Survival Island

"Because the beach is the most likeliest place a pony who's searching for survivors will look. It's unlikely that anyone would be searching for us, but if there is a chance someone is, the best option is to be on the beach and not in a forest. Also, because we don't know what lurks in this forest and it could be dangerous. Even more dangerous then being on the beach." Oliver said to Wisp, slightly wondering why she keeps asking questions.

He turned towards Dusk. "I can make a container out of water and that could hold some water, but we'll need to make a permanent container once we get back to the beach. Unless Scroll found something to hold water in." He said eyeing Scroll for a moment.

Wisp thought for a moment about what Oliver was saying, and guessed it made sense. Looking back towards the beach, she couldn't see very far with all the foliage in the way. If they were here when anypony came around, there'd be no way they'd find them. Slumping her head slightly in embarrassment at asking what must have been a silly sounding question, Wisp began looking for something to use as a container, trying in vain to make the slump look like she was just checking near the ground.

It was however thanks to this that she did spot a couple of things. Namely, the large palm leaves similar to the ones that were being used as bedding. She was trying to think the rest of the idea through this time so she didn't just sound silly, or find something else to use altogether. Maybe if they used sticks to make the leaf hold it's shape? Or find something else that just needed the leaf so water wouldn't lead through the cracks? Wisp was now diligently looking about for things to possibly use, while also thinking these questions in her mind.

"Hmm, I don't have a container that could do it. Unless somepony has an idea or already found something, we'll have to make our own container or find one. There are some huts closer to the center of the island, so maybe we can find a barrel or something there," Dusk said to everypony.

He then turned to Oliver and said, "In the meantime, the others at the beach might like some water. I know carrying some back your way isn't too effective if it can't be stored, but it's all we have right now. We can wait here until you get back before we explore more if you'd like.

"Bring water to the others? Sure. Just wait here, I'll be back in a few." Oliver walked over to the water dipping his paw into it a few times. He pulled out several golf ball sized balls of water that were solidified. He soon walked back into the forest, heading towards the beach where the others were. He kept his shield and sword at the ready encase something attacked him. Luckily for him, nothing attacked him, so he made it back to the beach safely.

He walked over to where Rebel and the others were. "How has the watching been? Is Griff still a sleep?" He asked turning his gaze on Griff. "It appears he is. Anyway, I have some drink able water...though they are in small, very small, portions. We need to make some sort of thing to carry water in. Think you can make something like that, Rebel?"

Where the group in the forest was there was a loud caw as a raven swooped down from the sky and landed on Scroll's shoulder. It looked at Dusk ad Wisp with a tilted head. It flapped it's wings and landed on Wisp's shoulder instead.

Rebel had listened silently, then grunted. "I practiced a few things years ago, I can probably carve up a few bowls out of some wood, not much else besides maybe weaving some plants together…" She goes silent as she looks around for any palm tree. "Palm fronds would be good…"

Wisp had looked at the Raven curiously, and when it landed on her shoulder she let out a little giggle. "Hey, you came back," she said happily to the bird. Her hoof started to move towards it to pet the raven, but then she remembered how that had made it swat her hoof away with it's wing, so she carefully lowered it back down.

"Wait, you've seen this particular raven before?" Dusk asked, as this was the first time he had seen the Raven. He wondered where the Raven came from, and if there were other animals on the island.

"Yeah, Oliver and I found him when we were searching for Rebel. He actually led us to her," Wisp explained without looking away from the black bird. She was really glad she hadn't ruined her relationship with it from the way it reacted to her petting the prior night.

"I see. Although a Raven doing that on its own seems rather odd to me. Anyway, it's a good thing he found her. I think she would've stayed in the forest alone all night if she had her way," Dusk said.

He soon turned his gaze back to the spring and said, "I wish there was a second hot spring like this, that way we could use one for drinking and the other for bathing."

Wisp nodded before continuing to look about for additional containers. Then at last her eyes settled on something small and the same color of the tree it sat next to. Curious, she wandered over and picked up the little object. A small bowl, with a large chip broken out of it and a crack that nearly split the thing in two. While the things condition was questionable, it's craftsmanship wasn't that grande either. The whittled thing was rather rough, with numerous bumps and thin spots, but it was there and at least a part of it was still water tight.

"Hey, look at this!" Wisp said holding up the battered and damaged dish that was most likely a remnant of the ponies that had occupied the village a ways off.

"We probably still have some wood left over from last night. You can probably make something out of that." Oliver said to Rebel, walking over to the water. He dipped his paw in the water and swirled it around a little bit, making a backpackish thing. He put the golf sized balls of drinking water in the backpack, it turning back to water, and closed the backpack. He slung it over his back and strapped it on so it wouldn't move as much.

"Palm? This island has palm trees, trees, wood, water, but not fruit...It amazes me slightly how anyone can survive in the middle of the island." He walked over to one of the palm trees and and climbed it a little bit. He took his sword and cut down a few leaves from the tree. "Think that is enough?" He shouted down at Rebel.

