Monster Island
By
bfoster
The following text is from the personal logs of Captain Ghetsa Ho Tent, Commander of the Japanese Navy Asaio Class Destroyer, Osio.
The story you are about to read has been translated into English. Some of the original text has been changed to fit within English references. There are parts of the text that could not be translated from the original Japanese writings. In these areas a brief description will try at best to describe what Captain Tent was writing about. In some cases within the body of the text there are missing sections. These areas will be noted. The original hand written text has at times different styles of hand writing giving the idea either the state of the writer or different writers all together. Where the original writings changes will also me noted.
The history of Captain Ghetsa Ho Tent (gee-het-sa ho tee) is very limited. All that is known is that he first entered Japans Navy in 1920 at the age of 18. When Japan became involved in World War Two, Ghetsa had risen from a Ensign to a Captain of his own Ship. Little of where he came from and anything of a personal history is unknown. Records from that period for him are lost. In the flowing text, Ghetsa talks very little about himself. The Text is not a Ships log or a diary. Why he wrote the original text is unknown. How the notes came to be known will be explained within the text. What follows is his words.
I have seen many things in my short life. Many things that are beyond my comprehension. I have time now to look at what has happened. Have I been a good Captain to my men? I do not know. I can not judge my actions but can only be judged.
The men are in good hopes today. Out of the one hundred and ninety men under my command 20 are left. I have lost track of time, days go by like grains of sand though my hands. Each day I have to gather my strength to stay alive. The world I live in now is hard and rugged. The landscape is full of monsters. Monsters that would eat me for a snack for it not my weapons and my skill. I have tried to make my way home but even as trained soldier just surviving is all I can do. The odds of me getting off this island alive is remote. This island, this monster island is a hell on earth. This is why I am writing, before I forget.
I remember the day before the hell began. The mission was going well. After six weeks out at sea the crew and the ship were still strong. The mood of the crew aboard the Osio was something else other than strong. The men had seen little of battle but they thirsted for it. The Osio being a light destroyer with only six, five inch guns as it's main defense, was never meant for the battle that awaited us. My crew knew that, but I continued to believe that the mission would be a success. As far as any of us knew our mission was simple one, escort the pride of our nation to safe waters. There where five other ships guarding the main ship in the convoy.
I was in contact with the other ships in the convoy and the other captains did not feel the same way as I did. Were I felt like my men with failure in my heart they did not. I know now that it was because I was the youngest of the captains in the convoy. The others Captains had seen many battles where I and my crew had not.
Up to that time I had only been in two sea battles. In the first, two years ago as I write this, The Osio was hit at the bow by a torpedo causing enough damage to dry dock us for three months. I lost 70 men that day. The second battle six months later my gunners where able to shoot down ten planes. The main guns where able to hit three American ships causing minor damage. I feel that even though we did not sink any enemy ships I did not lose any men.
The Convoy was holding a tight configuration as it sailed north. Three hours before the first wave of enemy air craft hit us the day was warm and the sea calm.
The Osio was taking up the rear of the convoy. I revived a orders from the commander of the convoy to pull closer to the main ship. I remember at the time that it was a strange order but I followed it. For all my years in the navy, the idea of me writing that an order is strange would never had happen if not what I've been though. I was an office that followed my superiors. Then I found this island and how I see the world has changed.
My first office, Akira was on the bridge at the time of the first wave of attack. I was down below in the galley . I heard the props of the enemy airplanes as they dove to attack the main ship of the convoy. It's a sound that only men of battle hear. That wine of a prop plane as it dives from a high attitude can is something you can never forget. I was on the forward deck as the first wave started their attack. As I ran towards the bridge I could hear the enemy bombs hit there targets.
Within the two minutes it took me to get to the bridge of the Osio the main ship was in flame. One of the other light curses had also been hit and was starting to sink. Akira had ordered that all the Osio guns be fired at the enemy planes.
My Crew was well trained and were at there posts and doing there best to bring down as many planes as possible. I could see that the remaining ships in the convoy doing the same.
Then I received a radio message from the main ship. She was still operational and ready to fight. I looked at the main ship and saw her main guns aim for the enemy. The she fired all guns in tandem. I felt that world pause to witness the power of the ship. It was a moment I will never forget.
Then the enemy returned fire, from my calculations it was from more than three battleships. The main ship was hit again but she returned fire with another heart stopping salvo.
I then ordered the engines full and for the helmsman to take a parallel coarse with the Main Ship. It seemed that only a moment after the orders where given the was hit by enemy fire. The Stern had been hit.
My Crew started to put out the fire as they had trained to do. I noticed that the Osio started to steer away from the Convoy.
The main ship fired again at the unseen enemy battleships. At that moment, I knew all was lost. The enemy had us out numbered. It was at this moment that my world changed. I do not remember the sound of the impact of the enemy shell. I later learned that the bridge was hit by three times within seconds. Most of the Bridge was destroyed. Only myself and Akira survived from the bridge crew. I was only ten feet from one of the rounds and somehow I was alive. I remember feeling as light as a feather. I couldn't hear anything for hours. As fast as I felt this I was filled with pain and the smell of death. The parts of the dead lay all around me. Then I looked up to see that where once the bridge front window was now open to the world.
I felt nothing as I looked for the last time the main ship on fire. It's guns came to life releasing another deadly volley. As this happened a silver mist over came the main ship and disappeared. No, as I now recount what happened the Osio sailed into a fog bank. Strange that such a think fog bank would form on such a clear and calm day.
I looked around the remains of the bridge. What was left of the ships wheel still stood. Akira was there trying to steer. I must had said something because he turned to me.
I could see that he was scared from head to toe with burns. His uniform was mostly gone. He still had a fire in his eyes as he came over to me.
He was crying. But they where not tears of sadness but of rage.
He helped me to my feet as I asked how long I had been out.
He gave me the details but I still could not hear. He later had to tell me what happened.
The Osio was still moving away from the rest of the convoy at full speed. The main ship was still firing its guns as it's decks burned. The two remaining light cruisers where still putting up a fight. Fires had engulf one but it's crew continued to draw the enemy's fire. The other wasn't fairing any better.
I tried to make contact with the engine room but with the bridge was smashed it was useless.
The fog that the Osio had drifted into became a savior. We were no longer being hit my enemy fire. I did not know how long the fog would last. I gave Akira a direct command to scuttle the ship if he saw any enemy aircraft. I know now that command was a foolish one. The enemy had their target, the main ship. The Osio was no threat. We where on fire and listing badly. My men and I where no concern to the enemy now, how could we fight. With out the ability to steer the ship we couldn't rejoin the battle.
