"Illusion of Gaia: Hearts at Sea"
By adpax1105@yahoo.com (w/ excepts from the game's script)


AUTHOR'S NOTE
This story is set during the period in which Will and Kara are stranded alone 
at sea after the Incan ship is destroyed.  As such, I recommend listening to 
an audio file of the song it plays during that scene.  This fanfic contains 
all of the scenes the game portrayed, with my own imagination used to add more 
detailed movements, thoughts, and so on to make it more entertaining.  All of 
the text used in the game during that scene is placed somewhere in this story.  
In the future, I plan on doing the same for other scenes in Illusion of Gaia, 
and perhaps eventually putting the entire game into novel form.  I have the 
same aspirations for Terranigma, as well.  Please enjoy and send me your 
opinions!  Illusion of Gaia and its characters are copyright Quintet/Enix.


DRIFTING, DAY 1
	The sound of water...Water rippling and tumbling over small objects.  
Slight splashes...Minute droplets thrown onto the face...The humid feeling 
from clothes soaked with salt water and baked in the sun...A dry aftertaste 
of saltwater...A beautiful voice, humming a simple melody...My eyes opened, 
bringing a hazy view further distorted by the blinding sun and small trickles 
of water running down the forehead and into my eyes.
	Slowly, I raised my arm.  My body was tired and sore, and it took 
nearly every ounce of my strength to place my hand across my face.  I wiped 
the water from my eyes while shielding them from the sun.  I tried to clear 
my throat, sending a shot of pain through it.  I winced, then let out a low, 
drawn out moan as the swallowing awoke my stomach, which screamed from 
hunger.  I began to move my other arm to my stomach, but halted after a 
moment, not wanting to put forth the effort.
	My mind was a haze.  The sun was irritating me.  I parted my fingers 
just enough to give myself a slight view of the blindingsphere, shining with 
an eternal radiance.  The constant up and down motion was making my stomach 
turn and giving me a head ache.  I felt quite sick, and prayed that my body 
wouldn't make an attempt to vomit up the nonexistent contents of my stomach, 
which seemed like a very likely turn of events.  I tried to focus more on my 
thoughts and the beautiful melody.
	'A strange place,' I thought.  'I hate it here, but that music is 
wonderful...It reminds me of when Grandma Lola would sing to me...'
	I wondred where she was...Then I wondered where I was.  How did I get 
here?  Memories began to come back.  That's right, I had left South Cape.  I
had been on an amazing adventure...  Had all of that been a dream?  It felt 
like it was...  had a really defeated so many demons?  Been to that invisible 
town?  Visited Incan ruins...  I had found the mythological Incan gold ship.  
My friends met me there...  Those Incans...spectres of the past, that died 
waiting for their king...horrible...  We found the queen's mummy, just before 
the ship was attacked...  The ship was destroyed...!
	I sat up rapidly, finally becoming fully awake and beginning to make 
sense of things.  She body screeched in protest to my sudden movement, and it 
was all I could do to not let myself fall onto my back again when the pain 
shot through my body and the quick movement seent the blood rushing to my 
head, temporarily blackening my vision.  I leaned forward slightly, raising 
my legs so that I could rest my elbow on my knee while I held my head as the 
headache throbbed.  I noticed that the humming had stopped.  I gradually 
raised my head and observed my surroundings.
	I was on a small raft of finely cut wood with expert nailing, but the 
wood was torn and broken, and some of the nails bent out of place by some sort 
of tension the planks had gone through.  Two holes had been broken into the 
raft, as well as a third, smaller hole, from which a short wooden pole leaned 
out of, with a torn scrap of mast hanging from it, nearly reaching the floor 
of the raft.  Slight gold engravements could be found on several planks, 
leaving no doubt that this raft had once been a part of the Incan gold ship.  
The raft was small; it would've been a tight fit for six people.  A short 
distance from me, stood a girl in a pretty pink dress.  Kara.
