In front of me was a large forest, which seemed to stretch out quite a ways into the distance.

On the other side of the forest was the town of Westfall, which was my present destination.

In my travels through this world so far, I’d really only had one goal in mind: to survive long enough to make my way into town, and then to figure things out from there. But as I stepped my way into the lush and vibrant forest, and realized just how close that goal was to completion - and how safe I already was now that I was in these woods so near to town - I began to really think about just what it was that I wanted to do next, and how I wanted to proceed.

I had been a prisoner for so long that I hadn’t really thought about my future in quite some time.

And that’s why it was so strange for me to realize just how open life was for me now that I’d been freed.

I hadn’t thought of that much when I’d first gotten here, and I’d tried just to keep my goals as simple as I could. But now, I felt myself suddenly thrust into the great ocean of life, without really having any sort of purpose or direction.

Later on, I’m sure that thought would scare me.

But right now, it felt absolutely exhilarating.

As I walked, images kept flashing through my mind of all of the different sorts of things that I could do with my life... and my reveries right then were really only interrupted at all by the array of wondrous new sights that were springing out from all around me.

There were all sorts of different kinds of creatures out here, and all sorts of different kinds of plants and trees as well, many of which were unlike anything that I had ever seen before in my life.

Every few minutes, I would stop to examine some strange and wondrous new thing, like the huge brightly colored butterflies that flew high up into the canopy, or the beautiful trees with silver-colored leaves that rose up towards the clouds.

But while the forest was bustling with life, there wasn’t much sign of any other living human beings out here. All that I had really seen on my walk so far were a few humble wooden houses scattered here and there, which likely belonged to some of the hermits that Torver had mentioned before.

Most of them I had just passed by in silence, trying not to disturb the residents.

But one of the houses had really drawn my gaze, and I had found myself standing there and looking at it almost in spite of myself.

It had been constructed so that the back half of the house filled up the insides of a small cave, while the front half stood beneath the cover of several huge willow trees that were growing overhead. The house itself had all of the beauty and the elegance of nature in its design, and it almost looked as if it had sprung directly out of the fertile soil of the earth.

At the front of the house, there was a large wooden door, and on that door there was an engraving of what appeared to be a staff. There didn’t seem to be any sort of movement coming from inside of the house, and it looked as if it might have been abandoned for quite some time. Still, there was something strangely beautiful and inviting about the place. It was just the kind of home that I would have loved to live in someday, and I spent a few moments admiring the beautiful view.

I had just left that home behind about ten minutes before, when I at last made out my first sign of human life in these vibrant yet quiet woods. In front of me, I saw what looked like two small children just a little ways off in the distance, towards the bottom of a small ravine. They were both wearing robes, and their backs were turned towards me, so I couldn’t actually be sure of what their ages were. But I could see that one of them was sitting down on the ground below, while the other was kneeling at their side.

I was a little afraid of the sight at first, after some of the experiences that I'd had in this world so far. But as I remembered what Torver had told me about the area around Westfall, I decided that there wasn't any reason to be afraid, and that it should be fine for me to keep walking on ahead.

As I took a few steps closer, I could begin to tell that the two of them were whispering to one another. I thought that I could also just barely make out that the one sitting on the forest floor was softly crying, in what sounded like a young, feminine voice. It seemed like she was in a state of profound distress – a mixture of anguish and of terror – and it seemed as if the one kneeling by her side was trying to help to console her, but was unable to do so.

I didn’t know if I should interfere right then, or if maybe if it would be better to keep moving on ahead. There was a good chance that this was just something between the two of them, and that I wouldn’t really be able to do anything much to help. Besides, I certainly remembered being a kid myself, and crying a lot when I was alone. Back then, I never really wanted anyone to find me… and I didn't want to intrude on that sort of thing, if I didn't have to - or to get too involved in their own affairs.

I had almost resolved to just leave the two of them alone right then, when I began to get the sense that something might really be wrong with them. The one sitting on the ground kept running her hands along her right leg, and the one kneeling at her side seemed to be rubbing the same spot on her leg as well. It looked like the one on the ground might be hurt, and that the other one might not know what to do to help, or how to proceed.

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If that was the case, then they might actually need my assistance to help to carry her back towards town.

If I’m being completely honest, I kind of didn’t want to get too tangled up in all of this.

But at the same time, I also didn't want to leave a kid out here in pain without seeing if there was anything that I could do.

I knew that getting brought out to this world was really something of a miracle for me... and I didn't want to start off my life in this new place being so suspicious, and so cold.

I wanted to make something better of myself, if I could - and this really did seem like the right place for me to start.

And so, I decided that I would approach them, as I began to think about what I would say.

I didn’t want to call out just yet, because their whispering suggested that maybe they didn’t want to be found. But once I had gotten close enough that I could speak quite softly and still be heard, I faced towards the two of them, and asked if they were alright, and if they needed any help.

Before I could finish my words, the one who had been kneeling had spun around, and stood to face me.

