Isekai Family Robinson: A slow-burn Isekai

Alejandra was always the first to wake in the morning. Even before the desert, it had been her habit. She enjoyed being the first to feel the rays of the rising sun on her face, and to steal a few precious moments to just be alone with her thoughts.

But this morning, for the first time in years, someone else beat her to the punch. Admittedly, it was because she had woken him in the early morning for his turn at watch, but still, it was an unfamiliar sensation.

"Morning Sunshine," Matty said from where he crouched beside the fire. He had scavenged a metal grate from somewhere on the yacht and placed it over the fire to make a makeshift grill, on which a pot of coffee was brewing and a trio of pans were sizzling away with eggs and bacon and hashbrowns. The smell was just this side of heaven.

"Good morning," she replied, stretching out sore muscles and sitting up. They had all slept in their clothes, and the grubby greasy feeling that came with it was like an old friend to Alejandra. She'd woken up the same way more times than she could have counted back in the desert. "Is that real coffee?"

"Instant," he said, gesturing to some mugs he had set down beside the fire pit. "But I made it double-strength. Tastes like foot, but it'll wake you up. Figured we were going to need the extra energy."

She reached for the pot, then stopped as something occurred to her. The pills Matty had taken for pain yesterday had become some kind of magical super medicine…

"The coffee is just regular coffee, right?" she asked, eyeing the pot.

Matty chuckled. "Pretty sure, yeah. I had a cup before you woke up. Seemed to be just normal coffee. I think maybe whatever it was brought us here only works on specific things like medicine."

Satisfied, Alejandra poured a cup and drank. The coffee was awful, worse than the stuff Corporal Madsen used to make back in the desert. But she felt the jet fuel hit her veins a moment later, banishing the last of the sleep cobwebs and bringing her to full wakefulness.

Slowly, their little campsite came alive as the kids woke up and dragged themselves over for breakfast. Most of them were groaning from sore muscles and aching heads from too much adrenaline exposure and too much hard work to which they were unaccustomed. It only took a couple minutes before Matty cracked and doled out some of the magic painkillers to everyone, and after that the groaning was confined to the way Matty's coffee tasted.

Which was fair.

Soon the food was finished and the paper plates and plastic silverware were stowed in a trash bag. After all, just because they were on a different world didn't mean they had to start littering everywhere.

"Uh, Mom? Dad?" Bel raised her hand as they finished cleaning up. "I gotta… Y'know, use the bathroom. Do I still use the ones on the boat, or… What?"

Alejandra and Matty exchanged amused glances, and Alejandra reached down beside the campfire and came up with the small shovel they'd used to dig the fire pit yesterday. She tossed the tool to her daughter, and followed it up with a roll of toilet paper before pointing off to the side of the clearing where a small patch of trees was growing out of the sandy soil.

"Dig a hole, daughter mine," she said with a grin. "And cover it back up when you're done."

Bel's face screwed up in disgust. "Oh ew, seriously?"

"Sorry kiddo," Matty said, "the heads on the Dilligaf are at too much of an angle. The water wouldn't flow right. Plus the pumps are offline, so–"

"I get it, I get it," Bel huffed, glaring at the shovel. "We get magical medicine and weird powers, why couldn't we get a magical toilet too?"

"Y'know," Olivia said thoughtfully, "most of my books don't even go into that kind of thing."

"Because most readers don't care about it," Dinah said from the side where she was using Alejandra's kit to clean her rifle. "I mean, would you want to read five pages about how the hero had to go squat in a bush and then–"

"Oh-kay," Bel cut her off. "I think I get the picture." she stood and started to walk towards the little copse when Alejandra's meaningful cough stopped her.

"Tu pistola," Alejandra said, nodding at Bel's empty belt.

"Even to go to the bathroom?" Bel asked, blinking.

"Even to go to the bathroom," Alejandra said. "Keep it with you wherever you go."

"And make sure you flush," Lucas added with a grin, miming covering something over with dirt.

"You are so gross," Bel said, glowering at her younger brother.

"I just mean none of us want to have to accidentally smell you–" Lucas continued, his grin getting bigger.

"Ew." Bel made a face. "Stop. Just stop. I'm leaving."

She grabbed her pistol and tucked it and it's holster into the wasteband of her jeans before stalking off, muttering to herself as Lucas dissolved into juvenile giggles.

"What are your plans for today?" Alejandra asked Matty as their children fell into the usual post-breakfast bickering and teasing.

"Our biggest asset right now is the Dilligaf and everything on her," Matty said, turning to look at the yacht. "I'm going to need to inventory everything we have on her that could be useful, from the power tools in the equipment locker down to the hull plating and wall studs. So an inventory is the first thing. After that, I'll see if I can get any of her life support systems online. If the solar panels aren't too banged up, we should at least be able to get the desalinator kludged back together."

"Put Dinah to work as a lookout," Alejandra suggested. "She's got good eyes and a good instinct."

