• The date is December 13, 1937. The wind was fiercer than ever before and the waves were smashing into each other viciously . Lightning broke the sky in half and the temperature was at least five degrees Celsius. Most people wouldn’t dare to sail during a hefty storm such as this one but, of course there is always someone. This someone was no less Randall A. Smith and his crew. His shipmates would call him Randy for short though. His crew consisted of four other shipmates: Luigi Martinez, Allison Gomez , Stephanie Larson, and Christopher Wagner. Randy was twenty-four, Luigi was twenty-three, Allison was twenty-one, Stephanie was twenty-three, and Christopher was twenty-four.
    Randall’s crew was the best in all of the country. Why were they the best you might wonder. Well, this is why. Randall is a first class warrior and a very good captain. He wore a black thick leather chest plate, black leather chaps, a leather hat, black boots and of course, thin black sunglasses. You can say his whole outfit consists of leather. Randall’s eyes were hazel and were filled with loneliness and sorrow, but within them, you can see that glimmer of hope and happiness. Luigi was a blacksmith but was great with swords. He wore a long black coat with a while long-sleeved shirt, navy blue pants and crimson dress shoes that day. His eyes were almost jet black and had a certain gleam of hope that some people would call suspicious.
    Allison worked as a merchant, selling fabrics and silverware, but she was a pretty decent navigator as well. Her outfit consists of a red shirt with a golden trim to it, cream colored pants, and gray shoes. Her eyes were blue, but not just any blue, a blue so clear, that when you looked in them, it was like you were staring at a crystal clear ocean. Her eyes were full of optimism and love. Stephanie had a job as a collage science professor. You can say she is the brains of the group. Stephanie would wear a red and black long-sleeved jacket with a aqua colored shirt, a pair of black pants, and black and white sneakers. Her eyes were emerald and full of intelligence and wisdom. Christopher Wagner is a blacksmith and enjoys practicing his combat skills. Most of his friends called him Chris for short. He wore a black t-shirt, jeans with a studded belt, and classy brown shoes. His eyes were light brown and full of curiosity and wonder.
    “Randy!”shouted Stephanie. “Were not going to make it through this storm! It’s too powerful!” Randy shook his head in denial. “Were going to be fine! Anyways, it’s too late to turn back now! There’s no land out here for hundreds of miles!” The storm became as fierce as when a tiger and a lion fight. The ship was rocking back and forth and at any moment would be able to flip over and sink. The forces of wind and water were truly fighting each other. “ Randy! Can’t we at least try and turn back?!” suggested Luigi. “The storm is too fierce for that!” Randy replied. “Well at least try!!!”The whole crew shouted fiercely. “Fine! But if this ship falls over, it’s your faults! Remember that!!!” Randy answered.
    Randy began turning the ships steering wheel as fast as humanly possible. The whole crew was hanging on to the rail of the ship so they wouldn’t fall over. While Randy was frantically trying to turn the ship around, a massive wave struck them hard enough to make the boat slowly sink. “We’re going down!” yelled out Chris. Randy quickly reached to his right to get the life jackets. “Here!” Randy threw life jackets to each member of the crew. They all caught it and quickly put it on, and just in time too. The ship was sinking faster and they all dived into the water, prepared for whatever nature’s fury throws at them. “Lets just hope we make it!” stated Allison. “It’ll be a miracle if we do!” responded Chris. Everyone was hoping for a miracle and braced themselves for the worst.
    A few moments later, Luigi opened his eyes and to his amazement, felt sand around him. “Eh...where am I?...Heaven?” He questioned. Poor Luigi’s clothes were ruined and he was still delusional from everything that went on last night. It seems to be all a blurred and distant memory to him. Luigi got up from the ground and looked around. What he saw was the most beautiful thing he has seen in his short life: a crystal clear ocean that looked so clean, you can drink out of it and the ocean looked as if no storm had occurred the day before. The trees were as green and healthy as if the storm never affected it, except for one palm fran that fell of the tree. Remarkably, it was still green. He heard in the background animals calling one another and the trees rustling. When he got up, he noticed a piece of paper on the sand as well. He grabbed it and read it. It said ‘dearest! I have so much to tell you!..’ and ended there.
    The paper looked scorched around the edges and those were the only words to be seen. “What is this piece of paper? Where am I?” Luigi wondered. The trees rustling got louder and sounded near by. “Why your in Green Paradise island!” Replied a voice. Luigi suddenly jumped, shocked hearing that voice wasn’t familiar. Luigi turned around. To his amazement, he saw that the other crew members were alive and in back of the unknown man. “Hey Luigi!” yelled Stephanie. “We thought you were dead!” pointed out Randy.
