“Finally,” Darka complained. “Well then, what do we do now?” Tiffany blinked a few times, then said, “What happened back there?”

“Mm.. That woman, her name’s Valerie, she poisoned the food and turned us into animals..”
“Why would she want to do that?”
“Uh.. long story.. Let’s just say that she’s not too happy with anyone associated with me, Ron, and Hung, since we, er, killed her lover.. As for her motive for doing that to everyone else, she’s probably gone nuts and kills every male that lands on her island as some sort of act of vengeance.. And then she takes whatever riches they might have on their ship.”
“You guys did WHAT?!”
“No, no! Let me explain! Her lover was Prince Ronald, remember that fatass?”
”Him?! UGH, THAT’S DISGUSTING! Never mind then.. Darka? Darka? You there?”

The Kargo had fallen asleep on the ground, and was snoring away loudly. Tiffany picked it up and shook it until it slurred, “Huh? Wha? Wh-What’s going on?” “You just fell asleep right there!” Tiffany exclaimed. “Huh? Hm.. she must have slipped some kind of.. Anesthesiac.. –yawn-.. Good night..” Determined not to let the Kargo fall asleep and leave her baffled over what to do, Tiffany stuck the Kargo’s head in to the stream and pulled it out when it started to kick. “Go to Tom, he’s the only male in that madhouse! He’s at a shed with the rest of them. Tell him that if he doesn’t help, I’ll tear him limb from limb!” Darka gasped and fell asleep again. Tiffany sighed, typical. Everyone manages to screw up and she, probably the only sane one here besides Hung, has to sort it out. She bound the Kargo to her chest with several vines, to keep a better watch on it since cradling it would be too inconvenient. Once that was done, she set out for the palace once more.

Tiffany hid behind the palace-complex, looking about her for the shed in which the sedated animals were kept in. The Kargo murmured softly in its sleep, something about meat and sugary treats. Tiffany shuddered when it clacked its teeth, apparently chewing something in its dream. Better hurry before Darka wakes up hungry enough to consider her a meal.

The grounds were quiet by nightfall, and the only artificial source of light was from the torches in and about the palace. Otherwise, it was horrifyingly dark, for clouds had covered the moon. The shed was further away, behind the palace-complex. The door was ajar, and Tiffany saw a figure entering the shed. She moved quietly forward, looking backwards occasionally. A servant came out for a breath of air, and almost saw Tiffany trying to reach the shed. She quickly back-pedaled until she felt marble against her back, terrified that she’d almost been seen.

The curious servant looked around for her, and Tiffany hastily shot a fire arrow at a nearby lamp while the servant was looking the other way. The lamp tipped over, and the servant rushed to put the flames out, allowing Tiffany a chance to make a dash for the shed. She ran in, almost slamming the door. In the dim light she could make out large moving shapes, and a flash of blue hair. Ron? Had he managed to turn back in to a human? Wait.. No.. This boy’s hair was straight and styled in such a way that it hung over his left eye in spikes, whereas Ron’s hair was a messy blue mop. “Who are you?!” both of them demanded at the same time, “I’m trying to help them!”

Tiffany let out a sigh of relief and wiped her forehead. This must be Tom then, if his intention wasn’t to harm her friends. She untied the still-sleeping Kargo from her front and set it down next to the door. “I suppose you’re Tom then,” she said. “Yeah, so?” he answered bluntly. “Oh.. good.. Darka-” she gestured to the Kargo, “told me to go look for you.”

“And what do you expect me to do?”
“Well.. try to return them to their original state, of course. You’re helping us, aren’t you?”
“When I said I was helping, I didn’t necessarily mean that I’d help you change them back. The most I’ll probably do it just keep from killing them for a few days. “
“You’re just as bad as Darka!”

As if on cue, a deep, loud growling came from outside the door, putting their bickering to an end. Through a crack in the door, Tom and Tiffany could see a huge, slitted cat-like pupil swimming in a sea of orange, a gigantic eye this one was. The owner of the gleaming eye raised its head, it seemed, for now gleaming steak-knife teeth came into view. They were shiny with saliva, and the odor from that foul mouth was rank and reeked of raw meat and blood. A long red tongue ran over the teeth; the beast was licking its chops. Tom bristled and said slowly, “A wild Kargo.” It responded to him by giving a deafening roar that seemed to reverberate throughout the jungle. Tiffany soon discovered how suicidal Tom was, for he rushed straight at it. She ran after him, half expecting its jaws to come down upon her as she ran out.

A truly gigantic Kargo it was, crouching and snarling like a rabid dog just a few feet away. Tom was shooting at it with his steelys; mere pinpricks. It wasn’t until the thing swiped at him that Tom was ready to run away. The beast pounced at him, crushing him with its huge forepaws. Tom desperately stabbed at its pads with his steelys, but he only succeeded in further annoying it. It cuffed at him like a toy, and knocked him into Tiffany and sauntered over while they were lying on the ground, frozen in terror.

Tom came to and grabbed Tiffany’s arm. “Come on, MOVE!” he bellowed. Tiffany only whimpered, and Tom looked away in disgust. “Women..” He had a tight grip on her arm and flash jumped several times straight into the jungle. “Wait! That that- it was Darka!” she yelled. “What?!” “It is! I didn’t see her next to my feet when I was running out after you!”

He stopped abruptly when he could no longer hear the Kargo after them. He turned to Tiffany and said, “Well?” “Look, that drug turned them into animals, right? With her, it started out as a small, domesticated Kargo and finally charged her into /that/!” Before she could say anything more, Tom shushed her. “Listen,” he whispered. “There’s no- Wait.. That’s not right.. there’s no birdcalls or anything.. Oh my god..” She whipped around and came face to face with the Kargo. It smiled, showing off its shining teeth.

“Darka! Darka! Darka, you idiot!” The creature showed no sign of having understood anything the girl said. Rather, all it was really thinking of was eating these two delicious looking bipeds for dinner, and maybe pick off something from that shed they were in before for desert. That flashy peacock would do nicely. My, those teeth were sharp.

Tiffany angrily shot a fire arrow at one of its huge eyes. The wild Kargo reared up on its hind legs, roaring in agony. The earth trembled when it brought its weight down. She retreated to where Tom was, lest she be crushed by the Kargo, which was slamming its head into trees and scoring deep gashes into everything it came in contact with. It swung its tail at a giant tree almost as thick around as the beast itself, and let out a strangled cry as the tree fell on top of it, pinning the beast to the ground.

“Go, go, before it frees itself! It still has one eye and its nose, so don’t think we’re even remotely safe yet!’ Tom said hoarsely to her, already running away. Tiffany glanced back at the Kargo, its one untouched eye looking around wildly and then suddenly locking onto hers. At that moment it started growling and squirming, keeping its good eye fixed on her. At this point, she turned and bolted, following Tom’s form with not the least idea where she was going, and all but one though going through her mind: to get the hell away from the Kargo and somehow, /somehow/, “save the day”.