Stranded

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Head thumping. Body throbbing. Lungs feeling as if they'd been torched.

Those were the least of his problems: he couldn't stop coughing up water. It was as if lungs, stomach and everything else that the water could reach had been filled to bursting point; the water just kept coming.

As if by divine intervention, James somehow stopped regurgitating water. He collapsed into the wet sand and groaned as it cloyed to his fur.

He was sure that he'd just coughed up Satan and not a litre or two of water. The hyena had no idea where he was, what time it was was or even the date!

'At least I'm alive.' He told himself with a grunt.

The seawater licking his paws became intolerable after a minute, hated after two and unbearable after five. Shakily, the hyena managed to get to his paws. For a moment, all he could do was sway back and forth as his vision went from blurry to clear over and over again. Everything came into focus a couple of seconds later.

Just as he took a step forwards, the thumping in his head that had been lingering since he'd regained consciousness stopped pounding all of his skull to localize at one point, slightly behind his left ear. Touching the spot, he found a lump and tensed up as panic spread and breath left him.

A second touch convinced him that it wasn't massive and there was no bleeding, but it stung to the point where he winced every few seconds. Checking the rest of his body, he discovered plenty of bruises and scrapes, but no gashes that threatened him.

He had no excuse to stay standing still, so he moved on to trying to walk.

"Take it slowly..." He thought to himself. "No need to exert myself."

Taking one step forwards, the hyena held his arms out to the side like a tightrope walker but with a lot less elegance and grace. The shivering didn't help as he moved up the beach gradually in the way that a cub taking its first steps would.

Suddenly, the hyena collapsed backwards.

Landing on his ass with a 'hrumph' and a poof of dry sand, he noticed that his shoes were lost. Not only that, but his soaked shorts were ripped to shreds so much that booty shorts would be less revealing. Pulling on them tore them completely, he discarded them to the side and set about taking off his shirt which had sustained less damage save for one of the sleeves being missing and the hem looking like a murder had stabbed it to death. James knew that it was vital to strip out of his clothes, staying in them would give him hypothermia; his fur could only keep him warm for so long.

Slightly dryer, James pushed his soggy clothes under an armpit and carried on walking.

Fifty more steps and he was back to walking normally, but it was too enervating to continue for long. He sat back down and tried to think.

The last he remembered he was dropped through the floor of his boat cabin with Skylar, who carried the survival bag. James' forepaw shot to his shoulder, as if the bag would actually be there.

Cussing, he punched the sand with fury. His only chances of survival were in that bag, which probably now rested at the bottom of the sea. Sky was missing too, which was even more worrying than the bag's absence. If he himself had washed up, there was a chance that the fox and his bag had gotten to the same place as well. Hopefully.

The hyena etched a message into the sand.

"It's James. Scream if you can, Skylar."

The chances of Sky finding it were low, even he struggled to see it in the sand. Nevermind that though, a message wouldn't find the fox. He headed east first. If he was lucky, he'd bump into a village and he'd be saved. If he was unlucky, he'd come across his message again.

Inland, there was a thicket of tropical trees and other flora, the hyena deduced that he was in Northern Eria. That or he'd gone a lot further than he'd thought, and was in Kalanreed. He shivered, he'd risk swimming the ocean if he was actually there. James shook the thought of, the flora wasn't exotic enough for it to be Kalanreed; the colors on the planets were bright, but dull enough to be obscured by the darkness. Another thing he gathered was that he was indeed on an island, no mainland beaches had palms trees and vines. That and there were no feedings marks or trodden plants, signs that there weren't any feral animals or worse, natives. Watching documentaries in his spare time really had paid off.

"Skylar!" James called out as he passed a jagged rock, there were more of these further down the beach. Soon, he realized that the ground was turning from sand to rock, plants dwindling as well. He found himself standing on a craggy coastline, a cliff face even. The hyena peered off the edge, it was a long drop with sharp, killer rocks waiting at the bottom. He was somewhat tempted to jump into the waves thumping against the rocks, eroding them. The tide was low, revealing what from a distance could have been headstones or sorted rocks. He continued walking, somewhat concerned that he'd wound up on a plague island. If you'd asked him, he would have said that he needed to find Skylar still.

Fifteen minutes of walking again saw him back, it was somehow relieving for him to have a soft surface beneath his paws. The hyena guessed that he was probably at one end of the island, with his luck Sky and the bag would be at the other end.

Seeing nothing, but sand trees and water, time passed slowly for the hyena. There were no prints in the sand, no blown down trees or markings in the sand, it was as if he was the first furson to ever be on the island. His hope died quickly, especially when the sun began to set. However, seeing the sun come down made James speed up. If the tide came in and Sky was knocked out on the beach, it could pull him away and drown him! Breaking into a sprint, the hyena shouted out the fox's name again and again.

"SKYLAR! SKYLAR! Answer me!"

Kicking up sand behind him as he went, James covered enough ground to finally see something worth noting. A life jacket, his life jacket. It bore everything from his ship's registration to the scratches it had obtained over the years. It had a few new ones and a tear, but there was no mistaking that this was the life jacket Sky had been wearing. Jumping for joy, James exclaimed out loud. He clutched the life jacket close to him and looked around for more signs of Sky.

Finding clumps of fox fur, shredded pieces of Sky's scarf and his clothes resting on the sand excited the hyena and gave him hope. A trickle of blood took it away.

It dyed the sand crimson as it ran from its owner. Following it, James nearly vomited. The sand further up the beach was a dark, sickening haematic color. Mixing with the grains, it stuck to the bottoms of his paws. He stifled a sob and a scream, propped against a rock was his friend.

His shirt was lost, revealing his soaked fur. Seaweed clung to his shoulder and sand stuck into his fur. His jeans were no better, ripped in hundreds of places and barely hanging on to his hips. His hair, normally combed back, dropped over his face and his fur was wild and unkempt as if he'd spent years on the island. He bore no resemblance, save for his red fur, to the chirpy fox on the boat.

He was clearly badly injured and didn't appear to breathing. His body was slumped, his entire body relaxing peacefully with his wrists turned over to reveal patches of missing fur, but no blood. His legs were the same, scratches and pink patches, but no deep gashes. It was coming from his belly, just next to his belly button there was a deep gash that stretched around him.

Dropping his wet clothes and the life jacket, James barked the fox's name and bolted forwards. He forced a forepaw against the wound to help him. The blood had begun clotting, but Skylar would bleed out before it could clot enough to make a difference.

"Skylar, are you awake?"

With his other forepaw, he lifted up Skylar's eyelid. His green eye pierced James with a heavy, accepting look. He was only relieved to see the hyena because he hated the idea of being alone when he died.

Skylar groaned and looked away from the hyena as if he were ashamed.

"Can you speak?"

The fox shook his head in response to James' question, he was trying to save his energy.