    “Well, of course I’m not!” replied Luigi. Allison began to laugh nervously. “Hehe.... well you seemed like it.” Luigi grunted at the fact that the crew thought he was dead. “Well, disregarding the fact that you thought I died, why are you guys with this guy?” he said scratching his head, because he was lost. “Well, this is no stranger to us. He’s the one who saved us.” Chris answered. The man nodded in approval. “If it wasn’t for me spotting you guys floating in the ocean, you would have drowned and not to mention your lungs were full of water.” pointed out the man. “Yeah yeah...just tell me your name already so I can address you properly instead of calling you ‘strange man’”demanded Luigi, crossing his arms, as if he was the man in charge.
    The man stared at Luigi with a glare. “Well, I am Mauricio Gonzalez, and I am part of the Kitsune clan.” he declared with his right hand giving a thumbs up. “The what clan?” questioned the crew. “Its Japanese for ‘fox clan’.” pointed out Mauricio. “Then why not just say the fox clan?” asked Stephanie. “Because, kitsune sounds cooler!” responded Mauricio with a huge smile on his face, as if he had just won the greatest prize of life. “Well, now that the introduction is done, I have to show you guys something.” stated Luigi. Luigi lifts up the piece of the letter that was burnt on the edges. Suddenly, Mauricio had a face that looked as petrified as someone about to enter war. “Notice the...” Luigi got interrupted. “Eheheh.....why don’t I show you guys more of the island?” Mauricio questioned in a nervous voice. Everyone nodded. “Sure!” responded Randy. Everyone except Luigi began to follow Mauricio. “But you guys! I was about to...” Luigi sighed. “Just never mind I guess..” Luigi then ran as fast as humanely possible to catch up to the group.
    The five of them followed Mauricio silently until the silence was broken by Stephanie. “Where is this island exactly?” Mauricio turned around with a frown on his face. “You mean you don’t know? After all, you were the ones who found it.” Randy stepped towards Mauricio. “Well, are you gonna tell us or not?” he demanded. Mauricio had a petrified look on his face. After all, wouldn’t you be scared if someone you barely knew approached you? “Fine, I shall tell you later when there is noone among us.” he said quickly as if he was trying to avoid the whole subject.
    Mauricio had the feeling that he was being followed. There would be a rustle in the bushes every now and then and it sounded closer each time. Stephanie frowned. “Are you not suppose to talk about this island?” Mauricio quickly shushed her. “I shall explain everything soon enough.” he whispered quickly with a paranoid look on his face. “Is everything ok?” Chris asked. “I said I shall explain soon enough!” yelled Mauricio.
    Everyone was shocked by his aggressive tone. “Ok ok!” Replied Chris. They continued walking through the island. Mauricio then stopped in front of a house. It looked as if it had been through a fire, and heck of one too. The paint that was once white was now scorched brow and the windows were not even in their proper placement. Oddly enough, there was a mask hanging on the door. It was a cream-like brown and had a certain look of sadness to it. “What is this place?” Allison asked out of curiosity. Mauricio frowned.“Well, I actually took you here for a reason.” Mauricio then checked the area for any followers like a hound dog. There was none to be found, but there would be a rustle in the bushes every now and then. “Ok, I think it’s safe enough for me to explain.” Mauricio stated in a soft tone. Everyone was then as attentive as a dog. Mauricio then began to explain.
    “You see, this island holds very special properties. If you were to die with a life ring on, you would be revived on this island.” Luigi had a puzzled look on his face. “What the heck is a life ring?” Mauricio sighed. “Well, this is going to be hard to explain to newcomers, but I shall try my best to. A life ring is a ring that has a mystical power to it. If you were to die on this island while wearing the ring, you would come back.” “That’s so cool!”exclaimed Allison, waving her hands in the air. “Well, what does a life ring look like and how many are there?” questioned Chris. Mauricio lifted up his right hand and pointed at the ring on his ring finger. It was gold and had a enchanted sapphire in the middle of it.
    “This is the life ring. There are only two in the whole world. The first one I have one me and the second one was lost.” Everyone stared at it with amazement. “Wow...such a small ring, but such big powers.” Stephanie said with a twinkle in her eye. Everyone nodded in agreement. “Luigi, let me see that piece of paper you had before.” demanded Mauricio. Luigi took it out of his pocket and lifted it up. “This one?” he questioned. “Yeah.” answered Mauricio. “It must have slipped out of my pocket when I went to go get you guys from the shoreline.” Mauricio then frowned. “That piece of paper brings back a lot of memories.... I think that’s the only thing that made it out of the fire....besides this tape.” Mauricio then pulled out a black cassette out from the pocket of his jacket. The tape looked as if it was at least ten years old. Mauricio then let out a heavy sigh. “I use to work as a scientist, observing animal interaction and recording animal calls and noises.” The hedges then began to rustle louder and then fade away, as if someone or something was retreating. Mauricio then pointed at the scorched edges of the paper. “See that? I was in a horrible fire...” Mauricio then was interrupted by Allison. “Im guessing this is going to be a long story?” Mauricio nodded. Everyone then sat in a circle as if it was a campfire and paid close attention to what he had to say.
