wiwo ole - courageous

yo i know it takes me an eternity to update but here it is.

Something Emerson wasn't expecting was to listen to two grown men laugh boisterously as they speak in a language he clearly doesn't understand.

The fact that they keep looking back at him with smirks on their faces as the four of them trek through dry brush and muggy air, leads Emerson to believe they're discussing something involving himself personally. This irks him deeply.

"Hey." Rosalind speaks up, not noticing Peter and Randy's exchange, "I was thinking..."

"Yeah?" Emerson looks over with a squint, swatting away a mosquito in annoyance.

"You were pretty calm up there in that plane for being so afraid of heights." She smiles encouragingly up at him, the light hitting her hazel eyes.

His eyes land on his shoes as he continues to walk with deep breaths, his throat dry. "Who told you I was afraid of heights?"

She laughs, "Who do you think?"

"Alex." He mumbles angrily.

"What?" She asks, "No, actually, it was Claire."

"Seriously?" He pauses, for some reason feeling surprised, "Claire told you?"

Rosalind seems to realize the shock in his voice and is quick to add, "Well, to be fair, I asked. You didn't seem to enjoy hiking and the first time we went you didn't even take a look at the view. I was curious. I'm sorry if I crossed a line by asking."

"No no. It's fine I was just...a little surprised that she'd tell you. She's usually the only one in the group that would do seemingly anything to protect me." He laughs, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Rosalind remains quiet for a moment as she kicks a small pebble with the toe of her sneaker before saying, "Yeah she's pretty great. You're lucky to have so many people who care enough about you to push you to be better."

"More like who push me out of planes and up mountains." He snorts.

"Better than letting you spend your whole young life sitting in your room collecting dust." She smiles over at him with a squint before jogging forward to catch up with the guys.

Watching her go, a tug of annoyance twitches uncomfortably in his gut but it's mostly covered up by a sense of guilt. He knows how hard on his friends he is simply because they push him to reconsider his own decisions. But only when they believe that they're not going to end well for him. He can't necessarily blame them for thinking they're doing what's best for him.

Two miles down, Emerson's throat has never been more dry. He never thought it possible to be this thirty and all that's on his mind is water, rivers, oceans, even a dripping facet.

"Hey do you think we could get off the route to try and find some water?" He speaks up, doing his best to make it sound like no big deal as to not show how incredibly miserable he is.

Randy looks back, his shirt now completely off and tied around his head like a bandana making him look like he's some sort of adventurer on television. "There's nothing near here. We'll have to go for a couple more miles to find water."

"Perfect." Peter mumbles, smacking his arm effectively killing a bug.

Rosalind watches the action with slightly parted lips as she pants, sweat beaded on her forehead as she focuses on her footing. "Yeah...water would be pretty cool right now not gonna lie." She licks her dry lips.

"Well let's move faster and we'll find it sooner." Randy tells them with a sigh, holding up the radio as it statics.

"Could you shut that thing off?" Peter grunts angrily, a scowl on his face.

Randy looks at him like he's a straight up idiot before barking, "Yeah because this isn't why we're walking ten miles!" Sarcasm drops from each word, "Seriously, why can't you shut up and stop complaining long enough for me to not want to kick you in the face?"

This seems to set Peter over the edge, his face reddening with anger. "You know what I think, Randy? You're a putz who can't keep a girlfriend and steals promotions right from underneath people far more deserving than you!"

Everyone falls silent as Peter pants angrily, his outburst making the veins in his neck pop. Rosalind and Emerson share a look of confusion, a laugh bubbling up in his chest as he tries his best to hold it back. Rosalind smirks a little before dropping his gaze and staring at her feet.

"Oh I'm a putz? You're the one who was late to work seven times in the last two months! Not to mention all of the staff meetings you've missed. That's probably why your parachute didn't work, you dolt." Randy mumbles the last part.

When Randy's shoulders are harshly grabbed to face Peter, Emerson comes to a halt and quickly reaches for Rosalind to pull her out of the way. "What did you say?" Peter hisses with his finger pointed at his face.

"Oh come on. This is all your fault! That's what we're all thinking!" Randy looks to us for confirming, making Emerson uncomfortable.

