wrong?!"

"I know that, and that's why I want to apologise!" Kakalina replied, voice firm but desperate. "Like I said, I didn't mean for this to happen!"

Moana stopped and rounded on her, angrily staring at her face. "Well, guess what? It did, Kakalina!" she snapped vehemently at her. "Because you failed to mention that this island of yours was full of these … these things! You didn't say anything!" Moana's voice had risen considerably now and Kakalina flinched a little. "And because you didn't say anything, everyone else is probably dead and we're stuck here wondering how long we've got left until something tries to eat us!"

She paused for a moment to let her words sink in, and for Kakalina they were a painful reminder of what she had done. A part of her tried to deny this was her fault entirely. Moana had chosen to come here with me! She's just as much to blame as I am. She could have said no! But it was pointless to think such thoughts. She knew the cause for all this, and it all rested squarely upon her shoulders.

"Kakalina, what you have done is despicable! And if we get back to Kalea, you will pay for you've done!"

Kakalina reflected on the single word; if. She knows how dangerous it is for us. "W-what do you mean by paying for it?"

"I don't know," was the blunt answer. "But you better hope that we both make it back, or there'll be nothing stopping you from being fed to whatever's in the ocean."

At that, Kakalina audibly gulped, plainly perturbed by the young chieftain's possible prediction for what could happen to her. She could only imagine what might happen to her if such a scenario were to occur; her being left adrift in the sea to starve or dehydrate to death. Maybe they would just send her away on a boat with nothing and let the gods deal with her as punishment. The sheer ludicrous nature of it did not bear thinking about, but then neither did this island when they fled their last home before coming here – and look where they were now.

"C'mon!" Moana said firmly, grabbing her arm and pulling her along behind her. "We need to get going! Are we still going the right way?"

It took a few seconds for Kakalina to reply; she still lingered on that possibility of what could be in store for her should she survive – the key word being should. Either way, I'm dead.

"Um – y-yeah! We just keep going." She replied, her tone noticeably low, but Moana could care less right now. The young chieftain had to admit she was surprised at her own fierce and assertive demeanour right now but given what had happened who wouldn't feel this way?

They walked on for a few more minutes, the undergrowth gradually becoming more open and spacious with an open area gradually becoming more visible ahead of them. Finally, they emerged from the brush back into the open wilderness of the island.

Before them, about a hundred feet or so, was a large lake about four hundred or so feet across with a large river at the opposite end snaking out towards the row of huge mountains that, though still a considerable distance away, loomed over them, the tip of each one pointing up into the clear blue sky over the island. More forest surrounded most of the sides of the small lake with a tiny row of rocky, green covered hills taking up the rest of the space, a large gap between two sections of them to allow the river to lead on towards what was, presumably, the main lake they had been going towards. Several boulders lined the sides of the lake as if they were ornaments. Though the scene was beautiful to the two women, what really attracted their attention was the wildlife.

"Are we the only things here?" Moana asked Kakalina, who took a quick gaze of her surroundings to see if something was alive.

"No, look!" she answered, pointing over to one of the boulders on the right side of the lake.

Moana looked and saw, to her amazement, a creature that looked like the trunk of a tree but with four thick legs and what looked like a rounded head sticking out of one end that was slightly raised into the air. It bent its legs and lowered its head to the water, holding it there for a few seconds before returning to its original position and then started pounding the ground with one of its legs as it were digging for something.

"What is that?" Moana asked.

"We call those kinds of creatures a logger," Kakalina explained. "I know it isn't very original, but what else can you call them when you see something like that?" she added when Moana gave her a look that said: "Why would you call them that?" "But don't worry, they're not meat eaters. At least, not that I know of."

Well that's reassuring! Moana mentally told herself. "What's it doing?"

"I think its getting rid of the madness plants that grow along the side of some of the lakes. They're quite dangerous so stay clear of them."

They watched the creature as it continued to pound the ground for a few more moments. Then it stopped and raised itself up a little more and going still like a statue. The women exchanged worried looks. Had it seen them, or maybe smelt them or something? If it knew that they were there, what was it going to do?

A loud screech erupted from the logger's direction as it quickly scurried off into the woods behind it as fast as its legs would carry its huge bulk. Now that was strange, and worrying. Did it know something was coming? Moana scanned the surrounding trees, as did Kakalina beside her. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary; there was no loud crushing of trees or growling or anything else that hinted something was approaching. At least, not what they could see or hear or smell.

SPLASH! The two's eyes darted back to the lake, specifically over to the other side. What they saw made them feel amazed, shocked and terrified.

