dragonheartednovels

[SD:OA] Of Course We Found It, We're Players! - Chapter 6

Added 2025-06-02 12:24:42 +0000 UTC

The ship had been floating along for a few days when the island was first noticed. This got the passengers excited, but Gem noticed that the crew was still subdued and so they didn’t celebrate like the others.

Sssally arrives on the scene suitably late. “Calm down! I checked the chartsss. That island isn’t on them. It might sssimply be unknown, it might be a wandering island, or it could be a trap. Prepare for a fight becaussse we’re going to crash into it.” And with that, Sssally returns below deck.

Hands on their hips, Gem stands firm as people rush around them to go get their gear. “Why weren’t they geared up to begin with? We’re in this situation because of a giant squid attack! How dare they go without their equipment?”

Emrys shrugs, “They’re basically on a vacation trip. They weren’t supposed to have to fight.”

June nods, “Even now, they haven’t gotten out of the mindset. Though it does mean we can get a front-row seat. Let’s move closer.”

They do, but there isn’t much to see. Not nothing though.

Samuel points to the left, “Huh, is that smoke?”

A nearby crew member squints, “Yep. Welp, that doesn’t bode well.” And they turn around and head off to tell someone.

Crash

June stumbles into Gem as the ship makes landfall.

Over to the side, the crew has gathered and Sssally points in a specific direction. “The diviner claimsss we’ll find the wood we need over there! Danger isss assured and in fact, predicted to increase the longer we take. Ssso no time to wait around, I want you all back with logs before the sun setsss.”

A good third of the crew tosses themselves over the side and as a group, jog off into the scrub trees.

Sssally turns to the passengers, “Don’t think we’ll wait here forever if you decide to get lossst out there! Feel free to explore at your own risk, but be back before night fallsss.”

Gem turns to the others with a smile from ear to ear, “Well, I know what I want to do!”

Samuel sighs, “You just want to search for dinosaurs.”

Gem pulls their lips back to reveal pointed teeth, “That would be fun!”

June pokes them, “We can find dinosaurs later. Players have run into them before. What do you want to achieve out of this?”

Gem shrugs, “The way I figure it? One way or another, something crazy will find us, whether out there or here on the ship. Better something crazy takes place away from our ride.”

None of the others could really argue against that. Besides, it had been a while since they could really stretch theirs. So, without further ado, the four of them hop off the ship and head into the trees in the other direction from where the crew went.

Which was a rarity as most of the other passengers went in the direction the crew had gone. Hands behind their head, Gem laughs, “Trees suitable to repair the ship are way out of our league. Better to find our own trouble!”

This doesn’t inspire the others, but they still follow Gem into the trees.

As they wander further, Samuel would occasionally poke the ground. This confuses Gem, but they refused to ask as doing so would be admitting it bothered them. Good thing Emrys asked.

Samuel shrugged in response. “Testing the salinity as well as I can without actually tasting the soil. Anyway, seems like they don’t get salt water floods. Which before you ask, is important because a mysterious island could be the result of an island that sinks and rises.”

Gem laughs, “Could just have a forcefield to keep the water out.”

Samuel shrugged again, “Possibly.”

And before Gem can respond, they’re distracted. “Oh, hey! Signs of people.”

Off to the side, a tree that just came into view has the remains of a treehouse. Or rather, more of a tree hut, but still, a place someone lived at some point.

The four saunter over to the decrepit structure. A shack which not only has seen better days, but its worse days have also been better than what is barely left now. Gem is the first to arrive at the base of the tree and wanders around to get a complete idea.

Once back with the group, Gem shrugs, “It almost feels like I’m cursed to end up in trees.”

Samuel raises an eyebrow, “You do that often in SoulDive?”

Emrys gives him a light smack to the back of the head. “They’ve told us the story of their first few days more than once. Not much else to do while fishing.”

Samuel shrugs at that.

Gem also shrugs, though for a different reason. “Oh, it isn’t just in SoulDive. As a kid, I was always ending up in trees! One time, in the forest out behind my place, a tree mostly fell over. Man, it was so fun to just be able to walk up the trunk! The enormity of it! Especially as a kid!”

June smiles, “Having a forest in your backyard must have been fun. Where I started, it was, well, oppressively grey.”

June shakes her head, “Though we can reminisce later. Who wants to go up first?”

Gem laughs, “Was there ever a question? Buff me up and I’ll be in that hut before you know it!”

June looks at the other two, but they both shake their heads. “Well, fair enough.” And she takes a moment to cast both of her buffs.

Gem hops from one foot to another, testing the effect. Then, with a smile and a wink, jumps straight up at the tree.

At first, it looks like they are going to miss the lowest branch, but their arms stretch out a tiny bit and they grab on. Not that they stop with that. There isn’t much momentum, but what little there is, gets used to along with some good ol’ fashion muscle power. All to swing up and over the branch.

Once perched on top of the branch, it is simplicity itself for them to make their way up three more branches to reach the hut. Gem looks in and reports back, “It’s empty!”

Samuel, “We knew that. Kind of obvious even down here.”

