giggles

I did a bunch of kayaking over the summer, so I thought I'd throw this in! honestly was one of the coolest things I've ever done, we went around piers and to this little garden for lunch and me and a few others tied our paddleboards together and made a sail out of a tarp and sailed around the ocean! the water was insanely cold tho lmao but it worked bc the weather was scorching

anyways reviews!

MoonTheMagical: LOLL I'm totally doing that if I get any test paper. I also like taking a million pictures on the display iPads they have. I can relate to slow devices, I used to play Roblox on mobile for many years and the lag nearly destroyed me, mentally it least. I got a new one after I ran into an oven and cracked the screen though!

Lydia-From-Limmet: Yeah, Michael probably filtered a lot of the demon children's shenanigans out haha, also aww that's a cute story! I rate his compliment 10 Minireenas and a Funtime Freddy. And I approve greatly of your Halloween costume! Ghosts are pretty cool.

Penguimom: glad you liked the chapter laughing crying emoji

song: water Island by my singing monsters because of that one song by them that's trending on tiktok and I can't escape it no matter where I go… anyways I figured it was kind of fitting because there is an alert!1!1!1!

Enjoy!

Chapter 93

Water Island

Crabs scuttled along the dark green ocean floor, over rusted beer cans and sanded rocks as silverfish darted above them, glinting in iridescent rainbow flashes.

And then one of them was slurped up with a straw.

"Oh my God! Ruby!" Tulisa screeched. "Did you just eat that poor little fish?!"

Ruby blew into the straw, sending saltwater and a wriggling minnow into a Tupperware container that sat in her lap. She was sitting with Tulisa on the edge of the Shadow Beach dock, wearing a solid black wetsuit with her red ponytail sticking out the back of a white sequinned cat-eared baseball cap.

"No, you dummy." Ruby said, rolling her eyes. "I put him in this container, see?" Inside the plastic faux-tank, the fish was happily swimming circles, bubbles flowing up to the surface and popping.

"No, you dummy," Tulisa mimicked, "that's a saltwater fish."

The fish wriggled its last wriggle, and then floated up to the surface, a miserable bubble floating up and popping.

Ruby made a sort of squeak of agony, shaking the container as if to swish him back to life, with no prevail.

"Return him back to the ocean," Tulisa sighed, and Ruby reluctantly complied, tipping the container upside down above the water. The fish, having been freed, squirmed back to life, swimming back to its school almost sassily.

"Wha- that little- he was just faking, did you see that?!" Ruby screeched, earning a judgmental glare from en elderly lady reading on a bench two docks over.

Ducky emerged from the laughably small changeroom in a wetsuit similar to Tulisa and Ruby's, wild curls tucked into a yellow baseball cap with a custom rubber ducky monogram. "Who's faking what?"

"Nothing. Should we get into our kayaks now?" Tulisa suggested, grabbing a red lifejacket from the nearby hanger. They'd packed the required throw bag and water bottle and ropes and other essential items into their kayak, but also a tarp in case they needed a sail, and a pack of flares and matches in case they got lost, which was highly unlikely. On top of that, they each packed a snack besides the required almond-chocolate granola bar. Ducky had a jar of Italian candied strawberries, Ruby a can of spray cheese (probably 90% plastic, ew) and Tulisa a container of kimchi, spicy fermented cabbage which Myah had gotten her into that sounded disgusting but was actually a very healthy and very delicious snack.

The three of them buckled their lifejackets, tied up their spray skirts (skirts that went around and on top of the entrance to the kayak to prevent objects inside from falling out/getting wet), and wobbled into their respective kayaks, to which Ducky nearly fell in.

"I H-A-T-E these skirts!" he screeched. "What if I tipped upside down?! Then I'd be attached to the boat! I'd drown!"

"H-A-T-E?" Ruby questioned.

"Hate is a strong word."

She shrugged, paddling forward a stroke. "Can't argue with that."

The hot sun beat down on their backs, sweat sticking the wetsuit to her skin. Tulisa quickly sliced her paddle into the water and let her kayak glide through the water. She dipped her hand into the icy water, wiping it on her face for a quick cool-down.

In the kayaks beside her, Ruby flung a clump of eelgrass at Ducky, who shrieked so loudly he caused a flock of gulls on a stray rock to scatter into the sky.

Tulisa squinted at the fleeing birds. "I wonder where they're going?"

"I read in one of those forest survival books that they always fly towards food!" Ducky offered.

"We're not exactly starving." Tulisa replied.

Ruby shrugged. "True, but maybe we could follow them. It's better than going to the other boring side of the bay."

Tulisa pondered this for a moment. If they thought they were getting lost, they could always turn back. "Sure!"

The three of them turned their kayaks to the right, eyes in the air to follow the V-winged birds. They passed soft gray sands and rocky cliff sides, fresh pinewoods and rolling fields of golden hay, paddles scooping through the emerald waves and propelling them forward. Tulisa's biceps burned, but that only fueled her further. She used to kayak all over the West Coast when she'd travelled with her family, from Vancouver to Sacramento.

