The only way to get to the Floppy Isles was by boat. By a small boat. Like many of the smaller islands of Thalsa Two, the Floppy Isles were technically in a restricted zone, and visitors were only allowed to set foot on the islands if they had a permit or a guide with them. Thankfully, today, the sea was relatively calm, and Ilga and her guests were happily sailing across the water, enjoying the pleasant weather as they made their way to their destination.
Well, three of her guests were happy. Kayel had never really been on a boat trip before and was enjoying every little bounce over the waves, while Nyssi was sunbathing at the back of the boat and Tenuk was looking out for wildlife, intently listening to Ilga as she described any animals that swam or flew by. Retvik though had remained as far away from the water as possible, staring directly ahead, trying not to look into the deep blue sea beneath them. The first time he’d looked into the water, he was certain he saw something swimming beneath them. Ilga had cheerfully explained that it was most likely just a juvenile mosasaur or maybe a young orca, and, although they were curious creatures, they were mostly harmless and knew to leave boats alone, and collisions and accidents were uncommon.
Of course, this information hadn’t settled Retvik’s nerves in the slightest. Sure, he was wearing special, light-weight armour he could swim in, as well as a life jacket and a special floatation device he could use in emergencies, but the idea of something attacking the boat they were in, so far away from land, bothered him immensely. To the point that Retvik practically threw himself out of the boat and onto the small pier on the largest of the three Floppy Isles as soon as they arrived.
“You alright, Retvik?” Kayel asked as everyone else climbed out of the boat, and Ilga made sure everything was secure.
“I am now…” Retvik grunted. “It is one thing, being in a swimming pool where you can see the bottom, it is another thing entirely to be in a deep ocean where monsters are lurking.”
“Well don’t you worry!” Ilga beamed, patting Retvik on the back. “We’re on land now! And there’s no way a terra-eagle or a moa would risk messing with a fine Rethavok specimen like you! Anyway, come now, let’s go and see the penguins!”
Retvik frowned, then glanced at Kayel. Kayel shrugged, then handed Retvik his gun-staff.
“You’re allowed to be scared, you know.”
“Hmph. I should not be scared.”
“It’s fine. You’re in unfamiliar territory. We’re on land now anyway.”
Retvik grunted some more, then watched as Ilga, Nyssi and Tenuk headed off. They’d left most of their stuff in the boat, since the plan for today was to just get a feel of the islands, then set up camp near the boat, before wandering deeper onto the islands in the following days.
Thankfully, now they were on firm ground, Retvik did settle down somewhat. He and Kayel trailed behind the Lanex, the Temthan and the Spast, being careful to avoid the sharper rocks along the ground. Nyssi was wearing sandals and Ilga had specially made armoured shoe things, but Tenuk seemed to be happy to just walk around with his bare feet. Kayel and Retvik were both wearing leather foot plates that hooked around their talons, and Retvik was already regretting not wearing metal foot plates.
After about twenty minutes of hiking though, Ilga suddenly came to a stop and lowered herself down behind a rock. Everyone else did the same, but Tenuk found himself unable to do so, his eyes transfixed on the vast, rocky plain below.
“Are those… penguins?” Tenuk whispered, utterly mesmerized by the strange, sleek, feathered creatures that were wandering around, chirping and squawking at each other. Most of the creatures were in pairs, but a long line of them was waddling up from a nearby beach, returning with food and looking for their mates, and many were wandering around, showing off their black and pink plumage.
“They are, yes!” Ilga whispered back. “You should come back here, you don’t want to disturb them!”
Tenuk watched on for a moment, then grinned. He suddenly changed himself into a penguin so he could get a closer look, but with a red stripe down his back rather than a pink one. Tenuk fell flat on his face at first, then slowly waddled closer. He decided to not go too close to the pairs of penguins, doubly so as he noticed that some of them were standing over eggs or carrying chicks between their legs.
However, before Tenuk could do much else, he… sensed something. A presence. Up above.
