Chapter 3: The Tour de Exilio

The twins continue to acclimate to the hidden island community, simultaneously letting their shared crush on their tour guide get the better of them.

It was that time of day where the sky appeared to be stuck between sunrise and broad daylight, judging by its distinctive coloration and the way the sun was positioned. Nonetheless, the people of Shipwreck Village took the opportunity to wake up and head out in order to kick off a brand new day, whether it be by opening their workplaces, going on walks, or hanging out all over the island.

A few people even decided to head over to the black sand beach and relax, and among them was the all-male staff of a small wooden shack with a palm-leaf roof, operating as a beachfront bar. Mark Jr. was also among those on the beach. He wore a pair of orange Hawaiian print swim trunks and a white, elbow-sleeved muscle shirt as he sat on the sand, completely engrossed in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on his Nintendo Switch. However, right as he was about to beat one of the game's bosses, the Switch's battery ran out.

"Ugh!" he groaned, angrily tossing the handheld into a pile of other dead portable electronics he'd brought with him. "Welp, it took a little while longer than I expected, but I've officially drained the battery on every single electronic I packed! There's no bars, no Wi-Fi, and not even a volt of electricity here! And now I'm officially bored!"

Not far behind Junior was his twin sister Justine, clad in white designer sunglasses and a black triangle bikini with white piping on the edges, covered in orange, lemon, and lime slices. Lying back on a gray towel, she took in the scenic tropical views before her, including the sparkling ocean and rocky formations just offshore. All the while sipping a drink that included Sprite, starfruit and passion fruit juice, served in a coconut shell.

"Now now, let's not jump to conclusions just yet. Surely there's something fun to do on this island," she chimed in. "Besides, as you said last night, these are first world problems we're complaining about here."

"Good point," Junior replied. "But the question is, what exactly would that fun thing entail?"

Before Justine could answer him, a young, ripped Hispanic man in nothing but cargo shorts and sandals walked over.

"May I get a refill for the lovely lady?" he asked suavely as he kneeled beside her.

"No thanks," Justine replied flatly.

"Aw, you sure about that, babe?" the man continued.

"Will you just f**k off already, lunkhead?! I'm a lesbian!" Justine snapped, not caring at all about admitting her sexuality in public.

"I wouldn't mind a drink, though," Junior chimed in, briefly glancing at his sister's beverage. "Preferably the one she ordered."

"One fizzy fruit delight, coming right up," the man replied as he left, prompting Justine to let out a sigh of relief.

"Finally, that perv's gone," she groaned. "Anyway, the fun I was referring to is whatever you'd expect in a place like this. We could explore the island, go for a swim, or hell, maybe even take up some of the local jobs here. It's the least we could do after suddenly showing up and adding to the population."

"Huh, I think you might be onto something," Junior pondered.

Before either twin could say anything more, the same man returned, carrying an identical drink and placing it into Junior's hand.

"Thanks," he said, before immediately taking a sip, only to wince in confusion. "Mmm, this is actually pretty good, but uh... something's a little off."

"Well there's a little beer in it, so..." the server's voice trailed off.

"Wait a minute! You mean...?!" Junior immediately freaked out.

"Oh, I take it you forgot to order it virgin like I did, huh? Then again, it's not like it matters. We're gonna be out in the middle of nowhere for who knows how long, our parents aren't here to give us an earful, and besides, there's no drinking age here," Justine explained, only to be met with more silence from her brother. "Come on, just give it a try. What do you have to lose?"

Junior's face softened a bit as he took another sip, immediately perking up and proceeding to drink some more until the shell was empty.

"Holy s**t, that was actually pretty good! And liberating! I'm so gonna need a little more of this later!" Junior exclaimed, before his face turned guilty. "I... I can't believe I just did that..."

"Oh, relax. You liked it, so that's all that matters, right?" Justine asked. "You probably just feel that way because you've never broken the rules before. It's all a part of growing up."

"Er... I guess you're right," Junior mustered a small grin.

"Please. When am I not right?" Justine smirked.

"Oh, I can name countless instances," Junior replied.

Right before the twins could start another petty argument, Mandy emerged from the jungle, clad in a burnt orange tankini and some dark jean shorts. She immediately quickened her pace as soon as she spotted her new friends.

"Oh, there you guys are!" she said, panting a little. "I thought we agreed to tour the island this morning."

"Um, we didn't?" Junior cocked an eyebrow as he tucked all his electronics into his backpack. "All you did was escort us to our hut, say goodnight, and leave."

