Log: Nothing new. Weird. I thought something would have happened by now.

I sit at the banquet table, calmly sipping my iced water. On one side of me is my assistant, Aileen, who’s squirming with excitement and chattering excitedly with Pierre, the first mate. 

She turns to me suddenly, saying, "I'm very excited to be your assisstant! Do you want me to call you Ms. Riviore, or do you prefer your first name?"

I was surprised, but quickly gathered my wits, responding, "Oh, Adalicia will do perfectly." 

She nods, "There are many animals on the boat, I've heard? Aren't you excited to meet them?"

I nod, smiling, "I'm very excited, Aileen. I love animals." 

"So do I!" She smiles, and I’m sure that she’ll learn so much on this journey. "Well, I guess this is the crew!”, the captain bellows. "We’ll set off tomorrow morning, and I hope you all have your sea legs, because I've gotten seasick a handful of times myself when I was a young lad, and I can tell you it wasn't a pleasant feeling!" 

~

Sorry about taking so long to post!!

Hey guys, I am SO sorry that I haven't posted on this. I've been meaning to, but life (and band) keeps interfering. XD

Also, I'm changing Aaron to a combat doctor, which means he's really good with being fast and efficient when someone's wounded on the field. And September, could he maybe like Adalica? I'm aware of the age difference.... maybe he could be a bit older and she could be a bit younger? I dunno, if you don't want to that's fine. Maybe he could be 21? 

Aaron~

I jump off the bus that has driven me up to the old hotel, and sprint towards the entrance. My little sister is in there...... I bust through the doors, grab the key from the annoyed-looking receptionist, and drop my luggage in my room. Then, I call Angelica. When she picks up, I simply say "Hey, sis, meet me in the lobby." A minute later, my little sister is standing in front of me. I stare at her for a moment, and she at me. Then, she launches herself into my arms. "Aaron! I missed you so much! Why are you here? Did you get a job?" I pull back and grin at her. "Yes, but I have a feeling we won't be seeing each other on this trip." She raises an eyebrow. "Why?" I sigh. "Well, a few "buddies" of yours decided to waylay me, to take a message to you. And by waylay, I mean knocking me out and stuffing me into a car. I left, obviously. They have a few broken noses now." Angelica laughs. "You go. Unruffled army brothers rock. So what was the message?" "Something about a porpoise revolution in Australia." Angelica's eyes widen. "No. Not the porpoises." I sigh. "I don't speak French. What do you have to do with porpoises?" She takes a deep breath, then decides against it. "Long story. Anyways, it's not worth it. I'm not leaving for some stupid porpise revolution." I grin. "By the way, did I mention Nick was going to be there?" My sister's eyes light up, and she puts her arm up into the air and says "For the revolution! Ryan, come! The porpoises need help! Down with kangeroos!" A sailor who has just walked into the lobby pauses, and runs to grab his things. Presumably one of my sister's colleagues. When she runs out of her room a moment later, her suitcase brimming with gadgets and gizmos, I stop her and look into her eyes. "Be careful. I love you, sis." She gives me a quick hug. "Always. I'll be seeing you." Then, she runs out the door.

The next morning, the ship sets out for Pompeii. I carry all of my luggage at one haul, (all of my medical supplies, as well as my suitcase) and get a few strange looks. I sigh, and hope that people don't assume that just because I'm strong doesn't mean I'm not intelligent. 

I unpack quickly, and go on deck, to see the sights. The ship is just pulling out of the harbor, and I wander over to the railing and take a deep breath of the salty sea air. I love the ocean. I turn to see that I'm next to a young women with clear blue eyes and beautiful red hair. I smile, and say "Hi." She turns to me, and smiles a dazzling smile. "Hi." I hold out my hand, and say "I'm Aaron, a medical combat specialist. I'm a bit of a..... late arrival." She shakes it, and says "Adalica, head zoologist. Pleased to meet you."

A while later, as the sun is setting into the west, I throw myself down on my cot. Today has been a busy day of meeting new people, learning new routines, ect. Hopefully, tonight I won't dream. 

Of course, I do. 

As soon as I drift off, guns start firing in my head. I see the flashes flaring brightly in the night, illuminating the faces of my terrified comrades. Blood flows through the sky, and the scent of it overflows into all my senses, turning the world red....... 

I wake up, sweat pouring down my forehead. Never again. Never again will I go into battle. Never again will I kill other human beings. 

I shouldn't be near other people. I might hurt someone.

Never again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Guys, I'm not going to do many more of these flashbacks, because I don't want to make light of the horror that is war. I just wanted to get across the idea that Aaron was scarred by war, and he's uncertain and afraid of hurting someone. 

I'm changing Mallorie's age to 19.

Mallorie-

Boys adored her. It wasn't a matter of vanity; it was a fact.

She could have been a model. She was thin, graceful.

It helped when you were navigating a crowded, panicked ship in the middle of the night.

"The ship is sinking?"

Mallorie was furious. They ship had been rammed by something; a creature below the water perhaps.

"Yes, ma'am. The thing is making us take on water-"

Mallorie massaged her brow, staring at the electronic blueprint of the submarine, so complex that it was even able to show a live stream of which compartments were taking on water.

"Detach Center A-3," Mallorie snapped. The engineers nodded, but a voice screamed "No!"

It was the zoologist's assistant (isn't her name Aileen?)

"What?" Mallorie said.

"No! That's where all of the animals are," the zooologist girl. 

Mallorie sighed. "The needs of the many outnumber the needs of the few.

The assistant looked furious. "Oh, says the girl flirting with and breaking the hearts of every boy on deck!"