With the bridge destroyed I headed to engineering. If I was going to die that day I wanted to do so fighting. Akira stayed on the remains of the bridge.
When I got to engineering I found it was in as the same condition as the bridge. A enemy shell had ripped though the hull and killed most of the engineering crew. As luck would have it, the shell missed the main engines. They where still at full power.
Even though the main engines where still working very little else was. I found that things could have been worst than they were. The shell that had penetrated the hull had not exploded. The shell had blasted though the Osio's light armor and into one of the ballast pumps. It was the ballast pump exploding that caused most of the damage. It was also why the ship was listing. If the shell has exploded it would have ripped the hull open and sunk the ship.
One of the surviving engineering crew found the enemy unexploded shell laying on one of the cat walks. It was funny to think so much death had happened and there was a perfect shell laying on a cat walk like it was brand new.
With help of the surviving engine room crew we where able to reestablish control over the engines. The four hours it took seemed like days. The heat was intolerable.
My hear fire marshal had his hands full at the same time I was gaining control of the engine room. He had four teams fighting the largest of the fires. The Stern was hardest hit.
Luck was with us that day. First was the Silver Fog bank that gave us protection, the Stern fires were soon under control and we was able to regain of the ships engines. All that was left was to rig a steering system for the ship.
I brought the Osio to a complete stop. When I came topside I found that we where still in the fog bank. Never had I been a fog bank that long during daylight hours. I made my way to the bridge where Akira was still manning the wheel.
It was nearly twelve hours after the first bombing that we had control of the crippled Osio. It was at this time my Second in command asked me why had not abandoned ship. Akira has always been very open about questioning me about how the ship was run. He asked me as he ways did when it came to questioning my orders that he found fault in, he asked in private. I told him very simply that it never had occurred to me.
He looked at me with discuss with his half burned face.
I told him we were alive. That could not be said of the rest of the fleet. We at least could fight another day.
That was when I was told of the fate of the main Ship. It was gone is a blaze of fire.
I had spent the last few hours to save my ship from utter destruction only to realize that it was my mission to die fighting protecting the main ship. Now it was gone. I had failed.
Akira had gone into the radio room and was in contact with the main ship at the time of it's destruction. He was friends with the radioman on the main ship.
Akira said that the main ship gave a good fight until the end. I could see the pain in his face. It's still hard to believe that the ship is gone. Akira said that it's last moments will be forever burned into his memory. That is how I felt even though I had seen or heard the destruction. I could see the sheer power of the explosion that would have engulfed the main ship.
I asked Akira if we where still in Radio Contact with the rest of the convoy and he said that all communication was cut off shortly after the news of the main ships destruction.
I feel I have done a great dishonor to the Emperor by not holding off the enemy. I will have to live with that dishonor for the rest of my life.
With all the confusion that comes from battle and then the lose of steerage and then with the engines running at full speed, this put us in a situation that I never had to face before. I was lost without communications. With the state of the ship all we could do was die honorably or wait for the enemy to either capture us or sink us.
I stood there on the Osio's damaged bridge and pondered our fate. All we needed was time to get safe a safe harbor so we could repair the ship and our bodies to fight again. But it was the Fog bank that was now our enemy. For I could tell it was becoming night, I could not see the sky and the stars. Only with the guidance of the stars could I get us home.
We where a crippled ship with no defenses lost in hostile waters.
Night passed as the crew worked on the steering. The next morning the fog did not dissipate. With luck we did manage to regain steering, even if it was crude. With only a guess and little else I pointed the Osio towards what I hoped was a safe return to home. The damn Fog seem to stick to us like glue. I couldn't sail out of it no matter what direction the prevailing winds were. And that started to bother me. I've spent many years out at sea and never had I run into a fog like this.
Fog drifts like a feather even if there is no breeze. This fog seemed to deify logic. It was almost like it wanted to stay with us. At all times it surrounded the ship but never came within ten feet of the ship itself. Even now after all I have been though I still think of that Fog not as mist but a living thing.
Because of the Fog blinding us I did not want to push the Osio beyond her limits.
I did not feel the same about the men. They needed to be pushed to there limits. I knew that they were tired. Some of them their minds had given up. Others were filled with grief about failing in our mission.
We spent the next three days at quarter speed in the Fog bank. I calculated that we traveled 300 miles but the Fog gave us the no notion that we had moved an inch.
On the third night a strong breeze blew across our bow. Before I knew it we where in the middle of a thunder storm. The Fog bank like a cat scared off by a Dog, dissipated at the first sigh of lighting. It was the first time I welcomed a storm at sea. We were finally free of the Fog bank.
After an hour of the storm we found ourselves on a calm sea with a wonderful star filled night. It was when I started to have hope again.
My sea charts where destroyed with the bridge so I had to guess our position. At first I could not believe our position. At best we were over 2000 miles off course. We somehow had traveled to across the hemisphere. I do not know how this could be but the stars do not lie. That storm wasn't the worst I had seen but there must have been some type of rip tide effect that caused such a feat. The area of ocean I believed we where in was far East of the main battle lines of the war. We were safe from enemy attack. What we weren't safe from was the Osio herself.
She had survived the battle and the storm but now with our location so far from home, the Osio may not be able to get us to a safe harbor. I did not know if I was correct with our location of the ship but I made a heading West towards home.
Later that night we lost four crewmen from wounds from the battle. We still had over thirty men unaccounted for during the battle. That left with me 70 men to watch over.
On the morning of the fifth day Akira spotted land. The men greeted the news like a starving man sees food. I think that if we were able to at that moment, they would have gotten down on there hands and knees and kiss the dirt of the island.
I've seen men act as small children when they see land after a long stretch at sea. I, alone, had concern about seeing land. I did not like how it looked. The island had a look to it that I can not properly describe.
The island we where heading for, as best as I could remember, wasn't on any navel charts. I wished I could have looked at my navel charts and confirm the location of the island.
I wanted to tell Akira about my concern about the land but his joy made me put aside my concern and congratulated Akira on a job well done. Akira told me it was because of my leadership that saved the men. That was the last time Akira would congratulate me.
My first thought was to travel the coast of the land mass to find if it was civilized. It soon became apparent that this land mass was a medium island. I set a course to circle the island but the Osio only made about 10 percent around the island when something happened. One of the ballast pumps burned a bearing. The Osio started to take on water.
