The Destiny Phase: (Page 2) My Arrival

October 20th, 3324 12:47 AM

 I hate ships. I hate the ocean. They both suck. I hate that I'm 18 already. And I hate that I've puked more in these last 5 hours than I have the last in the last 4 years, combined. Ugh. This sucks. Apparently I'm quite susceptible to sea sickness and then combine that with the impact of this move to Skua Island; nausea is just hitting me so hard right now. Geez. I hope I can---"ALRIGHT EVERYBODY, MOVE IN AN ORDERLY FASHION!!!!!" The loud shouting takes me abruptly out of my thoughts and I look up to see my friend, Ray Aves, standing to the right of the line most of us passengers are in, shouting out orders to move in an organized manner. The line is movin' fairly quickly so I don't have to worry about being on this painfully cold, dank, and windy ship anymore.

 And as I'm walking forward, Ray just smirks at me and the fact that I puked on the ship 3 times in a 5-hour span. Ugh. Screw you, Ray. Then as I'm on my way down I hear him say, "You feeling alright after all that up-chucking you were doing, earlier?" I don't bother to turn around to say anything to him, but I do respond with, "Oh, shut up!!" I just hear laughing in the background, and then as I finally reach the dock, I take in my surroundings. The area is pretty dark considering it's almost an hour past midnight, the scent of the ocean is fresh, there are of course many people walking off of the ship as well. The beach itself is very dark with very little lighting, but from what I can make out in the darkness there seems to be a decent amount of trees and small buildings--perhaps homes, near the edge of the beach, and it's very--and I mean VERY cold in this area of the island, especially being near the ocean. And because of this, I'm beginning to shiver in these cold conditions and just as I'm half ways away from the beach I hear Ray call my name again, "Kalero! Wait up!" So I turn around to see him quickly walking towards me, while wrapping his scarf around his neck again. Something I noticed him doing a lot of during the time I was on the ship. Y'know, when I wasn't vomiting, of course. I just smile and wait for him to get closer to me and once he's within arms' distance I give him a high five and pull him in for a hug.

 Then he asks me again in a more serious manner, "How are you? Really. You were looking pretty bad there on the ship a few minutes ago." I rub the back of my head and respond with, "Yeah man, I'm okay. Stomach still feels a little queasy, but I'm glad we got here safely enough." He just chuckles and says, "Yeah, that little incident really put you over the edge, huh?" I just roll my eyes and continue to walk in no particular direction. He just continues to laugh to himself then I ask him, "So, what are we doing now? It's pretty late, y'know." He leads me towards the west side of the beach and says, "We're just gonna get you situated for now. We just need you to get used the island for now and we'll worry about initiating you into the group later." I just nod my head and ask him jokingly, "So, what'd you tell 'em about me? That's I'm the most awesome guy you know?" He laughs out loud and sarcastically responds with, "Ooooh yeah. That's what I told them. I told them you were the greatest creature ever created." I decide to keep the game going with, "Aww, you're too sweet Raymond." Ray rolls his eyes and says while smirking, "Oh, shut up you moron." I laugh pretty loudly and decide to drop the joking right there. "So," I start again, "Seriously, what did you tell those guys about me?" He shrugs his shoulders and says, "In a nutshell I told them how you were a good guy and pretty capable fighter." I nod my head and say, "Yeah, okay. That doesn't sound too bad." He chuckles again.

