Rainy Days, Part 5
"Damn it! The shelter! To hell with this!"
Trapped beneath the sudden collapse of their home, Chester desperately suppressed his rising panic and assessed his physical condition.
How did the shelter collapse?! Did the main frame snap?! Or did...!
In the worst-case scenario, the tree they had used as a central pillar might have snapped. Just as that thought crossed Chester's mind, something heavy crashed down upon the debris covering them.
"Ugh!"
"Kyaaaaah!"
I knew it! The pillar tree fell!
However, contrary to Chester's braced expectations, there was only a deafening roar, and no crushing impact followed.
"...Monia, it's okay. It's okay. Look."
"Y-yes?"
"We're fine. The tree fell, but it looks like it got caught on another one."
"..."
"See? The tree fell on top, so the debris is pressing down on us, but that's all. That's really all it is."
Chester checked his body again. He was sore all over, but he didn't seem to have any serious injuries. He could move his arms and legs just fine.
"If anything, the ruins of the shelter will protect us."
"..."
"Look. We can barely feel the wind and rain now compared to before, right?"
"Yes."
As the debris blocked them in from all sides, their space grew cramped, and the air quickly warmed with their shared body heat. Monia felt the change and looked around the dark, confined space.
"This is actually for the best. It really is. Even the floor... we're sitting on top of the collapsed debris, so we aren't in direct contact with the cold ground."
"..."
"Let's hold out here until the storm passes. It'll be tough, but we can do it. Understand? We just have to endure. Then everything will be fine."
"Everything will be fine."
When Monia repeated his words like a mantra, Chester nodded in agreement.
"Exactly. The rain will stop, and the wind will die down. The sun will rise again, and that dreadful heat will return. Everything will go back to normal."
"Back to normal..."
At the phrase 'back to normal,' Monia didn't picture herself elegantly sipping tea in her ducal mansion back in the kingdom. Instead, she unconsciously envisioned herself grumbling at Chester and suffering through some bizarre, exotic meal.
Humans are creatures of adaptation. In extreme environments, that adaptation happens even faster. Though they had spent very little time in relative peace on this island, life here had already become Monia's new 'normal.'
"Um... I want to eat fish."
"Huh? The ones we caught in the river?"
"Yes."
"Sounds good. Fish it is."
Chester thought of the river. With this much rain, it might have flooded and completely changed shape. Or perhaps debris blown by the storm had piled up upstream, drying the river bed out.
I hope nothing like that happened.
Harboring those worries, Chester watched the rainwater trickling through the cracks in the debris. The downpour was so intense that a substantial amount of water was streaming down into their tiny pocket.
As the runoff hit the already sodden earth below, it made a splashing sound, like water pouring into a deep puddle. What state was the ground in right now? The soil might be completely submerged. If they had been in direct contact with the ground, the risk of hypothermia would have been too high to even consider staying put.
Chester tilted his head slightly, trying to catch some of the trickling water to drink. Just then, the entire pile of debris shuddered violently.
"Ugh!"
"Kyaah!"
A powerful gust of wind pried open a gap in the debris, sending a sudden torrent of rainwater pouring in on them.
We can't just sit here.
Chester scanned their dark surroundings. Suddenly, a faint orange glow caught his eye.
...? Did a piece of our scattered firewood get caught in the wreckage?
He reached out toward the orange light. When he pulled it close, he found a faint ember still smoldering deep inside a fragment of their firewood.
...Right. I remember now. Once Father lit a campfire, he would preserve the embers in plants like cattails, carrying them around to easily start the next fire.
Spurred by the memory, Chester carefully split the wood fragment using his stone knife. He scraped out some of the dry inner wood to use as tinder, then gently blew on the ember to coax it to life.
Before long, a tiny flame blossomed on the wood. Once he was sure the flame was stable, Chester held the burning piece of wood between his teeth, using its meager light to inspect their cramped shelter. The sensation of holding fire so close to his face was terrifying, but he had no time to worry about that.
Tie this part to that part, and secure that section over there... Damn it, there's not enough room.
He grabbed vines to lash down the unstable parts of the wreckage, used ropes to secure other sections, and used their own limbs to prop up certain areas. Expanding their space would have made the work easier, but recklessly shifting the debris risked a total collapse.
Deciding to endure the discomfort, Chester finished reinforcing the wreckage and took the burning wood out of his mouth.
"Phew! Fffhh!"
With a sharp breath, he blew out the smoldering tinder, plunging the space beneath the debris back into pitch-black darkness.
Immediately after, another gust of wind battered their shelter, but...