"Okay, just head signals then." James pleaded. "Do you know where the bag is?"

Skylar nodded.

"Where is it?!"

The canine frowned at James.

"Is it on the beach?" He re-phrased.

Sky nodded and tipped his head back, behind the rock to indicate that it was somewhere in that direction.

"Okay... Okay... There are medical supplies in there, I'm going to go and get it. Can you keep pressure on your wound?"

The fox pushed James' forepaws away and replaced them with his own, he winced, but pushed down against the gash to keep as much blood in as possible. James forepaws were drenched in blood.

Wasting no time, James dashed in the direction that Sky had instructed. He was going to save Skylar's life and his own, assuming that the bag was as waterproof as the advertiser promised.

He found it on a rocky surface, Sky's blood drenched the stones. The fox must have cut himself getting up or tripping, James was extra careful not to make the same mistake as he traversed the rocks with bare paws. But, as soon as he got back to sand, he sprinted, bag over his shoulder.

He dove next to Sky, dropped the bag and tore it open. Everything was dry, he could easily save Skylar.

To start he found cotton wool and quickly cleaned out the gash with water.

Then he thrust his forepaw into a side pocket and found the disinfectant cream. Pouring out a thick glob, he moved the fox's forepaw and rubbed it into the gash. His fingers came away red, but he knew that if the wound ended up infected there wouldn't be much hope. He applied more to be on the safe side before having Skylar apply pressure again.

"Almost finished, promise."

James gave Skylar a light kiss on the forehead whilst he found the bandages. He wrapped them tight around Skylar's belly, secured it and then applied another layer to be sure.

"There."

James exhaled and leaned against the rock with Skylar. The fox flopped against him and moaned:

"This is my fault..." Skylar mumbled. He sniffled. "Sorry about your boat."

"It's fine, I have insurance." James grinned and nudged the fox. "Stay awake please, we can rest for a while, but we need to focus on finding shelter, food, water and clothes. Our fur can only keep us warm for so long." Sky huffed.

"Can we die instead? That sounds like hard work." The fox chuckled. "Speaking of clothes, where are yours?"

"I took them off because they're wet." James explained, removing the seaweed clump from the fox's shoulder. "Let me do the same."

The hyena moved down and wriggled Skylar out of his jeans then his underwear.

"I'm glad that your atrocious outfit is lost somewhere in the sea."

"Harsh, at least I have a sense of fashion!" Skylar giggled.

"At least I have a real job!" James remarked, then winced as he tried to take it back. "Sorry. We shouldn't start this when we're stranded on an island."

"No, we shouldn't. How about we get to work?"

Skylar shakily stood up, using James shoulder for support.

"I'm not feeling like death anymore.." That was a lie, the fox was even more pallid than before.

"Perfect." James smiled anyway. "Sit down if you feel too sick or weak. For now we only need to get ourselves a platform off of the sand. I'll cut the wood if you arrange it and tie it."

"I get the easy job? Fine by me."

James retrieved an axe from the bag and string for Skylar.. Looking at the growth of trees, he picked out the smallest ones and started hacking away at them. Skylar sat down on the beachfront, out of the reach of the tide by James' request and watched. The trees roared as they fell, crashing with an even more tremendous boom and blowing sand in all directions if they fell on the beach. Then James cut them into more manageable sizes, seeing as how the trees reached up to be higher than he'd expected, and Sky hacked off the bark with a pen knife. Twenty trees later, James felt he had enough and set about helping the fox make a platform. In between the time, they managed to make a drying rack for their clothes. When they were finished, James was soaked with sweat and Sky had hardly broken one. Regardless, the fox was exhausted.

He flopped back onto the shock blanket that James had laid out, not the intended use, but it still served as bedding quite well. James cuddled up next to him and slipped an arm under Sky's back then one over his chest to keep him still.

"Can't have you rolling too much." James explained. "If that wound opens up again you'll be in trouble, no exerting yourself, do you hear me?"

"Don't have to tell me twice."

Because Sky's wound was on the left side of his stomach and his back, he had to sleep on his right side. He ended up facing James. Resting his head on the hyena's pectorals, he asked:

"How are you holding up?" James frowned at the question.

"Pardon?" The hyena lifted an eyebrow. "Sorry. Been awhile since I've had somefur ask me that. I'm fine, thank you." He kissed Skylar on the forehead. "How are you?"

"Tired. But at least I can sleep knowing that I won't die of blood loss tonight.. Thank you for saving me."

Skylar managed a smile and rubbed his face against James' chest, leaving behind his scent.

"Don't thank me yet. You can save it for when we get off of this island." James grumbled.

"How can I thank you now then?" Skylar winked, tracing a finger between the hyena's abs.

"Ah Skylar, always horny!" James chuckled and squeezed the fox's ass. "How about we save the sex until we're saved?"

"What, you don't have a teleporter in your bag and we're going to have to get help the traditional way?" Skylar grinned, his sense of humor managed to cover up the terrifying truth for a few more hours.

"Oh yeah. But, don't worry... There's a flare gun in the bag, a transponder and I know smoke signals!" James smiled. "There's still hope."

"Yeah, but don't you need electricity to work a transponder?"

"I have batteries and if we must, we can only activate it when we see a ship. If we're still in crabbing waters, we'll be fine." James explained.

"You said it yourself, it's off season." Skylar reminded him, James' visage dropped.

"Shit..." He cussed under his breath before rolling over.

To change the subject, he forced himself to shiver.

"It's cold, isn't it? Do you want my shirt?"

The hyena got up off of the makeshift bed and hurried towards their drying rack.

"I'm fine, really."

Sky rolled his eyes when James ignored him and came back carrying a shirt that was two sizes too big for the fox, but at least it was dry. The fox allowed James to slip it on over his head.

"If we weren't stranded on an island, I'd say wearing your shirts is cute."

Skylar adjusted it, so that it reached half way down his thighs. James chuckled and slipped his arms under Sky's. Nuzzling his nose against him, he planted a kiss on the fox's orange muzzle fur before rolling over.

The fox fell asleep quickly behind him, his snoring replacing the sound of crashing waves. Trees and bushes rustled up the beach, which was one of the reasons why James kept his eyes trained on them; if anything came out of them, he'd know it. Unsurprisingly, nothing did.

Half unconscious, he cupped a forepaw around Skylar's waist and nuzzled against his throat, just to make sure that he was safe.

***

The Next Morning

For once, Skylar was the fur to wake up early. Everything was dark still, which came as a surprise for the fox considering that he'd grown used to waking up with a lamp light beside him. It took him a second to remember where was, the stench of sea salt, crashing of waves and the howling from feral gulls made him confuse the island with Kystratr for a moment or two.

Groaning, Skylar rubbed the sleep from his eyes and slowly stood up.

