Rhea and Chloe were sitting next to a campfire and roasting a handful of berries they had gathered from nearby bushes. The sweet aroma of the berries could attract anyone. Rhea was devouring them quickly, as she was not sure when she had last eaten. Chloe waited patiently with her eyes closed and arms folded, trying not to judge Rhea for her ravenous behavior.
"Aren't you going to eat any?" said Rhea, with a mouth full of berries.
"No, that's okay, and you may want to slow down yourself. You could get cramps from eating that much before physical activity."
"Really?" Rhea stopped abruptly.
"Yes, but enjoy your food. In the meantime, let's go over what you've gathered so far."
Rhea quickly grabbed the leather sack she had found earlier and poured out everything she picked up during her trip through the ruins. Laid out in front of them both was a pile of lumber and assorted rocks, a few being blue and shinier than others.
"Alright, I see a lot of wood and stone here, which is essential for most things you'll craft. I'm going to teach you..." Chloe spoke in an educating tone until something caught her eye. "Wait...What's that there?"
Chloe's hand stuck out with a finger pointing to the odd device Rhea had woken up next to.
"Oh! I'm not entirely sure. I found it near me when I woke up on the beach and it seems like a pretty handy piece of technology. Although, I'm unsure of how it works, exactly."
"That's a Paldeck. It records information on Pals you encounter and does a host of other useful things. They're exceedingly rare items and not many people can get their hands on them..."
"Wow, then I guess I'm pretty lucky to have one! Could you teach me how to use it?"
"I can try. I haven't been lucky enough to find one myself, but I've seen someone use one once; my mentor." Chloe's expression changed from curiosity about the device to being lost in thought.
"So, how do we start?" Rhea said snapping Chloe back to reality.
"Uh...We'll start with the local Pals. I'll tell you what I know and you'll use your Paldeck to learn anything else, and then we'll use all the information to come up with a battle strategy and teach you how to fight. Sound good?"
"Sounds perfect and well thought out. Is that how your mentor taught you everything you know?"
"We're not talking about my mentor," Chloe snapped.
Ouch. Must be a touchy subject for her. Still, there's no reason to be so snappy with me.
Rhea was taken aback by Chloe's tone of voice, but she chose to remain silent and listen to whatever Chloe had to say. Although the sun was still high up in the sky, Rhea didn't want to interrupt the opportunity to learn as much as possible from Chloe before she left or it became too late.
"Let's start with Cattiva; my least favorite Pal around these parts. Listen, Cativa are mischievous cowards. They'll do all sorts of things when you're not looking. Petty little small things to inconvenience you, and if you let them, they'll walk all over you. It's pretty embarrassing, to be honest, but I've seen a few humans who are bigger cowards than them."
"Like what?"
"They'll kick dirt on your campfire if you leave it unattended. They'll spill your water or throw rocks at you and hide their hands. They'll trip you up while you're busy running for your life from more threatening monsters. It seems like small stuff, but for a beginner, they can give you hell and be the difference between life and death, so don't let 'em push you around."
Geez. She sounds like she knows from experience.
"Good to know. So, how do we engage?"
"Well, it's all cardio, honestly. They're such cowards that you've just got to run them down. Until you hit them and make them angry enough to fight, they'll just keep running. You'll learn that a lot of weaker pals are like that."
They were standing near the campfire still scoping out the immediate area, and while Chloe spoke, their eyes stayed trained on a couple of Cattivas nearby. The Cattiva were minding their own business and largely unaware that anyone was looking at them let alone plotting to fight them, but Rhea saw this as an excellent opportunity to check out the Paldeck's functions.
She reached into her sack and pulled out the Paldeck and it lit up with a camera function. She trained it on one of the wild Cattiva and zoomed in until it began to react to capturing footage of its subject.
*** #02 CATTIVA ***
At a glance, it appears full of confidence, but it is, in fact, weak and cowardly. Being toyed with by a Cattiva is in many ways the greatest of disgraces.
Pal Type: Normal
Heath Points 70
Base Attack 70
Defense 70
None of the numbers made much sense to Rhea at this point, but she was happy to see that the device worked.
