The Bamboo Princess stood precariously on the edge of the raft and poked at the nest with her oar. A swarm of winged insects burst out in response and dispersed into the sky. She ducked in in terror, dropping the oar and shielding her face with her forearms. That’s how they got you. The face. The Bamboo Princess stayed like that for a few minutes; huddled in fear. Eventually she moved her arms just enough to see through the gap between them. Insects swarmed half the raft in a horrific frenzy. They were like a pool of darkness, constantly shifting and buckling in a freak storm. The Bamboo Princess stumbled backwards, desperately crying out in the flickering hope that some vagabond’s raft was near. No one came to save her. She shuffled as far away from the Infestation as possible. On the small raft, that constituted a few feet at best. The Bamboo Princess was strongly considering jumping into the Sea at this point. Being unable to swim, she would sink like a rock person immediately, but it would be better than being claimed by the Infestation, wouldn’t it? No, the Princess couldn’t give up her quest quite yet. She grabbed her oar and stood up. The Infestation instantly took notice of her now that she had lowered her arms. The Bamboo Princess had no plan to speak of, but that wouldn’t stop her. It couldn’t stop her. The Infestation trickled towards her in streams, jet black insects climbing over each other for the chance to take a grass person for themselves. The Princess swatted at them with mad desperation. To her credit, she actually managed to knock a few into the tea, but it wasn’t more than few seconds until they were scuttling up her legs and torso in inky waves. The Bamboo Princess screamed. The reached her neck and climbed it, tiny legs prickling her fragile skin. With a final cry of fear, the Princess sprinted forward and leaped into the Green Tea Sea.

The warmth took the Bamboo Princess first. It rushed through her like wind, curling her skin in strips and sapping her mind of thoughts. Cloudy green tea surrounded her. There was no up or down, north or south. It was almost comforting. A murky, continental hand enveloped her slowly. The Bamboo Princess felt a sudden, intense sensation of peace, even when the Infestation began to worm its way into her eye sockets, nose and mouth. But the Infestation didn’t matter anymore, nor did her short lived quest or the fate of the world itself. The Sea, calm and wise, told her that royalty and prophecy no longer mattered, that this was as much her fate as saving the world was. There was no Lost God. She wasn’t a Bamboo Princess. She was just grass floating in an ocean of tea. The grass person slowly realized that she was drowning. That was fine. She closed her eyes and let the Sea smother her. The hand coiled into a fist around her and warmth faded away, as did sensation itself. The Green Tea Sea wanted the grass person to sleep. She let it happen.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The Bamboo Princess awoke half-buried in sand. She was cold. Blisteringly so. She lay there for a while, shivering and watching the quiet, grey sky. She felt like she could relate to it in some strange way. It must have been lonely, being up there, so far away from everything. She couldn’t see the sun from where she lay, but she could feel its breath on her skin. She thanked it under her breath. As cold as its light was, she appreciated the sensation. The Princess didn’t know how long she spent lying there, soaking in the heavens and absorbing what energy she could, but eventually she staggered to her feet and looked about. She was on an island; something she had only read mention of in a half dozen of her many, many scrolls. The sand was stained green by the tide of tea and the jungle beyond it was vast and still. Enormous leaves to rival the Messengers from the Depths shaded ancient trees and thick forests of bamboo. The Princess had never seen inanimate bamboo before. It was equal parts surreal and unsettling seeing herself growing from dirt in vertical shoots. Once she was finished surveying the area, the Bamboo Princess’ mind turned to more important things. The quest. She had no raft and no sense of direction. The Sages had launched her on a precisely calculated course aimed directly at the Sea’s centre. In the end, all their maps and navigation skills had proven useless. The Princess froze. What exactly had happened? Why did she no longer have the raft? Why was she on this island? A sudden spike of pain in her arm reminded her. She looked down to see a black centipede snaking its way out of a crack in her skin. That’s right. She was Infested. The Bamboo Princess’ breath caught in her throat as she remembered the state of the eldest Sage. She didn’t think about this long however, as a more pressing question concerning her mortality arose in her mind. She had jumped into the Sea. Why was she alive? Why had she not drowned, her body slowly sinking into the Depths? Not that it really mattered. She would probably be dead in a few months anyway. The Infestation would eat her from the inside out. By the time she had embarked from the temple, the eldest Sage was barely a hollow shell, and he was a soil person. Who knew how fast the Infestation would consume someone made from nutritious grass? The Bamboo Princess had two choices: walk into the Sea and take another shot at drowning to end it quickly, or walk into the jungle, figure out how to make a raft, and find the Sea’s centre. The Princess felt ashamed that she briefly considered the first option. She wasn’t giving up now. She would have to contend with an uncertain time limit and the challenge of navigating the Sea alone, but that wouldn’t stop her. She was the hero who would save the world. Nothing would stop her.