The Island Life
NOTE: This story is set before the imposition of a National Lockdown in England. Do not attempt what Tom does in this story at the moment.
Tom had certainly travelled wide in his life, having seen many different things and exploring many different wonders along the way. Though he had seen many lands and travelled to many countries and continents, his heart remained in the country in which he lived, and that land was England. He enjoyed travelling about, and one time decided to explore the north of England. He had started his travels by looking about the Lake District and exploring the hills and valleys, and riding on many railways whilst there. Beyond that time, he had also sailed along the lakes and rivers, taking motorboats into action on the lakes and rivers and even riding a steamship- the oldest operational steam powered machine in the world, as a matter of fact. Eventually, his time in the Lake District had come to an end, and after a beautiful drive up to Hadrian's Wall and a visit to Vindolanda and the Roman Army Museum (nothing eventful happened, not even with an odd shield found inside the outer wall). So, with all that done, he had moved into his holiday home only just over the Scottish border (to clarify, he had leased the property; it did not belong to him), and was fully settled in when he decided to set off on his way.
"Wait a moment," he said, looking at his watch. "It's very late in the day, so there's no point to move to go to-"
Start again.
"Wait a moment," he said, looking at his watch. "It's very late in the day, so there's no point in heading down to Seahouses just yet. I'll enjoy some time inside this house and make myself something to eat. That sounds like a good idea."
After enjoying a mac and cheese that night, which he had bought at a nearby Sainsbury's, he headed upstairs to go and sleep for the night, as it was very late indeed. It had been a long drive, and long drives were indeed quite tiring on the eyes when there was nobody else to drive or indeed keep you awake, hence his habit of constantly stopping for coffee to ensure he stayed awake. His sleep patterns reflected this, and he had experienced some pretty nasty crashes in his time. He enjoyed a nice, long sleep, as the sun went down, sat underneath the horison of the sky, and then moved over to the other side of the sky before rising again the next morning.
Tom yawned as he sat up with the sun shining onto his face as he moved his arms up to cover his eyes. "Yawn," he said, as he yawned. "This is a most marvellous morning, I do think, and it's time to get going with my day. I'll go and get my shower and breakfast."
He went into the shower, showered whilst singing a song about a lighthouse, and then he came out of the shower and got dressed after drying himself off. He then went downstairs and made some breakfast with his supplies he had bought, which proved to be very delicious indeed. He then went back upstairs to collect his wallet, car keys, and booking information, as he had a big adventure to go on today. He then went outdoors, closing the door and locking it as he did so with a swift, efficient motion, and walked to his car, before getting in, shutting the door, and starting the engine, before driving off on his merry way. He had a place to be, and he was looking forward to it.
A little way down the coast from Alnwick is the large village, and borderline small town, of Seahouses. A very prominent settlement with lots of houses and a considerable harbour, this village was a centre of the local fishing industry and served as a vital lifeline to a nearby network of lighthouses and islands, the Farne Islands. Although these islands were not normally inhabited, they were a severe hazard to shipping and many ships had met their end on those harsh rocks. As a result, Seahouses had a full time RNLI crew on standby (the ship, fittingly, was called Grace Darling), and also maintained supplies for the network of lighthouses that dotted the nearby islands. They were all automated now, the last, Longstone, having been converted to automatic in 2015, but crews were still on standby to man the structure if anything went wrong. The Islands, however, are generally better known for being home to an extensive network of National Trust protected lands, and are absolutely covered in both seagulls and seals. There was even a walrus once, and go ahead, make your Beatles jokes.
Tom had booked a sailing to the Islands which included a stop on the Inner Farne island to look around and see the lighthouse (which wasn't run by a man called Salty; indeed, it wasn't run by anybody at all), and the boat set off, with everybody wearing a face mask, on the lovely morning with the summer sun beating down and the wind whistling through the air. At long last, after a fairly gentle sea voyage, the boat docked at the dock, as boats should do, and Tom walked onto the island alongside the other passengers. It was a pretty nice day out there, if rather cold as the bracing Skegness sea air tore past them at great speed.
Tom made his headway toward the boat when he suddenly saw something lying on the floor. Lying before him on the floor was a shard of broken pink glass, which looked as though it had broken off of something that had been attached to a necklace. He bent down to touch it, and it gave him a nasty shock. He was hurled through the air and behind the lighthouse, where nobody could see him. No sooner had this happened then he became aware of an odd pain in his feet.
