# The Island



## Firawyn (Jun 29, 2009)

Hey, here's a bit from a story I'm working on...tell me what you think!!

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 “Where am I?” Sebastian asked without opening his eyes. His entire body ached, the last thing he remembered was the boat crashing on some rocks in the midst of the storm.

“You are in a guest bed in Finn Manor, my home,” a male voice replied. 
“Not that it took much to get you here, as you washed up on my front lawn this morning.”
  
“I was on a boat,” Sebastian said, opening his eyes and blinking at firelight. “I saw land, but there was no note of land on my map anywhere near where I thought I was.”
  
“I imagine your boat is smashed to bits in the North Cove,” the man replied. “You however, are miles and miles from the Cove, the river must have brought you here. I know it rose in the storm last night.”
  
“What land is this?” Sebastian inquired, sitting up in the bed. “What country?”
  
“Ah,” the man sighed. “This is hardly a country to speak of, merely an island. Smaller than Wales I reckon.”
  
“I know Wales,” Sebastian said. “I’m from London.”
  
“Ah!” the man exclaimed. “An Englishman. Good, quite good. What is your name, young man?”
  
“I’m Sebastian Wyatt. What’s yours?”
  
“I am Cyrus, Lord of Finn.”
  
“Lord?” Sebastian inquired. And for the first time, he took a good look at this Cyrus. He was of medium height, pale skinned with red hair, and a fairly thin build. He looked to be a kind man in his forties or fifties, and there was a mischievous twinkle in his eye. 
  
“Why don’t you rest awhile, you’ve been through a great deal. I will wake you for supper, and we will talk more then,” Cyrus said. “There is surly much you’ll want to know about this island, and much I’ll want to know of your way of life, but we’ll have plenty of time to talk later. Sleep now, Sebastian Wyatt.”
  
Sebastian didn’t have the energy to object or question his host. Despite the questions running through his mind, especially the fact that the name Cyrus Finn seemed to be ringing a familiar bell in his memory, Sebastian nodded and sank back onto his pillow. In moments, he was fast asleep. 

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## Persephone (Jun 29, 2009)

It's a promising start, Fir, , can't wait to read the rest of it - you have synopsis or something... from what you've posted, I'm guessing Sebastian traveled through time - went back to the past where there were still Lords in England. Or he could be from another dimension.

Or something else entirely. But, good from what you posted.


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## Firawyn (Jun 29, 2009)

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 [FONT=&quot]Sebastian woke some time later to Cyrus’ hand grasping his shoulder. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“Good evening,” he said when Sebastian’s eyes fluttered open. “Dinner should be soon ready, if you’d like to get cleaned up before, now would be the time.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] Sebastian nodded and sat up, finding that his leg was bandaged and splinted. “What happened to my leg?”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“Well, it had a disagreement with a rock I would guess. It’s broken, but my physician says it will heal well,” Cyrus explained. “You may walk on it, but I would take it easy.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“Thank you,” Sebastian said. “For everything Cyrus, you’ve been too kind.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Cyrus nodded graciously.”I find that a little kindness goes a long way, and disregard and rudeness only nip one in the ass. I choose kindness for the sake of self preservation, I suppose.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Sebastian laughed, “Well I’m not complaining.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Cyrus stood, and that offered his hand and helped Sebastian to his feet. Sebastian then found that he was stripped to his boxers, and that they were torn in several places. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Cyrus must have sensed his embarrassment, and took off his cloak and wrapped in around Sebastian’s shoulders. “Your cloths, odd as they were, were ripped to shreds. You appear to be about my size, I’m sure we can find you something decent to wear.” [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Sebastian pulled the cloak around himself and nodded. “Thanks.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“This way,” Cyrus indicated, waving his hand toward a doorway. They walked through it, and down a narrow passageway, into a larger bedchamber that was decorated far more lavishly, and Sebastian guessed that these were Cyrus’ quarters. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Cyrus pointed to a basin of water by the fireplace, where Sebastian went to wash his face and hands. Meanwhile, Cyrus went to a large chest at the foot of the bed, and began ruffling through it in search of some cloths. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Cyrus said nothing, but smiled when he handed Sebastian the various garments. Sebastian dressed as quickly as his leg would allow, and then stood and examined his attire in a long mirror. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“You look like you have worn cloths like these before,” Cyrus noted. “I am sure these things are long out of fashion in your London.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“Well, I am in collage studying the Middle Ages. Professor Norsby likes us to get the ‘full experience’. Not only did he teach us what it says in the books, but he would feed us, and dress us in Middle Age fashion once in a while. I thought it was fun.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Cyrus raised his eyebrows. “They call my time the ‘Middle Ages’, now?”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“Your time? What do you mean?”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] Cyrus sighed. “Let’s go sit down to dinner, and I’ll explain.” He gestured to another door opposite to the one they’d entered through, and they walked through another, larger passage that led directly to a dining hall.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The hall was vast; it’s ceiling at least fifteen feet high, with narrow slotted windows every yard or so near to the top, letting in the rays of sunlight. The table, rectangular and easily able to fit twenty people, was sitting on a dais against the wall with the door they’d entered in. To the left there was a great and elaborately carved fireplace with several stools around it. To the right there were three doorways, and a staircase leading upward to another door on the level of the windows. Straight ahead there was a large archway, through which another, smaller room could be seen, and on the other side of that, a glimpse of a gate. Sebastian now began to suspect that he was in more than some house, but rather a castle fit for the Middle Ages, just like the clothing, and even Cyrus. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Sebastian took a seat with his host; Cyrus at the head of the table and Sebastian to his left, giving him a continuing view of the hall. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The meal was brought upon silver platters; a roasted meat that Sebastian could not identify, but tasted like chicken, served with something that looked like green beans, but tasted like asparagus, along with a baked potato. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The two ate in silence for a few minutes, and then Cyrus spoke. “I’m sure you have many questions, but if you will permit me, I would like to ask some of you first.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“Go ahead,” Sebastian said through a mouthful of the meat. He had not realized how hungry he was.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“How is it that you came to this island?”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Sebastian swallowed. “At the end of my last term at school, Dalin, I mean Professor Norsby, was telling me about a place he called ‘Island of Legend’. He said odd things about it – like that there were dinosaurs on it, and that it was home to a lot of people who’d gone missing in history. He kept alluding to the fact that there was something special about this place, other than the dinosaurs, but that if someone went there, they could never return to the outside world.”[/FONT]
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## Firawyn (Jun 29, 2009)

