This fanfic contains a lot of swearing, smoking, violence and various other mature themes.
Jasper, Peridot, Lapis Laszuli, Steven, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Peedee, Kiki, Gunga, Onion, Sadie and Lars are the property of Rebecca Sugar and Cartoon Network.
This is an AU where gems differ slightly from canon in that they have a measurable heart beat as well as other small changes that you will likely notice, I'm not mentioning all of them here because spoilers and I'm lazy. Mask Island is much bigger than canon version.
Day 6 of this story is the day of "Super Watermelon Island".
This fanfic is written from the perspective of E. K. Brooks who spends a lot of time alone before any canon characters are introduced. Thou hath been informed-ETH!
Chapter 2: The shakesDay 1
I woke up laughing. I couldn't remember what I had dreamt, but it had been very funny. It was rare for me to wake up like that and I savored they unexpected joy. The sun was just peeking over the horizon and I stretched to welcome it, feeling refreshed and ready to start my new life. A quick breakfast of instant oatmeal and a cup of coffee with a cigarette for dessert. The first thing on my internal list was to find the fresh water spring. I dug out a printed satellite image of the island and traced the dotted line to the mark indicating the location of the spring. I put on my utility belt with a lot of pockets on top of my shorts and grabbed a one gallon jerry can. After hesitating a moment, I picked up the machete in my free hand. I might need it for vines or to defend myself from spiders. There were only a few things I feared and spiders were one of them. Back in my country, the spiders didn't get very big, but here on a tropical island, I knew they could be disturbingly large. One of the warnings Parker had given me was that this place had never been inhabited, so no one had really documented the wild life. The one thing we did know was that it wasn't big enough to house any large predators like panthers or bears. It was more than likely there were monkeys and marsupials of some variety, and a whole butt load of different kinds of birds. I was really hoping to see some animals. If they hadn't seen humans before, maybe we could hang out and chitter over a coconut. I smiled to myself and strode forward into the jungle. It was hotter in there than I thought and sweat beaded on my forehead after less than a minute. There was so much to see! The trees stretched high above my head, great thick trunks covered in moss and vines. Beautiful flowers grew everywhere and all the different sweet scents mixed wonderfully with the smell of soil. There were enormous geodes scattered around, their hearts exposed and glittering in patches of sunlight. I followed what seemed to be a thin animal trail that was going the right way. Maybe it led to the spring? After a few minutes the spring came into view. I stopped and stared. A narrow waterfall cascaded down into a small pool of crystal clear water, rainbows shimmering in the spray. It felt almost sacrilegious to dip my jerry can in the water. I knew it was ground water, because Parker didn't leave anything to chance. I wouldn't even have to filter it. It was surprisingly cold to the touch and I splashed my face. I felt as if I was really in another world, like I'd stepped through a wardrobe and ended up in Narnia. I whooped, not being able to contain the happiness bubbling up in my chest. I walked back to the campsite, listening to the birdsong and trying to mimic them, but failing miserably. I spotted something red on a low tree – it looked like someone had decorated it with Christmas baubles. It was mangoes! I walked over and sniffed at them. They smelled delicious and I put the ripest one in my pocket. At the beach, I set down the can and drew a three by three feet square in the sand to the right of the tent. I started to dig with my little shovel, singing random snippets of songs as I worked. It was going to be a storage pit for my supplies. I wanted to reinforce the walls and the floor with bamboo or something, and also put a lid on it to protect it from animals and rain. It took longer than I anticipated to dig it out and my stomach felt uncomfortably empty. I decided it must be time for lunch. I rummaged through the pile of supplies and found some ships biscuits and a can of baked beans. I ate it cold with a big cup of water from the jerry can. Sitting by the fire and eating beans straight out the can made me feel like I was a cowboy, riding out west to find gold. I aimed a finger gun at a seagull and made said "Bang!". It looked at me like I was crazy and I nearly choked laughing.
