North Ocean- Late Summer 14 years AR

Sunada sat in the first mate's quarters with her hands over her ears. Even then she could hear the men yelling at each other from the nearby captain's quarters. She knew their situation was dire but to lose such honor? To yell petty insults at each other and even their superiors? They brought such shame on themselves and she was disheartened to hear her father’s voice among them at times. She was crying too but at least she had the decency to do so in private.

They’d only sailed for two days when they were blown off course by a massive storm. The wind ripped at the ship and tore down its masts, only quick thinking of the crew kept it from capsizing. A few even brought honor to their clans by sacrificing themselves in order to save the ship. The storm had tossed them about for days until finally, it dissipated, somehow they had survived.

They sat there adrift the following day, the current taking them where it led. They were without hope as what wood they had, the ship's carpenter had used to seal the hull. There would be no way to build even a single mast. They even were tricked to think salvation as in the last light of day they spotted sails on the horizon. As it approached the damage it had sustained was visible even in the moonlight.

It was the exploration vessel Sunada had seen in the harbor. Yet the mighty only had one mast left and it was sitting low in the water. When it pulled alongside the captain requested aid the explorer declared that there were women and children aboard, from a passenger vessel they’d already rescued. Under orders from her father aid was granted and the passengers were quickly moved over as the exploration vessel continued to sink. The crew of the exploration vessel had moved most of their supplies to the top deck and both crews quickly transferred it over but their efforts to disassemble the remaining mast floundered with the ship as it sank before they could complete their task, taking multiple crewmen who had dived into the hull with it. That had happened weeks prior.

There was a knock on her door causing her to quickly try to dry the fur around her eyes, “You have my permission to enter.”

Her father opened the door and stepped in before closing it behind him. She stood straight and in the proper position with her gaze slightly lower than his.

“Please my daughter, sit. I’m not here as an ambassador, prefect, or patriarch but as your father,” his tone made her fur stand on end, he sounded defeated and disheartened. She did as he asked and sat on her bed, giving him the proper chair, she gulped when he broke etiquette and sat down next to her, reaching out to take her hand, “How are you feeling?”

“I am well father,” His eyes were on her ears, she quickly put them back up in a neutral position. She had been so distraught that they were flat against her head. He leaned in and embraced her tightly. The gesture felt comforting but terrified her at the same time. She couldn’t help but start crying again. He pulled her in closer and started rubbing her back, “I’m sorry father, I bring shame upon myself.”

“Shhh, shhh. There is no shame in feeling fear or sorrow in times that most would,” He said and rubbed her back which caused her to cry even harder. She didn’t know exactly what the situation on the ship was but she knew they were running low on food after weeks adrift. Meanwhile below decks, the crew, and some passengers, took turns working the bilge pumps as water continually seeped into the cracked hull. She just cried in her father’s arms, “It will be alright…”

The two stayed like that for hours as her father comforted her. Eventually, she fell asleep in his arms only to wake up in the same nightmare the following day. Two days later they spotted land in the distance but the ship itself couldn’t reach it, both of the shore boats were put into the water with the strongest rowers. The hope was that they’d find a port to ask for help. If there was no one to give aid they would float logs and row back with haste to rebuild a mast, but they never returned.

A week later Sunada walked along the deck, she had grown tired of sitting in her quarters. A couple of men were standing on the deck in a group by the rails. Most were kneeling while five were standing. The rescued passengers, nearly all were young Inari families that were bound to settle a new island looked on and bowed their heads. Not understand what they were doing she approached stepping around the passengers that sat all around the deck.

“I, Toka of the Tashito clan give myself so that others may live,” the man declared before stepping up on the rail and stepping out into the air to fall into the water without another word.

“I, Ichiro of the Yugoro clan…” Sunada watched as five men cast themselves into the sea without land in sight. Each willfully going toward their death.

She bowed to the other crewmembers but couldn’t speak as she tried and failed to keep herself from crying. She went below decks once again and lay on her bed. Hours later there was another knock on her door. This time she didn’t respond but after a few more attempts the door opened and her father walked in.

He didn’t say a word but took her hand and held it. They sat like that for hours. Neither spoke during the entire period until they could hear running in the passageway outside the door. A minute later both of their eyes and ears shot up.

“LAND! THERE’S LAND!”

They both raced to the deck and they could see mountains in the distance and they were slowly drifting towards them! Half the crew slept on deck that night, not wanting to miss a thing. In the morning they could see mountains to the north and south while they drifted further east into the sea.

The mountainous lands looked inhospitable and had little to no vegetation. A few smaller volcanic islands were lying in between and smoking. Before a debate could break out on potentially swimming the miles to land or making rafts the captain of the exploration vessel burst into laughter a rare sound among the Inari who weren’t prone to such outbursts as it could be seen as shameful.

When it came to light why he laughed, a few others laughed or cheered as well. The captain knew of those islands and he knew that they were drifting towards lush, green lands. They drifted and soon spotted more mountains. These, however, had forests around them. Green and started to turn red, orange, and yellow with the approach of autumn They never seemed to get closer to them though, they even saw sails in the distance but none took notice of them.

Then after another two days the same natural phenomenon that put them into the nightmare forcefully drug them out. The storm that hit was nowhere near as violent but its winds were enough to run the ship aground on a rock-strewn shore. The hull was too far gone from that and the passengers and crew were forced to abandon the vessel. Something everyone involved was happy enough to do, just to be on dry land again.

*******

unknown land- Early Autumn 14 years AR

“Ambassador Coda of the Takana Clan, If I may speak?” the captain of the former exploration vessel approached Sunada and her father in the encampment they’d set up a few miles inland near a freshwater pond.

“Please, speak,” her father said and gestured to the paper the captain was holding.

“I believe I know where we are. I have found my charts,” the captain stepped forward and went down on his knees to present the maps to her father. Her father gestured for him to stand as he unrolled the chart. Sunada dropped her ears in shame as she looked at the map, even though it wasn’t presented to her, “I believe these are the first mountains we saw with these smaller ones being volcanic. Then here is the area where we saw the mountains with vasts forests… With that, I believe we are here.”

The map was of an island chain, the captain traced the route he believed they had followed and tapped his claw along the shoreline of one of the northernmost… prefects? The map was labeled by she didn’t comprehend the word used to denote what it was.

Her father did though and studied the map, “Which land do you think we’re in?”

“Judging by landmarks, here and here... along with the shape of the coastline. We’re on the northwest border of the kingdom of Ederath.”

“Tell me, captain, what do you know of this Ederath?”