Chapter 1
"C'mon Faith, we need to hurry up if we want to get to the boat on time!" My twin brother, Mark, exclaims while grabbing my hand and forcing me to run faster. Just as I open my mouth he says, "This is a chance of a lifetime! Going to a peaceful land, starting up our own ranch, growing plants and animals! It's what we always dreamed of!"
I couldn't help but smile at Mark's choice of words; it is what we always dreamed of, and we're fulfilling that dream not only for ourselves but for our father and grandfather. My grip on our dad's old acoustic guitar tightened as I saw the bustling crowd of passengers and the people who wish to say goodbye to their loved ones. Once I see the boat I tighten my grip on Mark's hand and sprinted full speed towards the boat hoping that he is keeping his grip on the small chest. On our way we have to dodge people, dodge some luggage and crates, and our grip on our hands tightens every time we have to dodge something. When we reach the pier guy that's wearing a fancy blue coat with gold buttons and brown trousers stops us.
"Tickets please," the guy says with a bored expression. I smile and unclasp my hand from Mark's to hand the tickets to him. Once I hand him both of the tickets he smiles at us and hands me two forms saying, "Fill these out, and once you finish go to captain's room door and set them in a box that says Passenger Forms. Thank you for riding the S.S. H.G."
Mark and I smile at the man, say our thanks, and head inside of the ship. We filled out the forms, turned them in, and then got settled into our room for the night. I watch as Mark grabs a red bandanna out of the chest and threw it at me so it lands on my face. A laugh escapes my lips as I pull it off to see him grabbing a red bandanna out. I fold my bandanna in half two times then tie it loosely around my neck. I push it over my face and on top of my head so it is keeping my bangs out of my eyes. Mark shakes his head at it causing me to laugh again; I rip it off of my head and tie it around my wrist. Mark ties his bandanna around his wrist too then he settles into bed. I settle into bed as well and drift off into sleep after saying "Goodnight."
"Mark!" I scream out into the darkness of the ship. Another lightning bolt hit the ship causing me to jerk forward and land on Mark who was unconscious. "Don't worry, brother, I'll get us out of this…" I slung him over my shoulder, got our chest, and got our guitar. I quickly made my way to the top of the deck. A loud groaning sound echoes across the ship. The ship started to tip and something came barreling towards me, and then everything went black…
It's all black, I can't see a thing. I must be dead, or close to dead. This might be what the goddess had planned for me all along. That doesn't seem very harvest goddess like though… Something unknown shoves my shoulder back and forth possibly trying to get me to wake up. Suddenly the sound of waves crashing onto a beach comes through into the darkness. The smell of seaweed and salt water fills into my nose. A bright light shines through the darkness and a familiar and an unfamiliar face come into my vision.
"H-hey," a gruff voice exclaims. Then, "Hey, are you okay?"
I open my eyes to see that I'm lying on a beach with Mark and an old man wearing blue overalls hovering above me. With a shake of my head I sit up and bring my right hand to my temple trying to muffle the headache that was beginning to form. My big blue eyes meet with Mark's green ones as I stand up. Mark engulfs me into a hug which causes me to lose my balance again, but he makes sure that I don't fall again.
"You gave us quite a scare there, lassie." The old man said while waving his walking stick in the air a little bit. Then he says "Mark was quite worried, he even offered to take you to his home if you didn't wake up soon. But you came to as we were discussing it." He lets out a hardy laugh and pats Mark on the back.
"Taro," Mark begins, "This is my twin sister Faith. Faith, this is Taro." Mark says gesturing between us with one arm and the other arm is wrapped securely around my shoulders. I smile at Taro and hold out my hand. He grips onto my hand with his calloused one and gives it a firm shake.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Taro, even despite the conditions." I giggle while putting my hand back to my side. Turning my head to face Mark I say, "How long have you been here?" Thinking that that sounded rude I say, "Out of curiosity."
"Oh, I've been here for fifteen days," Mark says. Then, "I was so worried about you! I thought you died! Then we find you here on the beach in the morning unconscious! I was happy to see that you were alive, but I was so worried that you weren't going to be for long!"
"Mark, I'm okay, just a little headache!" I giggle out. I try to take a few steps forward to prove my point, but my legs give way sending my surprisingly thin frame barreling into towards the sand. Maybe I'm not okay, I think while Mark lifts me up off the ground. I giggle again then lean my head to the right just as the world started to spin. "W-why is t-the world spin-spinning?" I question using all my strength just trying to remain standing.
"We need to get her to your farm," Taro said urgently while taking a few steps back. Mark nodded and slung me over his shoulder. Black dots danced across my vision causing an airy giggle to form from my lips. The black dots became larger and larger until I fell unconscious.