The Secluded Rock

[Kate Austen]

Kate had to get away, she had to be by herself, and if she was being completely honest, she needed to yell and kick things, though she didn't know that yet. She felt the noose of captivity tightening around her neck with every passing second. Kate was not under any circumstances going back in a box, not here, not anywhere. She wandered aimlessly at first, quietly pacing, wondering if she could make her way back to the water Jack had shown her, in the dark. She eyed the formidable tree line for a good minute before just plunging through it.

Kate stomped her feet along the ground and before long she was in a full sprint. Following what she hoped was the path from earlier, she ran as hard as she could, her lungs aching as she ran longer than she should have. She felt the sweat dripping down her brow but only stopped when she fell into the soft mud of a small clearing. Instead of getting up she punched the ground, splashing mud all over herself and the nearby trees. She noticed a large smooth grey bolder to her left, which she then turned all of her fear and anger on.

Kate pushed her self up and kicked the rock, it hurt but she didn't stop there. She flung scoops of mud at it, yelled at the top of her lungs to it, kicked it again, and then finally slumped against it and cried. Kate Austen cried until there were no more tears, and until the moon hung heavily and directly above her. She might have just slept in the mud right there if not for the rustling of leaves in front of her. She pushed her back to the rock and readied for whatever danger was about to call her name.

[James "Sawyer" Ford]

Sawyer was quite far into the jungle chopping wood. He decided if he was quite far in, he could still hear if rescue came, but far enough so Skinner couldn't find him and start shouting at him. He took another large swing at a tree. It was nearly down, but it would take a little while yet. He noticed a woman he recognised running towards the area. She started kicking and throwing mud at a large boulder. She started to cry and and slumped up next to it. She still hadn't noticed Sawyer was just a few hundred yards away from her.

He sighed. Last time he walked up to someone and asked how they were, he ended up in an argument. He walked over anyway.

"You OK Freckles?" he asked the woman.

[Kate Austen]

"You OK Freckles?" a voice asked Kate. She wasn't sure who it was talking to at first. She wiped her face of mud and tears and stood up. The man clearly speaking to her, held an ax or something resembling one in his hand as they stood alone in the moonlit jungle. If ever there was a time to run and scream for your life, it was this, this was every bad horror movie ever made rolled into one, if Kate had a record player she would have played the foreboding music herself. She gave the man a once over and did the opposite of what she "should" have done. She stayed put and smiled.

" Yeah, I'm alright. That rock had it coming." she said softly. She wasn't afraid, by the cut above his eyebrow it was clear he'd just survived the same crash as she, and had probably been assigned a task as well, for the greater good. She shook her head marveling at how people just carried on so quickly.So the man wasn't a crazed local with a weapon. She wondered if there were any locals, and if any would have the chance to meet them before rescue came, and rescue was well on its way by now. That wasn't exactly a comforting thought at all to Kate. She brushed more of the mud from her shirt and pants and came to the realization, she was going to have to find new clothes as soon as possible.

She squinted at the man who'd called her "Freckles" and pushed her mud splattered hair into a knot at the base of her neck. She wasn't ready to go back to the buzzing of people scattered all over the beach so instead she sat for a minute on the rock she'd just attacked. " You find yourself hacking away at palm trees in the middle of the night often?" She joked at the man as she regained her breath fully and felt satisfied that she'd spill no more tears for some time.

[James "Sawyer" Ford]

"You find yourself hacking away at palm trees in the middle of the night often?" the woman joked. Sawyer chuckled and smiled a little.

"Oh all the time" Sawyer said, and smiled at the woman. He dropped the axe and walked over to her. "Can't sleep. How 'bout you? You find yourself running through the jungle hittin' rocks often?" Sawyer joked back.

[Kate Austen]

"You find yourself running through the jungle hittin' rocks often?" Sawyer joked back.

"When the occasion calls for it, yes sir I do, but only if the rock deserves it." Kate rested her head in her hands. For a moment she questioned the fact that she was actually here. It was so bizarre...but here she was. " I have a hard time sleeping myself." she admitted coyly, the fact alone told much about a person's character and yet divulged no solid information. Her stomach growled like a monster shattering the sounds of the quiet jungle. Kate laughed and covered her belly. " Guess I'm hungry."

Kate stood again from the rock, she knew she needed food and water, and her brief conversation with the man in front of her had made her feel much better. " I'm a... Kate by the way...and you know there's a doctor on the beach if you need that cut on your eyebrow looked at...it doesn't look so bad to me though. " Kate felt her cheeks flush a bit as she stared a little too long but she extended her hand in greeting.

[James "Sawyer" Ford]

"I'm a... Kate by the way...and you know there's a doctor on the beach if you need that cut on your eyebrow looked at...it doesn't look so bad to me though. " Kate said, extending her arm.

Sawyer extended his arm to meet Kate's and they shook hands. "I'm Sawyer. Its fine. And I already saw the doc right when we landed."

[Kate Austen]

She nodded and wondered if she heard the slightest bit of disdain in Sawyer's voice when she mentioned Jack the doctor. Maybe he didn't leave the same first impression on everyone. She smiled broadly as her stomach begged for food, thankfully silently this time. "You didn't happen to chop down any cherry trees did you Sawyer?" Kate laughed and didn't mean the double implications of her words. She was careful not to mention or ask things she herself would not answer. She was interested in the comings and goings of this Sawyer, he was interesting at the very least, but she assumed most had past or present secrets like she , that didn't need uncovering.

