Island of Change




Episode Four: Damaged Goods


Ryan walked through the jungle, quickly starting to feel the heat and humidity as the day went on, her fur getting increasingly matted from her sweat and the temperature. Andrew and Tobias walked up front, keeping watch for anything that could signify a path or a trail leading to Milo or the other survivors. Keegan and Lost flanked the group while Megan walked next to Ryan.

"So, do you have any friends or family back home?" Megan asked, wanting to make some conversation.

"Some," Ryan said. "My parents, and some friends."

"Were they… on the boat?" She asked. Ryan shook her head.

"No, I won the cruise trip and had to go by myself," She explained. "I think that's probably a good thing… though when I was boarding I wasn't looking forward to it."

Keegan yawned.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Lost joked.

"No, I woke up at sunrise this morning to make sure your fox's ass was protected while we checked the traps," She retorted.

"Hey! I'm a kitsune, for your information," Lost said, sticking out her tongue.

"Yeah, and so what if…" Suddenly there was a crash as the ground snapped, trees shaking as Andrew disappeared. Megan gave a shout and ran forward as a black tarp rose up around Tobias, pulling her and drawing her up in the trap. Keegan leapt onto a tree, climbing up.

"Andrew!" Megan shouted, diving for the hole Andrew had fallen into. She lay down at the bottom of a pit, staring up.

"Megan, I'm fine!" Andrew called up, but the others noticed that her shoulder was slightly bloody from the landing.

"Grab my hand!" Megan said, throwing her hand out. Andrew groaned, reaching up with his other hand, and tried to grasp Megan's, but couldn't reach – the pit was too deep.

"Tobias!" Lost shouted up. "Can you hear us?" There was a small moan from inside the tarp, which was too high for them to climb up to.

"Yeah, I can hear you… it's just a little cramped in here," She reported. "I think there are… rocks or something in here." Keegan looked down and tried to cut the ropes or the tarp from his position, but to no avail. That's when he noticed the ropes.

"Uh, guys," Keegan said. "There's a problem."

"What now?" Megan snapped, looking up at her. Keegan swallowed.

"These traps are connected," She explained. "If we try and rescue one, we're going to end up killing the other."


"What is this place?" Yuma asked, looking around, startled.

"This is the source," Milo said. "I discovered this about two weeks before I left the other survivors."

"H-how do you know…?" Yuma said, spotting the crystals.

"These," She said. There was a grouping of about sixteen of them; one was black while the others glowed various colours, illuminating the cave. One stood out of all the others, the largest one of all.

"How do you know that they are the source of the island?" Yuma asked. Milo sighed.

"When you crashed here, I was watching from the shoreline," Milo explained. "There's something about this island… something incredible. Because when I first discovered it, there were only twelve crystals… and then this one faded to black," She said, pointing to the dark crystal. "Then, inexplicably, five new ones appeared. That's when I knew."

"Knew what?"

"These crystals represent all of the people on this island," She said. "I removed this one," Milo pointed to one that was glowed a bright yellow. "From its place. It wasn't that hard. I put it back… but not all the way. Your friends… they've all turned into anthros, furries of some sort, correct?" Milo asked. "I took this one," She pointed to a faint blue crystal. "All the way out, and then half in. Your friend kept his gender… so last night, as I went off, I put the crystal back. The next morning he went from a bull to a cow."

Yuma stared at Milo. "You're… you're…"

"Crazy?" Milo asked. "Lots of people have said that, but I know the truth about this place. And I know how to get off this island."

"How?" Yuma asked.

"We take all the crystals with us, find a boat, and run," Milo grinned.


"This trap… it's intricate," Keegan's voice said from above. Tobias swallowed, her throat dry. "I mean… it's a perfect death trap!"

"You know," Tobias said, her heart hammering in the small, warm space. "I can hear you!" There was a moment of silence.

"Sorry," Keegan said. "How are you holding up in there? Can you see anything that might help us?" Tobias tried to sit up, but the small space inside the tarp wasn't enough for her to get up. She looked around, the only source of illumination and fresh air coming from the hole where the ropes met the tarp. She felt… something hard underneath her, so looking down, she moved her back legs a bit to see what it was. Although no one could tell, she paled.

"There are rocks in here!" She exclaimed, voice echoing in the tarp. There was silence from outside for a moment. Hushed voices talked quietly, and Tobias strained to hear what they were saying.


Andrew didn't have the same problem as Tobias. She could see her prison quite clearly, and had free mobility… except, of course, if she wanted to get out.

"Andrew?" Megan asked, leaning into the pit. "How are you doing?"

"I've been better," She replied. "Can you try pulling me out?" Megan nodded, lowering her hand and reaching in. Andrew jumped, and as she did, something moved underneath her. Tobias gave a shout as she fell about a foot, her head and body banging on the rocks.

"What happened?" She shouted. "What was that?"

"I'm standing on something," Andrew said as she landed back on the ground, the platform she was standing on returning to the bottom of the pit.

"What happened?"  Tobias shouted again.

"Andrew jumped up to reach my hand," Megan explained. "Then something moved…"

"The traps," Keegan said from the tree above them. "They're attached, like counterweights. I can see the ropes from up here." Both Tobias and Andrew, while they could not hear each other, heard Keegan's words quite clearly. Tobias pictured Andrew's trap connected to hers, the rocks in the tarp threatening to pull herself down and vault Andrew up… but up into what?

Meanwhile, Andrew was thinking the exact opposite. Andrew was holding the platform down, keeping Tobias held up, so… wait, if they were connected, then there had to be a connection!

