Ashore

1: Ashore

TW: mentions of suicide
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I'm alive. But I'm... Not breathing.
My chest heaves up and down and I gasp for air. I feel nauseous. I don't even know if I'm having a panic attack or just lacking oxygen. Waves crash nearby and I feel sand under my palms.

Speaking about sand, where the heck am I?
I try to open my eyes. They flutter open.

Blinding light enters my vision.
I wince and close my eyes again. Amd I just lay there with my eyes closed for a minute or so, before I'm snapped back to reality by a voice.

"Look, it's a girl!"
"Haha, she's so pretty."
Loud laughing.
The two voices definitely belonged to minors, 13 year olds?
"I think she's unconscious. Let's go check if she's okay, guys." another 13 year old, but way more mature.

I try to sit up, but crumble immediately. Weakness runs through my veins.
Seriously, what the heck is wrong with me?
"You okay? Cmon, let's help her get up." After hearing footsteps approach me, I find myself opening my eyes and getting lifted up by the elbows. I try to stand up but fail, and decide to just sit down for awhile.
"So uh... I think your ankle is twisted. And you're barely breathing."
"Whats your name?"
"I can get you a drink if you can walk to our secret base!"
Three voices say simultaneously. I open my mouth to speak, but I'm greeted with my heart pounding, throat tightening up, anxiety filling me.
For a moment, I forgot I had selective mutism and an anxiety disorder.
And... Faint memories fill my mind.
I was crying.
People chasing me.
The bridge.
The end?
Impact.
And I don't know what happened next, I washed ashore and-
"What's your name?" I hear the voice say again.

I have to say something.
"Aster. Where is this and.. Who are you guys?" I sputter.
"Yeah, we just helped you out and probably going to give you medical treatment, no need to say thanks. I'm Tubbo, by the way."
"She- Aster- literally almost died. You can't blame her. Hey, I'm Ranboo, sorry about Tubbo." I nod and manage a smile. So he's the mature one, and the childish one-
"HI, I'M TOMMY! YOU SHOULD BE PART OF US, WE CAN BE THE BENCH QUADO!"

-okay, Tommy.

"Sorry. Thanks." somehow, i am doing okay. Just that my arms are sore and my right ankle hurts, alot.
"About your question, I think we should get you to shelter and get you a drink first, then we'll talk. You're in a bad state." Ranboo?- says. I nod.
Finally, I gain enough strength to stand up but I almost fall over after feeling searing pain in my ankle.
"Ranboo, carry her!"
"Okay,"
Before I know it, I'm being piggybacked by ranboo. On a normal occasion, I would have knocked his lights out but I am still struggling to breathe and he's helped me out, sort of.
And the hoodie he's wearing feels so soft I almost sleep on it.

When it starts to rain, I feel myself moving faster. Actually, really fast. There's no way a human could run this fast-unless he's...
I must be going insane. Supernatural humans don't exist.

After awhile, we reach shelter and the sound of rain gets muffled. Rubbing my eyes, I look around and find myself in a hut. Wood, leaves... No, I'm in a tree house.
"Welcome to our secret base! You're lucky, I'm only allowing you in here because you're pretty." Tommy snickers and opens a...fridge?
"You have a fridge in here?" I say in spite of myself.
Tubbo replies for Tommy. "Yeah, we stole one of these mini fridges from the castle,"
"Guys, help her out. We haven't even told her where this is. Welcome to L'manburg, Aster."
"L'manburg? Is this somewhere in, like, Singapore or something?"
"NO, this is L'manburg. An isolated nation far away from the rest of the world, near Antarctica. If you're wondering why it's not cold, this is basically a natural wonder. Somehow just on this island, it's warm, even though Antarctica is just a few kilometres away."

This must be a dream. Where's Galaxius, where's my phone?

Where's my phone?

I search my pocket and heave a sigh of relief as I pull out my phone and turn it on. The familiar lockscreen of a collage of Anime characters I made appears.

"You have a phone? I have one too."
"Tommy, it's not the time for PHONES. Ranboo rolls his eyes. Wait. His eyes- one is red and the other is green.
What?
I choose to ignore it.
"You need to get your ankle treated. Okay, just lie here," Ranboo gestures to a bench. I slide my phone back into my pocket before following his instructions.
"This will probably hurt kind of alot considering you're a human, but it's the fastest way so please bear with it, okay?"
I recall falling off the bridge and landing in the water. That hurt like hell. Anything would be better at this point.
"Tubbo, you know what to do." Tubbo positions himself in front of me and gets hold of my ankle. He mutters something to himself and before I realise, he twists my ankle with extreme strength.

So much pain.

Thats what greets me a second after his action. I shut my eyes and when the pain fades away slightly, I open my eyes and my vision is watery.

"That really hurt!" I exclaim, breathing heavily.
"Sorry bossman,"
Although, I check my ankle and it feels normal again, except that it feels a little sore.
"Well, thanks though. It seems okay now." I tell them and manage a smile. Smiling back, tommy offers me a drink. Coke.

I feel like I'm in heaven the moment the cold, sweet, drink hits my tongue. At that moment, I also realise I'm hungry when my stomach rumbles almost as loud as the thunder outside.
"Seems like you're hungry. We only have some chips here, but there's dinner soon, so just eat the chips first then wait till then." Tubbo grabs a packet of 'chips'- I would call them fries- and hands then to me, while I start gobbling down the food.
"So... How did you get here?" Tommy questions.
"To be honest, I barely know. I... I was- depressed, I guess. I wanted to end it."
"End what?" God, Tommy is so innocent.
"Her life, duh. Please don't do that, by the way." For the first time, I encounter eye contact with Ranboo. He seems... Genuinely concerned.

Meanwhile, Tommy looks traumatised.
"Why would you do that?! You've got so many things to live for- your mom, your dad, your friends, your pet, rainy days, sunny days, school?" he almost yells.
Looking at the floor, I say quietly, "My mom died, father was abusive, I had one friend- Galaxius- but she stopped talking to me, I don't have a pet, rainy days are cool but my father made sure all the windows and curtains were closed to hide what he did to me, sunny days just burnt my skin and still do, and I got bullied at school, so... "
Comfortable silence fills the room.

I've never talked about my...depression to someone so openly before.

"Anyway, I wanted to end my life so I jumped off a bridge and landed in the water and it really hurt so I fainted and probably floated all the way here." I explain.
"Wow. I'm surprised you're not dead," Tubbo is the only one that speaks while the other two have their jaws on the floor.
"I- well, I'm glad you're alive. Its almost dinnertime, so let's head to the castle."
I raise my eyebrows and Ranboo gets the hint.
"Oh, Tommy's dad, Sir Philza, is the king. And we're Tommy's friends, so we get free dinner!" All of their eyes gleam with pride.
"I guess dinner is a privilege?" I ask.
"Its either dinner or rice with an egg and some vegtables. And mushroom soup."
That's way better than what I used to eat.
I shrug my shoulders and climb down the tree house ladder to find that the rain has stopped. The air is humid with the lingering scent of rain, and a gentle gust of wind sweeping across my face. The glow from the setting sun illuminates our faces, and only now do I realise that Tommy is actually... Handsome. Tubbo and Ranboo look similar, and I'm still confused at Ranboo's eyes.
I decide to ask about it later.
"Well, it's persuasion time!" Tommy says and sighs.
Persuasion time?

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Hope you liked the first part:)
Word count: 1445 words