After I had finished eating I decided to tackle the next digging project – a latrine. I walked fifty or so yards away along the cliff wall to the right of the tent. There was a pile of rocks and I figured this was a good a place as any. I didn't want it too close to the camp for obvious reasons and not in the jungle because spiders. Putting it where I now stood also gave it a fantastic view of the ocean. I dug down a few feet and climbed out. It would be a good idea to shore up the sides of this too; I really didn't want it collapsing in on itself while I was doing my business. There was a huge splash behind me and I whipped around. I couldn't believe my eyes! Dolphins! I ran down to the water and out onto the stretch of rock that formed the leftmost wall of the coral reef. I had never seen dolphins before! Or, yes, sure on TV, but never in real life. They looked so happy, leaping high into the air and then back into the crashing waves. I thought my heart would burst with delight, this was a dream come true. I drank in the view of the frolicking, gray creatures, watching them until they were lost in the swell of the ocean. Not being able to stop smiling I turned around and headed toward the jungle again, to see if I could find some bamboo. I kept close to the beach though, hoping to hear more splashing and see the dolphins again. Maybe this was their feeding ground? Hopefully they would come back. After around twenty minutes I found a patch of giant bamboo stalks. Luckily there was an area with thinner sticks and shoots that suited my needs perfectly. I chopped down around thirty for the latrine, since I felt I needed to use that pretty soon. I carried them back to the beach and made quick work of shoring up the sides. Then I tested it out. It was a bit of a balancing act, but I didn't fall in, so great success! I stashed a roll of bio degradable toilet paper in a plastic case between two rocks. Maybe I'd construct a parasol to put over it, might be nice for when it rained. I returned to the bamboo patch to get sticks for the supply pit. This wasn't as deep as the latrine, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. I put down some sticks in the bottom and then saw to the sides. After I deemed it good enough, I began piling the supplies in, organizing it in order of accessibility. There was space left over for me to squat in the middle of the area, where I could reach everything without straining my back over much. Before I called it a day, I took out three little nets and changed into my swimming shorts. They had big pockets where I could put water safe tools and string. I had spied out a few places where fish seemed to gather and put the three nets out, remembering doing the same with my dad during the summer vacations. Back then, we had used a boat and the nets were much, much bigger and weighed down. I recalled the excitement I had felt when we went out early in the morning to pull them up. My sister and I would look down into the water as dad did all the work, shouting out when something was coming up; trying to guess what it was before it reached the surface. I realized with a sudden stab of loss, that he must have been beaming when we did that. I smiled sadly to myself. He had always loved the sea and had taught himself to sail by stealing a dinghy from a water sports club and sailing around the large island he had spent his summers on as a boy. He had got into terrible trouble for doing that, but it was one of his most precious memories.
Back on the beach I decided to take a swim before it got dark. That was another one of my fears – swimming in the dark. Because that's just what it felt like, swimming in liquid darkness. I dumped out my tools and strode back into the water. I took a few strokes and then started to float on my back, looking up into the cloud streaked sky. Birds flew over me and I was rocked by the waves rolling over the reef. Since I had done a whole bunch of work today I would reward myself tomorrow by going snorkeling. My stomach rumbled after a while and I made my way back to the campsite. As I struggled out of my clinging swim wear it struck me that I could be naked if I wanted to. There was no one around for miles. My cheeks flushed and I giggled to myself as if I was about to do something very mischievous. I hadn't been naked on a beach since I was a toddler. I hung the wet clothes on a pair of spare bamboo sticks and turned to face the sea. The breeze felt unfamiliar on my usually concealed areas and I wasn't sure I liked it. Some of my friends had sunbathed topless when I was younger, but I had never tried. I was more of a one-piece swimsuit kind of girl. Until I had realized that girls could wear swim shorts too. That had been such a revelation to me. Somehow I had gotten it into my head that girls weren't allowed to wear them. I had a strong feeling my mother had something to do with that. She and my sister had got along very well, both loved to shop and do all that girly-girl stuff I had never had an interest in. They had their spa-days and trips to the nail salon, sometimes even wearing matching dresses. I remember my mother telling me that even as a little kid I had refused to wear a dress. Apparently, when I was made to wear one for a fancy party I would disappear and then come back butt naked, to the embarrassment of my mother. My dad had chuckled in his quiet way at that, earning him a warning look from his wife. Smiling at the recollection I walked around, trying it out. I had no problem being naked at home, but this felt a bit uncomfortable. Maybe I'd get over myself and start to enjoy it later. I put on some dry clothes for now. For dinner I had more beans and biscuits and the mango I had found on my way back from the spring. The sun was setting now and I could feel my skin burning from slight overexposure to the sun. I had always loved that feeling. I dug out my notepad and started to doodle while I still had a little light. I drew dolphins jumping until I couldn't make it out anymore. I stared into the fire instead and wondered how many other people out there were doing the same thing right now. I closed my eyes for a moment and must have fallen asleep, because when I opened them the stars were sparkling over my head. There were so many of them! I could see the Milky Way with my naked eye! It was astonishing… I had never seen the sky so clearly before, every star indeed a diamond, twinkling down at me. I stared until my eyes teared up, I didn't want to blink and realize I was back home in my apartment and that this had all been a dream. When I opened my eyes again I was still on the beach, the sand coarse between my toes and against the palms of my hands. I sighed in relief and lay back so my entire field of vision was taken up by the spectacular view. It felt as if I could fall into it, it was so still and perfect.
