[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/RQaJfun.png[/img][h1][b][color=B22222]C L A R A[/color][/b][/h1][hr][b][color=gray]THE EOLDYSSEUS, IFRISE FOREST — SOVEREIGNTY OF DRYADALIS[/color][/b][/center][hr]
The screeching of aged metal tracks was a new sound to Clara. 

The Eoldysseus was one rickety hunk of old metal and worn wood, not at all what Clara expected from a [i]railway barge[/i] of all things. For someone who only crossed the lands of Iquenos by foot or by hitching rides on merchant wagons, she expected the landship would have a bit more grandeur to it. Then again, if it was at all how Clara envisioned it, she likely wouldn't have been able to sneak on at all.

Yet she was still admiring the fact the Eoldysseus could even cover such great distances, and at such a great speed, too. Clara stretched her arms out of any open window she could find, letting the harsh winds blow against her fingertips. A light chuckle escaped her.

[b]“[color=B22222]Ah, how time flies.[/color]”[/b] 

And how time had flown. It had been eight years since Clara had set foot on Thlecian soil. Eight years she had been on the road, without a family, without a home. So much had happened within that time, the landscapes of her home region were becoming foreign to her. But recent incidents had led her to take up this journey back to her motherland; Clara couldn't shy away from it anymore, she needed to start again somewhere. Still, she was filled with uncertainty, just as her decision to suddenly travel back to Thlecia was. 

Clara smiled as she paced down the carraige, a light skip in each step. The approaching forest meant the barge wouldn't be going too fast around this time, so she figured it was safe to enjoy the luscious countryside view more closely. Perhaps too closely, as her fellow passengers started to give her odd stares. The sight of a grown woman leaning outside of a carriage window to look at the pretty green grass was nothing short of strange.

As the barge entered the forest, an even stranger sensation sent goosebumps up Clara's arms, and she instinctively reached out. If she leaned a bit further, she would be able to feel the roots of Ifrise Forest at her fingertips.

So when the Eoldysseus experienced a sudden jolt in its tracks, a small shriek came from a passenger as Clara was shaken off her feet.