The assistant covered her mouth. "I-I'm sorry-"

"Oh,it's fine. You're right. I'm selfish. I was six when my home country dissapeared beneath the waves. My cousin grabbed my hand as the helicopter rose into the sky. And you know what? That helicopter barely supported my family. So I dropped him. He drowned. I'm a selfish monster."

The assistant stared at Mallorie's retreating back as Mallorie shouted orders to the crew. 

Pierre 

~

I happen to be one of those people whom animals will naturally follow around, and listen to. So all the dogs and cats will live.

Aileen, I am sure, won't be so lucky.

I don't understand her. I doubt I ever will. What kind of motivation does a person need to have to abandon every chance of safety just to save some parrots and snakes? Humans can't eat parrot food. She'll starve to death even if she doesn't drown, or freeze, or...

I stop my train of thought.

And all of a sudden, I know what kind of person does that. A gallant person. A hero. A selfless, brave hero.

If Aileen is a hero, what does that make me? A hero's sidekick? Or the guy who abandons the hero, and leaves her to die?

I hunch miserably in the downpour, surrounded by wet-dog smell. My world is being twisted in a million directions, and I don't know if I've made the right decisions. Guilt floods through me. I know if I never find out what happened to Aileen, the guilt will never go away.

People try to talk to me. I vaguely hear their voices over the roaring of the storm. I don't want to talk. Every time someone speaks I say, "Je ne parle pas anglais." And I wish that I didn't speak any English. Then I wouldn't have to hear their concern, their confusion, their anger at how I'm not doing anything to help.

I drop my head into my hands, feeling the pounding rain against my hair. I remember, less than a week ago, sitting nervously at the banquet, praying someone spoke French. If only all my problems were that simple.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

does anyone get the outsiders reference to "dying gallant"?  

Mallorie-

There was an unidentified life form  in Sector A-3.

Mallorie slammed her hands against the screen, shouting. She dashed down the stairs to the deck.

A-3 was sealed, about to detach.

"Aileen!" Mallorie shouted, "Aileen! Stop this! You can send some of the animals out! Not all of them have to live! this is suicide! AILEEN!"

No response.

Mallroie screamed and slammed into the door one last time before it detached. She wiped a tear from her eye and stomped off.

Pierre was crying. Mallorie detached herself, let her calm take over.

"Get up, Pierre," she said, "we'll reach the island soon. We've stopped taking on water.

~Aileen

I opened my eyes, staring at the ceiling of the greenhouse, for a moment forgetting where I was. Then it all came back to me, and I squeezed my eyes shut to keep the tears in. Don't cry, Aileen. At least you're not dead. And the island must be close by... just get to the island and wait for the others to come. 

I stood up, uncertainly, nodding my head. Yes, that was a good plan. I walked over to the snake, Vincent. It hissed, then looked at me. I smiled, taking some snake food (what do snakes eat?) and putting it in, watching him gobble it up. 

I reached my hand in, lightly petting it, and it didn't move or protest, "Good morning, Vincent," I murmured, taking my hand out and putting the lid of the cage on again. It hissed again, quieter this time, then curled up and just stared at me, not moving at all. 

I heard a flap of wings behind me, and turned around, laughing as Ronan flapped his wings into my face, squawking loudly, "Ronan!" A feather fluttered down, onto my head, and I took it off, sticking it into my belt, where it hang down like anothe fold in my skirt. 

I threw the door of the greenhouse open, letting the warm sun shine on my face. The ocean shone clear, shining brightly, like thousands of gems. I couldn't see the ship, but I could see land, on the horizon, a small patch, but still there. The island.  

Now, all I had to do was get the greenhouse to the island. Easier said than done. As I closed the door to the greenhouse, I suddenly realized that I was very thirsty, and hungry, too. My stomach grumbled, and I looked at all the tropical trees, wondering if their fruit was edible. 

Some of them were higher than any tree I'd ever seen, but there were also some that were short, with fruits low enough for me to pick without having to climb up anything. If only I'd done some reasearch on what tropical fruits were edible!

I surveyed a tree with largish, magenta fruits on it, oval-shaped, with spikes that weren't to sharp. I hesitated, then plucked one off of the branch. I'd seen Miss Adalicia cutting these into pieces before, but I wasn't sure what she was doing with them.

Well, I didn't know if I could survive long without food or water; the saltwater that had gotten onto my lips only made me even more thirsty. 

I'd always done things without thinking, recklessly, so that might have been part of what gave me the courage to eat this exotic fruit. I bit into it, then spat it out, laughing at my foolishness. I'd bitten into the peel. I dug my fingernail into the place I'd bitten, peeling away some of the peel. The fruit inside was milky-white, with small, black seeds inside, smaller than the seeds of a watermelon. 

I wasn't sure if I was supposed to eat them, but there were too many to spit out every one of them, so I just shrugged, and took a big bite, chewing it slowly. 

I was surprised at it's flavour- surprisingly delicious! I smiled, peeling away the rest of the peel, and eating it. It didn't satisfy all of my thirst and hunger, but it would do, for now. Now, my task was getting to the island. 

I opened to door again, peering out, wondering how the people on the ship were doing. Hopefully, they were all alright, and near the island, like I was. I peered into the horizon; the island seemed closer than before. I just had to trust the current to take my to my destination. 

I closed the door, and sat down again, looking up at the highest trees, where Rosy and Ronan were flying around, dashes of green, red, and yellow. 

~~~

By the way, that fruit she was eating was edible-it's called dragon fruit. I had it a lot in Singapore, where there were tons of tropical fruits. It's pretty good! The inside can also be this magenta color, but I think the white ones taste better.

TOPTOPTOPTOPTOPTOP! THIS AWESOME RP! TOPTOPTOPTOPTOPTOPTOP!!!!!!!!!