There, some way into the water from the start of the river, was a large creature. Scratch that, it was huge. It stood about sixty to seventy feet tall on two thick, muscular legs that were buried about knee deep in water. The torso was big and bulky with defined muscles at the top and around the area where the abs of a human would be. Two powerful arms hung down by the creature's side. What really stood out about it was the head. It was animal looking, yet had some kind of human resemblance to it in how it was structured, how it looked to be a mix between two things. A pair of eyes with a dazzling and surprisingly beautiful orange colour scanned the surroundings, them being placed above a nose that looked like it had been partially stretched across the face, and below a pair of defined ridges where the eyebrows would normally be located. The mouth had a kind of spherical shape to it as if a ball were attached to the bottom of the face, yet the lips were thin, almost blending into the rest of the body part. The entire creature was covered in a layer of brownish/black hair, though it did little to hide the defined muscular look of the creature's arms, torso, legs and shoulders (and quite possibly the back too). Only the face, hands and top and centre of the torso were largely free of the hair, which revealed to Moana and Kakalina several large scars that ran down the creature's front and also seemed to trail over its right shoulder, evidence it had seen a battle recently.

Given the numerous carnivorous animals they had encountered on the island, Moana was hardly surprised. Yet, actually seeing it close did remind her of the many strange things this island, and possibly the world had to offer – or hide.

To the two women, the name for a creature as this was yet unfounded. In the distant future, generations would call them apes or gorillas, giving similar names to other similar types of beings. Now, however, only one name could be used for it.

"Kong," Kakalina breathed, motioning for Moana to get down so they would not be spotted; the young chieftain obliging.

Even though she had seen this creature a few times, it had always been from a far distance, never this close. It was funny how distance made things appear small, even minuscule, be that theoretically or literally based on distance. Now, being so close to such a creature was truly daunting, intimidating even. Next to her, Moana could not take her eyes off it. This was the first time she had seen such a creature; not even when she was with Maui. This was so new to her.

But also frightening she mentally told herself. What if this one is looking for a quick meal too?

The creature let out a low grunt and squatted down until its bottom was just about to touch the lake's surface, dunked its hand into the water and lifted it up to its mouth and began to take huge gulps of water. When its hand was empty, it repeated the process, this time slurping it and spilling some of it across its chin and bent legs. A third handful, it splashed over the face and rubbed it across it as an ordinary person would when cleaning themselves. Though it was lake water, to the creature this was a refreshing as having a bath.

The two women watched from their position on the ground, not daring to move in fear that they would attract its attention, though a part of them wondered if anything would actually happen given the tired expression the creature held. Moana did slowly half-turn her head to see how far they were from the forest. It was only a couple of tens of feet, but this creature might see them and pounce before they would have a chance to lose themselves in its green depths. She looked at Kakalina, the woman's eyes meeting her own and showing how fearful she was.

What do we do? Moana's expression pressed.

Kakalina just shook her head a little and gestured with her hand, palm facing the ground, looking back at the creature as it splashed a handful of water over its arm, the gesture clearly saying Just don't move anywhere. Moana wanted to contradict but decided against it. Right now, it was not the perfect time to test this 'Kong's' patience or sight.

After a few minutes of washing, Kong stood up, towering over the surrounding forests, wiping his arms clean of water and observed the scenery of the surrounding wilderness, rubbing his eyes to try and keep them awake. He had been on the move most of the night and today, trying to find them. So far, it had been unlucky – the many various predators on the island had seen to that, but he could not give up. If there any left, then he wanted to get to them before the island's creatures did.

The large ape half-turned and gave a final glance at his surroundings, taking in the beauty of the island he had come to know in his time here. As serene and tranquil as it all looked, the dangers of this island were numerous, unending, and perpetually evolving. Anything new that happened across this place was unlikely to survive unless it had luck, skill or was an alpha predator itself. He had learned that the hard way when …

A loud roar sounded out from the forest to Kong's right. Moana and Kakalina looked and saw another strange creature ambling towards Kong – so strange it made Kakalina mutter: "What the…?"

Said creature was about the same height as Kong but was much different. Though it stood on two legs, its body was a kind of silver/grey colour and was knobbly and scale-like in its form; it being held up by two thick legs that pushed and crushed trees with impunity as it advanced towards the lake. A pair of short, Tyrannosaurus-like arms protruded from the front of the creature and ended on a pair of four fingered sharp claws. The head was also like that of a dinosaur but was shorter and taller in form with a pair of glowing orange eyes above a large snout. Below that was a mouth that held hundreds of sharp teeth and emitted hisses and growls as it advanced, each one a sign of intimidation directed solely at the gigantic ape in the lake. What really stood out about the creature were the rows of dorsal fins that ran along the back of the creature, and the long tail that trailed out behind it, but came to a kind of curve near the tip as if it were a second head of sorts (this also had dorsal fins running along it too).