He looked out to sea to distract himself as he waited for the hyena to wake up. A yellow dot, a light moving across the sea, drifted into view. He strained to see exactly what he was looking at, but failed to make anything out. He immediately assumed that it was a boat, their way of escaping!

Diving for the bag, Skylar tried to find anything to signal for help: the flare gun, the transponder, a torch for God's sake! He found nothing. Had James ied? Panicking, Skylar grabbed a pair of binoculars; he needed to see what it was.

Using the binoculars, he caught a glimpse of what could have been a boat or a buoy before the waves blocked his view. Cursing, Skylar glanced around for a vantage point. The trees. The fox was a streak of orange and white as he bolted for the tallest tree, his side burned with pain and it felt as if a fist was being driven in through the gash, but still he pushed on. With his claws, Skylar managed to climb the tree. Clinging to the palm tree trunk with an arm, the fox stared out to sea and managed to catch sight of the light again. Now in full view, he recognized it as a cruise ship.

"JAMES! JAMES!" Skylar bellowed. "JAMES!"

The hyena stirred to Skylar's frantic screaming after the third and when the desperation of the fourth set in, he recognized it as Skylar's voice and shot up.

"Skylar!" James screamed and threw his head around to try to spot him.

"Up here! There's a cruise ship!" Skylar shouted to raise the alarm. "Where's the flare gun?!"

James ran for the bag and searched one of the side pockets. Skylar felt somewhat stupid having not searched those pockets.

"Can you catch?!"

James ran closer to the tree and, when Skylar had put the binoculars around his neck, tossed the flare gun up. Time seemed to slow down as the gun hurtled towards Sky. The fox had never been good at catching, how on Earth did James think he could catch it? Through luck, the fox stuck his forepaw out and managed to grab it. Without James' word, then again the hyena was scrambling for the transponder, Skylar aimed at a 45 degree angle and fired.

The flare howled as it rocketed off towards the sea. It went up for a few seconds before falling, leaving a streak of red light that, against the black night, stood out clearly. There was no way that the ship couldn't see them.

Skylar put the binoculars back to his eyes and watched as the cruise ship seemed to slow down. Could they see him? Skylar began frantically waving his arms, well one arm at least; the other still held the tree for dear life. Skylar watched in horror as the cruise ship continued sailing in the wrong direction.

"JAMES! JAMES! THEY'RE NOT STOPPING?!" Skylar cried, confused.

Wasn't there some law where if somefur saw a flare they had to head towards it? "JAMES!" Skylar begged and burst into tears.

"W-why aren't they coming?"

"I don't know!"

The hyena snarled as he flipped on the transponder and did his best to make the signal as strong as possible.

"What about now?!"

Skylar checked again. Nothing, it was as if they didn't exist or as if the ship was afraid of approaching them.

"They're just sailing away!"

"Give it a second! They'll pick it up!" The hyena watched gleefully out to sea, trying to spot the vessel. He imagined it sailing towards him over the horizon, rescuing him and Sky in less than a day. Skylar's view was not obscured by waves and darkness, with the binoculars he knew exactly what was going on. The cruise ship continued sailing as if they hadn't seen a thing. A million thoughts blew through Skylar's head, was the ship ignoring them? Could the Captain not see the flare? Was the transponder faulty. The fox watched in horror as their hope sailed further away from them, eventually disappearing from view.

Skylar descended the tree quickly, James caught on by just looking at the vulpine.

"Mother fuckers..." He cursed under his breath and pushed his forepaws through his cropped hair. "Fuck..."

"What now?" Skylar asked dumping the binoculars next to the transponder. The fox sat down on the makeshift bed and curled up. "Are we going to die here?"

"No." James was slow to respond. "We won't. Not if we get some food and a good supply of water. We're anthros, we can hunt!"

"You're a crabber and your species are infamous for being scavengers. I'm a vlogger who's too small and lazy to even step paw in a gym."

"Stop being negative. We'll hunt for sticks first and maybe pick up fruit that we recognize. Then, we'll make fishing spears. You eat fish right?"

"Who doesn't?" Sky grinned and stood up. "Let's hurry up, maybe we can have fish for breakfast!"

The two set out, dipping into the growth of flora slightly to find sticks. They hacked them off of bushes, trees and Skylar managed to pull up a thick root. James struck gold, but smelt it first.

"Watch it!" The hyena warned, sticking out his arm to stop Skylar tredding bare paw into what looked like feral dung.

"Gross!" Sky complained as turned his nose up to the avoid the scent.

"At least we know there are ferals here, that means meat!" James grinned and dug a stick into the ground to mark the spot, he could start hunting later. After an hour or so of gathering, their arms were filled with sticks with some stuffed under their armpits along with tree bark that the hyena had insisted on gathering.

"For a snare!" He replied when questioned.

Settling down at their base camp again, both set to work with carving knives. James concentrated on making a bow, seeing as how a javelin or a knife wouldn't suffice if he hunted a fast animal whilst Skylar cut a fishing spear out of the tree root. It was the perfect material for the tool, sturdy and long, but light. In an hour, Skylar had whittled it down to the right shape and began smoothing the surface to avoid getting splinters. James wasn't having too much luck. His bow had taken shape, was the right size and the wood wasn't going to give him splinters, but the string was faulty. If he tried to fire an arrow, or pulled back on the string, it would unravel after a couple of shots or come loose. Frowning, James took out the string and tried again.

"Finished!" Skylar announced, holding up his fishing spear. He threw it down the beach, his throw was terrible so it flew about a metre before diving. James suppressed a laugh.

"Great, now go find a cove! Aim in front of the fish and..." The hyena tossed Sky his shirt. "Use this to keep them out of the sand. Gross, I know, but if we find fresh water we can wash it."

"Thanks." Skylar bowed slightly before heading off down the beach, determined to find the best fishing spot on the island.

"Bring back three!" James shouted, the fox probably didn't hear him. James sighed, worried that the fox might end up in trouble, but somewhat happier now that he didn't have to put up with Skylar's humming.

Adapting his bow design, James wrapped the string around the bow and drew his makeshift arrow. He was unable to find anything to make fletchings, but he'd just have to put up with using a pointed wooden stick instead. He drew the string back and used his finger to balance the arrow on, he aimed at a nearby tree with his naked eye then, bringing the arrow all the way back until it grazed against the side of his face...

CHUNG!

The arrow flew through the air and crashed into the tree, a little off from where the hyena was aiming, but nevertheless it worked. With a grin, he grabbed a few more sticks and whittled out some more arrows before moving on to make a couple of snares.

***

On the other side of the island, Skylar had managed to find himself a spot. The sand turned to sharp rocks, the same type that he had cut his belly on, so he moved carefully across them to avoid cutting his paw. Eventually, there was a large drop and at the bottom Sky could spy a pool of water connected to the ocean. Whether there were fish in it or not, he couldn't tell. He needed to get closer. Gulping down his fear, the fox dropped his fishing spear down first then descended the rock face.

