What happens when the unexpected occurs? What happens when all hope is lost? What happens when you find yourself alone with no one to lift you up? For some it will be the end, but for others, it is only the beginning…

Ryan gazed up at the sparkling stars. The wind blew through his long, brown, messy hair. He shifted his bangs to the right so as not to impair his view. The sails ruffled in the sea air. Ryan took a deep gulp of the crisp night air. Something was out there. He could feel it. Gripping his Asianic bow, he closed his eyes and meditated. His mind connected with his golden bow; energy flowed from his soul to his hands. He was ready.

“Sir?” asked an uncertain voice, “Sir the ship’s policy requires passengers to be inside their cabins by 11:00. It is an hour after curfew, so please return to your room.”

Taking a last look at the clear night sky, Ryan wordlessly sauntered back to the stairwell and trudged back down to the passenger’s deck. The stewardess left him at the entrance of his cabin, and went on back to her own room. Ryan slowly sat down on his bed. He propped his head up with the soft, white pillows and waited. He waited…

Suddenly, he felt a jolt. “Turbulence… God I hate it…” he murmured. The shaking came again, this time more violently. “No wonder I hate fly…” Before he could finish his thought, his body was thrown into the air. Ryan’s back smashed into the ceiling and slammed back down onto his bed like a rag doll. Dazed, he climbed out of the bed to choke on heavy black smoke. Something was burning.

Ryan fumbled into his backpack and pulled out a bottle of white potion. He quickly chugged it down, and felt himself being reinvigorated. Quickly, he dashed out of his room, bow in hand, and up the main stairwell to the main deck above. Directly above him, were mysterious dark figures circling around the ship.

“What the hell?” he murmured. Ryan’s meditated for a few seconds, feeling again as the energy channeled through his body, and released two arrows. He watched as the missiles arced into the black heavens. A sudden flash of bright gold indicated that they hit their target. The figure seemed to fall out of the sky. Slowly, it plummeted straight down. Ryan grinned a little, feeling a deep satisfaction.

As it came closer however, Ryan’s smirk transformed into a look of wide-eyed terror. The monster was not falling, but diving. With a furious roar, a balrog landed, tearing up the once finely polished wood. It advanced.

“Holy mother of…” Ryan heard a rush of footsteps. A few people appeared at the top of the stairs. He whipped around and saw a female cleric, a male hermit, and two spearmen. The cloaked hermit dashed forward and launched four Ilbis at the balrog. The two spearmen dashed forward too, brandishing their Crescent Pole Arms. With a single swipe, Ryan watched in horror as the two spearmen were slashed off the deck, falling into the ocean below. The hermit however, paid no attention, and fired eight more Ilbis. The balrog flinched as these stars tore holes into its dark brown carapace.
The balrog roared and stomped forward, each step crushing the deck even more. It summoned a dark energy ball and shot it at the hermit. Vigilantly, the hermit dived away and fire more stars. A crash behind Ryan indicated another balrog landing. Sure enough as he turned around, another balrog shot a ball of dark energy at them. Ryan ran to the cleric, who was now cowering on the floor, and pushed her out of the way of death. The ball whizzed past them and hit the ship’s main mast. At once, the mast crumbled and fell, hitting the left engine, and disappearing down through the clouds and into the ocean.

The malfunctioning engine started sending up sparks, which ignited the rocket fuel it operated on. A roaring fire soon consumed most of the deck. Grabbing the cleric, Ryan dashed downstairs and slammed the metal door shut, locking out the fire, the balrogs, but also the hermit. Ryan felt the ship lurch downwards a little. The balrogs must have gotten to the other engine as well…

Suddenly, the ground was not their anymore. Ryan was falling through empty space. He grabbed hold of the cleric and held her close. He felt her hot tears seep through is shirt. Ryan closed his eyes and waited.

The impact tore the ship up. Although it hit the ocean, the sheer force of the crash annihilated the fuselage. The wooden deck shattered upon impact, and pieces of shrapnel hurled through the air. Slowly, the ship started to sink.

Ryan’s eyes fluttered open. His hand grabbed cool, grainy sand. Odd… At his feet, he felt waves breaking over his shoes. He was on an island. Ryan’s vision was blurry. He could not hear anything. Someone was kneeling beside him. Slowly, Ryan propped himself up to look back into the dark ocean. His heart stopped.

