Silence. That seemed to be the general consensus amongst the kids- Che caught himself mid-thought, they really weren't much younger than he was- [i]the students[/i]. He couldn't blame them, for some of them they had practically traveled half-way around the world just to get to their small little island burg. He hadn't flown half the distance these kids had just to get here in his whole life, but he'd gone far enough to know that jet-lag was a cruel mistress. Jenny was the first to speak up, almost exaggerating her displays of lethargy in the process, pretty much confirming his suspicions, the ones he had every year, they wouldn't be registering anything, not for a good couple hours at least. Mary will still freak out about it, but at least they wouldn't be the types to go get themselves shitfaced right off the plane. At least, that was his theory until Max spoke up. He didn't seem upbeat, but he wasn't just content to yawn and stare at the ceiling, either; he said what the rest of them were probably thinking. 'Cherry bomb' made Che chuckle, half-genuine, half-rehearsed. The plump man shifted his position on the bench to face Max, answering the question that was almost certainly only asked to keep away the silence. "Well, there are the private ones, but you have to pay for those, and," He grunted, "You could always swim..." He turned again to Dana, "As for the fog..." He chuckled, "No one actually knows! Weather science is a huge field here, Puerto Libre pretty much made meteorology what it is today, and our Universities and academic communities put a lot toward its research... but no one actually knows!" Che raised his hands in a kind of shrug motion, a smile rising on his face, "We have plenty of hypotheses, but not a single accepted theory, everything from magnetic pole interference, to gravity wells pulling more moisture from the atmosphere... I once heard someone say it might just be an underwater volcano's steam..." He gave another tired chuckle, "Put simply, though, most locals seem to think of the fog as the spirits of our ancestors... Maybe they're right too..." As Che finished the sentence, the loud purr of the old ferry boat consumed the background noise of the world. He checked his watch, more out of habit than anything, he knew exactly what time it was, 6:30, and they'd be there at exactly 6:45, that's how it always was. "[B]WAAAAIIIITT!!![/B]" A distant, loud voice started Che out of his seat, he left the cabin for the deck to check on the commotion. Three silver figures ran along the dock to catch up with the ferry, now slowly moving away from the Atoll. One threw a suitcase onto the boat before making a jump for it, Che barely had the time to catch it. --- [url=http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ptId6uwN3cY/T5AYpRDOgVI/AAAAAAAAAL8/YD95JmsnJOo/s1600/hispanic_businessman_tying_tie_while_eating_toast_rhy01038.jpg]James Santiago[/url] could feel the fires of hell in his chest as he ran, he [i]knew[/i] he could still catch that 6:30. Behind him, he could practically feel the grip of one of Biez's goons-- he couldn't look behind to check it was only one, too much time. Just call it a hunch, or blind hope, that he had lost them all but one. Ahead of him, was [url=http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18j4tn62omehjjpg/original.jpg]Princess[/url], who, for a drunkard, could run incredibly fast. He figured that was probably the thing she got in exchange for having no ass. "[B]WAAAAIIIITT!!![/B]" He knew the ferry wouldn't wait. The ferry never waited. His real hope was that maybe someone on board would help him, as he ran down the old wooden dock he new he was going to have to jump. [i]Fuck[/i] He tossed his suitcase onto the boat, using that as some sort of measurement of the distance. The fog made it hard to see, but he knew it made it. His chest burned and the end of the dock approached, it was now or never. Princess jumped. His run came to a halt as his mouth became agape. Princess [i]REALLY[/i] jumped. Glancing behind him, he could see the same dumbfounded expression on Biez's lackey. He smirked, and resumed his pace for the last few steps of the slippery wharf and made the jump, hoping to grab the guard rail of the ferry, with all kinds of hope in his burning heart. --- The fear of the Gods and the Loa could be seen in Che's eyes as Princess, the island famous drunkard, displayed an impossible feat of human strength in her jump to the boat. She wasn't able to land the jump, of course, and face planted against the side of the cabin, and rolled onto deck, only kept on the boat by a guard rail. Che would have rushed over to tend to her, but in the fog he saw another figure preparing to jump. His brother. Throwing don the suitcase, Che made his way to the back of the boat, just in time to catch the hand of James, his older brother, who had slightly missed the guardrail he was probably aiming for. "Gracias, hermano!" Jame answered with a dumb grin on his face, he was panting like a dog, and, in a way that annoyed Che to no end, had an expression that seemed to imply he had planned this all from the start. Che could only reply with a face that looked half-relieved and half-horrified, his grip was strained, it was the only thing holding his brother out of the water. On the dock, the man yelled at the ferry as it bobbed away, something about James being a dead man, Che didn't quite process it. James noticed this bewilderment, and whistled to get Che's attention, "Hey! Hermano! I can't explain a damn thing dangling like this ship's sack!" Che shook off his shock and hoisted his brother onto the ferry with a grunt. "Boat." he replied quietly, moving back to the cabin, as if on autopilot, still processing what had just happened. James, followed, pulling a cigar out of his suitcase. "Que?" he responded, cigar in mouth. He sat in between Dana and Max as he lit it. "This isn't a... ship... it's a boat... Anyway, bro, what--" "What happened!?" The man shot up with a new-found energy, as if he hadn't just run half the length of Crescent island, "So there was this meeting in the Estates, right?" He flung the cigar around as he spoke, excitedly pacing back and forth in the cabin. "It was for realtors, and you know, I got my license in that last month, so I was on it like..." Princess moaned as she stumbled into the cabin, the old drunkard slurred something to Che, James and the students, before falling asleep on the bench next to Che. James fished a bottle out of her pocket, "Hey! I was on it like La Princess on wine!" He gave an obnoxious laugh before continuing, "Anyway, bro! You know Biez... oh, you don't? Well, I was trying to pay attention to whatever ponzi scheme that rich asshole was trying to get us in on, but he's got this wife..." He but the cigar in his mouth and the alcohol on the bench as he simulated groping something with both of his hands, his eyes were starry as he looked through the smoke into the distance, "and these two daughters..." He began to salivate as his hands dropped to his side, "... and they were all willing to do it together..." He slammed his foot on the ground, "[b]Mmmm![/b]" He blew out a ring of smoke and retook Princess' drink. "That old bastard didn't know what he was missing... so well... when he caught us..." James stood with a cocky smile and gave a chuckle, Che, meanwhile, saw it fit to slam his hand into his face with a groan. "Hey, pequeno!" James declared, his arms outstretched, "We gotta live while we still can, you know!" he threw himself onto the bench, this time next to Jenny, for the first time, he took note of the group of students. "Hey, these guys are new... you guys tourists or something?" He took a drink of the mystery drink from Princess, approval in his eyes as he swallowed the liquor. "Exchange kids." Che grunted out. An even wider smile appeared on James' face, "Heeeyy! These guys prove my point! We gotta give them a whole lifetime of Libre in a year!" Che gave another grunt, more like a groan, in response. James blew out the cigar smoke through his nostrils and continued, handing the alcohol off to the students, "Well, from me personally, I want you to have a hell of a year... if not for you, then for me!" Princess threw up a little as she slept, James disregarded it as he continued. "Welcome to Puerto Libre!"