CHAPTER 5:

UNKNOWN TERRITORY

The storm carried on for only a few more hours, but it felt like an eternity for Justin. He continued to hold onto the mast as the storm raged on.

The ride through the sea was not a pleasant one. Giant waves would continuously pass under our heroes, sending them up, and up, and up, and then plummeting them back down, and down, and down, making the ocean seem more like one giant roller-coaster.

This had to be the most frightening, not to mention the most nauseating, experience for the adventurers. Not only did they taste their dinner over and over again in their mouths, but they also felt very uncomfortable with the fact that another sea monster might be under them at that very moment.

Justin kept hearing Guido's words over and over again in his mind. 'This ocean has-a more monsters-a living in it-a than any other ocean on Earth.' Justin could almost feel razor sharp teeth being jabbed into his legs.

And, sometimes, they actually did feel something brush against their bodies, which I can tell you, is very horrifying when you are out in the ocean.

Soon, despite the rolling waves, flashing lightning, and their constant fear, Justin and his friends finally drifted off to sleep.

It was a while before Justin finally woke up, but when he did, he noticed that sand was lying under him. The sounds of seagulls could be heard. What remained of Guido's boat, mostly boards and rafters, had washed up on top of him.

He kept his eyes closed. He knew the storm was over, and that he had reached land, but he was too exhausted from a night of endless nervousness and vomiting.

Finally, he opened his eyes. He could tell that the sun had come out, despite the fragments of wood that covered his entire body. Standing up, he pushed his blanket of wood aside, and blinked at the scene before him. Everyone else was still asleep beside him. "Hey, everyone! Come on, get up! Look at this!"

They all woke up, rubbing their eyes. When their eyes opened, they just stared at what lay before them. They were on a beach, completely uninhabited. Although there were many footprints in the sand, not one belonged to a human. Justin had discovered an entirely new continent. It was a beautiful beach, complete with palm trees, blue water, and white sand. Up and down the beach, as far as the eye could see either way, seals could be seen and heard. It was the seals' breeding season, and the huge bulls could easily be seen towering over the sea of females and their pups.

Sue had always thought of seals as cute, friendly animals. However, when she spotted two bulls fighting for dominance at the water's edge, she wasn't so sure anymore. The roaring bulls had their heads raised threateningly, and where using their sharp teeth to violently bite into each other's mane-covered necks, sending water and blood flying upwards all around them.

"I knew it!" Justin exclaimed. "I knew the world doesn't stop at East Elencia! I was right! And I've discovered a new continent! I think I'll call it 'Justinia'!

"Hold on a sec, Justin," Feena interrupted. "Yeah, we're on an undiscovered continent. That's great and all, but how do you plan to get back off of it?" Once again, Feena had pointed something out that Justin hadn't.

"Uh...well, Feena...we...could...uh...wait, let me think...uh.... We're marooned."

"Marooned?" Rapp repeated. "What do ya mean, 'marooned'? We could just build another boat, couldn't we?"

"Rapp, when I was younger, I couldn't build a model boat that didn't sink."

"And that's not the only problem," Feena began again. "Since no one knows about this continent, we don't know what's on it either. It all seems calm now, but this place could be extremely dangerous."

"Wow," Sue exclaimed, pointing to the ground. "Look at the size of this sea shell!" She bent down to pick the foot-long shell off of the ground.

"Sue, stop!!" Feena ordered.

Sue did as she said.

"Sue, that's a conch shell! If it would sting you, you'd be in a lot of trouble. The poison's strong enough to kill a man in eight seconds!"

Sue retreated immediately.

Feena turned back to the boys. "You see what I mean? Even the most beautiful of places can be deathtraps! We might be in a perilous situation right now, and not even have a clue!"

"Well, why don't we find out for ourselves what's on the continent?" Justin suggested. "I say we explore the place."

Feena knew he would say that. She then smiled. "Well, what could it hurt? This is what I was waiting to do when we hit land, anyway."

So, they gathered all of their belongings that washed up on shore, which was only a small amount compared to the belongings that went down with Guido's ship, and began their adventure into the unknown territory.

TO BE CONTINUED