It was early the following morning, just before the sun could creep its way over the horizon of the Coastlands, that a soul found deep in the heart of Rippletide began to stir. Blankets were tossed aside as a girl sat up, stretching her arms above her head with a mighty yawn. She rubbed at her eyes with one hand before swinging her feet off the side of her bed as she rose to her full height.

Tressa Colzione threw a brush through her short light brown hair, admiring her brown eyes flecked with green as she passed by the mirror sitting on the wall of her room. She threw on her clothing for the day, straightening out her dress as soon as she got the chance to. After swinging her bag over her shoulders, Tressa reached for her hat. She set it down on her head, making sure that the feather was perked up, standing tall towards the ceiling. A bright smile graced her features as she admired her reflection one last time. "Well, the show isn't going to stock itself!" she declared. She pivoted on her heel and marched out of her room, making her way downstairs.

Tressa and her parents' kept their rooms on the upper floor of their shop, and when Tressa arrived in the store itself, she could see that both Marina and Olneo Colzione were already ready to face the day. Marina stood behind the counter, straightening the books found there. Olneo, on the other hand, was marking off supplies as he surveyed the store. "Mornin', Ma! Mornin', Pa!" Tressa greeted as she leapt down the final few steps to arrive on the bottom floor properly. Marina gave her a glance of thinly-veiled concern, something fitting of a mother looking after her only child.

Olneo, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind Tressa's recklessness quite as much. "Mornin', Tressa!" he greeted, looking up from his surveying duties with a grand smile that peeked out from the edges of his darkened mustache. "Looks like our number one employee is ready for another day of work!"

Tressa beamed at her father's open display of pride. "Sure am! And I'll start by stocking up the store," she told him. The supplies were kept in a back room tucked away between the bookshelves behind the counter. She made her way towards the room, giving her mother a curt yet bright nod along the way.

"Hold your seahorses, little lady," Olneo told her. He pointed his pen at Tressa as he quirked an eyebrow upwards, a clear sign that a challenge was coming. Tell me: what are the three things a merchant needs most?"

Tressa's smile only grew wider. "They need to be smiley, mannerly, and early! Thought you had me, didn't you?" she told him. She walked into the closet and pulled out an extra bundle of grapes and plums before setting them on the corresponding shelf. She laughed over her shoulder, and the jovial sound echoed throughout the store.

Olneo laughed and shook his head. "You're too clever for me, Tressa. Now, off you go! We need a few fish for today's stock," he told her. He returned to inventory soon afterwards, marking down the new supplies that Tressa had retrieved from the back closet.

"Leave it to me, Pa!" Tressa declared, saluting to her father over her shoulder as she strutted proudly towards the door.

"Be careful out there, Tressa!" Marina called out to her daughter, ever the worrier after her daughter's close brush with slipping earlier that morning. "Oh, those pirates have been causing trouble around the tavern lately. If you see them, you be sure to keep a wide berth, you hear?"

Tressa nodded. "Got it, Ma. Be back in two ripples of the tide!" she announced. She closed the distance between herself and the door before pushing it open and leaving the store behind.

After Tressa had left the store behind, Olneo took a few steps forward with a humored chuckle and a shake of his head. "There she goes," he remarked. "She reminds me of myself when I was that age... Always running off somewhere, wanting to prove myself a full-fledged merchant."

Marina scoffed and shook her head before returning to the shelves behind her. "Don't flatter yourself, dear. Our Tressa is something special," she told her husband.

Olneo wasn't offended in the slightest at his wife's words, instead simply shaking his head. "That she is," he agreed. "That she is."

Tressa was quickly able to navigate her way through Rippletide, humming a tune to herself. The rest of the town was starting to wake up. Bakers got ready to put out their supply for the day, fisherman hauled in their new catches, and merchants opened their doors for customers. Tressa always loved seeing Rippletide in the morning; there was something strangely heartwarming about being able to see so many people come together this way.

As Tressa passed over the bridge leading to the other half of town consisting of docks to the Central Sea and stalls for smaller merchants, she began to glance around the area, doing her best to catch sight of her target. Eventually, her gaze narrowed in on a man who Tressa had been seeing at least once a week for most of her life. Walter the fisherman was the best of his trade in Rippletide, and as he maneuvered his haul of fish for the day, he turned his attention to his stall. Once he was settled, he rubbed a hand over his head.

