The Puppeteer

Jackson woke to the sound of laughing. He slowly opened his eyes and immediately closed them due to the harsh glare of the morning sun. the harsh glare of the morning sun. He had been sleeping near the cave entrance , the fire was outside as to not smoke out the cave and he wanted the warmth it provided. He blinked himself awake as his eyes began to adjust to the light. He looked around, Sam and Daniel were sitting in the cave entrance laughing and chatting together.
“Morning sleepy head” greeted Daniel turning around.
“Morning” replied Jackson “where is everyone else”
“Derek and Charles are hiking up to the summit, i'm not sure about finn he just left, I think he went that way” answered Sam pointed left, into the unexplored”
“ I'll go and look for him , see you later” stated Jackson.
“Ok, see you” replied Sam
Jackson clambered onto the top of the cave, he glanced at the sun rising over the mountain, and made a mental note, east, he turned towards the sea , west. He averted his gaze to the direction Finn had gone.
To his surprise the going that way was relatively clear, in fact it almost appeared to be a path through the forest. It started going towards the mountain, but quickly angled left around and disappeared from sight. He assumed Finn must have gone in this direction, there weren't many other places to go. Jackson half climbed ,half slid down the rock and began the trek.
Jackson rarely allows himself time to relax, but he did now as he walked through the jungle, To either side of him was a thick wall of trees and undergrowth, he studied the leaves, there were all different shapes and sizes, he noticed the toothed ones and the oval ones, it briefly crossed his mind that they would be useful for shelters but the thought was quickly shrouded by the sounds of the birds, the shade from the canopy above him and the utter peace that surrounded him.
Jackson finally broke out of his trance when he left the sanctuary of the jungle and stepped out onto a rocky plain. It extended a good distance before giving way to gentle slopes at first and then the rocky cliffs of the mountain, staring up at the peak he found himself comparing it to a church bell,even though there was no connection between the two, but in his mind the name stuck. He said goodbye to the shady paths of the jungle and continued along the plain. He was now not quite so at ease, he was sweating heavily and the sun was beating down on his neck, for the first time since he arrived on the island he felt thirst and hunger weighing him down like an anchor. He started stumbling along, every step felt like a marathon. Jackson collapsed in the shade of a rock.
He gasped in lungfuls of air, his vision went hazy and he blacked out.
Jackson blinked his eyes open and much to his surprise, he was not blinded by the sun. He was lying in the shade, in front of him he could see a rocky cliff, it was different to the ones on the beaches, this was more green than red. he could hear a creek flowing behind him. He rolled over, he saw finn kneeling over a small creek, filling some kind of container. Finn stood up and walked over to jackson's side,
“ so you're finally awake then, here drink” greeted finn as he handed the container to Jackson “ it's birch bark is you were wondering”
“Thanks” replied Jackson as before he started gulping water.
“ I found you passed out next to a rock, you couldn't have chosen a better spot, it was the only shade for miles”
“ Where are we now” asked Jackson “ i didn't know that there were birch trees here”
“Well it has been confirmed now that it is an island, and we are on the other side, it is an entirely different ecosystem here, all temperate forests with little undergrowth” answered Finn
“That is good to hear, i don't think i have any space left for scratches” commented Jackson as Finn handed him some fruit. It was a different kind this time, they were small red berries similar to raspberries. Jackson leaned back against the cliff and closed his eyes
“ You get your rest. Derek and charles are waiting for me at the summit of the mountain, we will go and meet them.”
Several hours later Jackson and Finn were hiking up the mountain, the slopes at the bottom had been a breeze, but now the going got tough, They were over half way up and it had now become sheer cliffs. Finn led jackson to a river that flowed down the mountain, from here they could climb up along the bank. The river was in a gorge, Finn had been right, different parts of this island were all completely different, the gorge was deep enough to provide shade and combined with the water, all life thrived including the insects, there were more bugs here then he had seen in his relatively short life, mostly mosquitoes but there were also dragon flies, swooping down and clipping the water before returning to the air. The pair stopped to drink from the river, the water was ice cold, so cold in fact that it could have been melted snow from higher up but Jackson didn't think it likely that it would ever snows here. After eating another handful of berries each the boys continued on their way. After many mosquito bites and breaks they broke out of the greenery and stood on the summit of the mountain.
Derek and Charles were there as Finn had said they would be. There was a moderate sized lake on the peak of the mountain, the surface was much bigger than it had looked from the base. The lake was surrounded by what appeared to be large bushes and boulders, Derek and Charles were standing on top of one of these rocks, both shirtless, which confused Jackson until Derek jumped into the lake holding what appeared to be a long sharpened stick. Jackson and finn made their way over to the rock that Charles was standing on. He turned towards them as they approached
“ There you are, I see you brought Jackson” Observed Charles jumping down the rock
“ hey,So what is going on here” asked Jackson
“Well we've got quite a haul, i'll show you what i mean just now, but we needed an extra person to help us so we sent Finn to fetch someone.”
“Well it's a good thing you did, he found me passed out in the desert, he saved my life.” stated Jackson
“ Aye well it was just good luck i wanted to rest in the shade, it was nothing really “ replied Finn shuffling his feet.
“ Blimey mate, your way to humble, nicely done” complemented Charles.
“Thanks” replied Finn blushing as well now
The three boys stared at each other in awkward silence for several moments no one sure of what to say.
“SPLASH” all the boys jumped in surprise and turned to look for the source of the noise. What they saw was Derek, dripping wet , emerging from the lake with a fish skewered on his spier.
“ Hello Finn, Jackson, welcome to the party, oi Charles I got one” he said gesturing to the fish on his spier.
“Nicely done mate, hey you two follow me” He ordered nodding to Finn and Jackson.
They followed Charles behind the rock he had been sitting, Derek trailing behind them, they rounded the corner, only to set their eyes on something astonishing, There was a piles, fish, all different kinds stacked on top of each other resting on a base of leaves. There must have been a dozen at least.
“Well you two sure have been busy” commented Finn
“ now i see why you need help” stated Jackson
“ We had a lot of time to kill, and Derek is amazing at spier fishing, he can hold his breath for ages.”
“ well looks like we won't be starved of meat then” observed Finn” So do we each carry three?
“ That's the plan” replied Charles
Each boy picked up their load, wished the summit goodbye and they went on their way.