Jack had always seen pictures of all the wondrous places around the world, always thinking how lovely it would be to see those spots for himself and not just on a postcard. Never, though, did he ever believe that he would get to see some of the places he got to travel to thanks to a certain vixen named Skye that came into his life.
This time, however, it was him that picked the next place that he would be traveling to alongside her, and it ended up being a small island that not even Skye, who knew many more things about all the different countries, had any knowledge of. It was a trip that was quite different from what others that flew to other parts of the globe took, and the flight that they took was an awfully long one, but the beauty of the island nation made it all worth the while.
After getting of sightseeing in earlier in the afternoon, Jack found himself roped into a round of a sport that he never of. He was never the kind of mammal that excelled in sports, but he kindly accepted an offer to a game of it.
The buck patiently watched the group of mammals a good distance away from him. Some of the members of that group, natives to the island that knew this sport quite well, used a paw to hit the ball into the air and their teammate. The leopardess that was on that team hit it to the muscly wolf that served as the captain, and the canid hit it back towards where Jack was.
The striped rabbit's eyes were fixated on the ball as it approached him, and he leaped up with a paw to spike it over to the white-furred vixen in a bathing suit to his right. The ball, which he had been told was filled with coconut shell and other things from the island, was quite hard to the paw and heavier to maneuver, but he got used to it after handling his role as the catcher for awhile.
"Comin' your way, Skye!" Jack called out.
"Got it covered, Jack," Skye, who agreed to be the captain to her and Jack's team with some other natives, replied.
She was quick to react and spiked the heavy leaf ball back towards the other team with as much force as she could. The wolf from that team quickly tried to reach forward to prevent it from hitting the ground but was a moment too late.
The ball fell to the sand with a thud. Jack and Skye, along with the others, got the score of ten, which meant they were the ones who won.
Clapping and playful cheers emerged from both the winning and losing sides of the friendly game that was home to this place. The canid from the other side of the spot walked up before giving a quick high-four to Skye.
"Great job," he complimented. "And you said this is the first time you and him have played that?"
"Sure is," Jack chimed in. "Never even heard of that sport until now."
"There's no way," the wolf chuckled. "You played too good for your first ever game."
"Beginner's luck, I guess," Skye replied with a laugh.
The canid nodded and chuckled once more. "It was nice meeting you guys. Maybe we'll go for another round at another time if you guys are still on the island a little longer."
"That sounds like a wonderful idea," Jack responded, "but I'm afraid this'll be the last day will be here before heading home."
"Aww, that's too bad. Well, if you ever find yourselves back here again, we're playing all the time at this spot."
The leopardess of the other team started to walk up to where the wolf was talking to them, bouncing the leaf ball in her paw like it was lighter than it actually was. "Don't forget the rules," she reminded in a soft and friendly voice. "Since you're on the winning side, you have to do the dance to bring yourselves back down to earth."
"You remember how this goes, Skye?" Jack inquired as he looked at the vixen to his side. The final part had completely slipped his mind while he was playing.
"I got it down, I think," the white-furred vulpine replied. "All you have to remember is to clap in rhythm and the others do the singing."
The wolf, leopard, and some of their friends walked up and watched as some of them natives started to sing a song in their language. Jack started to clap along in rhythm as Skye kneeled down, moving her arms and upper body as she did her best recreation of the dances she saw at the restaurant they had went to earlier in the day.
After it was all said and done, more clapping ensued and Skye took a bow before her and Jack walked away from where they were. The two made their way back over to where the bikes they had rented were parked and hopped back on them.
"Oh, that was much fun," Skye remarked. "This little excursion's turning about to be pretty amazing."
"I told you I had a good taste in places to visit," replied Jack, looking back at her with a wide smile.
"When you said we were going somewhere that only had this many mammals living here, I didn't know what to expect, but this place is really special."
"And we haven't even got to the most special part of this trip," Jack said to himself out loud.
"What was that?" Skye asked upon overhearing him.
"What?" Jack inquired back before realizing that she heard him just then. He started his bike up, the engine sound breaking the tranquility and stillness, and pointed into the distance. "We're gonna ride over to the other side of the island. Follow me."
Skye started her motorbike a moment later and followed the lead of the bunny as he rode down the unoccupied roadway, the breeze against her fur as she followed him into the sunshiny afternoon.
