“Hey, Corrin, wake up! We’re late, it’s already almost noon!” Wyn’s voice cut through the haze of sleep, stirring Corrin from his slumber. His eyes creaked open, letting in the dim light that seeped through the inn’s curtains, and he slowly regained consciousness.

“Ugh… I’m up I’m up.” Corrin groaned as the memories, and more noticeably, the pain from the previous night slowly returned. “Where are we going again?”

As expected, the sparring with Wyn had gotten a little out of hand, and as he rolled out of bed, he felt no shortage of bruises and welts formed on his body. No doubt Wyn was feeling similar soreness; Corrin couldn’t remember the last time Wyn had slept in so late.

“We’re meeting with our captain, remember? We leave tomorrow after all, we need to make sure we’ve got everything.”

“Right,” Corrin rubbed his head. It was hard to believe it was that time already, just over a week had passed since they’d gotten to Precipice, and they already had to move on. He’d have to check on Finian before leaving, but they couldn’t afford to delay. Apparently, winter made The Grass Sea almost impossible to traverse, and they were cutting it close already–starting the months-long journey in the fall.

It was abrupt, and frustrating, but he’d gotten out the worst of his emotions, so he took a deep breath and stretched his sore muscles, doing his best to let the negativity fall off his back.

“Are we meeting Kei beforehand?” he asked, glancing back towards Wyn out of the corner of his eyes.

Wyn was bent down, tightening his boots. Corrin noticed they didn’t look as worn as before, had he gotten new ones? That wasn’t a bad idea.

“She’s already at the port waiting for us I’d bet. Seriously, you sleep like a dead person. Didn’t the dungeon beat any survival instincts into you?”

Corrin grinned, cracking his knuckles. “You’re talking big for somebody who lost last night.”

“Yeah? What about when I had you pinned with your arm behind your back?”

“You got me one time.”

“I give up Wyn!” Wyn mocked in a high-pitched voice. “That hurts, agh stop twisting like that!”

Corrin lunged, tackling his friend to the ground. “Maybe I’ll show you how it felt!”

A few minutes later, two swordsmen walked out into the streets of Precipice, laughing as they went.

***

Far below the top of the plateau, down a dizzying path of rope bridges and lifts lie the port of Precipice. Long wooden docks stretched out into the grass itself, and the veldstriders moved lazily in and out of the port across the top, carrying goods and people as they went.

They’d descended past the point where they could see the whole breadth of it, and the view was blocked by buildings and people separating them from the docks themselves. But that was a view all its own. The main port of Precipice was teeming with people. Carts rumbled across the well-kept wood platforms and voices shouted out over the buzz of the crowd as merchants tried to sell their wares, workers tried to complete jobs, and everyone tried to get to the place they all seemed in a hurry to be.

When he and Kei had come before, he hadn’t appreciated the sight at all, and they never ventured onto the docks themselves, instead questioning the people in the main buildings on the cliff face. Likewise, they hadn’t seen a veldstrider up close–they were no more than large shapes moving out on the sea–but with his anger having retreated, there was room for excitement to bubble up in its place.

They found Kei fairly quickly–she stood out like a sore thumb against the dull grays and browns of the dock workers in her blue coat. But Corrin was surprised by how much her look had changed, despite the familiar attire.

“What caused the two of you such a delay?” Kei asked, a bit annoyed.

Wyn jerked a finger backwards. “Somebody overslept.”

Corrin looked pointedly at him. “Hey you did too!”

“I overslept my time,” Wyn countered. “I was still up long before you.”

“I shouldn’t be surprised,” Kei sighed. “I suppose it’s fine though, it’s not as if we had a set meeting time. And you’re not that late.”

“You have the papers right?” Wyn asked.

Kei nodded. “Actually, I already took them to the dockmaster and got it sorted while I was waiting. We should be set to depart tomorrow, we just have to meet our captain. He should be at the end of the fourth dock.”

“I’m sorry,” Corrin interrupted, “Are we just not going to address your hair?”

Kei ran a hand through her dirty blonde hair as he said it. Whereas previously it had gone all the way down to her upper back, the ends now fell to just above her shoulders. “Well I wasn’t sure I’d have a mirror on hand while we crossed the sea, and I don’t trust you two to cut it. We’re going to be out there for almost two months, you know. This way I can just grow it back out. Does it look odd?”

