A/N: Yeah, the cliche rises again. But I had a few ideas after I read this book and felt like exploring it. Oh yeah and this girl is a major sue. I'm not trying to make her one, but it's pretty hard in this genre not to have one. This takes place a little after they first arrived on the island.
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The sound of the all mighty conch echoed all through the island. Ralph stood upon the platform, blowing hard streams of air through the makeshift instrument, letting it's sound cut through the thick jungle. Glide over the mountain as the signal fire burnt on. The litluns all abandoned their sandy playthings and followed the noise. The older ones however took a few more liberties on their way to the meeting place. For it was their third meeting of the day and judging by the sundials it couldn't be far past mid morning.
As the sound swam through Jack's skull he instantly scowled. He withdrew his hands, which were moments from filling with cool white clay to paint his face with. But not now, it would be a waste to decorate himself just to listen to Ralph blather on about nothing. He raised his lanky form from the stream and began his decent from the forrest, spear in hand. When he arrived on the beach the rest of the group was already crowded about at the waters edge. He quickened his pace to a slight jog and met with the rest of the group.
Being the oldest Jack towered over the other boys, even their infallible leader Ralph who was only twelve was shorter than him. Jack remained the senior on their desolate home. When there were no adults around, fourteen seemed very grown up to him.
"What should we do about it?" echoed the twins Sam and Eric as Ralph scratched his fair blond head.
"It's not a matter of an it, dummies. It's a matter of a she. What are we going to do with her you mean" the slight voice of Piggy squeaked. Jack craned his neck over a few other boys to get a glimpse of their new treasure.
Her pale skin was tender and pink from the salt water she floated in for perhaps hours. She had long, thick hair (the color was undetectable for it was now covered in sand) which clung to her slight frame as it was soaking wet from the sea. She had full lips, red and burned from the salt, which lay slightly parted as her unconscious body greedily drew breath. She was a willowy, small breasted girl whose sheer dress clung to her, drenched. Her slender legs, which were raw with irritation, lay pressed together.
"Where on earth did she come from" Jack asked loudly half tempted to poke her gently with his spear.
"Clearly she was pulled in by the tide" said Piggy polishing his specs as they glinted in the morning sun.
"I gathered that much, fatty" Jack shouted back at him clenching his fist, his freckled knuckles turning white.
"Oh will you shut up?" shouted Ralph at both of the boys. All the boys voices rang out over one another's, attempting to be heard.
Without the notice of the boys the girl had opened her eyes which were deep brown, with slightly sleepy shadows under them. She examined the scene around her; a large group of either half naked or entirely naked boys arguing around her in a closely knitted clump. She slowly leaned up frowning as a surplus of sand rolled off of her head and into her eyes. Her legs wobbled slightly as she stood, gazing at the rowdy group in front of her.
The smaller boys took notice of her first, turning their pudgy immature bodies towards her, thumbs in mouthes. They returned her look with innocent gazes, each pair of eyes filled with young curiosity. She smiled at them, it was at this age boys were their sweetest. All of the boys she had ever truly known were far older. They were not as sweet as these children here, with all of their pure wonder.
The older boys however continued to take little notice of her, too caught up in their own egos. With a clumsy step forward she shouted out at them.
"Oi!" she called, cupping her hands around her mouth in a provisional megaphone. "Oi!" she said again a little louder. She grinned, she absolutely adored boys. Their aggressive behavior, their offhanded comments, their drive. They were so much more fun than girls, who would muck about in skirts and fan themselves.
The group turned to her and looked at her in the most puzzled fashion. None of them sure enough of themselves to be the first to speak. However a well built boy with fair hair was first to step forward. "Hello" he began. "My name's Ralph. What's yours?"
"Talia" she responded taking another step forward holding out her hand. Ralph looked at it for a moment then took it firmly. "All right Ralph, what about this lot?" she asked jerking her head towards the other older boys.
"I'm..." began a chubby boy about a head shorter than the rest of them but Ralph interrupted him.
"His name is Piggy. And thats Simon, Roger, Sam, Eric, Maurice, Robert. And this is Jack" Ralph said indicating to a tall, lithe, red haired boy.
"So, how did you get here in the first place?" asked Simon, pushing his dark hair out of his eyes.
"Didn't you listen to piglet over there?" snarled Jack. "She washed up on the shore, tide brought 'er in."
"I was on a boat with my brothers. But a terrible storm hit us and I fell overboard. Thats all I recall, I have no idea how long I was floating for." Talia scratched her sandy head. "Is there any place I can go to take care of this? I'm afraid if I wash it off in the ocean it might only get worse."
Ralph wordlessly pointed towards the deep water pool. "But wait, what were you doing with your brothers?"
