ITT: We're Animals in a Post-Apocalyptic Town

"I don't know..." says Jack. "I've never been outside of the town. This is all new to me."

I've never been outssside of the town...or the foresssst where I met you all.

"Crystal Shores is home to all sorts of exotic wildlife," says Rena as the boat pulls further away from the shore. "It was a popular resort before it became overrun by monsters, but these days, the jungle covers almost the whole island."

"Interesting..." says Peter. He can now make out the outline of a beach around the island, with sands that look almost pure white.

"Wow..." says Jack. "I've only seen places like this in books..."

No wonder they built a resort there. (Wanda muses as the boat approaches.)

It takes just a little under an hour for the boat to reach the island. The group can now clearly see the huge strech of white sand and the lush, thick jungle which starts some distance away. Many seashells and shiny rocks carried to shore by the ocean over time are scattered across the beach. The weather is warm and sunny, and the only thing to be heard is the soothing sound of the waves.

It's now clear that the island gets its name not from the pearly-white sands, but from the crystalline, teal-colored waters that surround it. If the group looks down, they can easily see creatures such as starfish, sea urchins and beautiful corals of many colors on the rocks just a few feet below the surface.

"Wow..." says Peter. "This is so beautiful..."

Jack looks down at the colorful sea life below like a child on Christmas.

"This is so cool! I'm so glad we came here!"

Krista marvels in the sight before her as the group closes in on this island.

Wow...I can already tell. Thisss isss beautiful.

(Now that the boat is closer, Wanda is just as able as everyone else is to take in the lush jungle scenery and sea life in the water.) Just gonna go ahead and say it again: No wonder they built a resort here. Place is really nice.

Peter moves the boat to a section of the shore that looks good for anchoring.

"Looks like we can get off here," he says as he moves to lower the anchor. Once the ship is securely in place, he hops off onto the shore. The sand feels very soft under his shoes.

Rena follows Peter and is quick to start snapping pictures of everything she can find.

Krista quickly follows the others as they start to get off the boat.

(After stepping off the boat herself, Wanda decides to take off the curly-toed slippers she is wearing so she can feel the sand between her toes herself. Having not been to any sort of beaches since she went a few times with her mother when she was little, Wanda finds the feeling of sand between her toes very comforting.)

(Then she remembers their mission and quickly runs up to join everyone else.) So how long do you think it should take to find this bird? (She asks.)

"Man, I'd really like to come back here on a day when we have more free time," says Peter. "Go for a swim, maybe bring some snorkeling gear..."

He then addresses Wanda's question. "No idea, but I'm ready to start searching. Hey, Rena? So where do you think we'll find the bird?"

After a few minutes of snapping pictures, Rena returns, already holding a stack of freshly-taken photos.

"Good thing I brought plenty of film! I've never seen this kind of snail before, and that rock formation over there looks so unusual, and... oh, sorry about that! Here are the notes I brought about the crystal robin," she says, handing Peter some papers.

"Hmm," Peter says, looking over the notes, which contain a few drawings of the bird. "Believed to have been most commonly seen in the deeper areas of the jungle... I guess that's where we'll be going, then."

Hrm...wonder if we'll sssee any other sssnakesss in there...

(Wanda feels a bit reluctant to leave the beach, but she knows that they're on a mission right now.) Well, let's get going I guess. (She says, turning toward the jungle.)

"Yeah! Who knows what we'll find..." says Jack excitedly.

Peter goes over to the edge of the beach, where the vegetation starts to grow thicker. He pushes some leaves out of the way to have a look. The plants here come in a much greater variety of shapes and colors than the ones in the forest near town, with the largest having leaves over a foot in length. Some of them grow near the ground, while others are trees that reach high above them.

"Watch your step, guys," says Peter as he walks into the jungle.

Krista continues along, carefully watching what she slithers over as she does.

Jack follows Peter into the jungle, still awed by the sights.

(Wanda follows suit as well, a bit reluctant to leave the beach already. She mentally prepares herself for any threats they might come across.)

"We should probably mark the path we're taking so we can find our way back later," says Peter as they venture forward. "It looks pretty easy to get lost in here."

Yeah...g-good point. We got our map handy?

"Got it right here!" says Rena, taking out a map and handing it to Peter. "I bought a couple for the trip. You can have this one."

"Ah, thanks!" he says. "Neat, this looks like a map of the whole island. I've got a compass with me too, so navigating the place shouldn't be much of a problem. I'll just write down some landmarks here as we go."

After walking for a while, the group would hear the sound of running water.

Edited by Bluethorn on Mar 17th 2020 at 7:11:51 AM

"Hmm, that must be a river," says Jack. Then he freezes. "I hope that doesn't mean river monsters..."

Eugh, yeah.... (Wanda agrees.)