“Not really. I was just wondering.” Corrin shrugged. “You kind of remind me of someone, I can’t put my finger on it though.”

Wyn tapped his arm. “She looks like Jerah. You know, Roland’s sister?”

“Ah,” Corrin looked over at him, shaking his finger as he remembered the older sister of one of their old classmates. “Yeah that’s it. Jerah’s tall though, so it was throwing me off.”

Kei pursed her lips for a moment, looking between the two of them. Then she smiled warmly. “It’s good to see you two talking again.”

Corrin looked away, a bit embarrassed, he was pretty sure Wyn looked just as awkward. “Yeah well, it was stupid I guess…”

Wyn cleared his throat. “So, we’re here to see the captain right? Fourth dock? Let’s get going.” He started walking down one of the roads which transformed suddenly into a wooden dock that stretched off towards the burnt yellow grass, and both Corrin and Kei followed.

As they stepped past the row of buildings and onto the docks themselves, a dark mass shifted to their right, casting a shadow onto the dock, and Corrin finally got the sight he’d been waiting for.

The veldstrider reminded him of an insect with a hard carapace covering its exterior, but Corrin had never seen an insect so large. Its bulbous body was no less than twenty feet across, and though its body was level with the docks, it was tall enough that it towered over them. except for where it narrowed up by the head, and it was covered in a sturdy-looking shell. It wasn’t moving much, but it bobbed and shifted in place as it sat there, unbothered by the flow of people beside it.

“Woah…” Wyn muttered to his left, staring up at the beast.

“How does that thing move?” Kei wondered aloud, just as hypnotized.

Corrin ran to the edge of the dock, peering over the side to look down into the grass. Below the veldstrider’s body were eight–no nine long, thin legs stretching down and out into the grass in all directions for what must have been a hundred feet at least. From each of the spider-like limbs sprouted hundreds, if not thousands of even thinner tendrils, which reached out and grasped at the blades of grass nearby. Though the legs didn’t move much, the tendrils constantly seemed to be shifting, grabbing at new pieces of grass, changing grips, or just undulating in the air.

“So cool…”

“It must be pretty light,” Wyn noted. He’d also come to the edge to look at the legs. “Or maybe the grass here is stronger than normal? We’re still at least a hundred feet up, so I don’t think it’s touching the ground.”

“Look there, ever seen spirits like those?” Corrin pointed to the underside of the beast, which was just as armored as the rest of the creature. There, a collection of silvery black spirits bubbled across the shell. They were in the shape of, well, bubbles. Corrin couldn’t tell if each bubble was a single spirit, or if each cluster was one on its own.

Wyn shook his head, but Kei spoke up. “They’re called lift spirits. Some larger creatures bond with them to reduce their weight.”

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“Reduce their weight?” Wyn asked. “How does that work?”

Kei shrugged. “I couldn’t say, that’s just what I’ve heard.”

Wyn mumbled something to himself that Corrin didn’t catch, looking at the spirits intently. They all looked at the veldstrider a bit longer, mesmerized by its form, but soon they got back on track and continued towards their destination.

It, of course, was not the only one they passed. There was a veldstrider on either side of the dock in a staggered repeating pattern, with a hundred feet or so between each one. While each bore the same form, their sizes ranged greatly, with shells anywhere from fifteen to forty feet across if Corrin had to guess. Some were painted with different colors, patterns, or insignias, distinguishing each from the other even further.

Towards the end of the dock they reached their destination marked by a sign, and while there was a veldstrider waiting for them–an average sized one with a shell about twenty feet across–the captain was nowhere to be found.

“Hello?” Kei called out. “Ven? We’re here to speak with you about our charter across the sea?”

There was no response. Eyeing the large saddle atop the back of the beast, Corrin channeled mana to his legs and leapt up the side of the veldstrider’s shell. He didn’t leap all the way into the saddle, but he grabbed onto the solid leather lip as his feet found purchase in grooves on the shell of the beast. Peering over the side he got a look for the first time at the top of the titanic creature.

