The Islands of Myth

[Red XIV]

The year is 1934...

On a mystic island, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a freighter has crashed ashore.

The cargo boat had been traveling from America, but had been caught in a raging storm, which wrecked the ship, casting the boat onto the shores of the Papakoplas Islands, the islands of legend.

The Papakoplas Islands house unspeakable evils and creatures of myth.

The survivors of the crash of the cargo ship, the Voyager, are in for the adventure of their lives...

On the Beach

James Calahann awoke, under a large piece of wood, apparently from the ship. He was cut and bleeding. His clothes were torn. He was out of breath. He tried as hard as he could to move the plank off of him. After a minutes struggle, the board was pushed off. James slowly rose from the sand, his back in pain and sand falling from his body. After standing, he stretched and shook the sand from his body. He was sore and was hurt. The crash had taken a toll on him.

James looked around the beach. Debris and other junk scattered the shore. Up ahead, the broken hull of the Voyager, lay, half-buried in the sand. Bodies littered the shore, along with other supplies and things. It was truly an awful sight to behold.

"Where am I?" James thought to himself. He didn't know where he was. He could barely remember anything, after that terrible storm and the crash. James shook his head and looked around, again. Maybe there were survivors about... James noticed a jungle, further up the shore. Maybe some of the others were in the jungle. The island seemed mysterious. James felt uncomfortable...he couldn't explain it. It felt as if he shouldn't be here...

James shrugged and set off in search of survivors...

Meanwhile, in the Jungle...

Vivian Jones awoke, in a pile of leaves, feeling terrible. She looked at herself. Her dress was ripped to pieces, her hands and feet cut and bleeding, her hair a mess, her skin dirty. She felt awful.

"Where am I?" she thought to herself, as she sat up and stretched, her bare feet aching. She stood up, her tattered dress hanging loosely off of her beautiful body, revealing her nightgown. She had no clue where she was. She remembered the crash. She was on the boat and the storm had started. Why was she on the boat? What happened? It happened all too fast. She couldn't recall...

As she thought to herself, there was a rustling in the leaves. Vivian looked up, frightened. Clutching the straps of her nightgown, she looked into the bushes.

"Who...Who is it?" Vivian said quietly. She was scared. What could it be?

Then, a roar erupted from the bushes and a large lion, or something like a lion, leaped from the bush. It had a lion's body, a human's head, and a scorpions tail.

"What the hell is that!?!" she thought to herself as the creature growled, with saliva dropping from its disgusting mouth.

It was a Manticore...

[Lestat]

Alex slowly rose to his feet. As he tried to take a step forward, he swayed violently, a bruise in the back of his head sending a thumping through his ears and brain. He turned slowly around, saw his baseball bat lying in the sand, flecked in a little blood near the end. It must have struck him in the head during the storm and knocked him out. He stumbled, and fell onto his hands and knees, cutting his left hand on a piece of jagged metal hidden in sand.

Looking behind him, he saw the wreck of the Voyager. It was more than a little ironic; after just a few weeks working on cargo ships he had told himself this voyage would be his last. He'd had no idea at the time in how many ways he was right. Turning his head back around he noticed a man making his way to the jungle. He must have mistaken Alex's unconcious body as another corpse. "Hey!" he cried out, before wincing, as the shout beat his brain into the back of his skull.

[Red XIV]

James noticed another survivor, with a baseball bat, walking up to him. There was a bloody gash on his forehead and his clothes were torn. Bad shape.

"Hey!" the man had yelled. James walked up to him, happy to find another survivor. James shook the man's hand. He had never seen this man, however. Hmm...

"Hi, I'm James Calahann" James introduced himself. "Do you know where the hell we are? I mean, after the crash and all..."

The man shook his head and introduced himself as Alex.

"Well, sorry, but I've never seen you around the docks before. Heh..." James started when he heard a scream come from the jungle. He looked into the dense jungle. A woman's voice was screaming and James could hear a roar.

"Damn!" James shouted, checking his holster for his gun. Luckily, it was still strapped in. "C'mon, Alex! Another survivor...and something else. It sounds like a lion!" James and the man, Alex ran into the dense trees, to find the woman and the monster.

[Mr E Man]

Staggering through the forests in a drunken stupor, Leon spastically slapped away leaves which battered his face, all the while taking swigs from his bottle of tequila. Half remembered flashbacks of the crash floated in and out of his inebriated mind. The shrieking metal, screams of anguish, crashing waves and then the bone jarring tremor which rocked the freighter he was on, casting him overboard. Afterwards there was only darkness, until he heard the screams of a woman in distress.

