Arlo and his fiance Ivy were out on a boat trip, enjoying their time together. Middle of the night, they were both fast asleep when a sudden impact shook them awake and sounds of bells and shouting made them both jump out of their hammocks in confusion. Arlo ran up to Ivy and hugged her – “wh…what is happening?”
He stopped 1 of the random sailors who were sprinting past, he shrugged – “Dunno sir, but follow me to deck.” In the background, he could hear shouting- “BREACH!! PREPARE THE ROW BOATS!”As Arlo and Ivy rushed to the deck, the majority of sailors were rushing past them down the stairs to the cargo compartment carrying various tools, pushing them out of their way. One of the sailors grabbed Arly by the arm pulling him, who in turn pulled Ivy with him – “YA FOOL FOLLOW ME!” The sailor took them to a row boat and set them in, lowering the boat to the water with the help of a pulley system and a couple of other sailors. Few other row boats were lowered to the water but were packed with the crew.
Now, sitting in the rowboat Arlo could see a massive iceberg beside their ship. He could see that the ship had a gaping hole in the side of its hull and was sinking slowly but surely. He gasped and hugged Ivy – “don’t worry dear! we’ll be fine” She snuggled up against him as the captain shouted- “ABANDON THE VESSEL!!!” At that moment Arlo knew… things won’t be fine. This might be a lake, but it’s a massive lake. It’ll probably take several days before they get back to the mainland.
As the crew began to jump overboard and swim to rowboats that were on either side of the ship, the remaining crew at the deck chopped at the ropes attaching the rowboats so that the rowboats would not be pulled underwater with the ship. Shortly after, most of the crew was on the boats and the young couple, Arlo and Ivy, found themselves in the company of 2 sailors on their boat. Each boat is large enough to carry up to 7 people. They had no blankets, no rations, no drinking water.
Captain ordered the boats to be tied together so they don’t get separated should a storm arise and so the crew obliged. The boats remained tied together as the crew alternated who rowed for the first 8 hours, switching every 2 hours or so. However, by the 9th hour, the wind was getting stronger and the fog was getting denser. Soon after they found themselves caught in a storm! Waves throw their boats around and people overboard, crashing boats together and tearing the ropes.
2 rowboats got smashed together and got torn to pieces, the ropes snapped and they got separated in the heavy storm. A massive wave hit the rowboat with Arly and Ivy, throwing 1 of the crew members overboard. The other threw rope after him instantly but in vain. The missing crew member never got a hold of the rope, he was pulled away by the waves and never seen again.
Arlo clung to the sides of the boat for his dear life in fear of being thrown off, Ivy in turn clung onto Arly and tied herself to him with a piece of rope. The remaining crew member only kept grunting and shouting “HANG ON” and “ANOTHER ONE” as the waves, mercilessly clashed against their tiny boat, sending them up several meters before dropping them down, nature showed no mercy that night as the sailor fought against it with all his might… but at last, it came…delightful peace and quiet.
They found themselves in the moonlight once more. No wind, no waves. When Arlo let out a sigh of relief, the sailor only grunted- “NOT YET! This is but an eye of the storm… the real hell comes after!” Ivy hugged Arlo and kissed him after hearing those words “Dear! No matter what happens, never forget that I love you” to which he replied “don’t say that… we’ll be fine… ” he looked at the sailor with fear in his eyes – “right… mister?” the sailor shrugged – “I can’t promise you safety young’n”.
The sailor fell down in the boat – “rest while you can… you’ll need all the strength you can muster, the eye of the storm is but a short phenomenon” Arly released his iron grip on the sides of the boat and hugged Ivy, kissing her- “we’ll be fine… We’ll be fine! I promise you” but she wasn’t buying it… she tried to contain her tears but did not succeed. Their clothes drenched, they could see the edge of the eye of the storm… the waves were starting to pick up again and the sailor sat back up
Orlena Frex: Our loving couple should get separated!
