Things were escalating quickly, to say the least.

While Morgan was busy falling down, Hoshi was transfixed on the new newcomer. "Zac," she said to herself, assuring she wouldn't forget his name. She hung with studious focus to Zac as he explained himself, and shifted her eyes from him to the ship he had arrived in as he proceeded. Hoshi found herself abashedly conflicted on how she felt about him being OK after his crash; on the one hand, if he meant them harm, then there was no way they'd stand much of a chance fighting him off if he even close to full strength. On the other hand, if what he said about his ship's energy core (whatever that was) being able to destroy the Island, then they were fortnuate that he was in a good condition to fix it before it became a problem. As he set himself to work, Hoshi released a self-soothing breath. Sound in mind, she accepted the fact that if he had intent to harm them, he likely wouldn't be taking the time to inspect his ship, and wouldn't have been open to friendly conversation.

She inched closer to the ship, trying to sneak a peak at what Zac was doing to repair his vessel. She looked it over as well, simply in amazement at the fact that such a vehicle even existed. This... this is it. Her heart started racing. She backed away just a few inches when Zac eyed the raft behind her. She too looked at it, surprised that it hadn't been damaged by any debris from Zac's wild landing. She returned a sharp, offended scowl when he commented on how ineffective a raft would be at reaching other worlds. The scowl quickly gave way to more sullen and defalted frown. "It was better than nothing," she said, dejectedly, and just barely audibly, bowing her head down. The wieght of her own doubts about the project being affirmed hurt, though only to the extent of feeling like they had wasted their time and effort on something that wouldn't have outright failed at best, or gotten them killed at worst.

"Brrrh." She shivered in a sudden cold. Raising her head, she scanned the area and immediately saw Alias dropping the ice-cold conch shell. A half-gasp, half-scream forced from her vocal cords when icy spikes pierced out around Morgan. When the blunt protrusion of ice gut-punched Alias, Hoshi sprung towards her friend nearly as quickly as the ice had formed. She arrived at his side and helped him back to his feet as he shrugged off the pain.

"He's right," she said, confirming Alias' statement to Zac. "We don't know how Morgan and Alias got here, or how my br-- Kitsu vanished. There definitely weren't any ships like yours around on any of those days though. We'd have seen something. So there had to have been another way. But," on the 'but' she looked at Alias, then the raft, then back to Alias. "You say our raft wouldn't get us far. I believe you. I... I was afraid of that." She looked longer at Alias. "Better we know now than after we've already set sail, yeah?"

The beat in Hoshi's chest stuttered a second. A subtle redness returned to her face; she tried to hide it by lowering her face. She threw Alias a side-eye, hoping that he would speak before her. Her thoughts veered back to the dream she had woken from that very morning, and the feeling that Tsu had somehow been reaching out to her. She wondered if now was a good time to say something. No. Not now. If she were alone with Alias she might have opened up. But not with Zac and Taivias nearby.

"I--" she cut herself off as Alias started. He seemed to be having a go at Zac. Her eyes widened as a flash of light errupted in and vanished from her friend's hand. For a second she could have sworn she saw something in the shape of a sword outlined faintly through the flare. "Alias!" She threw a stern glare at him. "It's ok," she said, more calmly. "I don't think Zac is belittling us."

She lowered her head again, thinking for momemt. "I've had strange feelings too." She looked up at Zac. "I have been for a few days now. Like something is trying to draw me away from home." She patted her chest with an open palm. "It kind of peaked this morning. And then he appeared," she pointed her thumb to Taivias, "and then you crashed here. I reckon I might have just had some wierd premonition or something." She shrugged.

She took another long look at the ship. Damaged as it was, Zac seemed confident he could get it into the sky once more. "So, your ship," Hoshi shifted the conversation. "Does it have room for passengers? Could... could you take us with you when you leave?"

Hoshi could barely contain herslf. A ship that could get off world had literally fallen from the sky. The owner was seemingly on the level. And to boot, he was able and willing to bring people with him when he left. Thoughts of the raft had all but evaporated from her train of thought as she shivered and smiled. Maybe, if they got off the Islands, they could even get their own ship; finding Tsu would be a breeze.

The one issue, however minor, was the limited seating. That reality brought Hoshi ever so slightly back down to from cloud nine. The question of who the two passengers would be bored itself into her mind. She passed a cursory glance at those that remained nearby. Taivas was a shoe-in for a spot to leave; he had only come around that morning, had no place to go or stay, and seemed intent on getting himself on his way. That left one seat for the 'Island Five.' They'd need to be in agreement on who that would be.

Like the ship not long before, Hoshi's musing dropped down to earth.