Now he finds himself running, either towards, or away from the source of the scream. He is to drunk to fully comprehend his own actions. He ran as if he was being guided by another force. Nevertheless, he knew he needed a drink, so he took another swig of the tequila, while he nervously fingered the Zippo lighter he held in his other hand.

There was another scream, preceded by a roar, and the jungle fell silent. All that could be heard was the opening and closing of the Zippo in unison with Leon’s ever quickening pace.
CLICK…. CLACK… CLICK.. CLACK. CLICK CLACKCLICKCLACK…

Before he knew it he was sprinting through the jungle his feet guiding him where he needed to go. Leaping through a green wall of foliage, he came upon what he was involuntarily looking for.
Like something out of the nightmare of a Doctor Seuss book, the… thing stared at him. It had a lion's body, a human's head, and a scorpion’s tail, and below its drooling maw was a young lady, trembling in fear. Wasting no time, Leon took a swig from the Tequila bottle and flung it at the monster, watching as it shattered in a cascading myriad of glass and booze.

“Damn, that was a waste of some good tequila,” he cursed to himself, reaching into his pockets, as the beast turned its focus from the beauty on the ground towards him. “You’re uglier than my ex… it took me more than a few drinks to even look at the bag on her face.”

Snarling first the monster circled Leon, and then it spoke… “MORTAL, YOU SSHHALLL PERISH”. It leapt towards Leon, with unimaginable agility. However Leon’s face had a look of tranquility upon it. Bringing his right hand out of his pocket, he hooked the creature in the face, sending it sprawling upon the jungle floor. The silvery metal of his brass knuckles now flecked with blood and bone. Wasting no time he leapt at the beast, igniting his Zippo and tossing it upon the rear of the beast where most of his Tequila, landed. Surprisingly it ignited, and the beast uttered a yelp of pain. That was all it was able to manage before Leon slammed his fist into the nose of the monster, driving its bone into its brain. Leaping back he stood in a boxers’ stance as he watched the creature shudder in its final death throes.

Looking towards the lady watching bright eyed and fearful, Leon sensed a sharp pain, looking down at his chest he saw the source, the monster had managed to land a hit when it leapt at him, leaving a gift of three deep gashes, bleeding profusely from his chest. Returning his gaze to the lady who still sat there in shock, he smiled weakly and said “Damn, that stings… I wish I finished my drink.” Just before collapsing upon the floor, unconscious.

[Red XIV]

Vivian watched, in horror, as the unknown man fought the beast. He set the creature ablaze and then beat it into submission. However, the man, a man Vivian didn't see on the ship, fell to the ground, succumbing to his wounds; three deep bloody gashes on his chest.

Vivian rushed to the injured man. She tore open his shirt and examined the cuts. She had been a nurse for awhile, but she didn't remember much. The cuts were deep and bleeding badly. She tore off the remaining cloth of her dress and cleaned the wounds. She needed to find some water, to clean the wounds. She covered the wounds with the cloth and ran off, looking for water.

A little ways away from the clearing she was in, a small stream trickled southward. She tore down a large leaf and collected some water. She brought the water-laden leaf back to the clearing, walking slowly, the thorns in her bare feet hurting badly.

She knelt down next to the man and put a little water onto the wound. The man flinched, subconciously. She held the man's head down, as he started to move.

"Shhhhh..." she whispered. "It'll be okay..." She tied the cloth around his waist, where the wound was and examined the rest of him, for wounds. However, someone was watching from the brush.

James jumped out of the bushes.

"Hey!" James shouted. "You're okay!" Alex followed, holding his bat.

Bell shot up, breathing heavily, she took a look around her. Bell stood up and shook her head in disbelief, Forest? Tree's? Bell thought, she ran to where she could see the light better, her boots touched the warm sand. This isn't real.. I'm still on the boat, I'm dreaming. I must be..Musn't I? Bell pinched her arm, she felt pain and she was still on the beach.

Bell put her hand to her kneck and let out a sigh of relief when she found her locket still there, she sat down on the edge of the jungle and opened it. Bell closed it back up again and hugged her knee's she looked over at parts of the voyager strewn across the shore then something struck her mind I can't be the only survivor, surely.. Bell scanned the beach and saw nobody, she then looked back at the jungle, she really didn't want to go back in there on her own, but she had no choice. Bell breathed in and walked into the jungle..

[Lestat]

Alex emerged into the clearing, clutching his bat nervously. He relaxed a bit when he saw that whatever it was wouldn't be causing any more trouble. It was weird though, he was sure he had heard the creature speak...

