Nathan sat calmly at the bow of the ship fishing for that night's dinner. Morgan had taken them farther off the coast, more towards the tropics, in hopes to find a secret treasure. He didn't particularly take interest in it but he couldn't complain. Here the water was so clear, he could see down to the sea floor. Colorful reefs beamed up at him, fish peeking out and darting all around. He peered up and admired the water. It really was a beautiful place indeed.
" Cap you sure you didn't come here for a vacation?" Eduardo asked as they all gathered at the bow next to Nathan. Morgan gave a laugh.
" Perhaps we can enjoy ourselves and the island before we dive into our treasure hunting. It doesn't look like any one else is here racing us to get it." He grinned.
Thomas cheered. " I can't wait to go exploring! Will you come with me Russell?"
" With out a doubt! Who know what we can find on a beauty like that."
Nathan turned his head and watched the small island get closer inch by inch. Maybe an adventure or two wouldn't be so bad. Where else would they be able to find such an amazing place?
Russell jumped down and felt his feet shift through the sand. He gave a stretch and enjoyed the warm sun on his skin. He didn't enjoy being on land too much, but this was by far one of the most favorite times.
" Hey Thomas wait up for me!"
Quickly he caught up with the red head and disappeared into the bushes.
" Somehow I expected us to be short on a few pairs of hands when we docked the boat." Christopher smiled.
" Bunch of rambunctious kids." Eduardo smirked. " Well lets get this out of the way so we can go do some adventuring ourselves. Who knows maybe we can find a clue on the treasure."
Nathan turned to help get the ship ready when something made him stop. He squinted his eyes. He was almost sure he had seen someone in those bushes.
He gave a shrug. It was most likely the other two trying to play a trick on him. So he returned back to his job. If he hurried then perhaps he would be able to finish his fishing.
The next morning he stood at the back of the boat throwing his hook out into the water. Unfortunately, thanks to the lack of hands, he had been unable to finish as quickly as he wanted to. But he was determined to get some unique fish from the island. So he woke up early just to do so.
Back on the shore the rest either sat relaxing in the sand or splashed in the water. He scrunched his nose at the sound of swimming. He'd fish for another hour then join the rest on the beach.
But that hour past and nothing tugged. Frustrated and disappointed, he gave one last swing and hoped for the best. A minute turned into two, then three, then fifteen. Nothing was going to come with the rest making such loud noises. He gave a sigh and began to reel in his rod.
Then he felt a tug.
Nathan was caught off guard and quickly began to recover. He pulled as hard as he could but the creature was just too strong. What in the world was on the other end of this line? A whale?
Then the fish gave one last yank and Nathan went flying off the ship. He tried to scream but his voice was far from his lips. With a splash he landed in the water. He struggled to swim back up but it only seemed to make matters worse. The line wrapped around his leg and pulled hard. His scream was muted by bubbles and he knew there was nothing the others could do to save him. Down and down he went and then his world went black.
She looked at him, confused, puzzled. She had found him washed up on the shore with a fishing line wrapped around his leg. She managed to flip him around and drag up farther on the beach so the waves couldn't get to him.
She knelt in curiosity. It wasn't that she had never seen another person before, why she lived with them, but never an outsider. Very few people managed to find their island and if they did, even fewer dared to step foot on its sandy shores.
She dipped her head and place her hear on his chest. His breathing was faint. Her eyes trailed back at him. He must have been apart of the pirate ship that docked the day before.
She tilted his head back and brought her lips to his. After a few breaths he jolted up, coughing water. She scrambled to her feet and dived for the bushes.
She watched him try to catch his breath then looked around. She couldn't trust him. Not when she was unarmed. Who knew what he was like.
Nathan drew his sickle as he looked around, only making her cower more into the trees. Where was he? How did he survive?
He glanced down at his leg where the line had been and found it gone. There was a small cut but nothing terrible. He had no doubt Christopher could take care of it when he got back to the ship. If he got back to the ship.
The sun was nearly down. He'd have to set out in the morning. For right now he'd have to make a camp for the night.
He paused then began to walk towards her. She felt her breath hitch in her throat. Had he seen her? That couldn't have been it. He hadn't seen her yesterday when she wandered down to check them out. The blonde and redhead had ran right past her without a glance.
So she hid farther into the forest and crouched. He walked past her and stopped only a few paces away. She felt her heart pound. There was something about him that was exhilarating. Common sense would tell her to leave and come back when she had some sort of weapon. Instead she followed him.
She watched him gather wood and create a fire on the sand. Then he quickly gathered fruits to eat. For the night he sat next to the flames, hoping that the smoke would catch the eyes of his crew members. They'd be looking for him, he knew they would be. Little did he know he had his own guardian hiding amongst the trees. She climbed effortlessly into the branches and made herself comfortable. She tried to force herself to sleep but she just couldn't stop herself from watching. Every movement he did, every detail of him, it was all to intriguing. So she sat watching him for the night. Just to make sure nothing harmed him of course.