He was a human boy of about ten years of age, wearing a thick dark robe that looked a little too large for his slender body.

And in his right hand, he was holding a small, metal sword.

He was gripping the handle very tightly, as if he expected that he might have to fight me at any moment - and his whole body was tense and alert, and his face seemed to display an awful combination of sorrow, terror and rage.

“We’re fine,” the boy said, trembling. “We don’t need anything.”

It was clear that he wanted me to leave as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the seated figure had turned their head around to look at me. It turned out that they were a young girl of about nine years of age, with deep green eyes, short black hair, and a sweet, gentle face. She would almost have passed for human, actually, if it weren’t for two dog-like ears on the top of her head, that were just sticking out from beneath the hood of her large, black robe.

In any sort of ordinary encounter, I’m sure that this girl would have been very charming. But right now, she looked so profoundly sad and afraid, and her whole face was so soaked and stained with tears, that there wasn’t any charm at all in seeing her. The whole sight just left me feeling sad, and upset, and something about it reminded me way too much of the suffering that I had seen and lived through before - and it brought all of the painful memories of my own childhood rushing back up to the surface.

As the young girl took me in, and noticed the blade that I was wielding, her eyes widened, and her features seemed to become even more afraid. She seemed to be almost considering standing up and trying to run, hobbled leg and all, and I think that she probably would have tried that if I had gotten that much closer.

Looking out at the two of them, I really didn’t know what to do.

Something was clearly really, really wrong. But… without knowing what was going on, I doubted that I could really help.

And it certainly didn’t seem as if either of them wanted to tell me what they were up to.

Besides, it honestly seemed like the two of them might try to attack me, or else hurt themselves in trying to get away… and I didn’t want either of those things to happen, either.

I had almost decided that I would just put up my hands, apologize, and walk away...

But then, as I really took in the sight of the robes that they were wearing, I started to notice something.

Those robes looked a lot like the robe that Torver had been wearing a little whiles before.

And that meant that I might know what to say - or how to start to work through all of this.

“Are… are the two of you slaves,” I asked.

At once, the girl’s eyes went wide with terror. She dug her hands into the ground, and looked ready to force her body up into the air. Meanwhile, the boy started to raise his blade into a combat position, his whole body trembling more intensely.

Damnit, I thought.

It felt like this whole situation was starting to get more and more out of hand.

But at the same time, I wasn't ready to give up just yet - and especially not after a slave had just put his own life in so much danger in order to help me to survive.

As calmly as I could, I placed my sword down onto the ground at my side, and pushed it a little bit behind me with my right foot.

I would still have more than enough time to step back and to grab my blade up off of the ground if I needed to defend myself. But I really didn’t want to have to do that, and I felt pretty certain that they would only attack me if they thought that I was about to hurt them.

“Please, wait a moment,” I said somewhat breathlessly. “I don’t want to hurt you, and I’m not trying to take you back. I want to help the two of you, I promise."

I turned to face the boy.

“It looks like your friend is hurt right now. Is she able to walk?”

The girl’s face had an expression of deep, and helpless sadness. The boy looked like he was on the verge of crying too, and could only manage to shake his head to the side.

“Alright. Well… is she too heavy for you to carry?”

The boy nodded.

“Yeah… yeah, she is.”

His voice was much softer now, and much more sweet.

I wanted to take care of this situation as quickly as possible. I didn’t know what the hell I would do if anyone happened to find us out here, although I'd had a few ideas. But, at any rate – I didn’t want it to have to come to that.

I knelt down, and tried to do my best to make myself look as trustworthy as I could.

“I know that neither of you really have any reason to trust me right now. You don’t know anything about me, and you don’t know what kind of person I am. But, honestly – I don’t want to hurt either of you at all. I want to help you.”

“If you ask me to leave, I’ll leave. But… if I leave, and if you can’t get her to safety, then someone is probably going to find you after me. And that person may not even say that they want to help you to escape, you know? I know that just saying that I want to help you isn’t a lot... but at least it’s something. The next person might not even do that.”

“So - what do you want me to do right now? If the two of you ask me to leave, then I’ll leave at once. But I’d also be glad to help you if I could. I think that I could at least manage to carry her to somewhere that isn’t so out in the open, if you would let me.”

The two of them clearly didn’t know what to do right then. But, it seemed like my words had at least managed to have some effect on the young girl. She had nodded her head a little while I had been speaking, and after I had finished, she had leaned in towards the boy, and started to whisper into his ear. Once she was done, the young boy seemed to relax a bit, as he lowered his sword down to his side.

“Okay… you can come closer. But… well, if you try to hurt us, or to grab us, or anything, then we’re going to have to fight you… okay?”

I nodded.

“Okay," I said.

The young boy nodded in return, and stepped off to the side, in order to let me get closer to the girl.

I was glad that that was done, at least.

But now…

… I needed to figure out what to do next… and how I was going to manage to get the two of them to safety.