Day 2
The ground trembled and I dropped all the rupees on the cobbles, making a sound like Sonic losing all his power rings. The people in the square walked around as if nothing had happened. I started to pick them up, I needed them to buy the blue chicken from the mask salesman to give to the Grave Digger so he'd let me see the frogs, god damn it. Then I woke up. The ground was vibrating! What! Was this an earthquake? I had no plan for an earthquake! I searched my memory and all I could recall was American children getting under their school desks, but I didn't have a desk. Then it stopped. I clutched at my chest, breathing fast. Parker hadn't said anything about this being an earthquake zone, that's not something she would leave out. What the hell? Was there a volcano on the island about to erupt?! Panicking, I sprinted away from the cliff to look up at the mountain – the top was round and smooth, no opening and no smoke. Had I imagined it? Ugh what an unsettling sensation. There was a low rumble and the sand shook underneath my feet. It wasn't as big as the first one, but hell if it didn't send my heart rate through the non-existent roof. The trees to my right rustled and the jungle was eerily silent. The shaking only persisted for a few seconds and then the sound of birds returned to the world. Was that an… aftershock? I sank to the ground, waiting for it to happen again. I sat there for a good fifteen minutes, trying to control my breathing. When I had calmed down I scurried back to the tent and lit a cigarette in shaking hands. I felt very exposed somehow and I didn't like it one bit. My old mantra 'don't get afraid, get angry' bounced around in my head. But there was nothing for me to be angry at. It wasn't like the quakes were caused by a person whose ass I could kick, or at least glare at until they stopped out of embarrassment. Times like these, I wanted to have something solid at my back, like the cliff, but that seemed like a bad idea at the moment. What if it came down? I grabbed a couple ships biscuits, a coffee packet and a cup of water and hurried away from the camp. I sat down and began to eat, far too fast. I forced myself to stop. This is not the time to binge; I had promised myself there wouldn't be any more binging, ever. Holy shit balls. An earthquake. I tried to reason with myself. You are afraid, that's ok. You have never experienced anything like that before; it's alright to be freaked out. You confirmed there isn't a volcano on the island. You have no control over stuff like this; you can only control how you see it. How do you deal with fear, when you can't get angry at it? I spoke out loud: "Ridi-culous!" and waved an imaginary wand. How the fuck would I make an earthquake funny though? Shaking, trembling, jostling, jiggling, yellow, yarn, orange, blueberry, fruit cup, bowl, fork, spoon, flour, sugar, cake, mixing, frosting, dough… Then suddenly it popped into my mind like it was the Kool-Aid Guy – Jell-O – it jiggled. I pictured one of those huge molded gelatin creations on a plate, jiggling as the ground trembled. I smirked. "Jell-O don't care about no earthquake" I hummed quietly, and then repeated it louder. "Jell-O don't care about no earthquaaaaake!" I jumped to my feet. "Earthquake make Jell-O shake, shake, shake"
"Jell-O is mighty" I threw sand into the air "Jell-O is stroooong!" I flexed my arms, "Absorbs falling rocks and becomes stronger! Jell-O don't care! Jell-O don't worry about nothing! It's all jigg-e-lyy" I grabbed my stomach and jiggled it up and down. "I am Jell-ooooooo!"