	I quickly swung my head around, looking for any of my friends.  None 
of them could be found.  I saw nothing but endless blue, with an occassional 
scrap of driftwood floating in the distant currents.  Kara stood at the very 
edge of the raft, facing away from me, staring into the ocean.  I slowly 
rose to my feet, using my hands to balance myself.  Slowly, I made my way to 
Kara, struggling for balance on the tumultuous raft.  Finally within reach of 
Kara, I put my hand on her shoulder to get her attention.
	Kara swung around in surprise, relaxing slightly upon seeing me.  She 
continued to stare at me for a moment, then seemed to let herself at ease 
again.
	"You've just come to???" she asked.  "I've lost everyone...," she 
said quietly as she lowered her eyes.  Switching her thoughts from her 
condition to my own, she quickly turned her gaze back to me as she asked, "Are 
you OK?"
	A wave swept under the boat, causing me to stumble, but I managed to 
keep from falling at least.  "I'm still unsteady," I stated after the obvious 
sign of it.
	"Of course, you were unconscious for more than half a day."  I was 
startled upon hearing this, but Kara continued, looking over her shoulders at 
the sea once again.  "I've read about being adrift, but I never thought it 
would happen to me..."  She looked at me again. "Disasters sometimes happen 
suddenly."
	It was a bit more thought then I was used to Kara putting into things, 
but at the time, I wasn't thinking about that very much.  She had lost 
everyone?  Who was she referring to?  Those were MY friends that died...  My 
childhood friends...and Lilly, that helped save me from the castle dungeon.  
First my father, then my mother, now my friends... Everyone...everyone I had 
ever been close to was dead now... Life without them seemed so desolate...
	My disturbance must have been evident on my face, because Kara's 
expression saddenned while she advised, "Don't be upset."  "Don't think about 
the future," she continued, turning to the sea yet again with a melancholy 
smile.  "Let's just enjoy drifting."
	I stared at her for a while, trying once more to decide what my 
opinion of her was.  They were all probably dead, and she was saying that I 
should simply enjoy myself in this hopeless situation.  Typical of a princess 
to be so carefree and not worry about others...  Still, there wasn't much that 
I could do about any of this, so worrying about it didn't really accomplish 
anything.  Maybe Kara was right...  
	I always dismissed the things she said without much thought, but every 
now and again she would say something that seemed to show signs of wisdom...  
It was always hard to tell whether there was more to her than met the eye, or 
if she was simply quoting something from one of her beloved novels.  She said 
that she'd read about being adrift...  She was probably feeding me lines from 
one of those stories.  It made her lack of worry make sense.  Watching that 
peaceful smile on her face, I could almost see her imagination running wild, 
filled with excitement from the thought that her life was following the path 
of one of her novels she had always used to take her mind outside the castle 
walls.  I smiled a little, deciding that enjoying it was the best choice.
	My trail of thought was interrupted by the growling of my stomach.  
Kara looked over her shoulder at me in surprise, then turned towards me with a 
smile.  "I'm starved.  I'll have the meat I brought from the castle."
	Did I even have my belongings anymore?  I glanced towards my pack 
rather casually before breaking into  panic upon wondering whether I had lost 
the Mystic Statue or not.  I hurridly dug through my bag before finally 
breathing a sigh of relief, seeing that the tie had held secure and that all 
of my items were still in a decent condition.  Fortunately, I had used my 
herbs before boarding the Incan gold ship, because they probably wouldn't have 
survived...
	I pulled the roast leg of yak out of my bag, and my stomach let out a 
long purr.  I struggled to keep my mouth from watering, and looked up at Kara.  
She was restraining her appetite much better than myself, but I could see in 
her expression that she was as hungry as I was.  We bit off some of the meat.  
It was better than any food we'd ever had.
	Hunger is the best spice, they say, but I think it was more than that.  
Circumstance and setting played a part in it as well.  It tasted similar to 
the very meat that I'd been fed while I was in the prison at Edward castle.  
This was probably intended to be used to make more rations.  At that time, I 
had felt miserable and hopeless.  Now, I was at ease.  The situation was 
equally hopeless, and I was confined to an equally small area.  However, I 
felt good.  The wind blew through my hair and the sun was beginning to lower.  
