The sky got darker and darker by the minute, which in turn, mirrored the young mens' morale with their current situation. The light mist had turned into a drizzle and they knew that at any moment the heavy rain would pick up and they would be soaked to the bone.

Jayme stopped and looked at William, he had remained silent the whole way, gathering things and stuffing them in his journal. "William, I truly think we should head back. We have been at this for -" He pulled out his pocket watch. "Half an hour already and we still haven't found any shelter to stay in." His voice laced with worry as he added. "I have a bad feeling about this if we continue to keep walking."

William stopped and turned around to Jayme. "Just give it ten more minutes and if we don't find anything we can head back." He asked, wanting to still at least try a bit more and see if they could find another place to stay at. 

Alex sighed, pushing himself away from the tree he had leaned against. "All right. Let us not waste any more time and work on finding shelter." He said, only earning a frown from Jayme.

William nodded as they started to walk again, pushing away the thick leaves and vines hanging down in the path, which wasn't exactly a path since there was no flat ground.

The rain started to fall harder making the grass turn slippery and the dirt turned into mud. 

"Be careful. I do not want to slip and have a mud bath like a pig." Alex cautioned, digging his heel into the ground to steady himself. "I am not walking around caked in mud." He added, shuttering at the feeling of it on his clothes and possibly elsewhere.

Jayme followed behind William, being just as careful as Alex where he stepped, making sure to land on rocks and not the mud. "We should turn around. You know my feelings are never wrong, William."

William half heard him, passively waving his hand in dismissal. "It'll be fine," He kept looking around, stepping over some rocks now that the dirt path was gone. "You worry too much, just like my mother."

"Forgive me if I genuinely care about the wellbeing of my only mate." Jayme commented in a snarky tone whilst crossing his arms over his chest. "You may not take too kindly to it, but I'm only doing it out of platonic love for you. You're like a brother to me William."

Alex groaned loudly. "Do you have to be sappy? It's disgusting." He cringed, wishing more than anything to have never heard the words leave Jayme's lips. "This is why I never wanted mates to begin with, to avoid all this angst!"

William smiled when in front of him he saw what looked like a clearing. "Look, a clearing! Perhaps there is a place to take shelter, like a tree or something underground?" He pushed the bushes and branches out of his way.

Jayme chewed on his lip as his stomach knotted tightly in the pit of his stomach and he stopped, making Alex stop as well. "William, I don't think that is a clearing. You should really stop -" He warned, having a bad feeling as they approached it.

William rolled his eyes glancing back at Jayme as he kept on walking towards the clearing. "Don't be ridiculous Jayme it is just a - ah~" The next step he took he slipped on some mud and took a tumble down a rocky cliff. He let out a cry before landing on a flat ledge below with a groan. His head hit a rock, rendering him unconscious. 

Jayme saw his fall and his eyes went wide in a horrifying manner at what he had just witnessed. "WILLIAM!" He yelled running over to where he had fallen and looked over the ledge. The rain and fog were making it so hard to see where he was at and it looked like there was no way to get to him. 

Alex was horrified as well as he saw his cousin perhaps fall to his death, oh that would be the worst. "WILLIAM?" He breathed heavily and he moved his hair from his face. "Do you think he is dead?" 

Jayme tilted his head to the side, looking at him wondering how on earth he could think such things. "Of course not, unconscious yes, dead, highly unlikely." His eyes darted around him, panic setting into his body. "There must be a way down there right?" 

Alex stood up and pointed to the right, seeing something that would help them out. "Uncle Raymond is going to kill us!" He exclaimed, panic rising in his chest bubbling over into his voice and eyes.

"Alex!" Jayme stood up and looked over at him. "Time is ticking. His life and death hang in our hands! We must do everything we can to save our mate and the heir to the kingdom." He darted off towards where he had said, making sure not to slip and fall, but to stay away from the ledge. "We must hurry!" 

Essa watched the young men hurry off, having watched everything play out with horror written on her face. "Shylar and Indigo go get the better cave ready for us." She looked at them as they nodded and ran off. 

She turned to Toki and Bananas and quickly gave them tasks. "Follow those two walking sticks and lead them to the cave." Both of them gave her a nod and followed after the two young men.

She turned to Misty and started to pull strong vines from the trees. "I need you to stay here and wait for me. I am going to climb down and get him." She explained, to the baby elephant, her tone rushed and anxious.

Misty nervously rubbed her head, giving a sheepish look at her. "Essa, I'm not that strong. I can't hold your weight and the other walking stick seems taller and heavier than you!" She sheepishly said, self doubt creeping in.

