Chapter Text
The brunette girl wove her way through the tall trees and vines. She had her black choir hat in one pale hand and the other was clinging onto passing trees, making sure she didn't fall. The trees stretched across the land for kilometres on end, causing the island to be painted in a deep green colour, a colour that was supposed to be calming if it weren't for the image of blood red birds soaring across them.
She had no clue on how she got there, all she could vividly remember was a loud bunch of bloodcurdling screams and her pounding head. She could remember Jack telling her to take the girls while he'd take the boys, both parties trying to find some sort of civilization that could be on the island.
So far she had no luck. Katherine travelled further with her group, all of the members tired and complaining, although Katherine had no intention of stopping, the more they stopped, the less area they would cover and that was never a good sign. She heard the desperate whining of the girls behind her, some older, some younger, even some she hadn't learned the name of yet.
"Beatrice, stop complaining." She snapped sharply at the shorter girl. She could see Beatrice limping in her peripheral vision but she refused to stop for her, if she can move still, she will survive. Katherine did not let herself feel any ounce of sympathy whatsoever, sympathy meant that she had to stop and listen to complaining, and Katherine Carmine had no intention of doing that.
"Kitty, it hurts!" Katherine rolled her eyes at the timeless nickname. She hadn't even begun to discover how she ended up with it, all Katherine knew is that one day, Lilian walked into rehearsals, referring to her as 'Kitty' and then it stuck like glue. Katherine could hear the furious sobs of the raven haired girl. She refused to give in.
"Would Miss Goldstein approve of all this crying?" She hissed at Beatrice, only to receive a weak shake of the head. "So then why do you still think it's acceptable? If Miss Goldstein found you doing this here, she wouldn't be as nice as I am right now." It was a blatant fact, their English teacher would not be thrilled to see the display at all.
"I hurt my ankle!" Beatrice gasped, eyes narrowed at the shorter girl in front of her. Katherine didn't pay attention to the anger Beatrice showed her behind her back. Katherine was more phased about where to head next. The wind was howling violently around them, the scent of salt and the vision of sand coming to their senses. Through the small clearing, Katherine could see a clear beach with what appeared to be two boys standing there, one of them holding quite a marvellous shell, the gorgeous colours of white and pink painted across it.
That was a Conch.
The realisation came quite quickly to Katherine. She had only ever seen one or two of them in her lifetime. She could remember how her cousin James had one of them, using it to call over his butler whenever he needed something. It was a spectacular and amazing item to own, the two boys were lucky to own something like that.
"Kitty, what are you staring at?" Lilian questioned from beside her, the blonde girl's voice was quiet, almost scared if it weren't for the fact that was how she normally spoke. Katherine turned toward her, eyes flashing with excitement. Lilian peered through the trees and saw the exact same shell, although she didn't understand the happiness that had spread across Katherine's face. "Kitty, I don't get it, it's just a shell." Lilian flinched at the look on Katherine's face.
Before Katherine could muster a reply, the Conch made quite a loud trumpet-like sound, causing birds to immediately fly away from the nearby trees, squawks filling the air. The two boys on the beach looked quite pleased with themselves, the smaller boy grinning ear to ear, fixing up his circular glasses while the taller boy had another go at blowing the Conch. Katherine knew what this meant.
"Girls, follow me." Katherine started briskly making her way toward the noise. It was only a couple meters to walk so Beatrice probably would be fine. The clouds made the deep blue sky look much more vibrant, the distant sound of waves reaching the shores getting closer and closer with every step Katherine took.
Katherine approached the two boys, the shorter one looking up at her. He was a rather chubby boy with glasses, he had shorter brunette hair and his clothes were quite ruined. "What's your name?" He innocently asked. Katherine rolled her coffee coloured eyes, staring the smaller boy dead in the eyes as she spoke.