"I was thinking the same thing," Matty said with a nod. "I'll have us all on rotating watches, so no one gets too bored with it and starts to lose focus."

"Look at you, mi corazon," she said, elbowing him gently in the side and smiling. "Using proper military lingo."

"I got it out of a book," Matty admitted with a grin. That grin faded away and was replaced by concern. "Are you sure you want to go out alone?"

"Si." Alejandra nodded. "I will move quicker and quieter on my own. And if I do stumble across some giant fanged monster, I will be able to flee it easier if I do not have anyone else to worry about. Besides," she added, reaching into a pocket and bringing out one of the handheld radios. "I will stay in contact the entire time."

Matty pulled his own radio out and tapped it against hers in a sort of toast. "Just be careful."

"Y tu tambien," she said quietly. "If anything does happen, call me immediately, and I will come back as fast as I can."

They finished their horrible coffee, then Alejandra let out a deep breath and stood, shouldering a backpack she'd filled with food and water and supplies for the day's trek, and holstering her pistol on her belt. The radio went on the hip opposite the pistol, and she finished by picking up her rifle and doing a quick check before nodding once. Everything was ready.

She exchanged one more look with Matty before nodding, flicking the safety off her rifle, and heading into the jungle.

Time to get a good look at this new world they'd come to.

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* * *

The jungle turned out to get significantly less dense–and less eye-gougingly colorful–once she got further away from the shore. The heavy underbrush and close-packed trees gave way to something that was closer to something she'd seen in pictures from African forests. Massive multi-trunked broad-leaved trees sprawled for hundreds of yards, their trunks a pleasant blue-green color and spaced out just enough that they didn't hamper her movement.

Other trees were like the towering old redwoods from California, jutting hundreds of feet up in the air and big enough around to hide an entire fourth grade field trip behind. Still others looked like fruit-bearing trees she might find in any California commercial orchard.

It was a strange mix, and while it lacked the dense closeness of the jungle, the alienness of it was still unnerving. Her mind told her that these trees were all in the wrong place, but they still grew and thrived. It was jarring.

Her goal right now was simple; scout the area immediately around the Dilligaf's clearing. She was looking for dangers and opportunities both, and was equally prepared for either one.

She measured her progress by counting footsteps and marking trees with her knife. It was a kludge way to do it, but she didn't have GPS here, or a map, or a compass. Although now that she thought of it, she vaguely remembered seeing a compass on the Dilligaf somewhere. She'd have to see if Matty had found it when she returned.

Assuming this world had magnetic poles, anyways. And that they functioned similar to Earth's.

Focus, woman. She shook her head clear of distractions and kept moving.

The underbrush crunched beneath her boots–and thank God she had gotten those back when she'd chosen her possessions as her boon. They were heavy-soled custom jobs that fit her feet perfectly and could keep her walking long past the point where she would lose all feeling in her legs. It was one of the few things she had well and truly splurged on in her civilian life. A good pair of boots were important, no matter where you were.

She moved slow and steady, casting about with her senses for anything and everything. Birdcalls warbled down to her from the canopy overhead, and she caught flashes of movement as something small and furry bolted across the criss-crossing branches overhead. There was the drone of insects as well, but so far nothing had tried to bite her. Maybe her blood just didn't smell right to the mostquito-equivalents around here.

About a half-hour into her exploration–which had taken her by her estimation about a quarter-mile inland and was now sweeping parallel to the yacht's clearing–she came across what could only be an animal trail meandering through the forest. The grass underfoot was worn down and brown dirt was showing through, and the bushes and shrubs had been gnawed on by something that must have been herbivorous from the amount of defoliation going on.

Good, she thought as she marked the trail on a nearby tree. Herbivores mean there's something to hunt here. Assuming that their digestive systems could handle the alien meat,of course.

The trail led deeper into the island, where she was not quite prepared to go just yet. So she contented herself with marking the trail and adding the feature to the map she was drawing as she went. It wasn't very accurate, but it would be useful enough if and when they started traveling further inland.

There was a rustle behind her, and Alejandra looked up from the paper in her hand to find a pair of large brown eyes staring at her from just a few yards away. The eyes were set in a round furry head with a squirrel-like muzzle, and the head was atop a six-legged body covered with brown and blue fur. A pair of big buck-teeth stuck out of its muzzle, and a pair of long german-shepherd like ears stuck up from its head. It looked like a cross between a flying squirrel and a rottweiler. It was crouched low to the ground, and still looked like it came up to her waist at least.

She didn't say anything, just watched the critter as it watched her back. The creature tilted its head sideways, like a dog hearing a new sound, but made no other move, aggressive or otherwise.

Slowly, Alejandra tucked her map back away in her vest pocket and let her right hand drift down until it was resting on the butt of the pistol on her belt. The creature trembled slightly at the movement, and backed away a couple steps before rising up on its haunches. This let Allie see that the front legs ended in paws like a squirrel's, useful for gripping and manipulation, while the other legs were almost cat-like with claws extending out and back in.