She was on the verge of saying too much so she thought it best to get moving. She had quite a list of things she needed now anyway. Food, water, and new clothes topping the list. " Nice to meet you Sawyer." she said softly and turned to walk back to the beach. Though now she was calm, it was going to take a bit longer to get back.

[James "Sawyer" Ford]

"You didn't happen to chop down any cherry trees did you Sawyer?" Kate laughed. " Nice to meet you Sawyer." she said softly and turned to walk back to the beach.

"No, but the big guy was handing out airline food earlier." Sawyer said, picking up the axe. "Its not great so I ended up eating the pudding" Sawyer said, catching Kate up.

"So, how did you end up on this rock?" Sawyer asked.

[Kate Austen]

Kate laughed again at Sawyer, she hadn't met the guy he was referring to but she had seen him, presumably he was the one Jack had gotten her meal from, the one that she had accidentally left in the sand when she accompanied Jack and stitched up his shoulder. "Pudding huh, didn't realize there was any in there.... Chocolate or vanilla," she asked making light of the conversation, sort of hoping to buy herself time before she answered his question. Kate didn't want to tell the truth, but she didn't really want to lie either. She cursed to herself in her head but outwardly she just kept walking and chattering softly as the bugs of the jungle nipped at her bare shoulders.

" I was on my way home I guess, what about you Sawyer, obviously you aren't a native Aussie, what were you up to down under." Kate looked down at the soft ground as she walked, noticing how heavy her footprints were on the way into the jungle, her mother said Kate had angry footsteps, that she could always hear her feet stomping around because of the madness she carried in her heart. She wondered if her mother knew yet that her plane crashed, and if she'd be disappointed that Kate hadn't been killed like the many others. KAte reached down and picked up a rock that she promptly threw into the jungle ahead of she and Sawyer at that miserable thought, tentatively listening for Sawyer's answer.

[James "Sawyer" Ford]

"I was on my way home I guess, what about you Sawyer, obviously you aren't a native Aussie, what were you up to down under." Kate said. He paused for a moment. Kate wasn't the only one trying to keep why he was on the plane a secret.

"Just visiting an old friend" Sawyer lied as Kate threw the rock into the jungle.

[Kate Austen]

Kate walked with Sawyer by her side through the thick foliage of the jungle. Kate listened to their feet and to Sawyer's all too brief answer. Sawyer was being as vague as she was, and she didn't really have a problem with it. Everyone was entitled to keep locked doors, not that she wasn't interested in his tory, she was, but she knew if she had a few hours to watch him, she'd figure him out. She enjoyed watching people, she loved making up her own tales about how they got to where they now stood, or lay on the earth.

" Friend huh," she squinted her eyes at him playfully letting him know she didn't much believe that was all there was to tell. " You wouldn't happen to know where a girl might find the luggage from the crash would you?" Kate asked as they neared the beach, she could smell the faint whisper of salt in the air. She loved it, the ocean always felt to Kate like she was at the edge of the world, like she was free.

[James "Sawyer" Ford]

"Friend huh," she squinted her eyes at him playfully letting him know she didn't much believe that was all there was to tell. "You wouldn't happen to know where a girl might find the luggage from the crash would you?" Kate asked as they neared the beach.

"I'm guessing underneath the wreckage" he said. "Why, you got something important in there you want?" he asked

[Kate Austen]

Kate laughed at first, she'd just been thinking about getting some new clothes that weren't covered in a thick coating of red clay like mud, but when he asked if she wanted something important under the wreckage the shock of the crash finally began to wear off, as did her smile. There were things she wanted....needed to find. She thought about a number of things that needed to be kept from anyone else's possession, she thought about her secrets, then her thoughts settled on her small bag containing what little remained of her life...before. She gritted her teeth to stifle the emotion bubbling just under the surface.

Instead of lying, or even sugar coating it much for Sawyer, she kept her eyes forward and answered. " Yeah there's something important I want." Trying to turn the conversation light again, she smiled at him and tugged on her tank top, " and I could use a change of clothes."

[James "Sawyer" Ford]

"Yeah there's something important I want." Kate said as she smiled at him and tugged on her tank top, "and I could use a change of clothes."

"I think I saw some suitcases around the turbines. You should go take a look." Sawyer replied

[Kate Austen]

"I think I saw some suitcases around the turbines. You should go take a look." Sawyer replied

"Well, thanks." Kate smiled again but this time looked forward instead of at the man by her side. She breathed deeply, filling her lungs with air that just felt heavy. Maybe it was the jungle, maybe it was the still lingering smoke from the crash, maybe it was something darker still, whatever it was, Kate felt weighed down. She took heavy labored steps as the thick jungle foliage loosened its' grip. She was thrilled to be on sandy soil again, the endless ocean seemed to stretch before them forever, black glass under a large white moon. It was as disturbing as it was beautiful, the ocean was too still, too quiet, none the less it was far safer than the dang jungle so Kate let out a sigh of relief.