Chapter 11: Acclimation

Day four.

"No no, that right there ain't a grasshopper, it be a katydid," Lynn advised the pair as they observed the intruder outside the plane.

"What did Katy do?" Nick asked as he held the hatchet to his chest.

"No, Nick, katydid is what the bug is called, I used to see them all over Bunnyburrow," Judy interjected.

"N' it might not look it, but thems katydids are predatory," Lynn stated as she got the machete ready. With that, she stepped out of the plane and closed the hatch behind her.

The pair watched as the cat approached the large bug from behind the hatch. Mere seconds passed, Nick and Judy's faces cringing as they observed the barbaric display Lynn had with the katydid. They backed away from the hatch as Lynn returned, panting and covered in insect guts.

"Well, that's that," Lynn said plainly as she wiped her blade on a rag. "Y'all want breakfast?" the cat suggested as she made her way to the galley.

A small tray of food was prepared as the trio sat down for a quiet breakfast, eating in relative silence. Swallowing a mouthful of fish jerky, Nick finally spoke.

"So, Wild Cat, how come your repellant didn't keep that katy-whatever from the plane?" he asked before taking another bite of fish jerky.

Lynn quickly swallowed her own mouthful of jerky to answer. "Mm, yea, see, not all buggy bugs keep away, it only works so well," Lynn answered.

"Guess it isn't all so easy then," Judy stated, nibbling on some hay. "So how do you sleep knowing it isn't really foolproof?" the rabbit asked.

"Oh, uh…see, I hadn't rightly slept all that much since I met y'all, or even really b'fore I met y'all either," Lynn answered, scratching her head. "I just lightly doze for a sec and snap awake," she added cheerfully.

Nick and Judy found themselves staring incredulously at their guardian once more. "Lynn, you have got to be kidding me?" Judy blurted as she set her food down. "You could, y'know, at least wake one of us to take watch or something!" Judy told the cat.

"Look Wild Cat, I know you want to protect us and all, but if we're gonna be here a while we need to be able to watch each other's backs," Nick stated as he sat up.

"As of now, we're a team, the three of us, ok?" Judy told Lynn, sliding up to sit beside her. "If you're working yourself to exhaustion, you couldn't possibly keep protecting us like you've been."

Lynn stared dumbfounded at the two officers, nodding in compliance with a smile. "Yea, y'all're right 'bout that," the cat agreed, standing up. "But if'n y'all wantin' to watch my back, yer gonna have to get used to bein' here," Lynn told the pair with her paws on her hips.

"Let me guess, time for a training montage?" Nick asked jokingly.

"Yea, pretty much," Lynn replied enthusiastically.

Day seven.

Kick after kick, Judy made her way up a series of branches and vines. With a final jump, she landed in front of Nick and Lynn. "How was that?" she asked, panting and wiping sweat from her face.

"Clocked you at thirty two seconds," Nick said with his arms crossed.

"Thirty three for me, I was countin' that second you took to git on the bottom branch," Lynn told the rabbit.

"Alright, not bad for a mammal that isn't arboreal, huh?" Judy asked with a confident smile.

"I'll say, shucks, ya even managed to shave off a whole ten seconds since yesterday!" Lynn told the rabbit officer with a smile. She then turned to Nick, "alright Foxy, it's your turn!"

"I may not be a grey fox, but I think I can top off her time here," Nick boasted before jumping his way down the tree.

Judy looked over the edge, taking a deep breath. "Alright Nick! On your mark, get set, go!" she signaled to the fox.

Nick darted his way up the branch, unable to jump higher than his partner, but making quick work of climbing the vines. With one last pull, he reached the checkpoint, panting heavily. "Well?" he asked simply as he pulled his tank top off to cool down.

"Thirty three seconds on the dot, same as Funny Bunny," Lynn told the panting fox.

"Not bad Slick, I was starting to think you were falling behind," Judy teased with a snicker.

"Don't count on it Carrots," Nick stated with a grin.

Day ten.

