Island Paradise (March 2014)

[Oda Nobunaga]

Island Paradise

-No... Not really.-

Format:

Single/Double (Each person must fulfill the word requirement, and one person can only submit one entry.)

Reward:

+4 EXP, or $400

Scenario:

Your character has been lost at sea, and wound up on an island! As far as they know, they are the only one there... sort of! They must survive for thirty days before any help arrives! What's worse - the only other person with them is SOMEONE THEY ABSOLUTELY CANNOT STAND BEING AROUND! Can they do it?!

Requirements:

• 400 words minimum
• You are to roleplay your character surviving on this island alone, or with another person they would not be with if they had a choice. How do they do it?
• Be creative! You don't need to be like everyone else and build shelter right away and get along with the person you hate! It could be a really wacky situation!
• If you choose to pair up with another player, they can not be someone your character is fond of.  You will RP them getting through the hectic island life together for the 30 days in a separate thread, and link it here when you are finished.
• Please, keep it site appropriate.

This Monthly Event ends on:
Monday, March 31st, 11:59pm PST.
12:59am MST (Apr 1st)
1:59am CST (Apr 1st)
2:59am EST (Apr 1st)

[Deleted]

“Listen, come close, boy.”

An ancient looking retired sea-captain said to a couple of young looking sailors as they purchased him another glass of the rot-gut swill the barkeep was pushing on his patrons. These two men had found this salty looking guy sitting in the corner of the bar, drinking heavily alone, and thought they’d strike up a conversation with him. This old man smelled faintly of urine, had a wooden leg, and was missing an eye. His long grey beard was dotted with crumbs of food and reached down to the table where it grazed it everyone once in a while. Needless to say, he was a glorious sight to behold.

“Let me tell you a tale of a man lost at sea, against the elements, and without a soul to help him. This unfortunate fellow happened to get washed ashore a deserted island and there he had to survive for over a month. “The room seemed to grow dark as the old captain spun his tale to the two youthful sailors.


The salty taste of the water flowed into Juubei’s mouth as he breathed in deeply. His head pounding and he hadn’t the faintest idea what was happening at the moment. As the disorienting haze began to leave his mind, he began to notice certain things. The first was that his face was half buried in sand and the other was that he could feel the waves of the sea upon his legs and lower body. He felt like he weighed a ton and it took all of his effort to crawl further up the beach he’d washed up on. After fifteen or twenty minutes of just lying their face down, breathing heavily, Juubei sat up and planted his ass in the sand. It was probably about this time that Juubei noticed he was completely naked and without his pistol.

“Fantastic…..” That’s all Juubei could muster to say as he rubbed his temples with his hands and attempted to recall what had happened to him. He remembered getting aboard a trading ship that he’d boarded to get himself to somewhere faster than what could be achieved by traveling over the land. He couldn’t recall his destination at the moment, but he supposed it really didn’t matter anyways, anymore. A storm had hit the previous day and then everything was blank. He must’ve blacked out and been washed onto this island. Bloodshot eyes glanced towards the setting sun and that told Juubei it’d probably be getting dark within the next couple of hours and that he needed to do something, unless of course he planned to stay naked on the beach all night.

Juubei wandered around the beach for a while and happened across a tree bearing a strange looking fruit. The skin was a pale orange color and they were untouched for some reason. This meant one of two things. Either he was extremely lucky or everything on the island avoided them for a reason. Juubei weighed his options carefully and in the end he decided to eat them. As he devoured them hungrily he found out that they weren’t poisonous, so it seemed that his outlook was looking better already. That’s when things got admittedly a bit weird. The sky started to fluctuate and it began changing colors very subtlety.

“This isn’t going to end well……”

The First Night

Juubei was running through the woods naked and was running at almost full speed. Luckily he had really go eyesight, otherwise this would have been too dangerous too attempt. Why was he doing this? Juubei had eaten a fruit he’d found near the beach out of intense hunger and apparently he shouldn’t have eaten it. The fruit was apparently a powerful hallucinogen and now Juubei was under the assumption there was a horde of chickens in the jungle and they were upset with him for some reason. So, the first night, Juubei spent several hours in a tree, tripping out and fearing for his life from the poultry menace.



The 2nd Day

This day was a bit more productive. Juubei stayed away from the strange fruits and got to work in building himself a shelter make his survival a bit easier. He also fashioned for himself some clothing made of bark, leaves, and vines. It wasn’t the most comfortable outfit he’d ever been in, or the most practical, but it breathed like nothing else. Juubei managed to make a number of spears and that’s where his marksmanship skills came in handy. It enabled him to hunt rather effectively and that second night on the island was enjoyed with a fire and some roasted birds. They weren’t chickens, and to be honest he didn’t really know what they were, but they were a welcomed relief to his stomach. He slept well that night and nothing worth mentioning happened during the course of his slumber.

Days 3 – 20

Juubei had started out rough, but he eventually grew accustomed to life on the island. He adapted well to his environment and never really went hungry. However, I feel it is important to mention that Juubei had taken to talking to a rock he’d painted with his own blood. Juubei was a person who had always enjoyed the company of others and things did get quite boring from day to day. So he made himself a friend out of a rock and took to having extensive conversations with it to keep himself sane. Although how effective it was, was anyone’s guess. Juubei spent his day’s spear fishing, honing his physical condition, and generally just sleeping a lot. One of the first things he’d done was built himself great piles of wood all along the beach. That way he could start up a huge bonfire on virtually any side of the island and create an excellent way to signal passing ships.

