Chapter 2: Rhossili
The second chapter in the "Before The Rift" lore preluding the events before Tales from The Dancing Moon.
Andrew took helm of the wheel as he cruised the van along the roads towards Rhossili. The weather had continued its drizzle from the previous day - the windshield wipers swished back and forth as the rain started to come down hard. Alexis was tired and had drifted to sleep, but periodically woke as Desmond gave out the occasional navigational instruction.
They had hired surfboards which they strapped to the roof of the van. About halfway through their journey one of the straps detached from the roof and started slapping against the side of the rear seat window. Alexis startled, and accepted that she probably won’t be getting any more sleep.
It was surprising to James how quickly the countryside transformed around him. In the space of ten minutes the surroundings went from built up houses and commercial high streets to rolling hills and herds of cows. At one point of the journey they had to stop in order to allow a sheep and her lamb cross the road safely.
There were no motorways or dual carriageways leading the group on their journey, but instead a series of long narrow roads and the occasional winding bend that lead them up and down a series of hills.
Towards the end of their journey the weather started to look better. The rain had stopped which left a mist in the air, and a couple of clouds were parting, letting the sun peak through - revealing a rainbow.
Andrew began to take the van down to a slower speed as they were now in the deep countryside, he took the car round another bend which took them up on top of a small hill, giving them a vantage point of a village below. In the distance they could see some cliffs and the sea.
James gasped at the sight in front of them.
The others in the back of the van clambered towards the centre of the vehicle to look through the gap between the two front seats.
Aside from Desmond, it wasn’t often that each of them had the opportunity to see such a marvellous view. From what James could see, the village below looked like it contained only around twenty houses. There was only one road that paved its way through the village, with small driveways leading off into each house. In the middle stood a small church, which looked like it had stood for centuries with an overgrown graveyard nearby.
As Andrew drove closer, James noticed that some houses were kept a lot better than others.
“Some of these homes are owned by rich people across the country and rent them out to holiday makers.” explained Desmond. “You can probably tell which houses they are, the rest belong to the people who actually live here... no idea how they manage to get by as the nearest supermarket is in Swansea! Unless they eat at the pub every day...”
Andrew continued to drive closer until he was along the one and only road going through the village. The houses now looked a lot bigger up close, and they began to understand what Desmond meant.
Various farm animals like horses, sheep and cows were grazing in between them which caused Alexis, Roz, and Andrew to ‘aww’ every time they drove past.
“If you haven’t figured it out already - this is Rhossili!” Desmond said. “There is a car park at the end of this road that overlooks the sea, and we’ll be staying there for the night.”
The van was awfully close to the cliff edge now and they could see the car park directly in front of them. It was a surprisingly large car park for the size of the village, in fact there were probably more spaces to park then actual houses. On the right, in between the road and the cliff edge, stood an old pub and inn. It had a thatched roof and a sign fixed above the door that swayed back and forth in the sea breeze. James squinted his eyes at the sign and read it out loud - The Worms Head Pub and Hotel.
“We won’t be eating in there tonight James... It’s okay though, we’ve brought enough food for the night!” said Desmond, as he kicked a food container underneath his seat.
As they pulled into the car park, they could see some of the other holidaymakers and visitors. Various families could be seen packing buckets and spades away, along with surf boards and wet suites. Little children were shivering with towels wrapped around their shoulders as their parents threw their beach toys into their cars.
Alexis spotted another van parked up on the edge of the car park closest to the cliff edge. There was a single surfboard fastened to the roof and one of the doors was propped open. As they drove by, she was able to peek inside.
Fairy lights were hanging on the ceiling inside the van, and a makeshift bed was prepared with the pillow laying where the rear door was open. Lying on the bed, was a young man with long, blonde, curly hair. He was laying on his side and had a book leaning up against the side of the closed door. Alexis gave a small smile to herself as she had a glimpse.
Andrew took their van further along the car park and decided to park it in a space with a view of the sea. He slowed the van to a stop, yanked the hand break up, then turned off the ignition.
Andrew let out a long sigh of relief.
“We have arrived at our destination.” said Desmond, imitating a satnav.
The doors of the van opened in unison as the group left the vehicle. Andrew and Desmond stepped out, slammed the doors shut then decided to walk towards the edge of the cliff to get a better view of the beach. The others followed behind.
The view was magnificent.
“That’s Worms Head” said Desmond, stretching out his arm and pointing to a small island towards the left. “We’ll be heading out there tomorrow”.
James looked towards the island, he noticed a small foot path trailing up one of the slopes, but the start of it looked like it came from underneath the water.
