The Art of Chill

Tap. Tap. Tap. I swear if he throws one more rock, I'm going to deck him. I notice Yaz move to catch the next one, she glares a hole through Kenji who drops the next rock. "Sorry guys but pterosaurs are nearing in the eastern mountains so that's out." Darius says as we groan. "So more bad news." Sammy says as she pulls out a map brochure of the island that has red X's all over. "We can't stay on Main Street cause, dinosaurs. And the mountains, grasslands and jungles are also out because dinosaurs." Brooklynn says sarcastically. "And Kenjis penthouse is also out because he is bad at math." Yaz points out. "Hey it's not my fault my dad changed the code because I didn't do my algebra homework." He says non-chalant. "That's actually completely your fault." I say as he glares at me. "We have to take the good with the bad. No matter where we go, there are going to be dinosaurs, we just have to find the one space that is less of a risk." I reason to the group. This island is crawling with dinosaurs, there is no avoiding them. "There is a place we haven't tried but I'm not sure you're going to like it." Darius says as we look at him. I reply. "Where?"

We arrive back at the ruin site of Camp. Huh. Not bad Darius, not bad at all. "Are you serious. Didn't we specifically run away from this place." Kenji complains. There is no pleasing you is there. "Just hear me out. There's a stream of fresh water. And mountains and trees to protect us from the worst of weather and dinosaur attacks." Brooklynn clears her throat while gesturing to the ruins. "Well not all dinosaur attacks but we sent that signal out. Wouldn't camp be the first place to look if you were looking for campers." This kid is smart, thinking ahead before everyone else. "It's not perfect but then again nothing is. We have supplies, damaged or otherwise, they can be useful for a shelter. I like it " I say agreeing with Darius plan. "Well, what are we waiting for?" Yaz says as she hops over to a plank of wood. We all watch her struggle, while everything looks at her with pity, I understand why. She wants to pull her own weight but is to stubborn to admit that she needs to rest.

"Hey Yaz, don't you think you should sit this one out?" Darius asks. Yaz looks at him bewildered. "What? No, I need to- whoa?" She stats to say as she trips and falls, aggravating her ankle. I walk up to her leg and pull her shoe off. "I'm fine. I wanted to be on the ground." Stubborn woman. I inspect the bandage. It has taken the swelling down a little bit but it wasn't a compression bandage so it hasn't done much to help. "It's not nothing. Your ankle hasn't healed and I'm not allowing you to aggravate it." Yaz looks at me with a hurt look. "Based on this symbol, there is a clinic nearby, maybe there we can find something to help." Darius says as Yaz refuses to acknowledge it. "No way. I'm not sitting around while you go out there. I can pull my own weight." She says as Sammy pushes her back down. "Rest. Your going to need your ankle attached if you want to win gold medals when you get home okay?" Sammy reasons while Kenji puts in his two cents. "And I'll stay behind to make sure she rests." Yeah right. Yaz looks horrified at that revelation. "Can it be someone else? Literally anyone else?" Yaz grips my arm as I get up from the ground. "I'll stay behind to salvage anything I can find." She looks relieved at that. "And make sure Kenji doesn't wander off and get himself killed." Kenji looks at me offended. "Hey." I shrug non-chalant at his hurt feelings. Brooklynn picks up some broken pieces, passing two to Darius and Sammy, weapons, something we'll need in the future, but for now they will have to do.

I begin to sort through the rumble. Big planks are sorted too be used as foundation for the shelter. Medium size pieces are sorted for wall structure while the small pieces are sorted for roofing. I need to pick out some large ferns to keep rain water from degrading the wood. I see Yaz trying to pull a particularly large plank from the rumble. "Yaz, you should be resting." She looks up at me. "I'm capable of pulling pieces out." She replies back. I look down at her with a rised eyebrow. She looks back up. "What?" She says as she pulls and almost loses her balance. "Yaz, just sit down and rest for a while at least until the others get back ok." I say but she refuses to acknowledge. Kenji starts stretching and cracking his knuckles. "Time to sort garbage to useful garbage." He flicks tiny piece of wood with his foot. "Complete, Kenji down for the day." Is he serious? Yaz hops towards him as he sits lazily against a tree. "Dude, you didn't even try." They begin talking about Kenjis laziness, I work through the portion of the ruin that my room was. If I can find anything useful, it would be godsend. I move a few pieces out of the way..."JACKPOT!"

The other two turn to look at me. "What is it?" Yaz asks rushing over. "I found some of my gear in tact. Some of its busted but the tactical uniform is in good shape. The rifle is completely destroyed. My shave kit is surprisly okay. Other than that, nothing else." I say happily. My gear is in good enough shape to get us with we need. My survival kit that my dad got me is in good enough condition. My ACU Kevlar armour has little to no damage. I push through the rumble and see a box that had my name on it. I don't remember. I pull it out and see that it has a note. I pull the box along with my gear to the ground. "This is all that you have left?" Yaz asks. "Yeah, just the kevlar, my shave and survival kit and this box." I say holding the box up. "What is it?" I shake my head at her question. "Thats the ting. I don't know." I set the box down and open up the note.