Days 20 – 30

The next ten days were rough on Juubei. He began growing more agitated and even began having arguments with the rock on a daily basis. Juubei felt as though the rock was growing displeased by Juubei’s lack of initiative in facilitating their rescue from the island and Juubei felt as though he was doing all he could.

“What do you mean this is my entire fault?” Juubei said over his shoulder as he piled more wood onto the towering stack. Juubei was adding to the signal fire that resided the closest to his campsite and on this day the rock had decided to get snippy with him.

*” You aren’t doing enough Juubei, you seem so content here, like you want to stay here forever.*”

The rock had a point, Juubei had grown complacent in his time here on the island, but it wasn’t like he’d lost all desire to leave.

“Shut the hell up, you were here longer than I ever was and you made no attempt to leave.” Ha! That would show him. The rock didn’t want Juubei to play that card.

*” I’m a rock, I can’t do anything by myself. You can and you’re choosing not to.”*

A great counterstatement and one Juubei was unprepared for. So, instead of something witty, he merely responded with a “shut the hell up.”




Days 30 - 35

It took thirty five days for Juubei to see a ship and set fire to one of his signal fires. It worked like a charm and he quickly found himself back amongst civilized people. It was surely an adventure to behold and assuredly would be an experience he’d never forget.

END.


The old sea-captain finished his tale as he finished off the last of his drink. The old man looked up and expected to see eyes filled with wonder, but alas he did not. The two men were nowhere to be found.

[Fujishima Shigenobu]

*poke*
A child laughed (or were there many?), an ephemeral sound that echoed off of the intense black nothingness and came back multiplied.
*poke*
Another point of pain on his cheek, an annoyance to be swatted away if only his stupid limbs would respond.
*poke*
Ow, you little bastards! Knock that off! Shigenobu mustered the effort to move an arm, but too slowly to be of any use.
*poke*
The laughter again. There was always laughter. And now there was anger. How dare they treat him like this! They were only children. He was the great Fujishima! He was--
*poke*
OW! The darkness receded slightly, replaced by an equally intense brightness.
*poke poke*
It was like they were trying to bore into his cheek with whatever it was they were poking him with. It wasn't fair! Why were they picking on--
*poke*
With a gutteral growl, his arm finally responded properly, slapping at the terror children. There was a slight buffeting of the air and the sound of.... flapping?
*poke*
More sensations returned to him. The grit against the side of his face. The breeze swirling around his unkempt hair. A warm, wet feeling from the waist down. By all the gods and demons, if he had pissed his pants because of these children...
*poke*
One eye finally squinted open, momentarily blinded by sunlight. When his vision fully returned, a curious face stared back at him. Not a child at all (that would just be weird), but a stupid, ugly, annoying sea bird. Gods, he hated birds.
*poke*
The little mongrel pecked at his cheek again. Why you little......! His arm shot out even faster this time, and the back of his flat hand connected with the bird's head, knocking him away to squawk in righteous indignation as it took wing.

The rest of the world came slowly into focus now, and what a depressing sight. Sandy beaches, trees gently swaying in the breeze. Waves lapping gently against his legs. Oh, thanks the gods, it was only the waves. Rolling slowly onto his back before sitting him, Shigenobu rubbed a hand across his face. Sand that had stuck to him fell off, and he could feel a small cut from where that damned bird had poked at him so much. Hmph. Well, at least it hadn't been his eye. He'd get that bird if it was the last thing he did. Well, maybe not, but still. Vengeance and all that.

He surveyed his surroundings with a keener eye now that his senses had truly returned. A scattering of boards and planks, the tattered remains of a sail, what looked to be another body lying in the sand about a hundred feet away. This one was dead, however, unless the man had learned to breath water, as his head was what the waves were gently lapping against instead of his feet. And nearly naked. Gross. And useless. Shigenobu looked down and saw with relief that at least he still had most of his modesty, if little else. His bandolier of throwing knives was empty save one, and only Susano'o knew what had become of his claw gauntlet. And except for some soreness in his leg and a massive bruise on his ribs, he was unharmed. This might not be so bad.

An hour and a half later, he was right back where he had started, having circumnavigated his entire miserable, beachy domain. Not even a mountain! Disrespectful but it would have to do. He had at the very least managed to find a small spring that was reasonably acceptable to his palatte, but he still had no idea what he would eat. Well, first things first, he supposed. He would need to construct himself a hammock in order to relax, a small raised dais with a proper throne (that would be the tough one, given that there were no readily available chair-shaped trees), and perhaps some sort of rope and pulley mechanism to fan himself with whatever fan-shaped branches he could find. Nodding to himself, he had just begun surveying the area for a decent location for his dais when the familiar sound of flapping wings came from off to his right. His head snapped around immediately, finding the source of the disturbance merely 20 feet away. The devil-bird was perched atop the buttocks of that corpse, staring back at Shigenobu as if it was Shige who was intruding upon the bird! How arrogant. And the bird's name wasn't even Fujishima. At least, not so far as Shige knew. And if it was, then Shige was about to commit fratricide, but he was reasonably certain that would not be the case. Ever so slowly, Shige reached up to his bandolier and slid the throwing knife out of its sheath.

Bird: This tattered ape thing certainly is acting strangely. I wake him up from his dream and he swats at me, and now he is just staring.... Perhaps he is just trying to find the correct way to thank me for my help. Yes, that must be it. FISH PLEASE!

SQUAWK! The sound grated against Shige's nerves. With a fluid grace and swiftness, he let fly with the knife with unerring accuracy, the metal glinting dully in the the sunlight as it flew.

Bird: Oh! The ape thing is giving me a fish! He certainly has terrible aim. My mouth is down here, ape thing. Don't worry. I got this.