“Uh… but… how do we get there? If you haven’t noticed there’s a lot of water in the way.” Laughed James.
“We need to keep an eye on the tides. The water isn’t always this high, once the tide is out, there’s a path that goes all the way across that we can walk along.” said Desmond.
James nodded, then proceeded to look across to the right. The furthest thing he could see was a large hill with a straggly dirt path leading up and across the peak.
At the bottom of the hill there was a stretch of green grass and bushes. A large house with pale walls and wooden beams occupied the centre with a few cows grazing nearby. From there, small dirt paths were winding in and out amongst the field towards the beach.
Apart from that, there was nothing else but the beach and an endless expanse of ocean.
To James, the beach was the largest he had ever seen in his life, reaching out as far as his eyes could see. It was either the size, or the fact that there was literally no one on it that impressed James the most. A whole beach to themselves - he thought. He looked at his group of friends and, based on their expressions, figured it was having a similar impression on them.
“Photo time!” Roz yelled suddenly. She had pulled out an extendable stick in which she fastened her smart phone to.
“What the heck is that!?” asked Andrew in disgust.
“It’s called a selfie stick!” Roz said proudly. “Come on - huddle up!”
“No no no! We are not taking a picture with that thing!” said Andrew. He hurried to the van and retrieved his camera and a tripod he had packed too. He set it up a few meters in front of them.
They leant towards the fence that protected anyone from falling off the cliff. Roz stood in the centre. Her arms stretched out behind her resting on the fence. Desmond stood next to her and placed his arm around her shoulders and swung his other arm around James – pulling him closer. Alexis stood on the other side of Roz, whilst Andrew scooted along behind and poked his head in a gap between James and Desmond.
They all grinned as Andrew triggered the camera a few times using a remote device. After a moment, they all went over to the tripod so they could all see. All of them grinning happily as their heads lined up at the bottom of the frame with the impressive beach behind them.
It was three o’clock in the afternoon by the time they were ready to head down to the beach and the weather had improved even more. The grey clouds they drove under had passed, revealing a bright summer sun in a blue sky. Alexis, Roz and Andrew kept hold of the buckets and spades whilst James and Desmond changed into their wet suites. They all helped lift the two surf boards from the roof of the van which James and Desmond then tucked under their arms.
“Ready to go!?” said Andrew as he locked the van doors and slipped the key into his pocket.
From the top of the cliff it didn’t look like it would take that long to reach the beach, but with the weight of the boards and the summer sun casting its rays down on their necks, it took what felt like half an hour to reach the bottom. It also didn’t help that the pathway wasn’t as smooth as they anticipated, with gravel poking into the bottom of their feet and various hills and bumps to climb over.
Eventually they reached the sand, groans of relief spread through the group as they sunk their feet onto the soft and warm sand. With each step they let their feet submerge under the surface causing the sand to rise up between their toes.
They trudged along the stretch of the beach to find a place to set up, it wasn’t hard as they could only see a handful of people occupying it, however, they did spot a circle of rocks in the distance and decided to investigate.
What they found was a ring of large rocks and a circular scorch mark in the middle with a few burnt logs scattered inside the circle. Someone had set up a fire here before, so they decided it was a good idea to reside here and take advantage of the pre-existing set up.
James and Desmond threw the surf boards to the ground and the others dropped off their things in the centre of the circle.
Suddenly, Roz lifted up her shirt and threw it off to the side. For a brief second James flashed a grin, but then quickly realised she had already changed into her swimsuit underneath her usual clothes.
“Get a grip guys, you seriously think I would have stripped off in front of you!?”. She wiggled her hips and gave them all a cheeky wink. “In your dreams!”
The group laughed, apart from Alexis, who suddenly turned a bright shade of pink.
“Uhm... I kinda... forgot to get changed before we got out...”
Roz swung her head round to Alexis - “It’s okay Lexi! You can use these towels to help you get changed, besides - there’s hardly anyone here!” she said, as she started to pick up her towel from her bag.
Alexis looked very embarrassed as James, Desmond and Andrew looked sheepishly at each other. She hesitated and looked around at the group, then eventually she nodded.
“Don’t worry - we won’t look!” said Desmond, as he stared jokingly at Alexis. Roz glared and smacked him round the head.
The guys proceeded to busy themselves far away from them as Roz appointed herself as lookout.
When Alexis was comfortable, she proceeded to change. She intended to do this as quickly as possible, constantly readjusting her towel to make sure she was constantly decent.
Her stomach plummeted. Just above the top of Roz’ head she could spot someone emerging from the same path that they took onto the beach. Alexis squinted quickly and soon recognised the long curly blonde hair of the guy she spotted earlier in the other van.
