Gentle breezes swept between the trunks of the redwoods and carried off the occasional fallen leaf. In the shade of the outer redwoods the air was cool and crisp, while the breezes coming in brought cozy warmth from the grasslands and desert beyond. From afar, the adventurers would look like inch-tall miniatures next to the sprawling basal structures of the monumental redwoods, just specks along the vast line of forest edge that stretched past the horizon in either direction.

For breakfast they ate freshly fried rabbit, battered in dough made from grain of the grasses and seeds that stuffed Autumn's pockets, served with a side of Autumn's wild salad mix and a pile of large seeds that tasted dark and sweet. Eli had given everyone permission to take the morning off and recuperate, so Autumn took extra care and time to plate portions, which she handed off to Iris to teleport around the camp to everyone.

First Iris appeared beside Eli, who was standing atop a large root just beyond the edge of camp and staring deeper into the forest. He'd been standing there for almost an hour.

"You gonna spend the whole morning out here?" Iris asked, startling him, "oh, sorry! Blip!"

He sighed.

She looked out into the forest and saw a wall of redwoods that morphed and rolled as she moved her head. She swayed, and Eli held out a hand to catch her shoulder and steady her.

"Yeah," he said, "it's a strange effect. The trees are much further apart than they look, but with so many, going so far..."

Iris looked away from the strange illusion, "does this place make you dizzy?"

He laughed, "no, but I know what you mean. It's like I can't figure out big they are, even though I'm standing on one. It almost made me sway when we first came out of the grass."

"I'm glad it's not just me," she said, giving one more look to the forest beyond, "anyway, this is yours," she held out the plate.

"Oh," he said, taking the plate with a look of surprise, "thanks."

Iris leapt off the root in the direction of camp, blipping away in the air. She reappeared on another root, then another, coming out of each teleport with a small amount of momentum and transferring it into the next with a leap.

"Order up!" Autumn said, as she placed the final garnish on a plate of food and set it down on it a rock which she had flattened into a countertop.

Iris appeared a second later to take the plate.

"That one's for Titus," Autumn said, just before Iris disappeared again.

Titus was in a small clearing between the dense roots of the redwoods and the edge of the grasslands. He stepped and danced as he moved through the motions of a two-handed sword form, but instead of a sword he swung a fallen branch longer than he was tall and wider than his biceps. His chest armor lay in a heap nearby, and sweat soaked through his white undershirt and mixed with the stains of blood. As he turned, Iris could see glimpses of his wounds on his back through the cuts in his shirt. They were already scarred over, but still swollen and reddened.

She cleared her throat, but he didn't respond. She cleared it louder.

"Hang on," he grunted.

He finished out the form, ending with a heavy and extravagant overhead swing that he brought to stop just inches above the ground. Then he dropped the branch and walked over to Iris.

She held out the plate, which included a double serving of meat and extra greens, "you must be her favorite."

Titus laughed, "no, she just wants to make sure I stay strong so I can keep her alive. Her own words."

Iris laughed, "aren't we supposed to be on break?" she nodded towards the branch.

"Didn't you hear me?" He said, taking the plate and picking up a rabbit leg. He placed the plate on a nearby log and took a bite of the leg as he turned back towards his training circle, "I gotta stay strong to keep you guys alive."

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Iris blipped back to camp, appearing just as Autumn laid out the next plate. This one had a small portion of meat, but a double helping of salad with extra berries. Autumn pointed up.

Iris craned her neck upwards, where she could faintly see the silhouette of Victoria on the branches high above. She sighed and rolled her head back. Still, she took the plate and placed another over it like a lid, then started scanning the trunks of the nearby trees.

Even the smallest of branches were as thick as a small tree, and more than a few trees had large splits not far up along with dried nubs where old branches had fallen. It was a challenge, to be sure, but she plotted out a course. There would be a few blips that pushed the boundaries of her mana, and several that would require momentum between blips to carry her over gaps too wide to teleport.

She decided to sit the plate down and pull the rope from her bag. Using her admittedly amateur knot tying skills, she fashioned a four way cinch to hold the two plates tightly together. After a satisfied nod at her handy work, she scooped up the package, looked over her route one more time, then teleported away.

