This time, the decision isn't particularly difficult.

We should cross the water. The water shouldn't be too deep for me.

“Mm...” Tendou hums back. “Sure, let's give it a shot.” He walks you forward, up to the edge, then hesitantly, dips one foot into the surf. Sure enough, the water rises to your shin, perhaps a little more than one meter deep. Which would likely put a human up to their neck. That certainly would make it difficult to cross.

“Cool, looks like we can make it,” your pilot notes, and you begin to walk.

You don't even make it a step before the sand beneath the water sinks under your many tons of weight. “Shit!” Tendou gasps when your balance pitches suddenly, nearly throwing him out of his seat, until he supports himself with the controls - the motion also making you throw your own hands out, incidentally catching yourself from your fall.

With a few half-panicked jerking motions, he pilots you forward. On all fours, it's a messy scramble, but it turns out to be manageable enough. Water splashes out in waves, sand flying as you rapidly pull your limbs out of the sucking surf to keep moving.

But you make it. Still on all fours while Tendou pants in the cockpit, you do a quick systems check, and everything looks fine. When he's had enough time, you write out another message.

Good job. I didn't expect the sand to be the issue.

“Yeah, duh,” he smacks his forehead. “At this size and weight, I should've expected it to be like wading through deep mud.” With one last sigh from your pilot, you stand upright once more. “Alright, let's keep going.”

You continue walking a while longer, heading east along the sandy beach. The sand tapers off as the elevation increases again, along with the path ahead turning toward the northeast. Tendou keeps you walking up the incline, the island widening out on either side. Not by much, so you can still see clear from one side to the other on your left and right.

So, do you have a destination in mind?

You have to ask. Despite the bits and pieces you've heard so far, you're still woefully uninformed about your surroundings. Unfortunately, Tendou still doesn't give a helpful answer. Or any answer, really. He just frowns deeply.

Shortly after, he turns slightly to the left, taking you closer to the northwestern shore. And you begin to spot changes in the landscape. At the edge of the tree cover, near where the dirt gives way to sand, there is a section that looks cleared out.

You also notice you're moving more slowly. Like your pilot is getting more sluggish at the controls, putting one plodding foot in front of the other as you close the distance to the clearing. When you do eventually get closer, the coloring difference becomes apparent. The few trees that do remain in the cleared area are burnt black.

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Then you reach the clearing. Beneath your feet lies what must be the remnant of a large fire. It doesn't only look like a forest fire though. Despite the destruction, some of the burnt objects around your feet clearly appear to be constructions. Buildings, probably. There's so little left, just ash and blackened cinders, you can only guess based on the roughly rectangular shape of rubble piles.

Without a single word about it, Tendou takes you through the rubble, stepping carefully between the ruins, heading uphill again. Until finally, you arrive at one particular spot, right where a burnt out building stands beside a small cliff face, lazy waves lapping against the stone below.

You kneel down. After a long drought from one of his canisters of water, Tendou climbs out of the cockpit, and walks over to the blackened husk of a human building. It seems small, not just to you, but compared to Tendou's own size. Based on the single wall that still stands, it looks to be one story tall, and a few meters across in either direction.

Even at their size, the place doesn't seem like it would fit more than a handful of humans inside. Tendou approaches the wreck slowly, stands before it for a short time, then begins to clear the soot and chunks of blackened wood away with his hands. He digs for a little while, until he can make his way into the center of the dilapidated structure.

Once there, he kneels down, then you hear him speaking. It's too quiet and too far away to make out the exact words, but it doesn't seem like he's thinking out loud as he often does. No, it sounds like he's talking to someone. But there's clearly no one around. How strange...

After long while, Tendou finally stands, turning back to you. He rubs at his face repeatedly with his arms, incidentally smearing it with the soot he's now covered in. Apparently not minding that, he climbs back into the cockpit and takes the controls.

You begin to walk northeast again, faster than before. The odd, burned clearing soon falls behind. After a few more minutes of walking, Tendou speaks.

“You-” he has to clear his throat, his voice thick and hoarse, before he can go on. “You wanted to know where we're going. I think we should head to Shado. It's a city, somewhere north, northeast of here, I think.”

You're severely lacking information to determine whether the choice is good or bad, so you agree for the time being. At least it gives you a place to aim for, even if you find some reason to change course later.

Walking further, you eventually crest the rise you've been walking up, the view of the rest of the island greeting you. With the sight, you find a new problem. At the northeast corner of this island, there's another space of water, separating this landmass from the next one over. It's only a short way across, and looks about as doable as the last crossing.

The problem lies beyond that. From this high spot, you can see that beyond that small island, lies the larger landmass which wraps all around, from east, to north, to west. That puts you in a bay of sorts, this tiny island chain resting within the embrace of the surrounding mainland.

The gap between that island and the mainland is hard to determine at this distance, but you're more concerned with the depth. The deeper color of the water seems to indicate it is far deeper than the last two. How are you supposed to make it across that?

Tendou continues on despite your misgivings. You soon reach the nearby strait, wading in this time. The sand tries to suck you down again, but he's prepared this time, and shuffles you forward, one squelching step at a time.

That puts you on the last island in the chain. It's a small one, with a sharp rise in elevations and cliffs on most sides. There are fewer trees than the other islands. It's more of a sandy, arid location.

Standing atop the high cliff at the edge of the island, Tendou considers it with a frown. Looking down at the water below, the gap is a mere four hundred meters. But it may as well be an ocean if you can't find a way to cross...

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Vote:

[ ] Try to ford across

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-What? How?

[ ] Ask Tendou for ideas

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