A mighty gust of wind hit them all, carrying droplets of water with it as a massive wave lifted their boat, carrying it for a short while before dropping. The wood creaked, the sailor grunted, Ivy screamed and Arlo quietly stared at an even larger wave that was approaching them. Arlo clung to the boat, terror filled his eyes! He uttered a single word “Brace” and a moment later the wave crashed onto their boat, covering it entirely, breaking it in half sending our party underwater.
The waves send them swirling underwater. Shocked and afraid they gasped and struggled to swim up but the rope which tied our lovers were in the way. Arlo reacted swiftly, he cut the rope with his grandfather’s knife which he always carried with him, then grabbed Ivy by the arm and swam up. They surfaced and took a deep breath but before they could even realize what happened another wave covered them once more, the currents powerful enough to pull the couple apart.
As Arlo tried to desperately search for his fiance the waves kept thrashing him, throwing him around! He panicked and before long found a piece of the boat, a few planks to be precise onto which he grabbed. Exhausted by fighting the mighty waves and trying not to drown he no longer could spare any effort in search of his fiance. He clung to the planks and focused on survival.
Hours passed and Arlo found himself on the verge of passing out from exhaustion as nature mercilessly continued to beat at him. A couple more passed, the waves began to soothe. His hands, bleeding from hanging on with all his might, he found himself fainting on those very planks.
Hours passed, and Arly awoke from a bright light and the sound of waves flashing on a beach. He opened his eyes and nervously looked around, he found himself lying on a beach, still holding onto the planks which saved his life. He crawled away from the water before finally standing up and looking around, trying to recognize where he might be
Zelzza Arlathan: The area should be a darkened forest, full of natural fungi and animals that call it home
As he walked around for a while he did not recognize the area. He could tell he was on an island, ahead of him, just past the beach a dark forest with massive trees towering in it. The dense canopy made it appear quite dark and gloomy. Arlo hesitated for a moment but a growl in his stomach reminded him that he needs food and water to survive. He took first steps into the forest, shouting for his fiance “IVY????” but in response, only the chirping of the birds could be heard.
As he ventured deeper into the forest, he found thorny bushes, and critters unlike any he had ever seen before, their eyes, red and glowing, their fur dark and thick! Many had horns, thorns, and spikes but did not appear aggressive. He found a lot of fungi, mushrooms, and moss covering the trees and the forest floor. Canopy so dense that despite it being morning, it may as well have been late evening.. He stepped on a mushroom which exploded in a loud ‘puff’ and let out a cloud of spores.
He held his breath and continued walking, trying to find something edible. He could hear in the distance what sounded like a river, instinctively he followed the sound and found himself in a field of lime-green mushrooms which looked quite appetizing. Stem was white as the first snow, the heads were green like limes. He leaned down to grab 1 but as he reached for it a sound of something crashing from above distracted him. He looked up to see a piglet fall from the tree and land right before him.
The fall was audible and loud, the piglet squealed as it got him and then huffed at Arlo. Arlo looked up at the tree which was no less than 15 meters tall and wondered if he was seeing things… ‘how would a pig fall from a tree….???’ he thought to himself as he gave himself an audible slap – “dehydration must be causing hallucinations”. But as he slapped himself he heard a pig make a sound which could best be described as laughter. “squeeha-squeeha” He could still the piglet, standing before the piglet was unusual. It had big ears, very big ears which rested on the field of mushrooms as it sniffed the mushroom and then sneezed, turned around, and began to walk away, stopping, looking at Arlo, and then walking another few steps.
Arlo…still confused by what is happening decided to follow the tree pig for the time being. They walked for about 30 minutes and the sound of water was getting louder. As they reached the river bank the piglet flapped its massive ears and took flight! Arlo could not believe his eyes as the pig flew straight into the river, crashing into it and squealing happily before drinking. Arlo did not hesitate for long as he fell into the river drinking from it as well. Refreshing cool water rejuvenated him and gave him energy. Shortly after he went over to the bushline where he saw some birds sitting, small as mice and black in color, on the bush where birds sat he found berries and then heard a loud huff beside him as he reached for it.
He turned to look and saw the piglet, staring at him angrily before approaching the buff and sniffing it, then taking 1 of the berries and eating it, the piglet nodded at Arlo, which surprised him even more. – “A …flying…intelligent pig? what kind of island am I stranded on?” but the pig had already returned to the river.
