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Chapter 1: Stranded
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Everything hurt, and his vision swam. Slowly, he staggered to his feet. Or at least, he tried to. His foot slipped on something soft and powdery and he fell forward. He held his hands out to soften the impact, but it didn't help, and he got a face full of sand.
"Argh, it got in my mouth!" he cried, spitting and wiping furiously at his face. After a few moments of pathetic flailing he got most of it out and off, and he simply lay there, panting.
He felt the sand beneath him, and the harsh, unforgiving sun above. His skin, tender, white, and pathetic, already starting to crackle. He was cooled by a salty breeze and with considerable effort he sat up, blinking away the haze in his head.
A deserted island. He was on a fudge flipping deserted island! Sand and sea, as far as the eye could see! There were some palm trees and bushes behind him, and it seemed like there were large piles of driftwood lying about. As well as all sorts of miscellaneous objects.
Lengths of rope, a water logged chest that looked like something a pirate would use, several cheap tin plates and utensils, bottles of dark colored liquid, and last but not least, a black flag with a skull and crossbones on it.
He jumped to his feet and immediately regretted it as vertigo struck.
"OK, so standing up is a bad idea. I guess I'll sit back down," he muttered to himself, doing as he narrated.
Seated on the beach, he looked around, taking in where he had ended up.
"Alright, let's see. I'm on what appears to be a deserted island, surrounded by the wreckage of a pirate ship. I have not been on a ship in over a decade, and that had certainly not been a wooden one."
He looked down at himself. Cargo shorts, a plain green t-shirt with a pocket over his heart, black semi-formal sneakers with white socks, and he could feel his glasses pressed against his nose.
A quick check showed that no harm had befallen his precious eyewear and he sighed in relief before checking his pockets.
House and car keys, a half-full thing of lip balm, a grey android smart phone, and a paux-leather wallet with his Driver's License, thirty-two dollars and some change, and a debit card.
"$#!%." A tirade of profanity too foul for a mere T rating erupted from the young man.
After fifteen minutes of venting he grunted and tried to stand up again. When nothing happened he smiled and began to wade into the shallows and dragged chunks of broken pirate ship onto the beach.
He then turned his attention to the rest of the stuff he could rescue.
By the time dusk rolled around he had obtained a decent pile of wet lumber, half a dozen dented plates and spoons, three knives, a fork, two mugs, the chest, and the flag. Oh, and a nasty sunburn, couldn't forget that!
"I don't know where I am. I don't know why I am here. I don't know why there's a wrecked pirate ship. And I don't know why I am talking out loud. But guess what? I'm not gonna die like some chump! I will survive, and I will go home!" he shouted to the heavens.
God took exception to being shouted at, it seemed, and droplets of rain soon began to fall.
"Sonnava," he grumbled, grabbing the pirate flag and hoisting it over his head as a makeshift tarp. This was going to be a long night!
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Sadly, he was correct. The rain refused to let up, but he was determined to make this into something positive! He used the mugs to catch rain water, and dumped out the contents of the treasure chest to catch some more fresh liquid from the sky.
A whimper escaped him as he watched the pile of gold and jewels just land in a heap, but he had more use for a container then he did riches.
Food was going to be a problem. Already he could feel the hunger pangs, and he had not eaten since he had woken up some time around noon. He had no way of foraging at the moment, and he dreaded getting wetter. A cold would probably kill him at this point. But he had a plan. The ocean was full of food, he just had to scheme up a way to get it!
A cold, brutal gust of wind struck him and he shivered, the once pleasant sea breeze a vicious battering ram that forced him to move even faster to complete a spot to stay dry.
After several grueling minutes, his temporary shelter was finished! The pirate flag acted like a tent, propped up by large chunks of wood, one of which may have been part of a mast at some point. Ferns were placed on the sand to act as a cushion, and he curled up, huddling in on himself for warmth.
Before he turned in to sleep, though, he grabbed a piece of driftwood and used his keys to carve some words onto it.
'Zane Winters. Age 22. Citizen of Maryland in the United States of America. Abducted by pirates (?). Wants to go home.'
He carefully placed that to the side next to his head. A reminder of who he was, where he was from, and what he wanted to do. And, if all else failed, his grave marker.
Morbid thoughts were finally allowed to run rampant now that he tried to get some rest, and he fell into a fitful slumber.
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It was a scream. Rending metal, bubbling acid, breaking glass! Fate shattered and rewrote itself, and all who were attuned to the natural and unnatural felt it as a deep, cutting pain upon their very souls.
A man clutched his golden trident tighter, and sent the waves above furiously lashing all in their path.
A woman who was attended to by a pair of eels screeched as her magic cauldron cracked and lost its power, ruining several plots and plans.
A trio of elderly fairies gasped as their wings failed them and they touched the ground for the first time in centuries.
A black hearted witch howled as a golden spinning needle rusted away and saved a young girl.
A maiden with the most lustrous golden hair felt her scalp tingle and burn.
An ancient woman who had lived beyond her time sank to her knees as her age finally caught up to her.
A coven of trolls trembled as the very Heart of the World halted for a brief, terrible moment.
A queen of ice felt the warmth of summer for the first time in years.
And buried deep beneath the realms and ruins of man, a creature who had been held back by the long-lost miracles of countless dead and forgotten gods laughed as his chains began to break.