Yuki allowed the ambient entirety of the sea, with its refreshing winds, cold, frothy waves, and warm sunlight, to engulf her. She felt completely alive in nature’s beautiful island sculpture, and reveled in every energizing moment, taking in a deep breath of air as the water sprayed her every so often with sun-kissed ocean. She opened her eyes and saw the large blotch of land up ahead, and became very excited to finally see whatever lived, breathed or crawled out there. She took out her hand-dandy sensations notebook, and decided to record a summary of her current feelings: “08/09/2014 -Air smells FANTASTIC here, it’s cool and windy, and everything just feels wonderful. Mako Island is a ways away, but the atmosphere of the sea is just breathtaking. I should probably stop looking at internet pictures of the sea, and actually GO OUT and experience it more for myself. So much prettier here.” Yuki looked over her shoulder to the three other girls on the shore: the first one, Nixie, was a fascinating blond who streaked her hair teal and was accommodating enough to let them use her friends’ boat to take their trip to Mako Island. She didn’t know much about her other than the fact that she too, lived here since the day she was born. She noted the way she led the group about, taking charge and generally breaking the ice for the girls. She did not say so out loud, but Yuki appreciated her efforts, as the other two might not be as comfortable as she with practical strangers. "Sorry I'm late. My brothers decided that they didn't want me to go out tonight and dad had to put them back in their place,” said Tristan, the newbie in town with earth colored hair. Yuki smiled slightly and nodded acknowledgment. “No worries,” she simply said, then hopped onto the boat, eager to make her trip. She didn’t care much for the class and their experiments; she was here for the experience, the fun, the excitement of going out and setting sail in the ocean under full blown moon light. Today, she sported a light blue shirt with navy blue long sleeves, gray denim half pants that reached slightly past her knees, white Nike running shoes with its black trademark streaked across its body, and a black and dark green backpack containing her class binder for note taking and the lab sheets. She watched Nixie randomly wave to a cute dolphin out on the open waters, and smiled as the sweet animal shook its flippers back. She decided to sit down on one of the boat benches, and flipped open her little book again: “-Saw an actual wild dolphin for myself. I thought it was cute. I hope to see many more awesome things on here. I should probably expose myself more other than skateboarding and video games.” She looked up to Nixie motioning everyone to go before it gets dark, and watched the other girls take their seats on distant sides of the boat. She sensed the awkwardness in the air, but didn’t pay any heed to it. She turned around and bent over the boat to see the magnificent rainbow spectrum of fish darting about in the crystal clear waters. There were yellow fish with black and white strips, fish the color of rust with silver linings on the fins, small sand colored sharks, and terrific corals with varied shades and structures. “Wow”, she exclaimed under her breath, and silently observed with much fascination the thriving ecosystem just below her. She swung her pack in front of her and quickly opened one of the pockets to reveal a brown, whole wheat sandwich wrapped in plastic chock with spinach, tomatoes, grilled onions and a savory, juicy beef patty right in the middle. She scraped off a few crumbs and dropped them into the ocean for the precious fish to eat. Yuki hoped they enjoyed her small contribution for their continuous cycle of life. "So, uh... Look, I'm really sorry about you and the others having to be stuck with me and all; I'll try not to drag the group down..." Tristan suddenly piped, the new girl with the sad but pretty face. "I promise I'll push myself into studying so that I can do my part as best as I can..." Yuki shot her a friendly glance, trying to ease her out of her nervousness and to reassure her that she’ll be fine.[i] It’s not like this place is super advanced or anything..