Disclaimer:

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, events, places, etc., are either product of the author's imagination used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to an actual person, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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DAY FIVE OF DEATH GAMES:

A Strange Island

一一一一一回回回一一一一一

Day 05 | 6:00 P.M |

Status:

Blackwoodian Citizen's HeadCount？

FORTY-TWO

Kills:

• FOUR QUEEN CARDS: THE SIREN'S

• SIX RANDOM NUMBERS: THE VIEWERS AND BETTORS

Challenges Accomplished:

• THE SIREN'S CHALLENGE

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It was a few minutes before the crew was back to themselves again. Meanwhile, Avy stood at the wheel and kept the ship on course. After steering through the horde of those bewitching Sirens and after passing the Leviathan's Teeth, the open sea was downright easy for her.

Avy felt proud of what she had just done. She had saved the ship and the entire crew. That should make Light think twice about insulting her again.

Eventually, the men came out of their daze and started wandering around, trying to figure out what had happened.

"Light saved us," one of them said groggily.

"No, it's Avy!" Ray corrected.

"Avy saved us," the other men muttered.

"Avy? Avy!" They cheered.

Light walked towards her. Echo wagged his tail and led the way. Avy bent down with a smile as Echo bounced towards her.

"Hey, if it isn't my little hero. You were so brave, huh? What a good dog!" She greeted him fondly with a pat.

Light scratched his head. "Uh..." he began.

Avy turned around to him with a sly smile. "Still think a ship's no place for a woman, hmm?"

He hesitated yet, he responded after a moment. "Absolutely." He gestured around him. "I mean, look at my ship!"

She stared at him in disbelief.

"This railing is hand-carved mahogany," he complained, pointing at the damaged part of the staircase.

"And these moldings came all the way from Damascus. Do you have any idea what I went through to steal these?"

He turned to frown at her. "This is exactly why women shouldn't drive!"

"What the fuck?! Are you crazy?!" Avy exclaimed. "I saved your freakin' life, don't you realized that?"

"Oh, Uhm, about that... I would have been fine. I always am." With that, he pushed her aside and took her place at the wheel.

Avy couldn't believe it. He still refused to admit that he had been wrong about her! She stomped away to her cabin in disgust. The crew watched her sympathetically.

A few minutes later, someone landed on the door. She flung it open and found Light standing in there.

"What?" Avy demanded, still annoyed.

"Thank you!" He shouted.

"You're not welcome!" She retorted.

"No problem!"

"Don't worry about it!"

"I won't!"

"Good!"

"Goodbye!"

"Bye to you too!"

With that, she slammed the door shut again. She blinked in surprise as she gaze away to the side. Then she found herself smiling.

Maybe Winter hadn't been crazy to call Light his friend. In fact, maybe there was hope for him after all—at least a little.

♤ • • • ♤

Later on, the ship dropped the anchor off to a very strange-looking island, and the crew decided to stop in here for a while to take care of the repairs needed for the ship. Avy walked by as Light was muttering about the railing again. For such a big strong man, she thought, he certainly could act like a baby.

"Oh god, for heaven's sake, Light. Stop whining, will you? " she told him. "You only need a little tree sap, and that ship of yours will be good as new."

She grabbed a bucket and headed down the gangplank with Echo trotting happily behind her. Maybe if she found the sap, Light would stop his whining. The rest of the crew members were quick to offer their help as she stepped off the ship.

"Thanks, guys." She told them. "How nice to see some men haven't forgotten common courtesy."

Avy had never seen an island quite like this. The ground was covered with odd-looking plants and large flat rocks. There was a large round mountain in the center of the island, but no plants can be seen to grow there.

Light caught up with her as she headed for a promising-looking tree trunk. "I already said thank you," he said. "That's what this is all about, isn't it?"

"It's about repairing the ship," Avy told him calmly.

"If I break something, I would definitely fix it. No words." She peered at the trunk and stuck out her hand, "Knife, please."

"Oh, yeah." Light snorted. "Like I'd give you a weapon."

The rest of the crewmen were still following them. Immediately, each of the men offered whatever knife, sword, or any other blade they had at hand. Avy selected one.

"Thank you, Ray," she told the blade's owner. Then she smiled sweetly at Light.

She sliced into the tree trunk as the men一, except for Light 一 chatted happily about how she was going to fix the ship. Oddly enough, the tree shuddered slightly. But sap poured out into her bucket. Soon it was packed.

"This girl wouldn't know how to fix a broken fingernail," Light commented to the crew as Avy turned around.

"Honestly!" she snapped as she walked toward him with the sap bucket. She was fed up with his bad attitude. "You are the most boorish, pigheaded man I've ever met!"

He muttered something as he turned and walked away. Avy was doing her best to be mature, but this was too much!

She let the bucket of sap fly. Wham! It hit him square in the back of the head. The sap slopped out all over him. The rest of the crew gasped in shock as Light. He grabbed a handful of gloppy sap.

"Oh no," Avy said, suddenly regretting her impulsive act. "Oh ho ho, no!"

Sploosh! A second later, she had a faceful of sap. Like a cake-icing fight, she brushed it away, moving in on him. "You egotistical, selfish..."

He held his ground. "You spoiled..."

"Disrespectful, pretentious..."

"Deluded..."

Avy grabbed a large, crablike thing from the ground. She wasn't even sure what it was. But she lobbed it furiously at Light's head.

He dodged. She tried again. This time whatever-it-was connected with his jaw.

"Untrustworthy, ungrateful," Avy blabbed, grabbing for a rock on the ground. "Impossible, insufferable..."

The rock was heavier than it looked. At first, it wouldn't budge. Then she yanked it free, holding it over her head. Before she could take aim, a tremor ran through the ground beneath their feet. Avy, Light, and the crew all stared curiously at the rock in her hands.

"Put it back," Light said urgently.

Avy laughed nervously, not sure where to argue or do as he said. Suddenly, in the water behind them, a giant fishtail had brought a tremendous splash. The "mountain" in the center of the island was making a strange gurgling sound. Avy finally realized what was happening as a giant eye opened in the ground beneath her feet. This wasn't an island at all. It was an enormous fish!

Light and the rest of the crew had just recognized the same thing. "Run!" He shouted. "Come on!"

They all raced toward the ship as the creature beneath them heaved and shuddered. The ground suddenly fell away right in front of them. It was the creature's colossal gill opening. Light grabbed Avy's arm and leaped across the gill. They barely made it. The rest of the crew followed. They all slip-slide toward the ship.

Somehow they scrambled aboard. Light grabbed a rope to swing himself and Avy up to the top deck. Then he raced toward the stern, scooping up a rope and hook as he went. He tossed the loose end to Ray.

"Tie this off!" he called.

"W-What?" Ray stammered in surprise.

Without bothering to respond, Light heaved the hook back toward the giant island-fish. It skittered across the creature's back, finally lodging in its rocky scales.

"Ha!" Light cried in triumph.

Avy gulped, realizing what he was doing as the rope snapped tight. The big fish "island" was towing the ship!

The Arcadia rocketed forward as the giant fish took off at top speed.

♤ • • • ♤

To be continued...