Shortly after having multiple handfuls of berries and feeling more energetic, Arlo decided to venture back to the beach and walk around the entirety of the island to see if his fiance or other crew members may have gotten washed up as well. And so he did, accompanied by the flying piglet… The pig happily strolled beside him as he walked the beach for hours but found nothing. The sun was high in the sky and the day was still young, but exhaustion from the last night’s struggles and the lack of food was taking a toll on his body, he decided that he had to venture back into the forest in search of sustenance.. A thought crossed his mind to kill the piglet and make a meal out of it, but the being seemed intelligent, it would not feel right to kill the one who helped him, Arlo thought as he continued on his way. The pig pointed at some mushrooms it ate, more berries, and within an hour or so Arlo found himself relatively full and returned to the search.
Hours passed and he walked on until he found himself at a part that seemed familiar. Indeed, it was the place where he found himself when he had just awoken. He could see his footprints in the sand, he had walked around the entire island and found no one else. Saddened and frightened he ventured back into the gloomy forest and began to make plans for a shelter for the night and a raft. He was no builder, not engineer or carpenter, but he knew the basics of survival as a son of a hunter.
Hours passed uneventfully as he gathered twigs and built a simple overhang with leaves, set up a place for a campfire and a flat rock to use as a skillet. A day has passed, and Arlo had made a simple stone axe and began working on building a raft when he saw a box in the water. He dropped all he was doing and swam for the crate. He successfully brought it back to the island and to his good fortune, the crate was filled with dry meat, it was a crate from their crashed ship…
The piglet, whom he cleverly named Chris P…. Because he couldn’t stop thinking about making a meal out of it, did not agree with the meat crate, but Arlo did not care, he had found food! Another few days passed, the raft was coming along well but Arlo was getting weaker by day… He had food, and water but he was becoming desperate. Fear, anxiety and worries taking over him.
On the 5th day he gave up entirely. He ran out of vines he had used for rope and spent the entire day just traversing the forest in search of something…anything to give him hope. And then he stumbled upon a cave. Chris P ran straight into the cave before Arlo could even react to it, but desperate as he was, with no source of light, he figured he had nothing else to lose. He followed the piglet and found himself in a dark, damp, musty-smelling cave. He walked onwards, hand tracing the wall
A short while later he could see light just ahead, dim light… And as he rounded the corner he found himself entering a large opening, the piglet stood next to what seemed like a garlean control panel of sorts, to him, a totally unfamiliar device. The walls were illuminated by stripes of mysteriously glowing material.
As he approached the device next to which the piglet stood he could hear a faint hum that came from within the device somewhere. The piglet ran up behind Arly and began to headbutt him, pushing him to the device. As he approached it he could see but a few buttons and a lever, and some signs in a language unfamiliar to him. He sighed -“yeah… i got nothing to lose, whatever this might be, it can’t get any worse” he pressed the buttons in random order, but nothing happened…
He then pulled the lever down and pressed a button that blinked, and as he did the cave shook and a rumble deafened him for a moment as the wall behind the strange device began retracting into the ground. Shortly, moments later the opening revealed a laboratory with glass containers filled with liquid lining the walls, some had strange creatures inside them, and some were empty. More strange devices and flickering walls filled the space. Confused by it all he carefully walked through, admiring it.
Few moments later he could hear the squeal from the piglet once more. The piglet stood atop of a large, horizontally laying container filled with black liquid. Inside it nothing moved. The piglet stomped on the container and squealed, as if demanding something. Arlo looked around but couldn’t quite understand until the piglet stomped on it again. Arlo shrugged – “you want me to…open it??” the piglet nodded and stomped again!
Arlo could see a similar-looking device on the side of the container, a lever and some buttons… But no matter the order he tried pressing them in, nothing happened. The piglet squealed angrily and continued stomping on the container… Worried, Arlo searched for something, a weapon or a tool to break the container open, and found an ax… a strange, red glowing axe in a glass container on a wall. He broke the glass and took the ax and then hit the glass container with all his might…
But nothing happened, the axe just bounced off, the glass was strong and thick. Few more failed attempts later he shrugged – “i…i can’t break it” but the piglet did not seem to give up. It started ripping wires out of the control panel of the container, Arlo nodded – “Maybe…” as he swung the axe over his head and brought it down onto the container’s control panel. Sparks flew and a sound of mechanical hiss filled the room. A loud whine was followed by slurping sounds as the liquid was drained.