As a cub, Skylar had always enjoyed climbing: trees, climbing walls, frames... Anything he could climb without risking falling to his death. The fox hadn't forgotten this and was able to easily clamber down. Dropping the last section, Skylar retrieved his fishing spear and checked it for cracks: nothing.

For a brief second, the fox looked out to sea. It was calm and looked welcoming. A thought crossed his mind, he pushed it to the back of his head for the moment.

Skylar crept closer to the rock pool, being careful not to startle anything within it and peered in. It was deeper than he originally thought, he could probably swim downwards in it. Then again, it was a tight fit and he wouldn't be able to turn around. Peering in revealed that there were a couple of beautiful fish inside that didn't look poisonous. Knowing that he needed to eat, the fox brought up the spear and sent it crashing down without mercy.

Fish blood spurted out into the water and Sky withdrew his spear bloody, but with three fish speared on it. He knocked them off onto the shirt and saw that the fish were trying to flee by swimming down a small stream that went into the sea. Frowning, Skylar sat in front of them to block their path. Raising his spear up again, he stabbed.

How much had James said to bring back again?

***

James had seen enough documentaries on surviving in the wild to know how to hunt deer, go for the doe not the elk and don't take on anything larger than you. He felt somewhat guilty going out to hunt the creatures that a couple of his friends had descended from, but if he didn't he'd die. Freeing his mind from any thoughts about morals, the hyena stopped to set up a snare trap. He baited it with a pile of grass, berries and fruits, hoping to attract a rabbit or some other kind of small creature. He doubted that he was going to catch a rabbit though.

Continuing on, James kept his eyes trained on the ground and only occasionally darted his eyes to look forwards to check that he wasn't walking into a spider web with some gigantic, behemoth arachnid on it. The hyena shivered. He himself didn't have arachnophobia, but he knew not to tangle with a tropical spider.

He moved forwards for about thirty minutes before planting a stick in the ground, to mark his place to prevent himself from getting lost, and then another one pointing diagonally in the direction that he came in so that he knew where camp was. Shaking the remains of ferns, dirt and other things out of his fur he headed left.

James entered a clearing rather quickly and immediately crouched down, hoping to spot some food. He nocked an arrow, keeping his fingers in position should he need to fire quickly. A glance at the clearing revealed an entire leash of deer. Jackpot.

He singled out a doe, ignoring the bucks and the young, then drew back his bow string. Aiming for the head, he was careful to make sure that he'd kill suddenly and with one shot; otherwise the leash would scatter and his food would either be trampled or would escape.

His arrow whizzed, cutting through the air and planted itself through the side of the doe's head. It dropped into the grass with a thump, but the leash didn't scatter just yet. Silently nocking another arrow, the hyena repeated this on another doe. That one went down too, with a little less success than the first. The arrow, piercing too far up the doe's muzzle, didn't kill it fast enough. It screeched in pain before dropping, alerting the leash.

In the blink of an eye, chaos erupted like a volcano and the entire herd bolted. A couple headed towards James, four does and a buck. On instinct, the hyena kept his position and prayed that the buck wasn't going to hit him with its antlers. Two of the doe noticed the hyena in their way and seeing that he was a predator, veered away. The other two continued running and the buck fortunately ran straight past James without so much as touching him. He was lucky that they weren't in heat.

He sighed in relief and, with a grin, jogged up to his kills. After retrieving his arrows, one of which had snapped, the hyena took out his knife and set about making his kills more manageable.

***

Skylar walked back along the beach with a shirt full of dead fish. Blood stained the fabric, but he and James would be able to eat for weeks! The downside was that the shirt was going to stink forever, but the fox knew that he'd adjust to the stench if it meant getting a full belly.

Seeing the bed and the drying rack in the distance, Skylar picked up the pace and dropped the shirt of food next to the rack before flopping on the bed. He exhaled slowly and curled up to be more comfortable.

He'd worked hard, gotten food for him and his best friend and a significant amount at that.

He yawned.

"I deserve a nap!" Skylar half-sung to himself and closed his eyes. He'd make sure to make up before James got back.

***

"Skylar!" James barked and was almost tempted to fire an arrow to wake the canine up. The hyena shook his friend violently. "Skylar!" The fox jerked awake,

"Gah!" He flailed and nearly hit the hyena. "Hey! What is it?"

"Why are you asleep? You should be making a fire! Where's the fish you caught?" James huffed, stretching out his back and tossing his hunting equipment to the side.

"In your shirt."

The hyena unrolled the fabric and Skylar was expecting his friend to applaud him.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" The hyena screamed instead. "DUDE! I SAID THREE!"

"What's wrong!" Skylar yipped and darted over to his friends to peer at his catches. Nothing seemed off about the fish, they were all there just how Skylar caught them.

"Y-you caught too many! How are we supposed to eat all this shit?!" James lifted up two, he barely dented the pile Skylar had caught. "I think you killed an entire school!"

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Yes! Over-hunting is bad enough, but all of this will go to waste. We can't eat it all and we can't store it." James groaned and smacked the fish back onto the pile. "This is my fault, I should have explained it better to you." He ground his teeth together. James sniffed. "But at least it's fresh."

"I'm sorry." Skylar sat down on the sand and bundled up the fish. "And, don't blame yourself. You didn't hunt them. Anyway, what did you catch?"

"Two does, that I cut into five steaks, and that!" The hyena gestured to their drying rack from which a quadruped creature hung. It had black fur, resembling a rat with its long muzzle and small, flesh colored paws.

"What is that?" Skylar grimaced, mistaking for a diseased rat.

"A black agouti. Plus, my snare didn't kill it." James looked pretty proud about that.

"Aren't snares supposed to kill what they catch?" The fox chuckled. "Sounds like you messed up."

"Nope. Because now the kill is still fresh, if we tie it up right we could keep it until we need food. Maybe lock it in a crate or something." James suggested. "Then again, we'd need to make sure the place was secure."

"We could dig a ditch."

"No, it would burrow out of it." The hyena countered. "I need you to hold onto it whilst we make a platform to tie it up on again. Hanging it like that will kill it." James set to work with twigs, trying to make an agouti sized platform whilst Skylar freed the creature and held it by the neck. It's fur was coarse and standing on end as it struggled in the fox's grasp.

James turned his back on Skylar whilst he worked and after a minute, the fox got bored.

Observing the creature, he wondered how fast it could run. No faster than himself, right? What about burrowing? Probably not too fast. Skylar dug a hole with his paws, making it deep enough for him to stand in. He lowered the agouti into it and as soon as it was free, it bolted.

Skylar thought that the creature couldn't escape and watched as it tried to burrow. It was slow at digging, but after thirty seconds its body was out of sight. The fox plunged his forepaws into the sand and scooped it out. With a chuckle, the fox bounced the catch in his forepaws before putting it back in the ditch (after he'd covered up the escape hole.) This time, the agouti started burrowing, but then stopped. In a fraction of a second, it leaped up out of the hole. Skylar barely had time to gasp.

