That night sleep doesn’t come easily to Sanora. She rolls around in bed as the veil of night hangs over the room, only Mari’s breathing next to her fills the silence. The words of Brenn and Bullwind weigh on her mind heavily. Or rather the fact that it wasn’t just her safety alone what will be inevitably at risk, but also that of her friends and Mari. It has been a rough time ever since the departure from River’s Rest, and Mari is only of the only sunrays that Sanora has. At the start Sanora was curious how things would play out with the mage girl. Of course, this doesn’t mean she didn’t like her already, but in comparison to what she feels now it was just the spark that ignited a fire.
What she felt with Vadia wasn’t love, or at least in retrospect it didn’t feel like it. She had known Vadia for a day before she closed her claws around Sanora and dragged her into her scheme. Mari on the other hand has been a good friend to Sanora ever since she met her over three saints ago. They had time to grow close, build trust on their adventures, many of which put them into dangerous situations. And not once did Mari or any member of Bullwind let Sanora down. They stood together in swarms of monsters, each watching the others back. Watched over the others as they slept by the fire. Let arrows and blades dance around them without once doubting each other. Looking back, the butterflies Sanora felt and still feels every time Mari looks at her were pretty obvious hints that she saw the girl as more than just a good friend and fellow adventurer. There are only two people that Sanora would ever let this close to her, and the other one was Amni.
To think that Mari happened to recuperate Sanora’s feelings… It might have been a blessing by the gods themselves. But for that exact reason Sanora doesn’t know how to go forward. If she stays in town and continues as she has until now then the risk of drawing unwanted attention to her and by extension, Mari, will steadily rise. Stories about her deeds have long since spread around town. And with her luck people might know that it was her who burned down that hideout, even if she made sure to not leave any witnesses. And it doesn’t take a genius to know that Sanora couldn’t keep her feet still and would sooner or later draw even more attention to her. The suggestion of leaving town seemed like the best call, for more than one reason. It is, after all, why she left home to begin with. To set out and see the world, find the moon and hopefully her home. The mere thought of her mother sitting alone in that kitchen, waiting for her child to return is enough to send a tight feeling through Sanora’s chest and make her eyes watery. And that aside, she left her friends back on a whim, so not doing what she is meant to do would mean her sacrifice and the feelings she hurt would be in vain.
She heaves a long sigh, turning around in bed once more as the uneasy throughs keep their iron grip on her.
But the problem with leaving town is Mari. This is her home, the place she feels like she belongs in. Tearing her away from here is the last thing Sanora wants. But staying here could get dangerous, and exposing Mari to this is something Sanora would hate just as much. Breaking up has been eliminated a while ago. The foremost problem is that it would break not just Mari’s, but also Sanora’s heart. Aside from that, Sanora isn’t even sure if Mari would let her. She is usually a rather timid girl, but can get pretty assertive at times, and Sanora could picture her just not accepting a breakup. But even if they end things now, people already know that they are close. Even Jared did, so it’s only safe to assume plenty of others so as well. People might come for Mari either way, and if that would come to pass Sanora would be left with no choice but to do whatever necessary to keep Mari safe, even if that means giving herself up.
So, there she is, lying in bed restless as she is torn between taking Mari from her home, or staying with her and putting her in harm’s way.
She sighs. It seems like for once this isn’t a problem that blades and magic can solve.
============================================
The burning rays of the midday sun scratch at her face when Sanora wakes up.
“Nghhh… how long did I sleep?” She grumbles as she squints her eyes. Her hand grabs at the other side of the bed. But where she was hoping to find Mari there is only a blanket. After tossing and turning in bed for the most part of the night she overslept hard. Usually, she would wake up at the crack of dawn, cuddle with Mari and eventually see her off. But today these blissful moments of sleepy cuddling were robbed from her by a restless night. But even after sleeping she doesn’t feel rested one bit. The only thing keeping her from more peaceful sleep was her empty stomach, wondering why it neither received breakfast nor lunch.
