(Authors note: I've switched the perspective from first to third person, because the "I" in this story is still at the camp and not on the search party, scenes that have the "I" character in it will stay in first person)
Raj and Park were wandering on their own off in the general direction Eric had gone. In all honesty he could have gotten anywhere on the island by now. But they figured they're best bet was to use the same direction he did. The good news was they already knew the island was small so there weren't many places for him to have ran off to. Then again in the thick jungle he could be a foot away from them in a tree and they wouldn't notice.
Still they figured his instincts would teach the rest how to survive and maybe there was some fruit that could improve his condition. They were told the fruit had "interesting effects" that means it's entirely possible one fruit could reverse another. Though by that logic it was also possible for one fruit to make the effects of another worse. They simply wouldn't know without trial and error, but they would never know unless the find Eric first, maybe they can help.
Since there were no animals on the island it was easy to find Eric eventually. Trees rustling without any wind and no other animals made it pretty easy. Although it did take them hours until they found him. The hard part was keeping up with him and catching him. Eric knew his way around the jungle and had slightly more muscle and tough feet and hands, which all allowed him to move faster.
They continued chasing after him for what felt like hours. With the heat and the chase they quickly got thirsty, and were still hungry. Eric and James were the only ones who had eaten anything when they ate the berries. Since they found nothing else to eat other than the fruit no one else had eaten anything.
After a while of chase they saw Eric stop to drink from the stream. They thought maybe it was their chance to grab him but then they noticed something strange happen. Eric got a confused look on his face. His tangled hair got slightly shorter and his tan faded a bit. He then got a scared look on his face and ran back into the jungle.
Was it possible the water undid some of the effects of the berries? They already confirmed there was nothing in the water so it was safe to drink at least. But that didn't help much, it was late in the night of their third day, possibly early morning of the fourth depending on if it's past midnight, and they were desperately hungry.
Raj looked at a nearby bush, growing the same blue/purple berries that had caused this mess. Despite knowing what they caused the berries looked so tempting. Every fruit on this island will do something to them. The berries were the only thing they knew the results of for sure, so they were technically the safest thing to eat if one were to eat anything. But they knew that if they did they'd end up just like Eric.
Still was the water some kind of equalizer? If Eric had drank more of it could it undo it? Maybe the berries acted like a drug and the water diluted its effects. Or maybe this means that over time it could work its way out of Eric's system and he'd be back to normal. Maybe if they drank the water while eating the berries, or mixed them it would be safer.
It was a risky idea, would it remove the effects or just reduce them? But the only thing they knew for sure was that if they ate nothing, they would starve to death, at least this was an unknown and had a chance of working or not. A very high risk, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
They picked a few berries each, not too many. Despite their better judgment telling them this wasn't going to work they were starving after not eating for 3 or 4 days.
They decided their best bet was have only one or two berries then down a bunch of water immediately after. Raj and Park picked up some twigs to draw straws of who would test this theory first. Eric and James changed within a minute or two after eating the berries, so they knew after that time they were safe.
Park drew the short straw so he had to try first. He popped both berries in his mouth then drank three handfuls of water. The two sat and waited a few minutes and nothing happened. The only change was a very slight tanning of Park's skin but it was very subtle and neither of them noticed. Knowing it was safe Raj did the same thing. There wasn't a change in Raj however his skin was already darker so more tan might not have been needed.
They agreed with how Eric described the taste. No way to describe it other than amazing. It didn't fill their bellies but it made the hunger pains go away for now. They continued searching for Eric, they could try to reason with him now.
They didn't notice as the bottoms of their feet got rougher as they moved more quickly through the jungle. After some time they caught up with Eric who was looking at his reflection in the water of another stream looking scared and angry. He might have even been crying a bit.
"Eric?" Raj asked hopping that they could reason with him. Eric just looked up at them.
"Please...help...me" he said as if he were struggling with the words, struggling to concentrate. They walked over to him and told him they would try.
Now they started taking him back to camp. Maybe if they kept giving him water he could be completely normal again, or maybe the effect will wear off on its own. They finally return to camp as their muscles started to get slightly bigger but not much so they didn't notice.
***
It was the middle of the night when the search party returned. They had a slightly less animal looking Eric in tow. I was confused by that, assuming the effects were permanent. The others told Park and Raj about the bug food alternatives we learned from watching James. Then they filled us in on how the water caused Eric's effects to wear off slightly and even prevented any effects from triggering in them. I was shocked they took the risk but we might be on to something now.
Eric seemed to remember everything and was scared. He was not in control but remembered it, hopefully we can help him. However after they were back for maybe a half an hour Eric got that same confused look on his face. What little changes reversed, came back as his hair bushed out again and he once again got that vacant look on his face.
So it seems that the water only fixes it temporarily, but what does that mean for Raj and Park now? They were starting to get darker tans and more muscles, this time noticing.
"Oh crap" Raj said noticing it first. As it seemed the water only slowed down their changes and, like Eric, the effects of the water have worn off. Both of them got tangled matted hair, as their hands and feet became calloused as their feet also grew wider. Raj's previous discomfort with being naked was now gone and both he and Park got that vacant look in their eyes and crouched down.
Now we had to tie up Eric, Raj, and Park so that they don't run away. However we did learn that water slowly the effects and temporarily undoes them too. So I guess it wasn't a total loss.