Cye tried to warn Kento of the dangers of jumping into that particular body of water, but it was too late. Mere moments after jumping in, Kento walked out nearly in tears, covered from head to toe with leaches. Cye stared at him a moment before falling over, laughing.
"It's not funny!"
Later, Cye was peeling off the last of the blood-suckers, and Kento was pouting. After the leaches were removed, Cye rubbed lake water and a special herb on the red spots to make his friend feel better. Once that was done, he handed Kento back his shirt and shook his finger.
"Now, what did we learn here today?"
"That you can fall over giggling like a little girl at the sight of a friend in need?"
Cye blushed and cleared his throat.
"No, no! I mean, it WAS funny… you had the most priceless look on your face…"
"Yeah, I guess…"
"I'm sorry, Kento."
"Yeah, don't worry about it."
"So, what else did we learn?"
"Don't jump into random pools of water?"
"Right. Good job."
The campfire lit up the small side of beach the boys were sitting on, and the light had already faded into nothing again. Seeing that there was, again, no hope of getting off the island that day, Cye sighed and lay down upon the cooling sand. Kento sighed in agreement.
"…I want a burger…" Said Kento.
"I want to go home…" Replied Cye.
They closed their eyes and drifted off into a light slumber. The night was calm, and quiet, at least for a few hours. When Cye was shaken awake, a light rainfall was coming down on him, making him shiver. He looked up into Kento's worried eyes.
"What's going on…!"
"It's a wicked bad storm, man! Get up!"
Cye forced his aching muscles to move and stood up. The rain was only getting worse. Kento danced around holding a big leaf over his head.
"What will we do, man?"
"We should head back to the cave from before!"
"I tried! The path is completely blocked off!"
"Drat… lets head further in, then! If the tide comes up, we wont last out here on shore!"
So, the two tread through the felled trees, the low-hanging vines, sticky spider webs, and prickly and itchy brush. They walked past the lake Kento had jumped into before, and past an open area. That was the last thing they were trying to find. They just wanted a safe, dry place to rest until the storm was over. But the cold was getting to them both, and Kento stopped, gripping his stomach hard. Cye turned back and rubbed his back. He had to speak loudly to be heard over the rain and thunder.
"Are you okay?"
"This sucks… I'm so hungry…!"
"I know, Kento… I'm sorry…"
Cye was still convinced that the situation was his fault, and he wanted so much to help his friend. So, he helped Kento stand up and the two kept walking. It was an hour into the storm before they had found any hope of warming up. Then, in the dark, Cye spotted a cave. Kento was able to walk on his own by then, and so seeing the cave gave him a lot of hope. The two quickly ran for it, shouting with glee. However, just before they got there, they heard a loud growl. Cye froze, and Kento stood there, trying not to panic.
Out of the dark cave, came a large animal. In the dark, they couldn't see what it was, but it could have been a bear. It growled again, and Cye took a step back. When he did, Kento flexed his arm, still with a bandage on it.
"Hey you! Listen, we've had a rough time out here as it is, and there is no way in hell I'm gonna let you keep us from getting in that cave!"
The animal growled, and took a swing at Kento. He dodged it, but he underestimated how weak he was, and couldn't stand back up right away. The animal was ready to swing again until a rock flew the air and hit it in the head. It turned to face Cye, who was weakly standing up.
"Cye, run! I can take him, man!"
But he didn't speak soon enough. The animal ran at Cye and hit him in the chest. Cye flew back and disappeared down a hill. Kento yelled for him and got to his feet. He spotted an old log by him and picked it up, and, using up the last of his strength, threw it at the animal. That did the trick of scaring it off, but it didn't go the right way. It vanished back into the cave. It was obvious that the due wouldn't be bunking there during the storm.
Sighing, Kento grabbed his now sore arm and walked down towards the top of the hill where his friend was last seen. Looking down, he could see Cye lying unmoving on the grassy area. Slowly, he started to climb down. He lost his footing, however, and fell the rest of the way. He landed hard on his back right next to Cye. After taking a few deep breaths, he groaned and turned his head to the side.
"Cye… Cye, are you okay, man…?"
Cye didn't answer. Kento could tell he was still alive, as he heard him sobbing, but it was muffled and hard, considering the fact that he was on his stomach. Neither boy had the strength to move any longer. Kento moved his head back up, thankful that there was a tree there to block most of the rain from his face. He could hear Cye crying, but he couldn't do anything about it. Silently, he started crying, himself, and the night fell silent- the rain drowning out all other sound.