The sun was hanging low toward the horizon, bathing the water world of Ryujin in warm afternoon sunshine that painted the rolling waves in shades of lavender, magenta, and gold. Relaxing beneath that gentle rays, two warriors were enjoying one another's company. The human half of the duo casually reclined in the open hatch of a starship’s escape pod. The emergency craft was rounded on all sides and wider at the base than the top, making it look like a metallic egg laid by some fantastical steel bird. The other fighter drifted upon the ocean’s lazy waves with the inexorable presence of a mighty glacier gliding through the sea. While the waves lapped gently against its thick, knobby gray hide, its amber eyes were focused on the reclining human with a forlorn expression of supplication.

“Aren’t you tired of eating coatl yet?” Malik Rosen, the victorious warrior, groused as he gave the prehistoric alligator floating nearby an exasperated look.

Oscar, the gigantic alligator in question, weathered his friend’s scorn with the implacable resolve of an orphan asking for another bowl of gruel.

Two days had passed since the two had beaten back the coatl flock and sent its scattered remnants fleeing into the western sky. Malik had spent the time since their triumph tending to his wounds and working on a nearly completed harness for Oscar. The mighty leviathan would have been warier of Malik’s steady progress toward turning it into a beast of burden if it hadn’t been enjoying the spoils of war. The coatls carried no riches, nor did they have any land to claim that Mal knew of. They did, however, leave behind the bodies of their fallen and Oscar was all too happy to dispose of the numerous corpses.

The sea monster would have long since devoured all traces of the winged serpents if Mal hadn’t traitorously withheld three corpses to further his diabolical scheme.

“Alright, alright,” Mal grumbled, unwilling to weather the mental damage Oscar was inflicting with its unspoken plea. “But no more till tomorrow. You’re almost out of treats.”

In truth, Malik was ready to dump the remnants of the last coatl into the drink and let Oscar do with it as he pleased. Many times over the last two days, usually while he was elbow deep in a dead snake, Mal had questioned the wisdom of his scheme. Butchering the beasts had bathed one corner of his pod in a thick layer of blood and viscera that made an abattoir look clean. Even now, as he made to pick up the last leathery wing that remained, Mal’s nostrils flared in disgust. The smell of fetid flesh hung in the pod-like an acrid fog. The scent was positively suffocating when the wind calmed and the briny breeze blowing across the ocean’s waves died down.

But every time he questioned his dubious plan, he reminded himself of the progress they’d made in two short days.

“Okay, Oscar,” Mal said in a brisk, authoritative tone, like a parent ushering a child toward their waiting homework. As he spoke, he leaned out of the pod to dangle the coarse leathery wing out over the open water. “Do the thing.”

Oscar’s amber eyes narrowed dangerously. The massive reptile was clearly unamused by the human’s antics. In a moment of pique, it decided to interpret ‘the thing’ as devouring the coatl wing. Along with Mal’s arm if he didn’t move it quickly enough. The sea serpent’s jaws yawned open to expose a cavernous mouth lined with thick, curved teeth that looked more akin to rock formations than dentistry. Each one was as long as Malik’s forearm.

Unfortunately for the leviathan, it had barely opened its mouth before Malik’s fist firmly tapped the end of its snout.

Oscar’s mouth snapped shut hard enough to send water spraying in every direction. Malik knew he couldn’t actually hurt the burly beast with his bare hand. Its hide was thick enough, and tough enough, that he was certain his hand would give before Oscar’s skin did. It wasn’t pain that made the prehistoric alligator respond the way that it did. It was shock. Mal had determined very early on that the entire concept of a creature not fleeing for its life was an entirely novel experience for the local leviathan. Thinking back, that was probably why the sea monster became fixated upon him in the first place.

“No,” Mal said, his tone and expression that of a stern nun laboriously instructing an unruly class. “Do the thing. Come on,” he continued, helpfully moving his empty hand in a slow circle while he shook the leathery wing. “Do the thing.”

Oscar’s look of gut-wrenching disappointment at Mal’s betrayal began to fade from its slitted eyes as it shifted its focus to the jittering wing. Malik could almost hear Oscar’s muttered imprecations as it weighed and measured its desire for a treat. In the end, the glutton’s stomach won the brief internal struggle. Its decision made, the massive beast shifted violently to one side. In a sudden burst of motion, it rolled onto its side with enough momentum to flip itself onto its back. For a brief moment, the mighty predator’s soft underbelly was exposed, its hide consisting of smooth supple scales the color of spring moss. Its huge clawed feet then kicked at the air just as its wide tail jerked to the side to finish the roll. Once it was upright again, Oscar snorted water from its wide nostrils while staring balefully at the demanding human.

“Good job!” Mal crowed happily as he tossed the coatl wing toward the glowering alligator. The treat had scarcely hit the water before Oscar devoured it with a surprisingly delicate chomp. “Honestly though, there’s no way you can even taste that. You’re entirely too big for a morsel that size to even matter.” Malik mused idly to himself while contemplating Oscar’s satisfied expression. “Is it just some sort of instinctive response? Or is it a reaction to the smell?”

Malik’s nose twitched. He gagged at the thought, “Please don’t let it be the scent.” Mal’s entire body shook as a shudder of abject disgust rushed down his spine.

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“Okay, I know you’re tired of hearing about the trip to the island, but we need to get moving soon. Within the next two days, at the latest.” As Mal spoke, he reached out to wrap his fingers around the handle of a nearby knife.

