Island of Change


Episode One: Sunken Dreams



The sun was out.

The five figures sitting in the life raft lay there, slowly baking in the heat as the small boat drifted in the ocean currents. Each of them was beginning to get heavily sunburned, something they couldn't help as there were no clouds in the sky.

One of them started to hum This went on for a few minutes, an unbearable eternity, until one of them, a young man around eighteen with messy black hair, greasy with sweat from the baking sun, spoke up.

"Could you please stop humming?" He asked, throat dry with thirst. Immediately, the mood in the raft shifted; this was the first thing any of them had said since their cruise ship sank eighteen hours before.

"We've been floated on this raft all day," The dark skinned boy replied. "I'm bored."

"Then let's talk," The black haired boy suggested.

"I'm too thirsty to talk," One of them said.

"Let's not talk about thirst," Said the oldest. He shifted slightly. "Let's start by introducing ourselves. You can call me Phoenix."

"I'm Mikol," The black haired boy said.

"I'm Yuma," Said the dark skinned boy.

"Mitch," A short-haired boy added.

"Ryan," Said a boy in a green shirt. All of them were between seventeen and nineteen years of age. All of them were complete strangers, bound together by the same traumatic experience.

All of them were stranded.

"Okay… nice to meet all of you," Phoenix said. "I've got a few questions."

"Do we get a prize if we get them right?" Mitch asked, earning a small laugh from the group.

"No," Phoenix smiled, staring lazily at the horizon. "First, did anyone see how the boat sank?" There was a moment of silence as the other four thought.

"Nope," Mitch said after awhile. "The first thing I did when the ship started going down was to look for some life jackets."

"I was on one of the lower decks," Ryan said. "But I don't recall anything… just this loud explosion and the boat tilting." The other two nodded silently.

"Okay… second question. Does anyone know where the raft's transponder is?" This brought some interest.

"Transponder?" Yuma asked. "Like, a radio?"

"Not so much a radio as it is a high-tech tracking device," Phoenix explained. "Every life raft is supposed to have one now, in case a disaster happens. If we can find it and activate it, rescue should be able to follow the signal soon afterwards."

"What does it look like?" Ryan asked, actually sitting up now. Phoenix shrugged.

"No idea," He said. "I've never been stranded on a lifeboat."

"So, how do you know about it?" Mitch asked.

"I read the paper, I watch the news. There's a lot of interesting things."

"Guys, let's just find this transponder thingy," Mikol said, looking around. "They had to have put it somewhere obvious."

"Like this?" Yuma asked, holding out a clear waterproof bag that held a first aid kit, rain water catchers, a flare gun, and a cylindrical object. "I think this is it," He said, opening the bag. They each took some of the supplies; Mikol was in charge of the first aid, Ryan took the flare gun and two rounds of ammo that came with it, while Yuma took care of the transponder. With a light tap, there was a beep and a red light came on.

"There," he said, reading the label. "When it's on, it's transmitting an S.O.S. When the red light blinks, that means that someone's locked onto our signal."

"Great!" Mitch said, grinning. "That's the first good news I've heard all day."

"It gets better," Phoenix said.

"How so?" Mikol asked. Phoenix pointed at the horizon.

"How long has that island been there?" He asked.


Half an hour later, they began to see details; trees, beaches, everything. Perhaps there were people? The five of them paddled as hard as they could under the circumstances, already close to passing out from dehydration and over exposure from the elements.

Unfortunately, none of them noticed the coral reef until it was too late.

"Watch out!" Mitch shouted as a wave took them over. "Don't let the boat get cut, it could be smashed to pieces on the reef!"

"Thanks for the warning," Ryan said sarcastically. What had once been a calm sea was now rocking them back and forth, each wave getting stronger than the last, each wave pushing them further and further towards the strange shore that awaited them.

Then, the unthinkable happened.

A wave, at least twenty feet tall, rose up behind them and pushed them forward violently, hitting tilting the small raft almost ninety degrees. Things went flying, but the boys held their ground. Then the wave passed, but they were still flying, the boat tilting and –

They crashed into the surf, the raft smashing to pieces. The current was too strong, pulling the pieces apart. The five broke the surface, clinging to pieces of the raft.

"Stick together!" Mikol called out.