When he noticed Tressa was there, the fisherman perked up. "Well, if it isn't the hardest-working merchant in town!" he declared. "You even beat some fisherman to the pier!"

"Don't sound so surprised!" Tressa told him with a laugh that Walter quickly joined in on. "We both know the early bird gets the worm, or in our case, the fish!" She looked down to the fish that he had managed to catch, her eyes immediately scanning through them. She tried to figure out which one she would wind up purchasing for the day, doing her best to find the fish that she suspected would be best.

"You're darn right it does! Well, here's the catch of the mornin'," Walter told Tressa, gesturing down towards the fish so that Tressa could get a clear view of them. Tressa continued to watch the fish before Walter reached down to pick up one of his prey. He held the fish out to Tressa, waiting for her judgement.

Tressa's first response was to hum to herself, her expression contorting with inquisition. "Blue marlin, I see," she observed to herself, not expecting a response from Walter. "A big one, too, with lots of good meat on its bones." After a moment of contemplation, she shoved her hand into the wallet hanging from her belt, pulling out the number of leaves that she felt would be appropriate. "I can give you this much for it."

Walter's expression moved to uncertainty. "It's worth a little more than that. This one's a whopper!" He continued to look at the leaves in Tressa's hand, almost as if he expected other coins to magically appear during Tressa's confident presentation.

Tressa's bright smile slipped into a frown. "I guess I'll just have to take my business elsewhere then," she mused aloud, knowing exactly where this was going. This back and forth, while not too overtly common between her and Walter, was certainly something that she was experienced in to some degree. She dropped her leaves back into their pouch before taking the fish between her fingers. "Your hook snagged its innards. I was willing to overlook the damage, but..."

Walter perked up at that. After a moment of thinking, he sighed and shook his head. "Fine. You got yourself a deal," he told her, dejection clear on his face. He accepted the fish back from Tressa, waiting for her to produce her payment once more.

Tressa snapped back to her happy and chipper persona immediately. "Pleasure doin' business with you!" she exclaimed, happily exchanging the leaves for the fish. She turned on her heel to leave, but she was ultimately cut off when Walter continued speaking.

"You drive a hard bargain," he muttered to himself. "You're a born natural at negotiating. I was wrong to underestimate you." Walter returned to his work soon afterwards, shaking his head quietly. This was the hardest that Tressa had ever pushed in their back and forth exchange of money and goods, and it was almost impossible for him to believe that he had been left this way by someone as young as eighteen.

"You got that right!" Tressa agreed with a bright grin. "I may not look like much, but I can haggle with the best of them." She looked down at the fish just to prove her point, and the blue marlin stared back at her in response.

"I learned my lesson," Walter assured her. He reached one hand up to wave at her. "Well, don't be a stranger!" He held out a piece of cloth, allowing Tressa to use it to wrap the fish inside. Soon afterwards, he returned to his work in full once again, a cue for Tressa that it was time to depart.

"I won't! Thanks again!" Tressa sang out. She was gone soon afterwards, off on her merry way back towards her family's shop. She forced herself to look away from her prize as her next thoughts of business began to appear. "Next up, wine!"

Tressa's journey through Rippletide was a simple one as she approached the beverage vendor. She was on far less personal terms with him compared to Walter, so she simply pointed to the bottle of mead that she needed. The wine in question was sitting on a shelf behind the vendor within his booth. "I'd like that one, please," Tressa told him with a confident nod.

The vendor pulled the bottle down as Tressa dropped her leaves onto the counter. "Here you are," he told her simply. "It'll be fifty leaves..." His gaze dropped down to the leaves that Tressa had already placed down, and he realized too late that his words had been somewhat redundant.

"Pleasure doing business with you!" Tressa proclaimed. The merchant gave her a brief nod as she tucked the bottle under her arm. In the blink of an eye, she was off on her merry way once again, humming a familiar Coastlands tune under her breath.

"Another day, another deal!" Tressa muttered to herself once she was out of the range of the vendor hearing her. With a humored laugh, she continued. "A deal so good it was practically a steal!" She permitted herself a few moments to chuckle openly as she admired the fruits of her labor. "This oughta liven up our little shop!"

