[h2]Cassandra Nestani[/h2]
[hr]

High above the Continent, was a ship. It flew through the clouds with ease, as if it was just as much at home there in the sky as it may have been in the sea. It appeared to be a normal ship, with engines tacked on the sides and kept in the air with a hefty application of magic. Upon its deck, Cassandra stood, staring intently at a map.

	“Useless waste of paper!” She screamed, as she threw the map off the ship with as much force as she could muster, “That map was completely wrong! We may not even be above the right continent, for all we know!”

	“Uh, Cassandra?” A voice behind her asked. 

	Spinning on her heel, Cassandra was greeted by none other than Ben Alesman, the captain of the ship.

	“Sorry, Ben, what is it?”

	“We kinda got bigger problems right now, we’re almost out of-” Before he could finish his sentence, the ship’s engines sputtered and died.

	“Fuel...” He finished, visibly drooping. 

	“Damn it,” Cassandra muttered, before taking charge, “Let’s get the mast up then, I’ll see if the lookout has spotted anything.”

	Ben, although being the captain of the ship, often wasn’t that great at keeping things running when they weren’t in a combat situation. This often resulted in Cassandra stepping in to make sure they didn’t end up killing themselves. 

	Cassandra approached the lookout, who stood at the bow of the ship, peering through a telescope..

	“Spot anything?”

	“Towns? No. But uh, you may want to see this.” As he said this, he handed the telescope he was using to Cassandra.

	Looking through the telescope herself, Cassandra was greeted by a large, pitch black, writhing tentacle, which brought her a sense of simple wrongness. It had no solid, discernable shape, and, worst of all...

	It was rising towards the ship.

	Before anybody could react, and taking advantage of the ship’s current immobility, the tentacle had matched heights with the ship and smashed with ease through the side of its hull, pulling out a large, glowing crystal, and darting back down towards the ground.

	This crystal, however, was not one they were transporting as cargo.

	This was the crystal that kept the ship afloat.

	The ship began to drop like a rock, tipping rapidly to the right at the same time. Many crewmembers either held onto the railing for dear life, or ran into the lower part of the ship, seeking protection from the inevitable impact. Cassandra, however, had no time to do either, as she was knocked off the ship by the rush, falling like a ragdoll.

	As she fell, she could only watch as the ship fell faster and faster, and tipped more and more until the point where it was completely upside down.

	It was at this point, of course, that the ship had exploded.

	What wonderful fireworks.

	The ship had been hauling a significant amount of ammunition and gunpowder, and the sudden impact of the tentacle, as well as the listing and falling of the ship, had caused the explosion. Flaming chunks of wood from the ship flew past Cassandra as she fell, some passing close enough for her to feel the heat.

	Suddenly, Cassandra had impacted something large, and brittle, which loudly snapped as she impacted it. This happened again,

	And again,

	And again,

	And again,

	Before Cassandra impacted something far less brittle, and much more solid.

	The ground.

	Cassandra remained concious only long enough to realize that it had been a tree’s branches which had slowed her fall.

 	Then she passed out.