Emerald

Chapter 3: The Arrival

Lea's Perspective:

The sound of crashing waves echoed in my ears. With this, I felt a cool breeze brush against my skin along with the feeling of something rough between my fingertips. As I stirred my body on the ground I realized the rough material was sand.

Where in the world am I?

When I opened my eyes I was met with a dark sky illuminated by millions of stars, except the stars appeared brighter than they did just moments ago it seemed. I sat up from my laid out position on the sand and looked around myself. It appeared to be a beach or coast of some sort...As I recall, the last thing I remembered was tumbling down that ridge...and possibly hitting my head? Which could explain why my brain thinks I'm somewhere I'm not? And maybe that was why I hallucinated that shadow Grim Reaper type figure? At the moment my mind was trying to come up with all kinds of explanations for why or how I got here, but none of them seemed very practical...Like, I would have remembered if I hit my head on something, right?

I carefully stood up one step at a time, pulling my cloak out from the sand beneath me. My back cracked as I straightened it, still feeling a little sore from the fall. But I shook it off and figured there were more important things to worry about; such as how in the heck did I get here?!

As I continued examining my surroundings I noticed the cool temperatures and chilly winds. Wherever I was, it was the middle of the night, at the very least three o'clock in the morning. The waves continued crashing down harshly on the beach. So harsh, in fact, it drew my attention to the violent waters in the distance. As I glanced out into the waters something caught my eye...Something...abnormal...There was a ship, very large and grand. However, it was more so grand if we were in the eighteenth century or so. The ship appeared to be fashioned by some sort of oak or cedar wood, maybe a combination of both I suppose. Large masts were built at the bow and stern of the ship, holding up several worn sails. A complicated and detailed amount of rigging was also present on the massive ship. However, nowadays it would be considered a loser cruiser. But hey, I guess I don't have any room to talk since I'm technically not even old enough to legally drive an automobile without adult supervision. I took a few steps closer to the crashing water to get a closer look at one of the masts. It seemed there was a large flag at the top. As far as I'm concerned, I can figure out where I am if I can recognize the type of flag it is. I squinted and strained my eyes doing my best to make something out of my blurry vision. The majority of the flag was black, but a few small portions of the flag appeared to be white. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't make out what country or base the flag was supposed to represent. I mean if I had my guess I would say it was a pirate ship for a lack of a better term. It just didn't seem legit like it should be. My guess is maybe it was just some random boater that's somewhere he's not supposed to be. But as of right now I don't have any other options. Maybe there's some way I could flag him down this way so I could ask him where I was...My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the rustling of a shrub in the forest to the right of me. At first, I assumed it was an animal, but I quickly realized it wasn't when I heard a loud low grumbling of sorts. I instantly became frightened even though I told myself to stay strong. But that didn't last when I heard it again, even louder this time. And at this point, I heard something else in the distance, like a voice or something. It wasn't one of my prouder moments, but I panicked. I bolted straight toward dark forest. Thankfully whatever I heard in the forest didn't hear me scurry from my place in the sand, but I still didn't feel safe enough being on the ground. Stealthily, I tiptoed myself toward a tree I spotted that seemed sturdy and busy enough to hold my weight without snapping. I grabbed a hold of the branches and climbed all the way up the tree making the least amount of sound I could. Sitting on a large, sturdy branch I hid behind the trunk of the tree and looked out toward the beach, listening closely. The grumbling sounds got even louder and at this point, I became truly aware that I wasn't alone here. The rustling sound I was hearing was actually the sound of footsteps. I could just faintly hear the voices, so I hushed my breathing and listened intently to hear what was going on. I heard an over exaggeratedly loud sigh.