"Uh...I'm not thinking that." Emerson mumbles, scratching the back of his head when Peter's angry eyes are latched onto him.

"Yeah...me neither." Rosalind says non-convincingly.

After a moments hesitation and one last glare at Randy, Peter shoves him away and continues on his way, walking at a faster pace as to get as far from his coworker as possible.

Randy smiles mischievously. "Finally. Now he's moving at a good pace." He winks at Rosalind before jogging ahead.

"Was that on purpose or...?" She mumbles.

"I have no idea."

☆★☆★

Six miles in and they finally manage to find some fresh water. Well, Emerson doesn't know exactly how fresh but he does his best not to think about it as he plunges his head into the small body of water, gulping it down.

Falling on her knees, Rosalind scoops up some water and drinks thirstily. Her braid falls onto her shoulder as Emerson watches in amusement, his hair now dripping and his face feeling cooler against the slight breeze.

"Better?" He asks with a smile, leaning back on his hands.

"Yeah." She chuckles, wiping her face with the back of her wrist, "I don't think I've ever been so thirsty in my life."

"Same." He laughs before looking around in confusion, "Hey where did Randy and Peter go?"

Looking around, Rosalind's brows pull together. "I have no idea." Just as the words emit from her lips, the two of them burst through the brush with panicked expressions.

"We have to go now." Peter says with wide eyes, walking past them.

"What's going on?" Rosalind and Emerson jump to their feet, hearts pounding.

Footsteps are heard from behind the bushes and, before he can even react, Rosalind is tugging at his arm as they struggle to keep up with Randy and Peter. After running on their previous trail, they finally stop.

Hands on his knees, Emerson pants, "What was that all about?" He ignores the dryness already starting to form in his throat already.

Rosalind looks between Randy and Peter before speaking, "I'm guessing there were some islanders back there. Technically no outsiders are supposed to be here. The owners are preserving the island for the locals and we really shouldn't disturb them. Plus, we don't know how they would react to seeing us here."

Randy nods, "They're obviously not hostile people but I'd rather them not know we're here."

"I guess that makes sense. But why do you guys fly over the island then? This could happen to anyone. Malfunctions must happen all the time, right?" Emerson asks.

Peter scratches the back of his neck awkwardly, "Actually...this has never happened before. At least not in the five years I've worked here."

There's a pause in the air before Emerson laughs darkly and pushes past them, walking ahead. "Just my luck."

"Emerson." Rosalind sighs, going after him and giving the two men an apologetic glance. "Emerson, wait up!"

"What?" He sighs, not looking over. He understands that he shouldn't be so ticked off but something about the heat, humidity, and the way the sun beats down on the back of his neck makes him feel annoyed. Annoyed at Peter's douchey attitude, annoyed at the ache in his feet, annoyed at this stupid island and these freaking mosquitoes.

"Are you okay?" When her hand is delicately places on his arm, he looks at it and then at the concerned expression on her face. Even after walking almost seven miles and with her hair practically falling out of the braid that was once perfect that same morning, she still manages to look beautiful.

His gaze darts to the ground. "I'm fine." His response is paired with a sigh.

"I'm sorry this happened. I shouldn't have let any of this happen. I take full responsibility...for everything." Her hand squeezes a little firmer before letting go and giving him a small smile.

His lips perk up. "It's not your fault." He truly doesn't blame her for any of his discomfort or bad luck and he wants her to see that. All of his previous annoyance melts away.

"I guess not but...if I hadn't of let everyone pitch in for your fee then you wouldn't be here."

"And you wouldn't be stuck here either if my instructor didn't make us both knock you and Randy off course so..."

She laughs a little, shaking her head. "I guess that's true. So...we're good then?" She confirms with a questioning look, squinting up against the sun.

"Yeah of course we're good."

"Well good." She replies, her her words immediately followed by silence. "Because now I see that you're not as bad as i originally anticipated." The subtle smirk that slides effortlessly onto her lips indicates that she intends to pull some sort of reaction out of him.

He shrugs indifferently. "People tend to anticipate a lot of things about me. They're all usually wrong as well." This earns a hearty laugh from her, her reaction not what he expected.

