The Castaway
The Castaway
Chapter 1
I was flying. The sea was far below me and the clouds drifting above me looked close enough to touch. Looking back down at the sea, I saw that I was almost directly above a mysterious black dot a short ways off the coastline that I was flying parallel to. Curious, I decided to investigate.
As I drew closer, I could see that the black dot was in fact two ships. The sound of battle drifted towards me and I felt an inexplicable fear. I could almost see the beasts fighting on the ship. If I could just get a little closer... There! They were
"Runa get up"
Moaning, I, Runa Mossguard the morningbeast, opened my eyes to see the treacherously bright eyes of my identical twin sister, Tera.
"Ugh." I moaned. "Why did you wake me up? I was dreaming about flying."
"Again?" She asked rolling her eyes. "Runa, you are an otter. You should be dreaming about swimming not flying."
"But I love these dreams!"
"So stop loving them!"
There was a moment's pause when we glared into each other's eyes. She looked down first. She always did.
That is how I interacted with my sister. We always have, for as long as I can remember. I was the younger of the two of us, the fighter. I was the headstrong, rough, plain sister. And Tera? She was dainty and delicate. The flower of the holt. In a war, I would cause wounds and she would heal them.
"Anyway" She said. "Father says I am to take you to the beach with me. We can gather some pretty rocks to make necklaces with!"
I said nothing but made a face as I pulled on my tunic. After belting my sling around my waist and picking up my dagger, I turned around and forced a smile. Even with all of our differences, Tera was still my sister, and I wanted her too be happy. At least I did until she opened her mouth again.
"Do you really think that you will need weapons at the beach?" She said obnoxiously. "I don't think the shrimp will attack us."
"Oh, really?" I said. "Well maybe not shrimp, but I'd say that pirates and corsairs are definitely in the threat department."
I watched as my sister paled. "There aren't any pirates around anymore."
"Then what happened to Mum?" I shot back.
Right after the words left my mouth, I regretted them.
"Oh Tera, I didn't mean it." I comforted my now crying twin.
"Yes you did." She protested. "But you were right."
"I..."
"No, bring the weapons. I don't mind." Her voice was still slightly choked with tears but was swiftly returning to normal.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. End of discussion."
"Thank you"
"Didn't I just say end of discussion?"
As we walked out of the holt, I saw that we were to join a group of my sister's friends. I groaned inwardly. All these otters cared about was males and jewellery.
"Hi Tera!" One of them called.
"Hi girls" She replied. "My father says that we have to bring Runa."
One member of the group started to groan but stopped immediately when she saw the fierce glare that my sister was giving her.
"Hey Runa!" One of them whispered urgently. "Strom is looking at you!"
"No he's probably just looking at Tera, he's been after her for seasons."
When I said that, all of Tera's friends turned to look at me. Tera herself gave me a strange look.
"What makes you say that" She asked.
"He always asks me about you." I explained briskly. "Anyway, shouldn't we leave now."
Without waiting for a response, I strode off in the general direction of the beaches. It was about a half day walk from our holt to the sea. While Tera and her friends chatted and gossiped, I was walking behind them with a loaded sling, my alert and listening for any disruption in the peaceful sounds of the forest.
Finally, after hours of walking, we reached the beach. One of other otters produced a basket I hadn't noticed before. From the basket, she started pulling a blanket, food and drink.
While the other girls were hungrily swooping down on the meal, Tera and I walked down to a large rock on the shoreline.
"I missed this rock." I said. I was sitting on the large rock with my twin beside me.
"Me too." She agreed. "Do you remember the time Mum brought us down here to gather shrimp and we hid from her behind it?"
"Yeah, I had almost forgotten about that."
"How old were we? Six seasons?"
"It was ten seasons ago, so that sounds about right."
We lapsed into pleasant silence, each with our own thoughts. Silence, at least until a piercing scream ripped through the cool sea air.
Leaping down from the rock, Tera and I saw her group of friends tearing down the beach towards us.
"What happened? What's going on?" My sister asked.
"There, there, there's a DEAD BODY on the beach!" One of them managed to get out.
As soon as I heard her say that I took off sprinting down the beach. My sister looked at her sobbing friends and raced after me. However, I wasn't the holt's champion runner for nothing, and I beat her to the body by at least a minute.
He was an otter. The scars and fresh cuts on his body suggested that he was a fighter. However the strangest thing about him was the wonderful, well made, broken lance that he held clutched in his hands. Around one of his arms was an exquisite circlet of gold with a glorious emerald stone in the center.
Hearing my sister arrive beside me, but not taking my eyes off the otter before me, I reached down to see if I could remove the broken lance from his paws. I jumped and heard my sister gasp when he moaned and clutched the lance and circlet closer to him.
"He's alive." My sister breathed.
"Yes." I agreed. "We need to get him back to the holt. You're a healer, can he be moved?"
"He can be moved, but we have to be very careful. I don't know if he has a head injury."
"OK, I'll take his head."
Together with my sister, I managed to half carry, half drag this mysterious otter to our holt without much trouble. I wish I could say the same for when we got there.
Standing outside the holt, arms crossed and scowling, was our father, Alem Mossguard, Chieftain of the Mossguard otters.
"I suppose that this is the dead otter that your friends told me about." He said.
"He's not dead!" I protested. "And they aren't my friends." I added under my breath.
"I guessed that when I saw you dragging him through the forest. Tera, I thought that you had better sense then to let your sister drag home strays."
"Hey!" I exclaimed.
"But Daddy, I am also a healer. I need to help wounded beasts." My sister explained, totally ignoring his jab at me.
"YOU want to heal him!" Our father exclaimed. "Why not one of the other healers?"
"Because I am the best." Tera said shortly.
"But..." My father started.
"Oh why am I standing here? This otter is dying!" With that I started dragging the otter to the healer's chamber."
"Wait Runa!" My sister cried, following me. She picked up the otter's feet.
I helped Tera to settle the mysterious otter into a bed in the healer's chamber and collapsed into a chair. I had carried him most of the way to the holt and, even though he appeared to be in good shape, he was not light.
"You can sleep in that bunk over there. You must be exhausted." Tera said without turning around. "And before you protest, he is going to be fine. His wounds aren't as bad as they look."
Without saying a word I climbed over to the small bed meant for healers that had to stay with their patients, closed my eyes and let sleep overtake me.
A/N OK so this is the first chapter of The Castaway. It will probably have about 7-10 chapters. I would really like you to point out any mistakes or poor writing Because I am planning on redoing this later. Oh, and chapters for this will not be very close together. Thank you for actually bothering to read my A/N.