Stranded

He wasn't too sure exactly what it was that had caused him to stir from his slumber. Maybe it was the thick black smoke choking him of oxygen, or perhaps it was the immense heat smothering them. It could even have been the crackling and the collapsing of the logs around them, but either way, Jimmy wasn't staying in the camp long enough to figure it out; that could wait for another time. Right now was an emergency.

The drummer coughed hard as smoke began to fill his lungs and he lowered his head as close to the floor as he could get. He reached over to the vocalist who was sleeping dangerously close to the red-orange wall of death that had seemingly erupted from nowhere and began to consume the wood providing them with shelter at an alarming rate. Jimmy grasped at Matt's ragged shirt and tugged hard, then he roughly shoved the man's body until he groaned and grumbled as he came to. Taking a sharp inhalation, he soon began to cough and splutter as if he'd taken a sip of a drink too quickly and swallowed too fast. "J-Jimmy..!"

"Matt, we need- need to go!" Jimmy called in desperation, fighting for air. He latched his hand around the bigger man's wrist and tugged. Sweat poured off of the pair and they could feel their skin burning in the raging inferno. Whilst he crawled out with Jimmy at a snail's pace, he snagged the arm strap of the supplies bag and dragged it along with him. Just as he made his way through the opening of the den, a heavy log engulfed in flames collapsed above them both. Jimmy gasped and, with every ounce of strength in his body, he sat himself upright safely outside of the fire and hauled Matt away from the falling log. It narrowly avoided his ankle, but he was safe.

Once safe, the pair collapsed onto the sands and took deep breaths of oxygen-rich air, refilling their lungs with that precious element. They laid side by side for quite some time while their camp, tree included, burned down and turned into nothing but ashes and smolders, and the smoke clouds rose high into the sky. At this point, it was early morning, still a tad too early for the sun to peek above the glowing horizon, but late enough that the clouds above their heads turned a gorgeous shade of hot pink with a touch of coral orange. The pair were surprised they were actually still alive to see it.

"Fuckin' hell, Rev.." Matt cursed,sitting himself upright and rubbing sleep from his eyes. He stretched his arms and legs out, then rose to his feet. "What happened?"

"No clue.." Jimmy shrugged, mirroring his friend's actions. They wandered closer to the burning camp to inspect. Both campfires had indeed been put out and left untouched, so how could there have been a fire? Matt checked the bag, which had miraculously survived with only scorch marks. Rummaging through it, he found the pack of matches they used to light their fires every evening. After quickly counting them, he found them all to be there.

"That's odd..." He said, double-checking his count before closing the box and shoving it back into the bag. "All the matches are there, untouched too, as are the campfires." He gave the drummer a confused look.

"Right, so what does that mean?" Jimmy asked, watching as Matt reached for his sheathed knife that he'd clipped to his jeans. He wasn't entirely sure what he was doing until he heard the rustling of the bushes within the forest rustling. The vocalist watched with beady eyes. He'd seen something move. He could hear it. He prayed it wasn't another tiger.

In the shadows, two figures appeared just within the forest. Both were considerably tall at around 6'2 and appeared to be well-built. Matt took a step forward with caution, his grip on the blade's handle tightening. They were hard to make out, but it was clear that two people were there.

"Who are you?" He called to them, beckoning them forward. The figures looked at one another, then stepped out onto the sands. The first man, towering at 6'3 and covered in tattoos, looked to be in his early thirties. His skin was firm and tanned bronze, and was riddled with small scars and scratches. He had a pointed chin and thin mouth buried within a dark beard and moustache, and a broad forehead with a few strands of long, greasy, ebony black hair stuck to it, the rest of which rested upon his shoulders. He also had a very noticeable scar running from the left side of his forehead down to just over the bridge of his nose. His body was that of a professional athlete, with plenty of muscle and broad shoulders.

The second man appeared similar to his companion. Standing at 6'1, he too was tanned, but his skin was much clearer. Hardly any scars or scratches could be seen, and he had no visible tattoos. His face appeared considerably softer and rounder than the taller man's, but he possessed sharp cheekbones with hollow cheeks and, like his companion, a broad forehead. His chestnut hair was short and spiky. His facial hair was nothing more than a few days of growth. His body wasn't as muscular, but he was still pretty solid at that.

Both men observed Matt and Jimmy with sunken hazel eyes. They both wore what appeared to be black leather tactical vests and black, tattered trousers that were tucked into previously polished combat boots. The taller of the two cleared his throat and gave a warm smile. "Well, who do you think we are?"

Matt shrugged as he looked them up and down. "Dunno. TD?"

"I suppose you could say that. We're part of TD." The man replied in a deep, firm voice. Matt raised his eyebrows.

"And exactly what is TD? What does that stand for?"

"Twin Dragon." Came the softer voice from the smaller man.

Matt and Jimmy exchanged looks before returning their attention to them. "So who are you then? Why is our camp on fire, did you do this?"

