Sleeping in a tree with the sun high in the sky, not trusting that the Giant Bats wouldn't pick him up while he was sleeping somewhere on the ground. On his way back from the village, he was once more fully supplied, but he needed to leave even more of his personal supplies at the village, as he now carried two sacks each for both sides, worrying about if they needed to go any further he would need to run with an extra pack somehow. Each trip to go out now takes over seven days for Norbert to complete, and each trip takes him an extra day now for him to get back.
The sun shining in his eyes woke him from his slumber as he dropped onto the ground; taking out his compass, flicking through the options, confirming that markers one and two were together, and marker three behind him.
Nodding his head, Norbert took off again, predicting he would only need half a day before arriving. Now instead of the grass plains that covered everything, Norbert traversed over rocks that slowly went up at a slight incline. Norbert needed to constantly be running up, unable to go as fast as he usually could due to the uneven surface.
Norbert thought about running through the ravine to meet up with the expedition as often as before. But Norbert was reminded of the smell alone each time he did, thinking about what other scavengers could be about the place.
Shaking his head, Norbert continued forward. As the sun set in the sky, he saw a point rise from the horizon. Intrigued and confirming he was still heading in the right direction but still not close enough to see the expedition, Norbert continued forward.
As night came, Norbert found the expedition again, this time not in the middle of battle, but looking around, Norbert could feel the exhaustion on everyone's faces in the air. So thick he himself felt drained just being surrounded by everyone.
Finding Dousan, Norbert gave off the sacks he requested, receiving another list, this one even longer than the last. Dousan, after taking the slip, leaned down to Norbert, whispering, "Were you able to see the mountains?"
Norbert thought momentarily, wondering what Dousan could be talking about, remembering the thing on the horizon shooting up. Norbert nodded in response, supplying, "I think I saw them, or something at least jutting out of the horizon before the sun set today."
Dousan just clasped his back and nodded in return, a smile on his face. Norbert looked up at Dousan, wondering why seeing the mountains put him in such a chipper mood. Shrugging his shoulders, hoping to be over soon, Norbert headed to the canyon, looking down as if it were even more comprehensive.
Norbert looked to the other side seeing the group with the mages at work even now as they continued to pump water; Norbert started to wonder about the effectiveness but knew it was not his place.
Going behind the group, Norbert looked at the rushing water underneath him; walking further down, he found the nearest place, still too far to jump over. Looking at the other side, Norbert saw a ledge down, focusing on landing on it and climbing back up the other side.
Walking backwards, Norbert lost track of his destination. After going several meters back, Norbert sprinted forward, his last foot hitting the ground as he launched himself in the air.
Windmilling his arms to stay upright, Norbert started to feel his descent, nearly making it all the way. As he dropped below the canyon edge on the other side, his feet hit something, the rest of his body following as he looked down, seeing a semi-translucent barrier supporting him.
Standing on shaky legs, Norbert looked around, seeing a mage holding their hand out. Skipping off, Norbert quickly made it to the other side as he turned and started walking towards the mage.
"Thanks for the assistance; it saved me the trouble of climbing up here," Norbert said as he walked forward.
The mage lifted their hood, their fire-kissed hair rolling down their shoulders, Norbert staring at the green eyes. Azalea is standing before him. Norbert just shook his head. "If you could have done that all this time, then why didn't you do it earlier?"
"Wasn’t needed", Azalea responded, as she spun around and continued walking towards Martitia, Norbert taking the sacks out of his bag, knowing that he would need to be heading off again soon.
"How come you aren't with the other mages?" Norbert pointed to the ones producing water or sending waves of electricity down there.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
"Not good with water, and I'm on a break now, can't have the mages completely depleted in case there’s an attack", She supplied.
Norbert just nodded in response. "Good to hear that you’re keeping safe; those bats just came out of nowhere," he finished, looking up at the sky, examining the stars and ensuring nothing was covering them.
Confident that they would not have any uninvited guests, at least for now. Finding Martitia standing there, Norbert passed on his two sacks, once more receiving the following shopping list. Martitia turned to Azalea, saying, "Good, you were able to catch him."
“Pfff”, Azalea snorted. "Nearly missed him; said he planned to climb up the side." Shaking her head at Norbert.
"What? It would have worked perfectly fine. Not the first time I've done that," Norbert said, trying to defend himself.
"Then you can do that when you need to go back over", Azalea said in response. Norbert just scratched the back of his head, smiling like a child getting caught in a lie.