[/i] She thought silently to herself as she momentarily remembered her boredom with school. Since there were no AP or Honors classes, Yuki was stuck in the regular classes that didn’t really challenge nor test her abilities. She never really listens in class, and instead, always opts to play her Nintendo DS in the corner of the room, or quietly pass messages between herself and a desk mate. She usually aces the tests, but can’t be bothered to do homework, so as a result, she usually only passes with a C, when she could be getting straight As and a good chance at college. Yuki didn’t know what she wanted to do in life, nor was she actively thinking about it; it’s not something that she exactly liked dwelling on, and when someone asks her about it, she usually just shrugs them off. To get her mind off of her academics and future career, she opens her notebook again to write down some things she’s noticed about two out of her three class partners: “-Nixie seems to be the leader type, taking charge and organizing and harmonizing people, even if she may not know it. Seems nice enough, and definitely knows these parts more than I do. I may need to speak to her about exploring more aquatic life. -Tristan seems to need a self-esteem boost. I know she’s new, but I don’t think she’ll hold us down with a little help. Don’t know much about her, so might talk to her sometime.” "Good, just in time! It's getting dark. We are not the world's best planners”, Nixie said as the group slowly neared the island. Yuki’s eyes widened as she beheld the magnificence of the secluded body under full moon light. Her excitement grew exponentially, and she was already gearing up to head down, when she heard the engine down below sputter and cough. Her eagerness instantly died, and she looked from one girl to the next with a worried expression on her face. Trist quickly broke into the hatch and mumbled something about broken parts and repairs. Yuki and the other girl didn’t exactly know how they could be of use; still, she attempted to shoot a clueless, friendly glance out to the other, in an attempt at mutual connection. Her eyes suddenly fell upon the life boat, and this alone got her a’moving. She threw the life jackets stationed in a mini-shelf onto the little boat, and turned to hear Nixie suggest to paddle the way forward. She took one of the paddles the blonde girl held out, and lowered the boat down… Several moments later, they found themselves climbing the rocks to find a better signal for their cellphones. Yuki didn’t find the rock climbing all too difficult, but she was worried that her sneakers might slip off, given that the flat of her shoes wasn’t enough to really put traction between her and the stones; still, it was better than the flip flops the others wore. Raising her Samsung Galaxy S4 over her head, a small bit of disappointment came to her as she also had only one bar just like the rest of her group. She glanced around her surroundings, and noticed the activity of wild life on this untouched, isolated island: the eerily grinning crocodiles, the alluring light of the fireflies, the crickets and frogs that played their evening tune. The brilliant, star filled night sky, the wonderful sounds and the soft glow of the fireflies made everything seem like a high class private concert. She quietly thanked nature for her music, and pulled herself forward happily, until her classmates suddenly started disappearing one by one into a tunnel. With the reflexes of a house lizard, she dived towards them, hoping to catch them by the arm or wrist, but she was too late, and ended up sliding straight into the dirt hole herself. The darkness and her body spiraling down towards some unknown made her very anxious and dizzy, until she finally tumbled into a long forgotten cave. A sharp pang of pain around her shoulders dominated her senses for a moment, until she opened her eyes and saw the grandeur beneath the volcano: blue crystals with soft, gentle lights hummed all across the walls with their beauty, and as the main center piece, a shining, turquoise-like pool that sat in the middle and charmed in moonlight from the opening of the volcano. Yuki gasped slightly, as she has never seen anything more breathtaking in her life; even the other girls found the whole scenery just as amazing. She quickly stood up and wandered around the earthy room, touching the crystals here and there, taking in the overload of magnificence over her. She was so stricken that for the entire duration that she would be there, she forgot to write her thoughts and sensations in her notebook. Suddenly, as if the pool of jade and sapphire bound her to its will, she slowly walked towards the water and dipped her entire body inside; surprisingly, the liquid was cool to the touch and felt like bliss against her lightly tanned skin. Without warning, she plunged herself deep into the pool, and came out thoroughly soaked, her clothes stuck hard to her body, accentuating her lean, slender muscles. The moonlight that filtered into the mouth of the volcano highlighted the golden tone of her skin, and the dripping water from her hair plastered her bangs against her forehead. She flipped her hair sideways once, twice, showing off the black, silky strands, then looked back to her classmates and smiled sheepishly, with some slight embarrassment. “Well, I don’t know how I got into this, but you guys should come in. It’s nice and cool,” Yuki said invitingly.