A loud bump stirred Sable awake as she opened her eyes. She felt warm, noticing a cape draped over her shoulder. The ranger groggily followed the cape and met a pair of glacier blue eyes. Realizing that she had fallen asleep on Mei, Sable quickly lifted her chin off the knight's metal pauldron.

"You're finally awake," Mei began quietly, gently smiling. Her cheeks were slightly flushed from Sable falling asleep on her.

Sable sat up quickly and brushed the cape off her shoulder with embarrassment. 

"I'm sorry I fell asleep on you," she began, breaking away eye contact. "I must have thought you were Bluey."

Mei laughed nervously. "It's hard to mistake metal for fur. I don't know how you were even comfortable sleeping on metal, yet you slept until the boat hit land."

The blush spread wider across Sable's cheeks. "I can rest on any surface. I suppose I'm just used to sleeping on the ground."

The knightess smirked in amusement. She was awake since the sun came up and kept her eyes on the sea to watch for land. Sable was shivering in her sleep, so Mei figured to keep the ranger warm with her cape. It was only an act of being a gentlewoman, but it was still embarrassing to do, especially since she did not know Sable very well.

"Where are we?" Sable asked, watching Bluey paw at the seawater to catch the fishes.

"Coconos Island," Mei replied. "We luckily made it through the storm overnight." 

Off in the distance, there was a worn sailboat dragged onto the golden sand. The sails appeared heavily damaged by the wind, but the boat survived the storm just like theirs.

Sable followed Mei's gaze. "Kaimana must have gotten here safely." There were fresh tracks still clearly imprinted on the sand; two set of tracks belonging to human feet and wild cat paws. The ranger was relieved Kaimana and Sasha returned safely together through the storm.

Mei nodded, staring hard at the tracks.

If I let the prisoner go, what excuse will I use when I return?The Queen will believe in every word I report.

"Are you going to let Kaimana go?" Sable asked. She knew Mei was contemplating whether or not she should let her go. The ranger hoped the knightess would make the right decision because she would not support her if she decides to go after Kaimana. The worse that could happen is Mei becoming her enemy, and she did not want that to happen after all Mei has done for her and Bluey.

"I am letting her go," Mei replied quietly. "I feel very exhausted, so I am going to find an inn. It's best that you join me in case you encounter any of my soldiers."

"I guess that would be the best decision," Sable replied, "but I wanted to look for Kaimana to make sure she and Sasha are okay. We had something to discuss."

Mei nodded understandingly. "I will come with you."

Sable bent down to take a good look of the footprint tracks. They were trailing northwest into deeper island vegetation. Bluey cautiously walked alongside Sable, aware of the new environment that made the alacat a bit uneasy but curious at the same time. Mei closely followed behind them, keeping her senses alert in case of an ambush. They were in unfamiliar territory, and they did not know who Kaimana was or her people. So it was best to be careful at the moment.

Sable focused on following Kaimana's tracks, but it did not stop her from taking in the beauty of the island. The island was very different from the shores of forests and woods she had scouted. The air was much warmer and humid, making her clothes stick onto her skin. There were many exotic plants and flowers that fascinated the ranger. They passed a particular row of trees that bore large nut-like fruit hanging from wide leafy branches. The large nut sizes were similar to melons, reminding Sable of gigantic fuzzy walnuts.

"We'll be taking a couple of those home," Sable said to Bluey, pointing at the large nuts hanging from the palm trees. "Do you think they will be tasty?" The ranger also hoped to gather more things from the island to bring back to the Ajar Forest.

Bluey paid no attention to the nuts. Her eyes focused intently on the birds flying over the canopies.

Mei chuckled to herself, amused that Sable was talking to the alacat like a human. 

"She probably will find the birds tastier than those nuts," Mei remarked with a grin.

Sable glanced at Mei, remembering that she was still with them. She was used to only being alongside Bluey that she sometimes forgot about the knight's existence. 

"Are you feeling better?" Sable asked, recalling Mei was still healing from the 'poison'.

"The tea helped a bit in regaining my strength," Mei replied, "but I think I used up too much of my energy yesterday."

The ranger understood that Mei was exhausted after everything that had happened. It would take longer to heal if too much physical energy was spent rather than resting to heal.