"There's our cabin!" Ruby announced, pointing to the little brown smudge in a row of other little brown smudges and waving furiously with her other hand. "Hi Josh and Myah!"

Right after the cabins was the huge pine forest that engulfed the staff cabins and activity rooms, and on the strip of rocky beach Tulisa could see little dots of people in bright swimsuits building sandcastles and tanning and splashing in the waves.

"Hey guys, what's that?" Ducky suddenly asked, pointing straight ahead. The girls squinted, and she could just make out a small chunk of land, stuffed with evergreens and surrounded by ocean, almost as if it was carved out of the land and dropped there.

Tulisa frowned. "I've never seen that before…"

"Water we waiting for? Let's go!" Ruby called as she stroked forward, but Tulisa stopped her with a whack to her kayak with the paddle.

"That place is uninhabited, Ruby! What if it has wolves, or bears?"

Ruby's eyes sparkled. "I love wolves."

"Well, you won't love them very much when they're tearing you to shreds. Come on, let's just turn around."

"But look! The birds are going there!" Ducky pointed upwards where the birds were, indeed, diving into the undergrowth of emerald spruce. "You said we could follow the birds. You don't wanna be a liar, do you Lisey?" Him and Ruby both sad-pouted, sparkling eyes pleading with her.

"Ugh! Fine, but if I see something that looks even vaguely wolf-like, we're turning around!"

"Yaaaay!" Ruby and Ducky chorused, slapping their paddles together in a mock high-five.

Wind whipped her hair as the three kayaks pulled into the shore. They undid their spray skirts and stepped out of the boats, carrying them low onto the shore, since the tide was going out, and piling their things under a tarp. Ruby passed her friends both hair elastics, and Tulisa pulled her hair into a low bun with the white streak hanging out. Ducky did the same, only it looked like a small purple-striped poodle was sticking out from the back of his head.

She took a moment to survey the area, hands on her hips. There was a tiny semicircle of beach around the island, with a section of it being a jagged cliff that probably had ripped out of the mainland. Smashed jade glass and charred driftwood told her that people might come here for parties, which sent an uneasy feeling to her stomach. In front of her lay a densely wooded pine forest, gray bark ragged and rough and sticky with sap. She could hear the rustling of wildlife in the underground and the slight trickle of a stream leading from the grove to the ocean below.

"What're we waiting for? Let's goooooo!" Ruby cheered, throwing her arms into the air and dashing into the woods, her water shoes making squishing noises on the dusty ground, Ducky following her soon after.

Tulisa sighed, and with a final glance to the mainland, she let the forest swallow her whole.

~lll~

Ruby leaned over a holly bush, profusely spitting globs of foam into it and wiping her tongue on her wetsuit sleeve. "I think I just swallowed a fly."

"Oh, I love that story! Though it got a little weird when the old woman started swallowing cows." Ducky noted.

Ruby spat again, to no avail. "No, I'm being serious. A fly just flew into my mouth, and I swallowed."

Tulisa shielded her eyes from the sight with a gag. "Ugh, please do not spare me the details. That is seriously disgusting."

"Circle of life, baby!" Ruby sang, bouncing away from the bush and running off through the dark trees, Ducky in close pursuit. Tulisa rolled her eyes and followed them along.

The humming of insects and wave-like sounds of wind in the trees mixed with the sweet tang of sap dripping amber off the rough timber trunks, the tut-tut-tut of a woodpecker bouncing through the forest. Mist swirled around their feet and the tallgrass, and Tulisa had to admit that the sight was rather pretty.

Nearly tripping over a stray root, Tulisa frowned. If she really focused, she could hear a sound like the crashing of water. But at this point they were much too far away from the ocean for it to be that, and this noise sounded close.

"Do you guys hear that?" Ducky apparently noticed it too. "Sounds like…like rapids, or something."

"Sus," Ruby said.

Tulisa gave her friend a pained look.

She widened her eyes dramatically. "Sheesh, so-rry, Chief Fun Police."

A gasp came from Ducky, who'd darted ahead. "Guys! Come look at this!"

The two girl ran to meet him, and Ducky pulled back a particularly thick branch to reveal…oh, wow.

The noise had been the gentle roar of a waterfall, not a huge one but one large enough not to be considered a creek. It splashed down white-water foam into the deep emerald liquid of a pond, smooth like glass, mist casting rainbows onto the smooth black rocks and chunks of ginger granite in the sunlight. Thick pines surrounded the small river in a perfect circle, sun lighting up the pond and the ferns almost blindingly bright where the trees didn't cover it.

"Oh my God," Ruby said in a hushed voice.

"Oh my God is right." Tulisa agreed. "This looks like something in a Tinker Bell movie. Like you know that one in the Neverbeast film?"

"I wasn't allowed to watch that one," Ruby said solemnly. "But I saw Epic, and they had a pretty waterfall in that."

"Epic is not a Tinker Bell movie!"

"Eh, close enough."

"You did not just say-"

Ducky cut in. "Well, you guys can keep fighting. I'm going swimming." And with that, he threw his hair elastic at Ruby with his curls springing free from their confines as he burst from the bushes, ran across the rocks, and splashed into the water. He made an arrow with his arms and dove under the viridescent ripples, popping back up and shaking out his sopping curls. "Come on in, it's warm!"

