“Travels”

There are a few rules, for what we do.

Rule 1: We do not influence the world we are in; meaning we cannot stop or change wars of the world, we cannot influence governments, or any grand gestures of the sort.

Rule 2: We do not change the stories that we visit for our own pleasures; no matter how heartbroken we are, no matter how much we feel for the people living this tale-we are not allowed to alter what happens in the story.

Rule 3: We must never speak of who, and what we are to outsiders; we are not allowed to tell them that we are not of this world, or how we came to be.

Rule 4: We are not allowed to use our knowledge of this world or others, to alter the flow of the events that will occur; we cannot spearhead sudden technological booms, or great feats of advancements, nor are we allowed to suddenly cure illness that are no where near curable in the world we reside.

Rule 5: We must never willingly provide our ‘Books’ to any others to read; we must never allow the kind people of this world to know what will come to be, or what has happened, it is neither our place, nor our right to change their individual stories.

In exchange for following these rules, there are gifts or blessings that we are given to live the lives that we do.

Gift 1: The four of us will always be born to families that are connected, allowing for our friendship to continue and go unhindered through our lives.

Gift 2: The positions of our families will always allow us the pest positions to watch the stories unfold around us, without interfering that is.

Gift 3: We will always remember who we are, and we will always recognize each other at first sight, no matter how we look.

Gift 4: Each of us will be given a ‘Book’ when we are old enough that we alone will be able to properly read. These books contain the Story, that we are living in. The World’s Storybook, that is what we call our books. The books contain everything that will happen, has happened and is happening for the core story. It gives us side stories, backstories, world information, character information, and if we seek it, even the stories of those who do not hold the main stages for this world. They are our most precious positions.

Gift 5: Each of us have been given a special gift, or power that will assist us in our lives as we watch these amazing stories unfold around us, allowing us to experience these stories to their fullest, and in their truest forms.

Gift 6: Each of our families would be safe, from the chaos of the Story, we would be on the fringe enough, that large disputes would not harm us, and our immediate families. We would be graced peaceful lives and would not be forced to be part of the World’s Stories.

We have not always lived this way though. A very long time ago, we were simple women, well into our golden years. We had been friends since we were born, and it was a friendship that survived and supported us through marriages, loss of loved ones, birth of children, weddings of those children, through motherhood and then later as grandmothers. We were there for each other through it all. Our lives were well lived, and well loved.

We had long since retired, our spouses either long buried, or simply content in their own retirement. We had watched our children find their own lives, become parents themselves and grow into amazing adults that we were all very proud of.

It was on a whim, that we had decided to finally take the ‘girls’ trip that we had been planning since our childhood. A world tour is what we called it. A tour that would visit all the landmarks, landscapes, cities, towns, villages, countries, and locations that had inspired our favorite books, stories and even movies if we were honest.

It was a trill to set off on this journey, seen off by our loved ones some worried, but most of all supportive and excited for us. We had worked hard in our lives, and this was a well-deserved vacation.

There was four of us traveling, and we never would have known that we would be starting on a trip, that would never have an ending.

It was only a month into our trip when the accident happened. We were trapped, but the four of us were alive, and our relief only lasting long enough for us to see those who had not been as lucky as we had been.

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It was when we were searching for a way out, or at least a safe place to wait for help, that we found the child. They were small, not injured thankfully, but very much afraid, and very much alive. We knew what we had to do in that moment, without a word exchanged between us.

We protected this child, this young life before us, that had such a long life before them. We fed them the food we had in our bags, and had found around us, gave them our water. It was easy to assure the child that we were old, and our appetites were small. They were so young and trusted us so dearly. We kept ourselves around the child, giving them our warmth in the growing cold, and using ourselves as a shield against the sorrows around us. We didn’t see a need to give the child images that would last all their lives. We told the child our stories. Stories that we had long since etched into our memories and had told our children and grandchildren as well.