"Besides, whenever I'm on vacation, one of my favorite things to do is soak up the early morning rays," Justine added, standing up and folding her towel. "...But on the other hand, touring this place doesn't sound so bad."

"Like before, I'll show you around," Mandy replied. "But since you guys missed breakfast, and lunch isn't until noon, we'll just have to grab some snacks for the time being."

"Eh, no prob," both twins replied in unison.

---

With that, the trio once again set out on a tour, this time exploring the areas outside the village. A lush jungle with several small clearings occupied most of the island's space, and within it were numerous residents who were busying themselves with certain jobs for the good of the town. Some people were out picking different types of fruit, while others were armed with wooden spears, chasing after animals like wild boars, monkeys and reptiles. A few were busying themselves making said spears out of tree branches, before baiting venomous snakes into chomping down on the sharpened ends in order to make them poison-tipped.

"So this is basically what people do in order to provide for the town?" Justine asked, now wearing a haltered pink crop-top and some athletic gray mini-shorts over her swimwear.

"Pretty much. Here in Shipwreck Village, we try to help each other out as much as possible. And unlike America, there is no legal age to get a job, mainly because most of the jobs here are pretty safe," Mandy explained.

"Say, speaking of working, how exactly does the economy here work?" Junior asked. "I mean, do people here actually earn something for working, or do they just work for the hell of it?"

"Well the biggest reward for hard work here is seeing the village thrive, but working also earns you money here. Most people tend to bring money with them when they travel, but since all the townsfolk come from all over the world, we agreed to have all currencies be equal, whether they be dollars, euros, pesos, yen, etcetera," Mandy explained further. "And since people also spend it at the shops and stuff like that, the money is always circulating around and never runs out."

"Huh, you guys thought of everything didn't you? Come to think of it, I wonder how a system like this would work back in the states," Junior commented. Being the slightly more studious twin, he loved to think about the big picture and compare societies.

The further away from town that the three teens went, the less people they came across. The jungle also got thinner and some small rock formations could be seen. Eventually, the trio halted in front of what appeared to be a huge rocky mountain dotted with the occasional foliage.

"This, my friends, is Mount Jones, obviously named after the leader of this town," Mandy pointed out. "It's actually a volcano, but it's currently inactive. Hasn't erupted even once since the town was founded."

"Wow, so your dad's not just the chief, but the founder as well?" Justine asked.

"Yup. It's been almost ten years since our cruise ship crashed here on what was supposed to be an ordinary family vacation," Mandy sighed. "I remember when we first crashed here, and about twenty-five percent of the people aboard the ship didn't survive, including my mom and all five of my siblings."

"Yikes. Truly sorry to hear that." Junior placed an arm on her shoulder.

"Yeah. I'm truly sorry to hear that too." Justine placed an arm on her other shoulder as she glared at her brother.

"It's fine, really." Mandy gently escaped the twins' grip and started to walk away. "For the sake of this tour, we won't be climbing this thing, but feel free to do it on your own time."

---

After reentering the jungle and making a sharp turn, the trio reached the island's coast once again, only this time it looked radically different. Turns out that the sand was only black on the eastern side. On the western shore, the sand was pink and there was a huge abundance of rocks and caves. There were even a handful of sea lions resting here, who had grown fully accustomed to the presence of humans and thus posed no threat.

Looking further out, one could see a sprawling coral reef, but it was separated from the beach by a deep trench. In this trench, several islanders were occupying various life boats and rafts, busying themselves fishing and harvesting shellfish. Some of them were using saltwater filtration devices to cleanse and harvest the water, before storing it into several containers.

"Wow cool, look at these big guys!" Junior exclaimed. "I wonder what exact species they are."

"You'll have to excuse my brother. He's a bit of a nerd." Justine sneered as she spoke to Mandy.

"Heh, no worries. I was a bit of a nerd myself back when I lived in Canada," Mandy chuckled.

"Oh wow, a razor clam!" Junior spotted the distinctive mollusk burrowing in the sand, hurriedly picking it up to examine it. "Wow, look at that gorgeous shell! I'm sure it'll make a great souvenir!"

He was taken by surprise as he heard some barking behind him. He turned around to see a sea lion standing there, seemingly begging like a dog.

"Oh, you want this, boy?" Junior asked, teasingly holding up the clam and making the sea lion slap his flippers on the sand impatiently. "Go get it!"

He tossed the razor clam ahead of him and the semi-aquatic mammal hurried after it, catching it in his mouth and happily savoring his treat. Junior took the opportunity to walk over and start giving it a belly rub, chuckling all the while before the sea lion suddenly spat the emptied shell into his hand.

