Exploring the Elements

Chapter 4 In The Jungle

"Aisha! Aisha! Where is she? Aisha!!" Raine yelled. Every once and a while, she would stop to pick some fruit and put it into the bag she carried. She would also listen for any noises besides her own. All that she could hear were birds, running water and animals scampering around.

Meanwhile, Aisha was sitting down on a fallen tree by a round log that was set up like a table. She was making wooden teacups and munching on candy that was in a bowl made from a thick stick. "What was that?" Aisha whispered.

"Aisha? Is that you?"

"NO! They found me!" she whispered loudly. She looked around desperate, grabbed the candy, threw it into her book bag, dragged her hand across the wooden table and grabbed the bottom of the table. When she saw Raine, she yelled, "DISTRACTION!!!" and threw the wood into the air and ran off.

The table didn't hit Raine, but gave away where Aisha was so she ran after her. "Aisha come back here! Before we get lost!" she yelled.

"NEVER!!!" she yelled back. Then she grabbed a vine and swung like a monkey to get away.

I always thought she was half monkey. Raine thought still running after her. "Aisha come down before you get hurt."

"I have been practicing all day!" She yelled looking back. "If you want to catch me you have to-" then a boy flying out of nowhere crashed into her. He grabbed her arm and then grabbed a vine. "HEY FALCO!! Wait, were you flying?"

"No." He said as his sky blue eyes were filled with question then pain as he and Aisha crashed into a tree branch and hit hard on the ground.

"Aisha! What did I say? Hey, who are you?" Raine asked looking at the boy. "Were you flying?"

"No, Raine. That was called gracefully falling." Aisha joked.

"That was probably anything but graceful. The name's Falco." Falco fixed his dirty, blondish brown hair and got off the ground.

Raine looked at his shirt. Besides of the tears, grass stains and dirt, she could tell that the blue fabric they found on the beach was his. Then, she saw his pants. There were more grass stains and dirt on his pants than his shirt. The left pant leg looked like it was cut with broken scissors up to his knee and his right pant leg was ripped and his leg had a big cut and was bleeding. He was also wearing no shoes. "What happened to your leg?" Raine asked concerned.

"Oh, that?" He chuckled, "I was running away from a tiger. I was fishing. He must have smelled the fish and tried to get it. When I saw him, I grabbed the fish and hid it. After that he got angry and chased me. As I was running away, I grabbed a vine, but as I was swinging away, he grabbed my pant leg and got some of my skin two. I still think he's chasing me." He chuckled again and then, there was a roar. He looked behind him towards the sound and in between the trees, was a big tiger who was chasing Falco.

The tiger looked almost normal, all except the black striped that looked like a black mist was pouring out of them. The eyes were deep, dark and had no light.

Falco grabbed the girls by their hands and they ran in between the tight trees to try to slow the tiger.

"We have to get Octavia! She's at the beach! I promised her once I find you Aisha, I would come back with you!" Raine panicked.

"Raine, that's not safe! We have to lose the tiger first."

"Aisha! Did you hear me? I promised her! I also promised that I would turn around once it was twelve. It's way past twelve!"

"What's up with you breaking a promise? If I was in this kind of situation, which I am, I would break it." Falco said annoyed.

"She never breaks a promise. There was this one time she promised that she would help me at school if a teacher ever got caught me pulling a small prank. I covered glue on the top of her seat so during a test she sat down. When I looked up, she was trying to stand up. I almost fell out of my chair laughing."

"But, I whispered to stay quiet until no teachers were around because they would guess that was you who did it."

"We made that bet since the third day of kindergarten. Those were fun times. Like that one time-"

"I'm sorry to interrupt story time, but if you forgot, we are being chased by a tiger." Falco said sharp. "Quick! Up this tree!" He said letting go of the girl's hands.

Soon, they were on a thick branch that was big enough for them to lie down on. Aisha looked around and looked at the big cat that was clawing the tree; trying to get through the branches and get to the kids. Then, she stood up and grabbed a vine. "Tigers can climb trees and you look like you need some help. I'll lure the tiger away, then come back with the first aid kit. Stay here." Aisha mocked the tiger and swung on the vine. The tiger close behind, leaving Raine and Falco sitting on the thick jungle branch in the middle of the jungle.

"You didn't stop her?" He asked surprised.

"No. She knows what she's doing. She knows almost all the animal's strengths and weaknesses. If I know her like I do, she would probably grab some worms from the dirt, put them into a lake or pond and circle around it until the tiger either gets tired, or tries to get the fish. Then, she would come back. She would never leave a friend in a tree." Raine laughed.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Once I got stuck in my Uncle's old tree house because the ladder broke. She climbed down and got some help. We were probably about half a mile away from my Uncle's house, so we were far away in a field. She got help in less than an hour, though. We were only seven at the time."

He smiled. "How old are you Raine?"

"I'm twelve. My birthday is in July and by the looks of things, I might be celebrating it here. Well, what about you?" She smiled.

"I'm thirteen. My birthday is August the fifteenth." He smiled but his face was full of pain. Then he whispered, "I wish Aisha would hurry."

"Does your leg hurt?"

"A little." He tried to sound as strong as he could.

"Here," Raine dug through her bag and dug out the square of clean, blue fabric and tied it around his cut. "is that better?"

"Better, thanks." He a blushed a little, but looked up so she wouldn't see. "Could I go climb to a higher branch to see where Aisha is?"

"No. You stay here. You should rest your leg."

"I'm fine, really."

She gave him a stern look. "I know what I'm doing. I don't get out much during school weeks, so I think that this island is going to be a good experience." She hesitated. Then, she grabbed a vine. "I'll be back. Please, don't go anywhere." Then she swung towards the direction of where Aisha went.

Oh it will be. You don't know anything about this island. He mumbled. He thought about getting up but when he moved, his leg hurt. It wasn't that the cloth was too tight, it helped it stop the bleeding, but when the tiger scratched him, he got his claws deep into his skin. If he didn't run into Aisha when he was, he could have gotten eaten by the tiger. But with them there on the island, he wasn't allowed to do something he wishes he could do. Thanks Raine, I owe you one. He thought smirking.