Chapter 1: Alone
The beach was cold. At least, it felt cold sitting there by the shore, with the waves coming closer and closer to where she sat. But it didn't bother her. Neither did the sand, which under her bare feet, felt like a thousand little stones working together to keep her above the ground. Shineta cringed at the thought of a thousand little hers pushing up against an extremely large pebble, trying their best not to give in. It was good to be on top.
The swaying palm trees, and the rushing waves entranced her as she gazed out across the water at her home island. For a moment she thought about her life on the island, then about her home, then her family, and then her friends. She had two of them, Zode and Seko. She wished they were with her, just standing there thinking. Then again, that wouldn't happen anyways, those two were too aggressive and energetic to sit still and think for more than a moment. She thought back to a time she could hardly remember now when she and Seko had sat in the secret place, scribbling on the walls with sandstone. She remembered how they seemed at peace, and even Seko was calm as they scraped numerous drawings of trees, their home, the ocean, and each other on the rocky interior of the cave.
Shineta paused her thoughts for a moment, hoping, waiting for the boys to show up. Then she realized how crazy her thoughts were. She didn't even ask them to come. For once, she had gone alone out onto the shore, but still, she expected at least one of the to come looking for her. She was their friend after all. She stood up, brushing the sand off her skirt, and slipping back into her sandals.
Turning her back on the rolling waves, Shineta strolled up the sand to the shack. Pushing her way in, she rinsed her hands off with some water trickling out of a crack in the wall, pooled in a small bowl perched in a nook in the wall. Waiting for a moment to let the ripples die out, she studied her reflection in the water.
After so many years of life on the beach, her pale skin had tanned to a darker shade, bringing out her blue eyes in the dim light. Her red hair curved off mostly to one side of her face, hiding a portion of her left eye. She noticed a speck of sand on her pointed chin, and wiped it off with her thumb. She paused and looked at her hand, slender and smooth, then straitened her shirt. She took one last glance at her reflection, then bumped open the shack door.
The wooden ramp leading to a natural spring was only a few steps away, and some quick small steps brought her to the base of a monstrous tree. It's width could only be described as a quarter of the whole island, and it's height was fit to scale. Remnants of a wooden pathway remained that led up to a cubby carved into the tree about mid-lengths up, broken only by a ladder to speed the path to the hole. Although she had seen this monster more times than she could count, Shineta still stopped to stare at the tree for only a moment before moving on to her real destination. The Secret Place.
As she reached the entrance, to the tunnel, which led to the cave, a lizard crawled out of a crack in the stone wall, leaving behind a pile of dirt. For a moment Shineta was surprised to see it crawl towards her, then she ignored it and ducked under a monstrous tree root, and head into the tunnel.
Over the years she had been at the islands, about 8 since she got here, Shineta had only been in the Secret Place a spare few times. Zode told her and Seko stories about things which lived back in the cave that would eat them if they entered without Zode's permission, but that story broke when she and Seko went in together once just to prove him wrong. Still, she only went in if someone accompanied her. She began to think it a bad idea to enter the cave alone as memories of Zode's ghost tales filled her mind, and she was about to walk back out when a white feather fell from the ceiling.
Normally this would only have caught her attention for just a second, but the rocky tunnel was such a peculiar place for a feather to be. It was as if it just appeared out of thin air and fell. Before it could hit the ground, Shineta plucked it from the air and held it in her hand. She felt somewhat... protective of it. She looked back up, towards a curve in the tunnel, and heard the familiar sound of water dropping from the ceiling to the floor. Somehow, the feather gave her confidence. She moved on through the cave, and memories of her, Seko, And Zode filled her mind as she stepped into the cave.
Seko had just finished a drawing of her, and her of him, and they gazed at each-other's work. Seko said something, she didn't exactly remember, but then she said "I don't know." He began to speak, but since she didn't really pay attention to his words at the time, she didn't remember them now. They pause and studied each other to check the accuracy of their art when he started to talk again. But this time she remembered.
"Do you still think that there's a monster, or ghost back behind the wood." said Seko, gesturing at an obscure wooden arched panel which stood in the rock wall.