Tressa had stopped on the bridge leading into the other part of town away from the docks when she spoke once again. A bittersweet sigh escaped her lips as she looked out over the Central Sea from her place atop the bridge. The salty oceanic wind graced the air, rustling her hair gently. "Our little shop..." she whispered, her voice full of wistful nostalgia. "Just me, Ma, and Pa... If I don't take over, who will?"

Tressa looked over the ocean once again, and she closed her eyes for a moment. She would have been lying if she said that she had never dreamed of seeing what rested beyond the shores of Rippletide. The small port town had been the backdrop of her childhood, the scenery in which she grew up, but she wanted more. It was strange for someone so content to yearn for what rested beyond the borders of her small town, but that was all Tressa could think about as she got older.

It wasn't that she disliked Rippletide. That couldn't have been further from the truth. In fact, Tressa loved the place that she had grown up in, and she wouldn't have traded her time in Rippletide for anything in the world. However, there was much more out there beyond the limits of a port city known for its bustling trade. Across another sea, there was Goldshore. Beyond that, Grandport waited, and that was only within the Coastlands. Saintsbridge, Atlasdam, Quarrycrest, Victors Hollow... All of them were waiting for her, and Tressa wished that she had the power to depart and see what they had in store.

But she couldn't just leave. Nothing was ever that simple. Her family was counting on her to take over the store. If she didn't take up the mantle, nobody else would. The Colzione family store had been important to Tressa for as long as she could remember, and she couldn't simply abandon it. At the same time, if she didn't leave Rippletide, she would never be able to see the world, and her dreams would be left unfulfilled.

Tressa leaned over, bracing her elbows against the railing of the bridge. "The ocean is so vast..." Tressa muttered without realizing she was speaking. Boats continued to bob across the Central Sea, some closer than others. Fishers traveled across the surface of the water, preparing to catch their prey for the morning. Large ships could be seen cresting the ocean in the distance, obscured by the spray and fog that came inherently with the shore.

Tressa's eyes slipped shut as she imagined just what was out there. She had only heard stories of other towns and cities, greedily swallowed through eager ears when visitors came from far-flung lands. Each new tale sparked new ideas in Tressa's mind, and she didn't think that she would be able to ignore them any longer. Everything was a dreamlike haze as she envisioned what it would have been like to see other towns across Orsterra.

Rippletide was only one corner of the continent. There was so much out there that she had yet to encounter, and Tressa couldn't wait to see what was waiting for her. That required leaving Rippletide in the first place though, and no matter how hard she tried, something always held her back. She cared too much for her shop and her parents to simply leave and travel the world. So much rested on her shoulders regardless of if she chose to acknowledge it or not, and Tressa didn't think that she would ever be able to escape that weight. It sure didn't stop her from dreaming though.

"What lies beyond the horizon?" Tressa questioned of the ocean and the dawning sky, not expecting an answer but asking anyways. The sea rippled and lapped against the base of the bridge in response, almost as if it was whispering to her tales of a life that she would never be able to make her own. The water had seen so much more than she had, and Tressa wished that, for but a fleeting moment, she could become a droplet herself, simply drifting until life presented itself before her young eyes that yearned for wonder and dreams that could never be.

Tressa realized belatedly how shortsighted she had been. In staring out at the horizon, she had completely missed a boat that was coming towards the docks. The ship was enormous, much larger than anything that Tressa was used to seeing. She pulled the fish and wine closer to her chest, eyes wide in surprise. What would the captain of a giant boat like that want with a small town like Rippletide?

"Drop anchor!"

Tressa's eyes rose towards the boat once again, and the ringing of the bells on the surface of the deck echoed throughout the port of Rippletide. it was an impressive vessel, though that felt like an understatement in Tressa's eyes. "I haven't seen that ship around here before... I wonder where it came from," she murmured to herself. Tressa pushed herself back up to her full height, ready to investigate the new arrival. The fish and wine remained tucked in her grasp neatly, but at that moment, her last thought was of taking them back to the store. The boat was seemingly calling to her, beckoning her to draw nearer with the promise of adventure.

Somehow, the boat only seemed to get bigger the closer that Tressa got to it. She stood beside the boat on the docks, her neck craned backwards as she tried to fully take in the scope of the ship. She would have voiced her admiration, but she was speechless, unable to force herself to speak no matter how hard she tried.

