Noone organized his pack and cleaned the remains from the tarp - folding it neatly and packing it away. The rope which was attached to it was wound and bound to a strap along the side of his pack. In a desperate attempt to not think about time, he focused on anything else while waiting for the sun to rise.

When organizing his pack, Noone examined the food Porose had packed for him. Much of the food was meant to be stored and remain good over an extremely long time. However, it would not last forever. Much to Noone’s relief, the majority of the food was still edible. At most, Noone assumed that perhaps a few years had passed.

While this left a knot in Noone’s stomach, it was far better than the alternative. Noone's worst case scenario was having spent centuries hidden from the world. Centuries for Tapestry wouldn't mean much, but for Elder Azelle and Adria, Porose and Tahmel, he doubted they still would be around.

A couple years was much more manageable, but not ideal. It was important he began moving as soon as possible.

Noone passed the time thinking about the people he grew up around. He had always felt disconnected from many of the people of Tapestry. Apart from the very few who talked with him, he doubted that he knew the names of more than a handful of his family. So many generations have passed of predominately psychic speech that from what he knew, some names had no physical analog he could speak even if he knew them.

Soon though, it would all come to an end. When Noone would ascend with Adria and the Elder to the desolate world, he would most likely never see Tapestry again. He would miss Liter the most, he felt. Porose, Tommy and Trisha would be close seconds. A few of the elders who were good friends of Elder Azelle had treated him well also.

As he stared off into the darkness, he thought about what the elder at the head of Adria's family had asked him… about protecting Adria. He knew that many of the Elders assumed their closeness would become romantic when they reached adulthood. Noone and Adria both had a chuckle about this. Although they had grown up together, they had never felt like that towards one another. Adria helped Noone grow to be a bit more energetic and less shy as a child, and Noone kept Adria from growing bored and being too reckless.

It wasn't uncommon for people to not find any partner their whole lives within Tapestry. Noone never talked about it with Adria, but he always assumed he would be like that. They merely didn't feel inclined towards each other.

Noone drank a wash of water to clear his throat, looking out over the endless night. He had climbed through the night before on numerous occasions. However, he did not want to take such a large risk at night without fully coming to understand how his body had changed in the last few years.

The last thing he needed was to attempt a jump only to miss based on a slow reaction time or some unforeseeable circumstance. The fall would truly be dreadful from this height.

With nothing else to do, Noone waited for the sun.

….

"Sarah!" A young girl in smooth plain colored robes unlike any in Tapestry rushed out from a doorway, sliding to a stop on the unstable carpet laid out in the halls. Startled by the sudden call, a human woman adorned in red and white turned her head just in time to see the young girls foot become caught up in the carpet causing her downfall to the hard floor below.

A yelp of surprise came from the young girl whose name was Yisanet. Her hands quickly went to her ankle holding tightly onto it. Sara appeared beside her and knelt down.

"Yisa honey, you know better than to run through the halls." Her voice was melodious and strong. It felt like listening to a waterfall, beautiful and unwavering. Yisanet looked up at the tall young woman kneeling next to her and forcefully pulled her hands away from her ankle while trying to stand.

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"Yes Sarah! I'm sorry! I won't do it a-AGH" Yisanet fell back onto her butt as soon as she attempted to put pressure on the ankle. "I'm sorry Sarah… I think I sprained my ankle." She attempted a sheepish smile, but the pain caused her to wince.

"This is what you get you know? For never listening and running through the halls." Sarah shook her head. "So, what is so important that you had to get yourself hurt just to tell me?"

"Please Sarah, heal it so it’s better? It really hurts!" Yisanet mumbled shamefully, holding onto her ankle again to ease the pain.

Sarah harrumphed, "I just might. Maybe. Depending on what was so important." In truth though she had already prepared to heal the young girl anyways. She thought it might be better to teach her a little bit of a lesson first.

"It's Jakobson, he sent me to get you and Feylin." Yisanet grumbled. She turned her pleading eyes towards the woman, as if begging for mercy.

"Jakobson did? Wait, no. Call him bishop! You know better than to address him by name, don't be rude." Yisanet averted her gaze from Sarah’s glare. Sarah merely sighed in resignation at the spoiled child. She reached out her hand and laid it on Yisa's ankle. Suddenly a white light trickled out from between her fingers, spreading to encase the young girl’s smooth skin.

As the light began to fade, the look on Sarah's face changed slightly. She looked directly at Yisa's expression, but by then Yisa had leaped up on both feet without a care in the world.

"Thank you Sarah! You're the best! Your magic definitely feels the most comfortable!" The young girl began to bound off down the hall smiling and giggling to herself like a child who got away with stealing a cookie behind their mothers’ back.

Sarah stood up and watched as the girl ran down the halls but said nothing. A wry smile broke through her stoic expression that she had used to try to stare down the girl. When her spell had begun wearing off, Sarah knew immediately that she had been played. The girls’ leg was never sprained, she just wanted to use Sarah's magic.

"So Jakobson called for me? And Feylin? Hmm…" She mumbled to herself, unconsciously tightening her braid. Sarah fixed the carpet Yisanet had displaced during her little stunt and began to walk towards the bishops’ office. Although Yisa had fooled her with her injury, Sarah knew she wouldn't lie about the bishop calling on her.

"I'll need to talk to the bishop about her…" Sarah groaned, knowing it would do no good though. “It’s because Jakobson spoils her so much that she has ended up this way.” She thought silently.

And Feylin too? Sarah pondered the implications, her expression returning to its usual unreadable blankness. She had a feeling though, that they may be leaving the temple soon.

The sun was beginning to rise outside, and the windows in the hall lit up with brilliant colors drawn from stained-glass interspersed along windowless holes for natural light to come in.

As a young acolyte, she found herself constantly encapsulated by the beauty of the temple which she resided. She did not grow up here since young, the way Yisanet has. Instead she came here only five years ago. The region this temple resided in was a small and mostly rural area towards the westernmost edge of the world. Their temple was located in the largest town before the edge. Despite being the largest town though, it only had around ten thousand people. It was because of this that excuses to leave the temple on assignment were rare.

In the cases that do come up, they tended to be simple things which could be left to a single cleric. Even the youngest trainees must learn how to heal, which would end up being the overwhelming majority of assignments. Healing the sick or warding away bad omens.

The warding away bad omens was mostly superficial too. Many of the local townsfolk in the surrounding villages and tribes at the edges of the world are of a superstitious lot. Thus, the clerics would put on a little song and dance to raise their spirits. It wasn't harmful at all and only took a little time.

At the edge of the world, they lived mostly quiet lives studying and devoting prayer. The younger ones would dream of heading central, to less desolate regions, while the older ones usually came out here to escape that excitement.

Jakobson – the bishop - would sometimes grumble about the past. Apparently, he had lived as an adventurer for a number of years. Seeking some fame and honor for his home-temple in the north. From what they heard from him, he claimed it was an overrated existence.

Sarah didn't think much of it and was overwhelmingly content with her life now. Feylin wanted to follow in the same footsteps as Jakobson, making a name for himself in the larger world.

She rounded the corner to the hall that held the bishops’ office and saw Feylin sitting cross legged against the wall. The office door was shut.

"He told me to wait outside." Feylin said when he heard her footsteps round the corner.

"Ah." Sarah sat down casually next to Feylin, and they both waited.