Crown

Va Se Geralbar Arlī-On The Road Again

"I'm starting to think you just like fighting." Nikiro mused as he rode along behind the others.

Sin, who was now seated in front of him on his horse, simply grumbled, earning a soft chuckle from the man. They had made it past the Ayru wetlands, but after getting around it the sun began to set on another day. So they sought out a place to rest for the night. Tekina was able to point out another stable on the map, not too far from where they were. They arrived at the stable and went inside to talk to the owner about staying the night.

"Why not! We don't get too many travelers wanting to stay the night in these parts, so we have beds available." Chimed the owner.

Nikiro found it a little odd that the owner would openly admit to people not wanting to stay here. Not exactly something you say when you want to make money off of people like this.

"Why don't people want to hang around here?" He asked.

"Well this stable is quite literally on the outskirts of Aruma field and here in central Arunia, there are still many of the late Queen's corrupted soldiers stalking about. Their usually found closer to the castle but there are some that patrol parts of the fields. They ride these huge mechanic beasts, no doubt contraptions created by the Kishan's to aid the throne in wars. They can shoot you down from miles away so lots of people tend to steer clear of these parts. Luckily there's a big open hill that protects us here, so we won't be getting any unwanted visitors. I mean if that kind of thing happened often here, my stable would be destroyed and I'd be out of a job haha!"

The owner showed them to their beds and let them get settled in. When everyone was done, they went back downstairs to get a meal. The owner had decided to join them for dinner.

"So what brings you, folks, out here?" He chatted.

"We're looking for someone. She's a gypsy, not from Aruma An. Do you by chance know where she might be?" Asked Sora.

A look of recognition flashed across the owner's face. "Oh yes! We saw her here a day ago. She was headed down south to the Faroh region. That place is s'posed to be real foresty and dangerous. Got no idea why she's headed there. Maybe she wanted to get more supplies for her potions or sumthin'."

Tekina pulled out the map. "Do you know how we might be able to get there?"

The owner stroked his beard as he looked at the map. "Lets see. Well from here you'll have to travel south, through the outpost ruins and across Lake Ruyi. Once you reach the end of the outpost ruins you'll see a sign directing you to either that Kishan village, Ruarza, Misago village or Lake Ruyi, so it should be a fairly straightforward path. On the other side of the bridge, keep following the path and you should start seeing a denser forest area. That's when you know you've reached Faor Woods. There's a rumour that there's a village hidden in the Faor region but no ones ever found it. Travelers say they see people coming and going but no one is ever able to point out the exact location on a map."

"That's...kinda far." Said Avarice.

Sora finished his meal and stretched. "We'll be fine. We're making good time anyways. It was only a day's ride from the last stable to here we should make it to the woods within another day or so. We should get some rest though, I don't think there's another stable for a while."

Everyone finished their meals and headed off to bed. Sin was the first to fall asleep, followed by Sora and Nikiro. Tekina had stayed awake slightly longer to finish compiling her notes on what she had researched that day. By the time she had gone to bed, Avarice was still awake. He laid there, staring at the ceiling in silence. Minutes had passed before he decided to prop himself up and look over to his side. On the bed next to him, Sin lay sound asleep, snoring. Avarice poked him a little but it did nothing to stir him awake. Avarice sighed and dropped back onto his pillow.

"...Why am I like this..." He whispered to himself before drifting off to sleep.

The next morning everyone was up early and readying their horses. Sin and Nikiro we're feeding their horse when Avarice meekly walked up to them with his horse following behind. He tapped Sin's shoulder, causing him to jump and bump his head against the horse's.

"Are you okay Sin?" Asked Nikiro as he stroked the horse's face.

Sin rubbed his head. "Ahh! Uuugh! Yeah, I'm fine! Damn his head is hard!"

Sin whirled around to meet Avarice's gaze. Avarice just looked at him like he was an idiot.

"What is it?" Asked Sin.

"You...take my horse...." Avarice shyly looked down, his voice becoming smaller with every word.

"What was that?" Sin questioned.

"TAKE MY BLOODY HORSE! I'll ride with dad for the rest of the way..." He shoved the horse's reins into Sin's chest.

Sin stood there, frozen for a moment, letting the reins fall into his hands. A smile broke across his face and he brushed some hair out of his face in an attempt to hide his embarrassment. It was the first time his little brother had tried to be nice to him, he couldn't help but feel happy.

"Thanks..."

"That's all! Hurry up and get ready. We don't have all day to spend waiting on you!" Spat Avarice as he stomped off to Sora.

Nikiro laughed a bit at their little exchange. "How sweet." He joked.

Sin laughed with him. "Just when I got used to riding with you too. Who else is gonna put up with my rambling now?"

"Well I mean I've gotten pretty good at dealing with you. I did have to lug your drunken self back home on only our second meeting after all. I'd say I've gotten my fair share of practice haha!"

"Pshh! I'm pleasant to be around...sometimes..." Sin scratched his nose shyly.

Nikiro laughed and got on his horse. "Don't worry I'll ride beside you so we can talk."

Sin got on his horse as well and pouted. "Daaamn! This sucks I can't use you as a backrest now."

"I mean you can always give Avarice his horseback."

They looked over at Avarice and Sora. Sora seemed to be smothering Avarice as he helped him onto his horse.

"Nah, it's been a while since he's had time with dad."

The group began to ride off and as promised Nikiro took his place beside Sin.

"You know if we weren't trying to find a cure to save my sister's life, this would actually be a really romantic place to have a date!" Sin pointed to the path in front of them.

The rising sun cascaded down the road and slowly illuminated the flowers along the field. Sin took his eyes off of the road for a moment and glanced over at Nikiro. His smile faded and his eyes widened as he stared aimlessly at the man. The way the sun casted it's morning shadows over him and his smile as he looked towards it made him look utterly captivating. His smile was serene and his eyes seem to glimmer.

"Yeah. I bet Kashino would have loved to take a walk down here."

Sin immediately snapped out of it. He returned his attention to the road in front of him. In the dawn of his realization, a soft whisper escaped Sin's lips.

"Oh...so that's what the glimmer in his eyes was..."