Arrival

"So what are we looking for again?" Zane asked. He squinted his eyes and examined all the trees around him. None of the trees matched Wu's description of what he needed to repair his home after the huge storm a few days before.

"A tree." Wu answered vaguely as he continued walking.

Zane flicked a large beetle off his sleeve and sighed. The noonday sun was exceptionally bright and hot, and he was getting thirsty from all the wandering. "We are surrounded by those," he said tiredly. "But I would appreciate details on the type of tree we are searching for."

Wu looked back at Zane, green eyes alight. "It's a pine tree." He said. "We are looking for a large pine tree."

Zane blinked. "A...pine?"

Wu shook his head and chuckled. "You are very gullible," he said. "It's a kind of palm. Pines don't grow here... Oh, there it is." He pointed up at a tree with a wrinkled finger. "Can you climb that?"

Zane looked up at the tree in question and grunted. The tree was tall, with large, triangular sections of strange bark that intersected intricately like fish scales up the entire length. The tree could not have been more than two feet in diameter. "Climbing this tree should present me with no real difficulty," he replied thoughtfully. "How many leaves do you want?"

Wu pressed his staff into the sand and began drawing glyphs, a habit Zane found a little annoying at times, especially when he was trying to keep up a conversation with the old man.

Wu stared down at the sand, lost in his thoughts and seemingly oblivious to the fact that Zane was asking him a question.

Zane looked at the prince's straw hat and wondered, not for the first time, what would happen if he were to snatch it from the man's head and toss it like a disk. Would that get the old man's attention? Most likely. But Zane did not want to invoke his teacher's wrath, so he made the impulse drop into the back of his mind and started to climb.

He had been instructed to climb to the top and cut the branches with one of the knives he had hidden in leather sheaths at his hip. Since Sir Cole had taken all of his weapons on the Black Bounty, Wu had given him a few small knives. 'The swords,' the old man had said when Zane had asked about a real weapon, 'you will have to find those yourself once you've got a team.'

Climbing was easy, Zane realized once he was about six feet up. The scale-like bark pointed toward the top of the tree, giving his boots good traction as he grabbed the sharp points with his hands. He started climbing faster once he realized that the stiff wood was not going to break under his weight.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Wu's voice carried up in the warm wind.

Now he's paying attention, Zane thought. He paused and looked up. He was near the top of the tree. The large branches here seemed too thick for his long, fine blade. He would need the serrated knife in his other sheath attached to the other side of his belt. "Don't do what?" He called down to Wu, who was looking minuscule down below him.

"You're moving too fast," Wu replied. "Go slowly. You don't want the bark to break under your weight."

Zane sighed again and continued climbing at a slower pace. Why does he need the leaves from this tree? He wondered. This has got to be the tallest tree on the island. I can even see the beach from here. He reached the top of the tree and sat himself carefully on the sharp, upward-facing edges of the bark to rest as he looked out at the shimmering ocean water.

How beautiful, he thought. This view is absolutely spectacular. He could look out at the water and see the endless blue horizon, rippling in waves of green and aquamarine, accented with orange from the bright sun. He stared at the cloudless sky that touched the water on the horizon and smiled. His falcon was flying in circles around the trees and beach, crying out in the joy that it sensed in its master's heart.

"Are you cutting yet, Zane?" Wu called up. "I'd like to get to work on mending the roof. Get those leaves down here."

Zane reluctantly took out his knife. "Yes sir," he said. He had wanted to use his lasers, but Wu had told him not to. Apparently, he relied on them too much for everything.

He began to cut, running the serrated edge back and forth across the base of the leaf. Each of the leaves on this tree had a base about as thick as a man's wrist and took several minutes to cut. Each leave was also about eight feet long, spanning four feet at its broadest point. Zane's hand was aching and sore by the time he had cut six of the sinewy green leaves.

Zane dropped the seventh leaf down to the ground and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The sun felt much hotter up here than it did on the shady ground far below.

The sound of an eagle screeching caught his attention, and he swiveled his head toward the sound. An eagle? He thought. Here, on the Dark Island?

Several different things happened at once after that thought. A loud booming noise, which he had not noticed before because he had been so engrossed in his work, filled the air. Then, the tree he clung to began to shake deep within its core.

"Zane," Wu called up, apparently unconcerned. "Do you see anything on the horizon?"

Zane scanned the water, going from left to right. He slipped his knife back into its sheath, not wanting it to fall on the prince's head. His eyes found a red dot in the distance, and he gasped.So Wu knew they would be coming, he thought. That's why he out me up in this tree. Not because he wanted to fix his house, but because he wanted me to be able to tell which direction they would be coming in, so we could go and greet them.

"Y-yes!" He shouted down. "I think it's Nya's mech!" He should know. He had helped her build it, after all.

He was surprised, to say the least. He had not expected to see Nya's suit flying to the Dark Island. He had been anticipating the arrival of a ship over water in perhaps a week and a half. He was grateful that his ship theory had not come true; he was beginning to lose his sanity from thinking about the restraints Wu had placed on him. Now, he could go out with the Blue knight and rescue Kai and Cole from the Overlord without delay.

"What else do you see, Zane?" Wu asked. "Look behind you, more toward the center of the island."

Zane craned his neck and did as he was told. The tree began to tremble harder, and the sound of the mech's engines was getting to be exceptionally loud.

He peered through the trees in the distance. Falcon, he called out with his mind. Go and scout in that direction. I do not know what Wu wants us to find, but I hope you can bring me back something substantial to appease him.

He watched as the large black bird immediately stopped circling and shot off in the direction that had been requested. It quickly became nothing more than a black dot, and Zane turned his head back to where Nya's mech was landing on the beach. Who's driving it? He wondered. Surely Lord Kaytake did not give her permission to travel with the Blue Knight? The thought of it made Zane wonder. Hadn't Kai told him that Cole had injured Nya, possible even killed her? The amount of bitterness Kai had for the Dark Knight could certainly be explained as such.

