The Bamboo Princess rowed for days. Whenever she felt tired, she would let the raft’s momentum take her onward whilst she rested. She always awoke feeling no better. The never ending icy glare of sun judged her. It judged her for falling into this pit of responsibility she wasn’t strong enough to climb out of. How could she? Her arms were little more than strips of bamboo coiled loosely around each other. Her torso and legs looked barely better. She had refused to check at her face in the Sea’s reflection. She didn’t want to see what it had done to her. On the bright side, the Princess had managed to unearth some motivating element for her quest. If she were to rid the Sea of the Infestation, then that may rid her of it too. It wasn’t a solid hope to ride on, but it was all she had. Spending days alone on a raft was beginning to transition from boring to maddening. She had nothing to do. Nothing to read, no one to speak to. How far away was the center? Some scrolls claimed the Green Tea Sea was the largest ocean in the world. Others claimed it was the world, and that nothing existed outside of it. The Bamboo Princess hoped that wasn’t true. Nevertheless, all scrolls agreed that the Sea was exceptionally big, and that didn’t bode well for the Princess’ psych.
Two weeks later, the Princess saw another raft. Both excited and terrified at the prospect of contact, she had strapped her armor back on and drew her sword in preparation. Standing was difficult enough without the ceramic plates weighing her down. With the armor on, the Princess had to assume a kind of half-kneeling position in order to remain upright. She stared at the raft as it crossed the horizon, willing herself to see the people aboard it. As soon as she managed to spot a silhouette against the grey sky, she also spotted something else. Another raft. And another. Soon enough, there were dozens of rafts on the horizon, and they were drawing closer. Each one had two or more people on it, some of the larger ones close to five. At the center of the fleet was a giant, multi-leveled raft that looked like a small temple. The Bamboo Princess had wanted company, but not like this. She was being attacked by rock pirates.
In twenty minutes, they had her surrounded. One of the rafts floated right up next to hers. It was over thrice the size, but not nearly as well made. Two rock people rode on it. They were tall and burly, with armor made of wooden slats. A strange choice, considering their skin was likely tougher. One of the pirates, the shorter of the two, leaped over to the Princess’ raft in a single bound, almost capsizing it as he landed. He stood over her, imposing and terrifying without even trying. In a deep, rolling voice, he told her she would be coming with them. The Bamboo Princess was in no place to argue. He went to grab her, then noticed her ruined arms. The rock pirate flinched, calling to his partner that their new prisoner was Infested. His partner called back, commanding him to take her anyway. He just needed to avoid touching her. The pirate aboard the Princess’ raft nodded and drew his rusty sword. He grabbed her by the straps of her armor and held his sword to her throat. If she lashed out and touched him with her bare skin, she would die. The Princess understood the instruction perfectly. In all honesty, she was just glad there would be someone to talk to.
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After carefully checking to see if it was Infested too, the rock pirates tied the Princess’ raft to one of their own and took her to the central house-raft. Inside were an assortment of disheveled cartographers, navigators and various other rock people whose jobs the Princess wasn’t certain of. A band played in one corner, hopelessly repeating the same five second stretch of notes over and over again, likely because they didn’t know anything else. The whole place felt like a group of depressed bottom-feeders desperately trying to appear like a competent pirate crew. The Princess found it more sad than scary. In the loudest voice her ravaged vocal cords could muster, she asked what they wanted with her. A tall and thin rock person in faded paper robes responded. He introduced himself as the captain of the fleet and spelled out what he expected of her in simple terms. He wanted her armor, her sword, and her story. The grass people were apparently legendary for their rarity and status in pre-Infestation society. He wanted to know what one was doing by herself in the middle of the Sea with clay and metal forged gear. His explanation of intent soon devolved into a series of mad ramblings. He seemed to think her sword was clearly the work of some kind of metal sky people, and he repeatedly asked her if she had seen an eye in her dreams. The Bamboo Princess couldn’t answer him, though she was thankful there was an explanation for why the pirate crew was so poorly assembled. Their leader was plainly insane. Regardless, the rock pirates had more swords than she did, so she would do what they asked. She unbuckled each separate section of her armor and let it fall to the deck. Underneath she wore a simple paper tunic with a floral pattern that the Green Tea Sea had provided for her. Finally, she threw down her sword. Several rock people scurried over, inspecting her impossibly flawless gear with awe. The captain commended her for submitting so willingly. A raspy voice in her head told her to run. The Princess froze. With a single gesture, the captain commanded in his pirates to kill her. She was an Infested liability; she had to be disposed of. The Bamboo Princess began to sprint, or at least something that felt like sprinting. To the others, it was nothing more than frantic hobbling on hollow legs. She burst out of the rotting curtains that shielded the interior of the house-raft and hopped onto a neighboring raft. The rock pirates on it drew their weapons in surprise. The Princess ran head-first into one of them, knocking him off balance and into the Sea. He sunk as fast as you would expect a rock person to. The other pirate slashed at her with his chipped dagger. The Princess blocked with her right arm in desperation. The dagger shore clean through her Infested forearm, causing it to fall to the raft’s deck, compass in tow. From her torn arm stump, thousands of black insects suddenly burst out. The rock pirate stumbled back in terror as the Infestation swarmed him. He batted at the air wildly, let out a blood-curdling scream, then fell backwards into the Sea. The dozens of other pirates on nearby rafts stared in horror as a torrential waves of insects continued to pour from the Princess’ arm and cover the raft she stood on. She was more insect than grass. More Infestation than bamboo. The rock pirates dropped their weapons and began to paddle away in fear, just as the Princess lost consciousness.