"Wake up...you can't dream forever..."
A voice called out to her, but bewilderment had a hold on her mind as she fought to make sense of the dark. For a moment, she thought she was simply surrounded by darkness but quickly learned that her eyes were shut. She tried to lift them and learned of their heaviness, only managing to blink. What she saw when she periodically opened her lids didn't make much sense to her.
Were those animals I just saw? Were they the ones talking to me just now?
She questioned herself as her senses slowly came back to her. Suddenly, she was keenly aware of sand cradling her frame, the smell of sea salt in the air, the sounds of soft waves crashing against a shore, and the pitter-patter of small feet scurrying away.
When she finally opened her eyes, she caught a glimpse of three little creatures who must've been standing over her moments ago as they ran away. She thought to give chase, wondering what they were and why they had been so close to her moments ago, but her body was so weak she couldn't move just yet.
Instead, she gave herself a bit more time to gather her bearings and took note of all the things around her. Wooden debris lay scattered across the quiet shore of the unknown land, and all that lay about looked like the remains of a deconstructed ship. There were a couple of broken barrels of what looked like gunpowder but could've also been mistaken as coffee grounds.
Was this the ship that carried me here? Everything looks like I've been in a shipwreck...
She couldn't recall how she had gotten there. In fact, she couldn't quite remember anything before waking up moments ago.
Who am I, and where exactly did I come from?
It was a chaotic thing for her to be unable to remember herself. Her mind was filled with holes, questions of her life where answers should've been.
As she collected what little strength she had to stand on her own two feet, she noticed a small device near her. She grabbed it as she stood up, examining its structure. It was a rectangular-shaped piece of equipment that looked out of place amongst the fractured wood from the ship, and when she touched its surface, it quickly powered on.
The light emitting from its screen startled her so much that she almost dropped it, but she held onto it. When she trained her eyes on the screen, she saw an image reflected at her.
Wow. So, that's what I look like?
She had a light bronze complexion with sharp eyes and a round nose. Her hair was matted into thick strands that almost looked like braids, and they sat side to side instead of straight. Although, her head wasn't full of hair entirely because the sides of her head were shaved. Overall, she thought that she looked pretty cool and smiled almost instinctively upon seeing herself.
That is until she saw what she was wearing, which was almost nothing. All she had to cover herself was what looked like a two-piece bathing suit made from a tattered brown tablecloth.
Oh jeez. I'm glad only those creatures saw me like this. I don't know what I would've done if a bunch of creeps had found me. Just the thought of being studied by some pervert makes my skin crawl.
But before she could continue the thought, the shiny new device chimed in.
Please register your name.
My name?
She was confused at the thought of having to register her name. She was still unsure of who she might be and was saddened that she didn't have an answer to what should be a simple question. But instead of dwelling on the bad side of it all, she decided to see the bright side of things.
Of course, she was sad about whatever memories she might've had, but maybe there was a good reason for not remembering. What if she was a horrible person before today? What if this was her chance to start her entire life over as someone new? Maybe her old memories will find her and the new version of herself will meet the old version. Either way, she thought it'd be appropriate to use this supposed misfortune as an opportunity to become her best self.
She grabbed the device and began typing in a new name for herself.
My name is...
R-H-E-A
Today, I'll look to the future with optimism!", She shouted to the heavens with her arms stretched.
Just then, the device vibrated in her hand as the screen lit up and slowly revealed words.
The Towers are the key.
The Tree holds the truth.
What's that supposed to mean? I can't see any towers from where I'm standing, nor do I see a tree that stands out from the bunch.
When she surveyed her surroundings, she noticed that there was much more to the island than the beach she had found herself washed up on. In the opposite direction of the ocean was a path that led to a hill that had stone stairs carved into it. Further up the path was what looked like the remains of a castle or ruins of some kind.
She quickly decided that walking through the ruins might be the best way to find someone who might be able to help her out. After all, ruins indicated the remnants of some form of society as such structures couldn't be put together without high levels of intelligence. Although, she wondered for a moment whether or not the strange creatures she saw might be capable of building such things.
As she walked along the path, she found a small sack/backpack that could carry a few things and decided to tie it around her chest. She immediately began picking things up that she thought might be useful such as small piles of wood and a few stones.
