The two of them were slowly climbing down the cliff. There were several gusts of wind that nearly knocked them off, but both men barely held on. Watts was definitely worse at climbing than James and had the loss of an eye as well.

"You know I actually wish Cinder were here right now! At least she could bloody fly!" he said to James, trying to speak up over the wind.

"If you don't shut up, I'm going to stomp on your hands!" James bellowed back at him from above. Watts hadn't stopped talking ever since they'd started climbing down.

"I thought we were on the same side now!" Watts chided back as he took another step down. He carefully looked down to make sure he had good footing. There was still a way to go before they reached the ocean.

"I blew Sleets' head off! I'm not afraid of sending you flying! Not another word!"

"Oh, so that's what happened to poor old Sleet!"

The threat did seem to shut Watts up. About a half hour passed before they decided to take a short break, though they were still in a precarious position.

Another strong gust of wind nearly threw James off, but he held on tight. Ironwood took the moment to look out at the island they were heading to. He'd seen nothing like it before. There had never been any evidence of such an undiscovered island on Remnant. Oz had never told them about anything like this, though he had kept other truths from them before. Another one would make no difference.

Their break ended as fast it had begun. Once again they were trekking their way down. It was long and perilous, but the two of them had reached the bottom. A simple leap and they would be in the sea. "How well can you swim?" he asked Arthur.

Arthur furrowed his brow and gazed down at the water. "Doesn't look too deep!"

Ironwood figured that meant Watts wanted him to take the first dive. The water was freezing cold but not deep, just like Arthur said. "Icey but fine! Jump in!"

Watts let go and fell into the water and cursed as soon as the cold water touched his skin. As soon as they looked back they saw the cliff was gone. "Looks like our wonderland really is just that! What now?"

"We move on! There's only one way to figure out the truth behind this place and it's on that island!"

"Agreed."

The cold water left them shivering as they waded through it. James pushed himself along while Watts took a moment to taste the water. It was as salty as any other ocean. He spat it out and kept moving.

The waves got fiercer for a while, nearly causing Arthur to go under if not for the intervention of James grabbing him. The two struggled to wade through the ocean until finally they stumbled onto the shore. Wet, tired, cold but alive, the two survivors laid their backs out onto the warm beach sand.

For a good long while they made no effort to move. There was really nothing else in the world at that moment. Warm sand between their fingers and genuine heat from the sun or whatever passed itself off as the sun here.They felt for a fleeting moment the freedom of being unburdened. No thoughts of revenge, survival or saving the world. Just the warm, soft sand.

"We should get moving" James finally said after their long interlude of blissful silence. He sat up and caused some sand to fall out of the crevices of his beard.

Already he noticed several differences from the vault and the island. From what he could tell was that day was turning to night.

"We're probably going to need to search for food and water. How are the rations I gave you?"

Arthur pulled out his crushed, dried and pitiful ration packet. "As well as you'd think."

James frowned. Guess it's back to basics…

Ironwood looked out to the island forest. There was something strange about this place. Perhaps it was tied to Salem. Perhaps not. But he had to find out. He had refused to die in the vault and he wouldn't give up now.

"Then you stay here. See about starting a fire. I'll find something to eat and drink."

Watts sighed and got up from his seated position. Arthur wondered how the hell he was going to make a fire, but grunted his acceptance anyways. There was no place for complacency now.

"James! Take this! In case of trouble."

Watts tossed him Due Process. James caught it in a free hand and nodded, spinning the revolver and sliding it into its holster. Then he turned and set out. The island reminded him of Menagerie, though it seemed so devoid of life.

He pushed large bushes and the drooping leaves of massive trees. All along the way he left markers of passage on the trees. No other questions dominated his mind but two: How they were going to get out of here and what that massive tree was. It didn't look natural, none of the island did, but the central tree was the most suspicious thing of them all.

For now, he had to just survive.

Survival came in the form of food and water. An hour-long trek eventually uncovered a stream of clear water. From a quick taste he knew it wasn't ocean water. He cupped his hands and greedily drank from the stream. Fresh water was a miracle and he was going to fully partake in it. His aching thirst was finally quenched.

Now, about taking some back with me…

Ironwood didn't know how to bring the water back. He had no canteens nor buckets to haul back to Watts. We'll come back for more. Make buckets out of the wood. James took another handful of water to drink.

He went further and began washing his beard out with water. It was so cool and refreshing to the skin. James took a moment to think and decided that he ought to wash himself. He'd gone about a week without cleaning himself.

Instinctually he checked his surroundings for anyone. He shook his head and pinned it on his ever present paranoia. The only other person here was Watts.

He began to strip himself down. It didn't take too long. First came the combat boots, the pants and then the rest. Due Process sat in its holster as he took it off and set it aside with the rest of his clothes.

Ironwood dipped into the stream and let out a relaxed "Ahhh" as he submerged into the cooling flow. He felt a little bad about doing this, especially when Watts was busy making some form of shelter for them. He can bathe next.

The stream was certainly deep enough for a good wash. He got to work on cleaning his body. The parts of him that were made of metal and machine cybernetics had been built as water resistant. Even his new arm was perfectly fine when submerged in water.

James took the time to clean out his beard and hair, long matted with sweat and grime and blood. When he opened his eyes again he saw his own reflection.

While cleaner, his beard was still a mess of outgrown hair, untrimmed and unattended to. Underneath his eyes were heavy bags, leaving two deep blue pits for eyes.

He hated the image he saw. James had never liked seeing his cybernetic parts in the past, but now he was disgusted by them. The sheer amount that was machine rather than flesh.

Ironwood had a broad shoulder and chest. That which was still human was muscular, but there wasn't much humanity left. One fully cybernetic arm, half his body, most of his other arm.

His eyes trailed up his black arm. The newest addition. Sacrificed to stop Watts. Thinking back, it might have been just another on a long list of sacrifices that did nothing to stop the fall of Atlas or place a dent in Salem's plans. The hand balled into a fist. No. I had to. I was made to.

His own voice seemed to echo back inside his mind. Keep telling yourself that. Everything is Mettle's fault! That's right… free yourself from responsibility… accept your slavery…

Ironwood looked away from his reflection. His broken, inhuman body sickened him. James was glad no one was here to see him.

Rising from the water, feeling cleaner and refreshed to a degree, Ironwood began putting his clothes back on. He habitually adjusted his red tie and then slipped Due Process back into its holster. His search for food had to continue.

There was a lingering presence he couldn't shake though. Like his thoughts were more vivid.

Shaking his head, he headed back to Arthur, unaware of the watching eyes that followed him from the trees, pink and brown.

"Get your head together James… you have to survive."

He followed his own trail back.

A/N: Took a bit longer than usual. Chapters will be slower for a while because of university papers. I also am planning more of the story. The ending is already conceptualized.

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