Trying to Survive Sucks: A Tiana KOTLC adventure. ??

Biana's POV

{New Recording ::October 1 2023:: }

When Tam finally said yes to the plan, I felt like this was a brand new chance at life again. Granted, he took his sweet time figuring out the kinks in his logic, but all that matters is that he agreed in the end. Tam should listen to me more. 

Then he told me he loved me and gave me a kiss on the forehead, which was my favorite kind of kiss. He pulled me into a hug. Even in our tiny treehouse, surrounded by thick green woods, I felt right at home in Tam's arms. I sighed with content and let him go.

"Come on, let's go fill Linh in, and then figure out how to sneak onto an island behind enemy lines."

"Everywhere is enemy lines," Tam said with a sigh.

I rolled my eyes and led him to the tiny kitchen where Linh was making lunch. She almost dropped the stale loaf of bread she was carrying when she saw us.

"Did it work? Did you convince him?"

She slapped slices of bread on top of the sandwiches she had just completed.

"Yep! It took some persuasion, but the pan hasn't changed. Now we just have to sneak onto the island that Sophie and Keefe are stranded on and rescue them, then we can try an attack on the Neverseen. At least, that's what we've worked out."

Linh wiped her hands on her wrinkled tunic and nodded, leaning against the wooden picnic table we'd found in a human campsite. Hey, nothing against the humans. They didn't use it, they just took their food to eat on a blanket, which is way worse than a table. A whole bunch of ants crawled all over them and everything, yet they didn't move to the table. It was like they enjoyed eating on the ground.

"So, when are we going for the island? The sooner we rescue Sophie and Keefe, the better. We don't even know if they're still alive." Linh asked? The second the last sentence left her mouth, she crossed her arms over her stomach and turned pale.

"I honestly don't want to think about it," I said carefully. "Let's just make a plan and stick to it."

"And hope they're alive," Tam added.

________________________________________________________________

"Guys, I can't hold this much longer," Linh said slowly. "This water is really angry. I can sense a lot of pollution."

I could see Linh's arms straining under the pressure of holding the water boat together. She had lasted the entire four-mile stretch from the Hawaiian beach, but she was turning a little green.

"Just a little longer," Tam said, his voice also straining with effort. Tam was keeping himself and the strange boat shrouded with shadows, and I kept myself vanished to keep the Neverseen from detecting us. I felt bad I couldn't help more, but once we got to the island and found Sophie, she could enhance me and I could cover us all.

Even with our perfectly though out plan, I honestly wasn't feeling too good about this mission.

Mostly because the last time one of us went on a mission, they didn't come back.

Fitz.

I missed my annoying, obnoxious brother, even though he seemed to hate me and Tam being together. I missed him so much.

I was so distracted by my thoughts I didn't notice the boat touch down on a small island until Tam shook my shoulder.

"You okay?" He asked quietly. 

"I'm fine."

He didn't look convinced, but he didn't say anything. The second all three of us were on land, Linh dropped her arm. The boat dissolved and Linh collapsed onto the warm sand. Tam ran to her.

"I'm fine," She insisted. "Just a little tired."

Tam pulled her off the ground and held her steady until she could stand by herself. I vanished and took a few steps closer to the edge of the jungle, where thick roots and trees ate up the golden sand. The shadows were deep, but I couldn't see anything hiding there. I reappeared and Tam walked up beside me. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his hand drift to his side, where there was a scar from the last time the Neverseen had gotten the upper hand. It was a nervous tick he'd developed in our time at the tree house. I touched his hand to help him focus, and he blinked to snap out of it.

"Sorry. This jungle could hide anything."

Or anyone.

"Yeah," said a new voice coming from the thick brush. "It can."

A very bedraggled Sophie Foster stepped out of the shadows, her blonde hair dirty and tied back with a strip of fabric. Her clothes were ripped and torn, covered in stains that either looked like dirt, blood, or something else I didn't want to think about. She carried a roughly hewn bow and three arrows in a quiver over her shoulder. 

She had been perfectly disguised in the brush. I hadn't seen her at all, even upon my closer inspection.

She leaned against the trunk of a tree and crossed her arms, the picture of confidence. She had the face of someone who had survived. However, her smile was the same.

"Nice to see you guys. Took you long enough to get here."

Edited as of March 7 2025. It might still be the 6th, but I'm not sure because it's really late at night.