The taller stepped forward and extended a tattooed hand for a handshake. "I'm Atlas. Seth Atlas. That there is my brother, Dan Cosmos. Twin Dragon is our.. Tribe, I suppose you could say."

They shook each other's hands as they introduced themselves, but Matt kept a firm grip on his blade. Sure, they seemed like nice guys, but looks can be very deceiving sometimes...

"And to answer your question, we did burn down your camp. Sorry about that. BUT, before you decide to try and murder me, let me just say that if I'd been given the choice, I would've left you guys in peace and waited for you to wake up naturally." Atlas explainedwith his hands raised above his head.

Matt scoffed. "What do you mean 'If I had been given the choice'? Did you send that tiger on us too?"

"Yeah.." Atlas said as he scratched the back of his head. "Trust me, I took no pleasure in watching you two be attacked by him."

"So why did you do it?!" The vocalist snarled, stepping closer to Atlas. Two hands, belonging to Jimmy, grabbed him by the shoulders and tugged him back, warning him to take it easy and allow the men to explain themselves.

"Alright, lemme explain everything real quick. Basically, you guys washed up a few days ago so I had to tell our leader, Foster. Why? Because Foster doesn't like people arriving without his knowledge. He then instructed me to keep tabs on you so me and my buddy Micro watched over you for your first night. We gave you food because we're nice guys, and then because you were still alive, Foster demanded to see how smart and strong you were in a survival sense I suppose. Cue the tiger and the fire. We didn't want to do it but we had no choice... Sorry, guys. Look, we don't wanna hurt you, even if it seems that way. We promise"

Matt blinked twice. He reluctantly replaced the knife into it's sheath and nodded his head. He looked back at the burning camp, then at Atlas and Cosmos. "You promise?"

"Promise." Atlas smiled. "If anything, we wanna help you guys out."

"What's the catch?"

"Foster's become a bit of a tyrant lately and we're getting sick of it. A few of us want to overthrow him, but we're not strong enough to take him on, not with the guys that are supporting him around. You look like tough, smart guys. What do you think?" Atlas explained in a hushed voice, occasionally peering over his shoulder while Cosmos kept watch. Matt glanced at Jimmy, who gave a nod of approval, and Matt agreed.

"Fine, we'll help you out. But first..."

"What?"

"Please tell me there's a way off of this island?" He asked. Atlas expressed a sad smile and shook his head no.

"Not with Foster around. You help us, we'll get you out of this hell hole."

Fair enough. That couldn't be too hard, right? To Matt, that seemed like a piece of cake; go in, gradually rise to power, take over, go home. Simple. He smiled. "You've got yourself a deal. Where we heading?"

"Follow us closely, and be careful where you step." Atlas said, turning on his heels and heading straight into the darkness of the forest with Cosmos. Matt and Jimmy stuck to their instructions and kept close to the pair. Within moments, they were unable to see. Cosmos signaled for them to pause, whilst Atlas bent over and reached out for an object by the base of a tree. Then, he produced a lighter from his pocket. He used it to light a lantern in his hand, and they continued their journey. Matt glanced up above him. The trees were colossal, and their branches created a thick, impenetrable roof above their heads. The bark on said trees was black as night, and Matt recognized the strange, purple swirls as those he'd seen within one of the sticks from the other night. The whole place gave him and Jimmy the creeps and sent shivers down their spines. Atlas glanced over his shoulder at them and grinned.

"You alright back there?" He asked as they ventured further, stepping over fallen logs and branches with caution.

"Yeah, this place is a lil' weird though..." Matt commented, looking all around himself. Admittedly, Matt thought Atlas looked quite ominous with that scar on his face in the light of the lantern, surrounded by shadows and the unknown.

"Your buddy looks like he's about to piss himself. Sure you're okay there?"

"I'm fine..." Jimmy mumbled, sticking unusually close to Matt. Cosmos chuckled and shook his head.

"If you insist. It's alright though, we'll be there shortly. Just... Watch your step from this point on. Don't wanna be bitten by something now, do ya?"

Jimmy gulped. "W-What is there to be bitten by?"

"I'd best not answer that question. You'd freak out and run."

Shuddering, Jimmy fell silent. They followed Atlas's footsteps closely, twisting around trees and hopping over fallen objects. As they walked deeper and deeper into the forest, the eeriness grew. Unexplained howls and rustling surrounded them, the sound bouncing off of the thousands of trees around them. Additionally, it kept getting darker, to the point that the lantern in Atlas's hand was doing almost nothing to help.

And then suddenly, it went out.

"Stay still, don't move, don't say a word." He hissed to the bandmates, before turning to his brother. "Cosmos, make sure nothing happens to them." Matt could hear Atlas stepping away slowly, and he felt two hands grab at his wrists. He jumped, then felt the hand wrapped around his left move to his shoulder.