Dubiously, Ruby followed him, sticking her finger in the water and yanking it out instantly. "Ack! Dude, it's freezing!"

Tulisa felt her friend's arm. "I think you're just unnaturally warm."

"Did you know that girl alligator eggs are actually warmer than boy crocodile eggs?" Ruby informed them. "You're welcome."

"...Thanks?"

"Br-r-r-r." Tulisa shivered, crossing her arms and feeling the goosebumps that had risen. "Okay, maybe it is a little chilly."

"I'll jump in if you jump in," Ruby said bravely, tugging up the sleeves of her wetsuit.

"Ugh. Fine." Tulisa squeezed her eyes and dipped under, bouncing back up on her heels with a surprised grin. "It's actually not that bad!"

Ruby spat out the icy liquid, pulling her dripping ponytail out of her face. "Speak for yourself." Though it was sort of nice, in a weird way. Refreshing.

"Who wants to race to the bottom with me?" Ducky called. Ruby's hand immediately shot up.

"Not me. You guys have fun in Atlantis or whatever." Tulisa quipped, crossing her arms and sitting on a sun-dappled rock to bask.

"You time us," Ruby ordered as her and Ducky waded in waist-deep territory, and her friend gave her a thumbs up.

"Ready, set…go!" Ducky yelled, and they plunged in.

Ruby blinked her eyes open, squinting at the sting. The water was dark and blurry, but sunlight managed to cut through enough that she could see her surroundings. Her long crimson hair floated around her head like a halo, swirling around as she glanced at the white sandy bottom lined with jagged black rocks. Kicking her legs in the breaststroke formation, Ruby swam down lower and lower through the water, the temperature getting increasingly colder and the colours getting darker the deeper she went. The pressure on her ears grew, but she pressed down even further.

But, unfortunately Ducky seemed to have a sort of swimming prowess (duck genetics, probably) and his fingertips grazed the bottom just before hers, sending up a stream of glaucous bubbles to the surface with a cheeky grin. Ruby stuck her tongue out and rearranged herself into a standing position, getting ready to boost herself back to the surface, when she noticed a sort of…light coming from a hole in the rocky walls. Her lungs screamed in protest, but her curiosity got the better of her and she swam a foot further to peek in the hole just a little taller and wider than she was.

An odd purple glow emitted from the back of the crevice, so bright that Ruby couldn't see what was beyond it. Squeezing her eyes shut, she carefully swam through the opening, her knees scraping against the rock. Even behind her eyelids, the light was still painfully loud, until all of a sudden it was black.

Ruby blinked her eyes open, and to her complete surprise, her whole head was submerged in air and completely dry as a bone, while the rest of her body was still in the freezing freshwater. However, what was infinitely more surprising, was the fact that she was in a black abyss. A very familiar black abyss.

"Holy shit," Ruby said with clarity dawning on her. "I'm in Shadow."

"Same," said Bonnie from behind her. "It kind of sucks, doesn't it?"

What. "What are you- never mind, not going to question it. Um." Ruby had run out of things to say. "What's up?"

And then all of a sudden, she felt a sharp tug on her ankles, and her head was plunged back into the water, the invisible hold dragging her up, and up, and up.

"Oh my God, Ruby!" Ducky yelled, popping out of the water after she'd surfaced. So it was him, then. "You were down there for three minutes! And I went back down and I saw you floating in this little hole in the side of the walls…I thought you'd passed out!"

"Pfft, c'mon." Ruby scoffed, running her fingers through her knotted wet waves. "You did not. I'll have you know I got up to Whale Shark level in swimming lessons." They weren't allowed to name any of the levels after carnivorous animals for fear of scaring the kids, a fact that had absolutely crushed a bloodthirsty six-year-old Ruby.

"Still, you were underwater for a long time. Should we take you to the nurse's office?" Tulisa asked, helping her onto her feet.

"No, seriously, I'm fine. Nothing damaged that wasn't already." Ruby assured her with a sunny grin. She figured she'd just tell them when they got back. It would save an extra explanation for the other two.

"O-kayyy. If you say so. Now, shall we head back?"

"We shall," Ruby imitated, shaking her wet hair out like a misbehaving dog, much to the dismay of her friends.

And as they trekked back through the jungle-like forest, Ruby couldn't help but wonder. Why was there a portal right to her friends in the middle of this tiny island? Were there more portals, and nobody had ever found them? Would she ever be able to beat Ducky in a diving competition?

Well, she at least hoped she could answer that last one with a yes.

A/N

This chapter reminds of gravity falls tbh. Also sorry for the long wait, idk what it is about this month but there's always been a sort of November Slump every year. That's what I'm calling it now, by the way.

Question/Challenge: what's your favourite Disney movie? Mine's probably Moana, it's just such a fun movie! Or Lilo and Stitch because it's also fun when it's not horribly depressing.

Also you guys should check out the trailer for the new Pixar movie! It looks rly interesting :)

Have an amazing day/night!

~gggggghost