At this time luck was with us. The island had a small natural harbor near our location for the Osio to anchor in. The calm waters of the harbor would allow my crew to repair the Osio. We anchored the ship around noon and I ordered Akira to take one of the launches with a small crew to circle the island. I needed to know if this island was desolate or not.
Looking back I should have led the landing party but at the time I was still in a military state of mind. The captain would never lead a landing party during war time.
The next few hours I spent studying the depth of the harbor, which was fifty feet deep, and the island itself. It was a classic volcanic made island. There seemed to be no volcanic visible activity. I judged that the island was about three miles long going east to west. There seemed to be no animal life on land from where I sat on the Osio. All I could see were seagulls feeding off the fish in the harbor. Thousands of birds where feasting on the water to the west of the Osio. This did not seem strange at first. Nothing at that point seemed strange.
I started to take notes about the landscape around the Osio. The small harbor that the Osio was anchored was about a quarter mile round. The main land mark of the island was the volcanic mountain. From my point of view it seemed that the island was more like a triangle. The highest part of the island was on the west part where the dormant volcano dominated. Then came the center hills that flattened out to plains just before becoming beach. I did my best to draw the lay of the land. *
* No drawings were within the papers of the Text.
Akira and his men returned just before sunset. He reported that the island was deserted of human life. He did present me with four carcasses of the indigenous life of the island. I was at first disturbed that he had set foot on the island. I told him about my orders that he was only to circle the island. Akira wasn't interested what I was thinking at that moment. He wanted me to look at the four small animal bodies. I was furious at him. Even with my fury the dead animal being thrust into my face caught me off guard. It didn't look like any type of animal I had ever seen before.
The creatures were all small about the size of a rabbit but they had hair like a cat and paws like a dog. Their body shape varied but they all had a athletic builds. The head was unlike any type of animal I've seen a live. The teeth were over sized. Each had fangs at least three inches long sticking out at weird angles. The nails where thick and black as a dogs. They weighted in at about twenty pounds each.
Then Akira told me that when the creatures where live they were fierce and hard to kill. I looked at the teeth and could imagine the damage the sharp fangs could do. Then Akira informed me that there were larger creatures on the island.
The sizes of the creatures ranged from the rabbit size creatures like the ones he killed to ones the size of a horse. One was seen to be eight feet tall and twenty feet long with fangs three feet long. I didn't know what to say. I had to trust him.
He also said that there where hundreds of these types of animals on the island.
The next day I ordered Akira and a group of men to travel around island again to give me a detailed description of the island.
He and his men left just after sun rise and headed east. During the day the remaining men and I tended to the Osio. Around 3pm I was back top side of the Osio. I had asked if anyone had seen Akira and his men yet. None of my men had.
I saw that the swarm of birds west of the ship where still massing in the same area from the day before. Then there was a disturbance from within the mass of birds. Hundreds of birds took to the air. There was something scaring them. Then I saw the reason. It was Akira and his men. I then heard gun fire. Akira and his men where firing their weapons at the birds. I grabbed my binoculars to see what was happening. By the time I focused my binoculars I could see Akira at the front of the boat pointing at something in the water. I couldn't hear him but I could see him order the men to fire another salvo on whatever was in the water. They did as they ordered. I turned to my second office and told him what I saw. He took the binoculars from me and confirmed what I saw. I could not understand why Akira would order his men to do such a thing. My second officer then told me that Akira and his men where making there way back towards us. As soon as Akira and his men where far away from what ever they were shooting at the Birds returned to feed. Whatever was in the water the Birds where drawn to it. This action of the birds confirmed that this island was very different from any other island that I had ever been to.
Within the hour I had Akira and his men in the galley. They had three bird carcass to show me. The birds were as strange as the creatures that roamed the land. This island was a home of monsters. The birds bodies had the look of a see gull. It's skin was covered with leather like a reptile rather than feathers. It's wings where a thin membrane. Also at the end of it's wings there where small claw like hands. The birds beak was curved down at the end with a sharp tip, razor sharp. I looked at Akira and expressed my fear if those birds would attack the Osio with out our hand guns we wouldn't stand a chance.
Akira told me that we had nothing to fear. There seemed to be some type of dead creature laying in harbor to the west of us. "A Whale?" I interjected. "No," Akira said. This carcass was larger than any whale he and ever seen. "When why did you have your men fire at it?" I asked with my officer voice. I was still trying to act as a Naval office at that time. Akira seemed to think for a moment to find the correct words. He looked at his men and then back at me. "There are other creatures in the water.... feeding on the large carcass" is all he said.
I looked at his men and they all agreed. I turned and left the room. I stopped just outside the door. I had no idea what to do. Strange monsters on the land, in the air and now in the water. What type of island had we found. Then I heard from within the galley Akira and his men talking about what they saw. They were men tired and wanting to go home. One of them jokingly said, "Looks like no ones going swimming" I felt good that the men could see something funny in the situation. The Osio was in no shape for open seas without more repairs .
I returned to galley with a quickness that Akira and his men did not expect. I caught them off guard but they came to attention. I asked Akira if there was a possibility that repairs to the ship could occur while these creatures where in the water. Akira looked at me said he didn't know. He told me whatever was underwater wasn't affected by the gun shots. He felt that the sea creatures where more interested in the carcass.
I had to make a choice. It only took me a moment to look over the men in the galley. I ordered Akira to schedule repairs to the hull. Even with the little damage to the hull it would still mean men would have to enter the water. I hoped that the work would be finished by mid-afternoon.
After twenty minutes into the first dive on the hull I soon was told that the hull damage was more extensive then first thought.
In dry dock the repairs would have taken a week to fix. Here in this harbor it might take us two months. Time was against us. The next day four men went into the water to fix as much as they could of the hull. Within a hour only three men came out of the water. The Creatures were attracted to the noise the men made as they welded. After that no man wanted to go into the water. The creatures in the harbor were making any repairs impossible.
That night Akira and I met over dinner. We talked about our situation with the hull. Our discussion soon led to the island and it's many different creatures. Akira felt that even though the land creatures might be dangerous he felt confident that he could hold kill enough of them to make a camp. He did tell me that he used simple hand weapons to kill the small creatures.
Then he asked for my permission to set up a land base. I listened to his reason. He felt a outpost on the island would aid the men in there fear of monsters in the water. I felt our only hope was to made the Osio sea worthy again.
This was the start of the divide between me and my first officer. It hadn't been more than a week and he was acting as if the entire crew of the Osio was no longer part of the navy. I tried to set him back on track. I turned the conversion towards the Osio.