Meanwhile, a man wearing ornate blue clothing stepped off the boat, using a single diagonal plank as his way onto the docks of Rippletide. His hair was blonde and long, part of it covering one eye while the rest fell upon his back simply. "What a dreary town..." the man murmured to himself. He turned to walk towards the rest of town, seeing Tressa along the way. She hadn't yet noticed him, too caught up in her awestruck state to even think of looking away from the boat. The man let out a chuckle. Something about her caught his attention even with the daily bustle of Rippletide's fishermen, and he could tell that there was something about Tressa that was far from being ordinary. "But it carries a delectable scent. Its cuisine may be promising."

The man was halfway down the docks when he noticed that Tressa was still staring at the boat. "What's the matter, lass? You look like a fish out of water," the man commented with a humored chuckle under his breath.

Tressa was silent for a moment longer before she turned to face the man, a frown on her face. "Is this a trading ship?" she questioned.

The man nodded as he took a step toward her. "Indeed. And I am its captain," he explained. Up close, Tressa was given a better view of the man. His blue cape flowed in the breeze behind him, making him seem so much more regal than any trader had any right to.

"Well, Captain, the name's Tressa. I'm a merchant in this town," Tressa explained. After a moment of hesitation, she shoved the wine and fish together into the crook of her arm before extending her other hand towards the man, a careful yet charming smile on her face.

The man smiled in return when he shook her hand. "A pleasure to meet you," he replied. A deep blue scarf obscured the bottom half of his face, so Tressa didn't catch the upwards quirk of his lips.

Tressa had already turned back to face the ship when she next spoke. "I'm sure you have all kinds of neat cargo onboard," she remarked. When she looked back in the man's direction, she had a mischievous grin on her face. "Say, would you mind if I take a peek? I'd love to see what you've brought from overseas."

The man laughed once more. "You have a true merchant's eye, lass. You gaze at a simple trading ship as if it were made of solid gold," he commented. Tressa beamed in response. The man shrugged, his smile slipping away from his features. "Alas, I only allow passage to those I trust."

Tressa's face fell, her expression slipping into something crestfallen. "Aww..." she whimpered to herself. She looked like a child that had been denied the chance to receive candy between her wide eyes and the way her bottom lip stuck out from the rest of her face.

Before the man could properly respond, the sound of something breaking ruptured the air. Tressa jumped so suddenly that she almost dropped the fish and wine in her hands, and it was only when the man threw out one arm to keep her steady that she managed to regain her balance. She was too distracted by the noise to offer him her thanks. "What was that?!" Tressa yelped as soon as she had somewhat found her composure once more, but it was clear as could be that she was still shaking if anyone looked closely.

"I'll go check it out!" Tressa proclaimed next. She took off in the direction of the main segment of town soon afterwards, all thoughts of boarding the ship forgotten in the blink of an eye. The ground beneath her groaned until she was on the cobbled stones of the street rather than the wood of the docks.

The man watched her vanish from sight before shaking his head to himself. "Busy as a bream, that one," he murmured, thinking about how quickly her outlook had changed when a distraction appeared. He didn't linger for long though, instead making his way back towards his ship to make sure that he was ready to stop in the town and exchange his wares for leaves.

Tressa, meanwhile, weaved through the people of Rippletide with far more effort than she expected to need. There were three types of figures in the crowd, she found. One group was stuck in their places, still as a statue due to the threat of loud noises in the distance. Another set of people ran towards the sound of the ruckus while the final group moved away from it. With all three types of people interspersed in the area at random, Tressa was left to struggle as she pushed her way through the crowd.

Her height worked against her, and Tressa elevated herself onto her toes to make sure that she could get as solid a view of the town square as possible. It appeared that the heart of Rippletide had been the origin point of the noise judging by how many people were gathered in a mighty circle around whatever had caused the sound.

After pushing her way through another group of people, Tressa stumbled to the front of the crowd, giving her a perfect view of the center of town. She realized belatedly that this wasn't a good thing, seeing that the people in the area all wore expressions of pure fear. Tressa's heart started to speed its pace in her chest, and she held her fish and wine closer to her chest. She had an awful feeling about this, and even if she didn't know for sure what had happened, she knew that she was going to be finding out sooner or later for better or worse. Why did she feel like the truth would fall into the latter category?

