Fezzik's Song

Author's note: Fezzik and the rest of the characters belong to William Goldman and S. Morgenstern (wink). I do not own them. However, Carl and the other OCs are mine.

Chapter 1

It was a beautiful day on One Tree Island. The sky was clear and bright with only a few clouds idly floating overhead. But their presence wasn't enough to obscure the magnificently blue radiance of the sky above. There was a warm breeze blowing ever so slightly through the trees that formed a very faint whistling sound that only someone who stopped to listen would hear.

Carl sat and observed this beautiful sight, contently listening to the breeze produce its own music. He was in his usual spot, leaning up against a large boulder that rested within a circle of trees somewhere close to the middle of the island. He always went there when he needed to be alone, which was pretty much all the time.

He never really felt like Buttercup, Westley or any of the others needed him around, and he felt like he would only get in their way. But it didn't matter, he liked being alone. It allowed him to quietly admire the beauty of nature. It was his inspiration. And as a musician, inspiration was important.

Carl looked around at the beauty that surrounded him, but he wasn't paying attention to it now. His mind….and his heart were miles away.

Five months. It had been five months since him and the other sailors had gotten shipwrecked on the island. And it had been almost a year since he had seen his home and everyone he loved.

He had lived in a small village in Florin, the only son of a blacksmith and a seamstress. By all accounts, he was a handsome lad, being a bit taller than most with short, dark brown hair, blue eyes, fair skin and a lean build. He was a nice boy with a good heart and all who met him adored him, there was just one problem: he hardly ever worked.

It wasn't that he was physically incapable of work, because he was certainly strong enough. And it wasn't that he was lazy, because he was very diligent. The reason why he hardly ever worked was because he a bit clumsy. Whenever he tried to work any job, even in his father's shop, he always managed to cause trouble, unintentionally of course. His father and everyone else he worked for said he was a nuisance and told him to go do something else. This left Carl feeling somewhat useless and led him to fall back and find comfort in other things.

He found that comfort in music and discovered that he had quite a gift for it. His mother encouraged his gift, even buying him his very own lute for his 13th birthday. He treasured it, and every day for the next 5 years, he would sit by himself and play it, sometimes even making his own music. Suddenly, Carl didn't feel so upset anymore. Music made him happy, and with it, he felt like he could never be happier.

That was until the day he met Arabella.

Arabella was the daughter of a farmer who lived just outside Carl's village. She was the same age as Carl, although she was shorter and more petite. She had red hair, hazel eyes, fair skin and a smile that could soften the hardest of hearts. She was sweet, bright and beautiful, and Carl fell in love with her the moment he met her. She returned his feelings and the two of them swore that they would get married.

However, since Carl was hardly able to work, he had never learned a proper trade. Also, Arabella was the daughter of a simple farmer, so the chances of them making enough money between themselves to support each other, was very slim. The only thing Carl had was his music, but that wasn't enough since not very many people appreciated it. He needed to go someplace where people would appreciate it. That was when he and Arabella decided it was time for him to go and seek his fortune in a foreign land (sound familiar?).

So, he left his home and Arabella behind, in hopes of finding his fortune and returning so they could marry. He boarded a ship called The King's Vengeance and set sail to other countries. He had little success making money with his music in those countries, but he never gave up. However, his search was abruptly halted when during one of their trips across the sea; they sailed right into a terrible storm. The storm was so intense that it veered the ship right into some rocks that bordered the shoreline of a mysterious deserted island known by the sailors as One Tree Island. The ship was almost completely destroyed and the only people who survived the impact were Carl, the captain, the helmsman and three other sailors, out of a twelve man crew.

The survivors were washed up on the shore of the deserted island, which they soon found out wasn't quite so deserted, for it was inhabited by a man and a woman, their small daughter, a Spaniard and a giant. They quickly learned their names, and upon hearing about their dilemma, Westley, the man, agreed that they could help them. They then searched the shores of the island and found pieces of The King's Vengeance still intact, and, along with Inigo, the Spaniard, and Fezzik, the giant; they started using the pieces to rebuild the ship.

The process seems to be taking a lot longer than they expected, especially since Carl's clumsiness prevented him from helping them. So, just like before, Carl was forced to isolate himself and spend his days listening to nature and thinking about his home and his beautiful Arabella.

Carl snapped back to reality when he became aware that there were tears in his eyes: thinking about Arabella and his family always did that to him. He missed them horribly and he wanted to be home with them more than anything.

He smiled sadly and looked down at the lute that was resting on his lap. It was the same lute his mother gave him 7 years ago, and it was one of the few things of his that survived the shipwreck, miraculously.

Strumming a few strings on his lute, Carl turned his attention to the piece of brown paper and the wedge of charcoal that sat in front of him.

This piece of paper contained a song, a song that he was writing for his beloved, one that he had started but never finished. The reason why it was unfinished was because although Carl had a gift for writing music, he had a difficult time writing lyrics. He succeeded in getting two or three verses done before he had gotten stuck. He waited a little while longer, hoping that his muse would jump in and help, but no matter how hard he tried, the words just would not come. Leaning his head against the boulder behind him, he looked up at the sky with frustration on his face.

Suddenly, Carl got a creepy feeling that someone was watching him, and his suspicion was confirmed when he heard the sound of a twig snapping not too far away.

He bolted upright and looked around.

"Hello? Is someone there?" He called.

He waited for an answer but none came. He then looked down at his lute and a small smile passed over his lips. He knew exactly who was watching him: it was the same person who always liked to hide and listen to him play.

"Fezzik" Carl said with a sigh. "I know you're back there. Please come out."

Slowly but surely, the giant came out from his hiding place behind a big tree about thirty yards away.