It was all so alien.

Jack sat in silence as the pony beneath him glided over the clouds beneath them. The people he’d met and the places he’d been so far since he was yeeted from his own reality had - so far - at least been more or less familiar.

Mythical creatures like glow in the dark lizards, or flying horses? At least he’d been exposed to the idea, growing up in an age where fantasy was a staple genre of entertainment.

Apparently his mind had decided to draw the line at “Floating Landmasses”, because it was just going around in circles telling itself “that’s not physically possible”.

A sudden chill and the flickering of shadows brought him out of his reverie, squinting as he looked around again to see that they’d glided down to the level of the clouds, and started descending through them.

“Where are we going?” he asked Islena over the sound of the wind.

“Probably the nearest tavern. Uncle likes a good drink after a fight!”, came the shouted reply.

Tavern? In the clouds? Jack shrugged at the nonsensical answer. Through slitted eyes he looked over to Uncle Iroh, who was currently tapping on the side of what appeared to be a compass of some sort. Grumpily he noticed that both of his travel companions had slipped on goggles at some point in his reverie, which explained why they weren’t bothered by the wind of their passage.

“Are there… more… places like that?” he asked after a while, now completely surrounded by clouds.

“Like what?” camed Islena’s confused reply.

“Places that just… float… like that?” he persisted.

Islena turned enough that Jack could see the quizzical look on her face. “All the lands here float, as you put it. What else would they do?”

“Uhm. Nevermind”.

------

Eventually they passed through the lower edge of the clouds. Or at least the cloud layer, since the sight that greeted Jack far below was simply more cloud. Jack saw Uncle Iroh put away the compass-like device as he peered off into the distance and gave himself a slight nod of satisfaction.

Jack himself could barely make out a slightly darker patch through the haze that permeated the gap in the cloud layers.

“What happens if a person falls off, here?” Jack asked with morbid curiosity. “Where do they land?”

“They don’t, unless they’re extremely lucky” came the reply, followed by a short silence before Islena continued. “At least that would be a quick death. Otherwise you’d just, well, fall. And if the toxic gasses lower down don’t kill you, the pressure eventually will”

“Surely there must be something solid down there?” exclaimed Jack.

Islena shrugged. “If there is, no one has ever found it”

Jack tightened his legs against the mount, adrenaline spiking at the thought of an endless plunge into the unknown. Well, the even more unknown.

Jack focused on the dark patch ahead, almost relieved as it slowly resolved itself as yet another floating island. This one was far smaller than the one they’d fled, and with more signs of civilisation as they slowly approached.

The top of this island was mostly hilly, with what looked like a medieval town situated on the edge of the island nearest them. Farms were spread out around the town, and on a few of the larger hills he could see fortress-like buildings scattered around.

There was also more aerial traffic becoming visible, mostly in the form of others riding beasts similar to theirs in nature.

“Welcome to the Wuhan Sect Trading Station” Iroh announced as the trio landed in a clearing outside the town that seemed to function as an airfield.

Iroh and Islena removed their goggles as they cantered into the town, while Jack simply took in the strange sights around him, relieved at no longer having to squint against the wind.

“Wuhan Sect?” Jack prompted to break the awkward silence as they passed under an indecipherable sign board.

“This land belongs to the Wuhan Sect” Iroh said as he gestured at the hills behind the town.

Well that explains exactly nothing, Jack thought to himself at Iroh’s less than informative answer.

The town wasn’t very large, mostly a cobbled main street leading to what looked like a market area further in, with single and double story buildings along the way. There was one larger, newer wooden building visible as they reached the edge of the market square, but Iroh led them to a building on the opposite side of the road - the “Tavern” that Islena had referred to earlier.

Iroh dismounted and headed into the building, while Islena led their mounts to a nearby water trough. Jack was left to stretch out his cramped muscles, sore from riding the strange beasts.

“What’s that building?” Jack asked, nodding his head in the direction of the building opposite.

“It’s a ‘Restaurant’” Isnela replied, complete with air quotes to emphasise the word. A giggle followed as Jack’s stomach growled at the mention of the word.

As Jack stood and took in his surroundings, he noticed a few people in the market that were dressed like monks - short cropped or clean shaven hair, similar sky blue robes and various insignia pinned to their chests.

Monks? Must be from this “Wuham Sect” Jack thought. He soon followed this thought with a frown as he noticed that most people were avoiding these strangely dressed people as much as possible. Even the merchants at the stalls were averting their eyes, or bending deeply whenever they had to interact with the “Monks”.

“I guess the monks around here aren’t the humble kind?” Jack asked offhandedly.

Islena didn’t answer as she continued to care for the mounts. Jack watched as a pair of monks approached the restaurant, where they were welcomed in by a smartly dressed waiter that led them into the depths of the building.

-------

Iroh was beaming as he headed for the door of the tavern, having haggled the proprietor down on the price for a room for the night and stabling. I’ve still got it, he thought.

“Useless boy!”, he snapped at the tag along that was standing gawking instead of helping Islena with their mounts and packs. “Why aren’t you…”

He trailed off, looking over the boy at the restaurant opposite, with a rising sense of dread. “Hurry! Take cover!” he yelled, beckoning to his niece to join him as he rapidly retreated into the relative safety of the tavern.

-----

Why aren’t I what? Jack was still gathering his thoughts after being snapped at by the older man, confused since he hadn’t been told to do anything.

He was still turning to face Iroh when he heard the older man yell. Take cover? From what?!

He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he spun around, looking for any source of danger that would cause Iroh to act like that. “What the hell is going on?” he said to the suddenly empty street around him, stumbling towards the entrance of the tavern.

Iroh and Islena had already rushed inside with that ungodly speed that so many people he’d met lately seemed to possess.

An ear shattering cry of “YOU DARE!” was the last thing he heard, barely registering the sound of exploding wood and glass behind him...