Chapter One! WHOO.

To New Peoplez: Hey! Castaway is just a simple story inspired from random asian dramas using a really overdone plot (in dramas). And I thought, 'Hmm, let's bring it to FanFiction!' and viola, this is it. Hope you do enjoy~

To all who have read it before: Yeah, this is me, going through all these chapters again and revising them. Not a lot changed (psshh, I didn't change anything actually). But I'll give a heads up if I did. I'm sorry, to the people who put this on alerts, if you suddenly got a gajillion updates for this. All I did was just revised them and replaced the chapters. Actually, I'm wondering right now if you do get an update about it, but if you do, I apologize as it does become quite bothersome.

A Profitable Chance

-x-

Chelsea's P.O.V.

My limbs are aching. My body is screaming... ugh.. so is my face, burning under the heat. Crusty.. terrible for the skin.. Gross. And my underwear is wet! Fantastic...

So here I was, laying on the freaking hot white sand with pebbles and pointy rocks to go along with it. Then there was also my wet underwear and sand going up my crotch. Needless to say, it was terrible..

If I recalled right, I might as well start off where it did start. I was desperate for money which concluded to my decision of using the leftover money I had and go on a boat hoping to find some sort of job to pay off all those crappy debts and loan sharks for my family. Then of all things glorious, a storm decides to come and shipwrecked am I, but it turns out I might not be alone.. where ever I was..

I felt something poke me at my shoulder repeatedly, like a stick or something that soon knocked at my head. I slowly sat up to find the blue-ish green ocean wave before me with scattered pieces of wood floating about and some laying around me. Water was already creeping up my legs and pitiful shoes so the lower half of my body was basically drenched while the upper part was flaming by the sun.

"Ah, you're awake!" A hoarse voice said behind me. Turning around, I find this somewhat short, old, crusty face, almost hairless being with a super thin neck and huge oval shaped head person sort human thing standing before me. Blue overalls, red shirt, and mighty wooden long stick/ rod with a curling knob at the top. I might sound like I'm exaggerating, but if you were to see yourself, you might also think the same...

"What are you staring at, girl? Stand up!" He demanded loudly. I looked at him with a raised brow that caused my forehead to hurt. He immediately knocked me on the head with the stick until I obeyed. This was a funny old man.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Taro." His voice was still hoarse, but seemed to be in a much nicer tone somehow. "Now, what is your name?"

I thought I blanked out for moment, completely forgetting my name, but found it quite easily. "Um.. Chelsea." Taro huh? What an interesting name... but isn't that some sort of root or something? A plant...

"Chelsea, quite an interesting name indeed. From the city, I see..." He continued mumbling to himself.

Okay, I guess it was obvious that I was from the city. What I was wearing would always be seen in the city, but it looks so messed up and torn that it's barely recognizable for a simple city girl. Looks more for like some hobo or something. I sighed.

"As you may now already, that shipwreck was some terrible one. The rest of my family is here on this island as well since we were also aboard. We found this to be an uninhabited island and as I was doing my survey of the island, I came across you, concluding that you were also apart of this wreck. Thank Harvest Goddess that you survived. " He nodded toward me and I nodded back, not really knowing why exactly. He continued, "So, come, Chelsea, come. My family and I will tend to you." He began to walk off ahead, expecting me to follow him.

I had no other choice than to follow him. I might need all the help I need to get. And also with being shipwrecked and ending up in some foreign island with no souls on it until now, then having to still think about getting a job somehow. This might get frustrating...

"I can't give up! Who knows? This might be it! I can do it!"

I was determined. I was focused. I was sure. I am persistent. I will keep on going! I will not be beat!

Immediately, I felt another whack on my head and instantly yelped in response.

"Girl, what do you think you're doing? Here raising your arms and talking to yourself when no one is around. If anyone else were to see this they might think you're crazy..." That old man continued scolding me and beckoned me forward.

Either way, I would still have followed him. We passed by this old, run down shack and passed by in between these really huge rock walls that opened to a large clearing. There was more shacks ahead and the path that we walked on was just a trail of rocks embedded deep in the dirt and dust. The grass was amazingly green and crisp, probably sharp enough to cut a finger.

Ahead, I heard some murmuring of a woman. I soon found her as that old man stepped next to her, probably talking about me.

She had.. a sort of pink hair, which was amazing. Never thought that some person would pull off pink hair. Anyway, she seemed much older than me, not as old as Taro. She seemed like a kind woman, and from my distance, her voice sounded gentle and quite cheerful. Nice Lady with a dress that I would probably pick out as her style. I'm surprised it's not as messed up as mine though. I soon found her to be nearing me.