To his surprise, the saddle actually looked quite comfortable, with a padded bottom and plenty of space. Off the side hung several bags which he assumed were for storage or food preservation. The saddle had a thick, earthy smell that reminded him of traders’ wagons, rich and leathery.

Of course, the oddest part of the whole set up was the man passed out, snoring quietly with his legs propped up against the lip of the saddle. He had dark, tanned skin and a shock of light brown hair. He wore a loose shirt with baggy pants, tied tightly around the ankles. His age was a bit hard to discern, as his face was covered with a yellow bandana, but Corrin thought he seemed young, maybe in his mid to late twenties.

There’s no way right?

What was the name Kei had yelled? Right. “Hey! Ven!” Corrin called out, projecting his voice towards the man. He paused mid-snore and slowly lifted the bandana off his eyes just enough to look back at Corrin without getting up.

“How’s the grass blowing checo?”

Corrin opened his mouth but paused, pointing at his own chest.

“Do you see anyone else here?”

“My name isn’t Checo…”

“It isn't a name, but a word from my home. It means something like ‘friend’.”

“Oh.” Corrin blinked. What was he– “Wait, are you Ven? The veldstrider captain?”

“I could be.”

“Are you?”

The man lowered the bandana back over his eyes. “I am, I take it you’re part of the group I’m transporting tomorrow?”

Corrin felt the saddle shift beside him as Wyn jumped up as well, landing a bit lower but climbing a few feet to make up the difference. “What’s going on up–oh hello sir, might you be Ven?”

The bandana was lifted once more, but only one eye opened. “You two sure have some spring in your legs, what are you, grasshoppers? There’s one more no?”

“She’s still down there,” Wyn said. “She can’t exactly make this jump.”

“Do you see the rope ladder to your right?” Ven asked.

Corrin checked, “I do. Do you want me to drop it for her then?”

“That’s easiest. I’m quite comfortable right now, I’d rather not move, the sun is hitting just right. This will be the warmest day left this year, best to enjoy it.”

A part of Corrin was surprised, unsure of what to say. This was their captain? But a part of him couldn’t help but agree. The sun did feel really nice. After glancing at Kei again, he dropped the rope ladder. “Looks like you have to climb up!”

Kei sputtered a bit, but she soon accepted her fate and ascended the ladder, if a bit shakily as it swayed faintly. When she reached the top, she looked a bit uncomfortable. Her gaze caught on Ven, still lying on his back. “Is he dead?”

“Much to lady death’s disappointment, I remain among the living,” he said without so much as moving. “That makes three of you. Udyr assures me I will not need to charge you for guards for this trip, but I don’t know if I would trust my safety to children. You are great warriors then?”

“We killed Din Kai and his gang,” Corrin said, puffing out his chest a bit. “I heard they were trouble on the sea.”

Ven didn’t say anything for a moment, and with the bandana over his face, Corrin couldn’t read his expression. Finally though, he spoke. “Udyr mentioned that, I still find it hard to believe, but I suppose it is likely true. I'll keep an open mind, though I would appreciate it if you could keep me from dying on our journey. That would be a distasteful outcome.”

“Is The Grass Sea that dangerous?” Wyn asked.

“Eh… some would say yes. But it is not so bad, some are stupid. If you are as strong as you claim, we will be fine. Assuming nothing unexpected occurs, haha!”

“Well don’t jinx it,” Kei grumbled.

He actually laughed instead of saying ‘haha’ again. “That isn’t how it works young lady. You must taunt fate so often that she becomes afraid of you and thinks you are crazy. In fact, it would be a shame if we were set upon by a band of pirates on the sea, but such a thing is rare.”

“I don’t think–” Wyn started, but Ven didn’t let him finish.

“I find those who believe in bad luck are often those most affected by it. Ever since I stopped believing in bad luck, only good fortune has come my way. Thus, we won’t be attacked by a rootlurker and dragged into the grass!”

Corrin grinned. “You know what? I like that. We’re not going to get caught in a bad storm, get lost, run out of food and starve to death.”