"Come down here, Zane." Wu called. "We must hurry, there isn't much time."

Zane did not need a second invitation. He began to scramble down the tree, nearly losing his grip several times in his rush. He finally landed on the sandy ground and looked at Wu's face, which showed green eyes wide with alarm.

"What's wrong?" Zane asked. This was the first time he had ever seen a negative emotion on the man's face. "Is that not the Blue Knight?"

Wu shook his head. "It's the Blue Knight," he said. "But don't you realize how much noise they are making?" He looked over his shoulder, at the forest. "What does your falcon see?"

Zane closed his eyes and called out to the falcon with his mind again. What do you see, my friend? He asked. Please, do hurry. I sense that we do not have much time.

He opened his eyes after a moment and shrugged. "The falcon sees nothing," he informed his older companion. "Why do you ask?"

Wu looked over his shoulder again and stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Strange," he said. "But enough of this idle chat. Let's go and greet our team."

Kai awakened slowly, blinking away the drowsiness with heavily lidded eyes. The cave was dark and quiet, the only sounds coming from the spring that trickled out of the far wall.

He sat up slowly and stretched, rubbing the back of his head where a terrible itch had sprung up. That was probably what had woken him in the first place. His hand ran over his chin, and he grimaced at the feel of the stubble that had begun to grow. He had been allowed to shave aboard the Black Bounty, so his face had stayed relatively smooth for the journey over sea. He hoped that Cole had a razor in the cave for him to use because he did not want to start growing a beard. No, indeed. That was just the things he did not need in this weather.

After his eyes adjusted, he could see faint moonlight shimmering out of the entrance to the cave. Everything felt eerily desolate and cold. Cold? That was strange, considering how hot he had been when he'd gone to sleep.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and felt around for his boots blindly, finally finding them on the floor where he had carelessly tossed them earlier. He yawned again as he got to his feet and stumbled toward the shaft of moonlight. Scrambling up and out of the hole, he decided that the air was a comfortable temperature, and was glad to find that the moon illuminated the rocky hill he stood on enough to see by.

"It's peaceful, isn't it?" A voice spoke up next to Kai, making him jump backward in surprise and trip over a large boulder.

His head hit the stone with a heavy smack, and his mind created starbursts of red and white light in his vision. He cried out in pain and scrambled to a sitting position.

"Yeah," he retorted sarcastically after a moment, hand rubbing the goose egg on the back of his head ruefully. "It's plenty peaceful. Now come closer so I can break your nose for nearly giving me a concussion."

"Get over yourself, prisoner." The voice said. Kai looked up and saw a dark silhouette sitting above him on the rocks, staring out at the horizon, which was slowly turning purple from the light of the rising sun. "Is it cool enough out here for you, m'lord? Or should I turn down the thermostat a little more."

Kai grunted and got to his feet unsteadily. His vision seemed to be swirling in and out of focus. "How long was I asleep?" He asked.

The black figure on the rocks did not move. "Eleven, twelve hours."

Kai climbed carefully up to where Cole was sitting and settled himself with a good six feet between them. "Why didn't you wake me up?" He asked. "Did you sleep at all?"

Silence spoke in the absence of words. A distant bird made strange screeching noises. It was strangely relaxing, almost nostalgic. Sitting here reminded him of his mother's garden, with his sister's birds flitting between the branches and eating berries without a care in the world.

Just like he used to be.

"Do you miss home?" Cole asked after several undisturbed minutes of silence.

Kai turned his head to examine Cole's face. The green eyes were distant, and the lips were set in a relaxed frown. His hair flew around his shoulders and back, drifting with the gentle breeze. It looked like it might have been cut. His eyebrows looked different as well, although not in the way that his hair had changed. The thick, bushy clouds above his eyes hung without emotion, neither up in fear, nor down in anger.

Everything about the man sitting next to him seemed different. It was still cold and distant, but there was less anger and hate.

"Cole, did you sleep at all?" Kai repeated the question. "That wasn't fair to let me sleep for so long when you've-"

"Quiet, Kai." He was interrupted by Cole's impatient, snappish voice. "We'll be on the run soon. I don't want you to burn out, so I let you rest. You need it more than I do."

"But-"

"Case closed." Cole's voice grew cold and sharp. "Go take your bath in the spring. Now would be a good time to do it, since we have fewer chances of being spotted by Kozu or Overlord while under the cover of darkness. I already set out clothing, a razor, and a towel for you to use in the cave. Go away before I lose my patience."

Kai looked at Cole's eyes, which had not moved once since he'd sat down a few minutes ago next to the cold, quiet man. "What are you looking at?" He asked.

Cole slowly lifted a hand and pointed at the horizon. "There's an eagle out there," he said, still not removing his gaze. "Those strange screeching noises you might have heard were made by that bird. It's looking for something."

Kai followed Cole's finger and squinted. "I don't see anything," he said.

"It dived down into the trees a moment ago. Just watch."

Kai sighed and watched for a minute longer. Sure enough, he heard the cry again, this time accompanied by the sight of a small black dot that dove out of the trees and circled in wide loops around what Kai could only assume was the beach. "How could you tell that it was an eagle?" He asked. "It's so far away."

"It came flying pretty close about an hour ago," Cole said. "It sounds like it's calling for its lost mate or something. I've never heard one of those things scream so loudly before in my life." He paused. "Actually, I've never even seen one of those on this island before. I wonder how it even got here."

Kai got to his feet with a grunt and winced as his body reminded him that he had a nasty lump on the back of his head. "Well," he said. "You figure out that little mystery. I'm going to go wash myself."