An older man was on one knee, his hands braced against his upper leg. Judging by the way that he shook, it seemed as if he had been shoved to the ground and left to struggle. He wore the clothing of a merchant, and Tressa vaguely recognized that she had bought a few wares from him over her years of assisting in the Colzione store. "Don't! I beg of you!" the man pleaded, his voice strained beyond description. "That's all I have left!"

Two pirates stood nearby, and Tressa watched them with thinly-veiled surprise. Her eyes were wide as could be, and she had to actively force her heart to stop screaming in her chest. One of the pirates was tall and lanky while the other was smaller and fell on the portly side. Both of them wore the typical garb that Tressa expected of pirates, and large cutlass blades hung from their waists in lazy sheaths. Tressa took an instinctive step back at the sight of them, but when she collided with a person standing behind her, she was forced forward once again.

When a voice rang out, it came from the lanky pirate. His voice was high in pitch, and his laugh grated on Tressa's nerves. "Then we be in the same boat, matey," the pirate told the old man. His eyes told a story that lacked remorse, and he almost seemed tempted to shove the older merchant aside once again just for the fun of it.

In fact, the pirate did rush forward, and he pushed the old man backwards with another laugh that pierced the air in a way that made Tressa feel like she was going to be sick. "We got nothin' left ourselves. Ain't that right, Makk?" the lanky pirate asked, turning towards his smaller comrade.

The other pirate, Makk, nodded his agreement. "Aye, Mikk. And when we be needin' somethin', we be takin' it. That's what pirates do, after all," he said firmly. All of a sudden, the blade hanging from his waist seemed to gleam even more ominously than before, and it took every ounce of resolve that Tressa had to not rush in and fight back against the pirates to save the older man. She didn't stand a chance without any weapons, but her sense of justice burned white hot inside of her all the same.

The street vendor stammered in response, horror in his eyes. The lower leg of his trousers was starting to cloud with crimson, and Tressa realized that he had skinned his knee when he was pushed previously. "Please, have mercy..." the man murmured to himself, tears starting to cloud over in his vision.

The pirates only continued to laugh, and another person wearing similar clothing burst through the crowd. Tressa assumed that this was a third pirate in their gang, and her mind was cast back to the infinite warnings that she had heard about the nearby pirates. She had known that they were there for quite some time, but Tressa never would have expected them to act so boldly in the light of the town square. There were countless people watching, but the pirates didn't seem to care in the slightest.

"Captain! I got the goods from that there shop!" the newcomer pirate declared as he pointed to a nearby store. Tressa felt a bitter sense of relief upon noticing that it wasn't her parents' shop that had been ransacked. She didn't want it to have happened to her parents, but she would have preferred that nothing would have happened at all.

Both Mikk and Makk went to respond to him, but they noticed that the other was replying soon afterwards. They turned their gazes towards one another, and their eyes were filled with acid. The tension in the air grew thicker, and Tressa could have sworn that the coastal air rose in temperature at least slightly.

"There be only one captain around here, and it be me," Mikk practically snarled as he took a step towards Makk, jabbing his thumb into his own chest. His height advantage over Makk was suddenly even more notable than before.

Makk responded with a noisy scoff, not at all intimidated by his comrade's attempts at threatening him. "Ha! Everyone knows I be the captain and you're me first mate!" Makk declared.

"We'll see about that, Makk, ye scurvy swine!" Mikk announced. He reached for the sword at his hip, and Makk did much the same. The blades gleamed silver in the morning sunshine as their hilts were shifted away from their sheaths, a sure sign that combat was coming.

"Aye, we will, Mikk, you scabby-bottomed sea bass!" Makk agreed. He sunk into a combat stance as well, his eyes narrowing with hatred. His blade was fully removed from its home as he leveled it at Mikk.

"Can't ye both be the captain?" the third pirate asked carefully, clearly used to this sort of bickering from the two. He sounded both exhausted and thoughtful, making it clear that he had placated this same argument many times in the past.

After a moment of tense silence, the pirates rose to their full heights. "Fine. Now show us what other treasure ye be hiding!" Mikk declared, giving one final shot of a glare towards Makk before focusing on the situation at hand.

