Island, Round Six: By a fallen stake...

[Ginz ❤]

Danielle was adding the final touches to her sandcastle, when suddely a guy came and sat on top of it. Danielle watched her pretty castle crumble before her eyes, but life was too short to be upset by such trivial things.

She looked up at her new acquaintance, he had placed his hands on her shoulders. She smiled at him. "Hi, I'm Danielle!" she said a little too cheerfully for the occasion.

Then he took a deep breath and started talking. A lot of the things she said, Danielle barely understood. But he mentioned cake, and turning the island into a resort (wait, wasn't it already? She was confused.) and buying a pony, so she decided he was okay in her books.

But then he said he had heard some gossip she should know. And as he talked, Danielle's smile faded from her face. When Thomas was done, her mouth was open in disbelief, and her eyes were wide open.

The captain was dead? And not only he had died, but he had been murdered! How could this be? Danielle sat there, frozen in shock. She shook her head and tried to say something, but no sound came out of her mouth.

Some people were picking up things that had washed up the shore, but she still couldn't move. It's as if someone had turned her to stone.

[Avery]

When Nelly's wallet-- still filled with all her darling cash!-- washed up, she was delighted. Oh, oh, oh, she may be stranded on a desert island with a bunch of sniveling idiots, but at least once they got off this godforsaken rock, she'd still have her wealth. She was practically hugging the wallet when the body washed up behind it. And the little Cassie girl started to cry.

Drat.

"There, there, dear," she said in her most comforting voice. "I'm sure whoever you're crying for is at peace now. I mean, sure, the drowning had to be most wretched but-- ahh! Stop the tears!"

More people had started to gather around the body, gaping at it. What was it about corpses that drew onlookers, trapped them like flies with honey? With a sigh, Nelly patted the girl's shoulder once more, then stood and faced the crowd.

"Nothing to see here," she said. "I shall deal with the body. Now all of you bug off, m'kay?"

[Deleted]

Delicate and precarious, Melanie crouched down by the shore. Everyone else was doing it, so she supposed she ought to search for some precious lost item. Perhaps her iPhone 4S had gone astray? Siri, the lovely shiny block of glass, was her precious, her baby. She loved Siri like one would a little sister with a credit card.

"Siri! Sweetheart!" Melanie whistled. "Come to mommy!" No response came. This...this was bad. She would have to go into the muck herself, would she? This could not transpire, but at the same time, she could not sacrifice the wealth of apps, all compressed into a tiny phone. How novel. How magical. She loved to get sentimental when it came to shiny objects, especially when they were high-end.

There!
There it was!
The most familiar shape!
Reach--reach--!

There it was, in the palm of her hand: Siri.

God's in his Heaven—
All's right with the world!

[Nova]

Hunter overheard as Thomas Everington blabbed to the sandcastle building girl, Danielle, about his life and bits of gossip. Though he really perked up when he heard his own name, that he was having an affair with Melanie Baruch.

But before he could get over that, everybody was gathering around Cassie as her dead mother drifted ashore.

Death has just been around every palm tree.

And then things get weirder when an unfazed Nelly says she'll take care of the body. Is she some sort of Funeral Director or something? 'Cause that's just weird.

Hunter decided to leave the mourning group, and join the distraught Danielle and the very interesting Thomas.

"Hey there, I'm Hunter. You guys okay?"

[Robyn]

"I love it, don't you?"

Moonflower snapped out of her reverie none too quickly, lolling her eyes over at the girl who'd addressed her nice and slow, like a cat roused from a sunning session. She noticed that her aura was pulsing with magenta light, a healthy sign. It was shrinking a little (a side effect from the recent trauma, Moonflower guessed), but as long as the brightness was there, it was really nothing to get too concerned about. She remembered her name to be Sam.

"Love makes the world go round," Moonflower said to Sam, drifting past her with a bit of a dancing leap. She could feel her chi flowing perfect and true through her chakras, and the sand crushed coolly under the pads of her bare feet.

Then, there was a tug. Moonflower stopped at the edge of the shore, feeling what could only be described as something trying to draw the attentions of her soul. She let her eyes sink down to the paunchy sand. A black cord had washed up along the beach, and on it was strung a jutting, weighty quartz crystal that shone with an amethyst hue in the burning daylight. Moonflower smiled as she put her necklace back on, not minding the new rivulets of water that streamed down her shoulders. Easy come, easy go.

