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 Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 9:18 am
Kara sat on the bunk that had been Wesley's until he transformed and no longer needed it. It wasn't luxurious but it was comfortable enough and it was certainly far better than sleeping on the ground. She sighed and hugged her knees to her chest, wondering what she was going to do to keep herself from going insane from boredom. Sure there were... others and she'd have to help forage or hunt or whatever chores they had, but she wasn't even on the island for more than a few minutes and she already missed technology.
She missed her cellphone and all those messages in her inbox, what if someone read them!? Some were pretty embarrassing and slightly raunchy to boot! She crimsoned and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the what-ifs that buzzed in her head.
"I'm going to miss the internet the most!" She wailed rather loudly.
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Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 4:08 pm
It had been a few days since Kate's meeting with Leonard, the last "human" contact of any kind since her arrival on the island. "If there are nine other people here, where the crap are they? The island can't be that big can it?" Kate had, unsuccessfully, been spending the past few days searching for the camp Leonard had mentioned. She was atrocious with following directions.
"'So, if there were ten . . . that would make me the eleventh!' Well, DURR, KATE! Glad you said THAT out-loud. What a wonderful contribution to the obvious."
Kate's threshold for wild living had increased somewhat in the past five or so days that she had been living outside, but not by much. She wasn't jumping at any odd noise or touch so much as she was, and she had managed to locate a source of fresh water (though it took her a while to decide if she should drink it), but several days with minimal food had dissolved any reservations she may have had against it.
Strangely, though she wasn't eating much, she did seem to find food (mostly fruits and nuts and such) just when she needed it. It's like someone wanted her to stay alive, just not too much alive.
On the horizon, evidence of human life came into view: was this the camp Leonard had talked about? Too tired to run or call out, Kate slowly continued her trudge through the sand towards the landmark. "There probably won't be any people there anyway . . . or food . . . or water . . . or . . ."
but then she swore she saw something moving.
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Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 7:23 am
Kara had gotten to her feet, staring dumbly at the odds and ends that were in the camp. She didn't dare touch any of them, except for Wesley's as she had just nudged them off to one side of his bunk. She wondered how long it was going to be before any of the other ten people or half-human-half-something elses arrived.
She wasn't certain that she wanted to meet the others. But Wesley did say she wasn't the only fully human there. And then she spotted a figure off in the distance. Canting her head, Kara pondered on what the appropriate action should be.
Oh what the hell, maybe this one will be as nice as Wesley. She began to wave her arms.
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Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 3:31 pm
"Heeeyyy . . . that fuzzy blob is waving at me." Kate remarked to herself. A mental connection was made, and a sudden burst of adrenaline shot through Kate's tired legs. "HeyyyyyYYY!!! THAT'S THE CAMP!!! FOOD!!! COMPANIONSHIP!! YESSSSS" and she took off sprinting towards the figure.
Over the past five days she'd seen many things she thought was another person: shadows, rocks, tree trunks, but this one was moving! "I don't even care if it's another fish-crab-whatever person!! It's finally another person!!" She called out and waved wildly at the stranger, "HEY!! HEY!!! WAIT FOR ME!!" like she was expecting it to suddenly disappear.
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 9:15 am
Kara blinked in surprise as the figure dashed towards the camp. She felt a little flattered, no one back home had ever greeted her with such happiness. Then again, she wasn't certain if this person didn't eat humans and suddenly felt a tingle of fear.
It was only when Kate came close enough did Kara breathe a sigh of relief to see she was still human. Like her. "Hello, are you one of the other ten castaways?" She asked with a small smile. Later realizing just how stupid that question was. Of course she's a castaway, Wesley just said there was no way out.
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 6:57 am
Kate Madigan Kate eyed the girl standing before her from head-to-toe, once, twice, three times. It wasn't what she expected. After the shock of Hailey's full-bodied fin and scales, and Leonard's hard crustacean exterior, Kate had mentally prepared herself that every person she met to be a half-fish freak. What was in front of her instead was a skinny (oh gawd I wish I was that thin!), oddly-dressed (kinda fruity, but if that's her thing...), Asian girl. Then her question hit Kate's brain. "One of the ten? No, no . . . I'm kind of a new arrival, you see . . . Wait. Aren't you one of the ten?"
Canting her head to do the mathematics, Kara could only conclude that there was a big chance she was right. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Kara Dy." she introduced, offering a hand to Kate. The other girl looked quite athletic, given her attire and she wondered how she ended up here. Most likely not out of stupidity like me.
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 7:13 am
As Kara put out her hand, Kate stopped finger-counting, double-checking her own math. There are twelve? There were ten? How many are there exactly? She had only met two, after all.
Kate wasn't really used to being greeted with a hand-shake where she came from, nor the polite dialouge, but she accepted. "Uh, hey. 'Suuup. I'm Kate." As they shook hands Kate felt around for any traces of fishiness. Hailey had webbed fingers, Leonard had hands hardened into what could be pincers, but Kara felt totally natural.
After their awkward handshake had gone on for about half a minute, Kate stopped and forwardly asked, "Um, wait. I'm confused. Sooo . . . where are your fish parts?" Kara's earlier comment hadn't quite registered yet.
