The day was calm and everyone reflected that state. Bad attitudes were on the down low and people talked casually, the tension borne from the anxiety of a non-existent threat of getting attacked by bandits and monsters along the road had now seeped down into the ground and thus, compared to the relative tension of yesterday, the people that Asya is walking alongside are relaxed and completely in tune with the relative peace around them. To say that it was nice would be an understate because Asya knew that traveling like this often leads to vigilant people, their backgrounds unimportant.

Here and right now, the people didn't seem to be ready to pounce and instead of coiled snakes that were ready to strike, they were more like the calm Bastillions that roam the plains up north, steadily walking as they made their way through the winding pathways. And just like the Bastillions, they were all slow and meticulous, for the slow and steady often wins the race- that was the saying that went when further than the fable it was borne from.

Not that Asya believed that sort of thing of course, though she does subscribe to it partially because to her- enjoying a nice day after an entire night of learning is a good way for the upkeep of her mental health, and often, she believed that fools like Cego turn out the way they do because they burnt themselves out till there was no more enjoyment in their craft- just methods, procedures, and outcome.

And often, those outcomes do not bear the fruit that they so desire, and thus, when they do fail, they would feel as though they would have wasted their time in trying to get something that was impossible to begin with.

'Failure is the mother of success' is also another saying that Asya deemed to have spread farther than the original book it was written in.

And unlike the slow and steady saying borne from a fable about a tortoise and a hare, Asya fully believes that failure can truly result in the fruits of success for if someone knows what to avoid, then they can dance around the pitfalls that they would've otherwise never been able to avoid. And in the case of those who have never been taught the lesson from word to mouth and were forced to experience failure instead, they get to experience firsthand what it means to fail and what's at stake.

Asya is one such person and she knew, knew what would happen if she were to fail with her current goals.

She saw it happen to her parents, after all.

A lesson, perhaps, one last lesson that they decided to impart to her before they leave for Paradise.

Asya deems to keep that lesson to heart so that the same mistakes that lead to their death do not get repeated.

A memory flashed of her mother, one that got her executed in the middle of the road. She sighed and a wry smile found itself upon her lips, she knew it was their fault. She did. But that doesn't make the situation anymore better.

She flinched when she felt something put itself atop her hand, "hey, you okay?" Jacob's voice got her to look at her friend, he was... looked worried, she knew that it was genuine, though, and even then, he does nothing to help her- No, no, Jacob just... no, he said that if she needed help, then he would be there. Did he simply imply that he can only offer her ears to her? Like so many of the douche children of Dukes? Asya knew why they do what they do: Because they wanted to get between a girl's legs, so they offer comfort and stability, money.

If she could, Asya would prefer to simply make Jacob listen to her but again, it was listening that strung those poor girls on the strings of the bastards from the capital to begin with.

She wanted to trust Jacob, she really, really did.

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But she doesn't want to. "I'm fine." She answered, knowing full well that she spent a lot of time staying silent- if Jacob is as smart as she thinks he is, then he would've caught on to that and Asya was thankful that he didn't capitalize on it let alone push, simply nodding and turning away from her. Jacob tilted his head upward and so did Asya, she heard him mutter something under his breath and Asya tried to strain her ears to listen but was unfortunately unable to get anything, "what?"

A sigh. "I just wanted to say that keeping it all to yourself breaks you." He said and Asya fully agreed with his words, "Help is important. Asya."

"I know that." She replied, "But you-" It was her turn to sigh. Why must dealing with the problems borne from her parent's wake always be so tiring and stressful? "I'm sorry but I don't really want to talk about it."

Jacob nodded and again, didn't push, "the clouds look nice,"

"They do." Asya replied with a smile and she heard a thump to her right, turning her head lead her to see Jacob resting his back on the wooden floors of the wagon, she followed after him.

As silence came upon the two of them, all the natural sounds came through and replaced their voices. Asya closed her eyes and listened, the whistling of the wind, the tweeting of birds, and the cries of animals came from the far distance, she assumed most came from the forest though there were probably a few birds flying overhead of their group right at this very moment.

Right next to the natural sounds of the world, came the sounds from her fellow travelers, the clinking of armor, the sounds of soft conversations, the sweet laughter of maidens, and the charming words... of teenage guys. Asya felt herself become self aware but quickly pushed her feelings down, she had plans and based on what he said, so does her person of interest.

Asya slightly opened her eyes, she was now disturbed and now the sounds of snorting horses, creaky wagon wheels, and the coughs of guards and mercenaries took over everything she heard.

Ugh.

Shaking her head, Asya sat up slightly to stare at the forest surrounding them before falling back down to her layered hands. Both of them served well as a temporary and crude pillow and as she scratched her head, she once again thought about Jacob and she couldn't help it if her face heated up right? That's just a natural reaction-

She shook her head again and sat up, her gaze landed on Jacob for a split second but she quickly looked away. If anyone claimed that they stared at each other long enough to make eye contact, they were liars who would swindle people of their booze money.

She inhaled a mouth full of air, then sighed. "Jacob?" She asked and got a hum in response, "Is life always so stressful?" She asked.

"Pretty much." Was the answer that she got, "I already saw a few children working back in the village at such a young age so I assume that it'll always be that way you know? There's no point in trying to fight back against the stress, just... don't let it affect you and go along with it and try to avoid it whenever you could."

She heard him start to hum a tune that she didn't know of, closing her eyes, Asya once again let all the other sounds get drowned out by that one particular tune as she let the world around her pass by. Once again, the relative peace as well as the general lack of noises from around them- both from the sounds of nature as well as her fellow travelers,- allowed Asya to listen to the tune without any obstructions, she listened intently and put that tune at the forefront of her mind, allowing it to overpower everything around her and drown them out.

Even the sudden thought of just who that tune came from got drowned out, Asya didn't want to feel anything pushing her down right now and it was here that she realized that maybe Jacob had a point about how to properly manage stress. That's what happened just now, didn't it? She willingly ignored the teasing of her own mind. And in the end, it didn't really affect her, she was the one who was acting on its whims and making things worse, and maybe, just maybe, if she didn't let stress affect her actions, then maybe it wouldn't do anything other than be a stray thought.

Jacob stopped humming just then, "You know," he said, "I heard that it's people that are giving their own stress and anxieties its current form."

"What does that mean?" Asya asked.

"Well..." A chuckle, "... I'm just gonna quote my therapist- if your thoughts are internal and no one else around you is doing what you're thinking, then why are you reacting to it?"

Asya pursed her lips, "so you're saying that I need to see people do things before I react to them first?"

"Pretty much," in the corner of her eye, she saw Jacob shrug, "I mean, if you're getting attacked, then fight back- I don't know, do smoothing." He added, "But if you don't even see anything happen, aren't hearing it, then why are you reacting?"

With a shake of her head, Asya smiled and closed her eyes once more, she hoped something interesting happens today.