Akira listened to me list out what has to be repaired on the Osio. I could see he in his eyes his plans were set but he listened to me out of respect.
My list started with the hull repairs. It was only one of many problems. The ballast pumps were another. Last and the worst was fuel oil. We were dangerous low. With us off course and lost I had no idea if we would made it to any safe port. Every day we stayed at Monster island as I dubbed it meant we used up more fuel.
The next day repairs to the Osio continued. I spent my day building a sextant. It was crude but we needed to know where we were. The sextant I had as a junior office was destroyed when the American shell took out my quarters and the bridge.
That day also gave us a look at the creatures in the harbor. Some of the men deiced to fish. They used raw meat from one of the creatures we killed on land. Once hooked it took four men to get the sea monster out of the water and on the deck.
It must have been around three hundred pounds of pure muscle. When they got it on deck it wasn't too happy. It caused a ruckus within the men. It had fins like a dolphin but at the end of its fins it had short thick fingers with short almost knife like finger nails on the end of each finger. The body of the monster was more of a walrus. It's large tail was like a whales. It's head was like a sharks but not like any shark I've ever seen. The upper and lower jaws were it's teeth. Four large teeth, two on top and two on the bottom. The jaws of the creature where terribly strong. Just as the men got the monster on deck it cut though the wire that had caught it. With no lines holding it down the monster flexed it massive body to free itself from the air. Without any orders given, two inch ropes were tossed across the Creature.
The moment the ropes touched the creature it acted as it knew what the men had in store for it. It rolled it's mass towards my men. Most of the men got out of the way but not all. Three men where crushed my the monster. It rolled over them like a man steps on to an ant. From my view from the third level deck I could see the horror the creature was creating. I watched as more ropes were thrown around the mad monster. All it wanted was to be returned to the safety of the water. Then the monsters mouth came into contact with a man. And a moment later that man was half gone. The monster was larger that a horse but could move like a bat out of hell. I heard screams from some of the men. Then before any more men could be killed a burst of gun fire rang out. Akira had manned one of the 50 caliber machine gun and unleashed hell. Akira pumped 50 rounds into the creature and at first that only made the creature even madder. The Men and I watched as the Creature rolled on the deck trying in vain to return to the water. Akira continued to fire the 50 caliber hitting the creature. Pieces of it few everywhere. Even I was hit by bits of the creature. What was left of the beast soon slowed and finally stopped, dead.
That night Akira and his men ate well. The food storage compartments of the Osio where damaged during the original attract and after a week we were starting to run low of fresh food. I was the only one of the crew not to partake of the feast. I didn't mind the can food. Akira told me later that the monster tasted like chicken.
* At this time it seems either part of the Text is missing or this is the point Ghetsa returned to writing the text.
It has been over a month since we arrived on Monster Island. Akira and most of the crew have taken residence on the island full time. I am not the captain I once was. All that is left on the Osio are twenty men and myself. I find it hard to lead the reaming men as I once did.
Akira and his men have done well for themselves. They have a secured camp site about a mile from shore. I've never seen this camp. Akira has returned once an a while to tell me how he and the men are doing. I don't know why he keeps me informed on what he and his men are doing. It might have been out of respect of who I once was. Since I arrived on Monster Island I've never left the Osio decks. I try to do as much as possible to help with the repairs of my crippled ship. The hull has been repaired as best as possible. There is still so much to do before the Osio is sea worthy again.
If my men and I are unable to ready the ship we only have enough food for another two weeks on board and that is if we ration our food to the extreme. I've seen a change in the men that have eaten the meat from the monsters from the island. The men that have stayed with me have also seen this. Even without eating the meat I have noticed that the men and I have been changed in minor ways. The water we drink may be infected. The fresh water tanks of the Osio are empty and the fresh water from Monster Island is infected with something. Must be the same infection in the food. But then I think at night, the infection may be in the air itself.
My mind continues to find ways to fix the Osio but now with only twenty men to run her, setting to sea would be a difficult task. I've set a meeting in the main galley in one hour. I leave it up to my men to stay or go. I can not force anyone to do something that is beyond their means.
We have been on this dreaded island far too long. My men have decided not to take the Osio out to sea. The hull repairs, as I've been just told were never finished because of the creatures in the harbor. Why did Akira tell me that the hull was fixed? Why has he betrayed me. My men are weak and are afraid of the monsters of the island to send word to Akira...
Maybe tomorrow Akira will stop by and give me an update on him and his men.
Food supplies are almost gone. I fear I will lose the rest of my men to Akira. Akira must have food and water, be it tainted or not to have survived this long in the jungle.
We have not seen Akira or any of his men within sight of the Osio in over a week. I feel that Akira has either been killed or he feels that I do not need to know what he and his men are up to.
Last night ten men left the ship to join Akira and his men. Now there are only eight men left for me to command. I blame Akira for this. He has taken a loyal crew and made them into pirates. So many men have died on this island out of his treason. He is to blame.
* The hand writing becomes almost impossible to read at times. What is printed next is the only text readable.
Using my homemade sextant I believe I have plotted the location of this monster island. I may not have the use of my right arm but I believe the map is as precise as any nautical map I've ever seen.
It is hard to write.
A night monster came to me last night. I saw it from my cabin window. It must have floated by my window
Three days I've have been unable to walk.
Last thing I saw this morning was the foot prints of the night monster. I had one of my men check the size of the prints. They where three feet long. I left my cabin today for the first time in weeks. The ship is in bad shape. The crew are not keeping up with there duties.
I was talking to the night monster last night. It stood at the edge of the beach. It must have been about twenty feet high. As we talked it fed on the monsters in the water. Funny, it looked like it enjoyed eating them.
Only five men are left of my crew . Two died and the rest left to join Akira. I think I will ask the night monster if he knows where Akira and his men are?
I am unable to stand anymore. I have become a prisoner of my own bed. I fear that I will die.
* at this point in the text, the hand writing improves greatly. It is a summed that one of the remaining men is writing for Ghetsa. Who is the writer is unknown. This "Ghost writer" writes as if he is Ghetsa. I do not have any evidence of a Ghost Writer for he is never named. Parts of the following text may be the experience of Ghetsa or maybe the Ghost Writer. From what I have deducted that Ghetsa was severally wounded during the original battle with the Americans and The Battleship Yamoto. This would explain why he never leaves the Osio. It also explains his decline mental state. How he recovered from his wounds is not fully explained.