“Precisely right!" Ven actually rolled onto his side at that, letting the bandana drop from his eyes as he grinned at Corrin. "You have a good spirit checo! If I was willing to get up from this spot, I would hug you like a brother and welcome you to my strider! Lady fate will surely avert her gaze from us well-fortuned men. I’m looking forward to such a smooth and easy trip!”

Kei looked a little ill. “We’re going to die aren’t we?”

“You just don’t get it,” Corrin shook his head sadly. The uncultured couldn’t understand.

Wyn rubbed his face tiredly.

“Ah, a thought has occurred to me,” Ven said. “Our journey is tomorrow, no? What brings you all here a day early? I understand you must be excited, but I won’t be leaving today.”

Wyn spoke first. “Well, to be honest, none of us have ever traveled on The Grass Sea before. We wanted to ask if there was anything we should know or do beforehand.”

“Hmm. There is nothing I can think of that you would not already know of. Usually I would say pack light, but my strider has room for eight. There will be only four of us, so in fact the ride will be comfortable, and we should have plenty of space… Buy hats. I have a canvas to set up to help keep the sun and rain off of us, but I will not have it up all the time. A hat will serve you well. Also, I have blankets and pillows, but if you would rather bring your own, you are welcome to.” He stopped for a moment, as if he was done, but then he held up a finger. “One last thing. Visit an herbalist, there is an herb that will aid us significantly on our journey, it is called sunspice. I recommend you pick some up before we depart.”

“Sunspice huh?” Wyn noted. “Okay, I’ll get some. Anything else?”

Ven smiled contentedly. “That is all. I shall see you all tomorrow.”

He waved them off and rolled back over, covering his eyes once again. With the conversation apparently done, they made their way back down to the dock. Corrin looked back at the veldstrider as they walked. The size was staggering, and though it seemed they swayed a bit in the grass, from atop the creature he’d hardly noticed. For a moment, he’d forgotten all about the beast.

“That captain seems like trouble,” Kei muttered.

“Really?” Corrin asked. “I liked him!”

“Udyr said he was the best, so I’m sure he’s fine.” Wyn said.

“I suppose… So, hats, sunspice, and bedding, yes? I assume you two will continue using what you’ve been using, but I’m going to purchase bedding for myself. Can one of you get the hats and sunspice?”

“I’ll get the sunspice,” Wyn said. “I already know where all the herbalists are so I’ll take care of it. Corrin?”

“I’ve got another stop today. I’ll get the hats if I run across them, but I wouldn’t count on it. Can one of you get them?”

Kei sighed. “I can, what’s the stop for?”

“I want to go visit Finian again, see how he’s doing, ya know?”

“Ah,” Wyn’s face fell slightly. “Fair enough. We’ll meet back at the inn tonight then?”

“Sunset,” Kei said. “Don’t be later than that.”

Corrin raised an eyebrow. “Why does it matter?”

Kei looked to the side. “Well… I have some issues I’d like to discuss. Plans and such, about the trip. We should meet to talk about them, yes?”

“I guess, that’s fine.” Corrin didn’t get it, but he didn’t think talking to Finian would take very long–if his friend wanted to talk at all.

“Wyn?”

“It shouldn’t be an issue. Sunset huh? I’ll be on time.”

“Great!” Kei said enthusiastically, then she seemed to catch herself and cleared her throat. “I look forward to getting our plans sorted. I’ll see you both later then!” She turned and walked away, leaving the two of them behind.

“She’s changed a lot in the last week,” Corrin noted.

“Are you just now realizing that?”

“What happened?”

“Hells if I know,” Wyn said. “But I think she actually trusts us now.”

“What do you mean now?”

Wyn looked over, deadpan, not saying a word.

“Don’t give me that look! She didn’t trust us before?”

“See ya later man,” Wyn chuckled. Then he walked off as well, leaving Corrin standing on the docks confused.

What did I miss? He wondered. Wasn’t she just awkward around people? I thought she was shy!

His stomach growled. Well, I guess it fixed itself. No use worrying.

Such was the philosophy he tried to live by. He’d resolved to look forward hadn’t he? To keep his eyes fixed on his dream, somewhere over the horizon, across the endless sea of grass. He’d say his goodbyes to Finian, whether he wanted to or not, and then his journey would continue.

But first, lunch.