Chapter 1

Pink Hair

Brown hair flowed alongside the rough wind; it whipped the poor, innocent girl who stood helplessly on the boat's deck. Her grip tightened as time went by, and the sea became violent and ruthless against the passenger boat. The girl was as frightened as ever, she knew what was going on, and yet she was too petrified to move. She heard the yells of horrified passengers, she felt herself jostled by the harsh seas, but she knew she wouldn't survive this.

"Ma'am?" A man called, she saw the panic and alarm in his eyes. "Ma'am? Are you there? We must go now!" He insisted. He grabbed her arms with force, but her hands only gripped the bar tighter. There was no help for her now; she was as good as dead. But she had known that all along.

--

He brushed his hand against her pale skin, and stopped when he noticed her freezing temperature. She had been out at sea for a long time. How long… he didn't know. He only knew she needed to heat up as soon as possible, or…

She might die.

--

She let out a silent whimper into the salty sea air. Her eyes fluttered open, then closed, only one question settling in her mind.

Why was she still alive?

She knew exactly what had happened to her. But… the chances of survival were so slim… She rubbed her forehead with frustration, but caught view of her new surroundings. She was lying on a beach, her body soaking with murky water. But beside her… was a fire.

"A survivor?" She heard someone call out from behind a pile of newly cut logs. She jumped at the sound, and snapped her head towards it. An elderly man was making his way over slowly, with a surprised expression. He approached her and stopped at her feet, looking up slightly. "Unless you live here already…?" He asked curiously.

She shook her head slowly, and water droplets from her mussed hair scattered the untouched beach. "I… don't know why I'm here…" She murmured, almost a whisper, as she stared blankly out to the forest.

"Hm…" The man hummed, gazing at her intriguingly. "What's your name?" He asked.

"I'm… Chelsea," She answered, wringing the water from her hair.

He nodded, and raised a hand to his cheek. "How did you get here? What do you remember?"

She hesitated. "I… was stuck in a storm…" She explained, taking a look at the old man.

"I was too…" He said, taking his turn to look blankly at the island. "Were you on a boat?"

Chelsea nodded slowly. "How… how do you know?" She mumbled, furrowing her brow.

"I was on that same boat," He answered, pulling his eyes back to her. "Do you want to meet my family?" He asked.

She looked as confused as ever. Had she heard him wrong? Surely…

"My family are here as well." Taro explained, pointing to the forest. "They're searching the forest."

"I… uhm. Sure…" Chelsea muttered, nodding her head slightly.

Taro smiled up at her, gesturing her to follow him into the forest. As they trailed through the thick sand, Chelsea took in the new island. The fact she was shipwrecked on this island hadn't really settled in yet, but perhaps it was better that way.

They wandered into an empty clearing- with weeds growing extraordinarily large, and crushed and shattered cottages scattered through the clearing. All that was there was a burning fire, swaying with the wind. She caught a glance of a woman making her way over to the old man beside her. Her hair was in a loose braid down her back, slightly tangled from her journey to the island. Her eyes were a pretty red, and she noticed them widen as the woman approached.

"Father, who is this?" She asked the old man, who grinned. The woman raised an eyebrow at the man.

The old man patted her on the shoulder. "This is Chelsea." He introduced her, his proud smile gracing his lips more clearly.

"Hello Chelsea." The woman greeted politely, reaching out for a handshake. "Why are you here, dear?" She asked, a small look of pity on her face. She probably already knew the answer.

"I… was caught up in a storm…" She sighed quietly.

The woman smiled, pulling her into a light hug and holding her shoulders lightly. "Don't worry. We'll look after you…" She gave her a reinsuring smile.

"Thank you ma'am," Chelsea muttered graciously, giving her a small smile in return.

"Oh, you can just call me Felicia." She insisted, smiling. "And this here," She said, pointing to the old man, "Is Taro, as you probably know."

Felicia sounded like a nice woman, she was pretty for her age, and didn't moan about how life could have been, like her mother did. But, then again, she'd only known her for the past two minutes.

"Where are the kids?" Taro said, breaking the small silence, taking brief looks around the clearing.

She couldn't see anyone apart from Taro or Felicia. She saw and heard the joyful songs of the birds, and the cricketing from grasshoppers. But, not one human being. She assumed 'the kids' were out and about on the island, perhaps enjoying themselves, or maybe not.

"They're searching the island a little bit," Felicia answered, ignoring him as he twisted his head from side-to-side for traces. He seethed for a moment, and Felicia seemed to notice. "Father, calm down. They haven't gone far." She said, to try and relax him. It didn't work though.