With this stuff, I could make myself a fire and maybe even be able to build some sort of weapon. I have no way of knowing how friendly those creatures are.
She had no way of knowing how friendly the strange creatures were on this island as she moved cautiously along the path. Crouching to stay out of sight, she noted how populated the path was with the creatures and was able to see that they seemed sort of harmless. She had counted three different species so far and thought that they looked pretty cute running around with one another.
The first of the bunch was a bipedal pink creature who seemed the most spirited. The most peculiar thing about this creature was that it had a knack for noticing where she was, which would've been an issue if every time they noticed her they didn't run away.
What are they so afraid of?
The second was a chubby chicken-like creature that moved in bunches of at least three at a time. They were picking at the ground and hopping up and down as if they were trying to take flight. Of course, they never did, but it sure looked like they wanted to. In their wake, they would leave feathers behind that made it easy to track them.
I'll have to remember to look for those feathers if I'm in the mood for chicken later on.
Last, but not least, was her favorite of the three; a fluffy white sheep with an extremely round shape. They trotted around with joy bouncing off of one another playfully and Rhea got stuck imagining herself snuggling up to the obnoxiously fluffy coats they had.
Oh, my god! I want one!
But she knew she needed to focus on the task at hand. She was in a foreign land with little to no supplies, and if she was going to survive, she couldn't think about the things she wanted. Instead, she should focus on what she needs.
Right now, I need to find out if I'm here alone or if there are others I can lean on. I would have no issue joining a society if I had to, but I just have to find one first.
She continued pressing on into the ruins which winded upward along the large hill she noticed earlier. Up and up she went collecting what she could find and ignoring the rumblings in her stomach. She had found more wood and stone and found an interesting piece of paper labeled "Journal Entry #1" that she promised she would read later on. Right now, her focus was simply on finding some sort of food.
When she reached what felt like the top of the hill, she found herself in a spacious cavern area that still had the layout of the ruins beneath her. When she looked up, she could see large rocks coming together to form an incomplete ceiling, beyond which she could see the sun in the sky. This view was briefly obstructed as she saw something fly quickly past the opening momentarily blocking out the sun.
Ahead of her was an exit she raced towards to see if she could catch a glimpse of whatever was moving so fast, but she was too late. Instead, she was greeted with the beauty of the island she couldn't see from the other side of the hill. She was mesmerized by what she saw.
Standing at the top of the hill, she could see miles and miles of land stretched out in front of her. Off in the distance were large rock formations shaped like spears jutting out from the ground. They looked as if the land itself was fighting a war against the sky and winning, somehow.
There were trees and rivers abound and she could see many creatures off in the distance. Some of which she had already identified, and some that were completely new to her.
Further out were the silhouettes of ice-capped mountains and volcanoes. She was surprised at how diverse the topography was due to the size of it all. Overall, the island was large, and she could even see that there were multiple islands altogether, but it still didn't feel like it was large enough to give birth to such diversity.
Either way, she thought this was a good thing. With so many different types of areas, she didn't think it would be hard to find specific types of resources.
I'll have no problem finding what I need out here, but I don't see a town of any kind, just more wilderness.
She was staggered by the sheer scope of the land in front of her but began to take note of some peculiar structures that stood out from everything else. Seemingly out of sight were extremely tall structures that stood vertical to the land. If it wasn't for the large lights at the top of them, she wouldn't have been able to see them, but now there was no way she could ignore them.
Are these the towers the tablet spoke about?
She was convinced that what she was witnessing at that moment were indeed the towers spoken about on the device. She told herself that, eventually, making it to these towers was going to be her goal. She's not sure what she would find, but there had to be a reason the device mentioned them alongside the tree. She wondered what sort of key she would find by visiting them but also thought an active tower might lead her to some sort of civilization. For now, though, she just wanted to focus on survival.
When she looked around her immediate area, she was able to note two interesting things.
One was a large glowing statue that sat at the bottom of more stone steps, this time going down the hill. At the top of the statue was a large bird she didn't recognize. She wondered for a moment if this bird was the idol of some sort of religious sect in this land.
The other thing she noticed was smoke emitting from a small campfire nearby.
Smoke...? Smoke! That means someone's gotta be nearby!