"Katherine Carmine, I am a chapter chorister and head girl." She didn't give the boy a chance to reply, already signalling the girls to sit down in the warmed sand. She continued to stand. "I don't suppose you know where everybody is? Do you?" She questioned, looking around the sandy beach to try to find any other sign of civilization.
"No, we've just called an assembly though." The smaller boy replied. Katherine looked back over at the taller boy. He was decently attractive with fair hair, an athletic like build, suggesting he played some sort of sport and an innocent face, Katherine tilted her head, completely disregarding the smaller boy.
"And who might you be?" She questioned, ignoring the kids emerging from the trees, joining their group. Katherine just wanted to know who the fair haired boy was. He had a sort of charm to him, but she couldn't quite place what though. He looked as if he had the natural skill to be a leader. He had tanned skin which complimented his hair nicely.
"I'm Ralph." He smiled at her. Katherine nodded her head. She smiled back and went to go sit down with Lilian, Margaret and Beatrice, the group of girls giggling and talking about Ralph. Katherine sat beside Margaret, who was giving quite sarcastic comments about the boy. Katherine giggling along with them.
Who she could see coming through the clearing was none other than Jack Merridew. He looked tired and quite frankly, pissed off. She gave a quick smile to the boy, who for a second, glanced at her, before he looked away to tend to his own group of young boys. Katherine could sense his annoyance from a mile away.
Everybody stared at the boys as they walked in a single file line toward Ralph and the smaller boy. They still had their cloaks and clothes on, causing the boys to sweat and sway on the sand. "Where's the man with the trumpet??" Jack harshly questioned the group, stopping in front of Ralph, glaring profusely.
"There is no man with the trumpet, only me." Ralph held up the Conch to show Jack, only to receive a sharp glare from him. Katherine stood up, watching the interaction. Jack look mildly annoyed at the entire ordeal which was quite amusing to Katherine, it was unknown why she found it funny. Jack was always the type of boy to get angry at anything.
"Isn't there a ship, then?" Jack screwed his face up, looking down at Ralph. Jack was quite a tall guy with light, dusty red hair. Jack was quite bony under the black cloak and his face was quite freckled as well. "Isn't there a man here?"
"No, but we're having a meeting. Come and join in." Ralph offered. Katherine spotted Simon amongst the boys, he looked quite tired and looked as if he were struggling to stand. It looked as if most of the boys were to say the least. The boys in the choir line started to scatter, causing Jack to snap.
"Choir! Stand still!" His voice echoed through the assembly, causing silence. Katherine was almost starting to feel worried for Simon, he started to wobble a lot more.
"But.. Merridew.. Please. Merridew.." The boys cried out. Katherine made sure her girls were much less whiny than whatever they were. Before she could step in, Simon fell face first in the sand, a scoff escaped Jack's lips, his eyes looking down at the smaller boy.
"He's always throwing a faint," proclaimed Jack in uttermost anger. "He did in Gib; and Addis; and at matins over the precentor." The last part causes a sniffer throughout the choir. Katherine remembered those times, she had tried to convince Jack to give the boy a break, but he continued to push and push.
The choir sat in a line, like a murder of crows on a log. The smaller boy looked far too intimidated to ask names, so he just stood there, staring at them.
"Aren't there any grown ups?" Jack questioned, confused. Katherine sat back down, she contemplated going to bring Simon over to her group, but she preferred not having Jack Merridew screaming at her when he was in this type of mood.
"No." Ralph stated kindly yet curtly, as if he were getting tired of answering the many repetitive questions he's getting. Jack sat down beside Katherine.
"I guess we'll have to look after ourselves." He stated firmly. The smaller boy continued to ask names, Katherine turned to Jack.
"Did you have much luck finding anything?" She asked the boy who shook his head in a 'no'.
"Did you?" He asked, Katherine had the same response, a very annoyed 'no'.
Ralph brought attention to himself again. "We'd better all have names. So I'm Ralph."
"We have most names down." The smaller boy replied to Ralph. Jack rolled his bright, yet pale blue eyes.