"Aw, thanks! You're the best!" he cooed, petting the sea lion for a few more seconds.

"Junior, c'mon!" Justine groaned impatiently, folding her arms.

"You can fool around a bit more once we finish the tour," Mandy added.

---

Following that brief distraction, the trio continued to roam around Isla del Exilio. They observed animals, explored caves, and even went for a swim around the surrounding coral reefs and mangrove swamps. It was around sunset when they reentered the village and proceeded to hang out as they waited for dinner to be prepared. They stopped at the street food vendor in order to hold themselves off until then. While Mandy bought a bar made from locally-grown chocolate, Justine ordered a roasted lizard on a stick. Meanwhile Junior got a banana leaf rolled into a cone, filled almost to the brim with crunchy dead beetles and crickets, and sprinkled with salt harvested from the nearby water. The sight made his sister cringe in disgust, but he just shrugged and started to munch on them anyway, being the adventurous guy he was.

"So how are you liking the island so far?" Mandy asked, already halfway through her chocolate bar.

"Well for a place we wound up in by complete accident, I'd say it's been pretty damn good so far," Justine replied, walking to her tour guide's right as she ate. "And I have to say, the fact that I've already made such a good friend in my tour guide only makes the situation better."

"Aww, thanks!" Mandy blushed a little. "It's been quite a few years since Dad appointed me as the town's tour guide, and I don't think I've ever had more entertaining clients than you two."

"Well gee, I'm honored," Junior chimed in, walking to Mandy's left as he gobbled down the last of his snack. "I was worried we'd be stuck on some deserted island fending for ourselves, but thank God that won't be the case. In fact, after all you've shown us, I actually wouldn't mind it that much if we had to stay here for a while."

"D'aww, stop it you guys. You're gonna make me cry," Mandy giggled as her blush darkened.

As she spoke, she stepped slightly ahead of the twins, giving them the opportunity to shoot sideways glares at each other. Safe to assume they were still fighting over their new friend's heart, and so far, neither of them seemed poised to win or give up.

---

Even during suppertime, both Junior and Justine kept to themselves and only spoke whenever some of the strangers tried to start conversations with them. Once it got dark, they silently and briskly strolled back to their hut, changed into their sleepwear, and climbed onto their beds. Junior took out a novel and furrowed his brow as he tried to focus on his reading, though this proved difficult as he felt his sister glaring at him from across the room. Eventually, he let his frustration get the best of him.

"Alright, Justine! Spit it out! What is your deal?!" he finally snapped.

"What's my deal? My deal is that you keep trying to intrude on my moments with Mandy!" Justine barked back.

"Who the f**k said she was yours?" Junior asked incredulously. "As a self-proclaimed feminist, you of all people should know that women aren't property, and certainly aren't prizes to be won!"

"You think I don't know that?! Look, Junior, could you please just be a nice brother and let me find true love?" Justine pled, tearing up a little. "It's not that I'm ashamed of my sexuality or anything like that, but because I'm not straight like you, my dating options are so limited. All the single lesbians back in Kicksburg are nice people, but they just weren't my type, and there aren't that many of them anyway. For once in my life, I found someone who's practically made for me!"

"Don't get me wrong. I totally understand what you're saying, but for all you know, Mandy might not even be lesbian," Junior replied, calming down a bit. "Besides, in case you haven't noticed, I haven't had much luck in the dating department either. And Mandy's basically the female version of me."

"Oh, please. Like I'm gonna believe that bullshit." Justine sneered. "You just like her because of her body. On the other hand, I'm into her for her personality and other aspects."

"Nah, you just want her because she's the first girl you laid eyes on since we got here, and you're too lazy to look elsewhere. Seriously, have you seen how diverse this town is? I'm sure you can find someone else!" Junior snarked back.

And so the twins continued to bicker amongst themselves for the next ten minutes, before finally calming down.

"Would you look at what we're doing right now?" Junior groaned, following a sigh. "We're doing the same thing that Mom and Aunt Priscilla did when they fought over Dad."

"No kidding. So to stop this fight, what say you stop flirting with Mandy, huh?" Justine smirked.

"No, no, I've got a better idea. How about we both lay off and let her decide?" Junior suggested. "After all, given the situation, it's only fair that she gets some say in it."

"Good point, Junior. Just don't be surprised if you lose." Justine maintained her smirk.

"Good luck to you too, sis," Junior replied as the two shook hands. "Y'know, speaking of our parents, I wonder what they're up to back at home."