“Oh how I despise you sometimes.” She pokes her stomach before reluctantly tossing aside the blanket and sitting up. She stretches with a long yawn before getting up on weak legs and dragging herself to the kitchen. But as she starts walking down the stairs, she smells something… the smell of food caresses her nose, eliciting a yearning growl from her stomach. She blinks a few times as her head slowly starts working. Now that she isn’t half asleep anymore, she finally notices that her flesh sense is picking up something in the kitchen. Though this time it is no intruder.
She quickly walks down the last steps and rounds the corner.
“Mari? What are you doing here?”
Mari turns around from the stove where something sizzles merrily and looks at Sanora with a smile.
“Cooking?” She tilts her head with a smile. “What else would I do in the kitchen.” She says before turning back to whatever is filling the room with this heavenly scent. Sanora’s mouth is already watering.
“No, I mean why are you at home? What about guild work?” She asks Mari a bit confused while taking a seat at the table.
“I took a day off… ok, the others told me to take one so we can talk things over.”
“You mean Balmir did?” Sanora smirks.
“I mean Balmir did.” Mari nods with a chuckle as she fills two plates with bacon and eggs.
‘Gods I love this woman’ Sanora gulps as she eyes the plate Mari set down in front of her. ‘The planning can surely wait for a little longer.’ Her stomach says, and who is Sanora to refuse its orders. She wolves down her portion in no time, finishing before Mari even though she made herself a smaller serving.
“That was wonderful.” Sanora leans back in her chair, a content smile on her face. “Thanks.” She smiles at Mari.
“Of course!” The girl beams back at Sanora. “I figured you’ll be hungry after sleeping for so long.”
“Ahaha, you know me too well.” Sanora scratches her head as Mari smiles at her.
“You’re my girlfriend, of course I know you.” Mari laughs as she sets the dishes aside into the ‘meh, I’ll clean it later’ area.
But with the food now gone the bitter thought of having to talk about the plans for the future lingers in the room. An awkward silence takes over as they both sit at the table. Sanora looks at her hands, Mari’s foot scrapes around the floor as the silence lies over them like a blanket.
“Hey so-“
“About-“
They both speak up at the same moment.
“Oh uh, you go first.” Mari quickly says.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” She nods with a smile.
“Alright.” Sanora takes a breath. “I’ll be honest with you. I’m not sure what to do about this. All things considered I think it might be best to leave the city. It would get you away from the danger, and that’s just what I want. But I feel bad. This is your home, and I don’t want to drag you away from here just because it might be better for me to leave. It just doesn’t feel right that you should have to leave your life behind because of me. I know it’s nothing I should expect you to do, but I also don’t want to stay here, don’t want you to stay here, knowing that I am the reason people might come after you. But no matter how much I think, I just can’t find another way, cause it’s a sunny day in the tombs before I’m breaking up with you. Especially after this breakfast! How could anyone leave you after this? But I digress. What I’m trying to say is, I don’t know what to do. We either stay and you’re in danger because I’m a dammed freak, or we leave and I’m the reason you have to leave home.”
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Sanora finishes and slumps into the chair with a long sigh.
“So, yeah. That’s about it.” She looks at Mari who has been sitting there, listening to Sanora’s rambling without a word. But for some reason she doesn’t seem shocked, nor sad. All she does is smile at Sanora who is getting more confused by the second.
“W-what? Why are smiling? Say something… please?” She looks at Mari with pleading eyes, but the girl just chuckles softly.
“I really should have started.” Mari says, shaking her head. “I was thinking of leaving as well, but seeing how close you grew to this city I felt bad about it, so I was a bit scared of breaching the subject. But you beat me to it now.”
Sanora slumps down in her chair as Mari explains.
“You want to leave as well?” She blinks at the girl.
“As you said, it seems like the best call. I know you are still searching for something out there, and I want to help you find it.” Mari leans over the table, taking Sanora’s hand into hers with a warm smile.
“You would do that for me?” Sanora asks, her eyes already getting watery. “You would come with me, leave your home even though we’ve only known each other for a few saints?”