That wasn't important though. The blood was thumping in his ears, his wound was head-splittingly painful. He staggered sideways, dropping the bat, and put his hand out, supporting his weight on a tree. He looked down at the man on the floor, saw the gashes. That, along with his headache, was too much. He keeled over and vomited onto the jungle floor. Amazingly, it seemed to help.

Wiping his mouth with a few fallen leaves, and spitting into the undergrowth, he stood up shakily. He experienced a moment of shock as the woman attending the wounded man looked him briefly in the eyes, but he forced it away. This is hardly the time for hormones he thought. "Uh... Do you need any help with him?"

[Magi of Worlds]

Vash awoke to the sound of waves crashing upon land and people shouting. He got up and noticed he was on an island. Then Vash remembered the storm and the crash. He wondered how he had survived and if anyone else did. He looked down to find gashes all over his shirt and pants, and that's when he noticed his knife was gone and his gun was missing. He reached up to make sure he had no damage to his face and discovered that oddly enough, his sunglasses came out of the storm and crash unscathed. Vash pondered this for a moment then got to his feet, as he did so he noticed he was only a few feet away from the ship and he could see dead bodies that littered the ground. Vash stood up and searched the bodies for any sign of a good knife, health packs, and guns and ammo.
An hour later after finding a nice knife to match his own, a kar98 with enough ammo for fifty rounds, and a medical bag Vash decided to explore his surroundings. A little way up the beach Vash found his M1 Garand sitting under a few peices of driftwood. He picked it up and found that it only had fifteen bullets left in it and he couldn't find his ammo pouch. Vash went back towards the wreckage and found a slender strap made from a shirt. He tied the cloth around his stomach and around his back. Liking his Garand better Vash slid the Kar into the strap and tightened it. With gun in right hand, carrying the medical bag in his left hand, and with the knife safely placed in his belt, Vash made his way back up the beach. He got halfway up the beach and noticed a large forest to his right, he decided to check it out and entered the forest....
After twenty minutes of trying to follow a path he only saw Vash got lost and found himself inside a small clearing. He quikly looked around suspecting to see some unknown enemy jump out of nowhere. He didn't see a thing. Vash took three steps forward and was greeted by a small hissing. Vash looked up and stared eye to eye with a small boa constrictor. " Oh shit!" he said and started walking backwards. The boa came closer and Vash dropped the med bag silently and lighty on the ground and shouldered his Garand. The snake didn't realize the gun was a threat until Vash pulled the trigger. One bullet peirced it's skin and it hissed and spit. As Vash was ready to pull the trigger the snake reared up and bared it's two fangs. But before it could strike Vash shot it two more times in the head. He walked over to a rock a foot from the dead boa's body and began contemplating where he was and how to get off this island...

[Red XIV]

Vivian turned to the two other men. They were also bruised and bleeding. One of them carried a baseball bat. The man walked up to her.

"Can I help you with him?" he asked. Vivian nodded, hesitantly.

"Yes..." she said. "Go into the forest and look for some Azelea. There might be some on this island. It will help stop the bleeding. It looks like a hand. It is reddish. Go!" She pointed into the dense jungle. The man nodded and ran off, while the other man stayed.

"Ummm...Are you okay? I don't know what is going on, but..." James stopped, noticing the dead manticore. "What the hell is that?!?"

Vivian shook her head, still attending to the man's wounds.

"I've no idea...but...it talked to me..." Vivian said, sounding scared. James looked shocked.

"Talked?!?" he said, in disbelief. Vivian nodded, her hair bouncing across her shoulders.

"Yes..." she started. "It said-"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"What?!?" James yelled, suprised. "Gun shots?!?" Vivian looked suprised as well.

"Maybe another survivor..." Vivian suggested. James nodded, checking his pistol as he ran towards the end of the clearing.

"Stay here and wait for Alex. Take care of that man. I'll be back." James stated, as he ran into the wood. Vivian gulped and nodded, going back to her patient.