Nick uttered a grunt as he tossed the spear in his paw. He watched as the blade tipped implement sailed through the air, colliding against the tree with an echoing thud. Around the same spot, that had been stripped of the bark, stuck out other various projectiles all on a crudely painted target. "A little more to the left," Nick remarked as he massaged at his wrist.

"Techniques gettin' better though," Lynn assured the fox.

Nodding, Nick made his way to the battered tree. Steadily he removed the various projectiles from the tree ranging from arrows, knives, and the spear he had thrown. Gathering them, he brought them back to his starting point. "Ready Carrots?" he asked his partner, passing the arrows to her.

Judy took the arrows and put them in the quiver on her back, "of course," she replied. Standing where Nick stood before, she readied an arrow and drew the bow, inhaling deeply. Exhaling slowly, she loosed the arrow, landing just shy of a bullseye. "Bam," the rabbit whispered with a smile.

"Woo, nice shot Funny Bunny!" Lynn cheered while clapping.

Nick whistled in admiration, smiling to his partner. "Don't go thinking I'm gonna start calling you Deadeye or something, Carrots," he told her.

"I wouldn't want it anyway, I'm used to Carrots," Judy stated while drawing another arrow.

Day fourteen.

With a grunt and a heave, Nick and Judy pulled on the rope in their paws. Thrashing about the river with a spear lodged in its side was a jungle perch; nearly quadruple the fox officer's size. Lynn merely stood close by, smiling as she watched the pair struggle to bring the massive fish ashore. "Dig your heels in y'all!" Lynn shouted to the officers.

"Trying!" Judy snapped back at the cat, pulling with all her might.

With a fierce battle cry, Nick jerked at the rope, pulling the fish closer to shore. "Ngh, Carrots, kill the thing, I got the rope!" he grunted out, pulling and straining on the rope.

Judy quickly let go of the rope, getting the bow and arrows ready. Without missing a beat, she quickly drew and loosed an arrow, striking the perch dead on its eye as it thrashed.

The sudden shock brought the fish to a halt just enough for Nick to quickly heave the fish unto shore. Once on land, the fish resumed its thrashing, splashing up muddy water. Leaping to his feet, the fox grabbed the hatchet off the ground and brought the blade down on the fish. A crunch rang out as Nick pierced the head of the perch, causing it to jerk into a stop.

Lynn clapped at the display, applauding the pair as she walked up to the dead fish. "From spearin' to killin' y'all clocked at one n' a half minutes," Lynn told the pair, beaming a proud smile at the two of them.

"Woohoo!" Judy cheered out enthusiastically, panting as she looked over the fish.

"Gonna have an awesome dinner tonight," Nick stated, panting as well with a big smile on his muzzle.

Day eighteen.

Judy looked up at the great expanse of stars above her, leaning against the spear in her paws as she stood atop the wreckage of the plane. A sigh left her lips, staring into the night sky in admiration. She then brought her focus to the moon, keeping track of where it was. By this point she had learned to judge the time from where it was positioned. She estimated that she had been out on watch for the last three hours. Nodding, Judy climbed down into the plane through the large tear.

Entering the candle lit back end of the plane, she walked up to Nick who was soundly asleep. Just behind him lay Lynn, also asleep, reclined against a chair while snoring quietly. Judy knelt down and gently shook her partner. "Nick, your turn for watch," she whispered to him.

Nick groaned as he was shook, but opened his eyes all the same. With a few blinks, he sat up with a yawn. "Three hours already, huh?" he asked as he stood up, walking over to the box Lynn had stored the weapons in.

"Mmhm, don't forget to wake Lynn in three hours," Judy reminded her partner, laying down to rest. She stopped to look over to Lynn once more, smiling warmly. "On second thought, just wake me again," She told her partner.

"Oh? Why do you want another shift?" Nick asked his partner, arming himself with the hatchet.

"Because, look at her," Judy replied as she gestured over to Lynn. "She deserves a longer rest, don't you think?" she asked Nick, smiling up at him.

Nick returned the smile, nodding in agreement. "Alright, I'll wake you in three hours then," he told the rabbit, resting the hatchet on his shoulder and walking out.

Day twenty one.

