Seeing the island for the first time only cemented the fear in their guts. The land was shrouded in black mist, as if someone had laid a blanket of night over the whole area and the water broke dark against the rocks. As they drew closer, the sky clouded and thunder began to rumble.
Winds which had been mild to moderate over the sea suddenly began to rage, as if nature itself was trying everything to keep them away.
WilyKit leaned their linked boards to the left to try and compensate for the wind. It helped somewhat but she didn't want to deviate too much. As it was, they only caught a glimpse of the shore every couple of minutes when the mist drifted.
"Faster." Her brother's voice sounded so far away, despite him being within arms' length. WilyKit wasn't ashamed to admit the howling winds were starting to sound like cries, howls even. It unnerved her, it frightened her. Despite how "big" she liked to pretend or believe she was, she'd never longed more for the ability to hide behind one of the others and cling to their leg.
Her heart ached at the thought. They would smile, stroke her hair and promise her it would be alright, that she was safe.
But they weren't safe. She wasn't safe. Her brother wasn't safe. Third Earth wasn't safe. That was the whole reason they were here.
As they plowed forward, as fast as their boards were capable of going, she clutched as the pendant around her neck.
It hummed hot.
Almost subconsciously, she looked around. What she expected to see, she wasn't sure but there was nothing except wind, whirling water and…
"Kit! Ahead!"
Her brother forced her back to reality and she almost wished she hadn't.
Surrounding the entry to the island, swirling around like wolf attack dogs, were water sprouts…full on tornados full of black water. At least ten of them, sweeping around the island's shoreline.
She cursed in Thunderian but did not relent. If anything, she increased their speed.
There was no arguing with a tornado of water. No strategy.
They had speed and they had luck.
"WilyKat, hang on!"
"You…we're gonna ram a wall of tornadoes?"
"If we're lucky and time it right, we'll slip between them." The howling wind made it hard to hear. "Unless you have another thought."
He stared at her but shook his head. Clutching tight to the board, he fumbled then locked the guide bar over his arm, locking himself in place.
Once his sister did the same, he reached for the controls, gave a nod to his sister. "Punch it?"
"Go!" She screamed with more fervor and bravery than she felt. As they blazed forward, she closed her eyes tight. The howling wind and water made it impossible to see.
Back and forth they were tossed. To the left. To the right. Up, down. More than once, the bars locking them to the boards began to quiver and shake. If anyone but Panthro would have made these boards, she had no doubt, they would have given under the pressure.
Yet, when the shore seemed only moments away, the wind snatched them, as if a child grabbing a toy.
Up, up, they went. Tossed about so violently that the bolts holding them together began to bend and snap.
"Kit!"
Her brother's arm found hers. So fierce did the water and wind howl that she dug her claws deep into his flesh and he responded in kind. She leapt, moving from her board to his just as the connection snapped and her transport whipped away. The stray metal shards sliced her leg as they went.
Face down, clinging to one another and the board, WilyKat pumped the remaining engine, pushing every ounce of power into the thrust.
Like a bullet, they broke from the whirling wind then spiraled downward, colliding with rock and sand. The remaining board shattered on impact.
As soon as their flesh hit land, the winds ceased, fled as if they never were though the sky remained dark and overcast, as if ready to pour down rain at any moment.
WilyKat stood first, his sister following. With a huff, they brushed the loose sand off and looked around.
The beach was barren, full of black sand, broken bits of stone and a crumbling, ashen substance they couldn't identify.
There was an overwhelming sense of sickness, of deep and permanent pain. It seemed deep into the earth itself, in the very air they breathed.
And on the border of the beach, skinny and dying trees stretched their empty branches to the left, dead bark falling into the wind.
WilyKit's foot crunched into the earth. When she stepped backward, she recognized the off white shade of bleached bone.
"It's everywhere."
Her brother's voice in her ear, rattled and coarse, brought her back. Looking down, she made the connection—the ash mixing into the black sand they were walking on was pulverized bone.
They were walking in bodies.
Fear crippled her but she clung to her twin tight. Almost together, they chanted, "Justice. Truth. Honor. Loyalty."
Over and over, without pause.
As they gathered their supplies, salvaged what they could from the board and began to follow those wretched trees to the left, it became their mantra.
"Justice. Truth. Honor. Loyalty."