Essa tied the vines together and wrapped them around the tree, making sure the thick branches would keep it in place. "Then try and make up something. You have good ideas, helpful ideas and fun ideas." She flashed her a hurried smile, wrapping the other vine around her waist.

Misty nodded, thinking about what she could do to help aid Essa."You got it Essa,'' She then began to gather what she needed to make a makeshift board that they could get the walking stick in and secure him so they could bring him up.

Essa looped the vine over the tree and ended up making it almost like a pulley system to repel down the mountain. Carefully climbing down, she made sure to keep her bottom level with her feet so she wouldn't lose her balance and slam into the wall. 

Within a minute, she planted her feet on the ledge that William was laying on. She rushed up to him and knelt down, inspecting him and checking to see if he was breathing. Thankfully he was but he was unconscious and in bad shape, from the amount of blood oozing from a gash on his head, and the possibly of bruised or broken bones.

Misty looked over the ledge and down at Essa with a confident smile. "I made something. It is coming down to you." She quickly tied the vine onto it and slowly lowered it down with her trunk.  

"Good job, Misty!" Essa took hold of the makeshift board Misty made laying it down beside William.  She carefully pulled him onto it by his arms, cringing when she heard him groan. "Sorry," She apologized softly, tying him in tightly so he won't fall out.

She tried the vines to the four corners and took the vine she had wrapping around her off and held it. "Get ready Misty, here he comes." She began to pull on the vine which slowly started to bring William up.

Once William was up, Misty pulled the makeshift board on the ground and untied the vines, tying them to the thick tree branch. "Come on up Essa!" She called down, waiting for her to climb up and hold her to get this to the cave. 

A flash of lightning lit up the sky and she could hear Essa's whimpering. "You can do it, Essa," She coached, looking over the edge at the trembling figure of Essa clutching the vine in her hands.

Essa took a deep breath and contoured climbing up the side of the wall. She was almost to the top, when another flash of lightening and rumble of rolling thumder frozen in her place. 

Her grip tightened on the rope, turning her knuckles white as she shook like a leaf on a branch. She ignored that she was dangling from the rope about eight feet from the ground. 

She could hear Misty's encouraging voice from above and slowly opened her eyes. She needed to take a deep, shaky breath, and quickly climbed up the rest of the way, pushing her fears to the back of her mind.

She pulled herself over the edge and straightened up after her feet had planted on the solid ground. She took a few deep breaths, her body once again shaking like a leaf. 

Misty rested her trunk on her shoulder with a smile, hoping to help her feel better. "Let's go, Essa, we will be safe in the get better cave." She picked up the foot of the makeshift board with her trunk, watching Essa grab the other side. 

It took a while to get there since the rain had started to fall harder than it had, it was making things slippery. They both had to be careful about where they walked so they wouldn't get hurt either. 

Essa and Misty entered the dry cave, illuminated by many lightning bugs, who'd normally be asleep but we're more than happy to aid Essa and lighten up the whole ceiling until it looked like daytime. 

She pulled William off the makeshift board and struggled with getting him on a cot made from vines, leaves, and thick tree limbs against the wall of the cave.

She started to tend to his wounds focusing on the worst ones first then the minor ones. She picked up a white clean cloth that was taken from a washed-up sail and dipped it into a coconut bowl of water. 

She then dabbed it on his forehead that had a huge gash that was still bleeding. 'Just touch it lightly like I did when I got an owie.' She thought to herself, making sure she was extra careful.

She set the rag down on her lap and carefully inspected William. She fiddled with her fingers in her lap, trying to keep herself from touching his face more than she needed too.

'He's . . . ' Essa couldn't find the right words for him. She could feel her heart flutter as she looked at him, she felt uncomfortable at the feeling since it was foreign to her. 'I dunno the word for it . . . I've never felt this way before. He's cute, but it's more than cute.'

Misty sat herself down on a fluffy bead made from grass and leaves tied up inside a weaved pillow almost. "Poor walking stick. That looks like it hurts?" She cringed a little when Essa dabbed the blood of the gash. 

Essa nodded glancing over at Misty, before redipping the rag in the water to rinse it off. "Yes, big owie." She agreed, turning her attention from the baby elephant back to William, dabbing the rag on his gash. "Like here," She pointed to a scar on her knee where she had skinned it more than one time.

Shylar bent down and began to lick her tail.  "He's blessed he didn't fall to the left or he would have been . . ." She paused and side-eyed everyone around her dramatically. "Resting forever."

