Memories Of Ice

A hurricane in the waters near to Southan had knocked the small boat from Avadey off course. Having been lost at sea for days, Atlas, Amanda, Seb and Syl were dehydrated and tired, however the soon ran aground on a small island in the middle of the ocean.

Atlas stumbled out onto the tropical looking beach, the harsh sun beaming down on him, he tripped and fell into the sand. He rolled over and looked at the bright blue sky. The heat from the sun and the salt from the sea had dried out his skin, and he had a rough beard.

Syl climbed off the boat and stepped over Atlas, he looked at the palm trees that lined the shore, beneath them were coconuts.

"Finally!" Syl cheered, he grabbed a coconut and cracked it open, and drank the milk from inside, hydrating him at last, after resting for a minute or two, he picked up a coconut and took it to Atlas.

"Uncle Atlas, drink from this" Syl said, hurriedly as he cracked it open and held Atlas' head up to help him drink from the coconut. After drinking, Atlas sat up and rubbed his face.

"Th... thanks, Syl" He said, his voice sounding rough.

A few hours later, the four of them had rehydrated themselves, and Atlas had made a camp fire. The sun had long since gone down and the stars sat high up in the sky. Seb brought out a tin of beans and a pan, to heat on the camp fire. Amanda and Syl were sat near the fire.

"So, what do we do now? The boat is out of fuel, we're almost out of food, and we have no idea where we are" Seb grumbled, handing Atlas the pan and beans.

"We've gotta be somewhere, for all we know we've hit a finger of the Western Continent's west coast" Atlas said, as he placed the pan on the fire and emptied the can into the pan.

"I think I know where we are" Amanda said as she looked at the stars.

"Hmm?" Atlas turned to face Amanda.

"Well, we're likely either on one of the islands in The Three Siblings, in which case we're not too far from civilisation" Amanda began.

"Or?" Syl asked.

"Or, we're on one of the islands in The Triangle, in which case, we're pretty much on our own..." Amanda sighed.

"Oh..." Seb sighed.

"This is your fault" Syl grunted toward Amanda, his eyes slowly changing to red.

"How is it my fault?" Amanda scowled.

"Uncle Atlas could have gotten us through that storm, but you had to be the one who was in charge that night" Syl growled as the colour of his eyes intensified.

"Syl, I'm an airship pilot, I don't really know the first thing about boats" Atlas sighed.

"There you go again, defending her" Syl yelled at Atlas. Atlas looked surprised at his outburst. "Did you even love Mum?" Syl scowled. Atlas' eyes began to glow red too.

"Of course I did!" Atlas bellowed, frightening the sleeping birds out of nearby trees.

"All Amanda had to do was show you a little affection and you forgive everything she did to Mum and Dad, you are a joke!" Syl shouted.

Atlas jumped across the campfire and tackled Syl to the ground, his eyes glowing an intense red. He raised his fist in the air ready to strike, but Syl got the first hit, sending Atlas rolling to the side.

"Stop!" Seb yelled, but they ignored him. Atlas charged at Syl and punched him to the ground.

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I LOVED HER!" Atlas shouted at the top of his voice.

"You should try showing it then!" Syl said as he kneed Atlas in the groin, Atlas doubled over in pain, and Syl stood up.

"Argh..." Atlas was rolling on the floor. "I loved her so much" He sighed as tears rolled from his eyes. Syl sighed and knelt down to help Atlas up.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Atlas" Syl shook his head. "I was out of line... way out of line" He apologised.

"I don't blame you, not only have we been lost at sea, but this is hard for you, I know" Atlas said, as he sat up. "For what it's worth, I still hate Amanda, and I always will" He nodded.

"Hello, right here?" Amanda shrugged. Seb turned to her and raised his eyebrow.

"Then why do you trust her?" Syl asked.

"She's the enemy of our enemy" Atlas nodded.

"Hmm, okay" Syl smiled.

"You know, you're a pretty good fighter. I guess all those years of training worked out for you?" Atlas chuckled.

"Nah, you were a bit more dehydrated than me earlier on. You weren't at your full strength" Syl laughed.

"We'll have to have a rematch sometime" Atlas nodded, then he began sniffing. "THE BEANS!" He said as he ran over to the pan to see the beans burning.

Seb leaned over to look.

"Are they salvageable?" He asked, quietly.

"They'll have to be..." Atlas sighed.

"Better than nothing, I guess" Amanda shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess" Syl said as he looked at her. "Better to have more allies than enemies" He nodded hesitantly. Amanda smiled slightly, as Atlas dished out the beans.

The four of them ate their meal then heade