Now that her healing crystal was intact, she wondered if perhaps she could use its centering powers to steady her train of thought and figure out what she ought to do next. Food was going to be a priority, as well as shelter and water, but she knew in her heart that Gaia would not leave her loyal children unprotected.

It was still going to be pretty important to find at least a coconut tree, though.

Vaguely, Moonflower scanned over the other shipwreckees, some of whom where conversing with each other, some who were wandering off in search of those self-same necessities, and some who were mourning. She was not sure that even the healing powers of her crystal could aid in such a dark spiritual time, but she sent a portion of the flow of her positive energy their way. May the ever-turning presence of the soulosphere serve as some comfort to them, she thought.

Her stomach growled. Rations on the life raft had run out far too quickly, and though Moonflower wasn't one to complain, it was definitely getting to be scavenging time. There seemed to be a natural path amongst the palm trees off to the back of the beach, and she let her intuition guide her feet. Going with the flow as usual, that was her.

Moonflower hummed and passed by the one of the other girls who she knew was named Selm. Out of the corner of her eye, she could catch flashes of astral purple dancing around her.

[Deleted]

Poor, poor Cassie. Mina didn't exactly know how she could help, but she sat beside the sobbing girl.

"I'm...so sorry, honey...I have a sister on the mainland, and I would be just as distraught to lose her like this."

She began to hum, hoping to comfort the girl. Perhaps she might write a new song. Something about a sea spirit who watched over her land-dwelling daughter...

[Luna]

Cassie sobbed at her mothers sight. She was trying to convince herself it wasn't true and that when she fell asleep she would wake up in her bed at home and, and everything would be fine and her father would be back! Everything would be fine!

Right?

The words pushed in her head. Right? Wouldn't things be okay? They were always okay! Why wouldn't this be okay?!

She knew why. Because she was trapped on an island with a murderer, maybe even more than one. No way out. No way to live.

"There, there, dear," Cassie heard someone say to he in a comforting voice. "I'm sure whoever you're crying for is at peace now. I mean, sure, the drowning had to be most wretched but-- ahh! Stop the tears!"

She felt a hand touch her shoulder and she looked up at the older woman comforting her.

"I-I'm sorry I just can't hel-lp it." She sniffed and wiped her eyes. She noticed people had gathered around her mothers body.

"Nothing to see here," She heard Nelly say. "I shall deal with the body. Now all of you bug off, m'kay?"

She started up at the woman and watched the people start to leave.

"W-what do you mean y-you'll 'deal with the body'? You m-mean we will hav-ve a funeral or s-something?" She looked up hopeful then noticed someone else come and sit next to her.

"I'm...so sorry, honey...I have a sister on the mainland, and I would be just as distraught to lose her like this."

She heard the girl start to hum. It was a little comforting. Cassie wiped her eyes again and tried to calm herself down.

[Rosalie Dylas (Maddy)]

Voices, so many voices. Everywhere sounds. Christopher was putting a name to each voice. The loud voice who liked to gossip was Thomas, the cheerful voice was Danielle, and the kind voice was Mina. Christopher felt that he would get nothing done by standing there. He reached his arms out, making sure there was no one in his way, the he tentatively took a step. When he didn't fall of a cliff he gained some confidence. He started taking several steps. He really had no idea where he was going, but it was better than standing around waiting for something to happen.

BAM


It was sort of inevitable. Still, Christopher let out a yelp as he collided with something. He assumed it was a palm tree, but then he realized palm trees weren't soft. He had kind of landed on the ground after the collision, and he was sore.

"Are you a person? I'm so sorry!" Christopher said, flustered.

[Jayeee]

Thomas raised an eyebrow and scrunched up his nose when a young lady suggested that nobody listen to his lies. “Do not shoot the messenger, young lady,” he said matter-of-factly. “I was simply passing along information – I didn’t make it.”

He crouched back down to Danielle. “You didn’t hear this from me, but apparently that girl I was just speaking too has a son on the island – a fellow named Christopher Dylans.” He nodded his head. “You know, with all these curious names floating about, it’s any wonder that I can remember them. But we mustn’t forget that I am the executive of our generation. When considering that, it’s not surprising at all how much my mind can retain.”