"Kids' names," said Jack. "Why should I be Jack? I'm Merridew." Katherine elbowed him in the ribs.
"Jack, don't be an ass, it's just a name." She snapped, "Names aren't even that childish." Jack elbowed her back, rolling his eyes again.
"Then," went on the smaller boy, "that girl? I forget-" She could feel Jack start to get very annoyed.
"You're talking too much," said Jack Merridew. "Shut up, Fatty." Katherine felt bad for the poor kid.
"He's not Fatty," cried Ralph, "his real name's Piggy!"
Katherine burst into laughter, the entire assembly exclaimed, "Piggy! Piggy!" They cried, even the tiniest child joined in on the laughter.
Piggy went very red, his eyes locked furiously on Ralph who didn't notice the annoyance of the boy, too busy laughing at the ridiculous nickname.
Katherine watched as Simon stirred, getting up from the sand as he dusted himself off. He sat against a dark palm tree, its leaves providing some shade for the pallid boy. He exchanged a smile with Ralph, sharing his name.
"We've got to discuss being rescued." Jack cut in, Katherine nodded in agreement. She sneered at the little boy who she didn't know the name of who had shared that he wanted to go home.
"Shut up." Ralph absently muttered, already moving on. "We ought to elect a chief to decide things." Katherine would be amazing for that role, she was one of the best candidates by far.
"I ought to be chief, because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can also sing a C sharp." Jack showed off his achievements proudly. Katherine rolled her coffee brown eyes once more.
"Maybe I ought to be chief, I am chapter chorister alongside Jack and I can sing a high G. I am also head girl if that makes any contribution." She didn't know what contribution it made that she could sing that high, but hey, if she got elected, it worked.
Roger spoke up from amongst the crowd, "Well then, let's have a vote." He looked between the three candidates.
"All in favour of Merridew?" The choir boys weakly put their hands up in obedience. Katherine glared at Beatrice, Lilian and Margaret, hoping they'd get the idea and do the same.
"All in favour of Kitt?" The girls put their hands up, one of the boys who Katherine hadn't learned the name of spoke up.
"She's a girl! She shouldn't be allowed to be elected." Katherine scoffed quite furiously at that, turning toward the small kid.
"Why is that?" She sneered, the loud sound of one of the blood red birds echoed from above, causing a small fright to shoot through the littluns.
"Because, you're a girl!" Katherine could see the boy wouldn't elaborate further than 'you're a girl' so she didn't bother to press on about it. The little guy's remark caused hands to go down when it came to voting for her. She was ready to slap someone.
"All in favour of Ralph?" Hands went up instantly, even Beatrice placed her hand up for Ralph instead of Katherine, causing the girl to deliver a brutal glare. Although Piggy took a while to raise his hand, but in the end, he begrudgingly did.
"Then it's settled." Ralph stood up, conch in hand, grinning ear to ear. "I'm chief." Katherine booed him from the sidelines, she didn't like how Ralph ignored her. Nobody ever ignores Katherine Carmine. She watched Jack's face turn a mortified shade of pink, she had only ever seen him that embarrassed once in her life, and that was when his voice cracked when he held a long note for the choir. Ralph turned to Jack.
"Don't worry, the choir is still yours, they could be the army, or the hunters, they could be-" Katherine sharply cut him off with a furious snarl.
"So what? He gets some area to control and I don't? Friendly reminder that I also am at the same positions he is at, possibly higher, and what? Now I have to be controlled by him?" Katherine did not have any given patience for any of this.
"I suppose you can take some of the choir for your own group." Ralph stuttered. Katherine grinned at his easy submission, she could have a lot of fun with this.
"What? No fair! Kat!" Jack protested furiously, Katherine stuck her tongue out at Jack, a wide smile still evident on her rounded face.
"Do you guys wanna lead the choir together maybe?" Ralph offered a suggestion, causing Katherine to think for a while. It wouldn't be a bad idea really, her and Jack could manage themselves and the choir quite well, respectively better than Ralph ever could alone, even with Piggy.