The raven looked at the dish curiously. It looked up at Dusk and Wisp giving a slight caw. He flew over to Dusk and landed on his muzzle, leaning closer to him. It looked straight in his eyes. It suddenly turned away and hopped off his muzzle, hopping away into the forest.

"That is enough!" Rebel shouted to him, and grabbed some wood, using the tip of her sword to cut and gouge it out, slowly and carefully, mumbling lightly as she worked. She had a determined look on her fce, concentrating hard. The tip of her tongue stuck out of the corner of her lips.

Dusk certainly did not expect the Raven to land on his snout. How it stared at him for a bit made him think there was more to this Raven than it seemed. Or perhaps every animal on this island is strange.

He then looked at the bowl Wisp held, and after examining it for a bit he said, "I don't think that will hold water anymore. Whoever made it was hardly a wood carver, that's for certain. But it must've hit something hard for it to break like this. Now, if it was metal I could tell you a lot more, but it's wood, and out of my area of expertise."

"Is there a way we could fix it?" Wisp asked not wanting to have the remnant be deemed as useless. "Maybe if we," she trailed off while looking towards the trees. Grasping onto an idea, Wisp took to the air to retrieve a section of one of the large palm leaves. Then she pressed the section into the bowl so the leaf was acting like a second water proof layer. Turning curiously towards Dusk, she held out the 'repaired' bowl. "Will this work?"

"Hmm, that should work now. It never even crossed my mind to line it with a leaf. Nice work," Dusk said. He knew one bowl would hardly be enough, but considering they had no containers beforehand it was a welcome addition.

Wisp all but beamed with joy at the praise. In one fell swoop she had actually managed to contribute to the group and this was her first 'idea' that actually worked. Still holding onto her excitement, Wisp looked at Dusk expectantly, "so what's next?"

Oliver looked down at Rebel as she worked. He decided to stay in the tree for a few minutes until Rebel was done with what she was doing. He looked out into the sea, enjoying the waves as they came. The water made him think of his family, who was forever lost from him. A small tear rolled down from his eyes as he sat back against the trunk of the tree.

He wondered where he'd be right now if he wasn't taken on that day. He'd still be with his family, that's for sure, but he wouldn't have been a stowaway on the ship and wouldn't have meet the ponies he was with now. He wouldn't have had a translation collar and his gloves. He looked at his front right paw, taking off his glove. He looked at the little spot where there was no fur, tears rolling down from his eyes. He put the glove back on and hopped down from the tree.

What next? That is a good question, Dusk thought. He didn't want to just sit and wait for Oliver to return, but he didn't want to leave him behind either.

"We may as well look around the spring to see if there's anything else we can use. If anypony else has been here before us, this is likely where we'll find some more evidence that they were here. I'll go left, and you can go right. We'll meet up on the other side and come back."

Wisp nodded, all too happy to oblige, and was soon scouring the surrounding area for things of use while gradually working her way around the spring. It was slow work, but she was determined not to let anything of use slip by unnoticed.

Dusk soon started searching his side of the spring. He avoided going too far into the surrounding forest, making sure he was clearly visible to Wisp and Scroll.

While searching, Wisp managed to spot a few things of interest, but nothing that would be of any real use. No more bowls or anything of that nature, and she didn't see any fruit either but she continued undeterred. That is until practically running into dusk from not watching where she was going. With a stumble, Wisp fell back and looked about confused at how she'd ran into something, but when she noticed it was Dusk, she blushed in embarrassment before offering up an innocent smile and going back to searching for other useful things.

Eventually, Wisp did spot something though it wasn't likely to be useful. A collection of twigs, leaves, and other stuff all bound up in a bundle a few branches up a nearby tree. Curious, Wisp flew up to the bird's nest to inspect the chirping noises coming from it and was delighted to see the baby birds in it. Though there was something else in the nest Wisp noticed, and that was collection of some thin kind of string. Carefully grabbing the bundle and flying back down with it, Wisp deposited a small bundle of fishing line onto the ground. "Can we use this for anything?"

Dusk, being bigger than Wisp, was hardly affected by accidentally bumping into her. However, he too was a little embarrassed about it, and a little concerned that he had hurt her.

When Wisp brought the line down, he took a look at it for a bit and said, "It looks like fishing line to me. Although we have Oliver and Griff to fish for us, perhaps we can find another use for it. Just hold onto it for now."

Wisp nodded, and set the string next to the semi-repaired bowl. "I don't think I saw anything else around here," she said looking off in the direction the raven had flown.

"I didn't see anything either. Perhaps we'll find more once we explore closer to the center of the island," Dusk said.

He soon saw Wisp was staring where the Raven had disappeared from his view. Though she didn't look worried to him, he thought he might as well say something. "I'm sure we'll see that raven again. Although I have to admit he's a rather odd raven."

Wisp nodded, and then looked around aimlessly for a second. "Where's the center of the island?"