"Or maybe …" Norbert said, hearing Azalea sigh in response. Pumping his arms in victory, Norbert looked back, seeing the mages ahead and not wanting to get in their way. Walking back, Norbert stopped at the spot he crossed before, seeing no ledge on the other side.
Looking towards Azalea, he bent down slightly so their face was eye to eye. His heart beating in his chest, wondering if this was too much, Norbert leaned his head closer to Azaleas. Right when he thought their lips would meet, he felt an ear touching his, her head against the side of his own as her arms wrapped around his back under his backpack.
Norbert holding her in his arms, Norbert heard a whisper in his ear, "It's not good for students' and teachers' relationships to be tangled." Breaking the hug, Norbert stood up, looking down slightly at Azalea, who was biting her bottom lip.
Leaning forward and going on her tippy toes, she reached his ear. "But that doesn't mean it won't change in the future", She whispered. Quickly pecked his cheek before pulling away, laughing at Norbert's completely lost expression as his cheeks reddened.
"Just go to the other side and get the supplies, and practice your reading in the downtime." She said as she waved her hands in front of her, a circle appearing in the middle of the canyon.
Norbert, just nodding, not trusting his voice, ran for the edge, landing on the barrier before jumping off again to the other side, not looking back as he ran away.
***
Back at the village, Norbert talked with Obsius while reading over the bestiary. "What am I supposed to do, Obsius? Is that a sign of continuing, or is she just incentivising me to study more? As I’ve been slightly distracted recently," He explained to the bird.
Obsius just looked back at him, shaking his body at him. Norbert just shook his head. "Yeah yeah, your right… wait a second, why am I taking dating advice from a bird and a boy at that." Norbert said, accusing Obsius.
Obsius stood still before it walked closer and began constantly pecking at Norbert's hand, even drawing blood. Norbert swiping his hand away, relented, "Ok, ok. Guess you're a girl then, and your advice is very helpful." Norbert said.
As Obsius walked back, shaking its tail feathers at Norbert, he continued, "Yes, I'm sorry, it's obvious from the start that you're a girl, like look at your colouring."
Obsius turned around as the bird slightly pecked at his hand. Norbert went into his bag, pulling out some snacks he had bought in the village. Pecking at the seed and berries, Norbert had gotten, he looked happy that the bird was decreased, at least for the moment, from its wrath being directed towards Norbert.
Flicking through the pages, Norbert tried to focus on his reading as he fed the bird; as the day wore on, Norbert just sat in silence; after feeding Obsius, he brought the bird onto his shoulder and read it the books. Describing the types of beasts as he went from page to page, now able to get most of the words out, though he was still slow.
As he continued, Norbert saw a shadow come over him; turning around on the bench, Norbert saw the traveller standing behind him, holding the sacks and lists attached to each of them. Obsius looked at the newcomer, and the bird chirped back to him. The traveller nodded in return like he understood all of it.
Norbert just looked between them until Obsius finally stopped as she looked at Norbert and pecked at him. "Fine, I'll continue studying and man up when she says she's no longer teaching me. Happy?" Norbert asked the bird.
Receiving multiple flaps of the wings, Norbert added, "And yes, I will talk to you more and listen to your suggestions, oh wise bird." He just chuckled when he received a wing flap to the head for Norbert's cheekiness,
Standing up, Norbert placed his book inside his bag, receiving another flap as he took it out again. "Fine, I'll read it when I'm running", Norbert said, taking the sacks from the traveller and putting them into his backpack.
Turning around, Norbert heard the traveller speak, "Interesting to see another understand the Drotha."
Norbert turned around, looking at the traveller. "What do you mean, Drotha? You mean Obsius."
The traveller nodded. "Yes, the bird you call Obsius."
Norbert laughed in response, "Oh, you've got me wrong I don't understand Obsius … Drotha whatever. Just guess what the bird says and respond in kind. More like I'm talking to myself than anything else."
Receiving a peck to his head in return, Norbert just smiled at Obsius. "Oh, I was just joking, Obsius, just a normal gag, so please stop pecking me, or else I'm not going to be able to do my job", Norbert said.
With that, he turned around again, giving the sign to the traveller as he went off again out of the village.
Obsius landed on the traveller's shoulder, chirping in their ears.
"Hmm, you say he's lucky. Well, for someone to completely guess what someone says perfectly, I'd say that's a little bit more than luck," The traveller responded. Watching as a line of dust appeared to move away, Norbert ran the plains, assuming the boy was still reading his bestiary.