"Oh, well I live with them. They raised me" Talia said while attempting to rake some sand out of her hair before washing it in the pool. "We were on a trip, an expedition of sorts when the storm hit."
"Where are your parents?" asked a wide eyed littlun.
"Oh well, they died. My mother died while giving birth to me, and my father was very sick. My brothers made fine guardians though, taught me everything." She winced as her fingers caught a large knot in her hair.
Jack was vexed by her ability to speak of such an unhappy subject in such a casual tone. Her ease made him uncomfortable. "Must have been awful" he began, a seemingly sympathetic gesture. "Them having to raise you on their own. I feel for them, I have a little sister and she drives me insane."
Talia didn't skip a beat. "Trust me they raised me well. I bet I'm more of a man than you are" she teased.
The anger was quick to rise within Jack as he clenched his fists. Under normal circumstances he would have never hit a girl, but as far as his mind was concerned this was not a girl. He saw her only as a challenger. He dove at her, hitting her hard in the stomach. But he received a hard blow to the cheek. He pinned her to the ground and pulled at her hair enjoying the pained expression on her face. But he felt his grip on her relinquishing as Ralph pulled him off of his opponent. She looked at him her eyes flashing with fury.
As the rage that blinded him subsided, he felt his senses return to him. He also felt he too had endured wounds from their scrape. He swirled his tongue over the inner contours of his cheeks and tasted hot blood in his mouth.
Talia rubbed her stomach where he had struck her, hoping to ease the pain into submission. Her brothers had taught her how to fight, but in their playful bouts they would never hit her as hard as this boy did.
"You're an idiot!" yelled Ralph. "She's a girl."
Jack looked at her and for the first time since she had washed up on the island, did she look like a girl to him. Her chin not as prominent, her jaw softer. The subtle curves of her body, the smaller waist, the feminine contour of her legs. Her small pink nipples were visible under her dress that was still plastered to her with salt water. He sneered and got up.
"Your right, and a girl's not worth fighting. I only hope she won't cry."
"Check yourself ginger" Talia said frowning. "You seem to be the one who's bleeding." Jack hastily wiped his mouth as Talia grinned. She got up and sauntered off to bathing pool to wash the sand off of her.
"You... you should apologize" stammered Piggy to Jack. Jack drew himself up to his full height and towered over Piggy. He gave him a good hard shove, knocking him over with a malicious grin.
"He's right you know" said Simon with a slight shrug. Jack rounded on him but did nothing.
"Whatever" Jack said. "It's over, it doesn't matter." He scratched the back of his neck and turned towards the forrest. The desire to hunt had washed over him again.
"So" began one of the twins. "Whats she going to do here? In our tribe I mean?"
"Well, a role suited for a girl I suppose. I mean, we can't make her build huts or anything like that" Roger said.
"But we can make her clean them" Jack said with a laugh. The other boys chuckled and said nothing in protest.
"We'll find a place for her. Alright, meeting adjourned" Ralph said. The boys went off in separate directions. Some lingered on the beach, others returned to the forrest. Simon and Ralph began to build another shelter, much smaller than the others, to just accommodate one person.
Talia examined the deep pool of water. It was quite clear and warm from the sun that seemed to constantly beat down upon it. She looked over her shoulder, not a single boy in sight. Although she was comfortable being friends with boys, she didn't want them seeing her naked. She wasn't even comfortable with girls seeing her naked. She was always the last one out of the locker in gym class, always having to wait until the others finished changing and left. When she was at the park with her friends and had to take a pee, while they went into the woods behind a tree she held it until she got home.
She reached under her dress and pulled her panties down around her ankles and slipped them off. She reached for the three buttons on her dress and un-did them, slipping the wispy dress over her head and set it on a rock to dry. Standing before the pool of water naked, she examined herself. Her thirteen year old body had begun to mature about half a year ago. While she was still very lean, her body had started to take shape of that of a woman. She has a more defined waist, shapelier legs. Most girls in her grade already had more hair and larger breasts than her. They wore bras with lace on them. Talia had never had a need for such a thing.
With a final look at herself she dove into the warm water, feeling the sand detach from her body. Another thing she didn't like about girls was how would talk about boys in such a fashion. They would often hound her about what boy in the boys school she fancied. At the time she didn't fancy boys at all, except as friends, playmates.
But now however, she began to understand what the girls meant about boys. She had never seen them in the capacity, as she just had on the island. Their fit golden bodies, and sharp eyes. She felt differently than she had before, something new and exciting had happened when she saw Ralph and his strong arms. Or the twins with their wide smiles, Simon's dark hair, the way Jack attacked her. She scrubbed her head and was thrilled to find no more sand in it.