"Alright, now all you've got to do is start the chase. Usually, I'd just tell you to go and get after it, but I'll make the first one easy for you. Sit tight for a moment until I get back."
Rhea was confused as to what Chloe meant about making it easy as she watched her walk away. Nothing felt easy about this. She couldn't recall who she was before coming to the island, so she had no idea if she had any athletic talents.
Although, in her short time on the island, she hadn't felt winded at all going up the hill or through the ruins. She was able to control her body to the point of stealthily avoiding the Pals she saw earlier, so maybe she had been an athlete of some kind.
Now that she had time to think about it, she realized she hadn't given herself a proper lookover.
Let's see what I'm working with here while I wait.
Rhea confidently stood up and began stretching earnestly for what was to come.
She opened and closed her hands stretching her fingers to examine their flexibility. After that, she moved on to using said fingers to trace the muscles along her arms, flexing periodically to feel how strong she was, and then down her chest and stomach, feeling the solidity of her core. Last to examine were her legs as she noticed some neat-looking shapes. When she felt these muscles, they felt a lot tougher than those from her upper body.
Man, these things are pretty solid, she thought while hitting her calf muscles with her knuckles. I must've been a runner or maybe even a kickboxer, before all this.
She was getting familiar with her body when she heard someone shouting at her.
"Look alive! He's coming right for you!" shouted Chloe as she was seen running towards the campfire.
Running away from her and straight towards Rhea was a frantic Cattiva trying desperately to escape the mad woman.
This is what she had in mind?! She's crazier than I thought possible.
Rhea didn't have much time to think. The Cattiva was looking backward while running likely too worried about Chloe closing in on him and she had to take advantage of that before it realized what was happening.
She took a pseudo-running stance and lunged forward as quickly as she could surprised at how quickly she accelerated into a full-on sprint. Swiftly closing the distance between her and the running Cattiva, she threw out her attack. As soon as the Cattive began turning its head, its face met her fist and scrunched up his fearful expression.
She didn't know how to throw a punch and didn't know if it was the right thing to do at that moment, but she didn't have a weapon. Putting everything she had into her fist, she connected with the face of the Cattiva and sent him to the ground.
She thought that her hand would hurt, making contact with its bones, but to her surprise, the Pal didn't feel like she thought it would. Its skin was made of an odd cross between flesh and cloth. However much power she had in her punch, he felt all of it.
Maybe that's why they're so weak. They're pretty fragile!
Before she could take pride in a successful attack, Chloe rushed beside her, yelling. What are you doing!? Don't stop attacking. It's not dead yet!"
Rhea didn't realize she was supposed to kill the creature. She didn't have memories from her past life, but she was sure that she wasn't a murderer. Doing such a thing didn't feel right.
"Wait a second. I thought I was just learning to fight, not kill. Isn't it enough for me to show that I'm a threat to these things?"
"But you're not a threat. These things are the weakest of all the Pals on this island. Just because you landed a measly punch on a creature who wasn't prepared to fight back doesn't mean you'll survive out there."
"But it's already pretty helpless from just the one attack. We could let it be, for now..."
"And then what? These things called Pals don't deserve your mercy. They'll eat you alive if given the chance. It seems harmless, but trust me, it is not."
Chloe was particularly punctual as she spoke and stalked towards the Cattiva trying to get back on its feet. Towering over the creature, she stared directly at Rhea and grabbed the Cattiva by its throat.
"I told you, you need to toughen up if you're going to survive in this world. You've got a lot to learn, and you'd better learn it fast."
"Whoa. Just hold on. This doesn't need to escalate. Even the Paldeck said he was pretty weak, remember?"
"Shut up!" Rhea was taken aback by the sudden outburst from Chloe. "He's weak compared to other Pals, not humans. You don't know how hard these things can hit back. Rule number one; when the opportunity presents itself, go for the kill."
Rhea's eyes could barely follow a swift movement made by Chloe...and then...
Booph!