Kong growled and took a few paces back as the creature approached. Though he had never seen this creature before, his instincts told him that its intentions were anything but peaceful. It was likely he had simply crossed into what the creature considered to be its territory and was furious that another being had dared enter it. It stared down the gigantic ape with another growl passing its lips accentuated by a shove of a large tree just on the forest edge. How dare this monkey come here! Well, he was not going to stand for it! He was going to give him a right hiding!

The girls took this chance and began to back away; slowly that is lest they be spotted. Still, they were unable to take their eyes off the spectacle before them. They watched as the creature made its way close the lake's edge, pausing as if hoping its mere presence and the threatening display it had used on its approach would be enough to drive Kong away. The giant ape, however, was unperturbed. Rather, he responded with by beating his closed fists against his chest and then once against his elbow and let out a roar of his own. The power of it seemed to turn Moana and Kakalina's inside to jelly; they could feel them shaking deep under their skin as if they were quivering in fear themselves, terrified that they would end up being spotted and attacked by these two creatures - or whichever of them emerged as the victor.

Well that's gonna be a hard one! Kakalina mentally told herself. This new thing is something even I've never seen before; who knows what it can do!

The creature roared Kong and advanced, teeth bared and claws at the ready. Well he was not going to move on his own! Then he would make him. As the creature entered the lake, he turned his body and swung his tail with full momentum at the gigantic ape.

But Kong was ready for him. Just as the tail was about to make contact, he ducked and grabbed it with his hands. With a turn of his hips, he threw the creature into the lake, sending ten-foot waves in all directions. The creature roared in anger and picked itself up, rounding on Kong, snarling, growling, raring to attack. He charged at Kong, swinging at him with his claws, but Kong easily side-stepped him and dropped his fist onto the creature's head that nearly knocked it headfirst into the lake. Moana watched, surprised that Kong was able to fight an enemy so easily.

It was not over yet, however. The creature swung its left clawed hand up. This time it hit home, striking Kong in the chin and knocking him back a few paces. A follow-up came with the other and knocked him onto the side of the lake. Kong was stunned, shaking his head a little as if to try and get rid of the shock inflicted on him. The creature stood over him, glaring down at his fallen enemy with a growl and a sneer. You dare come here, you get the punishment you deserve.

A yellow glow began to light up from the dorsal fins, slowly but gradually racing up them from the tail to the back of the creature's neck. Kong seemed to sense something bad because he immediately rolled out of the way and, almost simultaneously, launched a kind of kick at the creature's head just as its mouth opened.

One moment, the girls were watching with a mixture of fascination and terror at the fighting behemoths before them. The next, a wall of fire was screaming towards them, the heat almost bearing down onto their flesh and making it burn as if they had been thrown directly into a fire.

"RUN!" Kakalina screamed.

She grabbed Moana and, practically pulling the young chieftain, ran towards the lake and dived to the ground, covering her head with her hands (a rather pointless move if anything did fall towards them). A wave of heat exploded behind them as a wall of fire engulfed the trees, yet the two creatures were unfazed and continued to fight one another.

Kong swung two fists into the lake, sending a wave of water over the creature in an attempt to stop its fire breath. Though it splashed the creature, it only served to annoy it and the dorsal fins lit up again. Another burst of fire erupted from its mouth and followed Kong as he moved out of the way, the water boiling to steam behind him. The fire singed his hair a few times as he dodged it. He could not keep this up forever! He had to act, or it was going to roast him, but he had an idea.

As the creature paused to regain its strength, Kong charged and body slammed into him, knocking him over with another thunderous splash. The creature roared in anger and went to get up but received a punch to the face by Kong. Kong then rushed past him and grabbed a fallen tree. Just as his foe was picking itself up, the giant ape slammed it into its mouth, hoping it would stop more fire from being used, and knocked it back into the lake with a fierce kick.

Kakalina looked up at the monsters and then behind her at the flames. That fire was going to spread fast unless they did something. It was not very often that the island got stormy weather, though when it did, it was a real storm. The only thing that could really stop it was that the fire might burn itself out, but given the amount of trees that were present in its immense jungles, that would take a long time.