Clearly the knife was flying too high and too far to the right and the accuracy was very erring. Shige, feeling like the world was moving in slow motion, shouted Noooooo! My vengeaaaaaance! and watched helplessly as the knife sailed into the ocean, to be lost for all eter--- wait, what? Suddenly, the devil-bird took flight, squawking furiously as he moved directly into the path of the oncoming knife and catching it fully in the face. That was.... odd. But....

VENGEANCE!!!!! Shige did a little dance, ran up to the filthy bird, and danced again, pointing at it and laughing, singing "I got you, I got you!" all the while. Obviously, when he retold this story to any who ever heard it, he would leave out the part where he was going to miss the bird completely. Yes, that wouldn't do at all.

Later that afternoon, sitting in front of the tiny fire he had made and holding headless remains of the stupid bird over the fire, Shige could feel his stomach rumble. It occurred to him that he hadn't eaten now for.... well, he really didn't know. He didn't even remember getting on a boat, much less wrecking one. Whatever had happened, he felt absolutely certain that it was somebody else's fault, though. At least the weather was considerably nicer than in the mountains of his home village. Not a snowflake to be seen!

By day four, Shige was mostly back to normal. The dehydration that began plaguing him the morning following his waking up on the island was alleviated, as had been much of his hunger when he discovered a (thankfully non-hallucinogenic but still very purple) fruit that grew in some abundance. The remnants of the sail had been repurposed into a crude hammock, so put a check in that box. The raised dais hadn't constituted much of a problem either, given the abundance of sand on beaches. The chair had been the issue, and still wasn't fully up to Shige's exacting standards, but at least it was progressing. He had managed to find a great many branches and other sundry pieces of wood all throughout the island. Apparently a major storm had passed through recently, which may have explained his sudden appearance on the island. Or not, he didn't really care. The most important part was that he now had a semi-functional chair on a dais, just like back home. The fawning masses had been a bit of an issue until he realized just how many filthy devil-birds visited the island. There was now a small but quickly growing audience of devil-bird-heads-on-sticks spread out in the sand facing his dais.

Within another week, he had completed his dais but was growing a little restless. The devil-birds were no longer much of a challenge, he had long ago buried the poor wretch who had landed with him, and the island wasn’t terribly large. Even more sadly, he could see no feasible way of constructing his desired rope and pulley system, so he had to settle with just making himself a large (but fashionable) hat from some ferns that grew further inland. He would have to ponder how best to keep himself occupied.

Week 3. A new development in Shige’s growing kingdom. The Grand Calendar of the Empire of the Sand had been completed, and the marking of the passage of time was now considerably easier. Except when the wind kicked up enough to blow the sand around and destroy it. But such was the way of things in the Empire of the Sand. Life was so very fickle here.

Week 4 had come and gone mostly without incident before a dolphin washed ashore, carried by the tide of a storm that was brewing far to the south. Shigenobu the First, Grand Imperator of the Empire of the Sand, first discovered the poor creature while he was on one of his daily walks to survey his domain. Removing his devil-bird feathered crown (which he had constructed several days ago by weaving feathers into his fern-frond hat), he knelt before the corpse. With a single finger, he poked at it a few times. Yes, the flesh was still firm, so it did not seem to be long-dead. He and his subjects would feast tonight. He whistled tunelessly as he cut the carcass into more manageable pieces with his throwing knife, a rather long process if truth be told.

Week 7. The last social dance of the season would be held tonight. The Empire of the Sand had grown rich and powerful during Shigenobu the First’s tenure as Grand Imperator, and to flaunt his wealth, he had begun arranging social dances for himself and his growing array of subjects, which now included not only a vast horde of devil-birds, but also two dolphins, a very small shark (which had been fairly simple to subdue, but tasted awful by the way, thanks for asking), and several small, large-eyed furry things that he had discovered were completely nocturnal. His traditional garb had been especially prepared for him by the Imperial tailor, and was especially sumptuous. Thick silk brocade of the finest weave, gold-thread tassels, and an absolutely show-stopping pair of shoes. The gods themselves would be jealous of such fine garb, but it was all his. The musicians began their chorus as the last rays of sunlight dipped below the horizon, and the bonfire was lit. The dancing would last throughout the night, as was customary, with the Grand Imperator leading the dances as always. The pageantry, the side conversations, the marvelous food. It was truly a night to remember for all!

Further along the beach, just outside of the fire’s light, sat a trio of sailors with incredibly confused looks on their faces. They were watching a naked and unkempt man jump and tumble around a large fire with reckless abandon, occasionally interspersing some semblance of a dance maneuver apparently conducted to music only he could hear. From time to time, the strange man would stop his mad leaping and bow to one of the collection of heads on sticks that were all for some strange reason also facing the bonfire. After nearly ten minutes of this, one of the sailors shrugged and motioned for the others to follow. Whoever this man was, they should probably take him back to the mainland. After all, it was only about ten miles away, so the man could easily get back if he really wanted to.


Edit: +4 Exp plz kthxbai

[Oshiro Daichi]

On an uninhabited island somewhere in the south pacific a portly young man could be seen sitting upon a beach with his head hung low for some reason. This man’s name was Daichi and presently he was stranded on this island because the vessel that’d been transporting him had collided with the reef and torn gaping holes in the ships hull. The vessel sank into the sea and the violent storm that’d been raging at the moment ensured that nobody survived; nobody except for Daichi. He was sitting alone on the beach, looking severely melancholy, because he hadn’t eaten anything in two days and he didn’t really know what he was going to do. Daichi had a weapon, but it wasn’t exactly perfectly suited for killing and he wasn’t athletic enough to chase something down on foot. So he hadn’t really the slightest idea of how he was going to get something to eat.


