The Pirate's Game (Updating)

The Others

The one thing this wretched island seemed to absolutely promise was loneliness. There were no signs of a human presence, other than Raven and her pirate companion. They had been the only two to survive that horrible shipwreck so long ago.

Or had they?

*

The days passed by slowly for Raven, but the nights ran quickly. When the sun was up her and Seth struggled to sleep and rest under the oppressive heat. Then when the sun set they raced to gather food and water, cook, eat, then stay awake to kindle the fire. It was an odd existence, but a relatively peaceful one.

It was also strange to contemplate her marriage to Seth, her once enemy. Though Raven supposed even a man like him improved upon closer inspection. He worked hard to help them survive, and seemed to all but lack his usual cruel nature. He could be charming when he wanted, and even kind at times.

This life...perhaps it would be livable. Hard and strenuous in its own ways, but endurable in others. Raven knew this, and decided to set her heart firmly on their future together. One month had almost come to completion, meaning their marriage was just over the horizon. As much as she wished to return home, back to Linda and the comforts of society, she also did not want to cause her mind any unnecessary pain by hoping in the impossible. This was where she needed her heart to be if there was going to be any hope for happiness in the years to come. Seth and this island, that is where her future rested now.

"Raven?" Seth's voice suddenly called from the silence.

"Yes?" She replied, gazing at him through the shadows dancing off the fire that night.

"I think...I will head a little deeper into the forest tonight. We need better food, not these small fruits and bugs. This will not always be enough to survive on..." He grumbled crankily.

Raven sucked in a sharp breath. Wandering off, late at night, while she sat here by herself!?

"Well, I know it is hot during the day, but it would also be less dangerous when it is light out. You should wait." She suggested.

He scowled at her through the flames.

"Look, I will be exhausted looking around in the heat! Better to do it now when it's cool. I will take a torch, and that way you can see me from a distance." He retorted.

Raven sighed with anger.

"And what shall I do if you get lost, or get hurt and die? Be stuck here for the rest of my life alone!?" She snapped anxiously.

Seth turned to look at her again, though his expression was a little softer.

"I will be careful Raven. Remember, I do not want to die. But we cannot stay here on the beach forever, we will starve. We need animals, or a more reliable source of vegetation." He said logically.

Raven nodded, though she was not comforted.

"Besides," He quickly added. "Children need a safe place to call home. We cannot have them running around in conditions that mirrored our own back in the day, can we?"

She blushed at the mentions of offspring. She had not thought him the type to think so far ahead...

"Anyways, I will only go a little ways each day, and plan to clear away a path to follow. Then we can-"

BAAAANG!!

Raven let out a startled scream, and Seth immediately jumped to his feet with a sharp stick. Her heart raced nervously at such a familiar sound.

A gunshot? A gunshot!

Why was there a noise like that on an abandoned island like this!?

"Was that..." Seth whispered with a look of hope.

The crew. The rest of his pirate friends. It could only be them!