I am a timid person. I get scared easily, and I do not have a tint of courage. Not even enough to walk up to an unfamiliar face and strike a conversation. So I don't know what overcame me that day. The day I met Kris.
It was a beautiful day, with the sunset even more beautiful. The nature-loving would occasionally come out on the beach shore and blow bubbles out to the never ending sea. Such a sight is rarely comparable to anything, its simplicity allowing it to be even more breathtaking. Naturally, I came out to sit on the beach and admire what I could. I looked out and saw the waves, taking their patterned turns and each ending on the tip of the sand where I sat. I traced the waves on the shore, when my eyes landed on something I had never seen in my life. Lying helplessly under the shade of a rock was a girl, one whose appearance was unfamiliar to me. She looked unwell. I ran over to see if she was okay. As I got closer to this girl I noticed she was drenched in water. Had she been drifted on the waves to the shoreline?
"Hello? Um, are you okay? Can you hear me?" I asked quietly, nudging her up to lean on the rock. She opened her eyes slowly. She looked at me silently, then murmured, "where am I?".
"You are on the beach of the island of Croase. I must say, I have never seen you here before. You don't live here, do you?"
"No, no I don't. I…I …I don't remember where I came from!" This girl looked panicked. I was a bit confused.
"You are clearly pulling a trick on me, and it is not worth my time to sit around and hear more lies." I stood up.
"Wait, please!" She looked desperate. I sat again, and waited for her to speak again. "I am being truly honest. I am afraid I don't know what happened, but I really cannot remember a thing."
"Well do you remember your name, at least?" I asked.
She thought for a moment before she responded with "Kris,". She looked up past my shoulder quizzically. I turned to see what she was looking at, when my eyes met the surfing poster behind me. It read, "Croase's annual surf competition 2013".
"Why would you keep a fifty year old poster of a surf contest out?" Kris asked.
"Haha, very funny. They put that up last week for this year's surf competition." I responded, unsure of what she had meant by her remark. She looked at me, with innocent, confused eyes. "But, it's 2063, not 2013," she said.
"No, it's 2013" I insisted. Kris panicked a little.
"No! How can this be?! It is 2063! I live in 2063! Did I time travel? Is that possible?" she jumped up and put her hands to her head. I thought about what she was saying. It did not make sense. A girl, from the future? Yet she seemed insistent that she was so. She seemed hopeless and lost.
"I assure you, it really is 2013. But if you really think that you are from the future, I have heard of someone who may be able to help." I said. I walked with her up from the beach to the path that lead to town. We walked, silently, until Kris spoke again.
"You really think this person can help me?" She looked at me, waiting for an answer.
"I think so…I hope so." I said, sighing. " I have never actually met this person, but I hear he is very wise, and has explored far and wide. In fact, I have always wanted to ask him a question myself." I pulled out of my pocket a small rock with an odd inscription on it. Kris gazed at it with full wonder.
"What is that?" Kris reached out to hold it. Reluctantly I allowed her to do just that.
"I'm not sure. It could be junk, but when you look closely, you can see an inscription on it. I call it my Relic Fragment. I found it on the beach and have kept it ever since. I have wanted to ask about it, but-" I was interrupted by the presence of two unfriendly looking kids, much larger than Kris and I.
"Well Mike, we found something, didn't we?" One of the boys said.
"Yeah we did, Sam." He turned to face us. "Well, hello there! My name is Mike, and this here is Sam. We want no trouble, but we do want that rock in your hand. Looks like we could make some money off it." He grabbed my Relic Fragment from Kris' hand.
"Hey! That's my personal treasure! It means everything to me!" The brutes chuckled at my screams.
"Maybe we could make more money off this then we bargained for, eh, Sam?" Mike turned back to me. "Well, if it means that much to you, try and take it!"
I stood full of fear. I didn't move a muscle. They laughed harder.
"Not gonna make a move, eh? I didn't think you would be that much of a chicken! Well then, see ya wimps!" They ran into a cave on the beach that I had always avoided out of fear. I still couldn't move.
"I really am a chicken," I whispered. Kris looked at me, frowning. I turned to face her. "You must think so, too," I said.
"No, I don't. You are cautious, which is good. They were stronger than us anyway." Kris looked at me, slowly getting more serious. "But I can see it meant a lot to you, so I am going to help you get it."
I stared in shock. Was she serious? She appeared so. My eyes teared up, and Kris smiled. She took my hand, and we walked into the cave.
It was really dark in there. We walked in deeper, unsure of which way to tread. It seemed to be a one-way tunnel, leading nowhere. Yet I felt braver with Kris with me. For the first time, I felt like I could do anything. We walked, and walked. Eventually we saw a glimmer. We advanced towards the light, and there, in a circular room of rock stood the bullies. We hid behind a stalagmite. I observed that there was no roof to this part of the cave, and I could see stars. Was it already night? I ignored that for a moment, and looked at Kris.
"What can we do? How can we get my relic fragment back?" I asked. Kris whistled. I was a little angry at her foolishness until I heard the echoes of her whistling. They bounced off the walls and got louder, to the point where they were able to shake the walls and allow small rocks to break off. Mike and Sam looked surprised, and quickly ran out of the cave. They dropped the relic fragment, and we grabbed it. Oh, how good it felt to have it again!
I can't count anymore how many times I thanked Kris. I reminded her how I would never have gotten it back with out her. She just smiled and said nothing. We made our way to town.
"So, where is this 'really wise' guy anyway?" Kris finally spoke, curious and jokingly at the same time.
"He works at this place called the Guild. People join the guild and become explorers!" I slowed down; my excitement got the best of me. "I have always wanted to become an explorer, but I need a partner to explore with, since I'm so wimpy and all." I looked pleadingly at her. If I joined the guild with Kris, becoming the best explorer of all time would not be that hard. Kris sighed.
"Well, I can tell you want me to join the guild with you, but I want to find out about what happened to me." She looked sorry, and I tried to hide my sadness. I did not want her to feel guilty. "Wait-maybe if I joined the guild I could find out more about myself faster! Alright, I'll join you," she said, and I screamed and hugged her. I would finally get to join the guild! "But-" she started, and I could tell by how she spoke I was squeezing her in my hug so I released her, "-you still have not told me your name yet." I laughed, and said joyfully that I was Tina.