After confirming they were in no danger of another spout, Handi took Vince to the place she called home. A small trickle of clear water ran from the side of a mountain, into a small spring with a metal dock on its side. He stared up in awe at the mountain side slightly tilting over them and the entire small valley. The metal deck sparked orange and yellow along with the three metal shacks in the valley and light from a fire in the center reflected off of them. He felt like he had walked into another world that glowed with the warmth of the earth. 

His eyes were drawn to the fire. It was tended by a young boy who looked around fourteen maybe. He sat by the fire stirring the contents of a pot over the fire. He looked focused on his duties while five other sets of eyes stared at Vince.

There was a tall older kid with curly brown, carrying the toddler he had seen in the forest before. He stared at Vince with a similar caution as Handi did with less aggression. He whispered something to a young boy and girl who were staring at Vince with fascination. The little boy had bright green eyes, curious, and the little girl had eyes as dark as soot, full of wonder. The older kid ushered them off and they ran into one of the shacks.

Handi dragged him by the sleeve towards the boy working at the fire. He continued stirring some sort of stew with a fishtail sticking out of it. “Sit,” she commanded.

“You can’t just order me around,” he said, as she dragged his sleeve down, making him sit next to another little girl who looked about five, maybe. He could never tell the age of little kids. She had long curly black hair and wide eyes, bright like the setting sun. They stared at him endlessly.

The more he saw the more confused Vince got. He couldn’t think of a logical reason why so many kids from so many different countries would be in one place. One thing he was certain of was that Handi's island was full of madness.

“Fiu watch him,” Handi said to the boy by the pot, before walking off to talk to the guy with long curly hair in hushed voices so they couldn’t hear.

“Wait, Handi,” he called out, knowing she would default to her signature move of ignoring him. She walked into another shack with him. “Does she ignore everyone or am I just special,” Vince asked.

The boy smiled at him. “Oh, Handi does that to everyone, don’t take it personally,” he said. The boy puts the spoon down gently on a towel to the side of the pot and extends his hand. “My name is Fiuji, but everyone calls me Fiu.”

Being around Handi almost made him forget civility. Fiu’s dark eyes reflected the sun like small balls of obsidian. His expression was full of compassion, like an old friend welcoming him home. Vince didn’t think twice about leaning forward to accept his handshake. His hair was thin and black, cut shortly surrounding his small triangular face. Fiu’s hand was smooth and delicate, and his pale complexion made it look like he had never even set foot on an abandoned island much less lived there, but his tattered clothing revealed him as the islander Vince knew he was. “My name’s Vince,” he said.

“Nice to meet you,” Fiu said. He sat down next to Vince. Vince didn’t care that he was likely keeping an eye on him like Handi ordered, he was desperate for any type of communication after dealing with Handi for so long. Maybe Fiu could actually answer his questions and help him off the island.

Vince was about to start asking questions when Fiu’s face seemed to get even paler and his smile disappeared.

“Tama, can you get the medical kit?”

“Mmm-hmmm,” the little girl, Tama, nodded her head and ran off. He had forgotten she had been goggling him the entire time.

Fiu reached out and touched the side of Vince’s head. He froze, shocked by the sudden physical contact. “H-hey,” he said, feeling the blush rise to his cheeks. “What are you doing?”

“Did you not notice you’re bleeding?” Fiu asked, a small bit of concerned anger rising in his voice.

“I had a headache when I first woke up,” Vince said, flinching as Fiu touched an apparently very sore head injury.

“I can’t believe Handi didn’t say anything,” he said. Fiu’s small nose wiggled in his frustration. 

Tama ran back with a small silver box. “I found it,” she said. She looked at Vince with curiosity. Fiu got straight to work and opened up the silver box. Inside were a small pile of bandages and cotton, and a dozen or so vials of medicine. “Is his hair not red?” Tama asked.

“Umm,” Vince said. He had no idea how to reply to children, the only time he ever interacted with them at home was when he saw them in passing at kïrshe when they went to pray on the holy day. Even then he would never do more than wave at their parents.

Fiu pulled out a small cotton ball and dabbed one of the liquids in the vials on it. He began dabbing it gently on Vince’s wound. “Yes, it is Tama. Some people have red hair just like Vince. It was Vince right?” Fiu said.

Vince nodded. She stared at him transfixed by his awkwardness. 

“Don’t move.” He began mumbling something about Handi under his breath, how she should be more careful, and attentive to others or something. “Tama, I’m busy right now. Why don’t you go play with the others?” Fiu said.

“Okay!” Tama instantly lost interest in him and ran off into one of the shacks.

“What is this place exactly,” Vince asked.

Fiu chuckled while cleaning out his head injury. “Can I assume Handi gave you the rundown? This being her island and all,” he said.

“Don’t tell me that's true.”

“For the most part. She has been here the longest so there is no real way to tell.”

Vince looked over to Handi, who was still talking with the other older kid. She saw him looking at them and gave him her signature cold glare.

“How long is that?” He asked.

“Ten years at the least,” Fiu said. “According to her, she was born on this island.”

“Really,” he asked.

Fiu shrugged. “Maybe.”

“But what is this place exactly? That thing with the water is not normal,” Vince said.

“Oh good we can skip through the whole disbelief part. According to Handi, this place was made to protect us.”

“From what?”

“Who knows.”

“You don’t actually believe that do you?” Vince asked. Fiu acted like your average civilized man, courteous and intelligent. He couldn’t see such a smart person believing in Handi’s nonsense.

“I don’t not believe, but I don’t believe it fully either. All I know is when my sister and I appeared here, they took care of us.”

“Your sister?”

“Conni. You probably saw her a second ago running around with Will. I swear Handi has turned her into a wild child despite my best efforts to lead her on the right path.”

“So you don’t believe Handi is right?”

Fiu didn’t reply. The stew began to bubble over and he had to put down the cotton to tend to it.

“Fiu you can help me. Help me get off this island. You don’t want your sister to grow up here do you?” Vince said.

Fiu grips the spoon tight. His gaze lingers on an old burn scar on his wrist that Vince hadn’t noticed before.

“All we need to do is find a gap in the line,” Vince said, remembering how the spouts started. In theory, so long as they didn’t cross the line the spouts wouldn’t ignite.

“There isn’t one. Handi checked from the mountaintop. It goes all the way around. A full ring around the island,” Fiu said, his voice empty as if he’d given up long ago.

“You don’t actually trust her, do you?! I’m sure if I just got some help-”

Fiu dropped the spoon in the stew and quickly turned to face Vince. “Vince, we don’t have a choice in the matter. It’s a miracle we’re alive and I thank the gods every day that my sister and I survived the spouts once. I am not going to risk it a second time,” he said firmly. 

Vince could see the conflict in his eyes, but he didn’t understand why they trusted Handi so much.

Fiu sighed. He looked at Vince, his eyes narrow with concern. “I’m sorry Vince. You seem like a good person, so give up now. I don’t want to see you or anyone else get hurt trying to leave,” he said.

Fiu looks down and then returns to nursing his stew. Vince looked around sensing he had already pushed Fiu far enough. He wasn’t getting the answers he wanted. There was no way he could believe Handi’s claim that there was no way off the island. He would find a way, no matter what.