The world refocused and his hearing became crystal clear. In front of his horror-filled eyes were hundreds of screaming passengers all trying to get onto the beach. He tried to spring up to help them, but felt a searing pain in his spine. He coughed at the pain and blood spurted out of his mouth. A gentle hand pushed him back down. Ryan looked at the kneeling figure and saw the very cleric he had saved from the balrogs.

“Hold on,” she said in a sweet, calming voice. She closed her eyes and murmured a few words. A light green mist surrounded them. Ryan instantly felt his backbones repair themselves. He could no longer taste blood on his lips.

“Thank you, Miss… “ He started.
“It’s Michelle. Thank you for saving me, I was just returning the favor,” she said as tears welled up in her eyes again.

Ryan studied her. Her eyes were a deep blue that matched a perfect evening’s sky. Her long, straight hair clung to her smooth, silky skin. Ryan saw tears clinging to her long black eyelashes. She was trembling. He pulled her into a deep, passionate hug. It might have been minutes, hours, or maybe days, but when they let go, both felt a deep comfort, somehow sensing they were going to be alright after all.

“Hey, hey its alright,” he whispered, trying to reassure her, “But right now, I need to see if I can help anyone out.”
“But I don’t even know your name!”
“Ryan…”
The screams came back to him. Ryan sprinted across the beach to some other survivors. He ran over piece after piece of the broken up ship that landed on the island. To his left, he saw one of the engines still rotating extremely fast. There were people right in front of it. He had to get them away.

“Hey!” he yelled, “Get away from there! The engine is dan…” His sentence was suddenly drowned out by a tremendous explosion. A magician was running by, but was sucked into the vicious engine, which blew apart, resulting in collateral damage. Fiery pieces of shrapnel careened through the air in all directions. Ryan was knocked down by the intense heat of the blast. A jagged piece of metal soared through the air and landed right beside Ryan’s head. He quickly got up, and looked around. The screaming was deafening. Ryan tried to block out the pain and horror.

It started to rain. Thunder clashed with the lightning and lit up the sky for a few nanoseconds. Rain pelted down on the survivors. Ryan looked around and to his right, saw a bandit. Immediately, Ryan closed his eyes. What he saw was the most gruesome thing he had ever seen. Tears flowed out of his hazel eyes.

The bandit was lying on the sand; his intestines were spilling out of his abdomen. He was half calling for his mama, and half choking on blood. Ryan ran to the bandit. He knelt down beside the man, and took hold of his hand. His tears dripped down and was absorbed by the grains.

“Am-am I g-going to d-die?” the bandit stuttered.
“No, Don’t look down,” Ryan sobbed, “I’m going to get you fixed up.” Ryan looked around wildly. He needed a cleric…

“Help! Help somebody! I need a cleric!” A sudden flash of blue light appeared in front of Ryan. A priest materialized before his eyes. He was wearing a Dark Enigmatic, and was clutching a kage.
“Sir, this bandit needs help!” The priest took one look at the bandit, and closed his eyes.
“He’s gone,” he whispered to Ryan. Then, the priest teleported off to another survivor, leaving Ryan in cold shock.

“S-sir, a-am I going t-to die?” repeated the bandit.
Ryan hesitated for a moment, and said, “You are going to be fine. J-just lie down and r-rest a little…” he started. Tears gushed out of his eyes like rapids on a river. His hand was shaking madly. The bandit closed his eyes and smiled. “Thank you,” he whispered. The grip in the bandit’s hand slowly faded. Ryan felt the hand become cold. Lifeless. The bandit’s soul faded away and rose up into the heavens, where he would forever remain.

Ryan pondered. He had seen death before. His father just past away, why was he crying for a complete stranger? He felt a fire burning inside. Ryan started to stop crying. The tears evaporated inside his heart, and was replaced by a blazing fire. He stood up. The rain started to come down heavier now, mixing with his already wet clothes. He looked up into the night sky; it seemed impossible that only an hour ago he was on a ship, dry, and breathing the crisp night air. The rain pelted down harder. Ryan closed his eyes. The heavens were crying. They cried for the perished. They cried for the survivors.