Ikal ran through the trees behind the other hunters as they tracked the strange object through the night sky. It was rounded and dark, and a little smoke trailed behind it as it made circles around their island. They did not speak but moved through the brush in almost absolute silence. Their padded feet barely made a noise as they approached a clearing. The object kept falling, but it was slowing down, not speeding up as it approached the eastern side of the island.


    They were all geared for a hunt. Each member carried a short bow and a quiver of arrows. The group''s men also had long black stone swords, while the women carried daggers. If an object presented a problem, they would strike swiftly from the shadows before the intruders knew what hit them.


    Even Ikal had his short bow, though he carried a dagger because he had yet to earn his own stone sword. The jagged black blades of the stone it was made of gleamed in the moonlight on his hip. The rocks it was made from, like on the arrowheads and swords, had to be chipped away with harder rocks to make the edges sharp, giving the weapons a pebbly feeling between the smoother edges.


    The leader, Aapo, signaled with his hands, tracing a line from his eyes to the object and pointing to the east. He shook his head, and his shoulders sagged. A few of the other hunters signaled back, but Ikal just watched the object as it started to land. He knew why everyone was anxious. The object was landing near the old ruins.


    "That''s going to be a problem."


    Ikal jumped, his fur standing on end as the voice snuck up from behind him. Even with his long ears, he hadn''t heard James approach. A strong hand patted his shoulder as James walked past and out into the clearing. Ikal''s jaw dropped wide. James didn''t seem to have a care in the world about the strange object or how dangerous it could be.


    "That''s a slipship, alright," James said, rubbing at his beard.


    Ikal''s ears perked. James had told many tales of slipships to his people. He had never heard of one like the one he saw in the sky. It was more like a tube than the long swooping designs that James often described. However, he also expected James to hide things from himself and his mother. That was how the man had managed to insert himself into their lives.


    "And they''re going right for the ruins." James tracked the ship as it came down for a landing with a finger. "Aapo, I know how your people feel about outsiders intruding there, but it looks like they''re just using it to land for repairs. Would you mind if we tried talking to them first?"


    "If we can keep them under control." Aapo crossed his arms over his white-furred chest. "If they are cursed, like many outsiders, they may be dangerous."


    "That is true." James sighed. "If we''re on Erth, we''ll be more likely to run across cursed people. How about this: we sneak in, I go and try to talk to them, and if that doesn''t work, you guys can fill them full of arrows until they''re dead. That way, you''re rid of me and them at the same time?"


    "No one wants to be rid of you, James." Aapo smiled, revealing his sharp teeth. "Your intervention saved us, and we owe you that debt, outsider or not."


    "I just don''t want to risk any of your people," James said, rubbing the back of his head. "You''ve already suffered enough in my eyes."


    Ikal looked down at the ground, doing his best to hide his tears. His father had died because of James''s people. They had come to steal away several of their tribe for some unknown end that James refused to tell Ikal. Ikal''s father was one of the ones who had died at the hands of the outsiders.


    "Fine." Aapo sighed, his black ears twitching. "But if it goes wrong, we''re getting you out of there whether you like it or not. Ikal needs a father, and Potira needs a husband."


    Ikal bristled at those words, his tears forgotten, but he only managed to look to the side and cross his arms. He could yell all he wanted, but Aapo was the leader. Ikal couldn''t contradict his words while they were out in the jungle. It was simply a matter of survival.


    "Thank you," James said, pushing up his glasses as he rubbed at his eyes. "How your people have welcomed me over these last few years has meant everything to me. Though I miss my own people, your hospitality has made this island a home to me."


    The rest of the tribe made their own gestures of support. They smiled, and some patted James on his back as they approached him. Despite Ikal''s feelings about James, the man was well respected among the tribe. They couldn''t see what Ikal saw in the man. James was an outsider, and outsiders couldn''t be trusted.


    Ikal stuck his tongue out to the side as he had just eaten a bitter berry but also made sure to face away so that he wouldn''t be seen.


    "If I keep talking about it, though, I think poor Ikal is going to spit up his dinner. Let''s find this ship before the night''s over and see if we can stop the problem before they start."


    Aapo nodded and led his hunters into the forest, with James following behind. Ikal eventually followed after, making sure to keep himself out of sight. There might also be a chance to sneak off and visit the temple, assuming everyone else was busy. Ikal smiled as he kept an eye out on the east. He could sneak off and visit his real father.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ***


    Alex brought the ship low toward a lake in the island''s center, partially covered by tall trees. From what he could see of the island, it was mostly jungle, with tall cliffs jutting out over most of the edges and a singular peak that dominated the island''s north side. There were a few beaches, but he didn''t want the ship to be easily visible against the light brown of the shores. No, the best option would be to camouflage the ship near the lake and hope the trees provided some cover.


    "Bring it in slow," Li Wen said as she looked at her panel. "The landing is going to be tight."


    "I know," Alex grunted, pulling back on the orbs as he brought the ship in. "Just make sure I don''t ding anything else until we can look at it."