"Hm, that wouldn't be a bad suggestion." Katherine muttered. Jack nodded along with her, not saying anything. He was already going over what they could possibly lead the choir to do.
"Whatever." Jack and Katherine started to discuss the logistics of the arrangement with Ralph, the two eagerly saying ideas.
"What would you like them to be?" Katherine and Jack thought for a long moment, they exchanged whispers before Jack presented the idea to Ralph.
"Hunters, they can all be hunters." Katherine nodded along eagerly, the idea of it all sounded quite pleasant. Jack gave a shy smile to Ralph, in which he returned.
"Choir, take off your togs." Jack commanded, the choir immediately shed their black cloaks, beneath the boys cloaks were shorts that were lined with sweat, and for the girls, they owned a plain black dress that went to just above their knees, a shimmering grey ribbon at the waist. "We attempted to have a look over that hill, but then your shell called us." Jack explained with a grin. Katherine watched as Ralph glanced admiringly at Jack's shorts.
"Listen, everybody. I've got to have time to think things out. I can't decide what to do straight off. If this isn't an island we might be rescued straight away. So we've got to decide if this is an island. Everybody must stay round here and wait and not go away. Four of us, if we take more we'd get all mixed, and lose each other, four of us will go on an expedition and find out. I'll go, and Jack, and Katherine, and, and Beatrice." He gave a pointed look toward Beatrice who nodded eagerly.
Piggy looked at the group. "I'll come." He tried with a weak smile, Katherine rolled her eyes, her lips thinning into an impatient line.
"You're no good on a job like this." She bluntly stated without hesitation. Katherine fixed her brown, wavy hair, tightening the ponytail that it was originally in.
"All the same-" he tried.
"We don't want you," said Jack, flatly. "Four's enough." Katherine put a hand on Jack's arm, trying to push him away to start to leave before Piggy would follow.
Piggy's glasses flashed violently. "I was with him when he found the conch. I was with him before anyone else was."
Nobody in the group paid any attention to the boy's protests, they were far more focused on getting to their destination. Ralph started the conversation, trying to avoid Piggy that was trailing behind.
"So, did you guys know each other before now?" He questioned Katherine and Jack. Katherine smiled at him.
"We did, actually, we've known each other since we were young." Katherine explained with a smile. They continued to talk about their shared childhood, Ralph excluding himself from the conversation as he turned back to look at Piggy.
"Look," the trio in front pretended not to notice anything, as Jack nudged the girl to tell her to make it less obvious that she was listening to the conversation unfold.
"You told them, after what I said." Piggy's face flushed, he looked as if he were going to cry any second now. The girl almost felt bad.
"What on earth are you talking about?" Ralph gave a confused face, Piggy continued.
"About being called Piggy. I said I didn't care as long as they didn't call me Piggy; an' I said not to tell and then you went an' said straight out-" Katherine couldn't help but turn around in annoyance, answering Piggy before Ralph could.
"It's not that big of a deal, stop whining." She snapped harshly, causing Piggy's glasses to flash once more, he didn't reply to her, so she turned back around.
Ralph finally spoke after a long pause. "Better Piggy than Fatty, and anyway, I'm sorry if you feel like that. Now go back, Piggy, and take names. That's your job. So long." He casually dismissed him, walking forward to catch up with the group. They completely ignored whatever had happened in the past interaction.
"We're explorers!" Jack announced as they continued their walk. Beatrice forced a smile at that, still limping heavily. Katherine ignored her completely.
"Yes! We shall go to the ends of the island, if it even is an island." Beatrice replied, making her best efforts to keep up. Katherine almost admired her efforts, truly, if it weren't for the repetitive grunting noises the shorter girl made whenever she would take a singular step.