The crack of wood being struck rang out throughout the treetop. Standing at the edge of the plane's wing stood Nick in a white tank top and beige shorts. Wiping sweat off his brow with one paw, hatchet in the other, he let out a sigh. He then tightened the wraps around his palms, wanting to avoid chafing his pads on the handle. The morning had only begun for him as he placed another log in front of him. With a swift swing, he brought the blade down, splitting the small log.

"Working hard there, Slick?" Judy asked him as she walked behind her partner, dressed in her own tank top paired with a ripped up skirt for ease of movement. She held a coiled rope in one paw, a makeshift shovel slung over her shoulder.

"Well someone has to make this wood usable for a cooking fire," Nick replied as he tugged at his tank top to let some air in. "Where you headed off to?" the fox asked while reclining on the hatchet's handle.

"Down to the jungle floor, Lynn said she planted a potato down there a few months before she met us," Judy replied while holding up the rope in her paws. "Wanna help me get it?" she asked her partner.

"Of course," Nick told her, smiling as he tossed aside the hatchet onto the pile of firewood he had chopped up.

Three weeks. Three weeks had come and passed now since the pair had landed on the island of giants. Twenty one days, which felt needlessly long, yet not one second had felt wasted. With Lynn's guidance, they grew accustomed to traversing the safe end of the island, only ever going to the river with Lynn. The pair knew that they couldn't rely on Lynn forever, to this end they learned what they could. If they were going to live long enough to be rescued or to come up with a way to leave, they had to learn to survive.

Upon reaching the jungle floor, Judy's ears perked up and seemed to follow a subtle noise in the distance. "Heads up!" she shouted as she caught the blur of Lynn's pet spider, Spidsy. "Good morning to you too," Judy greeted the spider, giggling as she set the small flailing arachnid down.

"Blech, I'll never get over seeing these giant spiders, that's for certain," Nick stated as he watched the jumping spider leap off towards the surrounding trees.

"Ah suck it up, Slick, at least the worst ones only come out at night," Judy stated as she walked over to a stick in the ground.

The protruding marker was colored with paints made from the local flowers. With a grunt, Judy began to dig at the ground. Nick stood by her, holding the plant by its stem and jerking at it every few seconds. With their teamwork, they uprooted the mighty spud.

Nick held the potato up, cupping his other paw under the bulbous root. "Man, this thing weighs more than you do, Carrots," he remarked as Judy set about to making a rope binding to keep it on the fox's back. "Not nearly as adorable though," he joked, earning a second punch to his arm.

"What did I say about the cute remarks?" Judy chided.

"Yea yea, you said not to call you-" Nick started before his ears picked up the distinct sound of something fast approaching.

Within a split second, Nick dropped the potato and turned to the oncoming emerald blur. With a yelp and a grunt he found himself under the snapping mandibles of a tiger beetle. Judy quickly recovered from reeling back, taking the shovel and swinging with all her might, knocking the beetle off her partner. Hastily the fox leapt to his feet as his partner passed the shovel to him. He made a swift downward stroke, which was followed by the sickening crunch of the beetle's head being caved in.

Panting, Nick slung the potato to his back once more, resting the shovel to his shoulder. "Huh, to think this was still a problem for us a week or two ago," he remarked while watching the still flailing body of the tiger beetle.

"Don't get all cocky about it just yet, Slick, this was still a close call," Judy told him, panting as she looked over her partner. "Anything hurting?" she asked while patting him down.

"Nah, crick in my back, but I'm pretty sure that's from all the chopping I was doing," Nick replied with a smirk.

With that the pair left the now lifeless body of the bug behind, taking their lone crop back up the tree. Meanwhile, Lynn had gotten a fire going in her makeshift rotisserie, a few large silkworm pupae beside her.

The cat turned as Nick and Judy approached the plane. "Hey, y'all got the potato!" Lynn exclaimed as the fox set the potato on the ground before her.

"Yea, fought a tiger beetle while we were down there too," Nick told the cat, setting the shovel down beside the hatchet he left behind earlier.

"Another one, huh?" Lynn asked while pouring water from a canteen to the potato. "Gettin' better at hearin' 'em come up n' dealin' with 'em I reckon?"