She climbed onto the rock in which her clothes sat and laid beside them, allowing the salty water to evaporate off of her skin. Her hair was a dark golden blonde, with a thick wavy texture. One plus of being raised by her brothers was she was never made to do anything about her appearance. Her last haircut had been a few years back, so naturally it was quite long. When dry it reached to her lower back, but as it was currently wet it extended past her bottom.
The sun felt good on her face and she was happy to remain here the entire day but her hunger got the best of her. Dressing quickly she made her way to a group of boys sitting on the beach.
"What do you do for food on this island?" she asked Ralph who sat shirtless atop a dilapidated building of sorts and looked down at her.
"Just in the forrest there, you'll find some fruit. There's plenty just try and take from the higher branches so the little ones can still reach food for themselves." Ralph turned his attention back to the shelter deep in thought. 'What help to them could a girl be.' He saw a tall figure emerging from the forrest, a sullen Jack and apart from spear empty handed.
"No luck eh?" Ralph asked, a patronizing tone in his voice.
"Next time, next time" said Jack sitting down beside the newly erected shelter. "It's too hot today, the pigs must not want to wander too far away from their shade."
"So your namby- pamby tracking skills have absolutely nothing do to with it?" Ralph asked as he slid off the shelter's roof. Jack said nothing but buried his hand into the sand letting it slide out from in between the cracks of his fingers. "Why don't you do something useful and help us build shelters. A few of these won't last if a storm comes, and the fire always needs to be checked and relit."
Jack still said nothing and looked out at the ocean. "I thought I could get one this time. It felt like the day... the day I could catch one." Ralph rolled his eyes at him.
"Don't beat yourself up about it, it doesn't matter. We have fruit, and fish." Jack gave Ralph a dark look.
"So now you think I'm unnecessary do you? Just because I haven't come through with meat yet you think I'm on the same level as a littlun?" Jack was seething. As of late he had become increasingly more ill tempered. The day they arrived on the island he was perfectly normal and respectable, if not a little egocentric. Now he was easily angered and prone to bouts of violence.
"Well if you and your hunters would do a little more work around here perhaps I wouldn't feel as such" Ralph retorted throwing his hands up. "There's a reason I got voted leader and you didn't."
"Just because you're a little prettyboy doesn't mean you should be leader. I'm the oldest, I'm the smartest!" Jack began.
"Someone's hungry" a voice from behind them said. They both turned and came face to face with Talia who held out an armful of fruit for them. Ralph took a banana but Jack stood still. Her offering him food added insult to his injury. He was the man, the strong one, the provider, the hunter. "Oh come now Jack, I haven't poisoned it" she urged, holding the fruit farther out towards him. Jack still did not take the fruit, but looked her with cold eyes.
A small boy walked up to her and tugged on her dress, reaching his pudgy little arms up at the fruit she held. She handed him the largest fruit and patted his head before he ran back to his sand castle. An idea hit Ralph as he finished the sweet fruit.
"Talia, I know what your job can be here!" he said excitedly.
"Alright, I'm listening" she said.
"You can help care for the little ones. Make sure they get enough food, and don't get too hurt. It will be perfect" Ralph said enthusiastically. He was puzzled when her face fell.
"So you expect me to play mother when so many other things need to be done around here?" Talia asked exasperated. "We're leaving our hunting up to Gingie here? Really?"
"I'd like to see you try" Jack said defensively.
"I bet I could hunt circles around you" she said angrily.
"Fat chance in that little frock" Jack replied tugging on her short blue dress. Talia stepped away from him and looked around her. She saw an abandoned pair of shorts in the sand. She shimmied into them, rolled up the legs until they hit her at mid thigh and buttoned them. Then she ripped her dress at the ribcage, baring her midriff and she took the sleeves clean off.
"How about like this?" she asked raising a blond brow. Neither Jack nor Ralph said anything. Her demeanor suddenly changed. "Please, just give me a shot eh? I promise, if I'm simply miserable at it I'll look after the kiddies." She steered her eyes towards Ralph's and appreciated their sheen. He still seemed doubtful. "Listen" she reassured. "My brothers taught me a lot. How to fight, to play sports, to hunt. Loads of things really." She glanced at her feet and frowned. What would he mother think if she knew her little girl to be a rude, bossy tomboy? The boys for the most part had showed her kindness. It was the least she could do to reciprocate it. "Just once chance?"
"Why not" suggested Ralph. "Perhaps Jack will have better luck with your help. It couldn't hurt." Talia smiled at him, perhaps she had not ruined all of her chances to befriend the boys here.
"Thank you" she said. "I'll go about making a spear for myself. Do let me know when you plan on hunting next" she said to Jack who looked down at her with a slight frown.
"Looking forward to it" he said through gritted teeth.