"Really? That sounds freakin' awesome," Everett listened intently, not questioning anything being said.

It was almost akin to a dog, the sort of unquestioning loyalty that the shielder had towards those he recognized as his friends. None more so than Emilio himself, who Everett trusted like his own blood.

"I thought if we could all pass the trial and become "sages", that'd be our best chance. Think you can do it? I'm warning you–this might be a whole lot harder than our world-class trial was," Emilio said, looking at his friend as he spoke seriously, "--I encountered a foe unlike anything I faced before."

"Somebody that even gave you trouble?" Everett asked, leaning in curiously.

They sat on the bed of leaves while talking, seeming that the trees inhabiting the region were in their fall lifespan, discarding every leaf from their branches.

Emilio nodded, "Yeah. I threw everything at him and he didn't budge in the least. That's the kind of difficulty that awaits us. If you think you can't handle it, you don't have to go with me to find the temple–I'm sure you'll be safe just staking out there. Then after, we'll–"

"I'm comin' with ya, one-hundred percent," Everett insisted.

As he was about to question the thoughtless loyalty of a friend, he stopped himself, knowing that the only rationality that Everett followed was his own heart, and nothing else.

"Thanks," Emilio said with a smile.

"'Course!" Everett gave him a thumbs-up, "We're in this together–the others know that, too!"

historical

He wanted to kick himself for not realizing how understanding Everett would be of the situation–thankfully, since the shielder didn't do much critical thinking to get upset anyway.

"By the way, did you hear that lightning earlier?" Emilio asked.

Everett looked at him before nodding, remembering a second later, "Ah, yeah, that! Spooked me and the critters 'round here real good. What about it?"

He was almost surprised that the bumpkin didn't automatically pick up what the lighting meant, then he remembered, again, who he was dealing with.

"..Sirius. That lighting is from Sirius," Emilio informed him.

"Ooooooh!" Everett realized, "We should go find 'im!"

"Yeah. That's what I was getting at."

Together, the two ventured through the region of colossal trees; bushes the size of cottages existed at the base of the trunks, accompanying their path.

It felt somewhat nostalgic to be traveling with Everett through the unknown.

"Doesn't this remind ya if when we did the world-class trial?" Everett asked, brushing the leaves off of his shield.

The fallen leaves crunched beneath Emilio's boots as he nodded, "I was just thinking the same thing. It feels like it was an eternity ago."

Though the world-class trial itself didn't exactly hold memories that were fond to look back at.

"Ya know, this is an adventure, ain't it?" Everett asked.

"Huh? I mean..sorta, it's not like a quest or anything," Emilio responded.

The shielded smiled giddily, "It ain't like what's an adventure er' not is about if it's all official or anything. We're out here in the 'unknown', discoverin' stuff and facing strong creatures—that's a real adventure."

It sounded as though Everett was excited at the prospect of exploring a mysterious, challenging land.

"Yeah, I guess it is an adventure," Emilio nodded with a smile.

The environment was strange and foreign, but the particular region of the island they were in didn't seem hostile. Despite the birds that nested on the trees being as large as dinosaurs themselves, they didn't seem all too interested in the humans that walked across the leaf-covered ground.

"Hopefully none of those birds up there have a craving for humans," Emilio remarked, looking up as he walked.

The birds were perched on the enormous branches, watching them from above with curious, beady eyes, though not moving any closer.

"Ha-ha! Dontcha worry 'bout that," Everett laughed.

"Well, you don't have to worry. I doubt any bird would be able to swoop you away," Emilio mumbled.

As they walked together, the region shifted away from the cluster of colossal trees into a more open field, with vines hanging off of the trees in more abundance. Going off of his strong sense of smell, Everett sniffed the air like a dog, which was something that Emilio still hadn't gotten used to witnessing.

"Sniff..Sniff.." Everett held his nose up to the air.

"Err, smell something?" Emilio thought.

'He really is like a dog sometimes–whether it's that unconditional loyalty, or well..this,' he thought.

Rubbing his own nose, the shielder nodded, "Salt is real heavy in the air now. I can smell it–the sea! At least, I think that's what it smells like; salty, fresh, and kind of fishy."

"Sounds about right. Then we're near the shores of the island," Emilio remarked.

It was impossible to see if the shore was just beyond their current spot as the foliage clung together, making a wall of bushes around the clearing.

"Uh-oh, I smell somethin' else near us," Everett said, sniffing the air as he rubbed his nose.

Just then, the bushes around them began rustling; the trees shook under the weight of something passing through them as the verdant leaves clinging to the near-shore trees bounced.

"--What is it?" Emilio asked, drawing his sword.

Everett answered, "It smells like a person, but not a person? Err, kinda rancid!"

"That's not helping," Emilio sighed.

Suddenly, a creature slammed down from the bushy trees above, landing on the grass before them with its fists slamming into the soil, causing an eruption of dirt to be clung in every direction.

"Yeah, that's definitely what I was smellin'! Hey, you, go take a bath!" Everett yelled to the creature.

Before the two men, a towering primate with curly, dark-blue fur stood with its knuckles pressed into the dirt–a gorilla; a monstrous one, at that.

"Just great. I really should've expected that this island wouldn't just let us walk around without trying to kill us for five minutes, huh?" Emilio said, somewhat annoyed at the creature blocking their path.

'...If I had a nickel for every time I've fought a gorilla in this world,' he thought.