The penguins all quickly began to panic, and many of them rushed off towards the sea. The rest tried to hide among the rocks, in a bid to protect their young. Something hideous glided over the edge of a nearby hill and zoomed in towards the flock, jaws wide open, ready to feast on whatever it could catch. It quickly targeted the weird, red-backed penguin that clearly stood out and closed in. Suddenly realizing that he was prey, Tenuk changed his shape again, turning into himself but larger than normal, in a bid to make himself too heavy to pick up.
Amazingly, the monster never reached its target. A gun-staff pierced the creature in its side, causing it to crash into the ground, inches away from where Tenuk was standing.
“Holy Lady of the Deep… that was… a stupidly good shot…” Ilga was at a loss for words as Retvik stomped over to where the monster had fallen, retrieved his gun-staff and stabbed it repeatedly in the monster’s side, making sure that the creature was well and truly dead. Once Retvik was satisfied, he turned to Tenuk, then silently mouthed something to him. Tenuk glanced at his body and realized he was the wrong colours.
“Oh… fuck…” Tenuk cursed as he swiftly changed himself from red and silver back to two-tone blue. “Fuck… I didn’t… ugh…” Tenuk then got up and pointed at Ilga. “You saw nothing!”
The Lanex smiled. “Oh, I saw a lot of things. You look a bit like-”
“I do not look like anyone! I look like me and that’s it! Spasts mess up their colours all the time!”
“Do Spasts also turn themselves into the local wildlife or is that just a thing royalty does?” Ilga asked.
“Alright, calm down, folks!” Kayel quickly butted in, hoping to defuse the situation. “Let’s stop asking Tenuk awkward things and go back to praising Retvik on how well he threw his gun-staff at that Corruptiid, because that was genuinely impressive, he acted faster than I could draw my damn rifle.”
Retvik shrugged, then made his way over to Tenuk, who had shrunk down back to normal. Retvik picked Tenuk up and gave him a quick hug, before putting him back down. “Are you alright, Tenuk?”
“Oh, I’m dandy!” Tenuk snapped. “I just wanted to admire those cool-ass birds and nearly got eaten and then totally blew my own cover!”
“So… you… actually ARE the supposedly dead Lord-Prince?” Ilga asked hesitantly. “Why did you not return home when everyone was looking for you?”
“Going on adventures with a Rethan gladiator, a Temthan beast hunter and a Skyavok assassin is way more fun than the stupid slaving away I did to appease my asshole of a father…” Tenuk slowly calmed down as Retvik hugged him again. “Please, please don’t tell anyone. You have no idea what it’s like to be the second most important person alive but also having literally no freedom to do anything.”
Ilga approached slowly, then patted Tenuk on the head. “Don’t worry. Us Lanex know what it’s like to lose one’s freedom. Your secret is safe with me. Pinky-promise.” Ilga then turned her attention to the dead creature, only to frown as it started turning into ash. “Is… that supposed to happen?”
“It’s happened every single time we’ve killed one!” Nyssi tutted. “It’s why no one’s been able to study them, they just disintegrate. At the same time though, us four seem to be the only beings capable of actually killing them, so, uh, if you’re going to work with us, Ilga, we’re gonna, I dunno, have to lick all your weapons or something.”
Ilga blinked, then shrugged. “Alright then. We can track these beasts though, yes?”
Nyssi nodded. “Yeah, they have a particular scent to them. But this one’s no good to us now, we need to find something a Corruptiid has killed and track them from there.”
“That’s doable. I do have some trail cameras I can check back at the boat. We should probably set up camp anyway, since Tenuk needs a bit of time to recover.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. Retvik picked Tenuk up and placed him on his shoulder, and they started following Ilga back to the boat, where their camping gear was stored.
“At least this problem is definitely solvable though!” Ilga smiled as they lumbered off.
“Oh yeah, definitely!” Nyssi smiled back. “Don’t worry, once we’ve found the nest, these Corruptiids are as good as dead…”