The Island of Fear (complete)

Chapter 8) "This Island Is Not Natural..."

KateSeleneMelody3OCS

The other Vegimals and I continued to wander aimlessly around the dark tunnels, humming in a melancholy manner. Suddenly, we saw a light at the end of a tunnel. "A light! It must be an exit!" Tomminow shouted. He ran toward it.

"Wait up!" I called. The other Vegimals and I ran after him. We ended up in some sort of control room. It looked less advanced than the one in the Octopod. There were monitors on one wall. I looked at them and gasped. The monitors showed images of the Octonauts. Kate was in a small room with walls closing in on her. Peso was tying some bandages around a tree. Kwazii and Tweak were running from a wave of venomous spiders. Shellington was holding a shivering Dashi. Captain Barnacles and Selene were running towards someone screaming.

"What is this place?" Barrot asked nervously. I shook my head.

"I don't know, Barrot." I whispered. Just then, a door on the other side of the room opened. Out stepped a raccoon. He stopped in his tracks and stared at me and the other Vegimals.

"Well, what do you know? The grand prize is here!" He said, pulling a lever. Suddenly, a cage fell on top of all of us. Tomminow shouted in alarm. We were trapped.

isobeljones2000

Barnacles POV: Selene was clinging onto my arm and Derek was screaming. The nearest jabber jays cocked their heads as if picking up the noises around them, then several began to scream and cry just like Derek. The air was full of sounds of terror and sorrow, mixed with the voice's deep cold laugh and Kwazii's screams. I struggled to keep my composure.

"The jays, you said they mimic screams. They don't make them up?" I saw a flash of hope in the darkness. The voice chuckled nastily. 

"Oh no, those screams were quite real. Your friends really were in danger. I wonder why?" His voice was singsong and merry. I scowled at him. Selene was attempting to comfort the terrified toddler in her arms, the jabber jays were listening with interest to her calming speech. One by one, they were falling silent, landing on branches. I realized the cause of it.

"Selene! Keep talking!" Without the jabber jays for our captor to talk through, he couldn't contact us. Also, my head was clearing without the screams of those I loved. Selene's eyes were wide but she kept speaking soothingly to Derek, who was quietening down now. She must have the gift, I thought wonderingly. That when she speaks like that, jabber jays listen to her song. I knew mockingjays did, and jabber jays were specially evil muttations, but even these listened quietly.

"Shh now, baby... It's all right," Selene was saying, rocking the baby in her arms. I saw a softer side to the wolf that I had only really just met, a softer sweeter side. But her voice was tiring, and the jabber jays were getting bored. The voice would soon have control again.

KateSeleneMelody3OCS

Peso's POV: We walked through the tunnels, flipper in paw. I felt like I was floating. Kate had kissed me! She had actually kissed me! I had always had a crush on her, ever since I had met her. But it was complicated. For one thing, she had a complicated past. She also had an overprotective brother, who happened to be my best friend. Not to mention she was way out of my league.

Suddenly a thought struck me. Shellington! I had to get back to him. "Kate, Can we stop for a second? Shellington called earlier and I should probably go see what he needed."

Kate smiled and nodded. "Go ahead."

I pressed a button on my radio. "Hello? Shellington?" I asked.

"Peso? Is Kate alright?" He asked. I felt a twinge of jealousy, but I dismissed it. Shellington and Kate were good friends, but I didn't think they were anymore than that.

"Yes! She's fine! I rescued her! I went down and saved her from being crushed!" I replied. The words, although completely true, felt like lies in my mouth. I hadn't felt like the same person when I went down and rescued Kate as I did normally.

"Listen, Peso." Shellington's voice was deadly serious. "Dashi has a fever. Just now, she started hallucinating and saying something about cold and talking to her mum. She's shaking so much.... I ... don't know what to do, Peso." he explained, his voice shaking like mine had when I had explained Kate's dilemma to him. I had to help. But I wouldn't be able to get to them. I had to tell Shellington what to do.

"How long has she been like this?" I asked.

"Just after we left all the others she started shaking and saying it was cold." He replied.

"And is it?" I had to know as much as possible.

"Not really..." He answered. "There's a slight chill in the air but I'm not freezing cold. It's not like I'm getting -

"Pneumonia." I said, completely certain.

"What?"

"Dashi has had pneumonia, when she was very young. It's in her medical files. I read every medical file to make sure I can help. It sounds like she's having flashbacks to that moment in her past for whatever reason. But I've never heard of the symptoms coming with it. Dashi should not have a fever right now." I explained.

"What do we do?" His speech was hurried, and Dashi was moaning in pain in the backround.

I was hesitant. Shellington would not like what I was about to ask of him. "There's a cure, a way to stop the symptoms of a pneumonia fever. And I think I know where it could be..."

"Tell me. I'll get it. I have to save her." He sounded so determined.

"It only grows on very high ground, where the air is thinnest. On mountains." I said.

There was a long silence. "I-I'll do it...Anything for her..." Shellington whispered, his voice barely audible. I nodded. "Get to the mountain first, please. I'll tell you what you need when you get there." I ordered. The radio cut off. Kate looked at me, a worried look in her eyes. "How would Dashi have pneumonia?" She wondered aloud. I shook my head, baffled. Kate looked at me seriously. "This island is not normal." She whispered. I could only nod in response.

isobeljones2000

Tweaks POV: Kwazii chased me through the tunnels, large grins on both of our faces. A few times Kwazii nearly grabbed me but each time I was able to swerve away, laughing. "You'll have to try harder than that, Kwazii!" I sung in a teasing voice. Kwazii laughed too, making another hopeless grab for me as I danced just beyond reach, tantalizing him. It felt like we weren't in this terrible situation as we played, our childish natures taking over our heads for a while. 

Kwazii disappeared from view for a moment and I looked around, scared suddenly. "Kwazii?" I asked the air cautiously, swivelling my head left and right. It suddenly seemed very dark, and very cold down in these tunnels. Then something grabbed me from behind and I yelped, spinning round on the spot.

"Guess you're mine now!" Kwazii told me, a large grin on his face. Then he leaned forward and kissed me. Our lips stayed locked for a while, each of us basking in the wonder of being together. When we finally pulled apart I smiled. 

"I wouldn't have it any other way."