Gem shakes their head, “Nah, I mean there isn’t anything. Though from up here I can see what looks like a pile of trash in that bush over there! You three can check on that while I take a better look around.”

Not having anything better to suggest, the three do so as Gem enters the hut. The only feature that stops it from being completely empty was a shelf or bed. Which being the only feature attracted Gems attention.

Except they ignored that and instead knocked on the bigger support logs used to make the hut. The shelf was too obvious! And by chance, this turned out to have been the correct decision, with Gem finding a small ship’s journal.

They look out to find the other three already done and so Gem hopped down. And while the landing was a bit rough, their Body was already strong enough to handle it. “So, what did you find?”

June shrugs, “Whoever lived here was likely a shipwreck survivor. Bunch of stuff you’d have found on a ship over there.”

Samuel, “Or they scavenged from a shipwreck.”

Gem, “Huh, well I bet they were from a shipwreck because I found this here ship’s journal”, which they hold up for the others to see, “And the first few pages are a ship’s journal type thing.”

Emrys, “Huh, we should probably head back to the ship with that. Might have important details.”

Gem, “Oh, it certainly has some important details! Let me read you a certain passage from the last page with writing.”

Gem opens the journal to about two-thirds in and fake coughs, “Ahem. Day 42. Not alone here. The island is inhabited and I suspect they’re the cause of my original misfortune. Seems to be a cult.

“Day 43. Yep, definitely a cult. Saw them worshipping some rough statues. One was likely kraken-based and the other had a mythos flavor to it. Big fellow with fishy features. Too rough to tell the specifics.

“And yeah, that’s it. Oh, and given context clues, the days being counted are since whoever this was woke up on the island after their ship sank.”

Emrys laughs, “Yeah, I’d say that’s important. In fact, I think it might be worth running back to the ship. If only to be the first to report on this find.

“I find it highly suspect that we magically found this out. It feels of system intervention. Not that I mind, but I want the reward for the discovery.”

Gem giggled, “I know! Let’s go!” And they break out into a run back to the ship with the others following closely behind.

This doesn’t take long though, as they really hadn’t gotten that far in.

Gem rushes up to the nearest crew member, “Heyo! Just found some dead person’s journal in an abandoned tree shack. Captain Sssally will want to know about it.

“Here, read these last entries!” And Gem shoves the page with the entries they read into the guy’s face.

They roll their eyes, but when they start reading, those eyes go wide and they turn to another of the crew. “Well, they weren’t lying. I’ll be back. Need to bring them to the Captain.”

That other guy grimaces, “Well, that doesn’t bode well.”

The first shakes their head, “No it doesn’t.” And he turns to the group, “Follow me.”

They do and are soon in the ship, outside of Sssally’s office, waiting for her to read the journal. Though soon enough they are invited in.

Sssally is behind her desk. “How much have you read of thisss?”

The other three all look at Gem show shrugs, “I read a few random pages near the front and then skipped to the back and paged towards the front until I hit those last entries.”

Sssally nods, “A sensssible enough method. I’ve paged through a few more and it doesssn’t paint a pretty picture. I fully agree that whoever wrote this was dealing with a cult. WE are dealing with a cult. Because they can’t have missed usss landing. And sssomeone still livesss here, given the smoke.”

Sssally gestures at the crew member who brought them here, “My crew are busssy and I can’t spare them. Congratulations, rewardsss will come later, but for now you’ve just volunteered to spread the newsss. Here is a token representing that you have my authority to do ssso.” and she tosses a marble coin at them.

June reaches out and catches it before the others can react. “We’ll get right on it.”

Sssally gestures at the crew member again, who steps forward. “The specific message she wants you to spread is as follows.

“High alert, potential kraken cult.

“Period. Nothing more, nothing less. You aren’t to shout it from the rooftops, instead going to each of the crew and telling them. You have permission to say you found a journal pointing towards a cult if other passengers ask what is up. However, do not volunteer anything or share more than that.”

And then the man hurriedly ushered the group out onto the beach.

Gem, “Are we supposed to also tell the crew on board?”

The sailor waves them away, “It will be handled.”

Gem shrugs and turns to the others, “Well, guess we better go start telling people that need telling. Only one token though, so it’s a group activity!”

Then they dragged the rest of the group around the beach to repeat their message. Though Gem got a bit too much into the act.

“High alert, potential kraken cult.”

Over and over as they hit up each crew, except with each repetition, they perfected how they said it. Until it took on the exact cadence and tone of the sailor who had said it. They weren’t so crass as to copy their actual voice, or more like Gem didn’t seem willing to, but all of the crew recognized who they were copying.

By the end, Gem had it down cold.

Emrys raises an eyebrow, “Where’d that come from?”

Gem shrugs, “Eh, habit. I pick up accents and such occasionally if it sticks in my mind. Don’t even get me started on an actual drawl, though. That one I can’t actually control. I talk to someone from down south and by the end I sound like I grew up there.

“Thankfully, most people seem to assume I grew up there and am just letting my real accent out. That is very much not the case! The only time I was down that way was for a couple years as a baby. It is honestly quite odd!”