Now that I’m not hurling towards the ground at full speed, being pulled towards the planet is a lot nicer of a feeling. It feels a lot less like impending death, and a lot more like a warm welcome. Like the planet itself wants me to land. It’s a gentle, almost guiding tug. I don’t wave, flail, or even slide this time. Instead, I just let the planet pull me where she wants me.

There isn’t a dock to land on. Not on this island, anyways. With a splash, I land just off the coast, where I’m greeted by curious fish. They look a lot like the fish in the aether surrounding the world, but much thinner, and less colorful. The plants below my feet aren’t as green either. As I move to swim up to the surface, the fish scatter away in all directions. It feels weird that the fish are this skittish. I mean, I know, they’re fish, and if a fish doesn’t want to be eaten it will swim off, but the ones in the aether, despite the fact that I watched them actively being eaten, weren’t nearly this… jumpy. And they look so similar.

Oh well, no reason to worry about it. More importantly, I’m hungry, and slightly dizzy and tired. The only explanation for this could be gravity sickness, and the only cure is delicious fruit from the world tree. At least, I think that’s what Igby said? Whatever, I’m going with it. If it’s a reason to eat delicious fruit, then it’s good enough for me. Without wasting any more valuable breaths, I swim up to shore.

When I get up to shore, nobody’s there. No people, no animals, no houses. I wonder if they’re further into the forest? Personally, if I lived on a planet full of islands, I’d build a little home on the beach just outside the forest, so I can swim and catch fish or climb trees and forage fruit, nuts, or small game whenever I felt like it. Maybe I’ll come back and retire here if I ever feel like retiring. I couldn’t live alone like this though. I’d have to bring a lot of people with me. Pom would have to be here with me, at the very least.

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The thought of me, Pom, and a bunch of other people living together on an island brings a smile to my face, but there’s no time to daydream about the future. I’m hungry now. Somewhere on this planet is a world tree, baring delicious fruit and calling for me. Well, maybe not literally calling for me. If it was, I think I’d hear it. But either way, walking straight through these woods feels like a great place to start looking. I might at least find people there.

~~~

I don’t know how long I’ve been wandering in the woods. It’s been unnaturally quiet for how lush this forest is. Almost eerily so. There’ve been no perceivable traces of any animals, let alone people, this whole time. I’ve found plenty of fruit and nuts along the way, plus the puapols and nuts that were in my bag, so I’m less hungry now, but I’m still feeling a bit light-headed. So obviously, none of what I ate was world tree fruit. Well, with the exception of puapols of course, but that’s not going to adjust me to this planet’s gravity. That’d be pretty neat if it did though. But I’m feeling a bit too heavy to keep going like this.

I think Igby said that the normal way that people recover from gravity sickness is by resting. I was hoping to go for the more delicious option, but I guess I have no choice but to take a break. Since virtually every tree seems solidly climbable, I jump and grab the nearest branch, and pull myself up from there. And then I keep climbing, until I’m at one of the top branches. It has a nice, sturdy base where it connects to the tree, and my body fits here perfectly, so I sit down.

The forest from above is so gorgeous. I still can’t believe nobody lives here! I can see where I landed and came ashore behind me, but the warm, gentle breeze already carried the sand over my tracks. Almost every tree and bush in sight has either bright pink fruit or light brown nuts. The vegetation is almost overgrown, probably because nobody’s here eating it. This is seriously starting to creep me out. There has to be a reason nothing lives here, right? Did they all leave?

Suddenly, I hear the flapping of wings. Sweet! Whether it’s a bird or a potential friend, I don't care - I’m just excited to see someone again.

I turn around to greet the stranger, and the last thing I see is a beautiful girl with wings for arms hurl a big, heavy something at my head, before my vision goes black.