It ran, but fortunately the sand didn't allow it to move too quickly. Skylar dived on the thing and caught it again. The commotion drew James attention.

"Don't fuck around." James warned. "If we lose this, you'll be out in the jungle all night catching it again. This is a good catch and if we play it right, we won't starve too soon."

"What about water? We can't go too long without it."

"I have three bottles in my bag, but I know what you mean. We'll go out after we've eaten, together, and find a fresh water source. We'll start with the clearing I found and go from there." The hyena explained.

The two fell silent as they set up the holding place for the agouti. It didn't look too happy about being tied to a platform, Skylar didn't look too happy with doing it.

For the next hour the two set about making a fire and cooking one whole fish to themselves and a doe steak.

"I've been thinking..." The fox said as he chewed on a cooked piece of deer, it was chewy, but tasted alright. "We're not getting saved are we?"

"What makes you say that?"

"That cruise ship didn't come to us and... Well I've had two thoughts actually."

"Say them then."

"We should sail away from the island, into the cruise ship's path."

"That's a terrible idea. If another one came along, they wouldn't see us and would just run into us-"

"We have another flare, so we fire it up when they're close to us. Plus we have the transponder, if we keep it safe-"

"Still risky, if a storm kicks in we'd be screwed." James frowned. "But it's better than staying on the island, so thanks-"

"I'm not finished yet." Skylar nudged the hyena with his arm. "Get this, I recognized that cruise ships logo."

"Ah, you think we can sue them for leaving us to die?" James grinned.

"No, well... yes actually, we should do that." The two laughed to each other. "But seriously, it belonged to a company that only sails around the Erian isles; I came across it when looking for a cruise to send my folk on."

"So we know that we're Eria at least, that's great. Hey! Maybe if we're lucky we'll find out that this island is that psyhco island where they just kill everybody who ends up on it!"

"And, we know that we're close to the mainland." Skylar smirked.

"How?"

"Ever been on a cruise?"

"I have- had..." James sighed. "My own fishing boat if that counts."

"No it doesn't silly. But seriously, on all the cruises I've been on they always have this huge party the first day they set sail. That party was only just ending when I saw them. We're really close to the mainland! Like, if we set sail we could reach it in a day or two!"

"That's assuming we don't sail over shark infested waters." James frowned. "And if we don't get hit by a storm, Sky we should be careful with sailing." The hyena the last part of a doe steak and moved onto his fish.

"I know, but you can predict what the sea will be like, right?"

"I guess."

"So we can set sail when the seas look calm. Or right after a storm, it'll give us a better chance won't it?"

"I suppose so." James exhaled deeply. "Okay. We sail off of this island. But we need a stockpile of supplies first, cooked food, water, things to keep us on the raft, a real raft. We'll spend as long as we can on it, put everything we'll need on it with walls maybe too. And a sail!" James got that spark in his eye, something that Sky rarely saw.

"You are really enthusiastic about sailing aren't you?" Skylar giggled and rested his head on the hyena's shoulder.

"It's settled then. How about we name the raft after your boat?"

"We can't, I didn't give her a name in the end." James shrugged.

"You didn't name your boat?! No wonder the storm hit us out of the blue." Skylar rolled his eyes and purred softly when James wrapped an arm around his waist.

"We can name the raft Skylark, or something like that."

"After me? Charming."

"Nah. Your name isn't Skylar, so it's not named after you."

"Oh? Since when have you ever agreed on calling me Sky?"

"Figured that I should start doing it." James grinned then fell silent and somewhat pale. Sky noticed a blush under his fur. "And- err, maybe a couple of other things." The fox caught on quickly.

"Like what?" He rubbed up against the hyena.

"Like- err... Dating. O-once we get off the island of course!" James tried to take it back. Sky burst out laughing.

"Oh no! If I'm getting through this without going insane, I'm going to need a boyfriend! You're either dating me now or never."

"Fine. I'll do it now." James sounded embarrassed. "Err... Sky, do you want to date me?"

"That is not how you ask a guy out." Sky grinned. "Come on, demand for it. Let me know how much you want me."

"Now it sounds like you're trying to get me to ask for sex." James chuckled.

"Well we are naked, gay and dating so..." The fox twiddled his hair, which had gone from being combed to back to all over the place since he'd wound up on the island.

"If you really want to, I wouldn't say no. It's just that, y'know, no lube or anything."

"Well there's a fish over there so you could always use fish slime!"

"Gross!" James laughed and gave Sky a playful push. "I am not using fish slime. How about a blowjob instead?"

"You know I like being bossed around. Come on, order me." Sky begged almost.

"Kinky." James winked. "Fine. When we fuck later, you're giving me a blowjob first."

"Later?" Skylar whined. "What about now?"

"It's probably just after midday, no. You're waiting until tonight when we've eaten some more and had a good drink. Now get up and find fresh water with me." James helped Sky to his paws.

"You know when I said I like being under paw and all? I take that back. I hate being bossed into doing work."

"Well if you do everything well maybe I'll be inclined to rim you. Whether it's afterwards or before we screw is your choice." James took Skylar by the forepaw and lead him up the beach, taking a couple of marking sticks with them and a knife. "Actually. I'll do it before and afterwards, you like being bossed around don't you?."

James pushed his way into the tree line.

"Being the boss feels good!" The hyena exclaimed.

***

The walking became monotonous and dull quickly, their bawdy conversation dwindling to more serious 'Don't tread in shit!' and 'Watch out for that spider!' All too quickly. When Skylar saw the monster James was talking about clinging to a tree, he pressed up behind the hyena and squeezed his eyes shut. When they were long gone from the spider, James tapped Sky's back.

"It's alright, Sky. You're safe. I'll kill if it comes near anyway." The hyena promised, soothing Sky's nerves ever so slightly.

"That's good to hear." He muttered dryly, glancing over his shoulder to check that he wasn't being tailed by it.

After reaching the clearing that James had killed the two does in, the two hid on a bank and watched as a herd of deer grazed.

"Watch closely. We follow them when they move, let them lead us to the water." James instructed.

"Right." Sky nodded. "But.. .err... Can I like, watch the other side? For anything that might sneak up on us?"

"Worried about spiders?" James raised an eyebrow. "Do whatever makes you feel safe. Hell, get between my legs if you want." Knowing that the hyena was only joking, Sky didn't take him up on the offer.

They lay in the grass for an hour or so, or at least long enough for James to become tired.

"Hey. They're moving." James grunted and tapped Sky on the shoulder who slowly got up. James watched as they headed further into the jungle/forest, it was hard to say what exactly the growth of trees and plants actually was. Following and watching from a distance, James' eyes focused on the leader. It took an abrupt turn left, stopped and lifted its head to check for danger. The hyena and fox went low, avoiding its eyes. When it failed to notice them, it continued on and brought them to a magnificent area.