"The current's too strong!" Mitch called back. All was confusing; people were drifting, and island was getting closer.


Blackout.


The next thing Ryan knew, he was on land, and painfully coughing up what seemed to him like half of the ocean.

"Hey, can you hear me?" Mikol asked, holding Ryan still. "You passed out, I had to give you CPR." Ryan nodded, still coughing. He rolled over a bit, seeing Phoenix drag himself out of the water onto the shore.

"Where are Yuma and Mitch?" He asked. Mikol shook his head.

"Don't know," He replied, obviously shaken. "The current pulled them away, they could be on the other side of the island, they could be halfway in the middle of the ocean." He looked around, getting up and helping Ryan to his feet. Phoenix joined them.

"We should get to some shade," Phoenix said. "Maybe we'll find some water." The other two nodded. It was a good idea.


They hiked through the jungle, listening to the birds, when Ryan stopped.

"Yuma had the transponder," He said. Mikol and Phoenix stopped and turned. The three of them stared solemnly at each other for a few moments, then returned and continued hiking.

There wasn't anything they could say.


It might have been five minutes later when Mikol collapsed, holding his stomach.

"You okay?" Ryan asked, worried. Mikol shook his head. A thump in the bushes hinted that Phoenix had fallen under the same fate. Soon even Ryan had collapsed, his legs feeling weak as he watched his hands become slimmer, then covered in black fur. The two waves, first the one that feminized him, then the one that covered him in fur, traveled up his arms, then across his chest, giving him two large breasts. His abdomen narrowed and his hips flared out. Ryan winced; his manhood was gone.

Phoenix was going through similar changes, although he wasn't growing fur. Averaged sized breasts grew from his chest as his manhood inverted, a small tuft of fur that soon formed into a bunny's tail popped out of his tailbone and poked its way out between his pants and shirt. As his hair grew longer, his ears moved to the top of his head and grew, becoming rabbit ears. Soon, a bunny girl was kneeled over in Phoenix's place.

Mikol's fate was no different. He too was turning into a girl, grey fur growing on his ears as they moved to the top of his head, becoming more pointed and canine. Breasts grew on his chest and his manhood inverted, turning him into a she. A long grey furred tail pulled itself out of Mikol's spine.

Suddenly, the changes were over. Mikol stared at his, now her, hands, startled. What had happened? She looked down, poking her breasts, just to make sure they were real.

They were.

Mikol looked over at where he thought Phoenix and Ryan were. Instead, she saw a girl with rabbit ears stare at her with a look that suggested that she was just as confused , and a black furred feline anthro wearing Ryan's ripped clothes.

"What just happened?" The anthro asked.

"I don't know," Mikol replied.


Eventually, they picked themselves up and moved on in silence, worried about what would happen next. Could they live in this body? What if they found civilization? They were so preoccupied that none of them saw the trap until they were almost on top of it.

Phoenix saw it first; a small line of twine placed in a nearly invisible spot. Phoenix had opened her mouth to shout a warning when Ryan stepped on the twine. Suddenly, gravity reversed itself, and they went flying through the air, a black tarp that had been disguised by the grass and leaves cushioning and trapping all three of them. Now stuck, the three were squished together in a pile, hanging from the ropes that supported the tarp.

"Nice," Phoenix said. "Just… nice."


"Where do you think we are?" Yuma asked, holding the transponder in one hand as they trekked through the jungle.

"I don't know," Mitch replied. "Some island in the South Pacific, that's all I know."

"So, then we could be anywhere," Yuma said. "The South Pacific is huge."

"Yeah, I know that," Mitch said, continuing. He stopped once he realized that Yuma wasn't following him anymore. Mitch turned. "Yuma? You okay?" Yuma stood there, a shocked look on his face. Suddenly, he fell forward, breathing heavily. Mitch rushed over, feeling faint himself. He chalked it up to dehydration.

"Yuma!" Mitch said. "Can you hear me?" Yuma didn't answer, and began to shake, his very form changing right in front of him. Yuma's hair grew longer and his face grew softer. Breasts blossomed out of his chest and it was around this time that Mitch collapsed as well, fur growing across his skin as horns protruded from his head. His face pushed out into a bovine muzzle and a long wiry tail grew out of his spine.  His feet twisted, turning into hooves, while his hands simply grew a black hard substance on the tips of his fingers. When all was said and done, Mitch was an anthro bull, while Yuma was a very attractive woman. They stared at each other, shocked.