He stood back up again just in time to be pointed at by a strange man. He was rather speechless for a few seconds at the man’s words. “Could, er… somebody fetch this man a strait jacket?” he said and laughed uneasily. “GOOD. SIR. COULD. YOU. PLEASE. KEEP. IT. DOWN. SOME. OF. US. ARE. TRYING. TO. HAVE. A. CON-VER-SA-TION!” he shouted at the top of his voice and smiled at the man, as if his very loud words were doing him a favour. He stooped back down to Danielle. “Got to be nice to those kind of people, haven’t you? Did you know I once went on a school trip to an insane asylum. Such a sight, it was. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Oh goodness, I was shocked at what the people did in there. I saw somebody eating their own hair, can you believe it? There was food being thrown about and, oh it was just ghastly. Absolutely ghastly. I was truly appalled at what I was witnessing. But we must remember that they are people too. I mean, I once knew somebody who was a little insane, so you know what I did? I had him committed. Daddy got it all sorted out. He was just shipped away and we never saw him again. Oh, I am such an honourable citizen, aren’t I?”

Thomas poked Danielle – she hadn’t seemed to be moving much while he spoke. “Excuse me? Hello?” He shrugged. “I get this kind of reaction rather often. You know, people are just speechless by my accolades and wonderment. Did you know, once I gave somebody a heart attack just by mentioning my name? They were absolutely overcome by my presence that they just fell over. Had to be carted away after that. Very uncouth business!”

He looked over at the crowd who has gathered around the shore next to them. He could hear a girl crying out about her mother, but it wasn’t until he caught a glimpse of a dead body that he realised.

“OH MY GOODNESS, NO!” he cried out jumping up into the air only to collapse back to the ground. “How could such a horrible thing happen? I am simply overcome with grief. GRIEF!” He sobbed into the sand. “Will this ever end? Why does this always happen to me? Am I not to have any peace in this lifetime, will every unfortunate incident plague me wherever I go?!”

“I cannot stand this any-“

He stopped as Hunter walked over to them, and jumped up to meet him.

“Ah, hello there, I’m Thomas Everinton, of Everington Cakes Limited. You’ve probably never heard of it – it’s a very high class business. You should try it sometime; oh the cakes are simply delicious. I don’t make them of course – that’s left to the hundreds of workers who sit in our factories and sort out that kind of business. But it is delicious. Oh you simply must try some when we return. You know, it’s funny because this island would make the perfect place for another cake factory, don’t you think? Oh I do ever so much, you know, I think I might tell daddy about it, after he buys the island of course. Did I tell you we’re buying this island after we’re rescued? Isn’t it going to be wonderful? I can’t wait. Daddy is going to employ lots of workers to make this place habitable. Did I tell you that we sell cakes in over forty-five different countries? Daddy says that’s better than any other company around. And did you see that girl with the wings? Daddy is going to buy her when we return; she’d make such a charming addition to my home zoo, don’t you agree? I simply cannot wait to show all of my friends the wonders of this island. I might return here for my birthday party, wouldn’t that be smashing? And then we can watch those lions and tigers. Oh I simply cannot wait. What an adventure this has been!”

Thomas pointed to the sky. “Adventure is out there!”

Panting a little bit, he finally took in what Hunter had said. “Oh, so you’re Hunter Harris? Well I’ve heard all about you.” Thomas nudged him playfully. “Quite the ladies’ man is what I hear. You’ll have to introduce us to the lucky lady one of these days. What was her name again, Melody, Harmony?” He paused for a second. “Melanie, that was it. Yes, quite lucky indeed. You see, I’ve always thought that if you can’t get a decent career you just get married. Fail at one thing, so you get married. Isn’t that just the way things are? Well it’s good to see that you’ve gotten the marriage part down. I’m sure your lives will be wonderful. It’s nice to know that standards are different for everyone. Very nice indeed.”