"Mercy! Look at you. Such a adorable young lady. We must get you some clothes." She raised her hand to her face with a worried look. "Natalie!"

"But... ahh.. my luggage.." Actually, truth be known, I didn't bring anything with me other than my backpack...but I shouldn't tell them that.. and whose Natalie?

"No worries at all. My daughter and give you some clothes that she never uses." She smiled "Please call me Felicia."

I bowed slightly. "Oh, mine is Chelsea. Nice to meet you." I think I said that too quick...

"Mom? What's up?" Another woman appeared with a boy trekking behind her.

They both looked quite the same. Same color shade of hair (like reddish in a way), same eye color, and if both had the same expressions, their faces might look the same, but you can tell quite easily. Better yet, both seemed my age except the boy looked older. But the girl seemed more dignified than the guy. The boy seemed to be ... looking hopeless compared to his probably sister. I quickly noticed that both were staring at me.

"Chelsea, I would like you to meet my son and daughter." Felicia looked at her children, expecting them to answer.

The girl stepped up toward me. "My name is Natalie and this my older bro, Eric."

"It's Elliot!" He corrected quietly.

"Yeah, yeah. I know, you klutz." She looked at me. "But what happened to you? I know we were shipwrecked and everything, but you turned out worst than us...?"

I agreed with that statement and shrugged. "Probably ended up with the wrong side of the boat."

"Natalie, seeing that Chelsea needs some clothes, could you lend her some of the clothes you don't use anymore?" Her mother asked.

Natalie nodded and linked arms with me. "A third of my clothes were washed away in the storm, but half of the ones I have now, I barely use. You can have them."

I instantly smiled, glomping on to her. "Oh, really? Thanks!"

"It's awesome to know there's another that's the same age as me on here. Come on. We need to get you cleaned up and find some clothes that fit ya well. Now get off.." She pushed me off and began dragging me to her house that looked like a pitiful shack, but I didn't say anything about it. I mean.. look at me, I have no where to stay so it's better than nothing.

She slowly creaked open the front door of what she called their house. I heard her complain saying that she had to be careful with that door or else she might pull it off its rusted hinges. She led me to this certain room that had four beds, two on the right and two on the left, ends facing the other across from it. It was perfect for them.

I saw her rummaging in this huge chest sitting in the far back wall from where I was. As i neared her, she began to toss random clothes at me. Looking at the clothes she tossed at me, I was surprised to see how crisp they were, not a single tear or evidence that it was used. I sat down at a nearby bed seeing that the pile of clothes had piled on me. Soon Natalie closed the chest and turned to look at me.

"There isn't much of a privacy place around here... nor in this house. I'll stand at the entrance of this room to make sure no one will come in. You can just change here..." Natalie dropped a towel on my head which was probably the only place vacant. "Wash yourself up to. There's a sink in the back over there." She walked to the other end of the room and stood at the entrance.

I placed the clothes on the bed I was sitting on and looked at all the kinds of varieties of clothes she threw at me. I could probably understand why she didn't wear most of these clothes. To old fashioned, to young for her age, some looked tight, others were out of style... Yeah, a fashion designer might freak to see some of these clothes. I began to strip myself down, feeling some sand scratch at my back and front.

My underwear didn't seem any better which led me to sprint to the sink and wash myself down. I squeaked as I felt the instantly freezing cold water pour down my legs. I wasn't expecting it to be so cold, but either way, it left me off better. Sand and dirt free. But this led me to wish I had a warm, soothing bath at the moment.

It was a good thing that Natalie was around though. She figured that I would have some underwear problems and like an angel, she left me extras on the bed while I was washing myself. I quickly exchanged my dirty and sandy ones to the seemingly looking brand new ones. I probably have to thank Natalie a million times over now..

In the end, I really could not find any clothes that fit my taste other than a red bandana, a elbow length yellow shirt, an orange shirt that I left unbuttoned, blue shorts that I rolled up and some red boots with a yellow band around each top. I guess this would work for a while.

I heard Natalie's foot steps on the creaking wooden floor and looked up to find her examining my choice.

"Wow... It's not bad. Pretty good on you actually." She took the red bandana from my hands and tied it around my hair that was flying all over. "Since your hair is a mess, this would be best to cover it all up."

"Ah, thanks!" I smiled trying to fix my hair in a certain way for it to all fit in the bandana.