She ran towards the smoke to see who could've lit the fire and was delighted to see another woman sitting around the burning logs.
"Hey!" She yelled to the stranger who looked up instantly to see her. "Hey, can you help me?!"
Rhea jogged at a light pace so as not to come off as a threat slowly closing the distance between them. As she got closer, the woman stood up and Rhea began inspecting her outfit. She seemed battle-hardened as her outfit expressed that she had experience in combat and survival. There were spurts of cloth to keep her warm and pieces of armor adorned throughout the set of cloths, and she was holding what looked like a very powerful weapon. It was long and required two hands to carry.
Whatever she was wearing seemed odd to her, but she didn't know why. She thought that maybe this wasn't the type of clothing she was used to in her past, but had no real way of proving that, and so she let it go.
The woman was a little lighter in complexion and seemed older, if not more mature for her age and she wore a similar hairstyle to Rhea's. The difference was that the stranger's hair was much more of the traditional style braids that lay front to back.
"Hmmm...you're a castaway, aren't you?" The stranger said as she looked Rhea up and down.
"A castaway? What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, you must've woken up on the shore not too long ago, right? It's been a while since someone who didn't stink of pals washed up here. I can tell by the way you smell...or don't smell."
Wow. She could tell all that from just my scent? She must be a survivalist!
"Yes! You're right! I washed up on the beach and...Honestly, I'm just glad to see another human being. I'm not sure where or who I am, and I don't know what to think of the creatures I've seen."
"Pals."
"What?"
"Pals. Those creatures you mentioned, they're called pals", she stated as she spat on the ground. If you had seen how she spat, you'd have thought she hated every single creature on the island. It seemed so personal to Rhea.
Pals... That sounds promising. Friendly even.
The stranger continued, "This island is a living hell. The people I came with aren't with us any longer... Those damned pals ate every single one of em. You're going to have to be careful while you're out there."
I stand corrected. I'm going to die. There's nothing friendly about them if they're eating people, but the critters I saw looked so lovable... I'm glad I didn't try to love on those fluffy furballs. I could've been killed! What kind of a place is this island?!
Just then, the stranger began to turn away from Rhea, but she couldn't let the opportunity slip by her. After waking up alone and not knowing much about the island, she finally met someone and got some answers. She thought that she could learn a great deal from the woman. Anything would be better than nothing.
"Wait!"
The stranger turned towards her once more, "What is it? I don't have all day."
"I know we just met, but I was hoping you could let me tag along with you and learn a few things? I promise I won't be a burden! I won't even follow for too long. You just seem like you know so much..."
The stranger stared at Rhea for what felt like eons with a cold and stern face. Rhea learned quickly that she wasn't the best at reading people's expressions. That was a skill she thought she'd need to hone before long.
Oh god, she's going to say no. I can feel it...
"...Alright...but only on one condition."
Whew... That was a little tense...
"Of course! Anything!"
"We're going to work fast and do things my way. I'll get you started on a few things and we'll part ways. Survival in these lands is all about routine, and I can't break away from my work for too long."
Wow, she seems so cool.
Rhea thought about how difficult it must be for a woman to be surviving in the wilderness like this, and to be doing so by herself was even more admirable. She was sure she was a skilled woman in various ways and could learn a great deal from her. She was even getting a funny feeling in her chest wondering how it would feel to become someone like her.
Oh, this is exciting! I'll be able to learn survival skills from a badass lady! I can only hope to be more like her in the near future.
"I can understand that," Rhea said.
"Alright then. My name's Chloe, by the way."
"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name's Rhea," said Rhea.
"The biggest thing we're going to work on, Rhea, is teaching you how to protect yourself. You need to toughen up if you want to survive out here."
Rhea was just about to agree with the stranger's reasoning when her stomach answered for her growling loud enough to startle Chloe.
"...but first, I guess we should get you some food..."
* Please let me know what you think of the chapter or the story thus far by leaving a comment! And if you liked what you read, consider adding the story to your library to be notified of updates! Thank you! *
P.S. I have a Patreon you can visit with more writing and my artwork if you want to support the story and my other projects! Check it out. Copy and paste the link below!
patreon.com/NobodyFlowers
IG: NobodyFlowers