We were alone in the middle of nowhere, but we both cast pathetic smiles to 
eachother, as if to say, 'Oh well...,' and the water rippled and tumbled over 
the raft...  


DRIFTING, DAY 2
	I woke up around noon the next day...  My body was aching yet again, 
though not nearly so badly as it had the first day.  I was confused at first, 
then remembered my reasons for being stranded at sea yet again.  I felt a 
little sick again, but I took some comfort in that, knowing that it meant I 
wouldn't feel any hunger for a while.  We didn't have any more food, having 
completely devoured the roast from the castle.  I suppose that I should have 
been more impressed with Kara for not eating during the entire time that I 
was asleep.
	Speaking of Kara, she was now facing the West, judging from the sun's 
positioning.  Her expression seemed to have grown even happier since the 
previous day.  An endless stream of fish swam along the raft.  Kara's eyes 
would follow the fish for a while, then look at the water shining on the 
horizon, then go to the clouds in the sky, and sometimes her expression would 
seem to convey a trance, as if she was completely absorbed into the entire 
setting.
	I rose to my feet and walked across the raft, stretching to wake my 
body up and taking in my surroundings.  They hadn't changed much.  Endless 
blue.  The only change was that there was no longer any scraps of driftwood 
floating in the difference.  I futilly lokked around for some sign of land in 
the horizon, then walked next to Kara, watching the fish swim by.  I turned 
from the fish to Kara, whose expression continued to be completely dazed.  I 
leaned slightly further into her field of vision, but she seemed to not even 
notice me.  I opened my mouth to speak, when she finally spoke.
	In a low, relaxed voice, she whispered, "Beautiful....  Even after 
seeing it all day, I still never get tired of it."
	I watched her for a while longer, then turned to the fish again.  The 
thought of catching some to eat crossed my mind, but my stomach's pain began 
to drive that idea out of my mind almost immediately.  I knew that I should 
probably make some attempt to eat regardless, but the abundancy of fish 
brought me to the conclusion that there would be plenty of oppurtunities to 
catch fish later.  I turned to Kara, wondering about her hunger.  I decided 
that I should catch a fish for her sake.  
	I knelt at the side of the raft, watching the fish closely.  I pulled 
out my flute, and slowly raised it.  I held out my other hand, ready to grab 
the fish the moment I struck it.  Kara seemed to finally notice me just as I 
began to swing.  She rushed to stop me, but I managed to strike the fish, 
though she prevented me from grabbing it.  As a result, it flopped from side 
to side at the water's surface for a moment before recovering and hurridly 
darting away.
	"What are you doing?  The poor fish!" Kara cried.  I stared at her for 
a moment, then put my flute away and walked to the middle of the raft.  A 
typical princess...  What did she plan on doing; starving?  Kara watched for 
a while to ensure that I wasn't going to attack her beloved fish again, and 
then returned to her previous position and began watching the scenery again.
	I wandered about the raft, practicing my fighting techniques, my 
musical skills, and doing anything else that came to mind.  Before long, I 
found myself running all of the children's songs I knew through my mind, but 
even that wore itself out rather quickly.  I was beginning to realize that if 
I didn't die of starvation or malnutrition, I would almost definitely die of 
boredom.  Time passed slowly, with nothing to break the monotony.  Kara just 
stared at the fish all day.  I couldn't stand it.  I walked round on the raft 
and talked to Kara many times.  A minute seemed like forever.  But I could 
hear the march of time.  


DRIFTING, DAY 4
	The next few days streched on endlessly.  Kara and I hardly spoke, not 
having many things in interest.  Even if we had tried to talk to one another, 
our personalities probably would have conflicted.  So, Kara simply spent her 
days staring at the unchanging scenery while I tried my hardest to sleep so 
that I wouldn't have to put up with the boredom.  I had sent all of my red 
jewels to Jem in a feeble attempt at entertaining myself.  The enjoyment I had 
originally allowed myself to recieve from drifting had worn itself out long 
ago, and I was beginning to become depressed again and somewhat frustrated.  