"What just happened?" They asked in unison.

"Look… whatever just happened has to be an illusion, right? Or… something," Mitch said. "There has to be an explanation for this." But he didn't sound so sure.

"Crap," Yuma said, sitting up. "I'm a girl…"

"Yeah, well, I'm a bull… thing," Mitch said. "At least you're still human."

"This isn't the time to argue," Yuma said, starting to get up. Her hand went down to prop herself up, as it did, it pushed down on a nearly invisible piece of twine. There was a snap, and Yuma and Mitch went flying, caught in a nearly identical trap that now held the other life raft survivors.

"Perfect," Mitch said sarcastically.


It was stifling hot in the tarp. Ryan had tried to use her claws to cut through it, but it was too thick.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Mikol asked.

"A better question would be: who made this trap?" Phoenix asked.

The other two fell silent. That was a question they hadn't considered. Who did make this trap? It had to be a person, which meant that there were people on this island.

"Shh," Phoenix said, even though the others hadn't spoken yet.

"What?" Ryan whispered.

"I hear voices," Phoenix replied. They listened as a couple figures approached.


"This tarp looks thick," Yuma said, poking one of the walls of their prison. "Even if we had something to cut through this, it'd be too thick."

"Yeah," Mitch said. "So… shh!" he said, he said, putting a hand on Yuma's shoulder. "Someone's coming," He whispered. They fell silent, listening as someone slowly walked up to the trap.


"Hey, looks like a big catch today," They heard a voice, a girl's voice, sounding no less than twelve, say.

"Yup," Another voice, an older woman's replied. "This could feed us for a good few weeks, if we preserve it correctly." The three prisoners looked at each other, startled. Were they going to be eaten?

"Okay, same formation as before?" The young girl asked. They were much closer now, almost right underneath them.

"Yup," The older one said. "I'm cutting the rope in three… two… one…" With that, they fell to the ground with a sharp "crack!" They scrambled a bit in the tarp as it was pulled off them, exposing the prisoners. Mikol blinked. She was staring at an arrow pointed at her face. Looking up the shaft of the arrow, she looked at a small girl, who had… fox ears? Her hair and skin were extremely messy and dirty, as if she hadn't had a decent shower in weeks. She had three fox tails... Mikol then realized that this girl was a kitsune, and that she was naked.

There was a sharp snap behind them and their heads turned, facing an anthro tigress, who's hair and fur was just as dirty and matted as the girl's. She, too, wore no clothing, and carried a bow and arrow.

Their captive's eyes widened and they stared at the three survivors. In unison, they strengthened their resolve and were on the defense once more.

"Who are you?" The tigress demanded.

"Keegan," The girl said. "Their clothes," She stated. The tigress stared at them, as if taking in every detail.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Keegan asked the girl. She nodded.

"P-please," Ryan stammered. "We don't mean you any harm…"

"How did you get here?" The kitsune girl asked.

"Our cruise ship sank," Mikol said slowly. "Five of us made it to a life boat. The boat crashed onto this island."

"Five of you?" Keegan asked. "Where are the other two?"

"They were pulled away by the current," Phoenix said. The two captors looked at each other and nodded.

"Does the name Milo ring a bell?" The fox girl asked. The three survivors shook their heads. What was this about?

"Do you think they're lying?" Keegan asked. The girl shook her head. "Me neither," Keegan said, lowering her bow and arrow. "We'd better take you guys with us, we've got some food and lots of fresh water." The survivors looked at each other, confused. First the third degree, now water? What was happening?

"Wh… what is this place?" Ryan asked, standing up slowly. Mikol and Phoenix did the same. "Who are you people?"

Keegan just grinned.

"We're the good guys," She said.


There was a snap, and Yuma and Mitch fell, landing on the ground with a thud. They crawled out of the tarp, freezing as they saw the person who freed them.

She had to be no more than ten, that was for certain. She was a lizard anthro, her scales shined, clean, as if she had just taken a shower. She stared at them, taking in every detail.

"Come with me," She said. "I've got some food and water, you're probably thirsty." The two of them looked at each other, then followed the lizard girl as she walked away into the jungle.