They heard the waterfalling crashing before anything else and were surprised that the deer were comfortable with getting so close to such a loud noise. James understood why when they started following the stream of water down, hoping to find a quieter area. James let them leave and stared in awe at the waterfall.

"It's... awesome." Skylar smiled as he watched the water cascade down from a cliff that was twice as tall as his apartment block. Scaling the side would take hours.

"Don't get under the water. It's coming down strong." James said. "It'll hurt and might break something. Plus, watch out for any logs coming down." The hyena ignored the waterfall for a moment, more interested in the pool of water itself.

Looking through the froth that the waterfall generated, he checked for any fish or something that might contaminate the water.

Finding nothing, he turned his attention to the bamboo rods on the other side of the pool. There were tons of them, all lined up in rows upon rows. They would be a great material to make their escape raft out of it. The hyena planted a marker in the ground and turned to Sky.

"Sky! We need to follow the water downstream, find the place that the deer drink from. Then we need to mark the way here, this bamboo is great for making rafts out of!" Skylar nodded in agreement and was at his boyfriend's side before James set off again.

Continuing down river, they found something just as good as a deer. It was a Tapir, drinking from the river. Sky suggested killing it, but James reminded the fox that they had enough food. It appeared to be in good health and took big glugs from the river until it had drank its fill. Then, James stepped up and checked the water. Everything appeared to be in good order.

"This is perfect. We can drink from here, once we run out of bottled water that is. This is where we split." James announced, drawing surprise from his fox.

"What? You said-"

"I've changed my mind." The fox looked terrified. "Look, Sky. I wouldn't let you go off in your own if I didn't trust you and don't worry, I'm not going to send you in the direction of that spider. Just follow this river downstream, you'll come out at the beach. Remember to head left and mark the way with sticks, on the beach that is." James handed about half of the sticks he carried to the fox. "This is an important job."

"I understand."

"Meet me back at base camp as soon as possible, don't worry if I'm not there. If I'm not, collect up some more trees and sticks so that we can make our shelter better. We're playing the long game here, so we need a better place to sleep." Sky nodded this time and watched silently as James turned back around, heading for the waterfall. A part of him wanted to chase after the hyena and get shouted at, that sounded a lot better than going into a jungle alone. Then again, it was more like he was leaving the jungle.

Psyching himself up, Skylar bounced on the spot a few times then hurried off down the river. Things were fairly quiet, bugs hummed around him and a few parrots squawked from the blind, which spooked the fox every now and then. He planted a stick every fifty steps or at every turn, soon his paws touched sand. With a yipp of happiness, he bolted away from the treeline and was half tempted to flop down to sleep.

Shaking off the feeling, Sky planted another stick, he had only five left at this point and headed West towards where James was supposed to be. The fox rationed his markers, planting one when he couldn't see the last. Through the work of a miracle, he managed to reach base camp only a few minutes after running out of sticks.

Upon arriving, he found that James was nowhere to be seen. This wasn't too much of a worry, but after last time Sky had learnt a thing or two. He checked on their black agouti, which was alive still, then sat on the platform to rest. Forcing himself to not doze off, he tried to recall everything that James had said to him. Collect sticks and trees? Easy enough." The fox picked up the axe, which the hyena had buried in the sand, and headed for the tree line.

The trees close to the beach were small and, to Sky's delight, not spider infested. The fox made sure to cut them so that they fell towards the treeline, as to not smoosh the base they were building. Rather than dragging them down the beach and cutting them up like James had, Sky moved onto the next tree every time he cut one down. It was exhausting work, but in the space of an hour Skylar had managed to hack down six and was about to knock down his seventh.

He didn't hear the hyena coming from directly in front of him as he struck the final blow into the trunk. It fell with a mighty roar,

"Sky!" James shouted as the tree fell. A tremendous crash echoed over the island.

"James!" Skylar replied, assuming he'd crushed his boyfriend. Diving over the tree only a second after it had landed, he ran forwards and tried to lift the tree up.

"James?! James?!" He heard the hyena's laughter before he saw him, alive and well a couple of steps to the left.

"Thought you'd kill me?" The hyena held stacks of bamboo in his arms.

"Well yeah..." Skylar admitted with a blush. "Glad to see that you're not squished into the grass."

"Glad to see that the spiders didn't getcha. Come on, you can take a break now." James promised and lead the fox back to their temporary bedding.

Relaxing, James bundled Sky up in his arms when they were comfortable and kissed the top of his head.

"I'd say we've done enough for today." James sighed, putting his head back. "So we need to eat, drink, fuck and sleep, so which order you want to do it in?"

"How about we decide after we get the shelter finished." The fox pouted. "I'm not spending another night on this crappy, wooden platform!" Getting up, he tugged James' arm. "Come on, I've cut down the trees so let's assemble something new! Something, big and shaded!"

"Since when have you been so eager to work?" That was definitely a complaint.

"Ever since my life depended on it. And since when have you not been eager to work?"

"I'll work, just don't want you to work yourself into the ground.

"I won't, I'll just work up a sweat and some exhaustion. Not too much though, in case you actually follow up on your sex promise." The fox handed the woodcutter's axe to James again and pointed him in the direction of the trees. "Now work! I'm going to think about how we can do this." Chuckling about how Skylar, despite wanting to work, was taking the easy job, James set about cutting up the fallen trees.

By the time James had finished, Skylar had built the frame. It looked a lot like a tanning or a drying rack, but was a lot larger and could fit much more than just the two of them underneath it.

"That looks great!" James commented, dragging tree trunks over. "Mind if I test how sturdy it is? I don't really want to drown in trees if the wind picks up over night."

"Go on! Kick it, I dare you." Sky enthusiastically grinned and watched, eager to see his invention succeed. I didn't. The hyena kicked one of the supports and the entire thing came apart, but at least nothing snapped. "Oh... It err..." Sky was lost for words. "It... It held when I kicked it!"

"Great, let's pray for a weak storm." James winked. "Come on, let's rebuild it. Stronger this time." With James' help, Skylar managed to make the structure sturdy which they did by making the frame shorter so that it could accommodate them, the bag and a couple of other things that they needed to protect. It faced out to sea, so that they could spot any boats and when they were sure that the frame would hold against the average winds, they started propping logs onto the back to make a sort of roof. Finished with that, they piled leaves, branches and bushes on top to make it somewhat waterproof.

"Perfect-"

"Nope. I'm not sleeping on sand, besides we have some left over branches." Skylar interrupted, pushing the axe against James' belly. "Let's make a floor at least." It was already sundown the hyena was getting tired, not to mention hungry, but he knew that it would be a while until Skylar became this motivated again.