A loud grunt made her look back at the lake to see Kong holding the creature by the tail and … lifting it out of the water! With a powerful throw, he tossed the creature though the air right at the burning trees. The huge bulk of the creature landed with a loud BOOM that shook the ground as if an earthquake were taking place as it flattened a large section of trees behind them, immediately extinguishing the flames and ending the threat, and possibly the creature too as it did not rise again.

Jeez that was a close one! Kakalina mentally told herself. We were lucky not – Moana!

She looked down at the chieftain beside her to see groggily lifting her head up from the ground, a pained expression on her face accentuated by her gritting her teeth and a light cry passing her lips.

"Oh no!" Kakalina breathed in fear. "Moana, are you okay?!"

Moana tried to reply but found it hard to do so. Her jaw felt like it was locking up, her breathing became strangled and she tried to push herself up once with her arm but it gave out and she collapsed back to the ground again. Too weak. No strength, yet seemingly without reason. What was doing this to her?

On the lake Kong observed the fallen creature and the smoking remains of the trees that lay around it. It had been a short, but quite fierce fight. He bore a small wound on his chin and his hair was singed a little by the heat of the creature's fire. Heavy breaths came from him; he nearly felt like falling asleep in the river then and there but forced himself to stay awake and remain focused on what he was doing out here. He had to find them, if any were left. He thought he saw something near the lake, but his brain was too tired to focus on it more or even go and investigate. Whatever it is, it can wait.

Kong turned and, with a final glance to make sure his enemy was down – he was – walked right into the forest, following the path the creature had made on its way to the lake. Fallen trees crunched loudly as he moved through the jungle, though they quickly faded away as his body disappeared behind the foliage.

Kakalina breathed a sigh of relief and helped Moana to her feet, placing one arm around her to keep the young woman steady. She went to speak but stopped when she saw something on the ground. Her face lost all colour.

It was a small yellow/orange coloured plant with small, but needle-like thorns sticking out of the sides of the stem. Miniscule red dots were irregularly placed across the petals, along with … what looked like … a small, crimson red drop of …

Kakalina looked down and saw a tiny wound on Moana's neck, just above her collar bone. Her face turned into a look of fright, pure fear. Oh no!

"W-what is it?" Moana asked anxiously, seeing the woman's shocked expression.

"That flower," Kakalina told her in a quiet voice, though the fear was evident from a mile away. "You landed on it when I pulled you over here. I'm sorry!"

Moana looked down at the flower and then at the tiny cut on her neck. Though it had stopped oozing what little blood came from it, the effects were already starting to take effect on Moana. She felt a dull pain across her body as if she had a full body form of arthritis or something. Her muscles felt weak and she coughed a little, spitting up a bit of mucus onto the grass.

"What's happening to me?!" she asked Kakalina.

The woman did not answer, but instead looked away. Tears began to form on the edge of her eyes. No! No! This was her fault! How could she be so stupid to let this happen! She just condemned the chieftain of the Montunui people to …

"What's happening, Kakalina?" Moana asked again, this time her voice more demanding but laced with fear.

"That plant is what we call a 'madness plant'," she told Moana as she turned to face her, the look in her eyes clear in that this was something very bad, every word a prophecy of terrible things that would befall her. "When you land on it and if any of the poison inside you-"

"Poison?!" Moana exclaimed, terrified.

"Yes. We have to get you to the lake. There's some caves there with some bats living in them. Don't worry they're normal. We need to cover you in guano. It's the only way we know how to get rid of it."

Moana did not reply. Her gaze fell to the ground, contemplating the situation before them. Being stuck on an island, scattered from the rest of her tribe and being hunted by monstrous creatures was one thing. But … but now she had landed on a plant infused with poison from a plant, one that would … she did not want to think about it.

A part of her momentarily thought on what this would mean for her now. With her life now on a timer – a small one at that – according to Kakalina, then she would only be another casualty on this island. She could imagine her parents and tribe, along with any potential survivors, if any did get off the island, being completely heartbroken beyond repair, but to this place she would just be another piece of meat for the creatures here, another meal to suffice their endless hunger for flesh and blood.

"We need to get going!" Moana spoke up after a few moments, determined not to let this be the end of them, and her. "C'mon. We can get there!"

With newfound strength, she set off around the left side of the lake, pulling Kakalina with her. Above them, the sun began its afternoon descent behind to the west, soon to signal the night, and possibly the death of another human on the island.

Author note

Hey fellow FF readers and writers.

Apologies again for the lack of updates. I had a lot of work and severe writers block developing this chapter and the furtherance of the plot from here on. Rest assured, I will not abandon this FF and I think I have the plot sorted out after a lengthy revision.

Take care to you all.