	That evening, I was lying on the raft while Kara stared at the sea as 
usual, still with a smile on her face.  Hunger was getting to us both, yet she 
still seemed quite at ease.  I turned to her and asked her how she was still 
enjoying herself, even now.  She turned turned me in a rather giddy manner, 
with that same happy smile that was beginning to bother me.
	"I have a premonition...  Help is coming...," she smiled.
	I frowned, irritated by her undying optimism and inability to realize 
that we were going to die without seeing land again.  She was still lost in 
her stories, believing we would eventually arrive on some paradise, most 
likely.  I might have made some attempt to bring her back to reality, but 
since we could do nothing about our situation, I chose to leave her in her
state of illusionary bliss.
	"What?" Kara suddenly said, looking over my shoulder.  I turned to see 
what had caught her attention while she sprinted to the other side of the 
raft.  A clay pot was floating in the water, slowly approaching us.  Well, 
perhaps we were approaching it, it's hard to say, but regardless, I was 
surprised.  I ran to Kara's side as it floated ever closer.
	"Something is drifting here!" she said in delight.  Only a pot, I 
thought to myself.  Maybe we'd get lucky and some sort of food would be in it.  
I was beginning to feel very regretful of my decision not to catch the fish, 
since it seemed that they wouldn't be returning.  No, it was probably just a 
pot from the Incan gold ship.  However, as it came even nearer, I was able to 
discern that it was from some other location.  It had a very modern style to 
it, and judging from its condition, it hadn't been at sea for long.  So, 
perhaps ships were nearby!  Some hope finally began to enter me for the first 
time since our first day drifting...
	As the jar finally began to get in range, I sat at the side of the 
raft, stretching to reach it.  my fingertips brushed the side of the jar 
several times, actually nudging it further away from me.  However, with some 
moderate amount of patience, I was finally able the clasp the mouth of the jar 
and pull it aboard the raft.  There was a letter in the jar...  The contents 
read...
	'We are on a ship on our way to be sold as forced labor in an unknown 
land.  If anyone reads this, please save us...	Sam'
	"My premonition!"  Kara chimed in, with her joy near its climax.  She 
hurridly pulled the note from my hand so that she could read the contents that 
she believed would contain our signs of help.  She had been smiling with that 
far off expression our entire time adrift.  Howvwer, when she read the note, 
her smile finally faded to a frown.  
	She looked up at me with a small smile forced upon her face, but I 
could see her holding back the tears.  Staring at the note as she spoke to its 
writer, she whispered, "You said you wanted to be saved, but it's me who needs 
to be saved."
	The entire wall of illusion and fantasy Kara had been relying on 
finally broke down.  My behavior and the building hunger had probably been 
working on her for some time, and so she had put most of her hope into that 
little note in the clay jar, and that dissappointment had been the inal straw 
needed to cause Kara to break down.
	Fighting to hold bakc the tears, she turned away from me, probably to 
ensure that i didn't see her cry if it came to that.  "Oh!  I am so starved," 
she aid in distress, finally admitting to the hunger we'd both been sufferring 
from.
	"You should have caught that fish," I lectured, walking to her front.  
"If you had........"  
	She rased her face to me with an angry expression, saying, "I can't 
hurt such a pretty fish!"  
	"Are you saying it's better to starve?!" I yelled, angry that, even 
when in reality rather than fantasy, she wouldn't accept the fundamentals of 
survival.
	"Raw fish gives me the creeps!  I can't eat it!" she replied.  
"Besides, the fish is fighting to stay alive!  Fish feel pain!  Have you ever 
thought of how the fish feels?!"  her tears had been let loose by now, but 
she no longer cared, too angry at me to concern herself with that.  I opened 
my mouth to continue the debate, but she headed me off, saying, "If you want 
to eat it, go ahead!!  I'm not going to eat it!!!"
	Kara walked past me to the location that she had been standing in 
when I had first woken up.  I could here her sobbing slightly.  I knew that it 
wasn't simply the fish that had her so upset.  She was finally worried.  She 
was finally realizing that, more than likely, we were going to die out here.  
I could sympathize, but she was making it difficult.  I walked up behind her 
and put my hand on her shoulder, as I had done the first day.  She shrugged it 
off.  I tried speaking to her, but she remained silent.  Kara didn't say 
anything all day.  A typical princess...  She's such a bother...  


DRIFTING, DAY 7
	Drifting.  The next few days didn't seem as boring, but I attributed 
that to the fact that I spent most of the days lost in thought.  Kara wouldn't 
say a word to me.  If I left her alone long enough, she would get a dazed look 
again, but it was obvious that she was lost in thought, not dreams.  Perhaps 
regretting her decisions or wishing she was home...  If I tried to talk with 
her, she would make an angry expression and ignore me or turn away.  This 
irritated me, because I hadn't actually done anything wrong.  She was just 
being stubborn...  I finally gave up on her, and wondered if she was going to 
be so much of a brat that she wouldn't even talk to me during our last few 
days alive.  I felt bad, and wanted to give her some form of comfort or 
something, but she wouldn't have let me even if I had tried.
	First week.  Fish had shown up again, but I didn't try to catch them 
for Kara's sake.  I was hoping that she'd come to her senses and let me do it, 
but no such luck.  I had been hungry plenty of times before, even so hungry 
that it hurt.  But while drifting, I experienced new levels of hunger.  Every 
day, the pain was worse, and I would think to myself, 'So THIS is what true 
hunger feels like.'  The next day, it would hurt several times more.  Until 
the end of our first week at sea.  That's when I began to worry.  My stomach 
felt empty and ached, but it didn't hurt that bad anymore.  It's like my body 
was finally beginning to give up.  
	I was sure that Kara felt the same way.  Her diet at the castle was 
probably a lot healthier than my own from Aunt Lola, so she would probably 
live a while longer than me.  I didn't want her to have to see me die.  I was 
laying on the raft, worrying about this with my eyes closed, when I heard a 
splash.  Then another.  I opened my eyes and turned to see the cause.  A 
school of fish....
	I reached the end of my rope.  If I didn't eat more, I thought I 
would starve...  I knew that Kara would be angry with me, but I had to stay 
alive.  I had so much that I had to do...  For Gaia...  For my father...  I 
knelt at the side of the raft, preparing to begin using my old tactic.  Kara 
saw me, but made no movement to stop me.  I began catching fish at an uncanny 
speed.  I was able to prepare fish with great ease as a result of growing up 
in South Cape, but even so, I cut coners on my first few fish, too hungry to 
wait.  I'm not sure how many I ate...  But it was more than I had ever eaten 
in a meal before in my entire life.  When I finally finished, my stomach hurt.  
But it wasn't a hurt from hunger, but a hurt from having eaten too much, and 
so I enjoyed every second of it.  
	I stopped, and looked at Kara.  Her stomach let out a horrible groan, 
knowing that food was nearby.  I felt even worse for her now, and walked over 
to her, in hopes of giving her some words of comfort, and perhaps of even 
convincing her to eat the fish.  It didn't take much effort.  She had finally 
understtod that sometimes, creatures must consume other creatures.
	"Will...Sorry i talked to you that way yesterday....  I'll try to eat 
the fish.  I can't do anything if I starve.  Only in peace time can you refuse 
food you don't like..."
	I was surprised by some ords of wisdom from Kara yet again.  I smiled 
at her and said, "Let's catch a fish.  A good one."
	She sat on her knees next to my fishing location while I resumed my 
stance.  I waited patiently, when one of the most beautiful fish I had ever 
seen leapt out of the water.  I let it go.  I knew Kara loved the pretty fish.  
Shortly afterwards, a huge fish became my target, and was on the raft.  I 
prepared it for her, and then offerred it to her.  Happily, Kara ate some 
fish.  I caught her several more, and she ate nearly as many as I had.  