“I wasn’t kidding when I said I love you.” Mari chuckles. “And that aside I only moved here about a year ago.” She adds with a smirk.
Sanora looks at her perplexed. A mix of happiness and amusement bubbling in her chest as she laughs while a tear rolls down her cheek.
“You could have told me that earlier you know?” Sanora wipes her face with her free hand.
“I was trying to.” Mari laughs. “I said I should have gone first.”
“I guess I should have let you.” Sanora chuckles along and shakes her head. “So, I guess that’s it then, we’re leaving Deepvalley?”
“Seems like it.” Mari nods. “The faster the better. If we hurry, we’ll be out of town in a few days.”
“Just like that huh?” Sanora says, thinking about how she left River’s Rest in the same fashion. But this time she would do things right. No letter as a goodbye.
“So, where are we gonna go?” Mari asks and Sanora realizes: she has no idea.
“Good question.” She thinks. Back then she didn’t do more than follow the road until she reached Deepvalley. But after all this time she still hasn’t found any clues about the moon whatsoever. She sighs.
“Damn I didn’t really get anywhere.” She mumbles to herself as she tries to think of where to go as she looks at her hand, still holding Mari’s. Her eyes fall onto the ring she bought a while back. She can still feel that odd magic residing within it.
“Rel’unkoir…” She mumbles. One of the adventurers she met in River’s Rest was talking about it, too. With no real destination in mind, it seems that the mountain city is as good a place as any other. And if that smith really forged the sword she got from Bawarag back in the day then it’s at least one more reason to go there. But that brings something else back to the front of her mind.
“My sword!” She suddenly shouts, causing Mari to flinch. “It’s still in that dammed cave.” She groans. All this time she still hasn’t gotten around to retrieving her gear from there, her condition keeping her chained down.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get it back.” Mari says.
“That’ll take a day at least. Talk about getting out of here fast.” Sanora sighs.
“Don’t worry, one more day isn’t going to make a difference. We can start packing today, go shopping tomorrow and on the day after tomorrow we’ll head out and get your things.” She squeezes Sanora’s hand as she smiles at her.
“Right.” Sanora nods. “Sounds like a plan.” And smiles back at Mari. But now that she remembered her sword and her chainmail lying around in some cave, she has gotten antsy. If it was up to her she’d jump up from the table right now and run out into the wilderness to get it back. But it’s already past midday and if they leave now they won’t return before sundown. And as things are the city at night might be just as dangerous as the plains outside the walls, and she has already put Mari into enough danger. So, for now Sanora keeps herself in check, not just for her own sake.
“Alright then, we’ll need to pack light…” Mari says as they start to plan.
============================================
A cling resounds amidst the strumming of the lute as a passerby tosses a coin into the hat.
“Many thanks!” The man sitting on the ground smiles at the woman, playing a bit more energised after the small donation. He looks down at his hat in which a decent hill of coins lies stacked by now. He continues playing for a bit but soon the music comes to an end. He sighs.
“Guess it’s time to call it a day.” He says as he shakes out his hand before pouring the coins into his bag and slinging his lute over his back. He looks up at the evening sun as he walks down the road, whistling a tune as he passes by the masses of people. Not one of them gives the man as much as a glance as he walks by. He takes a turn down an alley, walking further and further away from the central market. Soon there is not a trace of any pedestrians to be seen around the man as he walks through past houses. Not until he reaches a small house with a man standing next to the door. Light is shimmering through the barred windows.
“Hey, I’m back for today.” The man with the lute greets the other man who is yawning as he walks up to him. He looks at him with tired eyes for a moment.
“Already?” He raises an eyebrow.
“Yeah, got something the boss will want to hear.”
“If you say so.” The other man just shrugs as he walks through the door. A fire is burning in the hearth inside. Other than that, there is only a shabby table and two chairs in the room. The man walks a few steps before stomping on the floor three times. After a moment a trapdoor opens, and a man peeks out. His head is shaven clean, and a big scar runs over his left eye.
