Thread: Island Captive

As Catherine boarded the tall ship and watched the English shore drift away for the last time in her life, the young woman couldn't help but smile she was going back to the New World to marry the man she loved. To marry for love was a rare matter in her world, most girls were betrothed to the man their parents chose for them. In time they could hope for affection, but love rarely was a product of such unions. Her father was a merchant and she was his only child, her mother had passed when she was young and she'd traveled the seas with him. Well versed in the perils that the ocean presented, Catherine did not become alarmed when the waters began to toss and turn as swells grew and the sun finally fell below the horizon. Her father directed her to her cabins as waves began to send water spewing across the deck and the 17 year old gladly obliged. Once in her cabins she undid her long blonde hair from it's tress and diligently brushed it, running her hands through it before tying it back up for the night. In the small mirror seafoam green eyes looked back at her and lush lips smiled in satisfaction. She changed out of her clothing and slipped into a white cotton chemise and then crawled into her bunk to wait the storm out. The hours passed and still the rock of the boat did not abate, instead it seemed as though the sea was growing angered by the ship's resistance to the wave as the winds roared in disdain. Catherine could not sleep, as for once she wondered whether the ship's crew would be able to handle the sea's rage. As time continued to pass it seemed as though the boat was being pitched about like a toy, dipping perilously close to capsizing and then righting itself up again. The young woman could only sit in fear, unable to aid the men that she knew would be scrambling to keep control in the turmoil. All of a sudden there was a pounding on her door and her father's yells could be heard, urging her to come out. Scrambling and desperately trying to maintain her balance as she opened the door, Catherine felt the spray of water as it fell down the hatch. Her father grabbed her arm, hauling her up and on deck as another wave came to smash against the boat. For a moment they slid across the deck and then her father got his footing once again. The voices around her from the men told her that the ship was going down, there was nothing that could be done. Already her bow was dipping into the waves, the sea winning its battle. There was a row boat and her father helped her into it as the two men inside kept her against the ship long enough for her to climb in. Crying, she tried to get her father to come along, but true to his calling he would remain on board the ship with the men he'd traveled with for his whole life. Without wasting further time, the row boat cast off into the waves, the men straining against the waters. As they slowly moved away, Catherine watched in horror as the ship containing her father pitched to its side one last time and was swallowed in the dark waters. For the next few hours the men battled the abating waves as the sun slowly began to rise. It seemed as though they were to succeed when a final vicious wave came to slam against their little boat, dragging Catherine into the waters with it. When Catherine awoke she found herself lying on a white sandy beach, various articles from the shipwreck strewn about her. Her chemise was torn and stained, her head throbbed painfully from where it had struck the boat and there was dried blood on her temple, but she appeared to be otherwise unharmed. Sitting up, the young woman winced and looked around, finding herself alone in the heat of the sun on what appeared to be a tropical island. The events of the past night then hit her and realizing she was stuck without family or any way home, she rested her head on her knees and began to cry. Talking