For Ryan

Hey mate, I know that this has come out of nowhere but you deserve this after everything you went through. Your father would be very proud of you. Your grandfather wanted you to have this for your 18th birthday, he said it was his last gift to you before he passed. But he believed that you deserve this. Use it well. I love you

Mum

I put the note down as I open the box. It was a broad one-handed bearded axe. I recognised it as my mother's father, my grandfather's ancestoral axe. Tears well in my eyes as I trace the blade with my fingers. "Ryan, are you ok?" Yaz asks me kneeling beside me. I shake my head no. "I used to ask my grandfather stories about this axe. He used to tell me that it was owned by an ancestor that had been passed down through generations of my family. He would tell grand stories when I was little, he inspired me to go out and find adventure and glory. He once told me that the axe would be passed down to me and my children after. I didn't believe it, I saw my grandfather with a sort of mythical status, he was healthy and strong...before the cancer ripped through him." I say, trying to keep my tears from falling. "After he died, I couldn't bear to look at it, everytime, I would see my grandfather and I couldn't hold onto to that." Yaz hugs me from my side as tears just fall now. I look down at the blade, I feel it's presence, it's legacy, it's almost judging me. "Ryan, I don't have the faintest idea what this must feel to you. But with getting to know you after all of this. I feel that you deserve this. Your grandfather sounds like a man like yourself. A kind but serious man that sees the value of others before himself. I believe he would have wanted you to have this." She says as she points to the axe.

I think about her words as they get through to me. My grandfather was a wise and noble soul, he saw the good on people. A fighter that fought for other people. A warrior that defended those who couldn't defend themselves. I inspired myself to be like him, to honour the values that he had. I look down at the axe with a new sense of purpose. This axe will be my real world representation of defending the innocent, fighting for the safety of others. I grip the handle and lift the axe out of the box. This is the first time ever holding the weapon. It feels right on my hand. My free hand is held by someone else's. I look to see Yaz looking very proud and happy for me in that moment. As we gaze into each other's eyes, I feel the feeling I had before from the clothes shop. "That looks awesome!"

Moment is gone as Kenji interrupts. Yaz and I break away as Kenji gets closer to the blade inspections it. "It looks so cool." I pull the blade away. "If you even think about touching it, I cut something off that I know you will miss." I say as he looks confused. I gaze down to his lower regions. He does the some, his eyes wide in realisation. He covers them before running off. Yaz and myself get a good laugh at Kenjis expense. I pull the holster around my waist, placing the axe in it. I throw the kevlar over my chest. I put a knife holder around my left forearm before placing a small knife in the socket. After I have all my gear on that ready to use. I turn back to the debris to continue working. Yaz tries to help out pulling some hanging vines down. I can't let her keep aggravating that ankle anymore than what it already is. "Yaz." I say to her as she turns to me, handing me the vines. "We can use these as leverage over a tree branch to pull out those big planks. She gobbles away with a tree branch as a walking stick. "Yaz." I say to her again but she cuts me off. "I'm not sitting around doing nothing. I can be helpful. "Yasmina!" I yell out. She looks at me with shock. "I know you want to help, trust me, you would be the first person I would ask to help. But I can not allow you to keep pushing yourself to the point that your fucking foot falls off." She looks conflicted at what I said. It pains me to tell her what's what but I don't want her anymore than she does.

"Three time state track champion, four times placing at nationals, twice at the International World Track Competition. I've competed in rain, sleet, snow and each time I have medaled. What does that say?" She asks. I'm honesty impressed at the sheer level of athleteism and determination that she has to do all that. "Want my honest opinion?" I say to her. "Yes." She says in my face. "I think that you are one of most stubborn people that I've ever met. I get that you want to help, I understand. But you will be able to help more and at a better rate if you were fully healed. And this isn't a track where you can fail and get back up and try again. This is Isla Nublar, one mistake, at the wrong time and place could result in death and there is no coming back from that." I say as I take her hand in my own. "Yaz, I need you at your best, so please, can you rest until your able to walk on two feet without pain?" She looks down at her feet. I hate this, hate doing this to her. "Ok." She says as she begins to walk away. "Yaz." I call out to her as she turns around. "I'm sorry but I need you to be ok." She nods with a small smile as she walks back to camp.

I return to camp to see Yaz resting against a tree and Kenji building...a stick structure. Distance rumbling is felt. Must be the herds. "Welcome to Camp Kenji!" He says as he gestures to said structure. The rumbling gets closer. Something's off. The others break through the foliage. "Up the trees. GO!" Brooklynn shouts out as two Stegosaurus and a Sinoceratops chase after them. I help Yaz up into the tree. I push Kenji up as myself and the others climb up. The dinosaurs charge over Kenjis structure demolishing it. "No, no, no! This is why you never work for anything, ever." Kenji complains as Yaz comforts him. "What the fuck did you guys do?" I say to the others. "Nothing...other than release the dinos from the clinic." Sammy replies. "I guess this is why they built Camp Cretaceous in the trees." Brooklynn puts in. "Hey, maybe our shelter should be like a tree house." Darius suggest. That's a really good idea. Not many dinosaurs can jump and we will build it high enough that many predators can't get to. Defensive parameters should be placed. Yaz takes her drawing book out. She begins sketching a draft idea of the tree house. "Something like this?" She shows the sketch, its amazing how detailed it is, especially in the incredibly short time she did it in. The bunks are to the left with a common area in the middle and a kitchen esque area to the far right. A tarp covers the whole area. "Looks like we have work to do." I say as everyone nods in dedication.

Hours later, we have begun moving planks into place, Yaz is off to the side with her ankle wrapped in a compression bandage, she keeps updating better ideas and takes concepts from others. I have taken broken pieces and chipped them into spikes to surround the lower levels of the tree house, to deter predators. I see Sammy giving Darius his necklace. Nice that he got it back. They hug, awww, cute. "Hey Ryan, quick question." Brooklynn asks me. "Sure, what's up?" I say as I keep chipping. "Where did you get the axe? She asks. I wide eye at that. Ahh, how do I explain that.

A.N: The axe looks like Varin's Axe Superior from Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Also the knife arm band that Ryan has is inspired from Hiccups left arm gauntlet from How To Train Your Dragon 2.