She silently panicked. Even though she couldn’t initially see much of him in the van before, the guy had definitely left an impression on her. She definitely didn’t want his first impression of her to be an embarrassing mess.
She began to sort out her swimming costume. Intending to get the whole thing over and done with before he came close.
She fumbled and quickly peered over again to see. It looked like the guy had spotted the group and was coming their way.
With a swift motion, she leapt her feet through the bottom of her swimsuit and stretched the arm straps over her shoulders. She flicked her hair over behind her back and then grinned.
“Ready!” she said, holding her arms up as if to present herself. “Oh - looks like we have company!”
The curly haired man had now reached the group and clearly wanted to introduce himself. His hair sat on a long and thin face which was rounded off with a strong jawline. Thick stubble covered his chin which indicated that he was at least a few years older than the group. James and Desmond looked at him cautiously as they spotted the surfboard propped on top of his head, he was only wearing a wetsuit, which was pulled halfway down as it covered his legs but let the arm sleeves dangle to the sides, revealing a well defined torso. He lowered the board down to the floor and held out his hand, his set of steely blue eyes looked at the group one by one.
“Hey, I see you’re out here for the surf too?” said the man, his voice was strong and deep with a hint of a foreign accent.
“Uh... yea...” said Desmond, taking his hand and shaking it, still looking a little apprehensive. There was something about him he didn’t like. Probably the blonde highlights in his hair. James kept quiet but smiled.
“I come here once a month or so, I live near Swansea, but I own a van which I use as a bed when I want to explore. I think I noticed you parked in the car park?”
Alexis, Roz and Andrew nodded and grinned.
“Great! How long are you here for?” asked the man.
“We’re only here for a couple of days.” said Desmond, gathering up his attempts at small talk. “We want to go to Worms Head tomorrow if the tide is out.”
“Oh nice! It’s been a while since I’ve headed over there, I mostly come here for the surf” - he gestured towards his board. “Keeping track of the tide is easy enough though, there’s a hut on the cliff edge with a notice board with all the tide times.”
“Thanks”, said James, “We’ll have to check that out once we head back.”
“Of course.” the man replied. “Anyway, it’s nice to meet you, but it looks like the waves are picking up so I’m gonna head out there. Oh, the name is Brad by the way!”
As he said this, he lowered himself down to pick up his board again. He swung it up over his head, and just before he turned towards the sea, he looked at Alexis, grinned, and gave her a wink. Alexis grinned and blushed.
“I hope to see you out there soon!” he said. Then he turned away and ran towards the sea, the board bobbing up and down above his head.
The group watched as Brad bound his way across the sand. Once he was out of earshot. Roz turned to Alexis.
“Oh. My. God.” she said, flapping her hands like an excited bird. “Did you see his body? I call dibs!”
“You can’t call dibs if you didn’t see him first!” said Alexis
“Well neither can you! We all saw him at the same time! We have to fight for him!” laughed Roz.
“If you both call dibs then that means I can too!” said James sarcastically with a cheeky grin. Roz and Alexis both laughed and tutted at James.
“Well neither of you can call dibs anyway” said Alexis. “As I actually saw him first! I noticed him in his van when we pulled into the car park earlier”
“Hmph!” said Roz moodily. She took her towel and laid it out across the floor and promptly sat down on it. “Well if you don’t mind, I shall be catching up on my tan whilst you are ogling at your new boy toy”. She said all this with fake annoyance. In truth she was happy to see Alexis getting some attention from a guy.
“Well” said Alexis with a wide grin. “I think I might just be up for a surf!”
Roz and Andrew were sat next to each other on their towels. They watched as James and Desmond caught wave after wave whilst Alexis was paddling at the edge of the beach. Her feet submerged in the water as she bounced up and down as each wave came crashing in and rushing past her ankles.
As she moved - the sun shimmered on her long red hair which was now tied back in a ponytail.
They could see Brad a little further out and to the right catching some of the bigger waves.
“How old do you suppose he is?” said Roz wistfully - she was now lying on her front – resting her chin in the palm of her hand. She was still in her swimsuit despite not being in the water and was now donning a pair of sunglasses a bit too large for her face.
Andrew stayed modest, he was sporting a baggy brown hoody and his skinny legs poked out of his bright red swimming shorts – he glanced over to Brad.
“Hard to tell really, he’s older for sure, and if he comes here often he might have finished with uni already... or he’s a high school dropout...”, said Andrew.
Roz sighed and twirled around to lay on her back. Optimising the chance for a complete tan.
