Chapter 21

Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.

Chapter 11– The Real Training Begins.

Edited: 28/03/2023

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This partnership with George, the grey gorilla, has been the best thing to happen to me on this godforsaken island. Wow, that is a title, isn't it, George the Grey? Anyway, since meeting up with gorilla George, my life has been very easy and full of joy.

I have had a nice comfy place to sleep, and I wake up every so often to peel the bananas that George himself procures by punching trees and watching them fall. I occasionally do get up and walk a bit by myself, but not very often since I have a comfortable seat, and I do have to climb a tree once in a while to make sure we are staying on course, which we sometimes veered off of so it was a good job I checked.

All in all, my journey going forward after meeting George has been great. I don't even have to worry about any threats or anything since George is the top dog around here, or at least he is down here, closer to the edge of the island. Although, I am guessing it is a different story the deeper you go. If those wolves we met on the cliff are anything to go by, it seems George likes it better down here as well.

This is why it has been easy sailing in this last leg of the trip, and now finally, we are coming up to the beach. I soon peer through the trees to see the sandy dunes and the deep blue ocean, and there marring my view is Garp. Somehow he has had a change of clothes, and he is in an unbuttoned Hawaiian T-shirt, some white shorts and some brown sandals, and he looks to be enjoying himself.

He is laid out on the beach, resting his head on the big sack that is disappointingly full of crackers, and he is staring out at the sea while munching on the stupid things. It really pisses me off that he is sitting there, and he is enjoying those little snacks while I was struggling for my life in the forest and eating just fruits, while he has those crackers which look very tasty.

"Hey, old man, I am back! Now let me have some crackers. I think I deserve it after all this crap you put me through!" So I say as George finally pushes through the final bushes and walks us out onto the beach. I immediately make a try for the crackers because my taste buds have gotten bored of all these fruits, and I would like to have something different and the way Garp devours those things must mean they are pretty delicious.

"YOU ARE NOT HAVING ANY OF MY CRACKERS. THEY ARE MINE. IF YOU WANTED ANYTHING, THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE PACKED IT AND BROUGHT IT WITH YOU. THESE ARE MINE. I BROUGHT THEM WITH ME!" Garp turns around and bellows out, spitting out a lot of the crackers that were in his mouth, and he quickly gets up and pulls the sack up with him, keeping it close and tightly in his grasp.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I SHOULD HAVE PACKED IT? I DID PACK MY STUFF, AND YOU THREW IT INTO THE OCEAN, YOU SENILE OLD FART! GIVE ME SOME OF THOSE CRACKERS. YOU OWE ME SOME BECAUSE I WOULD HAVE HAD MY OWN SNACKS IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU!!" I blew up since he was the one that threw all the sack that was full of the things that I was bringing with me, though admittedly, I didn't have any food in it since I thought that would be provided. I was clearly mistaken.

"Hm, did I do that?" He completely loses all of the heat in his voice and tilts his head to the side as he ponders, and I can't help but be mildly amused as well as contradictorily rageful at his behaviour. It is weird how this guy can be so stupid and do dumb things that harm others yet be so likeable at the same time.

"Yes, you did do that. So I think it is only fair that I get some of your crackers because I would have had my own snacks if you didn't destroy them." I speak while clambering off George and down onto the sand since I have now reached my destination and I no longer have a use for the gorilla, our business is done, and I will leave him to be on his way.

"Hm, okay. Alright then, I suppose that is fair. So here, but this is all you are getting." Garp acquiesces, reaches into his sack, and ruffles around in there before pulling his hand back out, which now clutches onto a single packet of crackers, which he holds out for me to take. A single measly pack, in comparison to the hundreds of packets he still has in there after eating the stuff continuously while I went on my jungle adventure.

"Thank you." I simply say and take the offered pack before opening it and divulging on the snack within, not bothering about anything else. These snacks do belong to the guy, after all, and I get the feeling that I will be hard-pressed to squeeze any more out of him, and if I do manage to do so, it will only be another pack or two, a waste of the effort that would go into procuring them.

"Wow, these are actually really good!" I speak aloud after tasting the cracker, and maybe it is because I have just been feasting on the same fruit for the last few days, but the thing tastes really good. Garp enthusiastically nods his head at my words but doesn't reply in favour of eating his own snacks as well, and I don't much care either as I begin to quickly scoff them down as well.

Before I knew it, the things were gone, and I was sitting there enviously watching Garp eat his crackers and then finishing them and reaching into his sack for another packet. I want to ask for more, but I restrain myself from doing so. I had already agreed to take just one earlier, and Garp even specified that the one pack was all he was giving me, and I didn't refute it, so I will just try to ignore his munching.

"Hey, kid. Is this gorilla your new friend? BWAHAHAHA! Dumb kid can't make friends with actual people, so he has to become friends with big stupid animals, BWAHAHA!" For some reason, I can't refute that. Maybe because I am sitting with two pieces of evidence right here, Garp and the gorilla that is currently standing behind me and just waiting.