A loud bang could be heard that startled Rhea and all the other Pals nearby. The odd sheep and chicken Pals were seen running away from the loud noise. When Rhea finally realized what had happened, she saw the lifeless body of the Cattiva hanging from Chloe's grasp. Oozing out of several small holes was a liquid Rhea was sure she had never seen before.
An image of blood leaving a lifeless body flickered in her mind, but the liquid coming from the Cattiva was a bit thicker and several shades darker than what she had pictured.
Chloe has killed the Pal with her weapon. It all happened so quickly that Rhea was still processing everything. Shocked, she could barely string together enough words to express how she felt.
"How could...Why did you...do that?"
"How could I what? Kill this creature? Easy. I pulled the trigger on my shotgun and relieved it of its life."
She sounds so cold. Is everyone on this island like this? What am I getting myself into?
Rhea was beginning to feel threatened by this new world as well as the woman standing before her. She couldn't fathom why it was so easy for her to kill the creature and not feel a token of remorse.
Did I misjudge her? I thought she was cool. I wanted to be like her, and now I regret ever having the thought.
"Tell me something," Chloe began. "...Do you think you're going to escape these islands? Do you know where to begin? Do you even know who you are right now?"
Chloe threw the dead Cattiva to the ground with little care and without effort, continuing to speak.
"I didn't ask earlier because I already know. Everyone who comes here shows up without their memories. There's something about the fog surrounding the island that robs you of it all. And yes, if you're wondering if you'll ever remember anything, you will. Slowly...as you become something else...and when you finally remember everything, you'll be so far from who you were that you'll only see a stranger when you see your reflection."
Damn... That's a lot. What do I say in response to something like that?
Rhea was crippled by everything Chloe was saying and just stood in silence listening intently. She could tell there was an enormous amount of passion in her words and had no room to speak on things she didn't know.
"And you'll hate yourself for everything you've done and might even want to kill yourself, but you'll keep on surviving and fighting because that's all you've learned to be and that's all you are... And the worst part is that none of it will be good enough to save anyone you care about along the way. You'll wake up one day, and everything you've built before and after coming to this island will be gone. The life you had is gone, so stop holding on to whatever morals you came here with!"
Rhea suddenly felt bad about having triggered Chloe. Of course, she had no way of knowing being so passive would incite such a response, but she felt as if her actions offended her, nonetheless.
She realized that she hadn't thought about her circumstances or taken the time to put herself into Chloe's shoes.
Didn't she mention losing all her friends to Pals...eating them...? I'm such an idiot for taking all this so lightly.
When she reflected on everything that happened, she realized that maybe she had been a bit selfish in her approach. She asked a stranger to take time out of her busy day and teach her how to survive on an unknown and dangerous island, and she hadn't even taken the time to get to know her. She didn't even know if Chloe wanted to share who she was, but maybe it would've helped things along.
She thought it would be easy. She thought she would have more control. She thought she could dictate this learning experience to become a new and idealistic version of herself, but she was wrong.
In truth, she had no way of knowing how this island might change her
I should apologize before it starts to seem as if I don't care.
"I wasn't trying to..."
Chloe let out an impressively loud sigh, interrupting Rhea's attempt at apologizing.
"Don't worry about it. It's my fault. I haven't explained much about this place to you, anyway. How would you know anything?"
Rhea thought she was right. She didn't know much about the island and what was going on, which made it easy for her to take things lightly. Her ignorance was truly blissful in those moments, but now she wanted to know everything she could.
"Okay, so start from the beginning. Break it down so that I really understand what's to be expected from this island..."
Chloe stood firm but could be seen relaxing and began explaining everything she knew.
According to Chloe, the archipelago they were standing on was called the Palpagos Islands, a cluster of islands home to the unique and native creatures known as Pals. So far, nobody knew how they came to be because they were very different from what you'd find elsewhere, but what was shared knowledge was that humans weren't native to the land. There were groups of people who dedicated their time on the island to studying its history and researching the Pals, but they weren't common.