"No," She replied, but followed his gaze to the wood.
"I don't think so either."
"I'm pretty sure it's just a lie Zode told us so we wouldn't come in here."
"Yeah, me too." said Seko. Then he paused. "Then again, there's gotta be something special behind it."
"What?" said Shineta.
"I mean, don't you think there's a reason they put a wooden panel back in a cave." he continued, "There should be something special behind it, if it's here, in the middle of nowhere."
"Maybe it's just a decoration." said Shineta, confused.
"Nah,"
Looking at the panel now, Shineta knew what he meant long ago when the conversation took place. It seemed out of place, just abnormal for an underground sea-cave.
A root from the tree was interlaced with itself overhead, and it dripped of sap. A drop fell right onto the feather in her hand. She looked down and watched as the drop clung to the fibers of the feather, and stuck to the stem. Shineta stepped towards the panel and suddenly; she stuck the feather onto the panel, right in the middle. She just knew that was what it was meant for. She lifted her hand off the feather, and when it stayed, she drew back and looked at her work. She expected the panel to do something, but nothing happened. Then, she started to regret sticking it to the panel. She tried to take it off, but the feather wouldn't budge, so she left it, stuck there to the wood. Hopefully, nothing bad would happen to it.
The Secret cave seemed to get darker now that she wasn't holding the feather. She decided it was best to leave, and hurried out the tunnel exit. As soon as she walked outside, Shineta was relieved to find everything as she had left it. The little lizard was burrowing into some sand when she passed it again, on her way back to the shack.
This time, when she got to the shack, she went up a short flight of stairs, which led to a sort of natural balcony over the beach. Passing underneath the shade of two coconut trees, she headed across the bridge leading to a small hill with the only paupu fruit tree on the island. The tree provided the perfect resting spot for her, and lying on top of it, she pondered how anyone could bear living in a place worse than this, and passing the opportunity to spend their life in the wonderful haven she lived in. Shineta glanced at her home island again, then at the sun, low in it's way across the sky. Another day was ending, on the Islands. Destiny Islands hadn't changed much since she first looked out on them, back when she was six...
The beach was cold. At least, it felt cold sitting there by the shore, with the waves coming closer and closer to where she sat. But it didn't bother her. Neither did the sand, which under her bare feet, felt like a thousand little stones working together to keep her above the ground. Shineta cringed at the thought of a thousand little hers pushing up against an extremely large pebble, trying their best not to give in. It was good to be on top.
The swaying palm trees, and the rushing waves entranced her as she gazed out across the water at her home island. For a moment she thought about her life on the island, then about her home, then her family, and then her friends. She had two of them, Zode and Seko. She wished they were with her, just standing there thinking. Then again, that wouldn't happen anyways, those two were too aggressive and energetic to sit still and think for more than a moment. She thought back to a time she could hardly remember now when she and Seko had sat in the secret place, scribbling on the walls with sandstone. She remembered how they seemed at peace, and even Seko was calm as they scraped numerous drawings of trees, their home, the ocean, and each other on the rocky interior of the cave.
Shineta paused her thoughts for a moment, hoping, waiting for the boys to show up. Then she realized how crazy her thoughts were. She didn't even ask them to come. For once, she had gone alone out onto the shore, but still, she expected at least one of the to come looking for her. She was their friend after all. She stood up, brushing the sand off her skirt, and slipping back into her sandals.
Turning her back on the rolling waves, Shineta strolled up the sand to the shack. Pushing her way in, she rinsed her hands off with some water trickling out of a crack in the wall, pooled in a small bowl perched in a nook in the wall. Waiting for a moment to let the ripples die out, she studied her reflection in the water.
After so many years of life on the beach, her pale skin had tanned to a darker shade, bringing out her blue eyes in the dim light. Her red hair curved off mostly to one side of her face, hiding a portion of her left eye. She noticed a speck of sand on her pointed chin, and wiped it off with her thumb. She paused and looked at her hand, slender and smooth, then straitened her shirt. She took one last glance at her reflection, then bumped open the shack door.