Today, I am confused. Last night the night monster did not come. He has come every night to talk. What have I done to offend him. Should I give him some sign that I am sorry for offending him. I had ordered my remaining men to put out some of out food to made some type of offer.
It has been over three months since I first saw Monster Island. With there only three of us left on the Osio, the food rations will last us for another week. My men and I are still healthy but very weak. Without a full crew, the Osio will never leave Monster Island.
The Night monster came again last night and as we talked he asked me why I haven't left the ship. It has been over three months now. Why haven't I left the ship? I have no answer.
I have a new sense of who I am. I see things with hope again.
I had a conversation with my remaining men. Two men are all that is left of my crew. What type of captain am I to have the rest of my men abandon me and the ship. Tomorrow my men and I are going to leave the Osio and find Akira. I feel that I have not lived up to being Captain of this fine ship. I must find the rest of the crew. But to do so I must leave her. For all that has happen in the last four months, the idea of leaving the ship never came to my mind until now. I must know what has happen to Akira and my men. It has been along time since I have heard from them. I am leaving this note on the Osio. For if I do not survive the island, The Osio will be found. The ships log and this personal note will be a testament of me and my crew.
* At this point the writing again changes hands. The hand writing is different from the first two entrees on the text. From what was written, it is assumed that the following text was written in the past tense. This would mean someone returned to the Osio and continued Ghetsa writings.
The dead do not eat day old bread. That was Yoma's joke about our food. We packed as much food as we could. Yoma took the grunt work of carrying the three large bags we gathers of food. I loaded up on as much water as I could for the three of us. Toina had his family sword to defend us from the creatures on the island. I found that Akira and his men had raided all of our weapons from the Osio. All we had was Toina sword for protection.
The men and I have l left the Osio behind. The Sun was at High noon at that time.
As we left the ship I could feel a sense of loss. It had been my only command and now I was abandoning it. My two remaining crewmen, Yoma and Toina and I headed to where we though Akira and the rest of the men had gone to. There was a path well worn that started at the edge of the harbor. I guessed that the path would take us deep into the heart of the island. Yoma felt the path wasn't made by Akira or his men. He looked at me as if to say what he though made it but held back at the last moment. I could see he felt it would be dishonorable to say what he felt made the path. The three of us were still very much Navy. They still acted as if I was the Captain of the ship and I treated them as my crew. Even with four months stranded on Monster Island we three still had not lost hope on who we were.
As we made out way though the mud path as fast as we could. Toina took point and Yoma was in the rear. I felt they needed to be more in control of our little trek. I took it as my job it study the surroundings and take notes. I studied the trees along the path. Most of the trees limbs closes to the path where broken all the way up to over the height of forty feet. The path itself was at most times twenty feet wide. It was a path for a monster.
Within an hour of leaving the Osio it started to rain. The mud path was already difficult to travel and the rain made it even harder. At one point Toina tried to travel off the path but found it almost impossible to cut though. The Bamboo of this island is as hard iron. The green lush grass vines almost seem to fight back each time Toina used his sword. The thick undergrowth on this island was dense. The only manner the sun light could reach us was because of the wide girth of the path. I took note of this thick under coating of grass. How could it be as thick as it was with very little sunlight. It seemed that every thing we found created even more questions.
After an hour of walking though the mud in the rain I calculated that as the crow flies we were only a quarter mile from the Osio. With our bodies covered with mud we made a make shift camp on the side of the path. It wasn't even four in the afternoon and all I wanted to do was sleep. It seemed to me that Yoma and Toina wanted the same thing. We ended up staying there until morning.
The rain let up only for about an hour during the night. Yoma and Toina tried in vain to start a fire but the wood they found was to wet to ignite. Maybe that was a good thing. During the night as we slept something walked past us. Something large.
When we woke we found two tracks in the mud. The foot prints measured four feet long and two feet deep. One track was walking towards harbor where we left the Osio and the other walking back to higher land. One food print came about three feet from where I lay. I'm glad we did not made our camp in the center of the path.
By noon the next day we had made very good time. The rain held off most of the morning. We stopped every ten minutes to either clean any excess mud off us or to put one of our boots back on. It seems that no matter how we judge out footing our boots tended to stick in the mud. I could see that this constant fight to keep our boots was a drain on Yoma and Toina. I had to remain strong and not show them that this was bothering me. The feeling of the being swamped by the mud had become daunting. We had become so slow that we made camp for the night around 3pm. I gave into the men and there weakness. Yoma and Toina where broken men. They had nothing left. I felt like I could have beaten them to death at that time. How embarrassing that we had in the eight hours only made a mile. With the winding path I could not guess how far we had gone into the island. At that point I remember counting the bends in the path. Since we left the Osio we had turned twenty six bends on the path. Judging from how the path lay, it was well thought out. It flowed on the land missing the roughest terrain. Other than the thick mud there was little in our way in the path. The last thing I found interesting was that the incline was always at a 15 degrees angle.
I did not look forward to another night on the mud path. It rained constantly until sunset. The men and I sat on the far side of the path waiting for our traveler to come past in night. I knew I could not sleep with the possibly of it walking by. Hours passed as the three of us sat in the mud with the cold rain drenching us. My body was tired and hungry and at some point I started to sleep. That was when I felt the heat. Whatever happened, happened so fast that by the time I was fully awake it was over. Yoma also had fallen asleep. Toina was the only one to see anything. He told me over and over the next day what happened. He was cleaning his sword and the sky lit up. He look up and saw a ball of flame fly over head just above the tree line. The heat was a welcome relief even if it was for a moment.
We still have at least two more hours until the sun returned. None of us could sleep. What could have made that ball of flame?
It was just before sunrise when it happened again. With the high growth of trees and brush of the jungle lining the path on both sides the only view we had was that of the sky. I was studying the stars when the jungle sounds stopped. Everything went silent. Then from all around us came a high pitch squeal filled the air.
Later that day Toina said it sounded like the type of sound of a cat hissing in anger but more insect like. I questioned Toina about this. His answer seemed plausible. Toina's family ran a restaurant in their village. In the basement of the restaurant he would find roaches that would hiss when pushed around. But Toina was adamant that the sound the roaches was so soft that talking normal would drown it out. The sound we heard that morning was louder the Osio's whistle.
The high pitch squeal stopped but was replaced with a second sound, a scream. A scream of something in pain. It was like an Elephant in pain, or a whale screaming. Seeing I have never heard either of those animals in pain I can not decide which one was closer to the sound we heard.
As the sound of the creature in pain started to fade a flash of light lit up the area around us. We felt the heat as a ball of flame flew over head. Toina remarked that it looked like the one he had seen during the night. The ball of flame was again just over the tree line. Just as fast as the first one had come and gone so did this one. The Jungle sounds returned and the three of us looked at each other. We wondered if we would see whatever created that ball of fire.
The third day on the path we started out shortly after sunrise. The rain had stopped and we knew that staying still would get us no where. The work up the path continued to drain us. The bends in the path started to become sharper with each turn and the path itself became more easier to traverse. Then with one bend the mud started to thin. The path itself became a smooth stone like a road. This made our journey ever easier.
It was at this time when we found remnants of what had happened the night before. The trees and growth that lined the path had been scorched by fire. There was a calming feeling about the area. For all the burnt plants it still felt calming there. I found Toina and I had feeling to sit down. The two of us got to our knees but I could see that Yoma was looking at something hidden to me in the burned brush.
Within a flash, two thick legs sprang out of the burnt jungle. The arms must have been a foot thick at their thinnest. They extended nine feet out beyond Yoma. The arms did not grab him but confined him from running away. I found that I could not move. I was some how dazed or drugged by something unknown. By the time I fought my way to my feet Yoma was covered by a thick layer of white. I could hear him scream in terror. Then I heard more screams. I turned to Toina and saw that he to was being in tomed in white.
Cocooned was more like it. It took me a moment to realize that what ever was doing this was right behind me. I turned as fast as I could. There stood before me a large spider like creature 20 feet wide. I could only guess at it's size. If the monster spider laid flat with it's legs out it would have spanned 50 feet. The black body was easy the size of a full size Van. *
* The original reference was a life raft, I replaced it with something modern readers could use as a reference
I seem to be the only one not being cocconed. The spider thing stopped entombing Toina as if it heard my thoughts and turned to me. It moved towards me with the grace of a dancer. It stopped close enough that I was only five feet from it's grossest looking head. All I could see was it's eyes or as I found out all four of it's eyes. It seem to have a trance on me. As I stood there looking into it's black pits for eyes it started to scream. I do not know where the scream came from. All I could see was the blackness of it's eyes. Later Toina labeled the scream a cross between a Lion and a Cockroach. Strange combination but it did fit the scream from the creature like a glove. .
There I was being cocconed by the giant spider creature and before I knew it started to scream. My first thought was this creature is going to eat me. Then in a blur the creatures head was gone. I was showered in a thick goo that was the creatures blood. It's large body fell to the ground and green blood ran from it's carcass. The head of the creature lay at my feet looking up at me. I looked at it's dying eyes as someone said to me. "Captain, you should have stayed on your ship, this island is not for you." I looked up at my savior. It was Akira and his men. The rest of the men where unwrapping Yoma and Toina.
At first I didn't see how much Akira had changed. The men with him looked like they had been on the island for years. There faces where covered with unkempt beards. There hair was long and dirty. Then it hit me. These men with Akira where once my Crew. But how? The men that left my ship where young recruits fresh from navel school. Akira was the oldest at 25. The men that stood in front of me looked like they where all in there mid 40s .
As I studied Akira and his men, Akira started to talked to me. "The Spega use a numbing spray to weaken it's pray, the effects will ware off in a few minutes. You should be happy we where on our way to the lagoon or otherwise you three would have been Spega Dinner." I did not understand what he was talking about but I found that he and his men had named the spider monsters.
"Why did you save us?" I asked Akira. He looked at me and laughed and said. "Why? Because you where once my Captain." With that I fell unconcese.
When I woke I found myself in a dimly lit Hut. To my surprise Akira was standing over me. As soon as he noticed that I was awake he turned and started to leave the hut without saying a word. It was a few minutes before I could lift my head. So many questions I wanted to ask my former first office. I sat up and found that I could not move my legs. "What did the Spider do to me?"
Akira looked at me stood and left the Hut. He said nothing. This was not the same man that I once knew.
I sat there with the feeling of dread. To over come the negative of my situation I turned my mind to studying the hut I found myself in.
I was at the center of the hut. It measured twenty feet by twenty feet with the height of eight feet. The only opening to the outside was the small five foot door. The hut itself was made of a thick bamboo skeleton with a leather tarp. The skeleton must have been bound and strong to hold the center of tent's roof without a center column.
Other than myself the only thing in the hut were hides of unknown animals hanging to dry. The hide I lay on seemed like a tiger hide but it has strips in colors and patterns I've never seen an animal have before. Must be a supply hut that they placed me in. Then I saw standing against a box filled with coconuts was Toina's sword.
That is when it hit me. The utter dread. I had been unable to do anything. It was at this time when I felt the lowest I've ever felt in my life. I failed my ship, I failed my men, and now I had failed to save myself. Never in my life had the darkness of dread filled my head.
I sat alone in the hut until night fall. In the dead of night I was still weak from the Spiders poisons but I tried to drag my body towards Toina's sword. After three feet I gave up. The pain worsen with every inch.
I reached with all my soul wanting to get a hold of that sword. It was at the moment it crossed my mind to end my life before something else took my life. To die at my own hands was better to die by some giant spider. But fate found it funny that my body was holding me back when I reached for the sword.
The darkness filled my soul. For that moment all I wanted was death and for my reward was blackness. When I awoke the sun light burned into my eyes. Akira and his men had brought Toina and Yoma and myself to the center of their camp. I looked at my two shipmates and saw the same confusion on their faces that I felt. The three of us could barley stand but we all found the will to do so.
"How is it that we Live?" I asked Akira.
"You are here because you survived your first Test." Akira said with a laugh. "Look at your wounds."
I looked at my legs and on my right calf there was a large brown lump. Yoma had a similar lump on his right arm and Toina had one on his Belly.
"The lump will be gone in a week or so," said Akira. "The poison is well though your system"
Toina asked how he was poisoned.
"How does a slug attach itself to you and suck your blood without you feeling it?" Responded Akira.
I felt strength return to my body. I moved toward Akira. There were ten of Akira's men surrounding Yoma, Toina and myself. As I moved towards Akira one of his men stopped me. I did not recognized him at first then when he told me to stop I knew him. To be more correct, I knew the man he used to be. I looked at my former second officer and felt pity for him. I turned my attention to Akira.
"What has happen to you and the men?" I asked.
"What happened?" Akira responded with a laugh. "What happened was we became stronger. Smarter."
Akira turned and walked away. As he did he said something I will never forget. "This island made us true men."
As the next few days passed I nursed Yoma and Toina back to health. Akira had the three of us locked away in the large supply hut. Akira and his men must known that the three of us where no match for them for they left Toina's sword in the hut with us. The three of us where too weak to use the sword. After a day I found most of the boxes where from the Osio. They had taken most of the can food storage from my ship without me knowing it. From what I could tell, Akira and his men had taken it but not used any of the food. Why take food from the ship and not eat it? I would learn later why they had. At that time I was glad to have the food with us. Yoma and Toina needed to eat. We could eat all we wanted. It was then I found that my body was starving. I was a shell of a man that I once was. I ate with a passion. From the moment the convoy was attacked and the main ship, the pride of the country, sunk I started down the spiral of death. I had found that a man can be put into a position that will test his limits and fail. I had done just that. I had failed my men and Akira.
My men. I was still thinking of the men on this island as my men. They where hardly that. They where Akira's men now.
We did not see Akira and his men in the next four days.
Akira and his men went on with there lives in the camp. We sometimes could hear them talking. They seemed to speak in a language that I could not decipher. This island had changed them not in body but in mind. We where left in the large supply hut and where never bothered by Akira and his men. On the second day I felt stronger in mind and body. At that time I could have left the hut but I had to think of Yoma and Toina. They where in no shape to leave. On the third night it was Yoma who said that Akira must have another source of food for they never came to use the Osio's supplies. I thought about what my former men where eating out there? The animals furs that we where drying in the hut gave us an idea on what they ate.
Then I thought of how they had changed. What was it about this island that made men into primates. That was it, I finally put a name to what Akira and his men had turned into. The boys most of who where in there late teens with thin lanky bodies now looked as if they had grown to men in there forties with strong muscular bodies. There must be something with the plant life or animals to cause this. Then what about the giant spiders? How do they fit into the puzzle on this island? What does a spider eat to grow to that size. Then I turn to look at my two companions then I glanced down to my right leg. The lump was gone but was replace with a red and black bruise. The spiders ate large prey. Large prey like men. What else was on this island that a huge spider would eat? And if there where giant spiders on the island could there be something that would eat them? That idea gave me nightmares.
On the fourth night the large supply hut started to sway. At first Yoma thought it was some monster shaking the hut. Then I heard the pings of rain on the huts animal skin roof. Within a few minutes we heard the low rumble of thunder off in the distance. It was Yoma's idea that we leave the safety of the hut and get back to the Osio. Toina was still very ill but he felt the same about the Osio.
That is when the wind started to kick up. The hut rocked violently back and forth in the wind. I felt that at anytime the hut would be ripped out of it's foundations. I drew back the huts door. The jungle looked a live. Every tree, vine and brush was dancing in the wind. I did not see any sign of Akira or his men. I turned to Yoma and Toina and found them standing next to me ready to leave the hut.
"We better go now." Yoma said. Toina agreed but the pain on his face said that it wasn't something his body wanted to do. The pain that he must have been going though at that moment must have been tremendous.
I wanted to ask them what would we do once we got back to the Osio but with the storm becoming worst with every passing moment I felt it was a moot question. I nodded that Yoma was also correct.
Before we left the hut Toina handed me the his family sword. He smiled as I took it. To me it was something to use to get us out of this jungle. I feel now it was Toina handing me his family honor.
With that we left the large supply hut.
The Jungle danced with the on coming storm's wind. The campsite was empty of Akira's men. The other huts in the camp where empty. What happened to the men? No less an hour ago I heard men outside the supply hut talking. Did they know something and didn't want us to know?
"The volcano is alive!" Toina screamed as he pointed to the volcano mount that loomed over head.
I looked and saw the flame rise above the trees. "No," I told my wounded friend. "That must be a flame thrower."
"It's can't be..." Yoma said. "It's another Fire ball..."
Yoma stopped in horror as another burst of flame rose above the jungle and towards us. The flames hit just at the edge of the jungle of the campsite fifty feet from us. Even with the wind and rain the jungle exploded into flame. Within minutes the fire consumed the jungle and moved toward the supply hut.
I pulled on my two friends and we left the campsite. As we left I turned one last time to see the supply hut and the other huts consumed by flame.
The path to the Osio was easier to travel going down hill. The path was almost a small river. The storm was still growing stronger with each passing minute. The rain was calming. The sounds of the fire was drowned out by pounding rain. If it wasn't for the fact I feared for my life by what ever created the flying fire I would have stopped and let the rain clean my soul.
Yoma led us down the path followed by Toina with me and the sword in the rear. We must have had run for more than an hour until Toina had to stop. He was still feeling the poison of the giant spiders. For all the pain he must had been in he did not want to stop. It was me who said we had to stop. With all the running in the thick mud I was at the end of my endurance. I couldn't take anymore. One moment I was the leader of my men and the next I wasn't. Something snapped in me. It was at that moment that everything that had happen to me came down on my shoulders like a ton a weight. The lost of my ship. The lost of my command. The lost of my men. Everything I did was wrong.
Toina didn't look at me as he dropped in to the mud to rest. Yoma looked at me and must had seen it in my eyes of failure. He didn't say anything. The look of discuss in his face was I needed to see.
Before I could do anything the worst howl I have ever heard filled my ears. The howl drowned out the wind and rain. I could not tell where the howl came from. It seemed to come from all around us.
Something in me knew that the sword I held in my had wouldn't be useful towards a creature that could scream with that intensify. Even with that feeling I took the sword in both hands ready for battle.
The Jungle in front of us opened up and a dark shape stepped out. The creature stood almost as tall as the tallest trees. The shape looked like a giant reptile that I remember seeing drawings of as a child. The T-Rex.
The dinosaur I saw in pictures from my childhood stood upright, like a man but this creature leaned forward with the tail in the air. It's head and tail seemed to counter each other in weight. Strange that I thought of this at that moment. It made sense that the creature would lean forward using it's tail for balance. It could move more efficiently this way. My next thought was here I was with a massive T-Rex in front of me and I was thinking physics. Had I gone mad?
With a flash of lighting I saw the creature in all it's horror. This was no T-Rex. Yes, the body was very similar to that of the pictures that I saw as a child but the arms and head of this T-Rex was radically different.
The arms were thicker and longer than I remember a normal T-Rex had. Maybe thicker was incorrect. More muscular. It was able to use it's arms and hands to spread the trees on the jungle. It's arms may have been very different from the T-Rex from my childhood memories but it was it's head, more so it's face that made me think that this was no normal dinosaur.