I was surprised to see that it wasn't too tight to suffocate my brain, but it wasn't loose either, where it felt that it would loosen and fall to the ground.

"Natalie, you're heaven-sent" I began to playfully tear up. "You and your family are amazing…"

"Yes, we are, aren't we?" She linked arms with me again. "Come on, we better go check out what the rest of my family is doing."

We both exited the room to see that Felicia was working on an open space within the house. It looked as if she cleaned up, making the place a little better, not giving you the idea that the place was a run down shack. The woman looked at us and said, "Natalie, Chelsea, what do you think of the table being here? I'm planning to start decorating soon."

The area was big and it seemed like a good spot. I looked at Natalie who seemed to be thinking the same.

"Yeah, it would go good there… or probably over there. Mom, it's your choice.." Natalie answered. "Chels and I are gonna go look for Grandpa and Elliot."

"Oh, be sure to bring them back. We are going to have dinner soon…" Dinner? Wow… already?

Both of us nodded and left the house to take sight of the same environment. There were trails that I finally noticed leading in all directions. We both found Elliot and Taro walking out from the trail toward the north.

"Elliot, how about you tend to the ranch up there?" We heard the old man say.

"I dunno, Gramps… I think it would be better if I help out with you and Mother instead."

"Yeah, that is if you don't mess up, Bro." Natalie called out.

Elliot's expression seemed rather hurt and I watched him sigh pitifully. I felt quite sorry for him as I knew now that the brother and sister relationship was quite complicated.

In my curiosity, I asked Taro," What is up there anyway?"

Their grandfather stuck his rod into the dirt and nodded, "There's a ranch up there. If we could start it up, we would be able to ship the items from the farm and what it could grow and sell. Also, whoever will run that ranch will receive much profit…"

Profit? Which means money right? The word rang throughout my mind as if angels were singing praises. It was perfect. It may not be the best nor what I was expecting but I could run that ranc -

"But a Man must be able to run that ranch…" Taro finished. That totally burst my bubble.

I feebly mumbled, "Wait… does that mean a woman can't run it? Like for instance… me?"

"NONSENSE! Why would a woman do such a heavy tasked job? It would be best for a boy to run the ranch. Like for instance my grandson, Elliot."

I heard Natalie snicker behind me and I nudged her with my elbow in response.

"Grandpa… Really, I don't think I would be capable…"

"Very well, I won't force you But I shall ask Felicia to find a suitable boy to take the job of the ranch, as well as start up with the shipping business. Soon this place will prosper as we start life here." He grabbed his wooden rod and entered the house.

I stood there a moment completely zoned out. This means I can't take the farm… What could I possibly do? That ranch could give me so much money to pay off everything… I really didn't want to be a girl at the moment.

"Chels, are you that desperate for money?" I heard Natalie ask softly. Elliot seemed to be listening in also. "You sounded so… desperate to have that ranch. I even saw your eyes light up to the mention of it."

"Yeah…. But now there's nothing I can do about it…" I sighed, patting my back for my backpack, but my hand found only my back. I gasped and franticly started to pat my back searching for the pack.

"Is your back itchy?" Elliot asked, looking at me with a confused face.

"No.. no, it's not that… My backpack. I think I lost my backpack." I sighed again.

Elliot's eyes seemed to flash and he took off the backpack on him. "Is this it? I found it lying around earlier on the beach."

I took the backpack from him and marveled to see that it was the exact one I was looking for on me. I zipped it open to find all the things which I had brought along including my cousin's, Jack's, hat. Suddenly, an idea popped into my mind as I stared at the cap. It was a really good idea, but it would be too risky…

I stuffed the hat inside again and said, "Hey, we should get inside. It's getting dark and your mom is making dinner." The siblings nodded at me and we all entered inside the house.

Dinner was fantastic. Even if it was only made out of herbs and a few pieces of meat, I was surprised at how well Felicia prepared and improvised so quickly. Her cleaning and decorating were amazing too. The house looked much better and there was already mats a few decorations out up.

"Felicia, good job on the food and house." Taro nodded to his daughter. "You did wonderful today."

"Should I say the same to you and Elliot, Father. And Natalie and Chelsea as well." The woman chuckled with a smile. I was surprised to hear my name seeing that I really didn't do anything.

"Did you find anything about this island?" Natalie perked in, biting on her piece of meat.

"There's some broken bridges around this part of the island and that they lead to other places to. If we could find some carpenter to build some as well as some of these run down shacks…" Elliot explained. "Then there's also that ranch we found up north from here. It seems to be complete with it's own house, but the field is a mess with huge rocks and stumps. But there's this huge rock at the other end of ranch."