    Mauricio then continued to tell his story. “ I was writing to my wife in Europe who had to stay there while I came here. She’s the one who gave me the life ring. I was going to tell her about everything I had found on this island, the celebrations, which I did record the music of onto the cassette, the culture, and all the storms that had occurred. Heck, I would record just about everything I could on that cassette! But then accidently, I knocked down a lite candle onto the curtains of that house without realizing it. By the time I found out, it was too late for me to gather everything. Something was telling me to evacuate but of course I was too hardheaded to. I attempted to gather all of my possessions but I got trapped. Fire quickly surrounded me by the time I got to my room. My fate was inevitable. Luckily, I had my life ring on, but at the time I didn’t realize what the properties of that ring were. Then, after a few moments, I woke up unscathed, as if something had brought me back from the dead. It was then that I realized why she gave me that ring. It would protect me from harms way.”
    Mauricio’s story ended there. Allison had tears in her yes, sobbing on the fact that his wife would do that for him. Randy then came to her aid, wiping away the tears. “ I would do the same thing for you.” he whispered. Allison then began to blush slightly and felt a tad bit nervous, as if she had butterflies in her stomach. Everyone began to stare. “Look away! I demand you to now!” commanded Randy. They quickly looked away, but Chris couldn’t help but sneak in a peek. Randy then overlapped his hand onto Allison’s. They both grinned. “Awww! How cute!” exclaimed Chris. Randy and Allison then turned as red as a tomato. “Chris! Did I not tell you to look!?” he said swinging his fist into the air. “I’m sorry! I couldn’t help myself!”he replied. Allison sighed. “Just let it go” she murmured. Randy put down his fist and turned away. “Fine...” he murmured in an aggravated voice.
    Everyone then stood up. Its was silent until the bushes and trees began to rustle again, and each time they did, it sounded closer and closer. It was coming from the same spot that the rustling from before occurred in. “Everyone!” yelled Mauricio. “Brace yourselves!”They all went into a fighting stance, prepared for any peril. A shadow the shape of a human body became visible. It came closer and closer towards the group. “Stay back!” yelled Chris. “I know how to defend myself!” The shadow then came running towards them. Allison and Stephanie began to yell and the men kept their fists in the air. “Im warning you!” yelled Randy, but it seemed like nothing could stop it.
    Everyone then braced themselves for what they thought was a killer, but then after the strange shadow came out from the abyss, it just turned out to be another islander. “Hey Mauricio!” yelled the man. Mauricio almost instantly got out from the fighting pose to a friendly one. “Sam!” yelled out Mauricio. Everyone except for Sam and Mauricio had a confused look on their face. “Uhh, who exactly are you?” questioned Chris. “ My full name is Samuel Romano. Call me Sam for short. I’m also the leader of the Kitsune clan, and I’m also Mauricio’s friend.”
    Luigi’s ears were in disbelief. “Are you really the leader or are you toying with us?” Asked Luigi. “Nope. I’m the leader.” he answered nodding his head. “Why do you ask?” “No reason...you just kinda seem kinda short to be the leader.” Luigi answered. “Eh. They say that all the time.” Sam replied. “Well, I would like to invite you to a feast in your honor. I have already told the clan that you were all here on this island.”
    Everyone became overwhelmed with excitement like if they were five year olds on Christmas day, after all, they were parched and starving, and to find out there was food in their honor only made them more excited.. Everyone except for Mauricio was excited. He was rather confused and lost. He scratched his head. “How did you know that there were other people among us that aren’t a part of the clan?” “I saw you take them in.” answered Sam, having his arms crossed.“Well, we will be meeting in the center if this forest. Mauricio shall lead you to it. Please do prepare yourselves. I shall see you guys shortly.” Sam then waved goodbye and so did everyone else to him. “Well, might as well get ready.” suggested Chris. Everyone nodded. They all began to get ready. “Umm you guys, I’ll be back in a bit. Don’t go without me.” Randy stated with a soft tone. “Ok! Be back on time!” replied Luigi with a demanding tone. Randy then began to walk to the shoreline where he was found. “Umm, I think I’m going to go too.” murmured Allison. Randy then looked at Allison, slightly shocked from what he heard.. Everyone nodded. “Just come back safely! It’s getting dark!” yelled Stephanie. Randy and Allison nodded. They began to walk to the shoreline.