The first blips were easy, she could have done them walking but chose a light jog instead. The fourth blip was the first scary one, and she appeared in the air a few feet short of her next spot with momentum carrying her forward. She landed, rocked forward on her feet and kicked off as hard as she could into the next blip. She spiraled and criss-crossed over the camp, blipping in and out as she darted from tree to tree.

Victoria came into view with her second-to-last teleport. She stepped off a branch with one foot and blipped again, appearing doubled over and panting beside Victoria. "You're," she gasped, "a hard woman to get to."

Victoria laughed, "you could have called me down."

Iris clutched the package of food in one hand while she held herself up on her knee with the other. She stood there panting, and did not respond.

"That's impressive," Victoria said, looking down at the camp below, "you did all that with just your teleport?"

"It's all in the speed," she said, finally catching her breath and standing upright. She held out the package for Victoria.

She took it with a curious look, and delicately untied the ropes to remove the lid. The sweet seeds, salad and thin strip of meat had all been thoroughly mixed together, leaving no trace of Autumn's delicate arrangement.

"Sorry," Iris said, awkwardly motioning to the trees she had just teleported up.

Victoria laughed, "it's perfectly fine. Where's yours?"

Iris, hands on her hips, bent at the waist to look over the edge at the camp below, "uh."

Victoria laughed again, "next time bring yours too, there's usually no one that can keep me company in high up places."

"Are you lookout then?" Iris asked.

"Hmm," Victoria deliberated, "I think Glimmer deserves that title these days. I just give an additional bird's eye view." She tapped the side of her head and glazed her eyes over, "it helps to see the magic, too."

Iris followed her gaze away from camp, towards the inner forest. They looked out over the first layer of canopy, with huge bushes of leaves looking like green clouds clinging to the trees. The trunks were thinner up here, though not by much. Combined with the patches of leaves and the golden sun rays that passed through the upper layers of the canopy, the visage wasn't quite as disorienting as the one below.

"What do you see with those eyes, anyway?" Iris asked.

"I see the souls of every creature for a half mile, and the invisible strands of magic that connect all things. I even see the waves of energy that reverberate through it all."

"Whoa," Iris said in genuine amazement, "that sounds amazing."

Victoria blinked and her eyes returned to normal, "it's the kind of thing I'd have to write poetry to describe." She dropped a berry into her mouth and savored the taste, "tell Autumn she's wonderful."

"Will do," Iris said, before looking over the edge and dreading the descent.

Soon she appeared back at camp, where Autumn was loading up scraps of meat and left over salad into the biggest bowl she carried.

"What's that for?" Iris asked, only partially out of breath, as she had taken her time on the way down.

"Glimmer," Autumn said, pointing at the griffin who was preening her feathers nearby.

"Nope," Iris said, "no way."

"You said you'd be the delivery girl!"

"What if she bites me?"

"She's not going to bite you."

Iris looked at Glimmer's sharp, hooked beak.

"If you feed her it'll make her like you more," Autumn said.

"Fine," Iris said, begrudgingly taking the bowl.

She appeared a dozen feet away from the griffin, and spoke as she inched closer, "uh, hey girl."

Glimmer looked up at her and squawked.

"I brought breakfast?" She said with caution, crouching down and reaching out to place the bowl closer to Glimmer without getting close herself.

Glimmer chirped and stomped over, nudging the bowl with her beak. Iris fell backwards and stared wide eyed at her.

She reached into the bowl with her beak and deftly picked out a piece of rabbit, which she immediately turned her head up to gulp down. She chirped in a tone that Iris thought sounded happy, and then buried her face in the bowl.

"Right, good," Iris climbed to her feet, "glad we're friends." She blipped away.

With a sigh, Iris finally collapsed onto a log next to Autumn's impromptu cooking station. Autumn placed her foot on the side of the flattened rock and shoved, sliding it rather effortlessly across the ground until it was in front of Iris. She placed a plate of food on the rock, it had the largest berries of any of the plates and the meat was still steaming hot.

"You are wonderful," Iris said.