"You heard Atlas. Stay. Still." Cosmos warned in a whisper. Jimmy trembled, for Cosmos had his hand locked round his wrist too. They stood there in dead silence, occasionally turning their heads to try see anything but darkness. Five minutes passed. No one said a word. Cosmos had moved twice, but kept his grip on the men. 10 minutes passed. Jimmy began to wonder if they'd ever see the light again. 20 minutes passed. At this point, even Cosmos had started to worry. Atlas had disappeared completely.

Half an hour had passed. Cosmos suddenly tugged at Matt's arm. "Matt, what's in your bag?" He asked, his voice almost inaudible.

"Rope, first aid stuff, tools and matches." He replied. "W-What's goin' on?"

"I'm not sure. This hasn't happened before that I know off. Find me those matches, but try not to-"



Cosmos was cut off by the rustling of shrubbery around them and then footsteps. Then a voice.

"Cosmos, you there?"

"Yeah, it's me. That you, Atlas?"

"Mhm."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank fuck for that. Matt, don't worry about the matches. Atlas, what happened?"

The taller man chuckled, retrieving his lighter and lighting the lantern. This one was much bigger and was painted white as opposed to the last one's rust-covered grey. "Lantern died. Knew there was a bigger one around here somewhere. Don't worry, we're all good."

With that, they finally set off again. It was a 15 minute walk before they arrived at long last, their arrival signalled by lanterns dangling from tree branches. Just further ahead, light beamed down upon a vast clearing and lots of buildings constructed of wood, stone and metal, and that light came from what appeared to be street lights. The ground beneath them had gone from dirt and plants to partially cracked stone.

At the very back of the clearing, a massive building was situated. The group followed the stone path and entered the clearing, where they could get a better look around. This place was huge, much larger than it looked. They had a small farm in one corner, growing food in the light of a few lanterns. They had animals in a big pen in another, they had buildings for all sorts of things such as homes, supplies and construction. Some buildings were even within the trees and connected by a vast network of bridges and ziplines, all lit with electric lights. They seemed to have mines, too, which would explain where all the metal came from. Hell, they somehow had electricity coming from somewhere to power the towering street lights and other equipment that ran the place. This place wasn't that of a tribe, Matt thought to himself, this was more like a small town!

"Well, what do you think?" Atlas beamed at Matt and Jimmy. The pair just stood there, taking in everything and struggling to find the words to speak.

"This... How is this possible?" Jimmy asked.

"We've been here for many years. Over 15 years. A lot of hard work has gone into fixing this place up. This used to the be place that the original Twin Dragon Tribe lived, but almost everything was wiped out. We found this place a long ass time ago and decided to rebuild and keep it to ourselves. We got electricity from windmills placed in the highest of trees where they're exposed to plenty of wind, we've got our own mining system where we get plenty of resources, we farm animals and crops that we kinda stole from the Holiday Islands, we've got it all. Quite incredible, huh?"

"That's an understatement." Matt mumbled.

"Ha! Well, welcome to Twin Dragon, friends. This here is your new home. I'd take you to meet Foster now, but I'm sure you're still a little weary from being rudely awoken earlier. I'll let him know you've arrived and I'll let Cosmos take you to your accommodation. We'll give you a tour and get you introduced to the rest of us later on. Sound good?" Atlas rambled on, giving a thumbs up and a questioning look before disappearing off to the massive castle-like building. Cosmos chuckled.

"Come on, let's get you settled." He smiled, patting their backs and leading them along a branch of the stone path to one of the buildings made of wood and reinforced with stone and steel. It looked like it had been constructed maybe a week or so ago, but well constructed at that. Cosmos opened the door for them and followed them inside. It was a cozy little place with small glass windows and a carpeted floor. It was only one floor, but it was fine with the guys. It contained a few sets of drawers, cabinets and closets for their belongings, two beds with their own nightstands and various other essential home furniture and appliances.

"Wait, this is ours?" Jimmy asked, looking over at Cosmos, who beamed and nodded.

"All yours, guys. Make yourselves right at home. There's food and snacks in the fridge and in the surrounding cabinets, a table to eat at and whatever.. Everything you could need. It might not be what you're used to, but it's the best we've got."

"I... I can't thank you enough. This is so much better than that fuckin' den we lived in. We have beds!" Matt exclaimed before hugging Cosmos as a sign of appreciation. He returned the hug with a laugh before approaching the door.

"Well, I'll leave you guys to it. If you need anything, I won't be far away." He pointed out the window to a slightly larger house a few feet away. "Me and Atlas stay in there, so go there if you need us." With that, Cosmos wave the pair goodbye and let himself out of their new home.



Jimmy and Matt exchanged glances. They may not have been home where they'd want to be, but this was the best they were getting until they were off the damn island and back with the band and their wives. To be honest, neither of them thought it was that bad.

They had all they needed to live., and that's all they needed right now.

Notes

Had to re-upload this chapter because my laptop hates me trying to edit things after I've posted them.