"We don't even know what's on this island!" Taro exclaimed, puffing his cheeks. "They could be in danger!"

Felicia smiled at his reaction, but instantly frowned at his distrust. "They are fine." She said calmly, shutting her eyes.

"You don't know that," He shot back, crossing his arms.

"And neither do you."

Taro narrowed his eyes at his daughter, but Chelsea could tell he had probably given up. From what she could see, Felicia may be nice- but she wasn't easily persuadable.

"We might as well sit a while whilst they explore," Felicia said, filling the empty, sad air that filled the atmosphere. She had a warm smile on her lips. "Do you want to sit by the fire, Chelsea?" She asked.

Chelsea nodded her head, and placed her soaking bandana beside the fire, as she sat herself on a nearby log, prepared to sit a while.

Because, who knows how long she'd be sitting there for.

--

She seemed well, what had been unhealthily pale skin, now looked healthy under the sunlight. She was sat beside a fire, with her arms tightly wrapped around her. She seemed vulnerable; he knew he would have to protect her. But, the sad reality came out light. He could do that, but he could never meet her.

A frown tugged on his lips.

--

"… Who's that?" She heard someone whisper. She could almost feel the eyes glaring at her, and suddenly she stirred, feeling uncomfortable.

She heard some shuffling and stilled herself, if anything, squeezing her eyes more shut then before. "That's Chelsea." Taro had answered to the question. Her eyes snapped open at the sound of her name, though she instantly regretted it as two pairs of eyes snapped in her direction.

The first pair of eyes belonged to a boy, whose hair was messed up, and he looked kind of cute in a way, but he just wasn't her type. The second pair of eyes… well they belonged to a similar looking girl, but her expression was unreadable, and her hair had been smoothed from after the storm. They ironically had pink hair, just like their mother, assuming these were Felicity's children.

"Chelsea, huh?" The girl piped up, approaching her to hold out a hand. Chelsea shook it, smiling warmly at the girl. Natalie returned it with a small smile, which Chelsea was pleased to receive. "I'm Natalie," She said, "And this dork here is my brother, Elliot." Pointing behind her at the boy, whose cheeks had flushed red.

"Stop calling me that!" He exclaimed, prodding her in the back. "It's not funny." He mumbled quietly. Chelsea chuckled, and held a hand to shake, which he also took graciously. "Hi Chelsea…" He muttered.

"Come on boy!" She heard Taro yell from behind Elliot. "She's the only woman around here, at least act like a man!" He encouraged.

Natalie coughed and glared at her grandparent, "I'm still a woman, as far as I know." She hinted.

"A woman Elliot can marry?" Taro shot back, reversing her glare.

Natalie's eyes widened. "But why would Chelsea want to marry Elliot?" She growled, regaining her cool structure.

"Give him some credit, Natalie." Taro sighed, rolling his eyes. "He can be helpful sometimes."

Natalie laughed at the comment. "Are you kidding? If we told him to hold something, he'd drop it!"

Elliot coughed quietly. "Still here, you know?" He added meekly.

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Since when did I care whether you were here or not?" She said. "I'd still say it."

Elliot narrowed his eyes at her, crossing his arms. "Thanks Natalie. You'll ruin every chance I get, won't you?"

This only made Natalie laugh harder. "Are you kidding me? What gave you the opinion you ever had a chance?"

"You two break it up!" Taro yelled. "Right now!"

Elliot and Natalie glared at each other.

"I said break it up!" Taro yelled again, shoving them away from each other in an attempt to make them stop.

"Fine." Natalie mumbled, crossing her arms. Elliot nodded afterwards, and they both looked towards Taro, who was standing there with his stick. A dreaded silence filled the air, and the three children were left fidgeting in the awkwardness.

"Chelsea?" He asked, turning to her and breaking the silence. "Do you see any potential from this island? I see this as a busy, little town." He muttered, looking out towards the forest. "I don't think we landed here by chance, but by the will of the Goddess."

Natalie rolled her eyes, but kept her mouth firmly shut. Chelsea however, was lost for words. She saw the potential but… reality never came out easy, even if this island had potential, sometimes it was just not enough.

But somehow, without thinking, her head began nodding, and she began smiling. It was peculiar, but she couldn't stop it. Maybe it was the Goddess after all.

But something she did know was- living on an island was going to be interesting.

Note: I am aware this is the second time I've rewritten the first chapter. But, my writing style changed once again, and plus… I didn't really like the way it sounded all that much.