"Um, George. You don't have to stay now. I have gotten to the place I wanted to, so you can go now." So I tell the gorilla, which just looks at me with a plain face, not indicative of any emotion at all, before George seems to get the message and turns around and stalks back off towards the forest without another grunt or even a gesture.

It kind of hurts, to be honest, that he would just turn around and leave so quickly, even though we just spent a long time together with me sleeping on his back and him carrying me. We had a lot of skinship this last leg of the journey, and- ew, that sounds bad, actually. Oh well, this is what I wanted.

I watch as George lumbers on back over to the forest, but just before he enters, he turns around, plants his bottom on the ground, leans up against a tree, and then he just stays sat there. Confused, I quickly run up to George as he just watches me approach, nonplussed.

"Um, George, why are you still here? I said you can go now, so you can go now. Go on, shoo, shoo." I said aloud to George and made a shooing noise, and flapped my hands towards him, gesturing for him to go forth into the forest and depart from us.

"Gruuuh." George grunts with a loud rumbling, and I find myself taking a step back in caution. I seem to have forgotten that George is, at the end of the day, a gorilla, an animal with a lot of brute strength. And maybe I shouldn't be acting so frivolously towards it and being so rude, considering it could rip my head from my shoulder very quickly. I seem to have forgotten that after behaving so casually with George and him following my every order.

Still acting cautiously, I watch as George reaches his hand out above him and turns it into a fist before slamming it behind him and into the tree, he is leaning against. Immediately numerous fruits began to rain down from the sky around us, hitting the ground. Thankfully, I was far away enough that none hit me.

George picks up one of the fruits and holds it out for me to take, and I stare down at it and then back up at George and then back down at the fruit. I accept the fruit and then peel it before handing it back to the gorilla for it to eat, and then I turn around and walk back towards Garp.

Honestly, George really helped me out and gave me some much-needed free time on my jungle adventure, and in return, all I had to do for him was peel some fruits that took me seconds to do, and then I could go back to sleep on his warm, comfortable back. So I suppose it isn't much to ask for me to just peel some fruits for him for the duration of my stay on this island before we finally leave after my training is complete. George deserves that much, at the very least.

"So, kid, *Munch*, is that big monkey staying with us?" Garp asks while still snacking on his crackers, to which I nod my head.

"Yes, he is, but don't worry, he will just stay out of the way, and I will take care of him. I just need to feed him every once in a while. other than that, George pretty much takes care of himself." I tell Garp walking back over to him and planting myself down on the ground next to where he is sitting.

"George, huh? Well, whatever. He can actually help us out with some of the training. It just means I can sit back and relax more. Besides, maybe it is better this way. my punches might have proven too much for you, while George's should be just fine." So Garp muses while continuing to eat his crackers, bewildering me with his mention of punches.

"Punches, I thought this was supposed to be you training me, not beating on me." I question because I would much rather not get punched. Also, Garp has basically said that he is much stronger than George the gorilla, and the scary thing is that I believe him.

"Come on, brat, surely you didn't think that you were going to escape from this island with no bruises at all. If your goal is truly to be the strongest man in the world, then you will have to go through so much more than just some punches, so buck up." He says, snorting at me. Well, this is just fine with me because I do plan to become the strongest man in the world, it is my goal, and then after that, I can explore at my leisure. And I fully expected to leave this place bruised and batter, but I just thought that the cause of it would be rigorous and practical training, not due to fights with others.

"Ah, also, before I forget, brat, this is yours. You earned it." Garp speaks before rifling around in his sack once more before pulling out my carpentry book and handing it over to me. Honestly, I had forgotten about the thing, so preoccupied with surviving and getting back to the beach where it was safe.

I take my book from his hand and begin to immediately leaf through it, and everything seems to be okay. It is undamaged. However, with the way Garp goes through his snacks, I wouldn't have been surprised if he was so caught up in his process that he pulled my book out and took a bite out of it before he realised. I will definitely be reading this thing in any breaks or downtime I have, wanting to further my knowledge even if I can't do any practical knowledge.

"Alright then, when do we start the training? I am full of energy, and I am raring to go ." So I speak, wanting to get started straight away since I was fully rested and well-fed while relaxing on Georges's back, and any bruises or injuries I had cleared up quite well too.

"Hm, well, you have been running through that jungle nonstop for the last few days, so I suppose it is okay if you take a break for the rest of today, and then we can start tomorrow morning. For now, just relax." He speaks before almost immediately placing his sack on the sand behind him and then resting his head upon it.

"Tomorrow? But I am just fine. We can go right-" I try to talk and explain my state f readiness, but Garp cuts me off.

"Buh, buh, buh. Tomorrow, we will begin the training, tomorrow. You are clearly tired, so just go rest for the rest of today, and we can start the training tomorrow." Garp speaks again, denying my request. Clearly, this man just wants to relax for another day before he is burdened with my training.

But what else can I do? So I walk back over to the tree line and take a seat on the ground and lean my back on the tree next to George, and then I begin to read my book.

I can't wait for the training to begin.