Tess is a 17 yr. old Forest girl who is totally bored with her hum-drum life. While picking berries for the evening dessert, she is chased by a bear and saved by the mysterious people of the sky known as the Cloud Riders. They are a gypsy-like people who sail vast, lighter-than-airships across the continent. Due to the wind and weather, Tess is required to spend a month on board the airship Sun Chaser with its owners, the Windymir family. She travels to strange and exotic cities like Top of the World and Sea Shell City while she is introduced to the life and culture of the Cloud Riders. Meanwhile, she plays a cat-and-mouse game of the heart with the Windymirs' handsome 18 yr. old son, Cumulus, also known as Cue. Into this idyll barges the warlord, Genghis, who wants to steal a cloud-ship and turn it into a weapon of war, and will not stop at anything to get one. Ultimately, it is up to Tess, Cue, and the Windymirs to stop him and save the Cloud Rider's way of life.