Gosha's bare feet flew across the soft ground as he ran towards the forest. The wheat fields gave way to grassy paddocks filled with livestock, which in turn gave way to the forest. It started as bushes and shrubs and slowly built up to towering evergreens. Everything grew so well in this part of Le'Tayah. The ground was rich and fertile due to the closeness of the Tower of Earth, one of the five great Towers. It was why the farms were here, their crops grew quicker and larger. Even the horses and cows seemed to grow better as they ate the grass that grew in front of the forest. The trees in the forest also seemed to grow larger than others of their kind, their limbs intertwining in the canopy to completely block the sun. This meant the floor of the forest was clear of obstacles, but that it was quite dark inside.

Gosha stopped. He placed his hands on his knees and breathed deeply. He looked around the forest and tried to get his bearings and reached into the pockets of his trousers. In one hand he withdrew a small clear crystal, it glowed very faintly. In the other he held two objects, a canister as thick as his wrist and about a foot long, as well as a steel piece of tubing about the length and size of his index finger. He took the crystal and placed it on the end of the tube then gave it a twist. With a soft click the two were joined. Gosha knelt of the ground and held the crystal, pointing the tube at the ground. He touched it to the dirt and dragged it along in an arrow shape. A trail of light was emitted by the tube and left on the ground, glowing enough to be seen and pointing in the direction he was heading. The darkness was like a maze, and it didn’t pay to get lost within the forest.

"It won’t last long, but they shouldn’t be far behind me," Ho whispered to himself as he twisted the crystal again and put the tube back in his pocket.

He then held the canister in front of him and pushed the crystal into one end of it. It started to emit a soft glow from the other end that was soon directed into a beam of light. It didn’t illuminate very far, but it would be enough to stop him running into trees as he tried to find the crash site. He waved the canister around, making the circle of light flitter across the face of the trees. He then held it in front of his face and looked at some figures that played across the side of the canister.

"Bugger, only three rays left, this won’t last too long," he pointed it forward again, "And I still need to use it for the chalk too. I better find this crash quick."

He started to move deeper into the forest, trying to move from ray of light to ray of light, using his torch as little as possible. But the going was slow and he realised he had been wandering for some time now. He must have been nearly at the site, it hadn’t landed all that far into the forest. He looked back to make sure he could still see his last arrow before continuing on a little further. A glimmer caught his eye at that moment, and he peered ahead. In the distance before him was a large section of sunlight, as if a tree had been brought down. He quickly scribed another arrow before trotting off towards it.

He flicked the torch off as he got closer, and popped the canister into his pocket. Slowly he crept up to the edge of the newly created clearing, gazing in wonder at the destruction.

The yacht had crashed in through the trees, toppling quite a few before slamming into some giant redwoods and coming to a halt. The redwoods were scarred, but they would recover. It wouldn’t take long for the forest to repair itself, but the amount of destruction was breathtaking. The ground was ripped up and good black soil thrown across the clearing. Pieces of the ship were sitting everywhere.

The sails and masts lay in the crater where the ship had first made impact with the ground. The masts were snapped and the sails had been torn to pieces. Most of it would be useless, but maybe a few scraps of the material could be salvaged and sold.

Crates lay strewn about, smashed, their contents spewing out onto the ground. There wasn’t much worthwhile he could see in that rubbish. Mainly just some foodstuffs that would be spoiled by their contact with the soil.

The body of the yacht had great tears in its side and pieces of the hull had been pushed inwards as well. The limb of one of the redwoods protruded from the side of the ship like a spear. The metal of the ship could be salvaged though, and the villagers would be grateful for that. They could melt it down and forge new farming implements and sell off the rest to weapon forgers.

Gosha looked at a section of the ship that had been torn to shreds from the inside, the edges of the steel partially melted and still glowing red hot. Ho grimaced at this. That was most likely where the most prized possession of a shipwreck were stored, the crystals. On impact with the ground they had exploded. If it wasn’t for the metal of the ship, then he would have told the villagers not to bother with the salvage and let the thieves take it.

He looked over the site again, his eyes focusing on things he hadn’t seen before. Bodies and body parts were also strewn about the wreckage. Arms and legs that had been torn off during the crash lay amidst the broken crates. Mangled bodies lay in the furrows left by the yacht. His mind took a tally of the death, counting most likely seven passengers. From the clothing he could see they were all crew members except one, but he couldn’t tell what position this last one held.

His brow furrowed as he looked at them. He knew he should have been feeling guilt, sadness, sick, anything except nothing. He was only sixteen years old and his uncle had always pointed out to him the sorrow in the wars that were still waged. He said they were useless, that the Council should stop them but didn’t. He knew this should be affecting him, but it wasn’t.