The straight tritanium blade had a single sharp edge that flowed into a swept tip. That single edge was all the vibroblade needed to be one of the most dangerous weapons in Malik’s arsenal. Once activated, the hand-length blade could slice through tritanium as if it were paper mache. But, for all its destructive power, the vibroblade was generally regarded as an impractical weapon. Its powercell could only keep the knife operational for a handful of minutes before it had to be charged again. Once depleted, it required even more energy to recharge than Malik’s drone. It might still be laying forgotten at the bottom of Malik’s survival kit if he hadn’t needed its edge to cut the Dyneema straps he was using to fashion Oscar’s harness.

He’d also found that the impossibly sharp blade was a perfect tool for butchering dead coatls.

“Don’t be such a baby,” Mal chided as he sprawled out onto his stomach. He took a moment to appreciate how cool the tritanium floor was against his bare chest before he pulled himself toward the edge of the hatch. The near-tropical temperature made it entirely too hot to wear anything other than his synthetic shorts. “If it gets too heavy for you, I’ll get out and push. How about that?”

Mal flashed his friend a winsome smile before he plunged the vibroblade into the rolling waves to wash the clinging grime. “Can’t ask for any more than that, right? We’re a team, buddy.”

The skeptical look Oscar tossed his way spoke volumes about its feelings on the subject without ever saying a word.

Scrubbing industriously at a particularly stubborn wad of gristle, Mal continued as if he hadn’t seen the naked suspicion shimmering in his friend’s orange eyes. “Besides, you owe me for winning the coatl game. I definitely bagged more of them than you did.”

Oscar’s eyes widened with indignation.

“Now, now,” Mal said as he rose onto his knees with a grunt of exertion. He held up one empty hand to forestall Oscar’s explosive tirade. Once Oscar fell into a sullen silence, Mal’s blue eyes examined the vibroblade critically for several seconds. Satisfied with the result, he claimed his cleanest towel to dry the knife off. “I said that I didn’t want to play. I never said that I wouldn't play. You’re not trying to back out now after you lost, fair and square, are you?”

The leviathan’s mouth opened in slack-jawed amazement. It was understandably poleaxed by the human’s unmitigated shamelessness.

“I”m not trying to be an ass, you know,” Mal said apologetically as he stowed the knife away. “I’m just worried about spending more time out here than we have to. If another storm sweeps through it could push us even farther than away from the island. My rations aren’t going to last forever, either. You don’t want me eating the last of the coatls, do you?”

Mal’s question seemed to mollify the gargantuan alligator. There were things it was willing to share with its human companion. Food wasn’t one of them.

I hate to break it to you, buddy, but this is just the beginning of our journey. My crew is out there, somewhere, and I’m going to keep sailing across this ocean till I find them. The island is just one pit stop along the way.

Mal still felt the stab of loneliness deep in his gut whenever he thought about his missing crew. Even now, as he stared out across the waves that had been transformed into a kaleidoscope of colors by the setting sun, he found it difficult to compartmentalize those feelings. He knew, rationally, that he was doing everything that he could. Nine days had passed since he'd landed on Ryujin’s surface. In that time, he’d made remarkable progress.

But it wasn’t enough.

His hand clenched into a fist while he watched the colorful waves march across the sea. The last rays of daylight were rapidly fading, like a dream slipping from a waking mind. Tsukuyomi, the planet's massive moon, had already crossed the horizon on her nightly journey across the sky. There was an otherworldly beauty to this alien planet that his kin back home could only imagine. The truth was that Malik Rosen was twice blessed because he didn’t just get to see this wondrous world, he got to live it.

But it wasn’t enough.

A covetous need, like the fantastical greed of a mighty dragon, had taken root deep in his heart. Malik wanted it all. He knew, deep down, that he would never be satisfied until he found his people.

A quiet sigh slipped from his lips as he forced his hand to relax.

Stay focused, Malik thought to himself as he tore his gaze away from the beautiful sunset.

Rather than let himself wallow in self-pity, he sought comfort in routine. Ever since he’d landed his drone on the distant island he’d checked its transponder location twice a day. Once when he woke and then again before he slept. He didn’t need the drone’s signal to find the island because one of the first things he’d done was jot down its coordinates. Nevertheless, it would be a critical tool once he made landfall. Knowing how important it would be for further exploration only compounded the anxiety he felt over having such an important piece of equipment out of pocket.

Two steps was all it took to move across the small lifepod. He gave the ‘Butcher Shop’ a wide birth as he moved to check the drone's transponder position. At first glance, everything looked to be in order. Then he referenced the recorded coordinates.

The numbers didn’t match.

Mal felt a rush of anxious energy sizzling through his body like bottled lightning. He frantically checked and rechecked the data. There was no mistake. The numbers didn’t match, which meant that the drone had been moved.

Though the distance between the two points was relatively small, the fact that the data seemed to imply that his drone had moved further inland hinted at a potentially massive complication. Something had moved his drone since this morning. The truth draped itself around his shoulders with the weight of a shawl made from solid stone.

Mal mentally tramped down the seeds of worry sprouting in his mind as he checked the drone’s battery life. His teeth began to distractedly gnaw at his lower lip while he quickly weighed his options. After a glance over his shoulder to estimate how much waning daylight remained, Malik made his decision.

He brought the drone off standby and activated its camera.