Nothing really changed the next couple of days and he was about to give up and just resolve himself to die when he discovered something along the beach. Some thread and a couple of hooks, likely from the ship that’d gone down. This gave him the idea that perhaps he could begin fishing for his food and maybe that would allow him to survive long enough to see himself rescued. The fishing was passable at best. It would enable Daichi to fend off starvation, but it wouldn’t be enough to fulfill his needs for energy throughout the day. Something else had to be done. The thread wasn’t just good enough for fishing and if Daichi could manage how to recall the procedures involved, he could set traps and snares for small animals. Being as out of shape as Daichi was, he long ago learned how to build rudimentary things to enable him to do less work, such as trapping food instead of hunting it.


The trapping, combined with the fishing, took care of his food requirements and before two days had gone by Daichi had managed to put together a shelter made of sticks and leaves. He built it in such a fashion that he utilized leaves with a glossy surface because they were far more water resistant that other varieties and used everything else he could find as a kind of insulation against the cold at night. Fire was the easiest part to obtain for Daichi as that had been one of the survival skills he’d practiced the most as a child. He practiced anything that allowed him to make his life easier while at the same time exerting as little effort as possible. It was useful laziness, in other words. The days turned into weeks as Daichi went through his day to day routine. He’d get up in the morning, check his traps and snares, and then head down to the beach for a couple hours of fishing. A nap would be taken after the fishing and this in turn would last a few hours before he got up again to do some more fishing.


As night approached Daichi would head off to check on his traps and snares, and collect firewood for the night. During these trips to check his traps and snares he’d round up any edible plans and insects he could and bring them along to eat. Daichi didn’t have any reservations about eating something as gross as bugs at this point. He was trying to live long enough to get rescued and insects were an outstanding source of protein that was relatively easy to come by. He’d have to be a fool to not take advantage of it. This was how things went every single day, for well over thirty days, until at last he found himself rescued. It had taken just over thirty seven days for another boat to come through the area and when that had happened Daichi had lit a small fire to catch their attention and used a homemade raft to get himself out past the reef where he could be picked up by the passing boat.

[Brandt Solveig]

¤¤¤The.Beginning¤¤¤

The waters raged with the anger of the gods. Massive waves reeled and roared, threatening to topple the stolen long boat. Young Brandt found his fears growing evermore. He had some seafaring experience, but he had also had a lot of other Vikings around that knew what they were doing. However the young male of 16 had never experienced a storm quite like this. 

The wind brought with it an intense stinging sensation as it made contact, the boy desperately doing his best to maintain control against fate. His struggle was in vain however. Lightning tore the sky apart, revealing one of the largest swells he had seen thus far. The boys screams were cut short as the wave crashed down upon the Nord and his little boat with enough force to smash it to bits. 

The blow had stunned him, the water stinging his eyes as he came to. Struggling to hold his breath as he surfaced for a moment, only to be pulled down by the tide once again. Panic over took the boy, along with a helplessness unlike anything he had felt before. It wasn't long before he lost the struggle and succumbed to the oceans demands. 

¤¤¤|Day.01|¤¤¤ 

The young viking came to, his senses completely shocked and unaware of his surroundings, Brandt struggled to get himself on his feet. His clothes were soaked and the weather still looked grey and dreary. The rain had calmed quite a bit sense he had last gone down on his boat. But he had no idea how he survived, or how long he had been out for. 

Frustration overtook him immediately. The boy had no idea where he was, but from his surroundings it looked as if he had washed ashore an island. Those pale hues could see bits of hit boat lining the shore, but it was beyond saving. Any food he had was swallowed by the sea, along with the rest of his belongings. The only thing he had was the clothes he was wearing, and the bastard sword he learned to fight with. 

This is it.. My punishment for turning my back on my clansmen. The gods are punishing me.. 

However it was apparent to him that fate had this experience cast upon him for a reason. Otherwise he would not have lived through the storm and woken up on this island. Brandt would ponder the reason as he carefully made his way from the beachfront, and into the thick vegetation of the island. If he was going to be stuck here, he needed to survey the land. 

The darkness was approaching fast. Knowing this could make things even more treacherous, the boy did his best to cover as much ground as possible. The thick forrest provided him with protection from the winds, but it wasn't going to help when another storm rolled in. However food was more of a priority to him at the moment. The young nord was starving. 

Some distance from the shore, Brandt would stumble upon a rock face with a large natural cave carved out from hundreds of years. What rest within was unknown to the young warrior but desperation pushed Brandt forward to be swallowed by its depth. It wasn't took long before he heard sounds. It seemed he had stumbled upon a den of sorts. 

Pale green eyes narrowed, having adjusted slightly to the darkness. He could heard the sounds of some sort of animal breathing, and after inching his way closer he realized he was staring at a sleeping bear. It was large, but Brandt didn't seem to think it was an adult.  

Brandt did not waste a moment. Even at a young age he had learned to be ruthless in all sorts of situations. This was a time of desperation, so he would do whatever he must. Lunging forward he tried to pierce the bears lung. However the darkness had thrown off his aim and instead he only managed to jolt it awake with the injury. It's roar echoed throughout the cave as it lasted out, tearing a chunk from the young man's upper thigh. 

Brandt would shout out in pain, reeling backwards as the bear approached him in tide. He would wait for it to lunge once again, before Brandt would side step and cleave the beast from its underside at center mass. Its innards would spill to the ground along with its corpse. And Brandt would collapse to the ground in agony. This trip once starting out so well. 