He looked down at Danielle. “Don’t mind her, she’s just a little taken back by the stories I told her. She’ll come around soon enough. I was just telling her a little gossip. You know that dead woman? Well, rumour has it that she was an agent for the CIA and that the whole reason this ship crashed was due to a conspiracy plot started by our departed captain, who needed her dead. Of course, he also wanted to kill all his illegitimate children – I mean, who needs them running around, ruining his little rendezvous’ with other women!?”

[Draco]

Drake was relaxing on the ship deck when ship began to sink. Before going on this cruise he got himself revived in some way, and decided to use the profits of his book to go on a cruise (most of it went to the crazy doctor who revived him).
Now however, Drake was sitting in a old hole filled life boat, which he stole from some props (probably not a good idea). He was sinking, and there were large sharks circling him.

"From writer, to mafia, to ghost, to vacationer, to shark food? Not if I can help it!"

He tries to plug up holes and empty water from the boat as fast as he could, but ultimately couldn't keep up. He was now floating boatless in water, surrounded by sharks.

"Shark bait..."

He watches as the sharks swim at him ready to devour his body, but they swim away quickly. He looks around surprised and happy.

"Not shark bai-"

Out of the water, a mouth as large as a whale closes around him. A giant shark. Moments later his ghost floats above the water.

"Oh great.... Well back to Netwaffle..."

He flies off in the direction of Netwaffle.

-------

Meanwhile, on the shore of the island, a man washes to shore clutching onto a large chest. This man was Q. Ocard. What the Q stood for is unknown, since he never tells anyone. When the ship sank, he was still in his room sleeping. He didn't even know it was sinking until he heard some noise and noticed water in his ocean in his window instead of sky. He quickly grabbed his chest, dragged it to the deck right before water began to flood the corridors he was located in. Now he was on the beach.

Q looked around, there were other things that were washed up on the shore, but he didn't see anyone. Getting off the chest, he opened it and pulled out a small bottle of water (taken from the room's little fridge), and drank it. Sure he should have saved it, but he was thirsty, and would worry about dying a slow death later. First he needed to relax on the deserted beach. He pulled over a washed on deck chair (which was wet and a bit holey now) and dragged his chest next to it, and relaxed.

"Hmm... I need another drink..."

Looking around he finds a coconut and takes it. He then digs into his chest again, and after a few noises, he lifts his head out, and he holds a small cocktail drink using the coconut as a cup, complete with small umbrella and straw. He sips it as he lays on the chair.

[Ginz ❤]

Danielle continued staring blankly for a while. Thomas kept talking, but she wasn't hearing a word anymore.

“Excuse me? Hello?”

Danielle could feel she was being poked, but she was too shaken to react. But then suddenly, there was a reflection that ran across her face for a second. She blinked a few times and turned to see where that had come from. In the distrance, she could see a girl putting on a shiny necklace. "Oooo... shiny," she mumbled in a barely audible voice.

The shiny was distracting enough to make her snap out of her previous state of numbness just in time to see a young man approaching them.

"Hey there, I'm Hunter. You guys okay?"

Thomas starting giving his whole speech again, so Danielle let him talk. She was still pulling herself together.

Thomas said "Don’t mind her, she’s just a little taken back by the stories I told her. She’ll come around soon enough. I was just telling her a little gossip." She took that as her cue.

"Hi, I'm Danielle!" she finally said. "That girl has a shiny necklace!" She pointed at Moonflower.

Then she noticed Cassie kneeling next to a body and shrieked. "What is this place?" She asked Thomas and Hunter. "This is the worst beach resort I've ever been to!"

[Celestial]

"I'm sorry you lost your harp," Shani said. "But it's doubtful you'd have time for making music here."

She turned around and waved to the businessman who had approached them as well as the Souther girl. More people were beginning to gather now. Shani decided to observe them for now, to see what happens and which people she would take an instant dislike to. It was funny. She had avoided humans ever since she grew her wings but she had grown up among them. And now, all the skills and nuances of human interaction were coming back to her like riding a bicycle. It was important to her survival. People in the same island as a killer tended to be nervous.

There was a girl building a sandcastle nearby, something Shani never thought she would see here, let alone after a murder. She also noticed a boy who seemed distant from the conversations. If she could recall, he was part of the crew. His eyes were always unfocused. The girl who had approached Cassie (she really ought to stop listening to other people's conversations) looked intrimidated by Shani. The angel's wings sagged. She did not want to be intimidating but that was the reaction most people had to angels. That and worshipful.

