Dogs don't count as people
Your name is Jade Harley, and you're lonely. You've got Bec, of course, and your grandfather downstairs, but it does nothing to quench the overwhelming feeling of loneliness. Right no, you're sitting in your (outdoor) garden. The bench is made of old wood, and creaks under your weight. There's a chill in the air, symbolizing the end of summer and the beginning of your favorite season, autumn. Sometimes you rake the fallen leaves to take up the time that you seem to have so much of, and make a mountain of them. One time you had so many in one pile that you were able to make a little cavern inside, where you spent days inside.
You'd never say it to any of your friends, but the house just seems so big for one girl. Bec isn't always there, so it's just you and your plants most of the time. You're tired of pretending your grandpa is alive, it's just silly! But you can't talk to anyone about that, what would they say? John would tell you to leave the island, find a guardian, but you can't! You have responsibilities! Dave would be flippant (as per the norm) and answer everything with sarcasm, and Rose would just try to pry your mind apart. As much as you love them, your friends aren't really the best people to talk about serious problems with. You'll take what you're given, but you just wish...
You wish you had someone to talk to.
Face to face. You want to be able to touch someone, and hug them, and just hear someone's voice.
But enough of that. You push off of the bench, grimacing at the creaking sound. You should really try to build a new one. You huff, and look around. You don't want to go home, but you don't really want to stay here. You're just really restless today.
As far as adventure is concerned, you have a few options. You could go south, and head towards the beach. There, you could explore all the caverns and cliffs. Dangerous, but you never seem to run out of fun there. You could also go west or north, into the forest. A bunch of beasts hang around there, but they all seem to love you. Animals just do, you guess. South is the ruins, and that's DEFINITELY not something you wish to deal with. You get a bad feeling whenever you're around that area.
You shrug and head south, whistling a tune as you kick your feet. It's a nice day outside, not too hot, not too cold, and there are little to no clouds. It never really gets that cold on your island, you only ever really need a heavy coat on snow days. The weather has a habit of changing suddenly, one day it will be seventy out, and the next there will be a foot of snow. It's pretty cool. You giggle under your breath at the joke you made during your internal monologue before stopping at the edge of a cliff. The wind pushes your hair into your face, and your eyes cross as you spit it out of your mouth. You still survey the area around you, trying to decide which way to go. You know this area pretty well, but the island always seems to have new surprises for you. You clamber down the easiest path, which is still pretty damn steep. You almost fall a few times, but you finally stumble off of the hill and onto the sand. You lose your footing and fall down with an "oof!"
You roll over onto your back and giggle; it's been some time since you were last on the beach. This might be the last time for the winter. You pop up off of the ground and push your glasses back up onto the bridge of your nose, and look around. Seeing nothing of interest, you shrug and start off towards your right. You skip down the beach, occasionally moving over to avoid the rising tide. It's a full moon tonight, and the ocean seems especially restless. You stop after quite a bit of walking; you don't remember this area. The cliff/hill has developed into a type of cavern, rising up and over the sand like a wave made of rock. There are hundreds of crevices in it, and there seems to be a few cave entrances. The beachfront also winds around, disappearing behind the rock.
You pick a random cave entrance and walk in.
It's dark inside, and you know it will only get darker as you wander away from the entrance. You search your sylladex for something to light the way, and find a torch. A little Tomb Raider, but it will do. You also find a box of matches; fantastic. You slay at the memory game required to get them both out, and groan as the matches spill all over. You quickly gather them back up into the box, keeping one in your hand. You strike it and light the torch, smiling at the burst of flame that roars up. You re-equip the box and turn towards the dark cavern.
The cave is cold and wet, and it smells like it too. It twists and turns; it opens in a huge clearing in some places, and in other places you have to crouch to get through. After a while though, you begin to smell fresh air. You haven't turned around, so it's not the entrance that you came in from. With renewed vigor, you charge ahead, breaking through the exit while trying to catch your breath. Which it hard, because the view is breathtaking.
You're not high up - not too high, anyway - but you instead came out into a place where the rock just... Disappears. It's almost like the cave just got sliced in half. You can see out over the ocean; the water is glittering and the sun looks a few hours away from setting. You want to be here when it does, you bet it would look amazing. You go over to the edge and peer over, seeing a little enclosed beachfront a few yards below you. You attempt to find a safe way down, but since when has your island ever been safe? Pursing your lips and blowing an impatient burst of air through your nose, you decide to jump. It won't kill you, nor will it hurt you; if you land correctly.
You back up so you can't see the ground beneath the edge and take a deep breath. You start running. With a yell, you tumble over the edge and hit the ground, youth-rolling the shit out of that landing. You land on your back, covered in sand. Your legs and arms ache, but nothing is broken. You blink a few times, trying to figure out why you can't see anything, before you realize your glasses fell off. You smack your hands around before you hit your wire frames. You fumble to pick them up and get them on your face. They're a little sandy, but not scratched yet. So, you're go. You're about to get up before you stop in your tracks. Which doesn't really make sense because you're laying down, but whatever. But, now that you think about it...
How the hell are you getting back up?
You roll onto your stomach and rest your chin on your hands, looking up at the cave entrance. It's actually higher than you thought it was; you're surprised you didn't hurt anything. Your eyes wander down, surveying the wall. A bunch of the rocks seem loose, and possibly dangerous, but you can probably scramble back up. But not now, obviously. You push yourself up with a groan, scowling at your protesting muscles. When you stand, you attempt to brush the sand off of your front, but fail miserably. You let out a little "harrumph," and turn to the water. It really is pretty. Pretty...
Lonely.
You hate yourself for letting your mind wander back to that conundrum; you were having so much fun. You suppose your subconscious just likes to torment you. You wander closer to the water and sit down against a rock, pulling your legs up to your chest. It seems that no matter how much fun you have, not matter how much you try to take your mind off of the fact that you're ALONE, it always crawls back. You'd think you would be used to it by now, but it seems the opposite. Every day, it just gets worse.
You sigh for what seems the millionth time today (no, you haven't been keeping track, shut up), pulling your legs even closer to yourself. Sometimes you think if you make yourself small enough, you'll just disappear. Pipe dreams, but still. It would be nice. You gaze down at your feet, shuffling sand around with your toes. You wiggle them, and watch pale sand funnel through the gaps. Maybe someday you could invite one of your friends over. You're not sure how they could get here, but you would figure it out. A splash in the watch startles you, and your head snaps up. It could just be a fish. But, something in your subconscious tells you it's not. That was too loud for a tiny fish. A shark? You should leave. You're about to get up when it happens again, this time graced by a large, bright pink, tail.
What the fuck?
Your eyes are blown wide, and you're pretty sure you aren't blinking. That was NOT a natural color, nor size. What fish is bright fuschia? And what the hell kind of fish is that bug? Your question is answered by a head popping out of the water a few feet away, and your mouth falls open. It's a young girl, but she's definitely not human. If she was, you would say she was about your age. And as weird as it is to say it, she is beautiful. Like, unnaturally beautiful. Her skin has a grey-ish tint to it, and she has two long horns curling back over her head. Her hair seems awfully fluffy for it to be soaking wet, and a golden crown wraps around her forehead, the tips disappearing behind two large fins protruding from where her ears would be. She blinks owlishly at you, and time seems to slow down. But then she breaks into a huge grin, showing rows of deadly, shark-like teeth. You close your mouth.
"Hi!"