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 7:25 am
"Eyng? Fish parts?" Kara pursed her lips "I don't have any. Well, not yet anyway." She gave a resigned sigh, "I could ask you the same thing but as you said you're new here. And Wesley told me the changes don't happen for quite some time."
Folding her arms across her nearly non-existant chest, Kara gave the impression of being in deep thought. "How long have you been here?" she asked.
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 7:53 am
"I washed up like a week ago, maybe? Well, not exactly washed up. I guess I'd better tell you my whole story, but let's sit down, k? My legs are sooo tired." Kate motioned over to the bunks. Having something soft and man-made to lay down on was almost as good as a five-course meal. "Ah . . . Just let lay here for a minute."
"I guess we're both new arrivals, yeah? It sounds like you know the deal around here, too . . . So, I'm from California. I was out surfing one morning and this huge wave cakes me and next thing I know I'm out in the middle of the ocean. I get saved by this girl, well this, like, sort-of-mermaid-but-not-really-because-she-was-all-like-fishy-girl, but yeah, she brings me into shore and sort of gives me the 411 on this island deal, how everybody's turning into fish and stuff. Except, because I'm an idiot, I totally freaked out on her and so I'll probably never see her again. I met this other guy who was like a lobster or crab or something that same day, but after that I hadn't seen another person since." Kate breathed in and out heavily, "Okay. Your turn, Kara?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 8:02 am
Padding over to her bunk (formerly Wesley's) Kara sat down to listen to Kate's story. She made a mental note that she was lucky that it was Wesley who found her rather than this mermaid-fishy-girl as Kate put it. At least with Wesley he led her to the camp and officially gave her command of his bunk. There were some terms Kate used that Kare didn't quite get, namely the cake and the 411 but she could infer from the context what the girl meant.
"I'm from the Philippines, I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't heard of it, but then again we've become famous for shipping DH's, nurses, medical technitians and being outsourced call agents." It wasn't easy to keep the bitterness from her voice, but Kara didn't want to give a bad impression. Especially with someone normal and new. "Anyway, my parents sent me off on a cruise for..." She seemed hesitant "My birthday."
It wasn't a completely lie, her birthday had passed a month before she got on the cruise so she could have considered it as a gift. "Anyway, a storm hit and I was on the deck when this huge wave knocks me overboard. And then this british guy Wesley found me, I'm not sure what he's turning into but maybe an electric eel 'cuz he can send electrical charges and stuff. It was pretty cool especially with the hair-standing-on-end bit. But other than him and you, I haven't met anyone else." She finished. She had been careful not to say why she was on deck, it was just too stupid of her.
"So, a week huh? And you've only seen two of the castaways? This place must be frikkin' huge."
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 8:19 am
"The Phillipines? Oh wow. I would have just assumed you were from the US. I mean, you speak english totally great?" (Kate, you idiot! That's such a jerk comment! There are other people in the world that speak English!) "I mean, uh. Sorry . . . I don't really know too much about the world outside of where I grew up."
"But yeah, the island. Leonard—that's the lobster guy i was talking to—said that they'd hadn't even explored the whole thing yet, but there is an old American military base from, like World War II? Totally abandoned, though. I just find it strange that everyone doesn't stick together around here. Strength in numbers, right?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 8:23 am
Kara chuckled "No offense taken. You'd be surprised that I'm much more fluent in English than I am in my native language. Though technically as a Filipino-Chinese, my native language should be Mandarin and not Tagalog but, meh, I'm better in English. Except when I cuss." She laughs. "I completely agree with the strength in numbers thing, especially since I know next to nothing about fending for myself. I'm a city girl and I've come to rely on technology far too much." She adds with a frown.
"Pakshet I hope I don't end up starving." Her expression is worried. Though Kara was thin, it was due to her having a small appetite to begin with, but she just wondered if all that would change once she started engaging in manual labor. The island seemed to entail she'd be doing a lot of that just to survive.
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 11:18 am
"Well, I'm not survivor-girl or anything, but I've been doing okay for a kid from the suburbs. If you look around there's fruit and nuts and stuff." Kate grinned, "I can even tell you which ones made me puke and stuff! So, uh, you can avoid those."
Kate pointed to a nearby tree, "Like, see that yellow-green thing over there? Safe to eat. A little sour, but not too bad. But, that red berry that looks kinda like a giant cherry down there? Yeah man, that thing kicked me out for like a day. Ugh."
Kate scratched her hair, "Can't really do much about bathing, though. I mean, I pretty much wash off everyday in the lagoon. Not exactly a hot shower, but it's better than being all sweaty and nasty." She sighed.
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 6:51 pm
Kara couldn't help but frown, sure fruits and nuts and stuff were healthy and they'd keep her alive but Kara was going to learn how to hunt and fish and especially cook if she wanted to eat meat again.
"Lagoon? So there's a fresh water source here?" She sighed in relief, she knew she could make fresh water from the ocean or sea or whatever that salty body of water was called but she didn't know how exactly. Where's the internet when you need it?
"What I wouldn't give to have been a chef so I know how to cook stuff." She found herself grumbling.
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Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 8:44 am
"Shhhyeah, tell me about it." Kate added. "I'm not much good in the kitchen. Hopefully there's someone here that is." She paused for a minute and appeared to be in thought, "but, you know, I wonder how long we'll need to keep eating, y'know, people food."
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