[FONT=&quot]“I didn’t believe a word of it,” Sebastian continued, “and besides, an island of legend was probably just a legend, you know, like Atlantis or something. But Dalin kept talking like this place was real, and it seemed to be important to him, though he wouldn’t tell me why. The next morning I got a phone call from the Dean, saying that Professor Norsby had died that morning. I always thought that Dalin was a little crazy, but I liked him. Over the next couple days, all I could think about was that damn island he was going on about. So I broke into his office, and found a map that looked like he’d drawn. There were some landmarks I knew on it, and half a dozen question marks in the middle of the ocean. I took a guess that he was trying to find this island for real, so I took it, rented a boat, and set sail. I was on the sea for about two weeks, and hit a storm. By the end of that, I had no idea of were I was in reference to that map to I turned around and started to head back towards England. Well, I ran right into that storm again, I guess I was more turned around than I thought, and it crashed me here.”[/FONT] [FONT=&quot] 
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[FONT=&quot]Cyrus looked intently at Sebastian, but said nothing. Sebastian returned his attention to his plate, until Cyrus spoke again.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“Did your Professor Norsby ever mention someone called Lucius?”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Sebastian laughed. “Yeah, he did. I’ve got a friend by the name of ‘Lukus’, and when I introduced him to Dalin, he misheard and thought I said ‘Lucius’. He told me later that he used to know a man named Lucius, who tried to kill him. I always thought he was kidding about that, that it was just like his stories about his friend…” Sebastian dropped his fork, “His friend Cyrus Finn. You – you knew him. You’re the man from his stories. But that would mean…this is the island he told me about, isn’t it?”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Cyrus smiled. “Clever boy. Yes, I knew Dalin. I’m sorry to hear he is dead, but happy to know he got his wish, to see England again. He never could fall in love with the Island, not like he loved England.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“Blimey,” Sebastian said. “It was true… dinosaurs?”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“What are dinosaurs?” [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“They’re – how do you not know about dinosaurs? – big creatures, like big lizards I guess. Some eat meat, some eat vegetation. They don’t exist anymore, except for here, I guess.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“We do have large animals here, like you describe, but we just call them the animals, because they are the only living creatures on this island, aside from the people.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Cyrus noticed that Sebastian had stopped eating, and was now wearing an expression like someone who was about to explode. “Go on then, boy, ask your questions before you burst.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“What was so special about this island? What did Dalin mean by ‘a place you never run out of time’?” [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“Immortality,” Cyrus said. “Some call this place “the Island Time Forgot”. While anyone remains on this island, they do not die of age. We can get sick, or mortally injured, but never death of age. Children grow to look like they are perhaps thirty, but after that, they remain unaffected by aging.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“How do you keep this a secret?”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“As Dalin explained to you, once you come, you do not leave. The one exception to this was Dalin, and as you already know, Lucius tried to kill him upon his attempt. In fact, Lucius said that he had killed Dalin, but I’m glad to find that he was lying. Dalin was my best friend.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“Dalin lived here? For how long? How long have you been here? How many people are here? How big is the island? When was the last time someone new came?” Sebastian was not gripping the edge of the table so tightly his knuckles were turning white, and his feel were positioned as if he was ready to jump out of his seat. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Cyrus laughed. “Slow down! Dalin and I, along with a group of others from England, came here in 1349, so 659 years ago, correct? We left Europe because of a great plague that was killing masses. Our group was the last, and by far the largest, to ever find the island. We built every building on this place, and it was a few months before we realized there was anyone else besides the animals here. There was a man from Egypt, alone, 200 men from Greenland, and another 200 men from China. We were the first to have woman and children with us, so the other groups had not, before we arrived, increased in numbers. The man from Egypt is a hermit, best left alone, the men from Greenland only speak to us with swords in hand, and the China men we are a peace with. In recent years, some of our women have married China men, so they have, like us, begun to expand in numbers. All of the rest of us are of European bloodlines, mostly from England, but a few from Gaul, and Spain. The last census counted nearly 16,600 people, and the island is over 20,000 square miles in size.” [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Sebastian silently processed this information. Too many questions followed by too many answers was a lot to take in, in a few short moments. It now dawned on Sebastian that this was not a dream, and that he had really stumbled on the Island of Legend that Dalin had referred to, and that however unreal it seemed, it was indeed a living and thriving place. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“Surprised that there are so many?” Cyrus inquired. “Mind that I’ve only told you the human life. The animals are equally vast in numbers, and most of them are a good deal larger in sheer size.” [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Sebastian wiped his hands on a cloth napkin and nodded. “A bit.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“Well, I promise that it won’t seem that overwhelming when you meet them. Here, look,” Cyrus said, as he pulled out a weathered looking piece of parchment. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“What is that?”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“It’s a map of the Island,” Cyrus explained. He pointed to a mark that was about half way down the east side of a river, before it branched into two rivers. “We are here.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Sebastian nodded. Now that he was looking at the map, he could understand more of what Cyrus has explained about the island earlier. The island was more or less divided by the rivers; the eastern branch connecting the North and South Coves, and the westward branch leading to a place called Shipyard Bay. [/FONT]
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## Firawyn (Jun 29, 2009)