"Sure." He agreed and set about doing what the fox needed him to do. James didn't mind that the fox took it easy.

Night had fallen by the time James had finished, but at least they had somewhere comfortable to sleep. He made bedding out of some left over leaves that weren't too itchy and purred as he rolled on them.

"Much better than just wood!" Sky exclaimed with a giggle.

"Let me try." James sat down next to him and shuffled about. At least the wood hadn't tickled his ass. Regardless, he agreed. "This feels so much better!"

"Not as good as your belly." The fox grinned. "I'm almost one hundred percent sure that all this work has made you build some more muscle."

"You can get a closer look if you want." James got comfortable in the den, legs spread wide. A suggestive grin, resembling that infamous hyena smile, stretched across his face to show his sharp teeth. It would be intimidating to anyfur who didn't know that the hyena was a big softy. Skylar, being one of the furs who knew James, crawled over and nuzzled against James' flaccid cock.

"Thought you said we'd have to eat first."

"You can make me dinner after we're done. That's how you like it right?" James chuckled.

"Well normally it's a sandwich that I make." Skylar joked as he rolled the hyena's balls in his forepaws, getting a good estimate as to how much seed they'd dump in him. Judging by how they hung low like a rope swing, it'd probably be enough to fill the fox up. What hole it would fill, or if it would find it's way into any, was James' decision. "Do you want a blowjob?" Skylar asked.

"Keep playing with my balls, feels good. I'll tell you when you've earned the honour of giving me a blowjob."

"Kinky." Sky commented.

"That's set you back by five minutes now. You'd better impress." James warned. Blushing, but already becoming very aroused, Skylar lowered his muzzle and nestled it between the base of the hyena's still flaccid cock and the start of his low swinging ball sack.

The scent of sea water mixed with sweaty man and dried cum filled the fox's nose, turning him even more. He couldn't help it, he was a sucker for virile scents and James' had one of the strongest musks the fox had ever smelt (and tasted).

Reaching out with the tip of his tongue, Skylar ran it along the underside of the hyena's leathery ball sack. A spicy, delectable taste burned on his tongue for a few seconds before fizzling out. Sky wanted more. Now using his entire tongue, he lapped up beads of sweat from James' sack and let them sit on his tongue. The taste stayed for longer this time. Determined not to let the taste fade, Skylar pushed his muzzle back under the hefty sacks and lapped like a cat drinking milk from a bowl.

The hyena groaned, clearly Skylar had found a sweet spot, and with his forepaw pushed the fox down further.

Instinct guided his words: "Keep your head down there, boy." He'd seen tops call their bottoms 'boy' or 'cub' and sometimes 'pet' in porn all the time, it was kind of hot to call Sky by those names. "Don't stop until I say." He added to make sure that the fox knew his orders, not that the canine would have wanted to stop anytime soon.

James watched his own humanoid shaped cock go from flaccid to fully erect in a couple of seconds when Skylar finally started hitting the good spots with his tongue, sliding it down the hyena's perineum and sometimes finding his tailhole. He'd bottomed before with a few guys, enjoyed it all the time, but this time around he felt like being a top. A dominant, semi-rough top. With any other guy, James would have been gentle, but he knew that the fox could take it and wanted it badly. That and he had a lot of stress he needed to work out.

"My cock. Now." James barked and watched as Skylar rose up slowly, taking his tongue along the middle and all the way up to the base of James cock. Knowing that James had wanted him to suck, not lick, the fox giggled and danced his tongue over the bottom of James' cock. The hyena let out a threatening growl, gently pushing his cock down on Skylar's face. Getting the message, the fox opened his mouth wide and took it as far as he could.

About half way, he gagged, spluttered and pulled off of the 4 inches.

"Fuck..." He coughed. "You're a lot bigger than I expected."

"Takes balls to admit that." James chuckled. "Want me to do show you how it's done?"

"You know how to give a blowjob?" Skylar raised an eyebrow. The hyena just laughed as he tackled Skylar to their bedding and quickly lowered himself to the fox's crotch. Sky was at full mast with all six inches out of his sheath and a swollen knot at the base.

Holding just under Sky's knot with one forepaw, James bobbed down over the tapered tip and ran his tongue over the belly of Sky's cock. With his spare forepaw, he held the fox's length at about half way and challenged himself to get up to there in his mouth in one go. He did, leaving the fox squirming in delight.

Bobbing his head forwards, James tightened his grip on Sky's cock and began twisting around it. Each time his tongue darted out to lap at a different part of the fox's dick. In less than a minute, the top of Sky's cock was coated with James' saliva mixed with his own pre.

Unsurprisingly, the fox was pent up from being lost on an island for about two days and even before then he hadn't really gotten off, edging himself in the shower at James' apartment hadn't helped his blue balls either, so James wasn't expecting the fox to last too long. What he wasn't expecting however, was for Skylar to buck twice and blow his load.

"Mpmph!" He cried out and thrust forwards, getting all of his cock inside of James' mouth once. Then twice.

His seed blew out from the tip of his cock, arcing up to roof of the hyena's mouth and the back of his throat. In surprise, the hyena pulled off for the salty fox jizz to splatter over his face in two long lines.

"Ehehh...Sorry." Sky apologized at the scowling hyena. "Should I warn you next time?" Grunting in response, James suddenly forced Skylar onto his belly causing the fox to yelp in shock.

"Spread 'em." James demanded.

"Like this?" Sky asked, looking over his shoulder as he used his forepaws to spread his ass cheeks and expose his tailhole. His pucker called out to James, this was going to be one hell of a treat.

"Just like that."

Taking the fox cum off of his face with a forepaw (and some from his mouth) he lathered his cock with it and briefly fingered Sky.

"Oh!" The fox whined as he was forcibly spread open around the invading digit. Although James' finger was no wider than a toothbrush handle, Skylar struggled to adjust to the feeling of it waggling its way deeper and spreading their improvised lube over his walls. Finished, James withdrew his finger and wiped it off in Sky's fur.

Wasting no time, he lined up his cock and pressed forwards. Like his finger had, he split the fox open quickly and managed to go balls deep on his first drive. By the end, he and his lover were panting.

"You're really tight!" James stressed with a chuckle, lying. Their home smelt strongly of musk, the two scents mixing together rather than vying for superiority.

"F-fuck you. I don't get around that much." The fox responded through gritted teeth.

"Yeah... Sure..." James grinned. "Don't worry though, this means I can hump a little harder." The hyena leaned down and kissed along the fox's back, fondling and groping his cheeks as he did. "Tell me if you want me to jerk you off, I'd be happy to feel you clench every time I touched your sweet spots."

"T-thanks... I'm good for now." Sky's eyes closed and his mouth hung open slightly as the hyena drove him against the wood, the fox hadn't had something so big inside of him for ages.

