‘’Brandr and Morana’’

‘Hwaah~’ I yawn deeply, while walking down the street, bathing in the morning sun of Illuminia’s Rakenia. I still have a single day left before I go with Evander to resume my journey to get the first Star. The sand brown houses still give the unique, foreign feeling like the first day I arrived. The increased amount of people that walk the streets makes it slightly harder to walk, but their presence brings life to the city. Wondering what I am going to do in this city, I wander through the groups of people trying to walk on the same road, while supply carriages ride in the middle of the road. I still need to keep my head low though. I’m probably a wanted person after yesterday’s incident. ‘Mmm… I wonder if I can enter a store without them trying to pin me down and take me to that fat ass. Looking around, I realize there isn’t a single store that really peaks my interest. Have I gotten that boring? I pick up pace, trying to find something that might stop me from walking.

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‘What a nice bench,’ I say unconsciously, as I look at a lonely bench with a trash bin that have been placed to the side of the road. The placement of the white-painted bench and the gray trash bin feels random, since there isn’t a single park around here, nor any side you just want to look at. Realizing I’m analyzing a bench on the sidewalk makes me realize how bored I really am. I need to find something else to peak my interest.

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My epic adventure to find an interesting object has let me to find a cat, another bench and kid standing suspiciously. I must quickly decide what I want to analyze. Time is precious after all.’ After using my brain to the maximum to realize each scene’s importance, I lazily go in order which I found them…

I analyze the cat. It’s a cat on the road. What else can I say? Its fur is part golden, part white, while his skinny posture makes me wonder if it’s a stray cat. I wouldn’t be surprised, given the amount of homeless people here. He has green eyes. What else can I say? I ponder for a moment, until I end up on sitting on the bench I was supposed to analyze after the cat. ‘Hmm…’ I remember back in Edelweiss. Cats were so rare before I was born, but we suddenly had a baby boom of kittens, and because of the lack of kitten death, we started being overflowed with kittens. It’s funny, since apparently Edelweiss traded resources for these creatures of leisure. The city-state of Edelweiss is mostly barren and desolate around the city borders, but a lot of strays now roam these lands along with their fellow homeless.

Looking around, I still notice the presence of the kid, who looks at me like he just found prey to devour. Quickly breaking eye contact, I focus myself on the bench I am seated in. The bench is completely brown and made from wood. The design looks a bit more artistic than the previous, simple one. I rub the wood of the bench a few times before I head further again. I have no idea what I am doing now but killing time, but I don’t mind it.

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‘So, he still following me…’ I have wandered for a while now. Even since I looked eyes with him, he wasn’t stopped following me. I’m talking about the mysterious, suspicious boy that looked mockingly at me. I tried to blend in the crowd, picking up pace and other things to get him off my trail, but he’s still following me stubbornly. ‘I wish I could just alarm Evander…’ I walk into another crowd. He silently follows. I wait until I get out of the crowd and run as fast as I can into an alleyway. Dodging the beggars and crates on the ground, I keep sprinting, zigzagging my way through the alleys until I stumble into a person. We both fall onto the ground. ‘Ah…I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you there.’ I look up and see the same red-haired beauty I fed the other day.

‘……’ she doesn’t say anything. She just looks me in the eyes, as if she’s trying to dig into my soul.

‘Well, uhm. I’d love to stay and talk with you, since you look interesting, but I am busy shaking off a kid, so-.‘ The girl quickly jumps up, grabs my wrist and starts running a few corners, until she hides me in a cardboard box that lies in these alleys. She sits in the entrance, and a few seconds later, I hear people running by. I can slightly see the boy who was following me, along with some guards who are following him. They look like the guards that belong to that fat man. So, I guess they’re tracking me. I’m no longer safe in Rakenia if that’s the case. It won’t be long until they figure out where I am staying. I must get in contact with Evander soon after I escape, or he might get in trouble as well. Either way, the girl lets me out of the cardboard box. ‘Thanks…I don’t know what I would’ve done if you didn’t show up.’

She shakes her head, as if telling me that it’s nothing special. ‘I’ve repaid my debt…’

‘I know! Come with me!’ I take her soft, delicate hand and drag her away from the alleys.