"Keegan!" Andrew shouted up. "Where are the ropes that connect the traps?" There was a rustle in the trees as the tigress tried to find them. Tobias listened, waiting to hear the news.

"Ryan, Mikol… could you two try and gather a bunch of rocks up?" Keegan asked. "Megan, you and Lost try and make a net!" Keegan said. "There are ropes up here… and they're rubbing against the branch. I see a secondary line moving higher up."

"What does that mean?" Ryan asked. Tobias and Andrew both knew what that meant. It meant that once the first rope snapped from friction, there would be nothing stopping Tobias from falling and smashing her head on the rocks… but that didn't answer the question of what was waiting for Andrew.

"Uh oh…" Keegan said quietly, but Tobias could hear her just fine.

"What?" Tobias asked. She couldn't' see what the tigress had found, but the others on the ground could. Poking out of the branches of the trees, hidden by leaves, were several, well-crafted spikes that were pointed at several different angles in Andrew's direction. Should she be thrown towards them…

"We have to get them out of that trap," Megan said. "Now."


"How much time do we have?" Mikol asked an hour later.

"Not a lot," Keegan said from the trees, trying to reduce as much friction as possible.

"Andrew…" Megan said, looking into the pit. "I love you."

"I love you too," Andrew said. "Everything's going to be okay," She told her, not quite believing it herself.

"I seriously don't think I can make it if you died," Megan said.

"You can," Andrew promised. "I know you can."

Tobias tried to move, one of the rocks digging into her lower back. The tarp was sweltering hot now, and she struggled for every breath. She could feel her fur matted with sweat, sometimes tears as the situation seemed so hopeless… she never let the others hear her, though. Suddenly, everything changed.


There was a sudden yank on the tarp and the rocks rattled around, pressing into her skin. She gave a startled shout, heart racing. She could hear the others below her scrambling to move, and she knew what was happening:

The rope was fraying.


"Get that net ready!" Keegan shouted from above.

"It's not even close, we can't make it in time," Lost replied.

"Megan!" Andrew shouted.

"Andrew, I'm not going to leave you," Megan cried down into the pit.

"I'll always be with you," She said back up to her.

"Guys, now!" Keegan shouted.


There was a final, audible snap.


A snapshot in time none of them would ever forget, frozen in their memory. Andrew shouting her final "I love you" to Megan as she screamed, jumping into the pit as the platform rose, catching her and propelling them both towards the spikes that meant certain death, Keegan shouting as he tried to catch the rope leading to Tobias' falling prison, Tobias screaming as she felt the world go weightless, the rocks finally releasing their grip from her back, Mikol pulling Ryan out of the way as the tarp fell, a sickening clatter of rocks and bones snapping together like teeth, the sick crunching of impalement on spikes, the shocked silence as even the birds stop to process the events that had just occurred below them.



There was a great, almighty silence.



Then, the impossible. Something was moving, something they thought was dead.






Andrew groaned, looking down at her body. Megan moved slowly beside her, her sweat stained face growing with the realization that she nor Andrew were not dead was appearing. Megan saw her lover, alive, albeit worse for wear, one of the spikes was poking into her chest and legs. It was Keegan who managed to process this information as he looked down upon them.

"They're alive!" She shouted. "Megan and Andrew are alive, cut the rope!" Lost quickly sliced the rope, all of those on the ground slowly lowering the two to the ground. It was only after Megan and Andrew were safely on solid ground when Mikol asked, "If they're alive, what about Tobias?" There was a moment of tense silence, then all of them ran for the tarp, untying and untangling the ropes holding the tarp closed. Throwing it open, all of them, at some level, knew what they would find. Once their fears were confirmed…

Ryan gave a step back, then headed for the bushes, trying to hold her vomit in. The others stared, sick and saddened. Tobias' body lay on the rocks, beaten, broken, and twisted; her neck had been snapped and hung limply at an awkward angle, her back legs and feet shattered. There was no doubt about it.



Tobias was dead.



The remainder of the group stepped back, the bloody rocks that had killed Tobias now held down the tarp that covered her body. They still had a long ways to go, and she deserved a proper burial. They would bury her once they reached the beach. For now, this would have to suffice.

"How did we survive?" Megan asked softly.

"It was a counterweight," Lost said quietly. "Your added weight kept it down enough for the spikes to just scrape you. It wasn't enough to keep Tobias from…" She fell silent.

"Who would do something like this?" Ryan asked.

"Milo," Said the plane crash survivors. "There's no doubt," Andrew added. "This is quite clearly his fault. Milo killed Tobias."


"Who killed who now?" Said a voice behind them. Keegan and Lost raised their bows simultaneously, but lowered them as they saw who it was.

"Leland?" Megan asked, startled.

"Doctor Von Leland, to you," The catgirl said. "We finally found you, we've been tracking some kind of trail all over to the other side of the island and back." A small shuffling sound came from behind Leland, and Lost and Keegan rose their bows once more. This time, it was Ryan and Mikol who pushed them down. They recognized the scent of the cow's tattered clothes.

"Mitch?" They asked, startled.

"How did you get here?" Mikol asked.

"I followed her," Mitch said, pointing to Leland.

"You know her?" Andrew asked.

"She…"

"He," Mitch corrected.

"He was on the boat with us," Ryan said. "He's one of the survivors." Leland looked around at all of them.

"Well, he won't be for long," Leland said. "None of us will be… not unless we stop Milo, and stop him for good."

"How?" Keegan asked. Leland smiled.

"I've got a plan."








End of Episode Four