“You’re too early.” He grumbles.
“I know.” The man with the lute says. “But I’ve got some interesting news for the boss.” He says with a grin. “Heard about that girl who sucked up a spell today?”
The bald man raises an eyebrow before beckoning him in with a grunt. He walks down the stairs and through the large room. A few people greet him as he walks through, led by the bald one. The walls are lined with racks full of weapons and bottles, people taking or putting new ones up there. He tosses his bag with the coins into a table filled with money in passing before they head through a door. Inside sits a hooded person at a desk filled with countless sheets of paper, jewellery, and coins.
“This better be important.” He says with a low voice, not bothering to look up from what he is reading.
“Depends. You heard about someone cancelling spells in the city?”
The man looks up, his boring green eyes fixed at the man with the lute.
“You came to me with a rumour?”
“C’mon boss, I wouldn’t bother you with stuff like that.” He laughs. “No, I came here with a report.”
The hooded man puts down the paper, leaning forward.
“Tell me.” He demands.
“These aren’t rumours. Happened right before my eyes yesterday. Some guy started going at it with some girl in the street and when he was losing, he slung a spell at her. Girl just sucked it up with her hand.”
“And you’re sure you weren’t just drunk?”
“Absolutely.” He nods.
“So you say. I trust you aren’t bothering me with just that?”
“You have such little trust in me.” The lute man chuckles, but stops are seeing the glare it earns him. “You heard of that girl, the kingslayer?”
============================================
“Achoo!” Sanora sneezes as she goes through the closet, picking out clothes to pack for the journey ahead.
“Bless you.” Mari says from the other side of the room.
“Damn dust. Do you even use this closet?”
“Not a lot.” Mari admits with a chuckle. “With how few clothes I have I usually just leave them on the chair. Always a lot faster than sorting after washing them.”
“At least we don’t have to pack a lot.” Sanora shrugs before continuing. They have spent the rest of the day preparing their bags to leave Deepvalley. There isn’t a lot in the house they can take with them, but luckily Mari doesn’t have a lot besides what she needs for work to begin with, so they only had a bit of chaos when deciding what to take. Sanora never brought a lot with her in the first place. Her gear and some clothes is all she has. Anything else she usually just buys. So, all she really needs is a weapon and a pouch with coins to get through life.
“It’s a bit depressing how fast we were.” Mari says as they lie in bed. Once the sun disappeared behind the horizon, they called it a day. They finished setting up before the last light was gone at least, otherwise it would have been rather tedious.
“Tell me about it. I was about ten times faster than you.” Sanora chuckles.
“True, but you have only been around this world for a few saints. Not much time to collect stuff.”
“Guess that’s true.” Sanora says with a yawn. She scuttles over to Mari and lies down on her arm. “In two days, we’ll leave. Just you and me against the world.” She muses.
“I wonder what we’ll see out there. Always wanted to see the mountain city myself.”
“So, you’ve never been there. Where are you from anyways? If not from Deepvalley.”
“Way’s crossing.” Mari says, but Sanora wonders why she even asked without knowing any places besides River’s Rest and Deepvalley. “It’s a small town east of Deepvalley. If we’re going to Rel’unkoir it’s the first place we’ll pass through.”
“So I get to see where you grew up? You’ll have to show me around.” Sanora says with a curious smile.
“Yes.” Mari sighs. “I guess I can. Let’s just hope we won’t run into them.” She mumbles with a frown.
“Them?” Sanora tilts her head. “Who?”
“It’s… difficult. Let’s save the topic for the road, we’ll have a lot of walking to do anyways so we’ll need to entertain ourselves somehow. Worst case, you’ll meet them yourself.” Mari yawns. “But let’s sleep now. I want to relax while I can.”
“Alright.” Sanora nods. She is curious what Mari is trying to not think of so bad, but if she will see it in Way’s crossing anyways then there is no need to prod her now. They have enough to worry about as is. And with that they both head off into the land of dreams.