¤¤¤|Day.9 - 11|¤¤¤ 

Eight moons had passed since Brandt had slain the bear and taken it's den for his own. It saved him the trouble of building his own shelter, and found it to be rather cozy when he got a fire going. The nord had even managed to pull together clothing from the pelt of the beast, which helped him through the last few stormy days. Even if it looked like he was wearing a bear..

While Brandt had not walked the whole of the island, he had managed to cover some decent ground the last.two days. However he soon found himself once again approaching the end of his current supply line. The bear meat was now gone and Brandt had enjoyed it very much. With a full stomach, the young Nord set off once again to flesh out more of the island and hopefully find a new source of food to last him for a few or more days. 

He hadn't even thought about a way off yet. The boy figured that once he had enough materials, he would be able to build a boat or raft of his own. And after spending a majority of the day walking through the thick foliage he found his way to a sloping hill. Following it to the top, Brandt would see the the forrest break into an open enough area that he had view of the ocean. It seemed he had found a cliff face, and those eyes scanned the area in front of him. 

It seemed he had been grounded on an archipelago of sorts. He could see a chain of islands stretching away from the one he stood on. Maybe at one point in this these islands made a land bridge between two masses. However he couldn't be so sure. What made his eyes light up though, was not the view. The young viking caught sight of something else. 

Off in the distance, near the side of the island Brandt had not yet explored, rose a pillar of smoke. The boy quickly realized that meant he wasn't on the island alone after all. It also meant that there was had to be a way off this place as well. Unless of course he wasn't the only one the gods had got mad at.  

Part of Brandt wanted to rush toward the fire, however the more reasonable side would win out this day. He knew not what would be in store for him were he to go, and he was running out of day time to boot. Instead he kept track of the direction the best he could, and headed back toward his den for the night. The nord would get an early start in the morning. 

As the sun rose in the east, so would the giant. On the walk home the previous night, the young giant had managed to score himself a few little creatures to munch on. Thus he was all set when it came time to wake. He would spend the vast majority of the early morning to reach his destination. 

From the depths of the foliage, those pale green hues would cast their vision upon a small encampment. Much to his surprise, there were far more men then he expected. The foreigners attire married greatly, but most of them seemed to be carrying the same kind of weaponry. Long, thin curved blades hung in scabbards upon their waists. And off shore a bit, a large two mast ship could be seen bobbing in the current of the ocean. 

Brandt knew not that they were pirates, simply men with a means for him to leave this island. As he surveyed the ragtag group of seafarers, Brandt could hear all kinds of words spoken, but didn't understand a single word. It seemed however that they were making repairs to their ship. Maybe the storm hadn't been so kind to them after all. 

However another cache caught his eye. A few crates were stacked near the make shift tents erected, the top cover laying against the pile. Brandt could see various food items within. He had not ate since the night before, and he could feel his stomach greedily call toward the food. A plan formulated in the boys head and he soon found himself waiting for darkness to fall. 

It sure seemed these men enjoyed their fill of liquor, for it wasn't long for the vast majority to get tanked to the point of passing out.  Brandt couldn't help but feel this would only make things easier. Carefully the young viking would sneak his way toward the encampment and the food he had discovered earlier. Luckily he would make it out without disturbing anyone, caring one of the crates by his lonesome.

When he got back to his den, Brandt could not help but to celebrate himself. He had managed to steal enough food, without being noticed, to feed himself for quite some time. Brandt knew now that the food wasn't an issue, he was going to have to figure out what he would do to get off this island. 

There was far too many to deal with all at once. The young one had no idea how long he had either. He figured they would finish fixing their ship within a handful of nights, depending on their diligence. The ship surely was in no condition to steal, nor would he be able to man it himself. His only other option was one of the little row bows they used to leave the ship.

Devising a plan, the Nord would make preparations before quickly setting out for the pirate camp again the next day. This time he would reach it an hour after dark. It seemed it was a late night of work, for most of the men were on the boat. Torches and lantern lights fluttered in the distance and a large bonfire simmered down slightly upon the beach.

A small contingent of pirates still resided upon the beach. Brandt estimated around ten or so. A few were sleeping, others chit chatting away in some weird, slurred language. Others took time cleaning weapons. At least Brandt felt it would be far easier to get away with this now.

Hunching over in a low position on his hands and feet, the young nord still clan in the pelt of the bear he had slain would begin to move across the beachfront toward the last row boat on the shore.  He made it all the way to the front of the row boat before he heard a voice shout out.

"Oy! Mates.. Thaars a bloody bear try'n ta steal our sciff!"

"Oy! Gawdamn bear!"

"Summ'un say beer!?"

"Ahh, you idjit! He said BEEAR! Drink'a nuthar 'un, why don't yee?"

"Ya'think tha cap'n ull let us mount a bear 'ead on the wall?"

"Get yerr claws away frum our boat, yer theive'n bear!"

Of course Brandt had no idea what they were actually saying. All he assumed was that they had spotted him. No one had rushed him immediately, but now two had drawn their cutlass' and approached menacingly. Reacting the only way he knew how, Brandt pulled his own from his back. Again he heard more of this language as he prepared for battle.

" BLOT'Y HELL! THE BEAR HAS A SWORD!"

"Oy, Idjit! Bears can't carreh swords, mate!"

"It 'az 'un, matey.."

"Kill it then! It's jus' a beear!"

"Jus' a bear, 'e says.. You eva fought a bear wit a sword 'fore, you blot?"