The history books said the T-Rex had a large snout with small eyes. This creature had large eyes, a small nose and a large mouth... almost like a cats face. The image of the creature's face seemed almost cute. Funny that I though of that. But then it opened it's mouth. Fangs with jagged sharp teeth lined it's mouth. Then there were the small fins on it's back. Starting from the back of the head to the midway to the tail they ran. The highest point was mid way down the back. They must had stood about four feet high. At first they seem to be out of place but then they added a visual to the creature that made it even more monstrous.
Writing about this now, it seemed that I had ample time to study this creature. But at the time I only saw it with that flash of light and within minutes the creature was gone. In total, I only had about a minute to study it. And within that minute I also lost a friend.
The creature looked at us and then turned away as if we were not worth it's time. At that moment my feeling of failure was lifted. This was a good feeling. We somehow stood our ground and the creature moved on.
As I stepped towards Yoma, Toina started to say something about the creature. I will never know what he said. The moment I moved a giant spider came down from the jungle and grabbed poor Toina.
I turned to see as the spider dig his fangs in to Toina's neck. The only thing that went though my mind was I never though spiders bit there victims like vampires. Before I knew it Toina's screams where downed out by the blood poring out of his mouth. The Spider front legs encompassed me and Yoma but it was Toina that the spider was feasting on. I guess I should have used the sword to save my friend but I didn't. I should have used it to save Yoma and myself but I didn't. I just stood there and watched as the giant spider devour my friend.
The spider took a bite of Toina and his head was gone. The spider had two small legs near it's mouth holding the remains. This spider wasn't just sucking the blood but eating him.
I was standing there I guess waiting to be the next entree for the spider. I could see the wind blowing against the giant spiders hair on it's head. I could feel Yoma pulling at my arm to leave. Why would he care about me after seeing the failure in my eyes... when was that? At that time it seemed to be a life time ago. It was in a sense. Toina life was over.
The spider took another bite and most of the chest was gone. In a few moments I was going to know what it would be to be eaten.
Before I knew it I was up to my face in mud. Yoma had tackled me. We where still within the giant spiders legs. What I failed to notice was the spider had other issues than eating me.
Yoma pointed to the giant Spider. The spiders mouth was only ten feet away from Yoma and myself. But the spider had other problems. The T-Rex had returned and was biting off one of the spiders massive legs. The leg was one of the spiders main rear movers and was very thick and strong but the T-Rex bit it off with ease. The T-Rex must had been very fast to get around to the rear of the giant spider. The Spider was out of it's element. The spider filed the path and now with one of it's legs missing it found it hard to turn to face it's enemy.
Two things I found out that night about this giant spiders is that it ate it's food with it's mouth and that it could scream.
The T-Rex grabbed another leg of the spider with it's muscular arms as ripped the leg out of it's joint. The T-Rex howled at the spider as if taunting it. The air around the two gigantic fighting monsters filled with the white silk of the spider. Even the rain could not fight off the white silk. It few everywhere to at one point all we see was the silk. We could hear the scream of the spider and the howl of the T-Rex.
The scream of the spider was earsplitting. Imagine a young girl around the age of 6 screaming at the top of her little lungs in horror and you might start to understand the sound that Yoma and I had to endure.
The best thing to come from the screaming spider was we knew where the two monsters fought. Yoma and I slowly moved away from that sound. We climbed uphill twenty feet until we where no longer feeling the silk landing on us. That is when I felt the heat behind us.
A ball of flame ran down the path towards us and the two fighting monsters. By light of the fire ball I could see the T-Rex had started to devour the spider. The fireball hit both combatants. Yoma and I threw ourselves in the mud as deep as we could go. I could feel the mud on my back dry as the flames past over us. I lay there motionless. It seemed like forever but was in reality about a minute.
I got to my knees and look back at where the T-Rex and Spider where and only saw the burning remains of the spider. The T-Rex was gone. I looked around and saw Yoma still holding himself under the mud. I pulled at him and turned him so his face was above the mud. I screamed at him to breath. He look at me and then to something behind me that was moving towards us.
The light form the burning remains of the spider where creating a eerie image of what was coming towards us. It looked like a giant man but not a man. That is the best way to describe it. It must have stood about 50 feet high. It walked on two thick legs. It had arms. The outline was most certainly that of a human. It sounded like a machine with gears and motors.
It passed us. As it did I could see that it was indeed made of iron. I could see rivets and platting on it's legs. This Mecca Monster was man mad but by what man could make such a thing? Why would he make such a thing.
The Mecca Machine's metal feet crushed the burnt remains of the spider as it head released another ball of flame. The fame burst into the jungle. I could only see the rear of the Mecca monster from the dwindling light of the fires as it continued to pursue the T-Rex.
The Mecca Machine was gone from the light but I had enough to show me that it was self-contained. Whatever engines ran it where concealed inside it. From the sounds it made it must have been steamed powered. It could have been built by builders of ships. But why build a walking iron giant? It didn't make any sense. But then I looked at my feet. One of the giant spiders legs lay on the ground there.
It was only the tip of the leg but it still was about a foot thick and about three feet long and this was only the tip of one of it's massive legs. Who ever build that Mecca Machine knew that it was the only way to fight a giant monster like the spider.
As I looked at the Spiders appendage, Yoma got to his feet and grabbed my arms. "We will never leave this island." As he did this he shook me will the remaining strength. I could see the dread in his face. I pulled away from him. I didn't say anything to Yoma. All I could think at that moment was the giant spider chewing away at Toina's bloody torso.
I can't say what Yoma was thinking at that moment but his look of horror towards me filled ever inch of his face. He backed away from me turned and ran down the path, towards the two monsters that saved us and at the same time almost killed us.
I watched Yoma disappear into the dark running though the mud like a mad man. I wanted to run after him but I couldn't. All I could think of was what he said.
"We will never leave this island"
I stood there in the gloomy fire light of the burning corpse of the giant spider. I was now truly alone. Not even holding Toina's family sword gave me comfort. I did not have the courage to use it when the spider killed Toina. I had failed so may men since I came to this island.
Then it came to me what Yoma meant. The T-Rex and the Mecca Machine where going down the path towards the Ocean, towards the Osio.
I had failed my men, and now I had failed my ship. I griped the sword with both hands and started down the path.
In a sense, this moment is when I started to choose what path my life was going to lead. I would fight who ever to regain my honor.