From This Moment, Forever I Can Hope.

For as long as she could remember, she had seen those islands in the distance- just off to the side of the narrow land bridge that connected Auster to Boreas. And as any little girl would, she had always dreamed what it would be like to visit them in person. The way they were encapsulated away from the rest of the world in their own governing bodies gave her the impression that they were simply begging to be explored. Of course, she had been able to see the silhouette of palm trees rising out of the ocean, but … she was certain they had to be more special than that. They had to be.

As a young girl, she had promised her father that she wouldn’t attempt to swim on her own until she had become a yearling- stronger and more capable of using the graceful limbs she had managed to come by. Since then, she had countless opportunities to practice and was quite confident in her abilities to stay afloat. And while it hadn’t been a desire that she hadn’t shared with anyone else- now that the conditions of her promise had been meant, she was all too eager to set off on her own to explore those chain of islands that lived at the edge of her world. There were several larger islands that she could see, but the first one she encountered after setting off from the coastline on the other side of Wildberry Grove was a relatively smaller one. The voice of the ocean was all-encompassing, as she pulled herself out of the water- the smaller-scale land mass seeming to have to fight to keep itself above the crest of the ever-threatening tide. As she heaved each breath, from where she stood she could see that there was some good cover between palm trees and tropical undergrowth. The wind that came rolling off the surface of the waves was more volatile than she would have anticipated. Though, with very little in its path to break its momentum, it seemed that some of the smaller trees were at its mercy. If she squinted real hard, she was sure she could see the golden tones of the beach on the other side.

After catching her breath, she stood facing the mainland- examining the beach she had come from with a close eye as she steadied herself. And just like that, she had crossed a threshold that transitioned her to an outside looking-in-perspective… and it was only then did she realize it didn’t look that different after all.

"Talyssa Carpathius"