I lay down on the ground, panting. 'OK' I thought, 'Mission accomplished'. I didn't have to wait long before the ground shook again. I was just about to head into the water to see if my nets had caught any fish when it hit. I took a deep breath and struck a ridiculous pose.
"Jell-O don't care about no earthquake! Quake make Jell-O shake, shake, shake!"
This one was slightly longer than the first one.
"Jell-O is mighty! Jell-O is strong!" I screamed in my most macho voice, stomping the ground like a sumo wrestler. "Jell-O make you shake!"
I waited for the aftershock to pass before checking the nets. There was a fish in the first net, but I had never seen anything like it before. It was purple and had little white mask on its head. I figured it might be deformed, but then the other nets carried two more fish that looked exactly the same. I brought them to shore in my string bag and started to dissect one. On the inside it looked like any other fish. Had I just found a new species of fish? I felt a thrill go down my spine. Oh, that'd be awesome! Then I would get to name it! I decided to document as much as I could, sketching the fish in my note pad. My stomach complained after a while. Would I dare eat it? Would it be poisonous? Hmm… How could I test for that? I looked over where I had thrown the fish guts; the place had been picked clean by the sea gulls. If it was OK for birds, it'd probably be OK for humans. I cooked one fish and stood ready with a bottle of sea water to make myself throw up if I started to feel… poisoned. How would I be able to tell?
"Here goes nothing" I said as I took a bite, closing my eyes tight as if I might get struck by lightning. The white meat was tasty; it had a mild but savory flavor, almost like tuna. I wanted to continue eating, but forced myself to wait to see if anything weird happened. To pass the time I doodled on my note pad. A caricature of myself with my stomach exploding took shape. I snickered, thinking what the obituary would say if this is how I died.
"Erica Katheryn Brooks, 32, died from eating stomach exploding fish"
After a while I reckoned I wasn't going to die, so I ate the rest of the fish. I cooked the other two to save for later.
Day 3
I spent this day exploring the area of jungle closest to the camp. I found some more fruit trees, one of them infested by spiders. Let's just say I got the fuck away from there very fast. I also found a deep crack in the ground, about fifty yards long. A result from the earthquakes? I looked down into it, seeing a lot of sparkling stones. I didn't stay long since I didn't want to fall in if there was another tremor.
There were four quakes during the entirety of the day, one hitting just as I had lain down to sleep. It was disturbing enough when it happened when I was on my feet. Feeling the vibrations resonate in my skull made me feel sick. I sat up quickly and held my head, touching the tingling scar at the back of my neck. It took me a long time for sleep to come that night.
Day 6
I had established a routine now. I would wake up, have some breakfast and then check the nets for fish. Then I'd go refill one or both of the jerry cans and then have a swim to reward myself. I felt I had mastered the jello-mantra and was barely bothered by the quakes anymore, even though they had increased in frequency over the last few days. When the first one of this day hit, however, it was a completely different story. I had just got out of the water after my morning swim when there was a distant crash as if something huge had splashed into the ocean. I couldn't see anything from where I was standing. No trees had fallen over and the mountain was intact, so maybe it was on the other side of the island. Images of Godzilla trampling Tokyo raced through my mind. Then the entire island bucked like a bronco. My heart almost tore itself a new one as my feet momentarily left the ground. The ground kept shaking for more than twenty minutes this time and then everything just stopped. I was on all fours, trying to hold on to the wet sand with fingers and toes. What the hell was going on?
"Jell-O!" I shouted angrily into the air. I was expecting more quakes, but none came. At sunset dark clouds rolled in and it started to rain. I had been lying in the sand, looking out to sea and thinking of nothing in particular when the first few drops hit me. I ran to the camp, grabbing the Luggage and throwing a couple cans of food in there before crawling into my tent. Thunder rolled and the rain came down hard, it was almost too loud. The wind had got up and I could hear it whistling around the support lines of the tent. I could see the waves on the ocean increase in size as the wind and rain beat down. I closed the tent flap and wiggled into my sleeping bag. It felt cozy lying there in the warm, the storm roaring outside.