James' balls swung with each thrust to slap against Skylar's, producing a slight pain for the both of them and a pap noise that echoed all around. Sky groaned:

"Mind lifting me up a bit, babe? My cocks grinding against the wood."

"Sorry about that." James kissed the back of Sky's neck before lifting up him by the hips, changing the angle.

He thrust his dick deeper than before, gliding his length over the fox's prostate with each hump.

"Mmhh... God, don't stop doing that!" Sky begged, reaching a forepaw under himself to jerk off his length that had once again become fully hard.

"Not God, James." The hyena laughed, his laugh trailed off quickly as he found himself losing it to the fuck: it seemed that Sky was clenching every few seconds or so. Their voices and grunts become quieter, both seeking the perfect ending to their mating. If the hyena had been gifted with a knot, he would have made the tie there and then and humped his way to orgasm. However, seeing as how he was not endowed like the fox he was breeding, James had to settle for driving his cock to the hilt with every slow, powerful blow.

Their bodies dripping with sweat, James took a moment to pull out and flip the fox over to look at his face. Skylar peeled his eyes open and managed to wink. Taking his forepaw away from his own cock, the fox left an open invitation for the hyena to take over. He happily obliged.

One forepaw holding Skylar's hips, keeping him raised slightly, the other began working over the fox's length. It barely lasted a second though as Skylar moaned deeply and thrust up towards the ceiling, emptying his balls of their seed again.

It went up in arcs to splatter down over his belly, James' forepaw caught some of the collateral.

With Sky's tailhole clenched and tight around his length, the hyena only had to rock forwards with the fox a couple more times until his load came crashing out.

Warm, thick and sticky hyena cum jetted deep into the fox's tailhole to soothe his walls that were battered and bruised from the hyena's penetration.

Finished, James pulled out and in one motion: collapsed onto Sky, scooped him up and rolled over to sleep. Their bodies tangled together in a sticky, sweating, boiling mess, they drifted off within the minute.

They awoke starving the next morning, Sky with a limp and James with a sore cock. Nevertheless, they cooked some of the leftover fish that was close to going off and couldn't meet each other's eyes for the morning.

Skylar was the fur who spoke first:

"James? Thank you." He beamed as he put some fish onto the hyena's thigh. "For last night."

"Keep it." The hyena tried to argue, but the canine was already standing up to get ready. "Where are you going?"

"We need bamboo for the raft, don't we? I'm going to follow that waterfall and bring back some more. You get to work making it." Sky ordered. It was a nice change of pace for their roles to reserved and, having no problem with the plan, James nodded in agreement.

Three hours later, all of which were filled with the hyena worrying about his mate as he worked on building the raft's frame, Skylar came back with enough bamboo. James had already built the bottom half with what he'd gathered the day before and together they managed to get the rest of it finished within the day. Both were surprised to find that when they tested it, it could hold both of them, the bag and the food that they had without breaking. Better yet, it floated perfectly.

Filled with glee, they brought the boat back to shore and set a date for sailing out. They decided that they'd give it a week and when the skys looked clear, they'd do their best to head for Eria.

Over the next week, both hunted ruthlessly and without rest until they had enough supplies to last. They improved their raft, making it wider and stronger as well as adding a small shelter. James fashioned two oars and a den for the transponder. Their black agouti escaped in the night somehow, but neither of them cared, forgetting about it by deep throating each other that night. Their week was somewhat sexual, with both of them getting it on whenever they needed to reward themselves. Neither of them wanted to talk about what they would do when they eventually reached Kystratr, both knew it would probably be that they'd go their separate ways and be nothing more than a memory.

The time came to sail a day after their deadline, seeing as how the night before a storm raged for hours without end.

"There we go!" James proclaimed as he pushed the raft into deep water, getting on when his paws could no longer touch the bottom. Sky handed him an oar and started rowing on the other side, heading east.

"So what's her name?" Skylar grinned.

"Sealark. Skylark didn't make sense." James chuckled. "Tell me when you get hungry and if you spot a shark, we toss some meat overboard and row like hell!"

***

STRANDED ON DEVIL'S ISLAND!

.By Reporter Doug Duncan for the Erian times

This morning, no later than 0010 hours, an emaciated fox and a starveling hyena drifted onto the shore at one of Dekciw's heavily populated beaches. The sight of a bamboo raft was a shocker for locals, some even going as far to say that they ran away! Their transponder had failed, their food supplies were empty and it was a surprise that the predator hadn't given in to his feral instincts. Both unconscious and barely breathing, they were rushed to the hospital by ambulance and spent hours in the intensive care unit.

The fox awoke first and with a croaky, shaking voice he begged to know where his friend was and if he was alive. After receiving his answer, he passed out for the next few hours.

Close to midnight, he awoke again and agreed to answer the police's question. Through his telling, he and his friend had been sunk at sea to wind up on shore at the Devil's Island! Yes, you heard me. The island four days west of Dekciw that many have reported seeing spirits, monsters and feral anthros on! The fox denied seeing anything of this sort, but doctors suggest that malnourishment could have caused amnesia or perhaps that the fox was lying.

A cruise ship captain reported seeing a flare being fired from the island, but refused to go near fearing that it was a devil. He is not being charged as of yet and has agreed to taking unpaid leave for the next few months.

Three days after the fox's first awakening, the hyena staggered his way out of his hospital room before collapsing in the corridor. He asked the same questions as the fox, but managed to stay awake long enough to see his friend. They shared a short embrace before the fox left to continue psyhiotherapy and a psychological evaluation, the results of which were withheld.

Both the fox and hyena were identified as two missing fursons who disappeared on a boating trip, friends and family were called and arrangements for them to be moved to a hospital closer to home were made...

***

Skylar spent two more weeks in Kystratr than originally planned, seeing as how he could bare to be apart from the hyena. Their sex life died down to the point where they refused to even see each other naked and for a while, James feared that he'd lost his fox again.

"I'll... be seeing you then." Skylar forced a smile as he wrapped his arms around the hyena. "You have my number, don't you?" James dabbed an eye.

"Yeah. Don't forget to call me when you make it back home for God's sake."

A car honked its horn, Skylar's parents.

"Hah... I won't fuck up like that again. No radio silence, I promise." Skylar swore. "And you make sure that you get a new boat, I'll be visiting when the next crabbing season is over."

"Think I might skip the next, but I'd be happy to have you regardless."

"Really? So I can come down whenever I want?" The fox approached his parent's car and opened the door.

"Of course!"

"How about now?" He dragged out three suitcases as his father, a fox who appeared to be an older version of Sky, took out cases of what could have been recording equipment. Grinning, Skylar dashed over to hug James.

"Fuck going home, I'm staying!"

---

Thanks For Reading!

As always please tell me ify ou spot any mistakes! Comments are always welcome. If you enjoyed this story, please leave a vote andd a favorite; both of those help others to fidn this story after all.

Story, locations © Kalebthecat

Characters © Wip