"It's like icing." Ralph grinned, "on a pink cake." Katherine smiled widely at that, maybe this wouldn't be as bad as she thought. Katherine found Ralph to be an irresolute boy, Jack would easily give her any power she wanted because they were close, Piggy was a nuisance she'd deal with later, and the rest she needn't worry about, she was far superior anyways.
"We shan't see round this corner," said Jack, "because there isn't one. Only a slow curve, and you can see, the rocks get worse-" Katherine slipped on the rock for a split second, hand catching Ralph's arm for support, her nails dug in slightly, causing the skin to turn white.
"Oh- sorry-" she giggled, letting go. She assessed the damage she had done to his arm and sympathised for a second before regaining her composure.
The four put their hand on their foreheads to block the sun from reaching their eyes before continuing the trail. "We'll try climbing the mountain from here," Ralph said. "I should think this is the easiest way. There's less of that jungly stuff; and more pink rock. Come on."
Katherine followed after him quite quickly, hopping from rock to rock, careful not to slip again. She stood behind Jack who was talking to Ralph about where to go next. Katherine could spot the waves crashing against the rocks violently, birds screeching again from above.
"What made this track?" Beatrice asked aloud, stepping onto the darker rocks. She stumbled for a second, Katherine barely noticed, too caught up in her own business.
"Men?" The brunette girl replied, Jack shook his head at her answer.
"Animals." What was the difference? She followed Jack for a couple of meters more. They stopped at a little cliff, the four of them peering down into the water and the lush, green jungle.
"This is all ours." Ralph spoke, Beatrice made an attempt to hold Katherine's hand, in which she rejected, immediately pulling it away before she could grasp it.
"That's a reef. A coral reef. I've seen pictures like that." Katherine excitedly pointed to the image of colour in the water. Jack grinned along with her.
"So have I!" He exclaimed, his face lit up in joy at the beauty in the ocean. Katherine remembered his grandfather showing the two five year olds the pictures of all the coral reefs he saw when he was in the First World War.
"There's no village smoke, and no boats," said Ralph wisely. "We'll make sure later; but I think it's uninhabited." Katherine nodded and hummed in agreement at the statement.
"We'll get food," cried Katherine. "Hunt. Catch things. until they fetch us." She knew it wouldn't be soon, they probably hadn't had any thought about the children since they had left, so she greatly doubted they would try to find where they could possibly be.
Ralph made a cupping gesture. "That bit of forest down there... the mountain holds it up." Katherine nodded, noticing how the grass slowly morphed into rock as it went downhill.
"All ours." Katherine gave a toothy grin, finger pointing to the land that was displayed in front of them.
"I'm hungry." Beatrice changed the subject fast. Katherine didn't mind though, she had no clue what she was going to say after that.
"Same, I think we've done enough exploring for now." Jack stated. Katherine and Ralph nodded along. The four started to walk down a hill, talking about candles and stuff, Katherine wasn't really listening in all honesty.
They eventually found a piglet stuck in a wall of creepers, they all excitedly gathered around it, Jack drew his knife, staring at the piglet for a second. He took a pause, and then hesitated. His eyes held a certain remorse to them, he looked as if he couldn't even fathom the idea of holding his knife to the pigs throat. Before he could act after thinking, the pig escaped.
"Oh come on!" Katherine sighed, "what happened?" She turned to Jack, annoyance held in her eyes. Jack turned a bright shade of red, his voice stuttering random excuses.
"I-I was trying to find a place to strike!" He announced, his knife in one hand. Katherine peered up the boy, watching as he put the knife away.
"You should stick a pig," said Beatrice. "They always talk about sticking a pig." Katherine nodded along to the statement.
"You cut a pig's throat to let the blood out, otherwise you can't eat the meat." Jack explained. Katherine narrowed her eyes.
"Well then why didn't you?" She snapped, arms crossed, her posture rigid.
They all knew why he hadn't. Because none of them were ready to fathom the idea of violence, the idea of spilled blood, the torture people would have to go through to survive. None of them knew it yet.
But they would learn in due time.
They always learn.