As the liquid drained the piglet jumped back up on the container, and inside it Arlo could see a creature he would not be able to describe if he was asked to. It was a lizard with a head of a fish, a long neck and fins like a shark. The creature was dormant… until Chris P stomped on the container once more, the creature jerked to life in a loud sound of electrical discharge and opened its eyes, looking right at Arlo.
Arlo jumped back in fear but soon eased up and approached the container, as a hiss of air and a loud snap, and the glass top cover opened up. The creature weakly sat up. It’s humanoid shape is now apparent to Arlo, the piglet walked up to the creature and sniffed it, clearly not afraid. Arlo still was too weary to approach the creature, examined it from afar while the creature sleepily looked at the pig. Arlo hesitantly spoke – “d…don’t eat him…that’s my…companion”
Not a moment later the creature placed it’s hand on the piglet’s head and patted him… Arlo, shocked beyond belief, stood there speechless. A few brief moments later the creature looked at Arly and nodded a clearly human gesture, Arlo nodded in response and sat down, waiting…About 10 minutes passed before the creature attempted to stand up, but weakened it almost fell over, Arlo caught it before it hit the floor and helped it walk. Feeling less threatened by it he took the creature with him.
A couple of days passed with the creature only eating, patting the piglet and trying to get some strength back. On the 3rd day, the creature walks normally. Another while passed, a week, or 2, and time tracking was of no importance. Arlo found himself back at work on his raft with creatures helping him. It was surprisingly strong and intelligent. His raft was done and it was time to set sail. Arlo pushed the raft to the water as the creature returned from the forest with a long, thick vine in hands.
The creature clearly gestured that it’ll pull the raft, the piglet pointed it’s snout in a set direction, which made Arlo assume he was pointing in the direction of the mainland. Both creatures became companions of Arlo and their help was invaluable. They set sail. The lizardfish creature pulled the raft fast and tirelessly. Piglet stood statue still pointing in 1 direction and Arlo merely prayed that he would return safely to the mainland.
Hours passed and on the horizon, he could see a ship. He hit on the vines to get the creature’s attention and pointed at the ship, the creature changed its course and swam to the ship. As they approached the ship the ship’s crew dropped ladders and helped the man aboard, and as Arlo stepped on the deck of the ship he could not believe his eyes… before him stood his beloved Ivy, in tears and disbelief written all over her face, she cried out – “ARLO!” as she dashed for him. He hugged her tightly.
They stood silently for a few minutes until the piglet landed on the deck beside them, causing quite a commotion by the crew “OH MY GOD DID THAT PIG JUST FLY???” shouted a confused crew member as they all gathered around it. Before Arlo could speak, the water creatures climbed up the ladder…causing an even bigger ruckus as the crew dashed for weapons “MONSTER! SEA MONSTER!”
As the couple stood reunited, ignoring the madness which unfolded around them, Arlo finally spoke – “calm everyone…these are my…companions, without them I would have died weeks ago…” Ivy examined Arlo who was skinny…clothes raggedy, beard and hair unattended, as she then switched her gaze to the pig and the other creature – “we…searched tirelessly for Arlo. I was discovered by this ship’s crea the next morning, we sailed all these days in search and recovered half the crew.
“I knew you wouldn’t die Arlo” she spoke as she squinted her eyes at the lizard creature and then looked back at her beloved – “Dear…you need rest, and…your new companions do as well” The crew, still weary of the strange creatures took them to the lower deck, fed them and gave them place to rest, including the piglet and the lizard creature. Not even a full day later they returned to the mainland.
To this day it is said that Arlo Chaney, with his wife Ivy Chaney live in their cozy house on the beach of the lake, with them Chris P, a mysterious flying pig and a lizard creature who quickly became fishermen’s best friend.