When the rescue finally came, it had been a few days, we were aware of the danger around us, and of the risk it took for those rescuers to reach us. The night they came, the child was asleep, so we bundled them as preciously as we could, and we passed them to those seeking to help us first. We certainly were not going to allow anything but that child to be pulled free first.

It was just a small sound that was our warning when we passed the child to the rescuers above us, ensuring they were safe, and then there was darkness.

We knew we died, but it was still a shock to all of us when we were met with the Divines that greeted us upon entering our afterlife. That alone almost sent us to a second grave.

But they greeted us with joy, and welcome. After our initial shock, it was explained to us why we were given such a welcome.

The precious child we had kept alive, had saved, had comforted, and spent the last of our time with was a child who would have a great future before them that would influence the world. This event was the only event that they, the deities, were not able to influence to protect, and would be a turning point for the child. A point that could have ended in their death.

The Divines wanted to reward us, a thanks for our kindness and assistance to their child. We at first tried to decline, but not even we in our old age, dared to argue with them for long. We discussed amongst ourselves what we should ask for. Returning wasn’t something we considered, our lives had been lived, and we were content with that. It was just by accident that we decided on what we would ask form.

We asked to continue our trip. We explained to them, what our trip was going to be, how we were visiting the places of our favorite Stories. That was our last wish, to continue our trip.

The Divines did more than just allow us to continue our trip, they expanded it. They instead, gave us a new journey. This time, we weren’t just going to the places that inspired our favorite stories, we would be going to the stories themselves, and we would be allowed to watch the stories of The World unfold.

We were given our bodies in their youth, allowed to be our prime, and we were given the Rules to abide by. We agreed, and we have never looked back.

Our gifts we discovered in our first Story. We met again almost at birth, and as soon as we were old enough, we had formed our ‘book club’ of just the four of us. One of us, was gifted the ability to View. As long as she had water at her fingertips, she could grace us scenes of the World’s Story around us, whether it be of the past, present and in some cases the future. All scenes that we never would have been able to see with our own eyes, whether it be due to distance, or location, we would be allowed to watch it unfold.

Another of us was gifted the ability to become, Unnoticed. It allowed us to remain in emptied ballrooms and shops, to observe what would happen, and as long as we did not actively bring attention to us while in this state, we could go Unnoticed for as long as we desired. It was many a night we tested this ability, and many sweets that would go missing from the kitchens of our homes as we did.

The other of us was gifted the ability of Charm. When she desired it, she could easily ‘charm’ another into spilling even their darkest secrets. This was a gift that she used with care and knowledge. The one that we would speak too would never remember what they spoke to us, only that they had a pleasant conversation with all of us, or one of us. Her gift allowed us to have the view of those we normally would have never seen or heard of. The views this gave us, some were so heart wrenching that we would cry over it for days.

The last our us was gifted the ability of Storytelling. This was a unique gift, that is shown so brightly between our lives. We live our lives to their fullest. At times having families of our own again, seeing them grow, at others remaining single, each lifetime is a new adventure, and for each life, we are allowed to die of old age. And it is during that time, that we are waiting until our new Story is ready, is when her gift is given. During that time, she will choose someone from the world we had originally come from, that we had loved so dearly, and she will tell them the Story that we had just lived.

Never was her Story about our lives, that wasn’t something we desired, we enjoyed remaining faceless in the crowds of the world. But instead, she would give them the Story of those that helped the world turn, and the events flow. She told the Tales that the Divines wove for us.

We were never certain what became of these stories she would tell those she chose, but we deeply enjoyed listening to her telling them to our guest. It was a joy that was beyond explanation.

We have always enjoyed our lives, our travels, and we are looking forward, to our never-ending adventures.

A/N:

This was inspired by the theory of there being a group of girls that travel through out alot of manhwa, especially isekai and rebirth. I hope everyone enjoys! I am still debating about making this into a short story series or something else.

I have also posted this story on my Tumblr where you can see the full picture I did for it as well here: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/the-weaver-of-words