‘W-Wait! What are you-?!’ she tries to struggle out of my grip, but I keep a good hold of her, as I drag her with me.

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‘Aren’t you glad you went with me?’ I ask from the other side of the bathing door. I decided to repay her by treating her to some more food, as well as taking a bath at the inn I’m staying. It’s the least she deserves. I am also giving her some of my clothing, since giving her the dirty rags just bites on my conscious.

‘…………’ No response. I guess she is a little bit uncomfortable with the amount of care she’s being showered with.

‘You’re welcome, miss.’ I take my leave for a moment, and hear into my room, looking for clothes that might fit her. I can’t bring a sweater or any long pants since it’s quite warm in Rakenia. I decide to grab some underwear, socks, sandals, a plain blue t-shirt (they don’t even have these in Edelweiss) and short pants. I quickly bring them to the bathroom, entering the changing hall. Only a door separates us from each other…only a single door… Finding myself staring at the door, I quickly shake the immoral thought out of my head. ‘Calm down, Brandr. Don’t revert to some pervert. You can do this…’ I whisper to myself. I leave the clothes on the sink, grab her clothing without thinking and bolt of the room. ‘Safe…’ I take the clothes back to my room and wait until she comes back.

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I jump a bit up as the doorknob turns around. The young, beautiful amber-haired girl enters my room wearing my clothes, while drying her short hair with a towel. My eyes are momentarily captivated by her beauty. She has a slender figure, making my clothes look slightly baggy, since my posture is just a bit sturdier than hers. Her green moderate spring green eyes gives a much softer expression than the last time. She looks gorgeous… I hit my head for a moment, trying to get my thoughts straight. ‘They fit you…the clothes…’

She looks at me. ‘Thank you. Although now I have to return the favor again…’

‘What are you talking about?! Your company is a perfect way to return to favor. Let’s get something to eat! I’m starving.’

‘Hah…I…’ I drag her out of the room, and into the ground floor of the inn, where all the other people are. I don’t see Evander, so I presume he’s still out. We sit down at a two-man’s table, opposite from each other. The innkeeper comes up to me for a moment, gives me a wink and conjures a long candle out of nowhere.

‘How did you-!’ He puts his finger on his mouth, indicating me to refrain from asking questions. He conjures a set of matches out of thin air after and lights the candle that he put in the middle of our table. He claps in his hands twice, and throws rose petals over the table.

‘Have fun, sir and madam.’ He gives two menus, which he summoned out of another dimension, invisible to the naked eye (I presume, because I have no other explanation for it) and hands them over to us. He turns the glasses on the table and grabs a bottle of water, which he pours in the glasses.

He walks away from us, behind the bar. ‘Hahaha…I’m sorry this happened…’

She looks with confused eyes to me. ‘What do you mean? What happened?’

‘Well, you know. He’s making it unnecessarily romantic…uhm…you know what. Forget I said anything. You should try the Spaghetti Bolognese. I had it the other day, and it was godly! I’ll pick something different this time though. Uhm... this!’ I wave at the innkeeper, who comes back to me with a smile, as I take a few sips from my water.

‘So, what can I do for the young couple?’ he says with a smirk on his face. I almost spit out my water that I just drank, but I managed to keep it inside. The girl still looks with the same confused expression at us.

‘I’m just going to ignore you just said that. A Spaghetti Bolognese for the lady. I’m going with the…caprese macaroni and cheese?’

‘So, a Spaghetti Bolognese and a Caprese mac and cheese? Anything else?’ I shake my head. ‘Okay then. He takes the menus away from us. ‘Take you for your choice. Your meals will soon be ready,’ he says as he walks to the kitchen, writing something on a small note.

‘Hah…sorry that I made a choice for you like that. I got a bit excited. You’re okay with that, right?’ She nods her head.

‘To be frank, I don’t even know what spaghetti is, so I guess this will be the first time for me.’

‘To eat spaghetti? So, I wasn’t the only one!’ I feel like I need to tell Evander. I am not a uncultured brat after all!’

‘No, I mean…having a meal like this, with another boy. Being called a couple...it’s all new to me. You see, I’ve been on the streets for a long time now, so I never really got the chance to experience things like that. Although confusing, I’m actually having fun right now.’