"Shut ya water'ole, mates. JUS' GIT THA DAMN BEAR 'FOR HE EATS OUR BOAT!"

"But bears don' eat boats.."

A few pirates continued their drunken arguments, as the original pirates that approached came at him with their blades. Brandt would quickly slam his sword against the first from the bottom, deflecting it upward. Adjusting and redirecting his sword around and down, he would cleave the pirates legs off, pushing the blade through to the second pirate at his midsection. The bodies dropped, and the pirates stared in disbelief.

"OY BLOODY HELL!"

"DI' THA' JUS' 'APPEN!?"

"RUUN! THA' BEAR KNOWS 'OW TO USE THA' SWOORD!"

"Whar' da hell kinda i'land is this place!?"

"This is why I 'ate land, matey!"

Brandt continued to hear more as they ran off the best they could, tripping over their feet. They sure looked scarier than they were. But he didn't leave himself much time to think about it. Jumping into the row boat, the viking teen would begin to row along the shore. He had a good idea of where he could land and retrieve his belongings from the den.

¤¤¤Day.12 - 13¤¤¤

Brandt had spent most of the next day preparing for the voyage that lay ahead. Brandt wasn't really sure at all where he was, so the best way for him to go was unknown. He figured for now he planned to follow this little chain of islands to see where it went.

The morning however brought with it the most horrifying experience Brandt had ever woke to. He came to as the sunlight from the entrance of the tunnel darkened. And the silhouette of a monstrous animal blocked the entrance. Startling him wide eyed, the Nord realized he was probably staring at the elder of the bear he was wearing.

The massive bears nose made audible sniffing sounds as it began to move toward him. It paused for a moment before those jaws opened wide.  Roar unlike anything he had heard before, multiplied by the echo from the cave and coupled with thick wads of saliva. Brandt nearly soiled himself.

Grasping his sword, the young Nordic warrior would attempt to swallow his fear and charge forward. Roaring out in a similar fashion, Brandt swung his weapon only to feel a massive paw bat him across the face and sending him bouncing off the wall. The boy would land near the entrance with no sword in hand, nor any idea where it went.

Struggling to regain his ground, Brandt would stand just as the bear charged in for the kill. It lunged and the viking threw himself backwards to avoid death by bear claw. He was successful, but ended up slamming his back upon his crate of food and breaking the box that held everything.

He would swear out, but knew he had more pressing matters at the moment. The bear was soon on top of him, threatening to maul him to pieces. In desperation the boy would wait to see it open its mouth before his fist would slam down its throat as deep as it could get. And with luck, he managed to choke the bear to death with his arm.

Unfortunately his arm suffered bite wounds, and the bear had clawed him up pretty good as well. Even though Brandt wanted to leave as soon as he could, the boy was in no shape. In pain, the nord would tend his wounds the best that he could, and rest.

¤¤¤Day.30¤¤¤

Recovery had taken quite some time. After all, a battle with a bear wasn't exactly an easy feat to accomplish, especially for a teenager. Brandt's arm was finally returning to normal use. His recovery had slowed a bit because he had been forced to forage more food to make up for what had been eaten and lost over the course of days.

However he had managed to do so and believed himself fit enough to travel now. It was high time he up and left this island. Those castaway wasnt the role he was meant to play in life. Grunting, the boy would move his make shift box of small tree limbs which carried his food. There had been two flagons of ale which he had used for his wounds and refilled with fresh water.

Dropping it in his row boat, Brandt would begin to head back toward the cave to make sure he had grabbed everything. Upon nearing the cave however, the sounds of feet shuffling against rock would come to Brandt's ears. And then he would heard a familiar dialect.

"Oy.. 'unno mate.. What if that beer is in thar?"

"Ya' think?"

"Maybeh.. Bears live in caves, ye blot."

The young nord stood around no longer. Backtracking, he would ignore the den and make haste to his boat. They were a needless risk and he had overstayed his welcome. Jumping aboard, he would grab his oars and pull away from shore. Rowing as hard as his body would let him, the boy would take to the sea along the chain of islands. He just hoped there wouldn't be another storm.

Word total: 2869

[Yamabara Shou]

Shou's and Maki's entry. 35 post, and defiantly over 400 words , I'll take EXP reward. Don't know for Maki.

Hellish Comapany

[Saitō Reina]

Reina had clearly pissed someone off this time. Not that she gave a shit, except maybe that she might die. Didn’t really matter because there was nothing she could do about it right now. She had tried to kill a man who planned on sleeping with her and well, now she was tied up, blind folded and being taken on to a boat.

Yep, she definitely had pissed someone off. Not knowing where she was going, the boat rocked back and forth. She hadn’t really been on a boat before, so the motion made her slightly sick.

It wasn’t too long, though, before she had her blindfold taken off. She was standing on the edge of the boat she had been taken on. In front of her was some kind of wooden board nailed onto the side of the ship, hanging off. Confused, she looked left and right. The two men she was with grinned at her and prodded her back with their swords. They wanted her to jump?

Reina didn’t want to be stabbed, so she stepped up onto the board. At this point, one of the men slit her wrists free and pushed her. She wasn’t able to catch her balance in time and fell off of the board!

It wasn’t a long fall, maybe 8 feet. She figured this would have been a more frightening experience if the boat was taller and if the water was deeper. She stood up. The water only went to her knees.

“Really?” she called out “Really? You better hope I never see your faces again.” The boat drifted off and began sailing away from her position. Once it was too far to chase, she turned around. What was in front of her made her jaw drop, an island?