[FONT=&quot]There was a circular road that connected nine castle homes, including Finn Manor, and one more castle home off an eastern road, and two others off each end of a forked western road. The perimeter of the island was lined with eight Forts. Cyrus explained that this had two purposes; first to guard against any invasion from outsiders (though this had never happened), and second and more regularly used, so that any one town or home under attack by the man eating animals that did indeed roam the island, there would always be plenty of soldiers close at hand to come and aid them. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Dotted throughout the rest of the map were an assortment of towns, port villages, and trading posts. Cyrus explained that it took all kinds of people to keep life on the island as peaceful as it was, including people who picked fights on purpose, like the Kahn and his men. While the raiding that the Kahn’s people were known for was, indeed, a hassle to all involved, it also served to remind the people what they had left Europe for in the first place. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Cyrus pointed to another mark on the map, about 25 miles south of their currant position. “In two weeks, your leg will have mended enough to ride, and we will go call on Lord Byron, who is Dalin’s son. He deserves to know the true fate of his father.”[/FONT]


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Gah! Sorry, my battery died before I could post the rest of what I was planning on posting. Hopefully, this will answer some of your questions, Narya. 

Synopsis, well, like I said, hopefully this answered some of that. Basically, the idea is that the story is broke into three sections (this is the beginning of section three). The first part is from Dalin's perspective, showing how he got from the Island, to being Sebastian's teacher. The second part is Sebastian's journey from getting to really know Dalin as more than just his teacher, and the Sebastian's journey to the Island. The third part moves on with Sebastian, getting to the Island, finding out Dalin was not crazy, etc, and some grand adventures thereof, ending with either him getting home, or deciding to stay on the Island (undecided?!).


SO?


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