"Still knocked him on his on tail, I was the one who got it off him," Judy remarked in a teasing tone towards Nick.

"I would've kicked it off just fine, Carrots," Nick stated with his arms crossed.

"Hey now, no need to measure y'all'selves up ta each other, teamwork is always a plus," Lynn told the pair as she finished washing the potato.

"Yea, well, same can't be said about you, Wild Cat, you wrestled a mantis without any weapons or help and ripped its arm off a week ago," Nick mentioned as he pulled out a knife from his pocket to peel the potato.

"And then you cut its head off, with the arm you ripped off," Judy added.

"Well when ya have as much experience as I do, y'all could do the same eventually," Lynn pointed out with a smile. Once all the ingredients were prepped, she cooked up a meal for the three of them.

"So, anything in mind for today?" Judy asked while nibbling down on a chunk of carrot.

"Well we went down to the river jus' two days ago, so don't rightly see any reason to do that today," Lynn replied, tapping her chin as she thought. "I reckon today we oughta jus' take it easy," Lynn added.

"Well, if it's all the same to you ladies, I'm gonna take a trip to the beach today," Nick said, taking his last bite.

Judy looked over to Nick with a puzzled look. "Why?" she asked simply, setting her food down.

"I wanted to start a bon fire," Nick answered just as simply he was asked. "Y'know, get some smoke signals going," Nick added on as he got up to get supplies from the plane.

"Want me to come with?" Judy asked, getting up herself and walking alongside her partner.

"If you want, how about you Wild Cat?" Nick asked the cat.

"Uh, not really wantin' to step down there that much, consider this trip by y'allselves as graduation!" Lynn told the pair with a smile.

"Suit yourself," Nick said with a shrug, leading Judy to the plane. "While we're there, we should check that giant S.O.S we left behind too," he suggested to his partner as he walked in to the back end of the plane.

"Yea, and maybe kill another crab while we're down there," Judy joked as she picked up the spear from Lynn's weapon box.

"I think we can take one this time," Nick told her, smirking as he himself picked out the machete.

"Or," Judy began as she looked behind her to make sure Lynn wasn't nearby. "We could try and figure out what might be out there that's scaring Lynn," she suggested.

"Hopefully you're not suggesting we go for a swim," Nick said to her, slinging the machete onto his back and packing some water and food to go.

"No, but at least, y'know, maybe catch a glimpse of what it might be," Judy said to Nick, packing her own provisions.

"Alright, yea, but let's not try to make it the priority," Nick stated as he made his way.

"Right," Judy stated in agreement.

Waving to Lynn, the pair made their way down the winding path to the road leading to the beach. They traversed the now familiar route, avoiding the areas where any potentially dangerous insects could be. Every point of interest they had passed the first time seemed to greet the two of them like old friends. Even the large hercules beetle they had met before was present, munching away at a dead plant.

Judy leapt up on top of the twisted roots, somersaulting along as Lynn did those few weeks ago. "Heh, so that's why Lynn likes doing that," she stated as she hopped about the roots.

"Don't get carried away, Carrots," Nick reminded the rabbit, vaulting over his own set of roots.

Soon enough, the pair emerged from the bush and out into the beach. A sigh left both of their lips as they looked out across the sandy shores. They even patted the palm tree they used to defeat their first crab, greeting it fondly.

"Just like how we left it, huh Carrots?" Nick said to his partner. He looked up to the tree, seeing the enormous coconuts that had saved them weeks ago. "Carrots?" he called out, realizing Judy had gone silent. The fox looked to his partner, standing not too far from him. "You ok there, Carrots?" He asked her while walking up to the rabbit, stopping once she reached behind her to grab his arm.

"Nick…look," Judy answered sternly.

Nick looked on to where Judy was staring, now finding he was staring as well. There the two stared at an object on the sand. Splayed out like a glaring stain across the pale ground. There they stood, staring upon the torn remains of a rubber life raft. Judy reluctantly made her way towards the bright orange shreds, walking beside it. From there she could recognize it better, it was unmistakable.

It was the same type of life raft that was used on the S.S. Purrseidon.