A sunlit breeze crested over rolling green hills, as far as Celeste could see. She stepped into a sea of blades, grass tall enough to grasp at her just below the knee. Her bodysuit left her feet bare, only stretching down to her ankle, letting her feel the full sensation of soft soil beneath her. It reminded her of a vague sensation, a memory lost somewhere out in the jade sea. Something she had felt once, somewhere, with someone. The slosh of water. The sting of salt.

Something heavy impacted her back and made Celeste stumble forward.

"So brave. Taking the first step!"

Red-hair laughed from behind her, having slapped her on the back, even as the blonde boy who had been shouting commands put a hand on Celeste's shoulder to steady her. Not only those two, but others were filtering out into the dawning daylight. There were all sorts of people, men, women, some people who Celeste couldn't tell one way or the other, short, tall, varying skin tones, hair colored across the spectrum. The only commonality was age - no one in the group could have been older than midway into their twenties. That was what the oldest one of them looked like, anyway.

The blonde boy's hand was still on Celeste's shoulder, and a burning sensation writhed out where their skin met. It felt like spiders tracing webs across her skin. She brushed his hand off her. Something about being touched wasn't right to Celeste.

"Sorry," Celeste muttered. The boy didn't look offended, his face holding only an easy smile. Celeste tried not to meet his gaze, staring down at the grass.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"No, it's okay. I'm sorry. I didn't want you to fall."

"Yeah. I should say thanks."

"Oh, save it!"

Red-hair burst into the conversation, placing herself between Celeste and the boy, slamming her hands into both of their backs. Celeste flinched away.

"Apologies won't do us any good," red-hair shouted. Or maybe that was her natural volume.

"We need to figure out where we are, and maybe what this thing is, too."

Celeste turned to look where red-hair was rapidly waving her hand at. Behind them was the craft that they had been on minutes ago. It was a metallic triangle, the plates comprising its outer layers were scorched red, yet no flame was in sight. Panels had peeled away or broken off in a few places, revealing a chaotic web of wires, parts, and latticed steel underneath. Some of it looked familiar to Celeste. Like she had seen it before, somewhere. But she couldn't remember anything. A dull pulse drummed up beneath her temple and Celeste put a hand to her head.

"It's a ship, right?" Celeste's voice seemed all the more quiet when compared to red-hair's permanent yelling.

"A... Ship? There's no water here," blonde boy answered.

"Not that kind of ship. Aren't there ships for the air, too?"

"A ship in the air? Yeah, right," red-hair laughed.

"There's no way a ship could... fly..." Red-hair trailed off, and Celeste realized all three of them were pressing down on their heads. Celeste combed through her thoughts, her memories, grasping for something. A memory that wasn't there. Like her hand sifted through blank air.

"Why can't I remember?"

Blonde-hair and red-hair both asked the same thing at the same time. They didn't have time to think it through further.

"Hey! Hey, newbies!"

Celeste looked to the source of the new voice. Someone was shouting from atop a far-off ridge, waving what looked like a sword above his head. Everyone else saw him, too.

"Welcome to the world!"