“Let me know when something interesting happens between him and Alexis.” said Roz. She paused then looked up at Andrew with a cheeky grin. “And no perving on me as I rest!”
Andrew blushed but snickered all the same.
James was laying on top of his surfboard and was paddling further away from the shore, bobbing over the waves that were fighting against him. The weather was ideal - waves were coming in at a slow pace and the sun kept him warm enough so that he hadn’t had to endure the cold sea. As he reached a satisfactory distance, he swung his board around and sat on it, waiting for the next wave.
He cast his eyes around and noticed Roz and Andrew sat together on the beach, Alexis was paddling in the water and Desmond was atop his own board, approaching where James was now floating.
“You’re pretty good!” Desmond called out.
“Thanks!” said James and gave him a thumbs up. “It helps when your university is by the sea, I managed to do this at least once a week back in Bournemouth!”
There was a calm moment in the water as they both lay on top of their boards. James rested his head upon it and began to feel like he was laying on top of a great breathing beast as the water lifted him up and down. The sun beating down onto the back of his neck.
“James!”
Huh? He slowly lifted his head, coming out of his moment of peace.
“Hey James!” called the voice again. It was Alexis, she was jumping up and down and waving her arms towards him, beckoning him in.
James sat up and looked around. Desmond was beside him - he shrugged at him as if to suggest he should go.
A wave was approaching, so James paddled and caught it just after it curled in on itself. He stood on the board as it slowly drifted along closer to Alexis, then hopped off to greet her.
“What’s up? Everything alright?” he asked.
“Of course!” she said, and then tilted her head slightly. “James, I was thinking... do you think you could, you know... teach me how to surf?” she tilted her head even more and arched her body sideways towards the board. James found himself flustering at her proposition - he had a sense of her real intentions.
“Okay then... first, you’re gonna need this”. He pulled off the leg strap from his ankle and held it out to her.
“Uhm... are you able to put it on for me? I just want to make sure it doesn’t fly off and I lose your board.” said Alexis.
“Oh, yea, fair enough. Let’s move closer to the beach so I can do it easier” he said.
They both paddled towards the sand. James knelt down as she stuck her foot out towards him. He felt himself blush as he held the strap around her ankle and secured it in place.
“Thank yoooou!” she said playfully.
“Okay now pick up the board...” She held it up and tried to tuck it under her arm with difficulty.
“You’ll probably think its heavy at first but when you’re out there the water carries it for you.”
They both slowly made their way out to the water. Desmond had just caught a wave in and flew past them laying down on his board. He held his arms up and made a devil gesture with his fingers.
“Yea! Rock on surfer girl!” he shouted.
Alexis grinned and carried on walking with James out to sea.
James lead her to an area which wasn’t too far from the shore, in this weather it was still easy to catch a smaller wave, so it was ideal for any beginner.
James was a good teacher, at least - he thought he was - he had shown a few people how to surf back in Bournemouth. However, after a few tries with Alexis it seemed that she just wasn’t a natural surfer. At each wave, James instructed her to lay flat on the board and paddle using her arms, then he would push the board forward just as the wave came up behind. This would allow her to just think about catching the wave instead of any technique that needed to be involved. But sure enough, when a wave come along - she always seemed to slide herself forward causing the board to flip out from underneath her.
She screamed after what felt like the hundredth attempt (James had stopped counting).
“I just don’t think I’m made for this!” she said, defeated.
“Don’t worry, everyone gets the hang of it eventually, just hang back on the board a little bit and try to find a good balance” said James, keeping optimistic, though he was secretly thinking that he was dealing with a lost cause.
She hopped back on the board and swivelled herself to face the beach yet again. After another failed attempt, James noticed a familiar blonde-haired face coming towards them.
“I can’t help but notice you might need a bit of further assistance...” he said. Alexis blushed and giggled, lifting her hands up to her face. She then turned and grinned at James.
“You don’t mind, do you?” said Alexis, with a mix of reassurance and pity.
James kept a straight face and agreed, though thought of some rather rude gestures towards Brad. Who does he think he is? He only met him an hour ago and he’s thinking he can do better than me?
But after all - he seemed to think this was Alexis’ plan all along.
He let them go off together as he took a hold of his own board again, blowing off some steam by catching a few more waves.
A few hours after James and Desmond had finished their surf, the sun was now approaching the horizon. James cast a glance over to the large hill he noticed before - a brilliant purple hue filled the sky fading away to darkness behind it as dusk was approaching.