    "The branches will not cause significant damage," Mari chimed in over the speakers. "However, please do not intentionally run into them."


    Alex sighed but focused on bringing the ship in. With the controls, he had a good view of the area and brought the ship in to float near the treeline next to the lake. Then he slowly brought it down into the water, as close to the shore as he could without getting it stuck in the lake''s silt. It took a few minutes to even out the ship with the pontoons in the water before he was finally satisfied.


    "There," Alex said, stepping back from the controls. "Any complaints?"


    "We have successfully landed, powering down engines," Mari said as the pontoons hummed lower and lower before finally shutting down.


    They acted as the equivalent of lodestones on normal slipships, and as far as Alex could tell, they weren''t powered in the same way as normal lodestones. The Nighthawk had no light sails of any variety. He was sure the answers would be somewhere in the ship''s manual, but he had yet to find anything. Everything about the Nighthawk seemed impossible, even in a world that already specialized in the impossible.


    "Alright," Alex said, turning to his crew. "If everyone will go get dressed, we''ll check the ship and then check around the area. Someone wake up Artur, and we''ll help Mari out of her hole."


    With that, they split. The rest of the crew headed out the front of the deck while Alex and Erin climbed onto the back of the bridge, standing next to Mari''s exit hatch. After a few minutes of waiting, the hatch opened, and air escaped it with a slight fog as it released from the floor.


    Hiss.


    "You all right in there?" Alex asked as he waved the fog away and looked down into the dark hole.


    "I''m fine," Mari said, one pale hand exiting the dark hole.


    Alex reached down and helped pull her out, and she came up relatively easily, considering her weight. Mari was an android, and while she was shaped like a human, there were dead giveaways that she wasn''t one at all. Her blue eyes were large and glowed blue when she was in dark places. She had lines down her face and throughout the rest of her body, along with rounded joints on her limbs where they bent. Right now, she was wearing a long white robe covering most of it, and her normal clothing made it a lot easier to hide what she was, but Mari stood out as not human without those coverings. She also wasn''t light by any means.


    "Alright, off with Erin, kid." Alex handed Mari off to Erin, and the two exited the bridge to get Mari ready.


    "Let''s go, Mari," Erin said. "We''ll try out a new cloak this time."


    "I''m not a child." Mari managed one final retort before she was gone.


    "Then why does everyone on the crew treat you like their little sister?" Alex asked, shaking his head.


    He searched for his coffee mug and quickly found it before he started off toward the kitchen to place it in the sink. After a few minutes of preparation throughout the ship, the entire crew stepped out onto the deck, dressed and ready for the new island.


    Alex had thrown his black jacket over his normal clothes, and that was all he needed. Sayed now wore his usual leather chest piece over a stark white shirt and simple brown pants. Jean was dressed in his dark blue robes that covered his skeletal frame, except for his head. Li Wen had her dark brown coat and guns ready, with her rifle slung over her shoulder. Finally, Erin had changed into her normal black clothes with her green coat over them while putting Mari in a matching set. It certainly blended in more than Mari''s normal red cloak.


    Artur was still absent, but Alex assumed he was just putting on his full chain mail. The prince didn''t know how to take things casually and would probably come out for repairs dressed like he was going into battle.


    "Let''s get to work," Alex said as Sayed and Jean wrapped ropes around their torsos to climb down the side of the ship.


    Alex, on the other hand, opened his gate. Electric power thrummed through his body as he walked toward the edge of his deck, running from his heart in a rhythmic beat as he opened himself to his power. He focused all his mental effort on pulling his body toward the ship, and as he walked off the side, he simply followed the curve of the ship like he was walking over a bump.


    His jacket fell forward as he started down the side, but otherwise, it was no different from walking on flat ground. As he came around the curve, he also saw the extent of the damage. A long black line ran across the ship''s left side from where the robot''s attack had landed.


    "You know, your curse is plain unfair," Jean said as he lowered himself on his rope.


    The rope was pulled around the back of his legs as he came down, step by step, his hands contorting his rate of descent as he walked backward down the ship''s side.


    "I know, right?" Alex said. "It''s the niche usage that makes it fun."


    "Aah!" Sayed fell past both of them before his rope pulled taunt less than a meter from the water''s edge.


    Alex and Jean looked after him, but he just hung in the air motionless for a moment before raising a single thumb. His arms and legs dangled beneath him, and Alex held back a laugh. Sayed always went into things full bore without thinking about how they might turn out; this was just another example of his antics.


    "I will be alright, brothers; just give me a moment to recover myself," Sayed said.


    "My friends, I don''t want to cause a fright," Artur''s voice came from above. "But I feel eyes upon us in the dark of night."


    Listen.


    Alex looked out into the forest, and as he did, a voice called out from the deep jungle. It was a voice he recognized from too many times before, and if he was hearing it, that meant only one thing. He smiled but didn''t let it show. He would need to know more before they started blustering around looking for an island core.