"Seriously, who are you people?" Mikol asked as they followed the two strangers through the jungle.

"Well, as she already spoiled, I'm Keegan," The tigress said.

"I'm Lost," Said the fox girl.

"Um… is that a good thing?" Ryan asked.

"No, that's her name. Lost," Keegan explained. "It's what we call her. All this time, and I still don't know her real name."

"And you never will," Lost replied.

"How long have you two been here?" Phoenix asked.

"About four months," Lost answered.

"Where did you come from?"

"Our plane crashed," Lost said. "Oceanic flight 199, have you heard of it?"

"Heard of it?" Ryan asked. "Who hasn't? A huge plane just drops into the Pacific Ocean; it catches a lot of attention. You guys are presumed dead, no one's found any evidence of the plane."

"Of course there's no evidence," Keegan snorted. "We have all of it." They stepped out of a patch of bushes onto a clearing. Most of it was grown in with bushes, but the boat survivors could see the ocean a few football field lengths away. What took their breath away was the giant passenger plane sitting in the middle of the jungle.

"Holy crap…" Mikol said quietly, stepping forward.

"Yeah…" Keegan said, staring at it. It was greatly dilapidated, vines and trees snaking up the belly of the plane. The ceiling had been torn out, and the cockpit of the plane looked completely smashed in. From the wing up and all the way up and down the length of the plane, it was scorched, like someone had set fire to the inside of it. From the wing down, it was unblemished, aside from the stress marks and other signs of natural wear and tear.

"Who are they?" A woman's voice rang through the clearing. They tore their gaze away to the other side, and stopped in shock as they saw what was there as well. Tents and huts made out of tarps and the debris of the plane, as well as the local flora, had been constructed along the side of the clearing. It seemed most, if not all of the tents, were used for people to sleep in. Phoenix counted seven tents in total; the largest tent seemed to be where the food and water sat.

"Who are they?" A woman repeated, striding towards them. Unlike Keegan and Lost, she wore homemade shorts and a t-shirt. Phoenix blinked as she noticed that the woman walking towards them had two wings protruding from her back.

"We found them in one of the traps," Keegan explained. "Their clothes were wet and smelled like Ocean water, and they were recently ripped, especially on her," She said, pointing to Ryan. "We think they just landed here?"

"How?" The woman asked.

"Our ship crashed," Mikol told her. "Five of us got to a lifeboat, and the boat crashed on this island. The current split us up, and then we changed, just like Keegan said." The woman looked in between Lost and Keegan.

"You told them your names?" She asked.

"Only after we determined if they weren't some part of Milo's mind games," Lost said. The woman sighed.

"Alright," She said. "Show them around camp, get them some food and water… then fill them in on what's happened. Tell the others." She turned to leave, but said, "By the way, I'm Megan." With that, she disappeared into a hut.

"That was our leader," Keegan explained. "Megan."

"Who is this Milo you keep mentioning?" Ryan asked.

"Well… there's eight of us here, not counting you three," Lost said. "But eleven of us survived the crash. Milo was one of them. So was Ben."

"Ben?" Phoenix asked. Keegan pointed them to the plane. On one of the unburned parts near the ground, there was a giant scorch mark and a reverse silhouette of what looked like a teenage girl. Brown stains, long since dried, rand down the plane. All three of them guessed that it had been blood.

"That was Ben," Keegan said. "Milo killed her." Keegan left the three of them silently, Lost joining her as they stared solemnly at the mark on the plane.


Yuma and Mitch followed the girl to a sheltered spot in the trees. A makeshift shelter was made there, with a bed and a small shelf where food and water lay.

"How long have you been out here?" Mitch asked, shocked.

"About four months," The girl replied.

"Four months? Out here, all by yourself?" Yuma asked.

"Oh, I wasn't by myself," She said. She turned, giving a shrill whistle that made them wince and cover their ears. A few moments later, there was the sound of something large running through the jungle. The survivors turned, shocked at what looked like the world's largest mouse push it's way out of the trees and stopped at the shelter. The girl walked up and calmly rubbed its fur. It was easily three times taller than her, and had to be as long as a car. The mouse nuzzled against her, obviously enjoying the attention.

"This is Louis," The girl said. "And I'm Milo." She smiled. "Nice to meet you two."




End of Episode One