 By now we've reached a long sidewalk and we're just walking side-by-side going…….somewhere. He still hasn't told me where we're going. "Hey Ray, where are we going and where I'm gonna live?" I scratch my chin and continue, "You haven't really told me much about these 'Freedom Fighters,'" I make air quotes, "Of yours and I would like to know what these random joes actually do." He shakes his head and says, "Well, we already have a room at HQ ready for you, so you don't have to worry about where you're gonna live. And our 'Freedom Fighters,' he mimics the air quote gesture I used, "Protect the island. We--" I cut him off and ask, "And you're one of 'em?" He looks at me like he's offended and says, "Yes, of course! I've been a member for a little over 2 years now." I shrug my shoulders and ask, "So what do you guys actually protect the Island from?" He simply says, "Anything and everything." I give him a crazy look and say, "What do you mean everything? It's not like you can keep the Island from getting hit with bad storms and tornados and all that." He readjusts his scarf and says, "Of course we can't stop natural disasters, but what's been going on lately, we have to fight to protect the Island." "Fight to protect the Island….?" Not really sure if I wanted to know what they were actually fighting I just left his response be and replied with, "Hmm…"

 After that, silence takes over and we're just walking comfortably to "HQ," as Ray called it. Then finally, about 15 minutes later we arrive at their headquarters. I take a look at the building itself and it looks pretty huge. It's a huge, older looking building made of wood. I noticed a few huge trees surrounding the front of the building, and it also had 4 windows on the front part of the house. I'm assuming with two sets of windows this is a two story building. "If this job doesn't pay, well then how the heck did they get this huge building to live in?" "Dang….." I mutter quietly. I look at Ray and he just smirks at me and says, "Oh yeah." I ask curiously, "How many stories does this place have?" He digs out his key from his scarf and says, "Oh, it's just two stories, but it's a pretty wide place all around." "Wow, I can see that…." Then Ray puts his key inside of the doorknob and unlocks the door. When he opens the door, he peers inside and I see darkness with only some light peering through another door. I step inside and Ray closes it behind me as I look around the dark room, Ray continues towards the room with the light and tells me, "C'mon. Let's go see who's messing around in my lab." I don't know what to say so I just reply with, "Uh, okay. Sure…."

 Then Ray leads the way as he opens the door and my eyes fall upon the back of a tall, grey wolf and a white bird sitting in a small, black computer chair. Then Ray all of a sudden says with a dopey grin, "Hey! Dad, what are you doing in my lab?" That's when the wolf and my Godfather turn around to look in our direction. Emery, my Godfather immediately recognizes me and gets out of the chair to hug me. "Kalero!!" I smile at seeing his face for the first time in a few years and hug him tightly. "Hey Emery, when did you get glasses?!" He laughs at my rhetorical question and while hugging him I take in my surroundings again. I see a huge monitor type thing in the middle, back end of the room, a pod type contraption right in front of me, and a bunch of beakers and gadgets on the white desks. There's also a handgun looking thing, a few beakers with some type of liquid in them and this small box-like contraption with a clear lid on the right side of the desk. The room is painted a clean, white color and most of the walls are covered with desks or shelves filled up with fancy-looking appliances and weird colored liquids. We separate from our hug and he puts his feathered hands on my shoulders taking in my appearance, "Wow, you've gotten so big. You're taller than me now." Ray just smiles at his father's behavior and I respond with, "Yeah, it's been a while. 5 years and I'm five inches taller, too." Emery just laughs and exclaims, "I can see that!" We hug again and I look at the wolf and decide it's time to shake this guy's hand. I walk over to him and he puts his hand out to shake and he says in a deep voice, "You must be Kalero. Ray's told us a lot about you." I reply with, "Yeah, I am. Um, Ray hasn't told me much about you guys though, what's your name?" He releases my hand and says, "Apex Wolf." I just nod my head in acknowledgement. And that's when I turn around to see Emery and Ray talking about something, and then Emery looks back up at me and says, "I know we're a couple of hours late, but happy 18th birthday, son!" I grin widely and say, "Thanks Emery." Ray wishes me a happy birthday as well. "Happy birthday, man; I know moving away from your family isn't quite how one would expect to celebrate their 18th, but trust me, we'll make you right at home, man." I smile and say, "Thanks man. I really appreciate it." Then I hear from the wolf, "Yes. What Ray said. We're looking to make you as comfortable as possible here with us." Before I could thank Apex for what he said, Ray quickly says, "Yeah man. Now c'mon, it's pretty late and you should probably get some rest…….Actually, we all should. C'mon Dad, let's show 'Lero his room and get him situated for tonight."

