Chapter 1
Island Getaway
Sounds of waves crashing against the beach and seagulls squawking fill the air as a seated shrouded figure stares blankly into the endless ocean. Thunder cracks in the distance, indicating an approaching storm that sends a calming sensation over him. The dark figure sits up and slowly walks towards a slightly overgrown path leading into a dark rainforest opposite the ocean. Almost on the trail, he stops when he hears a familiar cooing sound.
The figure turns his hooded head to the right.
Bird: "Coo, Coo."
He crouches down towards the tall bird.
Figure: "Hello, little bird," he says softly. "What do you need?"
Bird: "Coo, Coo."
Figure: "Are you hungry?"
The bird seemed excited when he said that, so he stood up.
Figure: "Here, follow me. I'll get you some fruit."
The figure signals the bird to come with him, so it follows close behind into the dark green path as a light rain begins to fall.
The Next Day
Rain pours heavily as a skull-headed man runs towards a car, opens its driver-side door, and throws himself inside. He grabs his keys and turns the car on. Then he switches on the radio, turning the knob to find a song. After finding one, a tall woman with an umbrella opens the passenger-side door and steps in. While fastening her seat belt, she speaks to the skull-headed man.
Tall woman: "What a shitty morning."
She turns her head towards him.
Tall woman: "You know you could've chosen any other day, right?" She says in a snarky but playful tone.
Skull-Headed Man: "Sorry, I can't predict the weather, Ni." He responds sarcastically.
Ni smiled and turned her head back to face the garage.
Ni: "We going to pick up Saku?"
Skull-Headed Man: "Yeah."
As he says that, he turns around to face the street and pulls out of the driveway. Then turns the gear shift forward and drives off.
After several minutes, they pull up to the end of a driveway and wait for someone to come outside. A muffled song plays while a horned woman walks with a suitcase down a hallway with a wooden floor towards a door. She unlocks and opens her front door, revealing a car waiting for her in the rain, so the horned woman opens her umbrella and walks down her driveway. While she walks, the skull-headed man opens the tailgate and gets out to help her.
Skull-Headed Man: "Good Morning, Saku!" He says while walking to the back of the car.
Saku: "Good Morning Tabi!" She says joyfully.
Tabi: "Need any help?"
Saku: "No I've got it." She says as she smiles.
Saku lifts her luggage into the back of the car and closes the tailgate. She opens the left back-side door, closes her umbrella, and then steps in.
Saku: "Hey, Ni." She says in a friendly tone.
Ni: "Hey, Saku."
Tabi: "Ready to go?"
Saku: "Yep!"
She pulls out her phone, turns on a song, and puts her headphones in as they take off.
About 20 minutes later, they pull into a gravel parking lot and park outside a large church. The double doors to the church open, and a nun with a tall man wearing a Ushanka steps out. They walk towards the car with their luggage while Tabi gets out to assist them.
Nun: "Good morning, Tabi!" She says while waving eagerly
Tabi: "Good morning, Sarv!" He exclaimed. "Need any help?" He says, walking towards them.
Sarv: "No thanks, we can get it!" She says nicely.
Tabi turns to the tall man.
Tabi: "Morning, Ruv." He says in a friendly tone.
Ruv: "Morning." He says in a monotone voice.
After putting their luggage in the car, Sarv and Ruv enter the middle car seats and close their doors.
Sarv: "Hey, Nikusa!" She says happily.
Nikusa: "Hey, Sarv!" She responded excitedly. "Hi, Ruv!" She exclaimed.
Ruv looks at her and nods.
Sarv: "Hey, Saku!" She exclaims.
Saku: "Hi, Sarv!" She said while taking her headphones out. "Hi Ruv." She says quietly.
Ruv turns to Saku.
Ruv: "Hi, Saku." He says lowly.
Nikusa: "So you're going to say "hey" to her and not to me? She says playfully while looking back at him.
Ruv looks at Nikusa.
Ruv: "Yes."
Nikusa laughs and turns back around.
Tabi: "Everyone ready?"
Nikusa: "Yep!"
Saku: "Mm-hmm."
Sarv: "Yeah!"
Ruv looks at Tabi and nods in agreement.
Tabi: "Alright, here we go!"
Tabi and his friends drive from the church parking lot and take off toward the island resort.
3 hours later
Tabi's car pulls into a large, wet gravel parking lot and stops in front of a wooden sign. The sign has an arrow pointing to the left towards the beach that says, "Cabins," an arrow pointing to the right that says, "Shop/Cafe Plaza," and another arrow pointing to the right that says, "Resort Hotel." He drives forward and parks in a spot at the end of the parking lot. They all open their doors and step out to stretch except Saku, who's asleep. Tabi lowers the left middle seat and tries to wake Saku up.
Tabi: "Hey, Saku, wake up, we're here." He says softly while gently shaking her.
Saku opens her eyes and looks at Tabi.
Saku: "Are we here?" She says drowsily.
Tabi: "Yeah."
