Home Again

Survival Ep 1 - Crash Landing

For the first time in Poptropica, ice crawled on my skin, forcing the hairs on my arms to stand straight up. Wires were wrapped around my chest, keeping me high above the soft snow. Our parachute was twisted in the leafless branches of trees. I pressed a button on my chest. The sensation of falling whooshed past me, and then Fierce Fox and I landed on the soft snow. The cold was digging into me, making my limbs shake. Tall, thick trees surrounded us, covered in snow and bushy leaves. Wind blew through my short hair. My scarf flowed gently.

"That was a rough landing!" Fierce Fox exclaimed. A frown was on her face.

"You don't say?" I asked, my teeth chattering. Even the cold can't take away my smart mouth.

"Brrrr, it's freezing," Fierce Fox said, rubbing her hands over her biceps. "We'd better keep moving."

"Right." I said. I stood up, shaking snow off of my boots. They weren't snow boots, but they kept the snow out. Well, it wouldn't have mattered what I wore. It was Poptropica. I could've worn a dress and wouldn't have been any less warm. I trudged through the snow- and to our convenience- found a survival handbook. I picked it up. "Alright. The whole point of this island is to survive, hence the name. Some of the handbook's pages are missing; we need to find them. We can start by following that bird." I was referring to a woodpecker pecking on a tree trunk. It saw me approaching and darted off into the breeze.

Fierce Fox and I followed the woodpecker, leaping across and darting under the trees. We picked up a few handbook pages on the way. And a few other things, such as logs to make a fire. Fierce Fox, being the natural athletic, caught up to the bird. We had to repeat this a few times. The last time was after we slid under a tree and across an icy surface. Fierce Fox found a squirrel; it raced up a tree.

"Where's he going?" she asked.

"This way." I answered. I leaped onto a tree and scaled the branches, reaching a bird's nest. The squirrel was inside a hole in the tree, behind the nest. The woodpecker was on the other side, pecking away. The squirrel was agitated by this and ran off. I picked up the nest, winking at Fierce Fox. After that, we arrived at a new area. There's a big, rocky cliff, covered in snow and surrounded by trees. Underneath a tree was some wet kindling, which is useless.

Past the cliff is a large, fallen over tree, which is like a burrow. Inside there is a caved-out space. There were a pair of red mittens in there that I let Fierce Fox have. Then we returned to the cliff and picked up a piece of paper on the highest tree. After that, we headed left to an area near a ravine. It's similar to the first area, apart from that ravine. Except a bit more spacious. We picked up another handbook page and continued exploring.

Underneath a tree-stump there was an axe. Fierce Fox, using her mittens, pulled the handle off of it. It was near a sheet of ice, a tree hanging over such ice. It's a pretty island if you take the time to admire it. To the left of the axe is the ravine and a stump with a handbook page under it. Just one more page.

In between some tree branches there's another parachute. It looks like something was attached to it. There's a handle we needed to pull; Fierce Fox did that. It reached out, creating a ladder. We passed that and found a backpack hanging on a branch. Inside there was a striker, which fell into the snow. We grabbed that and moved on.

"How much more is there to do?" Fierce Fox asked.

"Not too much," I answered. "There's a bit of a hard part coming up, but nothing too bad."

"Are we the only ones out here?" Fierce Fox asked. "Is there a villain?"

"We won't be seeing anyone else until the end of the third part," I answered. "This island's split into five parts- or episodes. The first three are mainly about exploring the wild... surviving, trying to get out. The fourth and fifth... well, they involve someone. And, to answer your second question, the someone is the villain."

"Great," Fierce Fox replied, groaning. "That's just great."

"We'll be fine." I assured her. "Come on. The last handbook page is this way." The last page was on the fallen tree, on this sticking-up branch. We grabbed that then headed past. There were burnt sticks in a pile, leftovers from someone who'd tried to make a fire. They're in front of an icy cave and a frozen waterfall. The icy cave is a part of a small hill which was carrying a boulder.

"Push that boulder with the axe handle," I instructed. "It'll reveal the cave." So Fierce Fox climbed onto the hill and pushed the boulder with help from the axe handle. It rolled down, clearing snow from the cave's entrance. The dark hole was now open, flint glistening around it. I picked up a piece of flint, then faced the cave. It's warmer inside there, but I felt chills. Chills of fear.

"So... are we ready?" Fierce Fox asked, leaping down beside me. I shook my head.

"Push that boulder one more time," I told her. "Then we'll have the perfect spot for a fire." Fierce Fox shrugged and did so. In front of the boulder was the perfect spot for a fire. I grinned. "Good. Now we just need the dry kindling from the cave and we're done." I shivered. "The cave." I walked over to the cave. I know, I've been in much worse than a cave. But fear doesn't die down for anything. It has no logic like that. "The. Cave."

"Yeah, I can see it's a cave," Fierce Fox said, appearing next to me. "Who's going in?"

"Oh why not." I sighed, staring at the cave. I entered it. It's completely pitch black and I could hear snores from a bear. Droplets trickled down from the ceiling, landing on floating platforms. I used these as a guide, though my legs trembled. I didn't like that bear. At the end of the cave is a beam of light, shining through dust and showing off a dry kindling. I grinned. Success! I swiped it from the platform and left the cave.

Fierce Fox and I stood near the boulder. There wasn't any wind there, so we could start a fire. Fierce Fox wiped some snow away with her mittens. I placed down the nest and set it on fire using the lighter and flint. Then I blew on the fire, my breath alighting the flame. After that, I placed on the dry kindling and logs. The fire radiated warmth. The feeling of satisfaction raced through me.

"Ahhh!" Fierce Fox exclaimed, grinning. "That feels nice!" The island medallion appeared around her neck. There was a flash of light; I appeared behind my computer screen, watching Fierce Fox sleep beside the fire in the vibrant sunrise. I grinned. I stopped grinning when I saw binoculars spying on my friend. I sighed. MVB, I thought. More villains. I'll never get enough of them.

THIRD PERSON

"She's gone," the assistant informed the master. He flicked his thick, white hair away from his glasses. "But she'll be back, won't she?"

"Of course, my good sir," the master replied, a dark grin spreading on his lips. "I'll be the greatest hunter known to man, once she's mine. For now, keep an eye on her and her friend."

"Yes sir." the assistant replied, swiftly nodding his head and leaving his master's office. He hated to doubt his master, but inside, fear twinged at him. She'd stopped a god. Could his master really stop her? She had help, he reminded himself. Lots of help. She won't be able to escape this... no other prey has.

"That's right," he told himself. "She won't escape."