The footprint tracks stopped at the center of a path, leading to a very small, thatched, rounded hut. The wooden hut was sturdy against the island winds. Bluey walked cautiously over to thick tree with long scratches pierced deeply into the wood. She growled after taking a quick sniff.

Sable examined the long etched lines surrounded by peeling bark. "Some animal already claimed this tree," she thought out loud. "Maybe it's Sasha's mark."

"Possibly," Mei replied. She squinted to see if anyone was inside the hut, but it was too far. As Mei took several steps closer to the hut, she suddenly yelped with surprise.

Gravity took over Mei as she tumbled into the deep pit. Groaning, the knightess tried to sit up, but the fall left her disoriented with pain in her legs. Mei coughed out soil and waved excess dust away from her eyes. Wincing in pain, she looked up to see Sable startled looking overhead.

"Are you all right?" Sable called out, her voice echoing down to base of the pit. 

She fell into a trap, the ranger thought. Is this Kaimana's doing?

"I'm not quite sure until I can get up," Mei called back. She felt incredibly stupid for falling into a trap. Usually, she could tell if there was a trap on the ground, but it was hidden so well. Too well that it must been the work of a ranger.

"I'm surprised that a royal knight fell for my trap," a familiar voice chuckled behind a tree. Kaimana stepped out of a bush and peered down at the furious knight in the deep pit.

Bluey's ears bent back at the sight of Kaimana's sudden appearance, and she growled as the ranger stepped closer between them.

"We need to get her out," Sable replied coldly not amused a bit. She was worried that Mei was even more injured than before since she was already healing from poison. Now she would need to deal with the deep fall.

Mei moved slowly around the trap as her limbs felt all sore. 

There must be a way to climb out, Mei thought as she examined the dirt walls. Mei glared at the voice which belonged to the prisoner, feeling hatred slowly seep into her.

"No, the royal knight stays down here," Kaimana replied.

"She isn't going to turn you in," Sable began. "She's no longer a threat to you."

"Then why is she here?" Kaimana demanded.

"I went to look for you, and she decided to follow me in case anything happens," Sable replied.

"So she has become your bodyguard," Kaimana remarked with a grin. "That is quite romantic. But you'll probably need a better one that knows the island better."

Sable flushed at her remark. "I can take care of myself. Afterall, I am a ranger, but it is up to Mei if she wants to follow me."

"Anyway, whether you are telling the truth or not, she will stay down here until we are done with our talk," Kaimana replied. "We as rangers cannot trust other humans, especially knights working for the corrupted queen."

Mei, silent throughout the talk, glared at Kaimana as she spoke. It was wrong for the ranger to disregard her as being morally wrong despite the fact she served the queen. The prisoner did not know her and had no right to speak of her that way.

Sable sighed heavily looking down at Mei in the pit and back up at Kaimana. There was no point trying to persuade the stubborn ranger even though Sable knew where she was coming from. However, Sable had met decent humans before and not all were untrustworthy. 

"Will you promise to get her out when we finish talking then?"

Kaimana winked at her. "We are the same kind. A ranger keeps her word for another ranger, so yes, I will get your royal friend out of the pit after. Hopefully she won't try to kill me when she gets out."

Sable gave Mei an apologetic look as she agreed with Kaimana. "It's a deal."

"Good," Kaimana exclaimed. "I will lead you to my hut to discuss things in a more welcoming environment."

"Come along, Bluey," Sable bidded the alacat as she followed Kaimana. Bluey refused to follow Sable, edging farther back at Kaimana's presence with a hostile gaze.

"Your alacat does not seem to like me very much," Kaimana mused. "It must be because I have Sasha's scent on my clothes."

"That could be why," Sable replied. She turned her attention back to Bluey. "Well, if you don't want to come, you can watch over Mei."

Mei, who was down in the pit, grumbled to herself about the deal the two rangers made as she was left alone with Bluey. She thought perhaps the alacat may help her out if only she could understand her.

The ranger's voices ceased as they walked away from the pit, leaving Mei alone in the trap. The knightess felt somewhat betrayed by the fact Sable had followed Kaimana back to the hut rather than help her get out. 

Whatever, I will get out of the trap by myself.... somehow, Mei sighed heavily.