Many people, including Rhea, arrived on the island suffering from amnesia. She mentioned that time moved differently on the islands surrounded by dense fog. It was interesting to note that anyone who attempted to swim through the ocean would develop amnesia, fall sick and pass out from exhaustion. They would eventually wake up on a random shore, sometimes far from where they started their swim.
And there was something to note about the shores as well. The weakest of the Pals made their homes near the oceans, but the strongest of them claimed territories deeper in the islands. The Alpha Pals could be found in remote areas, but the strongest Pals lived closer to a larger-than-life tree that no human had ever been able to explore and come back alive from.
The island's day-to-day featured Pals existing as animals, surviving like any other ecosystem with a food chain. Much like life outside of the islands, humans acted as the exception to the food chain. Depending on your skills, you could find ways to dominate Pals, even taming some to fight and work for you, or you could be their lunch and dinner.
Scattered across Palpagos were a plethora of factions and everyone was trying to gather the most resources to take control of everything. Aside from what one needed to survive and feed comrades, the most important resources were Pals and humans. Fresh meat washing ashore is something every major faction was after, if only to bolster their ranks and have the edge over the others. Chloe told Rhea that if she planned on joining one, she needed to give it a lot of thought and stay out of sight in the meantime.
"Well, I definitely understand everything better, now..."
"I'm sorry. I know all of this is a lot to take in on your first day. You didn't deserve to be yelled at like earlier. I just thought you might be different..."
"Different? Different how?"
"It doesn't matter. I should get going."
Rhea was afraid of this outcome. She knew Chloe would have to leave eventually, but still didn't want her to. Of course, it was selfish of her to feel that way, but she was sure the underlying feeling of security she felt in Chloe's presence would evaporate as soon as she left. Yeah, she was a bit edgy and maybe even chaotic, but she was human and made more sense to Rhea than the Pals roaming around doing God knows what.
"Yeah...I know..."
"Don't worry though. I'm not gonna leave you empty-handed," Chloe said as she rummaged through her backpack, which looked ten times cooler than what Rhea had. "Here".
Chloe handed Rhea a small stack of blue papers. "These are notes with survival tips and schematics for basic survival equipment. I jotted that stuff down a while back and they're useless to me, now. I've memorized most, if not all of it and moved on to other things. Read up on this stuff and make as much as you can with the materials you have before nightfall and when the night comes, stay close to the fire. The temperature drops drastically when the sun goes down."
Rhea was ecstatic about the notes. It would be a peaceful way of learning compared to the fighting that happened earlier, although a small part of her enjoyed the adrenaline she got from running.
"Thank you..."
"Yeah, don't mention it. Just stay safe out here, ya know?"
Rhea was beyond grateful for everything Chloe had done and was hoping it wouldn't be too long before she saw her again. At the very least, she just wanted her to stay safe as well.
"And I know you'll do the same! Thanks again..."
"Do me a favor while you're out here. Don't trust anyone, you hear? And I mean anyone... You're always going to be better off on your own..."
Chloe paused for a moment taking one last look at Rhea driving home what she had said, and then she turned away and started walking.
Chloe left quietly as the sun lowered itself into the sky bathing the clouds and land in an array of warm colors and hues. Rhea took a moment to herself to take in everything she had learned on her first day and braced herself for everything to come, including the possibility of a cold night. With nothing more than her measly clothes and a small fire to warm her, she would stay awake as long as possible learning what she could from the schematics given to her by Chloe.
Spending time with Chloe wasn't a walk in the park and she was still a stranger to her, but she couldn't help but feel like she had somehow made a friend.
What are the odds that the first person I run into is as friendly and helpful as she was? I must be luckier than I thought.
Rhea reflected on how lucky she was, considering she could've never made it to shore, to begin with, let alone survive this long and find someone to help her. If her luck continued like this, she'd have nothing to worry about, but she wouldn't move on faith alone. The day's events inspired her, and she could feel a fire igniting within her: a burning desire to survive and thrive in this environment.
Okay, let's get to work. What can I craft?
Rhea dove headfirst into the notes if only to distract herself from how lonely she would be that night.
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