	During the course of catching Kara's fish, I instructed her on how to 
prepare them so that she could do it, leaving me to focus more on catching the 
fish.  She tried to apologize to me several more times, ut I told her not to.  
I understood.  Her feelings had been really upset.  Mine were too.  We were 
both expecting our times to be up soon.  Now, however, we were both at ease, 
as we had been on that first day.  The return of the school of fish had made 
me almost certain that they would continue to return.  
	Kara and I were in good spirits again.  We talked and laughed, while 
eating and while I tried to teach her.  It felt so good, after being silent, 
hopeless, and hungry for such a long time, to be so talkful, hopeful, and just 
plain full.  Talking with Kara, I was almost certain that there was more to 
her than met the eye.  She acted like a pretty normal girl.  Maybe a bit too 
much like a princess now and then...but I was seing her in a new light.  While 
she was laughing, I would stare at her and wonder, 'What is she thinking now?'  
I liked watching her laugh and smile, too.  I was finding that Kara was a very 
interesting girl.  I had also found that she was very pretty.  I found that I 
was developing feelings for Kara...



DRIFTING, DAY 12
	Things were a lot less boring now that Kara and I were speaking to one 
another.  I learned that she has put that dumb pole with the scrap of mast on 
it in the raft.  I laughed and we both joked about.  We got along wonderfully, 
now.  We pretty much stopped arguing.  The eating pattern was hard to get used 
to, since the fish would only come around about once every three days, but we 
were dealing with it.  We couldn't save the fish for long, but Kara and I had 
come up with the plan of catching some of the fish in the scrap of mast and 
keeping them held in that underwater so that we could have some more later, 
but we hadn't tried it yet.  It didn't really matter.  We were confident that 
we were going to live now.
	Kara and i learned a little more about each other, and I only became 
more and more interested in her.  Kara seemed to feel the same way about me, 
but perhaps it was only my mind telling me what I wanted to believe.  Then 
again, she had kept following me around when I was with Lilly.  At the time, I 
told myself that it was because we didn't want her too, so she wanted to be 
stubborn and show that she could do as she pleased.  But I didn't feel that 
way about her anymore.  I felt that she had changed some since all of this had 
begun, but perhaps she was only becoming more honest...More true to herself.
	We went to sleep rather early usually, but we decided to stay up the 
twelth night to watch the stars.  Kara and I had both sat on the West side of 
the raft, watching the sun set.  We watched the colors fade and change like 
some sort of gorgeous painting with more layers slowly being added.  We saw 
its beautiful reflection in the water spread and fade.  We watched the stars 
slowly fade into view as the sky slowly darkenned.  Finally, there were only 
stars.  We could still see a small hint of dark blue on the horizon, but we 
only cared about the stars.
	"The stars are beautiful...," Kara murmured.  I smiled at her, but she 
rose to her feet, stood on her toes, and held her hand up to the stars.  "If I 
were taller I could reach them," she whispered, motioning with her hand as 
though she was trying to grasp them in her hand.  I rose to my feet as well, as 
she came off of her toes.  We both glanced at one another out of the corners 
of our eyes, and then gazed at the heavens once again.  "Surely Lilly and 
Lance are looking at the same star-studded sky..."  Were they alive?  I wasn't 
sure.  However, if we were alive, then it meant they might be.  I was worried 
about them.  Kara turned her head to me, smiling.  "If I could talk to the 
stars I could find out where evryone is..."
	I nodded, and we lookd to the sky once more.  She continued, "There 
seems to be one extra star next to the constellation of Cygnus."  I looked in 
the sky, and was shocked.  It was the same star that my mother had shown me in 
the dream.  The star that she had said was the comet.  The thing that the Moon 
Tribe had told me so much about...  Kara saw my eyes focusing on it, and said, 
"Yes, that red star."  Turning towards me excitedly, she smiled, "Shall we 
make a wish upon that star?  I have a feeling it'll come true."  She closed 
her eyes, then opened one again to look at me.  "Will, you close your eyes 
too."