Essa snapped her head up and looked over at the tiger cub. "He was being watched over, like I was." She mentioned, dabbing the rag a few more times on the wound to clean up all the blood that had begun to pool on the wound.

"Kailau will not be happy to find out you've broken one of the rules and helped the walking stick." Waikiki, Roki's father, commented as jumped down from a ledge above Essa. 

Essa looked over at him, resting the cold wet rag on a bruise on his face, and sighed. "You're not gonna tell Kailau, are you?" She skeptically asked as she chewed on her lip out of worry.

Waikiki rested his paw on her leg, looking up at her with a smile on his face, hoping it gave her comfort. "Essa, I won't tell that grumpy old tiger anything, your secret is safe with me." He winked at her, curling his tail around his paws.

Essa nodded as she stood up and sighed. "Thankies, Waikiki." She softly said and turned to her animal friends with a smile. "I couldn't leave him. I dunno if the other walking sticks could get him like I could." She frowned lightly, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. 

Waikiki studied the island girl quietly for a few moments. "That is sweet of you Essa. If Kailau doesn't see that then, well, that's his fault. I'll be there to back you up if he causes a scene." He flashed a smile. 

Essa nodded slowly, standing up and picking up the coconut bowl and rag. "Be right back. I need freshwater, so keep him safe, pwease?" She asked her animal family as she left the cave.

Not but five minutes after she had left Bananas ran unto the cave, jumping up beside Roki and Toki few on top of Misty's head taking deep breaths before falling back. 

"We did it. We got them to follow us - hey where is Essa?" Toki asked, standing back up and watching the two walking sticks enter the cave and immediately rush over to their companion.

Jayme knelt down beside William's cot as his eyes darted on his unconscious friend. "Are you all right? Are you dead? Please answer me? William!" He cried out, shaking him, and started to panic about what happened to him after he had fallen. 

Alex had wide eyes and looked around, seeing the animals and how they looked around the cave. "Something freaky is going on here! I know I said the island's indigenous inhabitants were highly unlikely but this could be cannibals!" He exclaimed his breathing got heavy as he began to panic at his own words. 

Jayme gave him a serious look, looking him dead in the eyes. "Yes Alex, cannibals patched him up so he could be alive when they roast him for dinner. We walked into a trap and we are for entrees since we're both hardly meaty enough for a main meal." He sarcastically said with an eye roll.

"I'm serious Jayme!" Alex roared, waving his hands erratically in the air.  "You swore this was a deserted island, but then we found the markings and this! Now we've got wild animals staring at us just waiting to dine."

Jayme frowned, pushing his glasses up his nose. "I never swore anything. At first glance, it did seem deserted, but it turns out I was wrong but that doesn't mean anything." He clarified for Alex since he was not going to let him say things that weren't true.

A feminine voice pulled them both away from their panic and towards the voice. "He's okie." They turned around and saw Essa, standing there holding a coconut full of water and a dingy rag in her other hand.

Alex jumped to his feet, flying into a fit of rage at the unfamiliar girl who had just entered the cave. "What did you do to him!?" He accused, whipping his finger towards her and jabbing it in the air.

Jayme whipped his head to Alex and gritted his teeth. "Alex!" He chided, deeply frowning at his accusation towards this girl. She seemed innocent. Soft, dainty facial features and long black hair, muscular arms and legs, tanned golden skin littered with scars, and a petite build.

Essa frowned, feeling a bit offended at the accusation. "I didn't do anything to him. He fell off cliff, so Misty and I helped him." She replied, setting the coconut bowl down on the ground beside William then crossed her arms.

Jayme had to do a double-take to what she had said. "You mean you and these animals helped him?" He inquired, glancing around warily at the wild exotic animals around the cave watching them.  

Essa tilted her head to the side, blinking slowly. "Yes. They are happy to help. It's what family does." She had to pause for a moment since she was a bit confused at his wording.

Jayme opened his mouth to speak but retracted for a brief moment. "Thank you for helping him." He meant his words. If he wasn't for her William would probably be dead since they couldn't figure out how to get to him.

Alex did a double take on what Essa said, interrupting Essa from replying to Jayme. "Wait, family? Did you just say? Animal family? Those animals?" He asked, dumbfounded by her calling these wild animals her family. 

Essa nodded, finding his question to be a little uncomfortable. "Yes. Something wrong?" She asked slowly, her eyes darting his face on his reaction to her reply. 