The next thing on their itinerary, once they had reached the opposite end of the island, was a boat ride to the islet a short trip away. The deep blue water was a dazzling sight to behold as the water raft cruised across it, so clear that they could see the schools of fish that swam in the ocean in this part of the world.
A stop at another tropically decorated restaurant was what they made then, and it was after some time then that the day started to close around the islet, the skies the orangish glow that reminded Jack of the sherbet served in the summertime.
As the buck and vixen surveyed the sand for any sort of shells they could take back after their trip was over, they both got a good look at the sunset. Even though nightfall was still nightfall regardless of where somebody was, there was just something about seeing the sunset against the water that made it several times prettier.
The sun descending against the gloaming expanse.
The sounds of the ocean water as it swashed against the golden stands, splashing onto their paws as they strolled around.
The cries of the herons and seabirds that they made to one another as they floated in the skies, looking for fish to have as their supper.
The sight of his beloved vixen right by his side, her smile brighter than the sun as he held onto his paw.
Paradise, Jack thought. This is literally paradise...
Skye retrieved the folded-up map of the islands and surveyed the place they were at before looking over at him. "Sun's going down," she murmured. "Guess we should go tell our guide to take us back for the night."
"Not quite," the jackrabbit replied. "We still have something to see here. Come with me."
Skye wasn't sure what he was talking about but decided to follow him anyhow. They had already saw some of the things they wanted to, so she didn't believe there was anything else noteworthy on the small piece of land.
Jack led her upward into the heart of the island, where some palm trees and other island flora grew densely around them. He and Skye stepped carefully around the plants as he took her to a spot she had not been aware of at the time.
Outlooking the other end of the islet, a small platform of palm tree wood sat atop of the sand. Tiki torches were lit on either end of it, flickering their little flames, and the sounds of what seemed to be music filled the air.
A small gathering of mustelids dressed in blue sat on the ground to the left of Skye as she looked around, making somewhat of a musical sound with some tea chests and boxes by beating on them like they were bongo drums. One of them started to sing something in a soft voice, with the others around him joining in a moment later. To the right was a trio of felines wearing headpieces made of flowers and tropical, swaying their hips and arms in rhythm.
"We got this whole little spot for ourselves to dance together at," Jack said.
Skye's eyes lit up at the pleasant surprise that the buck had led her to, almost at a loss of what to say right then. "How did..." she started to say.
"The guy that brought us here on the boat knew a guy, who knew a guy, who knew another guy," the rabbit explained, cutting it short there to ensure his explanation to didn't become too long. Truth be told, everybody on these islands somehow was really good friends with another long-time resident, who in turn had another very close friend, and he figured this out quickly when he met the mammal he was talking about. "When I told him about the little idea I had he said he'd happily set this up." He took the paw of the vulpine and walked with her onto the wooden platform. "You know, had it not been for you, I wouldn't have ever came to places like this and did some of the traveling I've done."
"Aww, Jack..." replied Skye softly, her smile much wider than before.
"It's true," responded Jack. "All the sights I've gotten to see and explore, I always thought I'd never get to any of them 'cause it was too far from my life. But then suddenly the greatest mammal in the whole world came into my life."
The vixen pulled the love of her life closer towards her, giving him a warm kiss as she gazed tenderly into his eyes. "Au e fia fai ki a koe," she whispered gently.
The striped buck got a good chuckle from hearing her say that phrase in the native tongue of the islanders. "I see you've been practicing to speak their language."
"Well," Skye admitted, "after pronouncing words wrong and accidentally saying that there were sharks in the water when I meant to tell ask that lady how her day was, I figured I needed to get it down a little more. Any better than it was before?"
"Yep." Jack nodded his head, knowing exactly what she had said to him just then and what it meant. "And I love you too, Skye."
Author's Note: Hey there, everyone! I figured it was about time that I wrote something that had a tropical setting with it being summer and all, since I had been meaning to do that but never actually got to doing it. Not only that but I also had the urge to write about jack and Skye, since I hadn't done a story where it was just about them in a little while. I was originally going to have this be a story in which Jack proposed to Skye in this kind of setting, but I ended up changing it a little bit to just be something short and fluffy about the pairing exploring a tropical location :)
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this little story of mine. There wasn't a lot ot it and it was written as quickly as my fingers could type it out, but I hope I did the job at coming up with something fluffy and inspired by the season of summer.
As always, let me know what your thoughts are on this. Your feedback, whether good or bad, is gladly appreciated.
'Til next time! :)