"Even the good assumptions?"

"Sometimes." This time it's his turn to smirk slightly, attempting to resist it but failing.

Rosalind doesn't say another word until they reach an end in their trail, their journey upward now beginning at the bottom of the high hill. To his dismay, it looks like quite the steep hike but relief floods him when Randy speaks up.

"I think it's best if Peter and I hike up until we get a signal. I don't want to risk you two falling. It won't take too long so both of you stay put here until we get back, okay?" Emerson wished he was the type of guy to argue and insist on scratching his way up the dirty and rocky hill but the thought of being so high up with no support makes him nauseous.

So he presses his lips together, hiding the relief behind a solid expression. "Yeah whatever you think is best. I'll stay here with Rosalind."

"More like I'll stay here with you." Rosalind mumbles, crossing her arms. "I really think we should all go. You know, stick together just in case?"

"You'll be fine. I'd rather not have to look back every two seconds to check on you. Randy and I have been trained to do this so you coming would only slow us down." Peter roughly spits out at her, earning only a sharp glare from the blonde girl.

"Whatever." She sighs, plopping down on the nearest rock to fiddle with the lace of her shoe.

"Good luck." Emerson gives them a nod and a tight lipped smile which Randy returns gladly before nudging Peter and pulling him away.

Twenty minutes pass and soon they're out of sight, their path taking them out of earshot as well. Emerson doesn't know what to do with himself so he begins to pace back and forth, wringing his hands nervously.

"What's with you?" Rosalind asks him with a grunt.

Emerson looks over blankly, sighing. "What if they don't come back?"

She laughs at his anxiety, making him feel irked. "And what exactly would happen to them? They're perfectly fine, don't worry so much. Come on." She pats the rock next to her gesturing for him to have a seat next to her.

After a moments hesitation, he shuffles over to the spot and slowly lowers himself to her level. "See?" She asks him, "That wasn't so hard."

"Shut up." He speaks without thinking.

She sighs, taking on a serious tone. "Emerson, they're fine, we're fine, everything is fine."

"We literally just jumped out of a plane and are now stranded on a forbidden island. I wouldn't exactly see that as being fine." He says this meaning it bitterly but the smile that spreads over his lips betrays his intentions of remaining upset.

"I think you're beginning to have what we like to call an adventure." Rosalind grins at him, earning an eye roll in return.

Looking around, his nose scrunches and he pretends to wince. "Well it's not to my taste."

"Well excuse me, sir, I guess fate isn't up to your impossible standards."

"I certainly hope it wasn't fate that orchestrated all of this. If it was, I believe it would go by another name. More over, it would go by several names." He snorts, referring to his group of friends.

"Come on, you know they love you. How were they to know this would happen? I'm sure they're beating themselves up plenty now that they're sitting around waiting for us wondering if we'll return." She leans over, her finger drawing circles in the sand on the path as she speaks.

He watches the movements, finding this pointless but not saying so. "Yeah I'd like to see the look on Alex's face when he starts to really believe he may have killed me." The smirk on his lips betrays his morbid statement.

A playful smack is laid on his arm, a disapproving glare on Rosalind's face. "I thought we already agree to not place blame. This was all a huge unfortunate accident."

Something in Emerson, something usually familiar, wants to think of another complaint or pessimistic comment but nothing comes to him. Another part of him brings his eyes skyward, his blue eyes burning under the power of the sun. For the first time, he takes a deep breath, digesting the scene around him fully. He looks around, smiling softly.

The light touches his skin like a warm hello, the slight breeze coming off the nearby ocean pushing his air across his brow. The limited greenery around him seems to thrive in the dry environment. He feels the sudden urge to pull off his shoes and feel the sand beneath his toes.

"What's with you?" Rosalind laughs melodically as she asks this question for the second time.

"Nothing." He tells her with a shrug, "Just smelling the roses."

"Oh." She nods before her brows furrow, "Wait what roses?" He gives her a small sigh and an eye roll, the somewhat trance he was in now broken.

☆☆☆

sorry!!!!

i know this chapter isn't very long either lol sweating emoji. love you! also i know that my facts about the forbidden island might not be accurate so please correct me if i'm wrong.