As he staggered to his feet and wobbled over towards the rocks, his feet continued to ache as they did. He hobbled forward, until his shoes fell off completely. He hit the ground and bashed his face into a rock. "Ouch!" he said, as he rolled over and looked back at his feet. Where his socks should have been were large amounts of torn fabric, fabric which he rapidly shook off to see what was down there. Where he had been expecting to see his feet, there were only a pair of hooves. Blue hooves, for that matter. "What?"
He had no further chance to react, as his entire body began to shift and stretch. His torso grew longer as his hips started to rotate, tearing his clothes down their seams until tattered rags fell of of him and onto the rocks below. His legs snapped backwards into a backward stance, his kneecaps breaking apart and shattering as they did so, resulting in legs that looked like they belonged more on a centaur than on a human. Feathers sprouted from the back of the limbs as his butt started to ache. He pulled himself away from visible eyes as he felt something start to poke out from above his ass, before a mass of white hair exploded out of his rear, dropped toward the floor, and then curved upwards again. The bottom half of the tail then turned to a more grey shade than the top half, and this hung there awkwardly. As his limbs began to stretch in length, his torso got longer and his arms were forced into a downwards position. Next it was the turn of the sides of his body to emerge in pain, as his eyes looked back. He now looked like something straight out of a horror film, some half human half creature freak, and this was amplified as two wings with blue feathers erupted from his shoulders and flared out to at least two feet in diameter, before neatly folding in on his sides. His arms now changed, as they snapped forward, the elbow plates shattering and breaking into bits before being vanished out of existance, as his hands stretched and distorted. His hands were now talons, with the thumb now far behind and acting as support, as well as his pinkie finger shrinking into his hand. Feathers also popped out of the back of his now forelegs and his neck stretched upwards in height, followed by the bones in his face shattering, breaking apart, and then merging back together as a beak, of a dark blue shade. His brown eyes turned orange, and his ears stretched backwards like those of a bird as his hair turned into a white mohawk like mane that fluttered in the wind. Finally, his entire body was covered in blue fur all over, except for the feathers which had a whitish hue at the ends of them.
Sky Beak seemed to be confused. Where was he? Where was this island, and what was this strange white building over here? After a few moments of mulling it over, he suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"Shoo be do! Shoo shoo be do!"
The singing went on for a while, and Sky Beak soon recognised the voice that was coming from over the other side of these strange buildings. He cast the rags and tattered clothing aside, leaving them to float away as detritus and more rubbish floating upon the sea, and landed next to Ocean Flow, the love of his life.
She paused from her singing, and looked over to Sky Beak. "Hello, dear!" she called. "I wasn't expecting to see you here!"
"Neither was I expecting to see you," Sky Beak admitted. "I half expected you'd be in Seaquestria right now!"
"I would be, but Terramar and Silverstream have vanished!" Ocean Flow replied, with the sun still beaming down on her in all her seapony glory. "In fact, this is such a nice spot that I almost forgot."
"I imagine they're safe," Sky Beak reassured her, sitting next to her on the rocks and soaking up the sun and the sprays of water himself. Only now did he notice his necklace had reappeared around his neck, but didn't pay it much mind as suddenly a boat came around that part of the island. He looked over and saw the passengers on the boat look in amazement at the sight of a seapony and a hippogriff, one sitting on the rocks, and the other sunbathing in the gentle sun. Some very interesting photos were taken that day, for sure, as they would never forget this day.
However, things were soon to change. As Sky Beak and Ocean Flow were about to lean in for a kiss, there was a bubbling noise in front of them, and a seapony surfaced like a submarine coming up from the depths. "I have news for you!" he said, blowing a trumpet as he did so. This made the feat of blowing a trumpet and speaking all the more impressive. "I have spotted Terramar in the area!"
"That's amazing!" Ocean Flow replied. "Where is he?"
"He's stuck on a beach and unable to move, and the sea is in the wrong place!" the seapony said. "I don't need to explain to either of you how dire this situation is!"
"This is terrible!" Ocean Flow went on. "The poor dear's probably terrified out of his mind! If he stays out there too long, then-"
"We'll make sure that won't happen," Sky Beak said quickly, leaping into the water and switching to a seapony. "Ocean Flow! Let's go! We have our son to save!"
"Right behind you!" Ocean Flow called, and dived in after her, leaving a rather confused walrus looking on at what had just happened. Two seaponies blazed through the blue waters of the English coast, determined to save Terramar no matter the cost.