The Castaway

“Yes. I can feel the presence of another hero. One of the last people to see Victoria Runeblade alive. ” The image of a shadowy figure crouched on a branch appeared in the sky. Even as a mere silhouette in front of an impossibly huge moon, it was easy to tell the figure was a girl. There definitely weren’t a lot -if any - clothes obscuring her body after all.

And once again the initial picture zoomed out to reveal an oldfashioned movie poster showing the same group of adventurers from before, now sitting around a campfire, with the shadowy figure peering down on them from amidst the branches. Big bold letters at the top proclaimed “It lurks in the jungle !!!!”.

“A queen of the jungle. Ruling a kingdom of one.” Another poster appeared. It showed a row of crudely fashioned houses along a beach that the letters at the bottom proclaimed to be “The Kingdom of the Scarecrows !!!!” And on second look the people standing in front of their houses or tilling the small gardens, were mere dummies held in position by thin poles and string. An old shipwreck lay at the end of the street with two ‘soldiers’ guarding the gate – a ragged hole in the bottom of the ship.

“Many a fanfiction has wondered how things would have gone if our protagonist didn’t have to waste a few days chasing this elusive royal all over the island to retrieve their stolen equipment. And if Victorias **** might have been prevented if our next contestant had found the courage to abandon her throne and give friendship a chance. I give you: The Castaway!”

Once again a cloud of white smoke billowed up at the top of the seats as a new poster appeared.

A shaft of light illuminated a driftwood-throne decorated with seashells and flowers. A bored amazon lounged on the throne. Or what Hollywould thought jungle-amazons should look like, a few decades ago. An artfully tousled mane of hair the colour of a bushfire, that looked entirely to well groomed for someone who supposedly hadn’t had access to a proper hair-stylist and conditioner for decades. Her skin too was merely slightly tanned to hint at some light outdoor activity and dusted with a smattering of storybook perfect freckles. And of course she had light green eyes that competed with the hair for the position of her most striking feature. Well the most striking feature above her neck.

In keeping with the amazon idea she was athletic, but definitely not muscular enough to make a guy feel insecure. Tall, but not tall enough to tower over the average guy. Her breasts and hips would have been huge on a smaller frame, but with her height they seemed merely well above average.

And it was easy to tell all these things about her body because -of course – she was dressed only in a loincloth and some vest-slash-bikini made from soft leather and decorated with a bit of fur and wooden beads.

The letters at the top of the poster declared this to be “The Lair of the Castaway!!!”.

This was probably bad. Really bad. The castaway thought, her eye going to the sturdy rope she had found while poking around the island for a bit. I would have prefered sleeping pills. But a rope can be quick if done right. Just need to make sure it is enough of a drop.

The woman had said noone of the Castaways family and friends would remember she ever existed. That was nice. That meant she didn’t have to worry about upsetting anyone. The physics had always been the easy part. People and emotions were the hard part.

And the idea off seeing Jeff again terrified her.

Especially looking like this.

But there was something oddly liberating about having lost everything.

Her gaze left the rope and moved back to the carvings in the ship-wall. The ones in this part of the ship were crude, like a child drawing with crayon.

This girl had lost everything too. And she’d crowned herself queen because..why not? There was no one here to tell her she was being silly.

That sentiment had been why the Castaway had been looking at the rope less and less during the past few hours, and instead wandered around the ship looking at the annals of the Original.

Because now that she was at rock bottom, what did she have to loose? So when the door appeared the Castaway decided the rope would still be there if she fucked up this life too.

Jeff had a lot more time to study this image to, because said Castaway didn’t confidently stride out of the smoke. Instead she was only revealed when the vapour dissipated and Jeff could see the girl just standing there staring down at them like a deer caught in the headlights.

“We might have finally managed to lure her out of the forest for this show. “ Amora said with a gentle laugh “But please be gentle with her. As you can see she isn’t used to people.” She beckoned the girl closer with a wave of her hand “Come and meet the Hero, brave companion.”

The girl took a step in their direction, before stopping again. Hugging herself as she stared uncertainly down at Jeff and Amora. Amora raised her hand to beckon a second time, but stopped when the Princess rose from her seat “I know it is intimidating.” She assured the redhead as she ascended the stairs “ being on camera like that. Meeting Jeffrey again under these circumstances.” She put a comforting arm around the girls midsection and went onto her tiptoes to whisper something to the amazon, before gently leading the new contestant down the stairs.

Halfway down the stairs, the Princess whispered something to her partner again. In response the Castaway looked up and gave Jeff a wave of her hand and a small smile that held some genuine affection.

“Well I suppose that has to pass for an introduction.” Amora said with mild disapproval, when the Princess sat down in the chair directly beside the stair and the bikiniclad girl immediately sat down in the neighbouring seat.

“Let us hope your next companion isn’t quite as ..skittish.” she said with a small chuckle and offered Jeff the sceptre once again. Jeff didn’t miss the redhead tense at the comment, and the Princess put a calming hand on her knee. He really hoped it was just stagefright.