	I closed my eyes, and thought for a moment.  "I hope for everyone's 
safety, and for my father...," I whispered.  To m surprise, I felt Kara lean 
against me.  I kept my eyes closed, and I think she did too.  She rested her 
side against me and laid her head on my shoulder.  Iwas uncertain of what to 
do, so I did whatever came naturally to me.  I put my arm around her, and held 
her closer.  I finally opened my eyes to look at the red star for a moment.  I 
then turned my head to Kara.  She felt my movement, and lifted her head enough 
to smile at me.  I couldn't help but smile back.  My mother's words about the 
red star being a lucky star came back to me.
	'Then hope that happiness doesn't fade away...'


DRIFTING, DAY 18
	The day after that night, Kara and I both had some trouble speaking to 
one another.  We kept smiling at each other as the day went on, but neither of 
us would say anything.  I think we were both a little embarrassed.  She tried 
to say things about it to me, but I would always be unsure of how to respond, 
so I'd just smile and nod.  We got to talking before long, though, and then 
things pretty much returned to normal.  We didn't have any experience THAT 
romantic for the duration of our time on the raft, but I think it's safe to 
say that we both felt a lot closer.  We also became more comfortable around 
each other.  
	I don't think either of us would have even considered it before, but 
we took turns bathing once we both started to think we'd gone a bit too long 
without it.  Kara would sit on one side of the raft looking into the distance 
while I bathed on the opposite side, and then I would sit there while she 
bathed on the other side.  Our fish bag idea didn't work too well because of 
the canvas's condition, but Kara used some material on her dress to patch it 
up, allwoing us to have a little fish every day of the week, though all of the 
fish was beginning to get to me.
	"We've been adrift for almost three weeks now," Kara said one day, 
starting another of our usual conversations.  "Hasn't your hair gotten a 
little long?" she smiled.  "Just a little?"  She laughed a little.  I hadn't 
really thought about it.  I let my ponytail out and tried to straighten my 
hair up some, which Kara tried to help me with, chuckling lightly.  Of course 
she didn't have to worry about her hair, since it was long already.  I let 
Kara make an attempt to fix my hair while I thought about the way things had 
developed.  Kara didn't act like a spoiled princess now.  If you told someone 
she was one of the island girls, no one would doubt it.  
	"It's terrible!!" Kara suddenly said, letting go of my hair.  I began 
feeling my head, trying to see what had upset her.  "What is that...?"  I 
continued to search.  "There in the water...?"  I stopped, realizing my 
mistake, and turned in the direction she was facing.  A fin was slicing 
through the water, coming in our direction.  "Maybe a shark...?" Kara asked.  
Several more fins surfaced, and Kara held fast to me.  "We could be eaten....  
What should we do?..."
	I pulled out my flute and moved Kara against the pole of the raft to 
shield her back, while I prepared to shield her front.  I braced myself, and 
watched the sharks circle around our raft.  I began to gather energy for the 
Psycho Dash, to strike the first one that lunged at us.
	"They're circling our raft, but they're not attacking...," Kara said.
	I frowned, and slightly relaxed.  "Let's think about this..."
	We paused for a moment, when Kara finally exclaimed, "I've got it!  
They're not hungry!!"  I glanced at her, and she explained, "My grandpa told 
me that only humans attack living things when they're not hungry."
	"Then what we're doing is not usual human behavior.  We didn't eat 
fish until we were starving."
	"That's right," Kara agreed.  Her expression lit up a little and she 
said, "They're going."  Indeed, they were.  I watched them swim into the 
distance while Kara called after them, "Good-bye, sharks..."  


DRIFTING, DAY 21
	I had tried to convince Kara to go swimming during the first week of 
drifting, but she'd objected, being too shy and not wanting to ruin her dress.  
I suggested it again a day or two after the shark incident.  She was slightly 
unsure because of the sharks, but gave in.  We had a lot of fun swimming, 
although we always made sure not to get too far away from the raft.  After a 
day of swimming, we got back on the raft.  The sun was beginning to set.  I 
suggested that we watch it, since we hadn't done so in a while.  Kara didn't 
seem very interested, but agreed.  