The wooden ramp leading to a natural spring was only a few steps away, and some quick small steps brought her to the base of a monstrous tree. It's width could only be described as a quarter of the whole island, and it's height was fit to scale. Remnants of a wooden pathway remained that led up to a cubby carved into the tree about mid-lengths up, broken only by a ladder to speed the path to the hole. Although she had seen this monster more times than she could count, Shineta still stopped to stare at the tree for only a moment before moving on to her real destination. The Secret Place.
As she reached the entrance, to the tunnel, which led to the cave, a lizard crawled out of a crack in the stone wall, leaving behind a pile of dirt. For a moment Shineta was surprised to see it crawl towards her, then she ignored it and ducked under a monstrous tree root, and head into the tunnel.
Over the years she had been at the islands, about 8 since she got here, Shineta had only been in the Secret Place a spare few times. Zode told her and Seko stories about things which lived back in the cave that would eat them if they entered without Zode's permission, but that story broke when she and Seko went in together once just to prove him wrong. Still, she only went in if someone accompanied her. She began to think it a bad idea to enter the cave alone as memories of Zode's ghost tales filled her mind, and she was about to walk back out when a white feather fell from the ceiling.
Normally this would only have caught her attention for just a second, but the rocky tunnel was such a peculiar place for a feather to be. It was as if it just appeared out of thin air and fell. Before it could hit the ground, Shineta plucked it from the air and held it in her hand. She felt somewhat... protective of it. She looked back up, towards a curve in the tunnel, and heard the familiar sound of water dropping from the ceiling to the floor. Somehow, the feather gave her confidence. She moved on through the cave, and memories of her, Seko, And Zode filled her mind as she stepped into the cave.
Seko had just finished a drawing of her, and her of him, and they gazed at each-other's work. Seko said something, she didn't exactly remember, but then she said "I don't know." He began to speak, but since she didn't really pay attention to his words at the time, she didn't remember them now. They pause and studied each other to check the accuracy of their art when he started to talk again. But this time she remembered.
"Do you still think that there's a monster, or ghost back behind the wood." said Seko, gesturing at an obscure wooden arched panel which stood in the rock wall.
"No," She replied, but followed his gaze to the wood.
"I don't think so either."
"I'm pretty sure it's just a lie Zode told us so we wouldn't come in here."
"Yeah, me too." said Seko. Then he paused. "Then again, there's gotta be something special behind it."
"What?" said Shineta.
"I mean, don't you think there's a reason they put a wooden panel back in a cave." he continued, "There should be something special behind it, if it's here, in the middle of nowhere."
"Maybe it's just a decoration." said Shineta, confused.
"Nah,"
Looking at the panel now, Shineta knew what he meant long ago when the conversation took place. It seemed out of place, just abnormal for an underground sea-cave.
A root from the tree was interlaced with itself overhead, and it dripped of sap. A drop fell right onto the feather in her hand. She looked down and watched as the drop clung to the fibers of the feather, and stuck to the stem. Shineta stepped towards the panel and suddenly; she stuck the feather onto the panel, right in the middle. She just knew that was what it was meant for. She lifted her hand off the feather, and when it stayed, she drew back and looked at her work. She expected the panel to do something, but nothing happened. Then, she started to regret sticking it to the panel. She tried to take it off, but the feather wouldn't budge, so she left it, stuck there to the wood. Hopefully, nothing bad would happen to it.
The Secret cave seemed to get darker now that she wasn't holding the feather. She decided it was best to leave, and hurried out the tunnel exit. As soon as she walked outside, Shineta was relieved to find everything as she had left it. The little lizard was burrowing into some sand when she passed it again, on her way back to the shack.
This time, when she got to the shack, she went up a short flight of stairs, which led to a sort of natural balcony over the beach. Passing underneath the shade of two coconut trees, she headed across the bridge leading to a small hill with the only paupu fruit tree on the island. The tree provided the perfect resting spot for her, and lying on top of it, she pondered how anyone could bear living in a place worse than this, and passing the opportunity to spend their life in the wonderful haven she lived in. Shineta glanced at her home island again, then at the sun, low in it's way across the sky. Another day was ending, on the Islands. Destiny Islands hadn't changed much since she first looked out on them, back when she was six...
Last edited: