Awake –
The first thing Aiden noticed when he opened his eyes was how bright it was.
"Jesus… Who turned on the lights?" He muttered, covering his eyes with one hand. Then he started picking up his other senses as he woke up and realized, from the crashing sound and the salty air, that he was laying on the beach. Aiden sat up and looked around, very confused. The beach was littered with rocks of many different sizes and large ferns and bushes that he didn't immediately recognize. He seemed to be totally alone. About a hundred yards up from the beach was a thick, ominous looking forest that swayed peacefully in the breeze. As Aiden moved his arms to help push himself into a sitting position, he noticed a large metallic diamond in his left arm. It was pulsating slightly with a small red light shining from its center. He immediately tried to pull it off to no avail – it was firmly rooted in his arm.
"What the hell…" He grunted, pushing himself off the sand and glancing around. He was completely naked, which added to his confusion. A few yards away, where some of the grass from the forest had started creeping toward the beach, he saw a small, ugly looking bird pecking at some berries on one of the ferns. It looked a bit like a very large chicken, but its head was too big and the wings were far too small to support its weight in flight. Aiden crept toward the bird, watching as it ate some of the blue berries and seemed to completely ignore the much darker berries that populated the fern right beside it. The bird also didn't seem to notice him, so Aiden grabbed one of the larger rocks nearby and started to slowly approach the bird. When he was about five feet away, the bird suddenly gave a loud squawk and turned its ugly head to the left, noticing something far away. It squawked again and started to run away – the damn thing was fast! Suddenly, something came crashing through the trees in the direction the bird had been looking and Aiden swore loudly and threw himself behind one of the larger rocks behind him. A large reptile, running on two legs, came pelting down the beach toward the bird. It was about half Aiden's height, with a long whip-like tail, two thin arms that ended in large claws and rows of razor-like teeth in its mouth. As Aiden hid behind the rock, listening to his meal get demolished, he gasped in sudden realization. That thing was a Goddamned dinosaur!
Now he was really confused, and hungry. Among many other things, he wished he could remember when he last ate. Aiden peeked out from behind the rock to make sure the dinosaur was gone and then cautiously approached the bush that bird had been pecking at. He grabbed one of the lighter blue berries and popped it in his mouth. A burst of sweetness washed over his tongue, making his mouth water slightly. So, Aiden sat down and started picking as many of those little blue berries as he could, making sure to avoid the slightly sinister looking dark berries that the bird had avoided as well. The bush was picked clean before he satiated his appetite, however, and he sighed. Berries were not exactly a sustainable food source. He had to find a way to hunt those bird things, and avoid becoming dinner for that dinosaur and any other predators in this Godforsaken place. He also noticed that the big leaves on the berry bushes pulled apart easily into long fibers. He wondered if these could be fashioned into some kind of fabric, but then shook his head as he realized he had no idea how to begin doing that. So, instead, Aiden pulled some of the leaves off the bush and tied them around his waist with a few of the fibers. At least he had a little covering because, you know, modesty. He also tied some up to cover his head as it was getting very hot the longer he stood out in the sun.
This end of the beach seemed pretty devoid of life, so Aiden started to walk, picking berries as he went from the numerous fern bushes. He found red and yellow berries to add to his list of safe-to-eat foods, which had a very interesting flavor when he popped both in his mouth at the same time. The juices were also slightly quenching his thirst, for which he was thankful because he had yet to stumble on a source of fresh water. After about ten minutes, Aiden found a large piece of driftwood, bleached white by the copious amounts of sunlight. He snapped one of the branches off and examined it. It was slightly tapered toward one end and fairly long. Maybe he could use this to kill one of those birds if he found another. He used a rock to make a crude tip on the thinner end and smiled at his rough spear. Aiden then heard another squawk somewhere ahead and started creeping toward it, spear in hand. He also kept the rock he used because it had a slight edge that might come in handy later on. He crept around another large rock and spotted one of those birds wandering aimlessly around, pecking at the sand. It was only a few feet away and could probably be a fairly easy kill, so he steadied his spear and took aim. The bird turned, exposing its entire side, and Aiden let the spear fly. It wobbled quite a bit but hit the bird in its shoulder area. The bird started squawking and flapping around but Aiden had already bolted toward it, raising his rock up to strike it on the head. After it died, he used the sharper edge of his rock to skin the bird, and was able to salvage some of the meat. He brought his prize back to the drift wood and started making a little fire, which took most of what remained of the afternoon. However, by nightfall, he had a decent fire going and started to cook the meat. Aiden ate a few more berries, but noticed they were helping less and less with the dry feeling on his tongue. He would need to focus on finding water in the morning, now that he knew he could catch those birds for food. He also needed to find better shelter, because he was very exposed on this beach.
Suddenly, he heard a rustling in the trees behind him as he tended the fire. Aiden turned swiftly, grabbing his spear in defense. A voice greeted him from the darkness.
"Please, don't attack me. I need your help." A woman wrapped in leaves in the same fashion as Aiden came out of the shadows, her arms raised. Aiden lowered his spear slightly, but eyed the woman warily.
"Did you wake up on a beach this morning with absolutely no memory and this weird metal thing in your arm?" She asked, hands still raised. Aiden nodded, turning his left arm to show her the diamond, which was still glowing a bright red in the darkness. She turned her arm to show her diamond as well, but hers glowed a bright blue instead. Aiden narrowed his eyes.
"Who are you?" He asked roughly, still not letting her approach. She bit her lip slightly.
"My name's Madison, but that's all I can remember." Aiden nodded slowly.
"Aiden." He offered, lowering the spear a bit more. She seemed relatively harmless and definitely unarmed because there was no place to hid anything with her arms raised above her head.
"So, what do you want?" He asked.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but it's kind of dangerous here, wherever we are. I suggest we team up, it's safer that way." Madison started to lower her hands as Aiden dropped his spear. When he didn't immediately speak up, she continued. "I found a pool of fresh water that I can take you to in the morning if you want, but I smelled the food you were cooking. I haven't been able to find anything to eat yet and I don't know if the berries are safe. Please, this is a win-win situation for both of us."
Aiden chuckled slightly and waved her over, laying his spear down by the rock he had been sitting on. He couldn't deny the benefits of having a companion, and if she knew where there was fresh water, then maybe he could share a few food gathering tricks with her. She didn't look particularly strong, so he wasn't too concerned about her trying to overpower him and take his stuff or kill him. He pulled a few chunks of meat off the bird he had been cooking and handed it to Madison as she sat down across from him and the two ate in silence for a while, both lost in thought.
What was the story with these weird metal diamonds? Were there really dinosaurs on this island? Could these two people actually trust each other? Aiden wasn't sure what to think as Madison laid down to nap while he took first watch. But, from the way things were going today, he was sure the answers would be interesting, at least.