Day 1 – Reina attempted to make a shelter. She wasn’t sure what the night climate would be like, but being a mercenary she knew that a shelter was more important even than food. Suffice to say, Reina wound up sleeping at the base of a tree, stomach rumbling all night long. Plus, it was raining. Great.

Day 2 – Reina spent most of the day attempting to catch rabbits with a spear she had sharpened with a rock. The men had taken her weapons, so she was sh*t out of luck when it came to having what she needed. Luckily, she had left her katana at home when she had gone to kill the man, so all that was taken was a small, hidden blade. After she caught a rabbit though, the wood on the island was so wet that she wasn’t able to start a fire. Reina went hungry again.

Day 3 – More rabbits! The wood had finally dried out enough to begin starting a fire. She had caught a few more rabbits, training herself to use her makeshift weapon. All day long, Reina ate. She just caught more rabbits until she was too full to eat them. Once she got to this point though, things got nasty. With a small sharp rock, Reina began gutting the rabbits. She poked through their bloody entrails, learning what was inside of them. Wow, was it fascinating! There was so much more to a rabbit than the meat of the hind legs.

Day 4 – Reina began searching for larger prey, she wasn’t hungry since she had stuffed herself to puking point yesterday. Instead, she was looking for something bigger to pick apart. All she found were birds (bigger ones, more like wild turkeys or pheasants) and settled for that. Upon investigation, she found that birds were very different from the rabbit she had looked at yesterday!

Day 5 – Reina tried draining the blood of her catch today. She figured that it might be easier if she was able to get the blood out of the creatures body before she began looking at it. So, she caught another bird and slit it’s neck. She held the body upside down like she had learned to as a child when slaughtering animals for dinner. Until she had sufficiently drained the blood, Reina resisted ripping the animal open. She was losing control.

Day 6 – Having forgotten to eat for the last few days, she instead cooked her catch today. Blood was splattered all over her white kimono, it looked like a Jackson Pollok painting (who the f*** is that?). Reina’s hair had become tangled and ragged, her skin and clothing splattered with blood and parts of the guts of various animals. Yummy.

Day 7-10 – Reina continued along this path, becoming more and more wild. She became entranced with the internals of animals and with nothing left to do except eat, sleep and view the insides of the creatures, she spent most of her time doing the latter.

Day 11-15 – Reina had now forgotten to eat for a few days, the loud rumbling of her stomach finally making her realize how long she had gone. Instead of neglecting her new hobby, though, Reina simply had a fire going near her as she dissected and cooked the entrails as she pulled them out. Boar intestine, yum! She continued this pattern, now remembering to eat each day.

Day 16-20 – Reina’s fingers were so caked with blood that the dried blood would crack and fall off in chunks. Insanity seemed as if it had taken hold. One of these days, Reina realized how difficult it was to do her work with these…chunks on her fingers. She walked to the ocean and actually bathed, something she hadn’t done for weeks now. Lord, being clean felt good.

Day 21-25 – Reina now spent less time dissecting the animals, having picked apart everything from snakes to fish to birds to boars. In the process, she learned how to cut the animals perfectly in order to provide the most meat. She learned to filet a fish, skin a snake, pluck and roast a bird and even how to get fresh water from the stomach of the boar, yuck!

Day 26-29 – Reina was a master at her craft. A small pile of decaying animals rested in the trees away from her camp. She figured that if she couldn’t eat the meat, one of the creatures would. She was delighted that her work would come full circle. She killed so that she, and other prey could survive.

Day 30 – A small boat sailed to the island. It was a boat of hunters. When they came upon Reina, sitting near a fire dissecting a squirrel, she didn’t even know how to react. Honestly, neither did they. The woman’s kimono was stained fully red from the month that she had been there. Her fingernails were so encrusted with blood that it appeared they were pained. Her teeth, too were slightly stained with the blood of her prey. Luckily, she didn’t attack them. Realizing that they would be able to save her, she provided the men with whatever they wanted as payment and the gang set sail back for land.

[Zhuo Jina]

Crash Land in the Sand - This is the link to Mitogawa Kazuhiro and Jina's monthly quest. I will take the EXP, don't know about Kazu though.

[Miyamoto Kenji]

(( Note: I'm taking the EXP for this. I've got enough money (for the moment), so what I really need are stat ups. :3 ))

Sometime during his years spent away from his familial home in Harima, Kenji served for a short stint on a vessel owned by the Amako clan. For six weeks, he worked various roles across the ship as needed, often filling in for ill sailors. Their purpose was to patrol the sea stretching between the bulk of Amako territory - namely Izumo and Hoki - and the isles of Oki. It was a fairly simple, if physically tedious job.

When the storm came, Kenji had been cooking for the seamen downstairs. He'd heard the rumbling and felt the ship rocking for a while, but hadn't expected the lightning bolt smashing through the hull. They took on water quickly, and he, realizing the situation, dropped what he was doing to help his associates to the deck, whereupon they boarded the rowboats. Kenji was to board himself before the ship violently rocked to one side, releasing the last boat and hurling him off the other end.

The rest of the night was a blur. Kenji found himself hanging onto a piece of debris in the early hours, his hair matted to his head. All he could do until morning was float about aimlessly, unable to make anything significant out aside from other portions of the vessel. When light did come, he spied a meager mass of land across the way: an island. It was far and away smaller than Oki, and could not compare to the coastline of Amako territory, let alone any territory in his country, but it mattered not. Using his shoddy floatation device, the merc paddled toward land.

