NOVEL NEXT Island
Beautiful, idyllic island.
Definitely has Pacific vibes.
But on closer look at the island, all of the palm palm trees, coconut trees, and desert island shrubbery is nearly all underwater.
There is no sand nor surface, at least near the water's edge. The tallest trees have water halfway up their trunks.
The island, strangely enough, looks like is tipped over and sunk into the endless ocean.
And the endless ocean is chaperoned by an endless sick and blistering sky. The sun seems hotter than ever before, and the sky broken and bright and almost without barrier or moisture.
A small raft is going past the flooded jungles, carrying a small child. Trix is a young, mixed race and Asian female child.
She whispers and hums an island tune as she slowly paddles past the the tall trees and brush and rocks that she should be at the base of.
Her clothes are a mixture of future and past. Beautiful but worn fabrics, but stitches and patterns from the old, commercial world.
In her raft is some random technology like smart phones, but they look old and dilapidated, and they have some odd extensions that make them run. Cords and homemade batteries.
Trix looks up to see houses built on stilts, on slopes and hillsides, in the distance.
The water has risen that high, and ground starts appearing up farther inland on the island.
Trix chuckles as she looks underneath her small boat.
Large and exaggerated and mutated species of fish and shark float alongside her boat, high above where the island floor once was.
Her boat slowly goes over old rooftops with some old rusty satellite dishes and flagpoles sticking out of the water.
Villagers in the stilted houses wave at her. She waves back.
Mixtures of primarily Chinese, Japanese, Black and White, but all are represented in some way. A kaleidoscope of cultures and people, with no definite country or tribe breaking through.
A small village breaks out at the top of the island, where some small cars and motorcycles lay, but they are beyond repair. They look more like art pieces, as nature has taken its ground back from them.
None of this shocks nor amazes Trix. She just keeps paddling and singing her song.
Trix eventually comes to a small, one room hut on stilts away from the village.
It has a porch built around it, and instead of a door, a torn flag from an old world country hangs, swaying in the wind. A marker and reminder to all of whom lives there.
"Hey!!! Wake up!!!" Trix yells.
Some laughter comes from inside.
The flag is pushed back and Orion emerges. Strong. Fit. Middle aged and mixed race male.
Fully sleeved tattoos on his arms, underneath his torn shirt. Dog tags and religious necklaces dangle.
Orion looks like a soldier. He still is a soldier.
"I was up before you, Trix."
"Doubt it!" Trix yells back from her small boat, as it creeps near the hut.
"What have you been up to?" Orion's voice is firm but tender.
"Fishing!!!" Trix pulls a bag and tosses a few large and beautiful, but mutated fish up to Orion.
He catches them and inspects them. "Not bad, sister."
"We even?!"
"You tell me," Orion starts. "Are you going to stop running off and have your mother make me find you?"
"Nope!"
"Then no. But not even. Thanks for lunch. Get back to the village. The tide is high."
"The tide is always high," Trix smarts back, as she starts to paddle away. "You taught me that!"
"You know what I mean," Orion says.
Trix paddles back towards the center of the island where the village lays.
Orion watches from his porch and smiles, but then his eyes start to blur.
"Can't I have just a few more minutes?" Orion begs to himself.
His eyesight becomes a MENU, though the world around him is still there, though pixelated.
GOOD MORNING, ORION
Orion flicks the menu away from his eyes, and the stats pop up.
He stares, looking at them like a curse that he has to look at and study every day.
Four simple lines with percentages and points after them.
SURVIVAL XP
KNOWLEDGE XP
COMBAT / FIGHT / DEFENSE XP
LEGEND XP
The last one is grayed out, almost. Barely there, but locked.
It never goes up. Never moves. No matter what feat or adventure or kill or rescue, it never goes up.
What does it mean?
Orion frowns, but his concentration breaks at an odd ringing sound coming from hut.
He minimizes the menu to the bottom right corner of his sight and his vision clears. Once it pops up, it never goes away, until sleep or some random rest period.
I'll make it go away. Or I'm going to use it.