Slipping out from the watchful eyes of the Dynasty was a craft that Princess Fen had all but mastered. At least, that was what she told herself as her silhouette snuck past a cluster of trees beneath a darkened sky. The world was too fresh, too new, and far too interesting for Fen to find solace in the familiarity of sleep. And despite what others may think of her, she knew that there would be others out there—in the dawning breath of the evening—who also found their minds alight with questions and their soul yearning for answers.

Where were they? How had they come here? And what would happen to the rest of them next?

Fen couldn’t possibly sleep when those questions riddled her mind like ants on a log. And who better to uncover what no one else could but her?

And so she wandered into the depths of the forest, through the bubbling streams, and out toward a milky horizon kissed by the solidity of clouds, with a determination lingering in her step.

It wasn’t until the scent of another, brought forward by a subtle breeze, that Fen paused. Someone else was out here, she thought to herself, just as she had expected. With a carefully manicured breath, one to calm whatever lingering worries she might have held in the face of someone new, the princess stepped out from the dim shade of the shadows and into the dull, evening light.

你好呀, (“Hello there,) her voice was as soft as silk as she spoke, 你有没有在水面的倒影中发现什么有趣的东西? (“Have you found anything interesting in the water’s reflection?”)