The hippie had arrived by now. Shani tried not to be bothered by her but she had a feeling that if she was seen, there would be no end to the fact that she was an angel. Her wings were pulled even closer to her back but extended afterwards in anger, along with a hiss. She hated spoilt rich kids. They used to give her so much trouble before she grew her wings. Eventually her parents took care of them, scaring them off for good, but still, she hated them. Which is why she did not like the fact that some obnoxious spoilt brat was talking to the girl building a sandcastle, which he promtly destroyed. The fact that she was then catatonic from his words or his destruction made it even worse.

The body that washed up however, made Shani need to sit down. That was too much. Two bodies in one day were way too much. The thought that there might be more was almost unthinkable. But it's going to be ok, she said to herself. Just fine. There will be proof of who killed the captain. Besides, they were innocent. There was no need to kill them, right? It was unreasonable.

However, Cassie was even more affected by the body. It was her mother. Shani felt a lump in her throat. Some angels might say something about heaven and reward and all that jazz but Shani was not among them. She did not lie nor did she have any reason to lie. She was a wild angel.

The tourist woman, the suspicious-looking one, was comforting the girl now. She was going to take care of the body. That didn't sound good. Shani stood up and went over to the girl, hanging back while everyone else comforted her.

At least she was better than the rich idiot girl and her precious iPhone. Shani put her hands on Cassie's shoulders, who was attempting to calm down but was immediately distracted by the voice of the rich moron again. This time he was close by and his words were completely and utterly false. But what angered her more was his pointless goings on, some of which included her. Buying her. Because she was a commodity it seemed.

Well, this was new. It took a while for Shani to contain her rage, during which time more people had come to join the crowd gathering on the beach. There was a guy with a treasure chest drinking out of a coconut like he was on holiday.

The girl with the sandcastle seemed to have recovered but as soon as she saw the body, she cried out.. Shani walked over to her, wings half-folded. Apparently her name was Danielle.

"This is a desert island. I'm sorry, it's not a resort," she said calmly before turning to the rich moron. His name was Thomas but she did not care. Rich moron seemed more appropriate.

"And may I enquire why you think you can buy me and add me to your zoo?" she hissed, extending her wings in a threat display.

[Yoyti]

Gregory watched the ocean as the waves came in and out. More and more things were being deposited by the sea. A partially corroded fishing hook. A nautilus shell. A whole lot of seaweed. A human body. Gregory tried not to think about that one.

Then he noticed the lady with the wings. Wings? On a primate? Gregory scribbled excitedly on the sand trying to estimate what sort of state the wings would have to be in to be capable of flight. And then there was the cake man. Cake was good. It would provide good sustenance on this island. The madman let his insanity get the better of him. Rising slowly to his feet, he said, in a loud voice, although it was by no means clear:

"I pose that the pastry man is a murderer!"

[Deleted]

What was that crazy guy saying? Why would the gossipy guy, as annoying as he was, want to kill anyone? No, Mina thought he was more the type to wait for something to happen, then spread rumors about it.

"I don't think so," she said to him.

He seemed...well, insane. Perhaps it was him who was the murderer.

And Danielle...well, she was completely clueless. It was time she learned reality.

"Hun," Mina said, "we're stranded. And I don't think we're getting off anytime soon. Sorry, but that's the way it is."

She grabbed her sopping half-written page of music and sat underneath a tree to relax. At least she could act like she was on vacation.

[selmette]

Selm heard the sand sifting nearby and glanced behind her. She held back a frustrated sigh. At least it was one of the few vacationers she'd been acquainted with beforehand. "Hey Moonflower," she said casually. "What brings you here?"

The shore was still in plain sight. She could make out the voices of her fellow stranded very clearly, although it bothered her that she didn't yet have faces to put them to. One in particular stood out to her; the egotistical rich kid who wouldn't shut up. She was a little busy being amused by his antics to be particularly irritated, but jeez, she didn't think she'd ever met anyone so obnoxious. And of course it was people like him who would grow to have the biggest impact on our world's society, she thought. That angered her. But it all boiled down to how you defined success. Life isn't fair.