Once upon a Sunstone

When storm meets sea

Ana allowed herself a small smile as she sighed with contentment. The wood was so warm under her body as she sunbaked, stretched out over the deck, a coil of thick rope serving as a pillow. She was unlikely to get burnt of course, seeing as it was late afternoon and soon the sun would be setting, but she still enjoyed the feel of the warm sunlight over her body. She wasn't too keen on getting too much more sunburnt anyway, considering she already had a tan darker than any she had ever had before already.

That's what you get for letting that stupid brother of yours drag you into this! She thought to herself, recalling how her brother Brandon had talked her into signing up for this whole voyage thing with him a few months ago. Now she was sailing with the Revewn around the world, as it were. It had cost their parents a lot of money to send their kids on this trip, but it was worth it. Ana had been having the absolute time of her life, and she could tell Brandon enjoyed it even more than her. Especially yesterday, when all of them had gotten up on deck and had that race that involved running, falling, glomping, a whole lot of seaweed and stinging tastebuds. Brandon always enjoyed anything with a challenge, or that involved physical activity.

She smiled as she listened to what was taking place below deck. A karaoke contest, and everyone had to take part. It had started not long ago and was bound to go on much longer, considering how many there were. The crew and the passengers together made up about 24, 25? But Ana had snuck out of it because she had been in the toilet when they started, and hopefully they wouldn't notice she was gone. It's not that Ana didn't like singing, in fact she thoroughly enjoyed it with a passion, but when she sang in front of more than her friends she just couldn't. She became nervous, her throat went dry, her heart would pound so hard it was almost painful. It always happened when she performed in front of crowds, albeit small ones. Even though she knew most of her companions reasonably well considering she had been travelling with them for the past week and a half, there were still those she wasn't really friends with and those she didn't like.

All of a sudden the sun disappeared from behind her eyelids and she opened her eyes, flinching with surprise. A tall figure loomed above her, his face silhouetted by the sun, but Ana could tell his hair was blond. Her heart leapt instantly, a deep pit opening in her stomach.

Oh no, it's Matt… She squinted, trying not to show how nervous she was. Then he spoke.

"Hey Ana, what's up?" Relief showered over her, cool and refreshing. It wasn't Matt, it was just Scott. Thank goodness.

"Ah, nothing." She sighed and sat up on the deck. Scott sat down next to her. She looked at him and grinned. He grinned back, running a hand through his windblown sandy blond-brown hair. Light brown eyes smiled into her own green ones. He flicked the end of her long light brown hair tied into a plait and she flicked it out of his reach.

"So what's up?" He asked, smiling again.

"Nothing." She replied, turning away.

"Then why are you up here on deck while everyone else is either singing or laughing at those who can't?"

"Because…"

"What, you can't sing? Don't you dare say that, you're great at it!"

"How do you know?"

"I heard you."

"When?"

"Last night."

"I wasn't singing last night."

"Yes you were."

"No I wasn't."

"Yeah you were."

"Nah, I wasn't."

"Yeah."

"Nah."

"Yeah you're right, I didn't hear you cos you weren't singing at all." He grinned, and Ana punched him in the shoulder playfully.

"Don't do that again!" She laughed.

"Why of course not, your highness! I wouldn't dare!" Scott cried in mock dismay.

"Shut up!" Ana pushed him gently with her palm. He gave her a little push in return. She elbowed him. He elbowed back. She bumped him with her shoulder, and he did the same. His bump was fairly strong and she jolted quite a bit. She growled playfully, got up into a quick crouch and threw all of her body weight at him. But it seemed he was prepared a barely moved a bit. She was taken by giggles and knew just what was going to happen next. He turned a flashed the most triumphant smile she had ever seen him make. She steeled herself, tensing every one of her muscles that she was aware of, and then he threw himself at her. Although he used less movement than her previous shove, he had enough power, and Ana was sure that he had a tremendous amount more packed in him, to send her tumbling sideways. The force was so great that she felt a tremour shudder through her body and her teeth cracked against each other. She hit the deck hard on her shoulder, pain erupting into it. She let out a small scream the moment of impact, but now she was just moaning in pain.

"Oah Ana, sorry! You alright?" Scott cried, leaning over her even as she rolled stiffly onto her back and suddenly became overwhelmed with a contagious laughter that she simply couldn't help.

"You – bum!" She laughed, trying desperately to catch her breath but her task was futile. So she gave up and just lay there laughing. After a moment Scott began laughing too, and in a moment they were both sprawled out on the deck, heads back, laughing hard.

Ana held her bruised shoulder with one hand, but loosely because just tensing one muscle hurt too much. Her head felt muddled and mushed up, every thought merged into one big emotion that was happiness. Then she wondered what those below would do when they found them both engaged in a massive laughing fit on the deck. She didn't have to wonder long.

"What the hell is going on here?" She looked up through the tears caused by pain and laughter alike to see Marc, one of the crew leaders, standing above them, a stern look on his face. Then she just laughed again, resting her head on the wooden boards again. Scott however sat up and controlled his laughter after less than a moment of struggle and grinned roguishly up at Marc.