James, Desmond, Roz and Andrew were now sitting in the campsite around a blazing fire that Desmond had kick-started using a bottle of turpentine. Each of them huddled around it, sitting on a rock positioned at the perfect distance that kept their faces toasty and their hands comfortable. Roz was holding up a stick with a marshmallow wedged on the end, revolving it slowly as it browned against the flames – she was still in her swimsuit but also sported a hoody for warmth. Desmond held up a torch from below, casting menacing shadows across his face. A few beer bottles lay strewn across the floor.
Alexis and Brad could be seen walking along the beach, their elongated shadows dancing animatedly as they enjoyed each other’s company.
“I know! Let’s play Truth or Dare!” said Roz suddenly.
“Really? We’re not twelve any more”, said Andrew.
“Don’t be such a prude Andrew! It’s just a bit of fun. I’ll go first, shall I?”
She picked up an empty beer bottle and placed it carefully on one of the larger rocks. She poked her tongue out of her mouth as she carefully spun it around without it falling off.
Around and around it went. Until it gradually came to a stop and pointed towards Desmond.
“Dez! Ok, let’s start simple shall we… Hmm… do you currently fancy anyone?”
Desmond stroked his chin and pondered the question, then slowly nodded, and smiled.
“OoOOohhh” everyone said in unison.
“Okay my turn!” said Desmond. He took the bottle and spun it around just as Roz had done.
Around and around it went. It stopped on Roz.
“Roz! A taste of your own medicine! Hmm, do you regret not going to uni?” Desmond.
Roz raised a brow at him, she didn’t expect a question like that.
“I guess… a part of me does. Just hearing the stories, you, James, and Alexis have told makes me slightly jealous, but it is what it is. I mean – If you think… I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for the choices I’ve made along the way… And I like where I’m at - I think. You know what I mean?”
“How thoughtful” said Desmond, but the rest of the group just agreed and nodded at her.
“Okay, back to you Roz.” said James.
Roz span the bottle around for her second time, this time it landed on Andrew.
“I was wondering when we’d get to you!” said Desmond. Andrew groaned and sunk into the rock he was sitting on.
“Okay Andrew… the ultimate question. Who was the last person you kissed!?” she blurted the question - the alcohol was clearly having an effect.
Andrew didn’t think he could ever feel as uncomfortable as he did now – but the question came at the right time.
“Hi guys!” said a distant voice. “What are you doing?”
Alexis and Brad had arrived and joined the group.
“We were just playing truth or dare, I just asked when Andre-”. But Desmond had cut into her sentence.
“Actually - it’s getting quite dark now - we should head back up to the van so we don’t have to walk in the pitch dark.” Desmond said this with intention, and later gave Andrew a wink when no one was looking.
“Oh… okay” said Alexis, disappointed. “Brad and I will stay here for just a little, we haven’t been with the fire yet, you lot go on ahead and I’ll catch you later.” Brad smiled and sat down on a rock next to James.
James sat up quickly and started packing the things away. He swung his board up under his arm and began the journey back to the van. The others followed, with Desmond doing the same with his board, whilst Roz and Andrew carried some bags containing their towels and clothes. They left some items for Alexis to bring up when she was ready to come back.
James and Desmond were walking along side each other.
“So, tell me… what do you think about Alexis and Brad?”
“What about them?” said James.
“I mean… you two had your thing, right? It must be kinda weird seeing her now after all this time, and I can’t help but notice you’re being a bit uncomfortable around Brad.”
James concealed his blush in the the darkness.
“Please don’t try anything James, I don’t want things to get awkward already!” said Desmond.
James laughed. “Don’t worry mate, I’ve already sailed that boat. It’s long gone”, he said this, portraying confidence but could sense his old feelings stirring.
They stepped through the pathway alongside the inn and back into the car park. Their van and Brad’s van were the only vehicles occupying the car park now. They heaved the boards back on top of it and fastened them in place, then took their turns drying off and getting changed into their pyjamas in the back of the van.
They moved the back seats forward and folded them down so that there was enough sleeping space in the back. James and Desmond occupied the driver and passenger seat whilst Roz and Andrew laid out in the back area. They anticipated Alexis’ arrival by setting up her sleeping bag between them, but in the meantime, they enjoyed the extra space they had.
They all said their goodnights. James laid his head back. He could see a deep black sky through the windshield in front of him. Twinkling stars blinked in and out of focus as wispy clouds drifted by, he could still hear the waves crashing from the sea below. Desmond began to breathe heavily as he fell to sleep instantly, and quiet murmurings could be heard between Roz and Andrew in the back.
He was very tired from the surf, and with the rhythmic sound of the waves it didn’t take long for him to fall asleep.
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Before the Rift is a prequel set of lore to the game Tales from The Dancing Moon.
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