The soft gentle breeze tickled the small girl’s face as she buried deeper into the mossy pillow under her head muttering vaguely about some idiot not pulling in the curtains last night, curling up farther she tried to ignore the massive pain slowly throbbing as it made itself known in a rather pronounced way. 

[color=fff79a]”Fuck…”[/color]

A rather curt word tumbled out of her mouth as she shifted onto her knees pressing her head into her hands as she sunk slightly into the rotting wood. The strange feeling eclipsed the pain as she whirled around looking at her new strange surroundings the sound of water and strange ticking reaching her ears as well. 

[color=fff79a]”Where in the Seven Lands…Most curious…”[/color]

For a moment Grayce was filled with a childlike curiosity as she ran her hand across the inside of the ship’s hull, for a ship to be on land was a marvel in itself but for a tree to have claimed it that was something she hadn’t seen before; even the players stories were limited in such regards. The thought that she was dreaming a new play, a new adventure briefly crossed her mind as she approached the tree before stumbling over a rotten board sending her tumbling forward right down into the strange crevice under the tree stopping inches short of have metal gears scaring her delicate features.

The sight of the moving parts took the small girl’s breath away as she drew her feet back to her chest, she had never seen such wonders but in small toys nothing so extravagant as to bring a whole tree to life, looking up she watched in awe as it spawned the entirety of the tree, small segments branching off into the stems and branches of the white behemoth that towards over the ship the small girl had woken up in. Hearing a small snap of a twig Grayce scrambled to her feet turning to climb back towards the safer part of the shift, the soft white glowing light seemingly to follow her with each movement. 

The inside of the ship was littered with small patches of moss and flowers, decaying tools buried under them, soft shimmer’s of metal peeked out of as well, hints of broken weapons and bottles. This scene was so familiar, she had read it somewhere walking around again careful to keep one hand on the giant tree where the mast should have been words slowly started to echo in her mind.  

[color=fff79a]” Get rid of their mast, knock holes in the hull, then get back on board."

"You want us to sink her?"

"No. I want her badly damaged but capable of making it back to port. I want the word to go out that the strange ship with the red falcon ensign top is manned by dangerous, hairy maniacs with axes and is to be avoided at all costs." 

"That sounds like us.”[/color]

The soft banter of dialogue left her lips easily changing in demeanor as if there were two players instead of one reciting the scene, it was from one of the old plays they no longer told, of pirates and lovers, too risque and not close enough to the sea to be popular, but Grayce had spent hours memorizing every play they owned, practiced them, took time writing and copying them with dreams of being able to craft masterpieces of her own, spinning in a slight circle again she took in her surroundings once more committing it to memory as the soft light caught her eyes again, in time she would write down this strange experience be it a dream or something darker.

 Her expression was almost serene no sign of the anxiety and curiosity that tumbled in her stomach like a ranging storm, her first look around told her there was no truly safe passage out of her wooden holdings but there were enough low hanging branches that if so choose to she could climb towards the light and perhaps show her a better way out into her new surroundings, the soft thumping of her heart against her chest betrayed her steel composure as she placed both hands on the base of the trunk looking straight up, it was a long way and she had never been the best climber but she was never one to back down from a challenge or a role, reaching up she grabbed a low branch easily pulling her small body up into the tree a jolt of adrenaline coursing through her as she reached for another this time swinging up slightly to grab a higher branch.

[color=fff79a]“To dwellers in a wood, almost every species of tree has its voice as well as its feature.”[/color]

Another line from a long forgotten play.

It was a short play about a hunter teaching his young child to respect the woods and to always give thanks for the life one takes and that nothing should go to waste.

It was one of Grayce's favorites because her adopted parents taught her the same lessons, memories of the caravan and her climbing it as a small child danced across her mind distracting her enough so her hand missed the next branch slamming her back down into a lower one a slight hiss of pain escaping her lips as she shook her head before reaching back up a steely look of determination glinting in her eyes as she moved closer and closer to the bright light and the top of the tree.