I feel both guilt and happiness fill my heart. I was able to make her have fun, but she didn’t know how to react because she was on the streets for so long. I nearly forgot about that. ‘By the way…this might sound rude, but what’s your name? You do have one, right? Oh, I am Brandr by the way. Brandr of Edelweiss.’

She looks a bit shocked at me, but quickly calms down. ‘Morana. Just Morana.’ We both smile to each other for a moment, making me think for just a brief moment how we would be as a genuine couple. She’s beautiful but sounds quite innocent. I’m sure she’s very streetwise, unlike I, who has mostly been raised in wealth and prosperity. It puts things into perspective. We are two completely different people. Our lives have been the exact opposite from each other, yet we sit here on one table. Life works in mysterious ways…

‘Your Spaghetti Bolognese and caprese macaroni and cheese. Please enjoy.’ The innkeeper says as he materializes out of thin air and serves our plates. I don’t look at him.

‘Thank you…’ I wait until he is gone before I talk again. ‘So…let’s dig in, shall we?’ She smiles and nods at me, and as we both take our food on our fork, and put it in our mouths, we both enter heaven simultaneously. ‘Ooohhh! How can this be! How can food taste this delicious?! M-Morana…’ I look at her, as tears drop off her face. She cannot stop eating. ‘I see…you too…have reached enlightenment…’ I start eating again, quickly trying to experience the same ecstasy from before. ‘The different kinds of cheese, the perfectly cooked pasta and the amazingly fresh tomatoes go hand in hand, walking on a beautiful rainbow of food harmony. To think I would get such fantastic food in Rakenia......’

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We walk side by side down the streets of Rakenia. The sun slowly settles down from the highest point in the sky. We’re reaching the afternoon soon… We’ve just been walking together, talking about the food we just ate, the big sword on my back (told her it’s just a regular sword), but also about Rakenia and the events happening around us in the streets. I think both of us don’t want to go into our past or reason of being here, as that might run the mood we have now. We just want to enjoy our day right now. ‘Come, there’s a park right here,’ Morana says with more confidence than she had earlier this day. I guess she realizes I have no ulterior motive than being a nice neighbor.

‘Sure.’ We take a detour to an empty park. We sit on a warm bench, which feels like it’s going to burn my back if I sit here for too long.

‘Say…why are you being so nice to me? I already paid you back for these sandwiches and water from the other day…so why do all this as well?’

Because you’re a beautiful young girl I actually want to take with me on my adventure, rather than let you rot here in the streets, because someone as beautiful and kind as you don’t deserve that… I can’t say that… ‘Because I feel like you deserve more in life. You said you’ve been homeless for a long time…someone like you doesn’t deserve that. I felt like I should at least give you a day to enjoy…’

‘What if I deserve to be on the streets though…’ Morana suddenly says as she looks at the beautiful blue sky, filled with only the odd cloud passing by. When there is no sign of Abyss, this place always feels so peaceful and pretty. Just like…

‘What if you do…I don’t know. I don’t know what you did in the past, or what happened that put you in this state, but I think that everyone deserves a second chance. Even someone like you…

She slightly turns her head away from me, so that I can’t see her eyes. ‘I don’t know…if I should forgive myself. I’ve done something terrible. Something I cannot undo.’ She turns around again. ‘I-‘

‘Well, look what we have here. You won’t be able to escape this time, little boy.’ We quickly turn around, only to see the little boy that was chasing me earlier this morning. He has a five other guards with him, heavily armored with big weapons. ‘You thought you could run away from us after insulting the governor like that?’

‘Brandr? What did you do?’ Morana asks me with an uncertain look on her face.

‘Oh yeah…I really pissed of that fatty of a governor yesterday. So, I guess they are looking for me because of that. Hahaha…’

‘Ugh…’ She holds her head. ‘Well, if that’s all, I guess I can forgive you. Nobody really likes that man anyway.’ I’m surprised! I was sure she was going to hate me for this, but she actually doesn’t mind?

'Get all mushy with each other while you still can…I’ll get a big bonus if I bring you back to him…dead or alive…’ He smiles, and with a single hand gesture, sends the guards to attack us!