"Is it safe now?"
The debris no longer rattled violently, and the wind and rain failed to penetrate their pocket.
"Yeah, we're safe now."
Wiping away his cold sweat, Chester closed his eyes.
"Let's get some sleep."
He hadn't slept properly in days while keeping watch over the campfire. Ironically, this cramped, dark space beneath the ruins felt incredibly cozy.
Even in the midst of this raging storm, a black figure walked through the forest on two legs. After walking for some time, the black figure arrived at one of the five major rivers flowing across the Floating Island. The river had been blocked by fallen trees and boulders, causing the water to pool and stagnate.
"..."
Watching the stagnant water, the black figure turned its head to gaze at the mountain shrouded in the darkness.
All water on the Floating Island originated from that mountain. The seawater absorbed by the island was filtered through its bedrock, transforming into clean freshwater that was drawn up to the mountain's peak. From there, the freshwater flowed through channels carved deep within the mountain, cascading down as waterfalls that fed the island's various rivers, which eventually emptied back into the sea.
The river Chester had discovered was one such stream, originating from the mountain's waterfalls, flowing across the land, and plunging down yet another cliffside.
"..."
Spreading its five fingers wide toward the mountain in a gesture resembling a prayer, the black figure used that same hand to lift a massive boulder and hurl it at the debris blocking the river.
With a single strike, the blockage shuddered violently. The trapped river water began to seep through the newly formed cracks. Moments later, the sheer force of the water burst through the remaining debris, allowing the river to flow freely once more.
"..."
The black figure watched the river restore its natural flow, then turned and vanished into the night.
...?
How much time had passed since they fell asleep beneath the ruins of their shelter? Waking up, Chester was suddenly blinded by a piercing ray of light and quickly shut his eyes in surprise.
Light?
For the first time in what felt like forever, a light that wasn't the harsh flash of lightning met his eyes.
But how? It must have been at least a day since we were trapped.
The weather on the Floating Island changed rapidly. While that was true for when it took a turn for the worse, it also meant the weather cleared up just as fast.
While Chester and Monia slept beneath the debris last night, the Floating Island had drifted steadily, escaping the storm zone. That was the sole reason behind the brilliant sunshine beaming down on them now.
The island simply drifted across the ocean. Indifferent to the struggles of the creatures living upon it, it merely floated on.
"Monia, look at the light! The sun is up!"
"Huh-wha?"
At Chester's urgent call, Monia woke up, drool trailing from the corner of her mouth.
"Mph."
Sleeping deeply enough to drool meant she had been utterly exhausted, but Monia quickly wiped her mouth, trying to hide the evidence out of embarrassment. He had seen everything, of course.
"Light, you say?"
"Yeah. The rain stopped."
"Ah!"
Chester freed his arms, which had been propping up the debris, and reached beneath his body. His hand found the stone knife he had wedged into a gap. First, he sliced through the vines directly in front of him.
After cutting the vines, he grabbed his stone axe, pressed it against a thick branch, and slammed the heel of his palm against it. After a few hard strikes, the branch snapped. Repeating this process to clear away the surrounding vines and branches, Chester finally examined the heavy log blocking them from above.
My posture is too awkward to push it away with brute force.
He needed to secure enough room to position himself properly. This time, Chester focused on clearing the sides rather than the top, hacking away at vines and branches with his axe to widen their pocket.
Once he had enough space, he lay on his back, braced himself, and used his legs to shove the log upward. Fortunately, the log, which had been precariously balanced on other debris, yielded to his legs despite the awkward angle.
Having pushed the log aside, Chester dismantled the rest of the wreckage with his stone knife and axe, then finally stood up. As he emerged from the ruins, the brilliant, stinging sunlight—which he hadn't felt in days—showered over him.
"..."
A profound sense of relief washed over Chester. The realization that their living hell had finally ended washed over him.
We survived.
They had survived. That single, powerful truth bloomed in his mind.
Next, Monia crawled out through the opening Chester had made.
"Wow..."
What caught Monia's gaze was not the sky, but the sea.
The ocean, which had raged like a terrifying monster only hours ago, had grown calm. Its gentle waves sparkled beautifully under the sun. It was so clear and pristine that she could see fish swimming beneath the surface—a sapphire jewel of a sea.
Staring at the ocean that now seemed completely different from the cruel, terrifying beast of the storm, tears welled up in Monia's eyes.
"I-It's over..."
Weeping, Monia clutched the rope tied around her wrist as if it were her most precious treasure.
The long, endless rain had finally stopped.