Despite every instinct inside of her screaming to stay quiet, Tressa took a step out into the square. "Hey! Stop that!" she proclaimed angrily. She was practically shaking in her rage, but she forced herself to stay grounded.

"Says who?!" Mikk roared as he turned to face her. Even with his blade back in its place at his hip, he was still a frightening figure, and the crowd seemed to recoil when he raised his voice in such rage.

"Says me!" Tressa snapped back. Her anger kept her from feeling fear, and she allowed it to numb the anxiety creeping into the edges of her mind. "The people here are merchants and fishermen doing all they can to put food on the table! Have a heart! Don't steal what little they have from them!"

"How's this for heart? I'll give you one chance to shove off, kid," Mikk said sternly, taking a single step towards Tressa. His cutlass continued to gleam in the sunshine, and the outline of dried blood could be seen if the angle was correct.

"But I-"

"Best be on your way, little one. We're doing grown-up business here," Makk told her, interrupting Tressa with a tone that went far beyond condescending. A collective shudder passed through the crowd.

"I'm not going anywhe-"

Tressa was cut off for a second time when Mikk continued speaking. "Well, well. What ye got there, kid?" he questioned with open yet terrifying curiosity. He walked towards her slowly, each step making his shadow stretch further over Tressa's body.

"It's rainbow wine! And it be ours now!" Makk proclaimed boldly. With a single punch to the shoulder, he sent Tressa falling to her knees, and from there, it was easy for him to snatch the wine and fish from her grasp without any issues.

Tressa was still on the ground when Mikk came to stand above her. "A brat like you wouldn't appreciate it none anyways," he pointed out. He looked ready to snatch the bottle and pop the cork off then and there.

Makk towered over Tressa as well a second later, his eyes endlessly demeaning as he watched her like she was an animal trapped in a cage. "We're doin' you a right favor by taking it off your hands. Now say 'thank you'," he demanded.

Tressa snarled as she lunged towards the wine. "Give it back!" she cried out. She was cut off by another punch, this time to the stomach, that sent her spiraling downwards. Her arms rested around her midsection as she tried to fend off the pending wave of nausea coming for her.

"That's enough, lass."

Tressa was vaguely aware of a new person appearing behind her, and she looked up to see the captain from before standing at her side. Tressa was left in his shadow as the pirates took a step away from her. "But-" Tressa tried to protest.

The captain held up a single hand to silence her. "You've got pluck, I'll give you that," he told her deliberately. "But they don't look like the types who will listen to reason. You understand me?" His words were clearly meant to calm Tressa and end the conflict before it could grow worse, and while she knew that he was acting in her safety and best interest, she still hated being held back.

Makk let out a hearty laugh. "That lily-livered scalawag knows what he's talkin' about, kid," he told Tressa. "Best take his advice to heart. In this world, the strong take while the weak quake." He and the rest of the pirates began to laugh, but the captain's eyes were simply filled with somber regret.

Mikk waved as he started to walk past them. "Thank ye kindly for the loot, ye deck-wetting worms!" he proclaimed obnoxiously. He offered a snarky salute to the man, undeterred by the intense stare that he was receiving from the captain.

"Aye! It's been a bloody pleasure!" Makk agreed. Both he and Mikk allowed their shoulders to collide roughly with the captain's body as they passed by, but the man in blue refused to stumble, instead only glaring at them out of the corner of his eye as they vanished from sight. His scarf hid his frown from sight.

Tressa, meanwhile, remained on the stones of Rippletide, doing her best to keep tears of humiliation from prickling at her eyes. The laughter of the pirates continued to ring in her ears, and she could have sworn that she saw red as her hands clenched into fists.

A single tear slid onto the street.

This took a bit longer than expected, but I've had a rough week. Forgive me, everyone (I say after just not updating for eight days). Anyways, here's the new chapter!

Tressa is here at long last! Her chapter is paced a bit differently from Ophilia and Cyrus' because of how hers is so dialogue-heavy after the end of the boss fight. Let's just say that we'll be reaching the battle against Mikk and Makk sooner rather than later to compensate for this. I promise that Ophilia and Cyrus will be making an appearance soon too, so that'll be fun as well.

All in all, this chapter is pretty basic. Since this update is longer than usual, I'm not going to hold you hostage any longer. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, everyone. I appreciate feedback as always, and I hope you all have a great day!

-Digital