"Hmm… we would need a carpenter for the bridges.. And we also need some …" Felicia looked at her father who mouth 'boy' to her. "Some young man to work on the farm."

I felt like melting in my seat. Imagine how much money I could get, paying off all those loan sharks. Gah… The thought of the idea again sprang up in my mind and I shook it away, knowing how much trouble it may cause in the end.

"How about we just let Chelsea do it?" I heard Felicia say from their conversation.

"Ridiculous. This young woman is small and has been tainted with the city. It would be best if she were to work here with us." Taro inputted. I really felt that he was being sexist at the moment.

"Very well, father."

Dinner did not last long after and soon it was time for us to go to bed. I ended up sleeping on Elliot's bed as he insisted me to. He was quite the gentleman which caught me off guard seeing him quite depressed and demoted because of his sister's mocking remarks.

As I snuggled under the warm covers, I began to hear Taro's loud snoring roaring nearby and heard Natalie groan in the background. I felt bad that Elliot slept soundly on the cold floor with a blanket and a pillow. I felt like a total hindrance.. Like an extra that shouldn't even be here.

I quietly picked up my backpack from the floor, happy to see that I had cleaned it out from dirt and sand earlier before bed time. I slowly pulled out Jack's hat and cuddled it close nest to me.

Jack was absolutely my favorite cousin. I didn't exactly know where he was now since he ran away from home, but I'm sure he's enjoying his life. We would always communicate with each other so often, but now that I ended up being shipwrecked, who knows if he'll find me or not.

I quickly found myself to fall asleep entering to a dream, but there was this one phrase that stuck on to me until morning.

Chelsea, you look like a boy with Jack's hat on!

Early Next Morning…

"Chelsea, are you sure about this?" Felicia raised her hand to her face with a doubtful look. "I'm sure my father would say something about you."

"Mom, you gotta trust that it will work. Anyway, Chelsea really needs the money. She's determined…" Natalie clenched her fist before her face. "She totally can fool Grandpa anyway. I mean look at her, she looks exactly like any other male I've seen, except somehow more … strangely handsome… uhh…"

I laughed as I heard this, her not knowing which are the right words to choose. It happened a lot when I did this before. I dusted off my blue shorts that were below my knees. My shirts were exchanged with a white flannel shirt with long sleeves that were rolled up to my elbows. Over the shirt, I wore a sleeveless dark unbutton shirt that made sure it didn't show any of my curves, that is if I had any.. And it will protect me from any flying water that might show my true identity.

My chocolate hair was tied in a special way that even if I were to remove my hat, it would like any other men style of hair, short cut, the simple hairdo like my cousin's. It was a secret all of my own so I didn't have to cut my hair. But I would wear my hat over it anyway. And that red bandana, I decided to tie it around my neck.

Overall, I looked like any other young man. And good looking too. But one thing was that I was small and skinny, which was the problem. But overall, I was proud of myself, that I still had my charm. And the handmade chest-protector helped out tons. It's good I didn't have any Mount Everest on me… just flat lands now…which were hills then..

"You need more muscle. You look like a puny man compared to men our age." Natalie remarked.

"Yeah, I know that, but I can't really do much about it.."

"And your voice…"

"Yeah, that's a problem too." I sighed. "Maybe I should make it lower.. Manly, gruff, rough." I roared.

"It's amazing. When Chelsea's a boy, she's good looking and quite charming in its own way, but when she's a girl, she looks adorable and cute. That's talent." Felicia praised.

I smiled. "Thanks."

Natalie sighed. "If only you were a boy, then I wouldn't mind…" She laughed. "But I got to remember that you are a girl."

I nodded. "You two, I really need you not to say anything about my identity. Or else, Taro wouldn't allow me to work on that farm…"

Felicia asked, "Yes, but what about Elliot? I'm sure he will notice that Chelsea is gone."

"I'll just tell him that Chelsea left early this morning." Natalie said. "He's sure to believe me."

"Now," I began to narrow my brows. "What about my name?"

"Yeah, Chelsea doesn't sound much of a guy's name…" Natalie laughed at the thought of a guy being named Chelsea.

"Oh, I know!" Felicia ran out of the room and came back in again with a fat book in her hands. "This is a baby name dictionary. We can find a name in here."

Natalie took the book and began to flip through the many pages. "What kind of names are these?"

I peered over her shoulder to find some names that I haven't even heard of before. Some I preferred to be last names and others… I didn't even know what to think.