 Emery walks next to me and leads me to my room upstairs. This is when I take in my surroundings once more, as we're walking up the stairs I see most of the doors closed and light is only peeking through one door; while the rest are pitch black. I also believe I saw a few photos hung up on the walls as well, but before I could look for anything else we're already at the end of the hallway, with my room being parallel to the one with the light shining through.

 As we walk into the room, the window is wide open and the only light coming through is the moonlight and I can feel the draft through the open window. The room is quite chilly. And Ray says as if he was reading my mind, "I'm sorry about it being so cold in here, man. It was hot here in this room earlier so we just opened up the window. I guess Dexter forgot to close it." I look around to see a bedside shelf with a small lamp on it, the shelf has two drawers; I see a huge bookshelf for my books and such, and the walls are painted this brownish color. Actually, it may just be the fact that it's dark but it looks almost like a burgundy color. Overall, the room is pretty bland, but I'm not complaining.

 And I respond to Ray's earlier remarks by saying, "Ah, it's no big deal. It's still a little warmer in here than it is outside. Man, it's freezin' out there." Ray and Emery just chuckle and Emery says, "Yeah, that's how weather is down here. Our falls and winters are usually pretty harsh." I nod my head and put my bag down in the corner. That's when Ray tells me, "If you need anything, just get up and get me. I'll be in the lab, I have a little more work to do so I'm gonna be up pretty late tonight." I just say, "Uh yeah, sure. I'll do that." He continues with, "Also, if you need to go the restroom or anything, it's the 2nd door on your right when you come out of your room. We actually just keep the door open when no one is using it so we don't end up in each other's room. And finally, if I'm not in my lab, just come in my room, which is right……." Ray gets up, opens my door and points at the 3rd door on the parallel wall. "There. If you need me, just knock on that door and I'll help you out with whatever." I just nod my head processing all of the information and say, "Yeah, thanks man. Hopefully I won't have to bother you when you're sleepin' though." He just laughs and replies with a simple "Yeah."

 He then looks around my room for one last time and Emery asks, "So, do you need anything from us right now, or are you okay with everything as is, at the moment?" I take a glance around my room again and say, "Nah, I'm okay. I think I'll finally be able to hit the hay now." Emery nods his head and walks out, and then Ray follows shortly after that, but now without wishing me happy birthday again. Now with both of them out of the room I can finally take all of my things out of my bag. And as I go to close my door I see a girl standing in her doorway looking at me, and before I can get a good look at her she quickly closes her door. "Hmm, that was weird…" I just shrug my shoulders and proceed to close my door.

 Now I start rummaging through my bag and begin pulling out a few of the books I like to read then put the books on the book shelf. Then I take out my pairs of socks then put them in the dresser I just noticed that was sitting on the wall in front of my bed. Then I take my pen and pencils out of my bag then put all of those things into the bedside shelf, and then put all of the letters and envelopes I'm going to use to write my family back home, in the drawer as well. I take my other pair of boots out of the bag, too; and that's it. I've emptied my bag and look at the small clock that sits on the wall over the dresser. 1:33 AM…. The thought of the time seemed to triggers a yawn and that's when I figure it's time to go to sleep for the night.

 I take off my gloves, and then remove my boots, then my golden bracelet. I put that on the bedside shelf, then I remove both of my wristbands, then finally I remove my socks and get down on my knees to say a little prayer. After that, I get up to close the window Ray seemingly forgot to do, and then I finally lay in the cold bed. I get goose bumps from the cold sheets, and then begin trying to comfortable in the cool bed. After a few minutes the bed begins to get warmer and my eyes feel heavier……and heavier...and....heavier.....and.......heavier.....and.......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz