A/N: For those of you who spotted the 2001: A Space Odyssey reference in the previous chapter, I salute you! Thanks to the one who clarified about Nobuyuki and Katsuhito, and I humbly apologize for not including those brownnosing dolls of Washu! As for the story… well, it's about to take a very interesting turn!

The Island

Gentle waves licked, recessed, touched, retrogressed, waned, waxed, came forward, drew back, tickled, left bare, splashed, left dry… Something that sounded like a squeaking sound came from above, and a dull cawing sound followed. Birds--no, seagulls. Something warm, and bright, and comforting sprayed forth. A tickling sensation, like being poked by a pencil, etched its way across the unresponsive body.

Princess Ayeka of the planet Jurai, heir to the universe, reputed as the universe's most beautiful woman, young and influential, was laying face-first in the smooth, unadulterated sand of a beach. The tide offered her pruned feet a brief sensation of cool relief from the heat of the sun, and the cry of seagulls assured her that this was indeed land. Little good that did--she wasn't conscious enough to enjoy it.

The crab that had been walking across her bare arm stopped briefly, almost as if examining this new figure. It had not been there the previous morning; perhaps it would vanish later on? Although not brilliant enough to ponder over these questions, the crab did stay around long enough to discover whether this thing was alive or not.

The waves continued tickling Ayeka's feet and the sun grew warmer as morning slowly turned into afternoon. A seagull hopped on her back, and screeched away as its perch mumbled and tossed. Ayeka's sandy face was smacked by the sun's brilliant rays (the crab had scurried away satisfied), and she let out something that might have been a moan, had it been uttered by a stronger being.

Beaten and destroyed beyond definition, Ayeka rested on that beach for a good while longer before she came to. Fluttering her eyes open, she squinted from the glare of the sun and slowly got her bearings back. Other than the warmth of the sun, Ayeka only knew the touch of the waves and sand, and the cry of the gulls nearby. With a groan so soft it was barely audible, she made an effort to sit up. To her surprise, she discovered that she was alive--although hardly well.

"Whehmai?" Something even softer than a whisper came out of her mouth. Sore from saltwater and swimming, her voice was temporarily ruined. It would heal in another hour or so, not that Ayeka needed to speak anyway.

I'm alive, she thought--obviously the first thing that came to mind. Thank the Creator of all worlds, I'm alive!! I made it! Somehow, I made it onto land!

But now… Now what do I do?

In the warmth of the day, Ayeka shuddered. A trillion things ran through her mind, like mindless traffic in the chaotic streets of Tokyo. Each thought had its own blaring horn, each one vied as the highest topic, and all were screaming so loud that Ayeka couldn't help but cry. Two tears were all the Jurai princess allowed; she needed resolve and reason now, not despair. Making an effort to sit up, Ayeka's head fell back to the ground in defeat, so to pass the time, she made a mental "things to do" list.

There is much I need to do here. I have made it to dry land--good. Now I must hope that a patrol ship happens upon this island, or an airplane comes by. But I cannot face this situation lying down--it may take days or even weeks for a transport to arrive. So until that time comes, I must bite the bullet and survive.

First I need a strong shelter that can weather the elements. I will need food and water, and a place to store it in, and perhaps some tools as well. The island is warm but I won't be able to eat anything better than fruit until I can make a fire. I will also need to get a fairly good idea of the geography around me, so that I will know what fate has given me. Perhaps, though I doubt it, there is another survivor here, washed away somewhere. If so, I must find them and gain their assistance.

Ayeka continued to list things off, slowly letting her burned limbs recover. Barely able to wiggle, let alone move, her arms and legs would do her no good at all. Unfortunately, her stomach didn't care about these things, and let Ayeka know this in no polite terms. The princess groaned and managed to lift her arm to her belly.

"Ssuddup," she hissed. Her voice still hadn't recovered yet, but that was the last problem on Ayeka's mind. The princess growled, wishing to remain on that lonely beach until she had healed. Hunger, it seemed, would just have to be patient.

One more hour passed, and now Ayeka was thirsty too. How long have I been here? she wondered. I know I arrived in the evening sometime; perhaps it was yesterday. When was the last time I ate, or drank? Hours ago, no doubt. The princess cursed and made another effort to move. With a smile, she discovered that her arms had improved to "weary", and were able to move a few spaces before tiring. I must have really went all out…

Finally, Ayeka managed to sit up again--this time without falling. Wishing for some type of object to lean up against, the princess struggled to stand on her feet. Easier said than done--the strenuous fight last night had turned her muscles into jelly, and the princess stumbled forward almost the second she stood. With a groan of irritation, she managed to push herself to her knees.

When she woke up, Ayeka had her face to the sea, and could just barely make out the sandy edges of the beach. Now that her head was in the direction of the island behind her, the princess slowly began realizing where exactly she was, and what she had been pitted against.

In front of her was the edge of what appeared to be a lush jungle of palm trees, tall and mighty, with jagged trunks and swaying leaves. Below them sat clusters of ferns, with mint-green leaves and bluebell flowers adorning them. There were many types of exotic plant life, such as trees and moss and bushes and shrubs. Ayeka breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that she was on an island that contained a steady flow of water.

Her heart invigorated new blood in her body as Ayeka's eyes caught hold of some objects that had fallen from one of the trees. With eyes (and mouth) watering, she managed a weak, worm-like crawl towards the coconuts, hoping against hope that one had cracked open. After what seemed like ten minutes of wriggling, Ayeka's hopes were shot down as she saw that the fruit was whole and undamaged. Several curses, obviously stored for such a moment, were set free from her mouth, but they all came out mumbled.

Not strong enough to even stand, let alone crack open the fruit, Ayeka crawled into the humid shade of the jungle, thankful that she no longer had to lie in the sun. Examining her suit, she discovered that she had been caked with sand. Not that it mattered anyway--nobody was around to see her, not to her knowledge at least. Ayeka sighed, and carefully leaned up against the bark of the palm tree. Her limbs still ached, although they were getting better, but the pain in her belly would never be satisfied until food could be found.

Another hour passed before the princess could stand on her own two feet. Still feeling slightly worn out by her escape from the sea, Ayeka managed to limp past the thicket of trees that separated the beach from the jungle and set about exploring the place. If she hoped to survive on the island, she needed to know her environment.

Ayeka's stomach burned with hatred as her bare feet carefully stepped over the grass of the inner island. All around her there were trees and plants, some even bearing fruit, although the treasures were too far out of reach. Ayeka had chucked a few stones in hopes of dislodging some fruit, but met with minor success. Her efforts only yielded a slightly beaten pear, parts of which had been claimed by a maggot.

Whatever was left of the fruit was greedily devoured by the monarch. The food calmed her raging tummy and the juices sated her thirst for a few more seconds. Ayeka knew she needed more than half a pear to survive. If she wanted to search the whole island, she would need all her strength back. Right now, she had just enough pep to break open a few peanuts.

Other than flora, the island was also populated by a great deal of fauna. The crabs and gulls on the beach were just a fraction of the native residents; there were also insects by the bushel (mainly mosquitoes, as Ayeka learned the hard way) and deadly arachnids crawling around (large spiders and creepy scorpions to name the majority). A slew of birds cried from the sky, filling the island air with the chorus of a thousand twittering voices. Many other cries, like monkeys and a few apes and other types of mammals, joined them.

Ayeka soon discovered, to her great joy, that nearly half of the island was made up of the jungle--that is, the part that wasn't covered by beaches. The princess made it a mental note to comb through her new home later--right now, she searched for shelter and more food. She would have to be careful of some of the animal species, though. Lizards snakes around trees, snakes darted around, and Ayeka even spotted what might have been a relative of the Komodo Dragon.

In what was perhaps a kind twist of fate, Ayeka managed to find both safety and nourishment after an hour of searching. When she was looking around the foothills of a tall cliff, the princess found a fairly large opening in the side. With the warm sun now bright as it could be, the princess needed no further light and thus ventured forth inside the hole. It turned out to be a fairly large cave, with several smaller holes further into it that might have acted as windows.

The cave was cooler than outside, and it was very dry, and the light that came in from the openings gave enough to see in. It was quite a spacious area, and with a little cleaning and redecorating, it could pass as a shelter. Ayeka liked it very much, and decided to take a brief nap in order to test it out. She woke up five minutes later, feeling worse than ever, for she had never slept on anything harder than down or cotton.

With a stiff back and a cramped neck, Ayeka huffed back outside the cave in search for food. The second half of her search also gave her something to be happy about: a small gathering of berry bushes was conveniently placed near the cliff. Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and even mulberries were on display, like at market, and Ayeka blessed any and all deities that could hear her. She stuffed herself with a handful of each before going forward.

After eating her fill, Ayeka began looking for water. The berries would provide little juice, even if squeezed, so a spring was necessary. Plants depended on water, so a source was somewhere--Ayeka just had to look for it. Unfortunately, there were no springs in the cave--that would have been too good to be true. The princess was tempted to return to the beach and break open the coconuts, but she knew there was no chance of it until she had the proper tools.

Ayeka knew something about tools, and maybe a little about how to build a fire. Tenchi and Washu had taught her much when she had stayed at the Masaki house; her tutors at Jurai also gave her the know-how to survive. "How to survive on a deserted island" wasn't exactly on the curriculum, but Ayeka was pretty good when it came to improvisation.

Unfortunately, when she came to surviving on her own, Ayeka sucked.