"Yeah," she said, turning to Alias, who was craddling the sudden passed-out mayor. "I'm gonna go find Levi and Lucian. Gotta tell them what's up. We'll sus out the plan later." She bolted off toward the beachfront on the other side of the Island. She dashed across the beach, ducking casually through a sword duel between a boy with spikey brown hair and another with slick, shoulder-length silvery hair, ignoring their shocked "whas" as she headed toward the dock.

She was passing by the small waterfall pond when she stopped dead in her tracks. Certain someome had called out to her, she looked beyond the pool of water, to the opening under a nearby tree. In a near trance-like state she made her way towards the opening... the "Secret Place." A misnomer, given that all of the kids knew about it and had been inside at least once. It drew Hoshi's attention like a magnet. Leading chest first, she swiftly made her way through the space between the rocks and into tight cave. She could swear she heard someone at the end of the passage.

"Hello? Lucian? Levi? You two in here?" She reached the dead end, where the old, weathered, wooden door rest completely out of place. It was the most curious thing on the island, especially given that there seemed to be no way to open it from inside the cave; most had written it off as a piece of driftwood left there to either decorate the space or spark interest and intruige; a long running prank to get people talking. Other than that, there was little else beyong the etched drawings and message scrawls on the stones left by the Islanders over the years.

Hoshi bided her time looking at the works, especially one from a few years ago: a rough sketch of herself and Alias sharing one of the mystical Paupu fruits. The fruits were said to have the power to bind the destinies of those who shared one. Levi had made the drawing about three years ago, mostly as a joke, so Hoshi had guessed when she had watched him put it there. Still, she figured a part of him was being genuine about it. She couldn't help but beam i nearnest sentimentality at the sketch. Her and Alias...

"Uh?" something behind her caught her attention. She wheeled around to an unsettling sight...

In the dark shadows of the cave stood a tall, slightly slouched figure dressed in a brown cloak. At first it appeared that they blended into the tree next to them. The figure's face was hidden by the cloak. It almost appeared as if they had no face. It was only their voice that confirmed it was a man. “I've come to see the door to this world. This world has been connected.”

Rebounding herself from the initial shock of the figure standing before her, Hoshi gathered her confidence and held firm and tall. She had never seen this person around before; That’s three in one day… As tall as she could stand, Hoshi fell short by a significant length. She quickly and smoothly resigned her stance to the reality that he was simply larger than she was. Yet her composure fell no shorter when she spoke. “Are you the one that called me here?”

The cloaked figure stood there silently, not showing signs of understanding her question or a willingness to answer it. He shook his head before deciding to give her a vague answer. This was her quest. All he'd give her is a nudge in the right direction. “Hearts are always calling out, looking for home.”

Hoshi eyed the cloaked person, contemplating his words. The feeling that had drawn her into the Secret Place had subsided. But the aftermath of soreness behind her sternum was in agreement with the man’s words. Is that what she had felt? A Heart calling out? Could it have been him? Hoshi maintained her eyes on the strange man, hoping he’d explain further.

He looked past her at the images scrawled on the wall. Even if the drawing was a bit crude he recognized the two individuals. One was clearly her and the other was the boy… “That boy…” He started, changing the subject. “is cursed by darkness. The dark hole in his heart will swallow all he holds dear.”

“What?” Hoshi looked over her shoulder at the etching of herself and Alias. “Alias is cursed?” She questioned in a whisper. She shook her head and looked back at the man. His earlier comment about the door stuck out to her. “What’s on the other side of the door?”

“You and your friends understand very little about your world and the worlds beyond yours.” The cloaked man said softly. “People aren't the only ones with hearts. Listen and you'll hear the hum of the world calling out.” He decided to give her answers that would force her to reach the hidden meanings on her own. “But just like in people, darkness lies in the hearts of worlds.”

“The Worlds have Hearts?” She looked over her shoulder at the door. “Is that what this is?” She turned, full body, and approached the aged slab of wood. “The Heart of Our World… if we could open it… but we’ve tried to…”

“You still don't understand. If the door was opened your world would be changed forever…” He paused, unsure if he should continue. He decided to and spoke again. “Those without hearts would consume those with hearts. This world will become dark. Your greatest nightmares realized.”

“Oh. Well that kills that idea.” Hoshi was audibly disappointed; the hope that the door might be a path off world had taken her interest. “Who are you anyways?” She pivoted back around to face the cloaked man. “Wait, what?”

Hoshi would turn to see the mysterious figure no longer there. He didn't even seem to leave a sign that he was even there. Was he real, or did she just imagine him?

“Weird… where’d he go?”

Left with more questions than answers, Hoshi made her way outside and returned to the beach. When the sunlight caught her, she remembered that she had been looking for Lucian and Levi. Now free of distractions, it didn’t take long to find them; a quick scan up, down, and along the beachfront and she saw the pair together. She sprinted towards them. “Hey! she called out. “I’ve got good news and slightly-less-good news!”