During the first day of his arrival, Kenji made it a goal to find shelter. He had no weapons or tools, save for a tanto he used to keep strapped to his ankle back then - a contingency, in the event he was disarmed - and his own body, so while he was not completely helpless, he would indeed be alone. Kenji used his knife to cut asunder bamboo trees and trim the ends down to make poles, using fibres to create a crude but usable rope. Given his miniscule weapon, this was not a task that'd be accomplished quickly, but he performed diligently, ignoring the growing fatigue in his body and the rumbling that occasionally disturbed his stomach. By day's end, the shugyosha had managed to assemble enough bamboo and rope to construct a lean-to, using a great boulder within the island's forest as a base. Shielded moderately from the elements, Kenji finished up by making himself a fire, then passed out quite tired.

As he had no clear idea when or if he would be liberated from this island, Kenji devoted the second to fifth days to fashioning tools from the local resources, and feeding himself. From what remained of his bamboo poles, he trimmed and carved one into a viable polearm shaft, then broke and sharpened a stone to create a spearhead. Some of his fibre ropes were then utilized to tie off the head to the shaft, creating a spear that was crude, but viable for killing, as Kenji discovered by tracking and slaying a hare. With his new hunting weapon, Kenji would have food to eat - roasted over an open fire, of course - over the days.

On the sixth and seventh days, the mercenary spent time crafting and testing a bow. This was more difficult, as he first had to assemble more bamboo poles, then spent time crafting and bending each one into a bow shape, using a more thin yet still strong rope as a bowstring. He went through a fair few poles and a good amount of string doing this. At the end of the seventh day, though, Kenji finally made a usable bow. Though its range was not as impressive as a standard yumi, it had enough power to fell creatures that weren't too far off. Further than the spear's reach, anyway.

Kenji's routine settled down for seven days after the creation of his bow. He discovered that the island beheld deer in addition to rabbits, and through patience and tracking brought down a stubborn stag. Compared to his diet of hares, the deer gave him greater energy, and thus he made it a point to search for stags and fruit daily, only defaulting to hares if he could find nothing else.

The fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth days were devoted to the expansion of Kenji's shelter. A lean-to was alright, but a hut would be better. So it came to pass that he once more took blade to bamboo, but this time, though his tool was the same as when he arrived, Kenji was stronger from both the physical labor and his meals of deer. The work was comparatively easier, and in two days, he'd amassed enough of a stockpile of poles and rope - the latter of which had improved in quality from working so frequently with it. Throughout the seventeenth day, only stopping to hunt and dine twice, Kenji disassembled his lean-to and erected a hut just outside of the forest. At the end of the day, he used his remaining energy to sharpen his dulling knife on stones, and cleaned it diligently.

From the eighteenth day all the way to the twenty-third, things once more settled down, though Kenji did try his hand at fishing. Specifically, in stalking the fish whilst naked and spearing them dead. With his mixed diet of stag, seafood, rabbit, and occasional berries and bamboo shoots, his energy was at its highest since arrival, and his strength was full once again. Incidentally, his brain also functioned at its best now that it had a constant supply of nourishment. It functioned well enough that it began plotting.

From the twenty-fourth day onward, Kenji devoted time to finding ways of attracting a rescue vessel. He had seen ships since the third day passing every few days or so, but not close enough to notice him from afar. During the daylight, he'd collect burnables from around the island, as well as performing his daily ritual of hunting and stockpiling food for later. When evening began to close in, he'd arrange his combustables in an organized yet large bonfire on the beach, close to the forest to be away from the water, but not close enough to risk setting it aflame. Kenji would tend to this fire until late into the night, at which point he'd take a portion of it to give himself a small campfire to sleep by, and put out the rest.

Though wise, this method attracted no help for the days in which he used it.

Not for the twenty-fifth...

Nor the twenty-sixth...

Nor the twenty-seventh...

Nor the twenty-eighth...

On the twenty-ninth day, Kenji had an epiphany. A bright fire at night was a good idea, but if a ship was not sailing by in the dark, no one would be there to see his flame. However, a great cloud of smoke during the daylight hours might interest someone more.

So he spent the day as he'd spent the previous five, collecting firewood and other combustables, hunting, and eating. In the evening, he once more assembled his bonfire, but at night, did not light it. By the dawn of the thirtieth day, Kenji finally lit the flames, but kept them down, intentionally smoldering them to produce greater levels of smoke, during which he ripped up part of his already-weathered haori to serve as a mask for his nose and mouth, lest he inhale the noxious fumes.

It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky that Kenji not only saw a ship on the horizon, but saw it begin to sail in his direction. It was flying the mon of the Amako.

In short order, the vessel sent out a rowboat, whose inhabitants verified Kenji's identity and contract with the Amako sailors. When told that he held out for a full thirty days, the men were suitably impressed, explaining that they'd only found three other survivors, and those were shortly after the incident. The lifeboats had, by their accounts, overturned during the storm and sacrificed most of the crew to the sea. Kenji was the lucky fourth survivor, the one who never got to board.

A great relief washed over the shugyosha when his body hit the cot on the ship that afternoon. He was going back to land... After close to a dozen prayers to Amaterasu and Susano'o.

Each.

[Oda Nobunaga]

All characters who neglected to state their preferred reward will be receiving Exp.

The following characters receive +4 Exp to distribute as they wish:
@kurosawajuubei
Fujishima Shigenobu
Oshiro Daichi
Brandt Solveig
Yamabara Shou
Kuroshi Maki
Saitō Reina
Zhuo Jina
Mitogawa Kazuhiro
Miyamoto Kenji
Morei Haji
Shinomori Katsumi
Sanada Yukimura
Morei Hidenori

I believe I covered everyone who participated. If I missed any, PM me.