Felicia took the book and looked over it, flipping through more pages. "How about Lucas? It stands for luminous."

"Reminds me of mysterious…" Natalie pinched my cheek. "She ain't mysterious."

"Ian?"

"I like the name but it reminds me of a nerd way back when…" Her daughter answered.

"Braden."

"Oh," I suddenly squeaked remembering that name. "My younger sister's boyfriend's name was Braden." I grimaced as I went through a train of thoughts.

"Do you like that name?" Felicia asked me.

Braden, huh? Ugh..

"Let's keep it!" Natalie urged me. "It totally works!"

That name gives me a fiery ambition since I didn't like that boy at all.

"Alright it's settled then.."

And plus to say that name doesn't fit me at all… BRADEN?

"Okay, Chelsea. From now on your name is Braden." Natalie announced before me.

"What?" I whacked myself in the head mentally to see that I wasn't listening to their final decision. "O-Okay…"

Now my name is Braden… It would probably stick on after a while… or not. Dear goddess so help me..

The three of us heard both Elliot and Taro groan to the morning sun. Felicia scurried to her father's side, waking him up with excitement.

Natalie dragged me over to the table to pretend that I just came in and started eating breakfast in their home. Then she ran to her brother, lightly kicking and telling him to wake up.

I leisurely took a fork and heard the crunch of the crisp herbs that were for breakfast. Then I instantly remembered I was a male, and stuffed it down my mouth, quickly regretting it. As I struggled to swallow, I saw Elliot and Taro enter the living area followed by Natalie and Felicia.

I thumped my chest and gulped down the food I was choking on, feeling small tears well up in my eyes. I regained my composure and looked at the men as if it were the first time. Elliot looked groggy eyed, but I felt Taro's stare burn down on me immensely.

"Boy, what is your name?" He sternly asked.

"My name is … Braden." I slightly frowned knowing that I wasn't used to the name.

"Stand up.." I did so and he began to examine me from head to toe. He circled around me, took my arms, giving each a hard squeeze which did not really affect me much, and reached for his rod. He began thumping my legs and shoulders and back and head. I really didn't know why.

I saw that Natalie and Felicia looked quite hesitant and had hopeful looks on their faces and Elliot who seemed to sleepy to care. Taro soon came to stand in front of me again, guessing that he was ready to make his conclusion.

"This young man is obviously quite smaller than what my expectations give, but seeing that there's no one around to take on the job, other than my grandson, he will have to do.."

I felt happiness immediately glow within me and I felt that I wanted to jump and embrace each of them with death hugs, but I decided not.

With the fact I was trying to sound like a boy, I asked, "Is this the approval to work on the ranch up north?"

"Yes, it is. Wait for a while for me to get ready and eat breakfast, then I'll show you the ranch and teach you things you would need to know." He returned back into the room to get changed out of his pajamas.

I saw the two girls smile at each and at me happily. This idea worked… but this would mean I would have to be a guy for as long as I stay here. I might stop the ranch once I get all of the debts paid off so I guess there isn't too much to worry about. I smiled to myself until I saw that Elliot was watching me.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked, trying to not sound like a girl at all.

"Natalie, you told me that Chelsea left earlier right?" He asked.

His sister walked up to him and whacked at his back. "Yeah, she left, but this guy was on the boat that came to get her. Mother told this dude that we needed a rancher and ba-da-bing, he's the rancher!" She laughed and walked over to me, whispering, "Alright, seems like you got Gramps approval."

"Yeah, thanks to you and your mom of course."

-x-

So that's basically how I became the farmer… rancher of this place. But it made me to be and act and dress and speak like a boy. It's easy to be a gentleman so I don't think it would be hard. Anyway, the reason why I need to do this is to pay off some money and loan sharks. Once that's all over, someone else, better than me can take over.

But I was quite overwhelmed with all the things Taro told me to do for the ranch and all the other extra things that were to happen later like having animals and such. And the first sight of the field wanted to make me scream my lungs out. It was going to take a lot of work, but no matter. I am a hard worker anyway and I AM DETERMINED!

But no one was to figure out my identity.. Other than Felicia and Natalie since they already knew. And I don't think it will be that hard since it was only us on here and I wasn't expecting much either to suddenly reveal my identity. Probably it was going to be easy.

But I think I spoke and thought too soon…

-x-x-x-x-

Ew. Gosh, I just read my earlier note and it makes me cringe. Do expect the end notes to change. PRONTO. :D

Anyway, thank you for trying out this story. Hope I delivered well.