    Randy and Allison had finally reached the shoreline. They laid down side by side and looked at the sunset. It looked as if someone had gotten a paint brush and had just painted it. The orange, red, and yellow blended in perfectly. For some reason there was an orange raft in the middle of the shoreline too. “You know Allison..” Randy started. “ Back when the storm was going on, I was scared to loose you. I didn’t want to have to live my life knowing that someone I love so deeply died because of a exploration sea trip I planned.” Allison then began to blush. “You....you....love me?” She stated, her voice breaking at the same time. Randy nodded. Tears of joy began to run down her face. He then placed his left hand on her face, touching it softly. He then whispered. “There’s no need to cry.” Randy wiped away her tears. His lips then met closer to hers and kissed them softly and tenderly. Allison blushed and grinned. “I think it’s time to start heading back.” Randy nodded. “Yeah, lets go.” Randy and Allison then stood up, grabbed each other’s hand, and ran to where the others were.
    They arrived just on time. “Ok, now that everyone is here, lets go!” yelled Mauricio. They all formed a line and followed Mauricio to the center. When they reached the center, everyone’s jaws dropped. There was food of all kinds there; meat, dairy, fruit, even sweets! They saw the other tribe members in the same mask that was hanging on the door of the house. Not only did they see that, but they saw Sam on his stone throne wearing his leaf crown; one of the leaves were orange. “Wow. This is a lot of food.” stated Stephanie. Her mouth, along with the other crew members were watery. “Fellow newcomers! Feel free to enjoy our food! You can begin eating!” declared Sam. They all started eating as if someone has shot the gun in the beginning of a race. Twenty minutes later, the crew was stuffed with all kinds of food. Sam then stood up. “I’m sad to say that this is not a feast, but rather a ceremony of death! Mauricio! You have violated the rules of this clan! You must never have spoken of this island and it’s traditions, but you did so anyways! You know the rules! To top it off, you talked about the life ring!” Everyone couldn’t believe it! The once so friendly islanders are now the vicious army. “You set us up?!” questioned Allison. Sam then nodded. “The rustling in the bushes that Mauricio was ever so worried about was me eavesdropping on you guys. I heard life ring in one of his sentences so I kept following you.” the crew and Mauricio couldn’t believe it. They were set up by the clan!
    Sam then lifted his staff into the air, symbolizing to attack. The clan came at them as fast as someone that has just won a prize and was going to go claim it. “Run!” yelled Stephanie to the top of her lungs. They all began to run back to the shoreline to escape the island. On the way there, Mauricio stopped. “I...I have to stay here” he murmured. “What?! That’s ridiculous!” yelled Allison. She then grabbed his arm, pulling telling him to go. By now the rest of the crew was almost to the shoreline, but Allison and Mauricio were still far from it. “Look, I got you guys into this mess, so im going to try and stop them. I bet you the only reason why Sam wants to kill me is so he may have my life ring. I can’t let that happen.” Mauricio said, his face looking towards the ground. “Now I’m really lost. Aren’t you his friend?” Allison questioned . Mauricio shrugged.. “He’s always wanted that ring. I guess he was looking for some good reason to kill me in order to get it.” Allison frowned, clenching her fist. “I cant believe he would do that..” she stated in a low voice. “Well, you know what they say: what some people would do for power...even if it’s killing your friend.” Mauricio stated. There was rustling all over the place. It sounded distant but got closer with each passing moment.
    “Here!” Mauricio stated. He took off his life ring and gave it to Allison. I can’t let Sam have that ring! Now run!” Allison nodded. She sprinted as fast as a sports car and reached the shoreline just in time. Sadly...Mauricio was never to be seen after that. “Ok, how are we gonna go?” questioned Randy. Chris pointed to the orange raft by the rocks. “That! It can fit up to six people!” he exclaimed. “Go and get it!” demanded Randy. Chris then sprinted to the boat, got it, and gave it to Randy. “Ok, are you guys ready?” Asked Randy. The whole crew nodded except for Allison. She turned away. “His life ring....we must protect it...he fought for us and requested that we should protect it from evil.” she murmured. Randy and the rest of the crew couldn’t believe it. There was an aura of sadness filling the area they were in, as if there was a gray cloud on top of them. The rustling was able to be heard from a distance. Stephanie gasped. “We have no time right now! Let’s all just get on the raft and go home!” everyone agreed. Each moment that they wasted, the clan would get closer. They quickly jumped into the raft and pushed themselves to the ocean. “Lets hope we make it through this.” Allison stated. They whole crew nodded. “Yeah, let’s just hope for another miracle...” murmured Chris. They all drifted off into the night, not knowing wether they would live or die. But one thing was for certain, they had protected the most powerful thing on the island, and that was the ring.