Jayme shook his head, butting in before Alex could potentially insult her. "Oh, no, no there is nothing wrong with calling your animals your family. Family comes in all different shapes and sizes, most of the time it's not even blood related but the family you find." He flashed Essa a smile but elbowed Alex in the side.

Alex groaned through his clenched jaw at the sharp pain in his side. "Jayme," He hissed, shaking it off and turning towards Essa. "Are you going to eat him?" He asked, earning a glare from Jayme.  

Essa tilted her head to the side, bewildered at his question. "No!" She shook her head, slightly offended at his question. "No no!" She exclaimed defensively. "Why would I do that?" She was appalled and genuinely curious as to why he'd ask her that.

Alex shrugged his shoulders, quickly speaking up before Jayme had a chance to butt in. "No reason," He passively replied and quickly added a nicer question. "Where do you come from?"

Essa didn't know whether she should answer him or not. He didn't seem genuinely curious, or at least in her eyes. She frowned, still offended by his accusation. "The sea." She replied dead serious, eyes darting between both walking sticks. 

Jayme exchanged looks with Alex as he pondered her words. "The sea?" He inquired. 'What could she mean? Surely she didn't mean she was a siren or mermaid? There had to be another reason? Shipwreck perhaps? That sounds more reasonable. There have been records of people landing on uninhabited islands like this.' He shook those thoughts from his head. "I see, so like us?"

Essa tilted her head back and forth, shrugging her shoulders as she thought about it. "All I know is a storm and waking up on the beach." She replied, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Ah, that is interesting - perhaps a shipwreck." Jayme reasoned, noticing this caught Essa's curiosity. "I won't press you for details, you don't have to tell me anymore. Forgive Alex for his impertinent questions, he doesn't know when to withhold questions." He gently slapped Alex on the back side of his head.

Essa rubbed her arm with her hand, shifting on her feet. "Okie." She then moved on from the subject. "Do you have something to help him?" She motioned towards the open gash on his head that thankfully was no longer bleeding.

Jayme nodded with a smile and stood up, taking heed to her wanting to divert from their current conversation. "I do, actually, I will be back!" With that, he dashed out of the cave now that the storm had died down temporarily.

"Jayme! Don't . . . leave . . . me . . . here," Alex exclaimed, reaching his hand out only for him to let it fall back at his side as Jayme disappeared. "Great, great." He sighed, side-eyeing Essa all while forcing a smile at her. "He left me."

Essa simply tilted her head, reaching over and scratching under Roki's chin. "Should I leave? Am I making you uncomfy?" She asked, genuinely concerned that her presence was hurting the fellow walking stick.

Alex's eyes grew wide, sweat began to collect on his forehead and neck. He tugged at the collar of his shirt. "Oh no, no, no, just stay right there and I'll stay right here." He pointed to her then to his spot, anxiety growing like a vine inside of him.

Essa took a deep breath. 'He's weird.' She thought with a frown. 'Walking sticks aren't as bad as Kailau thinks they are.' She thought, hoping that helping them wasn't a bad idea in the end and didn't come back to bite her in the bottom for it.

Alex crossed his arms and pressed his back into the wall, keeping his head down. 'At any moment she could sick those animals on me and they'll devour me in a matter of minutes. I don't trust her. That sweet innocence is just a façade, I'm not falling for it.' He glared at the ground as if Essa's face was there.

🌴〰🌴〰🌴〰🌴〰🌴〰🌴〰🌴

A\N:
Ah, I am back again. Yes it has been a little over a week, but I had updated my other book in that time. I am officially 20 as of yesterday, the 21st, and I just hope to get some of my books done before I turn 21 next year. I know it is a goal that seems super hard, but I am not backing down and nees to set goals for myself so I can get back into the swing of things.

I also am one chapter away from having enough to enter the book into rewards next year! I know 2018 is almost over, it sees life flies by so fast when you have no life lol. I do hope next year is so much better than this was has been. I have goals next year and I will get them done, with your help and encouragement of course!

Chapter Talk:
I took what was going to be the next chapter and added it here since I didn't know what else to add. I was running out of ideas hence why this chapter is a bit short. I will add more later when I get more ideas. I will admit, two days I did procrastinate in not working on it but I got myself to work on it.

Poor William, he had fallen off a cliff, at least he isn't dead. Yeah he is going to be sore and will be when he returns home, but he is alive. Essa also met Jayme and Alex, of course mother of them even thought to ask names, they were all occupied with their other reasons. It is funny Jayme didn't ask Essa if she was a cannibal, but she beat him to it saying there wasn't any.

Thanks for reading!