What Wonders May Come
Raine. A seemingly undiscovered island filled with many oddities. It has been known that it lies in the middle of nowhere, but no one has gone out to Raine to fill in the blanks and ever returned to tell the tale. Many people have stayed away out of fear, and if they ever got near the cursed isle, they would immediately change their course.
Now, a young girl, about age 10, heard of Raine and wished to see it for herself. Her parents hated her guts, and so being the overprotective parents they were, locked her in her room. They occasionally let her out for certain things, but always kept an eye on her in case she were to escape. Then, one night, the girl snuck out and went down to the nearest boat. She hid on the boat until it got in range of Raine.
The captain, however, immediately changed course as he got near Raine. But a think fog made him lose sight of where he was going, and when he finally regained control, it was too late. The ship was heading straight for the island. As a last-minute resort, the captain got out the lifeboats and ordered everyone onto them. All but the girl obeyed.
The girl, seeing how she had all the necessities to herself from the abandoned ship, decided to live on the ship for a while. But she soon grow bored and decided to investigate the island…
1 The Encounter
Cold. Oh-so-very cold. Mom and dad are probably worried about me, she thought to herself. It had been one week since the small child had been stranded on the island. Able to find a hairbrush, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and clothes her size, the girl had all she need to keep healthy. To bathe, she just went into the cool seawater. Her dirty blonde hair was as wavy as ever, and her large, curious turquoise eyes were as bright as the sun itself. The girl peered over towards the vast sea, and sighed.
"I hope the captain and his crew got to shore safely," she muttered. She stepped aside from where she was previously standing, and walked towards a palm tree, which seemed to be welcoming her. A sudden gust of wind blew right through the girl's skin (as it seemed), and the palm tree swayed, as if inviting the girl to rest under its gigantic leaves. Carefully keeping her distance, the girl went to the palm tree and stared up at it. It was tall for a girl her size. She couldn't help but feel small in such a large place. Without any civilization for miles, the girl began to weep gently. She continued crying for a few minutes, and then gracefully wiped away her tears.
"I still have the ship and all the food. I'm a big girl now, so nothing can stop me…" She whined softly. She picked up a rock about the size of her fist, and threw it at a coconut high in the palm tree, hoping it would fall and give her some more food. The rock hit as planned, but the coconut didn't budge. The girl picked the rock back up and tried again, but still nothing. Finally, the girl picked up the same exact rock and threw it with all her force. It hit the coconut with such might that it fell to the ground and cracked opened. The girl jumped up with joy, and quickly ran over to the open coconut. Inside was a stone of some sort. The girl carefully took it out, and examined it. It was perfectly smooth, and had an egg-like shape. She turned it around, and suddenly noticed the number engraved on the egg.
"'#470'. Huh. Wonder what that means?" the girl wondered. "Could be some kind of code." She turned towards the ship, and noticed the sun beginning to set. "Whoops, it's getting late. Better go inside." She scurried down towards the ship and entered at the damaged hull. She cradled the stone in her arms, and then put it aside with the rest of the nifty things she found while on the island. She went to the cooler that was left behind, and got out a soda. She didn't care whether it was caffeinated or decaffeinated, if it were diet or had zero calories, just as long as it was something to drink. She guzzled it down like there was no tomorrow, and threw it in one of the many garbage cans she discovered on the ship. Afterwards, she went back into the cooler and pulled out some chicken. She didn't care if it was cold or not. She didn't care if there was anything wrong with whatever she consumed, unless it didn't have enough nutrients to keep her alive.
After a somewhat hearty meal, the girl walked to the closest bedroom, got under the covers, the strange stone now on the nightstand (somehow undamaged from the crash), and fell asleep.
Morning came. Yawning softly, the small child got out of bed. She looked at her stone. Moss was now covering it, but the number could still be seen. What's more was that an even stranger stone, one much smaller this time, was right next to the first one she had found. This stone was raven-black, was also perfectly smooth, and had no signs of any markings whatsoever. This stone probably was the size of her entire palm, so she could easily hold it in her hand. She centered it in her palm to make sure, and calmly closed her hand around it. All of a sudden, a light shone from inside her hand. Stunned, the girl tried opening her hand, but her gut told her not to do it. After a few seconds, the light ceased from inside, and the girl slowly opened up her hand. She froze in terror. A symbol was embedded into her palm. It was raven-black like the stone was, and it seemed to be shaped like a crescent moon. Frightened by this sudden symbol, the girl quickly ran to the sea to try and wash it off, but had no such luck. Giving up, she went back into the ship, lay back down onto her bed, and tried to "wake up" from her unpleasant dream. But she couldn't. She couldn't fall asleep like she wished to, nor could she comprehend that this was happening to her. For someone her age, no matter how smart she was or how many dangerous adventures she took on, this was too much for her.
She exited the ship again, and felt a cold chill. It's getting colder and colder each day, she thought. Then again, it is close to winter. She walked over to the palm tree where she first found the stone, and then noticed the forest of palm trees behind it. Bet I could find more stones just like that moss one! She quickly ran back to the ship and picked up the stone, just in case. To her delight, it did not act as strangely as the raven-black stone had. Off to the palm tree forest for her!
If the girl could describe the palm tree forest in one word, she'd say "vast". Palm trees were scattered about, while various forms of plant life never seen before by man held their own in this amazing forest. The girl took her time examining the different forms of shrubs and trees, and noticed how unique each was as she observed them. She looked around constantly for signs of animal life, but there didn't seem to be any. She sighed.
"Well, the ship has a few weapons, so if I do find any animals, I could kill them for food once I run out. Although I'm not big on killing anything, I don't want to starve to death…" Moaning softly, the girl continued into the forest. All of a sudden, a deep, low growl echoed through the entire area. The girl looked up, fear suddenly in her eyes. What was that? she asked herself. Where is it coming from? She looked around, but there was nothing. Strange… The growl echoed again, but this time, it sounded closer. At that point, the girl realized it was coming from directly in front of her. Scared silly, she started dashing in the other direction, but tripped over a root.
"Ow…" she muttered, rubbing her injured knees. The growling began again, even closer than before. A black form appeared directly in front of where the girl had fallen. As it came closer, the light shone on its details. It was Doberman-like, only with horns on its head and a devil-like tail. Staring at the petrified girl, the beast growled lowly, and the girl shrieked.
"Don't come any closer!!" she yelled. But that only enraged the beast more. It lunged at her, knocking her backwards. She struggled to get up, and the beast watched her, waiting for her next move. She pulled out the stone she had found. Help me, please… she thought to herself. She placed the stone in her left hand, and closed her eyes. Then everything around her became a green beam of light. The beast staggered back, afraid of what would happen. When the light faded, the girl was no longer human. She had become more fox-like, with a leafy tail and leaves on her feet and head. Startled, she took time to look at her new form, which only made the other creature furious. This time, it shot out a blast of fire. Startled by this, the girl in her new form jumped back like never before, and was able to dodge this attack. As if it came to her, she shot out what seemed to be...sharp leaves. They hit the creature with full power, and it yelped and ran off. As soon as it had left, the green light returned, and once it faded, the girl was back to normal. Exhausted from all this confusion, she fell to the ground, unconscious…