His left fist clenched itself tight at his side, and his left eye started twitching. Even the left side of his mouth started to lift itself up in a smile. He tried to control himself, but couldn’t. His right hand then gripped his left shoulder as his legs straightened him up and he started walking into the clearing. He walked towards some of the dead bodies and his left arm reached out, running his fingers over the dead flesh. His head turned from left to right, taking everything in in a new light. Something caught his eyes and they focused on it on the other side of the clearing.

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There was another body off to the side, he couldn’t see it before because the crates had been piled in his way. It lay there, thrown from the wreck out onto the grass. The body was whole, and aside from bruising and scratches didn’t seem to be any worse for wear, unlike those who had been left in the direct line. It clothes were torn to pieces, and an ample bosom pronounced that it was a female body lying off to the side. Suddenly a leg twitched.

Gosha blinked as he was brought back to the reality of the situation. He was in control of his body once again. Laying not too far away was a survivor of this disastrous wreck, a woman lying naked on the ground. A typical damsel in distress if he ever saw one. He rushed over to her and knelt by her side.

His first glance told him she was still breathing. She looked not much older than himself, she might even have been younger. Her features were so soft though that it was hard to tell. He pulled his shirt over his head and lay it across her chest, easing the blood which had rushed to his cheeks and slowing his own breathing down. With her bosom covered he went about checking her body for any injuries. It was as he thought before, nothing was broken and the only injuries seemed to be scratches and bruises. He reached for her face and gave her a few light taps on the cheek.

Her head lolled to the side.

"Oh, not good, not good," he reached down and held her by the shoulders and started gently shaking her, "wake up girl. If you don’t wake up you might die."

Suddenly her head lifted and her eyes flicked open.

Gosha let her shoulders go and scrambled backwards. She dropped down to the ground with a thump and groaned.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," he rushed back over to her and lifted her head with his hand, "I didn’t mean to do that."

She blinked a few times then looked in his eyes. She smiled slightly. She shifted her head so she could look around at the site. Her eyes opened wide at the horror that lay before her, and tears started welling his them. As she looked forward she noticed her breasts were uncovered as the shirt had slid down to her waist as he had shaken her. Her hand flashed in the air as she slapped him on the face, sending him reeling and causing him to drop her again.

She scrambled to a sitting position and pulled the cloth lying across her up around her chest and clutched it tightly. She examined herself a little now, realising that her dress had been torn quite a bit. She sighed with relief though when she realised her panty was still intact.

Gosha recovered from the slap and sat on the ground a little away from her.

"Some thankyou I get," he muttered as the mark on his face started to show up red.

"Ahem," the girl said as she realised the cloth she was holding was a shirt. She made a little circular motion with her fingers, "Would you mind turning around so I might get dressed?"

Gosha blushed and quickly span in the spot. When she was finished she called him back and he turned to look at her. His shirt was a little large for her as she wasn’t all that tall, and it went halfway down her thighs. At least it was an improvement from the torn dress though.

"And who are you?" She asked of him, not even showing a hint of gratitude.

Gosha stood up and puffed out his chest.

"What would you say if I said I was a daring knight coming to rescue a fair damsel in distress?"

"I'd hit you for calling me fair. I am sure you can see I am much more beautiful than that, even with this filth on."

"Well then," he frowned slightly as his shirt was called filth, "what if I said I was the welcoming committee from the nearest village, welcoming you into our fair neighbourhood, and that the rest of the village would be hear soon to give you the same greeting?"

"Sounds a little more plausible than the last, but I am sure you can do better than that peasant."

"Aren’t you miss high and mighty? Here I am, saving your life as you lay there on the doorstep of death, covering your modesty with my very own shirt, and all I keep getting from you are insults."

She sighed slightly and slumped.

"I am very sorry. I am just a little shocked by what’s happened."

She stood and walked over to where Gosha was standing. She grasped his head between her hands and brought it down before kissing his forehead. She then looked him in the eyes.

"Thankyou, I am very grateful for what you have done. And now that’s out of the way, won’t you tell me your name?"

He let out the air he had been holding in his lungs and his face turned a little red as she changed the way she was speaking to him.

"I am Ho Gosha, and you are?"

"Hi Megimi, pleasure to meet you. Now, one last try as to why your here."

Gosha pulled a bit away from her and took on a dashing pose.

"What if I was to say I was the King of the Bandits in this forest and I was going to take you away and ransom you back to whoever will take you, take everything from the crash and sell it, then leave with a tidy profit?"

A deep voice sounded from the other side of the clearing where Gosha had come from.

"I'd have to say that you’re a stupid, lying village brat who has now bitten off more than he can chew."

Gosha and Megimi turned to the new voice and saw a large man with his foot on a broken crate and resting his arm on his knee. On his hip was a sword and hidden by a deep blue cloak was a crossbow. On either side of him were more men, all holding crossbows, and with sinister expressions on their faces.