[Magi of Worlds]

After sitting on the rock for almost ten minutes Vash got bored of thinking and decided to see what was in the medical bag. He walked past the hideous corpse of the boa he had just killed and picked it up from where he had dropped it before the fight. He went back to the rock and sat down with the bag. Vash opened the bag and found several medicines for poisen, headaches, nausea, flu, disease, and some healing ointment. What he didn't expect to see was a small german-made stak-93 handgun and it was loaded. Vash checked the carttridge and found eight bullets in it and saw a case of another twenty-two still in the med-kit. "Whoa" he said as he picked the gun up. Why would a doctor need a gun Vash thought to himself.
Vash decided to get up and go exploring a little more. It wasn't a little too far away from the clearing that he met the other boa's mate or friend. Vash didn't care which. He pumped the Garand back to his shoulder and fired a round into it's ugly head killing it instantly. Wow, he had killed two giant snakes and lived. He decided to go back to the other clearing and see if he could gather snake blood in an empty container he had found in the med-kit. He walked back to the other clearing and took the vile out of the kit, he walked up to the snake and put the glass under the things teeth. It filled up slowly, but when it got near full, Vash popped a cork in it and put it back in the bag. He stood up and that's when he noticed the man running towards him. Someone else is alive! was what Vash was thinking.....

[Lestat]

Alex hesitated for a moment, then stumbled off into the undergrowth. He got down on his hands and knees and started tearing bushes and shrubs out of his way, earning for his pains a few scratches from thorns, and some fresh tears in the gash on his hand. He found a few bushes that looked close enough to what he'd been told.

Three loud bangs, obviously gunshots, sounded a little way off behind him. Dammit, he thought, I sure hope whoever did that was shooting an animal. Not wishing to take any chances, he ripped up just about as much of the bushes as he could carry, and ran back to the clearing, dumping them beside the wounded man. "Are these... Okay?" he asked.

The woman looked carefully. "Yes. That's just what I need." Alex's left hand twitched, and both of them looked at it. The gash on his palm was bigger than Alex had thought, and his entire hand was dripping with his own blood. "That's terrible! We have to do something about it!"

Alex shook his head. "I'll be fine. We have to help him first." The woman looked him right in the eyes and he sighed. "Alright, but be quick. I don't want him to die. "He sat cross-legged on the floor and held out his hand. Now that he had seen the wound properly it hurt even more. This really wasn't his day.

[Magi of Worlds]

Vash had been talking to this man he now recognized as a sailor on the ship and even knew his name now. His name was James, anyway they were walking back to the clearing that James had been headed away from. He had told Vash that there was a women, and a man who was hurt badly by a giant monster. When they stepped into the clearing Vash saw a women and two men. One, the one who obviously had killed the monster lay on his stomache with a big gash on his stomach. Vash walked straight over to him ignoring the others as he glanced at the man's wound he noticed a few purple blotches on the cut. "He's been poisened!" Vash cried out as he grabbed the med bag. He opened it up and grabbed the pain killed, and a little dose of poisencure. He made the man drink it and turned around to the others. "He should be fine in a few hours" he stated.

[Mr E Man]

Broken memories faded in and out of the darkness. And incredible pain seared his chest. Something in the dark realm of his unconsciousness called to him. Leon recognized it right away. It was the voice of the Manticore. “ SO THIS IS YOUR OWN PURGATORY.THE SINS YOU HAVE COMMITED, THE ANGUISH YOU HOLD. YOUR WRATH, YOUR FEARS, ALL LOCKED AWAY INSIDE OF YOU. YET YOU ARE BLIND AND MUTE. YOU SEE, NO EVIL, YOU SPEAK NONE…BUT YOU HEAR IT… THAT IS WHY YOU HAVE ALLOWED ME ENTERANCE INTO THE GRAVEYARD OF YOUR EMOTIONS.”

Leon tried to speak, but was unable. “IMPRISONED IN YOUR OWN SELF, YOU WISH TO FIND A CALLING, A MEANS TO REPENT. YET YOU HAVE FOUND NONE…MORTAL YOUR HEART IS AN OPEN BOOK, YOU ARE PANDORA’S BOX.” ALL THE EVILS OF THE WORLD SEEM TO SWELL WITHIN YOU… YET YOU STILL LIVE. WHY? IS IT YOUR WILL TO SURVIVE AND DISCOVER YOUR TRUE CALLING.”

The darkness let up, and there was a brief glimpse of the manticores shadow, before darkness took over. “SOON YOU WILL SPEAK AND SEE EVIL, BUT WILL YOU BECOME. THAT IS THE QUESTION. REGUARDLESS MY SOUL IS INTRIGUED AND I WILL MAKE A HOME IN YOUR PURGATORY. YOUR RAGE IS INVITING. WAKE UP HUMAN. OUR TALK IS OVER. I WILL DISCOVER, YOUR TRUE SELF.”

Leon awoke, his eyes fluttering open, to be greeted by a beautiful visage of a woman. He spoke, “…never..”.