	While we were watching it, Kara began speaking one of her deep 
thoughts that I now had the pleasure of frequently enjoying.  "When I was in 
the castle I loved watching the sun set...  The sunset was so beautiful from 
the corridor of the castle...  But now I've come to hate it.  After the sun 
has set, the darkness comes...  I thought I'd never see the sunrise again....  
But since you're with me, I see a beautiful sunrise every morning.  With you 
by my side, I can even enjoy times like these."  
	I stared at Kara.  "I've wanted to say the same things to you, but 
somehow the words just wouldn't come out.  I just nodded, saying nothing..."
I smiled a litle, when everything started to look a bit hazy.  The next 
second, everything went black.  Suddenly I fell over, unconscious...
	Kara sprang to my side, engulfed in terror.  "Will!  Will!!  What's 
wrong!!  Wake up!!  Don't leave me here alone!"  


DAIMOND COAST
	Eventually, the raft drifted to shore, and we were rescued.  I was 
left in the bed of the man that helped us, while he and Kara talked at the 
eooden table.  The house was a standard one room house with brown-red brick 
floors and grey-green walls.
	The man nodded his head towards me while speaking to Kara, saying, 
"You can wake him up now.  He'll be fine if he takes Vitamin C.  It's scurvy, 
a disease caused by a long-term lack of vitamin C."  
	"Hmmmm...," Kara replied.
	"Columbus's crew contracted it once.  Nothing to worry about.  When it 
gets worse, the blood gets bad and the skin turns black.  The gums bleed, and 
the body starts decaying...  "
	"Stop!  I don't want to listen to such talk!!"
	"Ha ha ha.  I'm glad you're OK."  
	"But you know best.  Thank you."  
	"You should thank the dog outside.  He found your raft and came to get 
me."  
	Kara walked to the bedside and leaned towards me, yelling, "Will!  
Will!!  Wake up! ! !"  I opened my eyes a crack, and she smiled at me, "We've 
reached land!!  We're saved!!!"
	I rolled over onto my back, letting out a low, "Uhhh..."  I opened my 
eyes the rest of the way, and took in my surroundings.  'Kara...?  Where am 
I...?"
	"We're at the home of the kind man who saved us," she replied, leaning 
on the bed, smiling.  "You've been tossing in your sleep.  I kept putting the 
blankets on you, but you threw them off."  
	"This is the south outskirt of Oakton," the man stated.  "The city of 
Freejia is half a day to the north.  If you're looking for your friend, you 
should look in a big town."
	"At any rate," Kara said, "let's go to Freejia.  I'm going to thank 
the dog.  Come outside when your ready."  
	Kara walked outside, while Will glanced at the man.  
	"You should thank the dog," the man reassured.  
	Will walked outside to a small grassy area next to a beach lined with 
large, round stones.  Two pots sat outside the man's house.  Kara was at the 
house's side, happily petting a dog with mahogany and white fur.  As Will 
walked towards Kara, he noticed a red gleam in one of the pots.  I stopped, 
and reched in, finding that it was, as I expected, a red jewel.  I smiled, 
realizing that this meant a Mystic Statue was probably somewhere in this 
region.  I sent the jewel to Jem, and then went to Kara.  
	"This dog's name is Turbo," she said while holding the dog back as it 
struggled to lick her face.  "Isn't he cute?"  I helped her pet Turbo for a 
while before she rose to her feet and said, "Well, let's go.  Maybe we'll 
find Lilly, Lance, and Erik."
	I rose to my feet.  If we had made it this far, then they could have 
made it this far.  I nodded, with a serious expression on my face.  Kara 
smiled, and I smiled back.  Everything I'd gone through up until now was for 
the price of a single Mystic Statue.  There were still five more that I had to 
find for my father.  I took Kara's hand.  She blushed, and looked at me in 
surprise.  We smiled at each other once again, and then began walking down the 
road that led to the north.  So we went to Freejia....