“Perhaps.” Avishan nodded slowly, relaxing slightly as Lirulin offered the sword back – watching carefully to assure himself she hadn’t been hurt. A foolish but inevitable worry. He grudgingly reminded himself that she handled the lion’s share of the cooking and thus probably actually used blades more than he did.
It was important to have a goal in all of this. To that end, it didn’t really matter if Arlathan was real or not. Just so long as the idea of it helped to keep their minds off hunger and worry for other things that they couldn’t do anything about. Though that strange traveler they had met certainly seemed to think it did exist.
Maybe the traveler was the fairytale. They hadn’t seen anyone else in weeks.
Dusk swiftly gave way to true dark. Avishan wrapped himself up in a blanket from his pack and dozed lightly against Kay’s warm flank. He was vaguely aware of Ru as she went about cleaning and storing their things, pulled temporarily back to wakefulness when she spoke. His thoughts swam for a moment, decades of relative comfort overwhelming memories of recent hardship. Why couldn’t they—
Ah.
“Might be yours before we get anywhere. And it would be safer not to.” He turned his face toward her and sighed, knowing she would bear up and mask her disappointment. That happened far too often these days.
“Alright. We’ll go – if it looks okay.”
It wasn’t long before he drifted back into sleep, the unsatisfying sort that would end too soon.
It was important to have a goal in all of this. To that end, it didn’t really matter if Arlathan was real or not. Just so long as the idea of it helped to keep their minds off hunger and worry for other things that they couldn’t do anything about. Though that strange traveler they had met certainly seemed to think it did exist.
Maybe the traveler was the fairytale. They hadn’t seen anyone else in weeks.
Dusk swiftly gave way to true dark. Avishan wrapped himself up in a blanket from his pack and dozed lightly against Kay’s warm flank. He was vaguely aware of Ru as she went about cleaning and storing their things, pulled temporarily back to wakefulness when she spoke. His thoughts swam for a moment, decades of relative comfort overwhelming memories of recent hardship. Why couldn’t they—
Ah.
“Might be yours before we get anywhere. And it would be safer not to.” He turned his face toward her and sighed, knowing she would bear up and mask her disappointment. That happened far too often these days.
“Alright. We’ll go – if it looks okay.”
It wasn’t long before he drifted back into sleep, the unsatisfying sort that would end too soon.
01-18-2025, 12:33 PM
