Nothing now, and a worse nothing later.

“I’m sure we’ll find many ways to help each other with time, Johanna,” Elara purred, slipping off the table once again. “For now, though, perhaps we should go check on this Bone, again. Give him some scraps, perhaps. Make sure he’s accustomed to his new role.”

Johanna conceded that Bone might need to eat. She wasn’t sure how she felt about him being Elara’s prisoner, but of course, he was Johanna’s prisoner before the ship had crashed. Johanna got up from the table as Elara buzzed around her home, assembling a small pack which she handed to the captain.

“Hold onto this. Ready to go?”

Johanna wasn’t excited about flying across the island from tree to tree again, but she knew that she didn’t have much choice, so she nodded her consent. Elara placed a hand on Johanna’s lower back to guide her back outside, then took a stronger grip on her in preparation to take off. Johanna had the pack in one hand, but wrapped both arms around Elara’s powerful body to secure herself, and then they were off.

The blur of motion and high speed was only mildly less unsettling for Johanna this time. She still spent most of the trip white-knuckled and tense, but when they touched down in front of the cave this time, Johanna’s nerves returned and she released Elara from her grasp much quicker. It dawned on her that, for as long as they continued to travel in this manner, she wouldn’t actually learn where Elara’s home was in relation to the rest of the island.

“Something’s wrong,” Elara whispered. Johnna shot her an inquisitive glance, and the two slowly crept into the cave. The pile of refuse had all but burnt out by now, just a few glowing embers left in the middle of the cave. More worryingly, though, was what was missing.

“Bone’s gone,” Johanna said, moving towards the place he had been tied up. All that remained of the missing pirate was a bit of rope and a hole in the wall. Elara joined the captain and knelt down to examine the evidence.

“He looked strong,” She said, “But I don’t think he escaped his bonds with raw strength.” She picked up the rope, turning it over and examining the ends, “This was cut. Your knife-” She whirled around to where Johanna had tossed the blade earlier, “Missing. But it was well out of his reach. Unless…”

Johanna was trying to make sense of the pirate’s disappearance as well. “He’s evaded capture and escaped from jail cells in the past, but we usually attributed that to incompetence on the part of his captors, or interference from his crew. Perhaps someone else happened along and freed him?”

Elara considered the question, and began to pace around the cave.”Possible, but unlikely. I’ve never had a problem with anyone stealing from this cave before. This island isn’t exactly crowded, you may have noticed.” She looked around the perimeter of the cave before continuing. “A few supplies are missing, but not more than one person could reasonably carry off. I think he escaped by himself, somehow.”

Johanna didn’t like that possibility, because it suggested that Bone was more capable than she had realized. “We should be careful, in either case. Bone is a dangerous individual, and he’ll doubtless be looking for us.”

Elara let out an exaggerated sigh. “Something doesn’t add up. You were with me. He shouldn’t have been able to get out on his own, but it doesn’t look like he had help, either. We should see if we can find him. Quickly.”

Johanna wasn’t thrilled about the idea of charging into the jungle, where Bone could very well be waiting to ambush them, but she also didn’t like the idea of leaving him loose, unchecked, and motivated. “I think you’re right. We should split up to cover more ground.”

Elara shook her head. “I think we should stick together. I like you, Johanna, and don’t doubt your capabilities, but if you run into him without me there, I think he’s more than a match for you right now.”

Johanna frowned. Elara was probably right. But maybe there was a good reason to split up anyway?