Well. If she needed more proof that they were no longer on earth…

There was another rustling sound from deeper into the forest, and the squirrel-cat-dog-thing let out a high-pitched squeak and *leaped* into the air, grabbing onto the trunk of the nearest tree–and Alejandra realized as it scuttled up and into the foliage that the brown-blue pattern was almost perfect camouflage for the black-blue trunks of the multi-trees. The thing squeaked again and disappeared into the canopy overhead.

And the rustling noise was coming closer.

Alejandra made a snap decision and bolted to the nearest tree-trunk, hauling herself up hand-over-hand into its lowest branches. The bark was rough and provided plenty of handholds, and the branch beneath her belt as sturdy as concrete, with no give whatsoever.

Just as she'd gotten herself on firm footing, a monster appeared through the underbrush.

The thing looked like a manta-ray, wide-bodied and flat, with scales along its back like a lizard's and a long tail that ended in a scorpion-like stinger. It glided along the ground in a slow, steady progress. She didn't see any eyes… Until she saw the fleshy stalks near the front that turned and twisted as it went. One of the stalks turned towards her, and the eye within blinked upon seeing her.

The creature was at least ten feet across and maybe half that from front to back, not counting the tail that must have been another six feet long. It turned its mass towards her, and Alejandra watched in fascination as the edges of its body seemed to flow up and over any tree trunks that got in itts way, like the whole thing was membranous and purely flexible. Where the creature's body passed over the trunk it left behind a filmy residue that sizzled and bubbled.

Acid? She swallowed as the thing glided towards the tree she was in. She was at least ten feet off the ground… But suddenly that didn't seem nearly high enough. She reached for another branch to keep climbing–

And the thing's tail flicked forward, telescoping out like a spring and shooting right at her face.

Alejandra squawked and threw herself to the side, keeping a grip on the branch as she did to avoid pitching out into the air. The stinger slammed into the trunk next to where she'd been standing and gouged out a hole the size of her fist that immediately started to sizzle and bubble from whatever poison the thing had secreted. The forest manta drew its tail back and gathered itself for another strike.

Alejandra drew her pistol and fired one-handed into the creature's bulk. The heavy .45 bullets tore into the creature and blasted bloody chunks of hide onto the forest floor. The manta let out a teeth-cutting shriek and flowed away from the tree, thrashing and wobbling as it beat a hasty retreat. Alejandra fired twice more before the thing made good its escape back into the underbrush. Its high-pitched keening eventually faded away as she assumed it got farther and farther away from her.

"Allie? Come in Allie."

The radio on her belt crackled to life, causing her to jerk in surprise and let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. Carefully she slid her pistol back into its holster and pulled the radio fromher belt.

"I'm here Matty," she called back.

"We heard shots. You okay?"

"Just dealing with some local wildlife," she said with a bit of a smirk. She quickly ran through her encounter with the manta thing, finishing with "if you see one coming towards you, just shoot it. Not sure if they're predators or not, but they're dangerous, and that tail of theirs can extend farther than it looks."

"Roger that. You coming back in?"

She considered the question for a long moment before shaking her head. "No, I'm going to keep going. We still need information on what's out here, and I haven't found anything worth cheering about yet. I'll keep going."

"Stay safe Allie."

"I will mi corazon," she said. "Keep your eyes peeled as well."

She stuck the radio back on her belt and took a deep breath. Well. That had been bracing. Not as bad as the crab, but the manta thing had almost gotten her. Just another reminder, if she needed one, that this place was dangerous.

A soft chittering noise from overhead drew her attention, and there was the monkey-squirrel thing clinging to a pair of branches ten feet or so above her head, staring at her with wide eyes.

"I'm guessing your ancestors learned that trees are safer to be in when there are predators like that around," she said to the creature before chuckling to herself. "Can't say as I blame you, either. We don't get things like that back on Earth."

She climbed down from the tree slowly, taking care to avoid any patches that the manta might have brushed up against. The bark had stopped bubbling and hissing from whatever acid the thing secreted, but she wasn't going to risk touching it with her bare hands even so.

She took a moment once her feet were back on firm ground to get her bearings, and as she did a few of the details she'd catalogued but dismissed before jumped out at her. The shrubbery all having leaves that started a few feet off the ground, the lack of any real greenery or grass on the earth itself… Now it made sense if those manta critters were prevalent here. They must act like natural vacuum cleaners, hoovering up and scouring everything that they could get their bulk up and over in just a natural way.

They must stay away from the beach though, she thought to herself. The denser jungle around the edges of the forest must either be the limit of their range, or there was something in there that was actively keeping them at bay. Incompatible biologies with some of the spikier plants, maybe?

She pushed the questions to the side. They were for another time. She brought her rifle back around from where it had fallen in its sling and rolled her shoulders, settling herself back into her groove before pressing on deeper into the forest.