Saku then gets out of her seat to get her luggage. Everyone grabs their things and walks on the beach toward their cabin. A figure sits looking out at the ocean until something happens. A sharp pain strikes his entire head, and he feels a dire need to look to the right of him toward the rest of the beach. He turns slowly to see a skull-headed man walking with people he does not recognize. His eyes and mouth grow wide as he feels an almost nostalgic familiarity that excites and confuses him. Tabi feels sharp pain all over his head to the point where he grabs his head and grunts in anguish. He looks up, dazed, to see a seated, cloaked figure staring at him. The figure he sees sends a strange familiarity over him that confuses him.
Nikusa: "You ok Tabi?"
Tabi: "Yeah, I just got a sharp pain in my head." He says, still dazed. "And I think that guy's staring at me." He says, pointing towards the figure.
They all look up to see what he's pointing to, but they only notice a person in a cloak looking at the ocean.
Nikusa: "I think you're just seeing things, Tabs." she says, reassuring him. "You sure you're okay?"
Tabi: "Yeah, I'm fine." he says as he walks again. "It's gone now."
Nikusa: "Whatever you say, Tabs."
The figure stares down at his robes, his mind racing. He couldn't believe his eyes or head at what had just happened... They arrive at the cabin a little weirded out by what happened.
Saku: "Wow!" She says in awe. "It looks like one of those Japanese houses!"
Tabi: "Yeah, it's modeled after a Minka house!" he says excitedly.
He pulls out a keycard and opens the house.
Nikusa: "Oooh, this is nice!"
Sarv: "It's even bigger on the inside!"
Tabi walks over to Ruv.
Tabi: "What do you think?"
Ruv: "It's nice."
They all choose their rooms and set their things down inside. Tabi knocks on the door to Saku's room.
Saku: "You can come in."
Tabi opens the door and peeks in.
Tabi: "Hey, you all settled in?"
Saku: "Yeah." She says as she smiles.
Tabi: "You wanna check out the beach with us?"
Saku: "No, I was thinking about going to the plaza."
Tabi: "You sure?"
Saku: "Yeah, I'll check it out another time."
Tabi: "Alright, well, be safe, okay?"
Saku: "I will." She said sweetly.
Tabi closes the door and goes with everyone to the beach. Saku finishes putting away her things and heads out of the house. She walks down the beach and notices that the shrouded figure is gone. After a few minutes, she arrives at the plaza and looks at all the shops and cafes. While looking around, she notices a store that catches her eye, "Palm Pantry," so she decides to go inside.
Cashier: "Hi, welcome to Palm Pantry! She says happily. "Can I help you with anything this morning?"
Saku: "No, I'm okay!" She says, smiling.
She walks down the first aisle and sees something familiar standing near the end of it. A tall, cloaked figure stands there, looking at multiple pots of tropical flowers. The figure senses the presence of something familiar. Saku stops and stands a few feet away from him and says something.
Saku: "Those flowers are beautiful, aren't they."
Slightly taken aback, he slowly turns his head to the left, revealing the right side of his face to her. He turns his head slightly back to the right and nods in agreement while closing his eyes. She smiles and continues.
Saku: "I'm Sakuroma, but you can call me Saku."
The figure turns his head back to her.
Figure: "Hello, Sakuroma." He says very quietly.
Sakuroma: "What's your name?" She says while smiling.
The figure walks past her out of the shop without looking at her. Embarrassed and shocked by what happened, she walks out of the shop and back to the cabin. A few hours later, Sakuroma decides to go out and walk around the beach since the rain has reduced to a light sprinkle. She walks on the beach, looking at the ocean and the coconut palms spread all over the beach, when she notices a familiar person. It was the shrouded man she had talked to in the store. The figure feels that familiar feeling again and sees Sakuroma walking toward him. A strong sense of nervousness flows over him like seawater on the beach, yet he looks up at her.
Sakuroma: "Hey, it's me from the store." She says with an awkward smile.
He looks at her blankly.
Sakuroma: "I just wanted to say I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable." She says, full of guilt.
He looks at her, struggling to speak, but manages to mutter.
Figure: "You don't need to apologize."
She looks up at him, confused.
Figure: "I apologize for walking away from you so suddenly."
Sakuroma: "It's okay." She says with a smile. "So, you wanna pick up where we left off?" She says excitedly.
He nods his head in agreement.
Sakuroma: "So, what's your name?"
He looks up at her, hesitating, and says.
Figure: "Koan."
Sakuroma: "That's a pretty name." She says with a big smile.
Koan: "Thank you." He said lowly as his face grew warm.
Sakuroma: "Well, it was nice meeting you, Koan." She says sweetly.
Koan: "It was nice meeting you too." He says, looking at the ground.
Sakuroma: "Welp, I think I'm gonna head back inside." She says while stretching. "I'll see you around?" She says wonderingly.
Koan: "Possibly."
Sakuroma laughs, tells him goodbye, and goes back to her cabin.