"Nothing's going on, sir." He said, running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, well clean your act up, both of you, cos you look like you just made out." He turned and went to go through the door to the cabin below but two people blocked it. "Get out my way." Marc growled and they sidestepped away, sensing his foul mood. They grinned out at Ana and Scott, a girl and a boy. The male was seventeen, two years older than Ana. The girl was fifteen like her, Scott the same. The seventeen year old was Brandon, Ana's older brother. The girl was Chloe, and Ana didn't like her very much. Chloe, Chloe, Chloe. With her long black hair and blue and blond streaks of her long fringe flowing down past the sides of her face, she was the only thing Brandon ever talked about aside from all the thrills he gets each day and how he's gonna go tell all his mates about everything that happens on the Revewn and how they're not gonna believe all the 'adventures' that he's had. The two had started going out almost a week ago, and now Ana was forced to hang around her. Maybe she was just antisocial, but she didn't consider herself as that. So she had simply told herself every now and then that yes, she needed to stand Chloe unless she was going to stop hanging out with her brother, which was definitely out of the question. Maybe it was the fact that her brother was going out with someone her age, two years younger than him. Maybe it just seemed wrong. But Ana couldn't be bothered trying to comprehend that at the moment.

The two came over, and before they shut the door Ana caught a swift glimpse of a face further back in the cabin from what she could make out from her obscured view, and her heart sank. It was Matt. His normally light blond hair was dark in the shadows and blue-grey eyes glared penetratingly into her, his expression angry, hurt and desperate all at the same time. His eyes contained a spark of barely contained rage. Ana's mouth went dry, her head grew clouded, and pure panic filtered through her. He hadn't looked that bad even when he had been rejected the day before.

She wanted to close her eyes, turn away, escape his furious gaze, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from him. Then the door slammed shut. The spell was broken, she was free, for the moment. She blinked, sighed and turned away. Brandon and Chloe sat down with her and Scott, and they made a square as it was.

"So what were you two doing?" Brandon grinned hintingly.

"Laughing." Ana retorted instantly, glaring at him without meaning it.

"Well looks like we aren't gonna be deck slugging tonight!" Scott remarked, looking up pointedly. In response the other three scanned the horizon. The sun had set and all the clear blue sky had disappeared, leaving clouds to remain. But they weren't ordinary clouds – they were dark, brooding. There was humidity in the air that Ana hadn't noticed before, and a feeling of foreboding settled deep in her stomach.

"There's gonna be a storm." Chloe whispered, staring at the black clouds.

"No sh-" Ana was cut off when Scott coughed loudly and surreptitiously elbowed her. "What…" He flashed her a look, just as Brandon stood, Chloe's hand entwined with his.

"We'll go tell the captain." He said, and they walked back toward the door of the cabin. "Better come in a moment, you never know when the storm's gonna blow up." As they went under, Ana turned to Scott angrily.

"The hell was that?" She hissed, keeping her voice down even as she felt Matt's accusing eyes on her.

"You can't just go round being a bitch to her Ana, you know that." He said, his voice hard. Her mouth dropped open.

"I can say what I want, you don't control what I think!" She growled.

"No, you control what you think. But you can also make a decision about whether or not to say something, and if it's the right time and place to say it." He said, and when she didn't reply, he smiled half-heartedly and flicked her plait. "Come on, let's get undercover." She nodded and they stood to go below when the captain, a middle-aged man with greying hair, stepped out from the door and stared at the sky worriedly.

"Oah, I haven't seen such a storm about to strike in years and years." He mused, brushing his short beard thoughtfully. He turned and gestured to the expectant crew. "Orright, let's get this boat ready for this thing!" He bellowed, and most of the large group got to their feet and swarmed out the door. In the darkness the large torches were all that lighted the night. Even as the Captain yelled out orders, every member of the crew seemed to know exactly what their role was and what needed to be done, working quickly and efficiently. The wind was picking up, flinging Ana's hair in all directions that it pleased. Soon it was lashing against her face sharply. Moments later she left Scott's side to go and help ready the vessel they sailed on. He went to follow her when someone stood in his way. Matt ground his teeth together and approached Scott, his face expressionless. They stared at each other for a moment, and although Matt looked emotionless, Scott knew him well enough to know he was furious.

As the rain suddenly began to pour down in huge, torrential sheets, Matt growled and pushed Scott hard against his chest.

"Hey, what's up with you man?" Scott asked, although somehow he knew. He wasn't thick, he just tried to keep the peace.

"You know exactly what's up, Scottie mate. The hell's going on?" Matt ground, driving him against the Revewn's siderailing.

"Nothing's going on!" Scott said, trying to keep his anger from rising up inside him as the rain poured down on them. He could hear voices yelling, responding, overridden by the lashing wind, whipping water in his face, stinging, cutting. A flash of lightning from the heavy black clouds suddenly lighted up their faces, so close he felt tiny electric currents run through his body. Matt let go, gasping. He had felt them too. Thunder rumbled dangerously. Every sound on the boat was merged into one huge clamour that would not cease, then Scott thought he heard his name. He strained his ears as he struggled against the wind to stay upright. There it was again! Someone slid across the deck and hit the rail. Ana clutched three life jackets to her and was about to hold them out when something smashed against the boat's hull from the other side so hard Scott heard a loud creaking. But that wasn't what was on his mind. It was the fact that the moment the wave hit Ana screamed and went flying over the rail.

"Ana!" He and Matt cried simultaneously, both automatically preparing to dive overboard as they made out the small figure desperately thrashing around in the water. But they didn't get a chance. Scott looked up on instinct, his brown eyes settling on the tremendous wave coming straight for them. Huge and black, white foam strewn across it like a web. Ana was nowhere top be seen, vanished into the waters. Matt was paralysed with shock. Scott yelled Matt's name to get him out of his stupor and gripped the rail as tight as his body would allow. "Hold on!" He yelled, just as the wave hit.

Water shot into and around him, all over, the force so powerful his grip loosened and then he was rushing along with the water. The salt water was in his mouth, he was swallowing it. He hit so many things in his descent that he had no sense of left or right, up or down. He was constantly tumbling in the water, then he hit the other side rail. A deafening clash like lightning erupted in his skull, then he was smashed against the ocean's waters and everything went black.