The Captain had never imagined that one day, he would come to understand the inner worlds of things he'd never even thought to understand.
Trees, soil, rivers...
It turned out that different trees thought different things. Some wanted to grow very, very tall to bathe in the sunlight. Some wanted to sink their roots deep, to see what was beneath the earth. Some wanted to grow the greenest leaves, and some even wanted to stretch beyond their Sky Island and grow onto another.
Some soil wanted to hide deep underground forever. Some wanted to defeat other soil to make itself harder...
Rivers were even more complex. Different currents often had different ideas. Most were very simple, yet full of whimsical notions.
Not only that, but there were also even more wondrous things—light, darkness, decay... these conceptual things actually had thoughts of their own.
Yet, when the Captain asked in earnest, "Can I maintain my sense of self?"
