“Anyway, we didn’t mean to get all depressing.”, Lex tells him, laughing slightly and slapping his shoulder, to which Nathan responds with an intense glare. “Sorry… Well, you wanted to buy something, right? What do you need?”

“I will require a mask or some cloth to cover my face, protective glasses like the miners use, as well as a big bottle.”, he answers.

“You really are not that demanding, are you? I’m honestly surprised.”, Marc comments, but only receives a blank glance in response.

“Let’s get going then!”, Elaine announces excitedly.

As they make their way to the first shop, a flock of songbirds flies past them. Nathan stretches out his index finger infront of him, and a colourful yellowthroat lands on it, chirping. He tilts his head to the side a little as he inspects it carefully. Elaine and Marc keep walking, but Lex watches as Nathan’s eyes follow the little bird continuing it’s travels.

“Beautiful, aren’t they?”, she aks him.

Nathan starts walking again, not sparing her a look. As Lex hangs her head just a little, he replies “They are indeed”.

While the sun travels into the realm of the unseen, the four set sight on their quarters, each carrying their own bags.

“So, Nathan, what are your impressions of the village?”, Lex wonders.

“Oh, and what did you think of the people?”, Elaine adds excitedly.

As Marc and the girls nervously look at him waiting on an answer, he keeps them waiting as he thinks about his views on the village.

“So, what did you think? Be honest!”, Elaine nags him.

“What is my opinion of the people of the village? Quite frankly, they disgust me.”, Nathan says.

Marc stops and turns towards him in disbelief. “What?! What’s your problem, are they to poor, suffering too much or is the village not quite capital-like enough for you?”, he asks him, raising his voice. Elaine and Lex both looks at Nathan with confusion.

“That is not the case. As a matter of fact, the place itself looks decent, and I like the forest atmosphere better than that of the capital. It is about the people. They have obviously been suffering for some time, victims of oppressing thieves.”

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“So what you meant by that is that their circumstances disgust you?”, Elaine asks him hopfefully.

Nathan looks with her with a sense of intensity. “That is not it. They have suffered time and time again, and instead of doing something, just anything, about it, they look to the chosen one for answers. He is not going to solve their problems, so instead of being so pathetic, they should start thinking about a damn solution themselves!”, he tells them clearly, raising his voice towards the end unintentionally.

The three stare at him in disbelief, frozen on the spot. “What the quack do you mean by he’s not going to?!”, Elaine questions him furiously. “You’re the chosen one! You were born powerful so that you can help them, so that you can help us!”, she screams at him.

“Why would I help someone who is not even willing to help themselves? Who made it my responsibility to solve their issues?”, he asks her.

“You are the goddamn chosen one! Life gave you everything; wealth, power, talent, even goddamn servants, and made it your responsibility to fix the problems you encounter in return! How can you deny that deal?!”, Marc roars at him savagely.

Nathan sighs. “It is the same wherever I am sent, whoever I speak to. The lucky chosen one, born with all you could wish for, and meant to share it with everyone. Met with expectations to do something wherever I go, put on a pedestal and pushed down from it if a single request is denied. Never equal with anybody, yet everyone seems to knows exactly what I should do. Everyone has problems out of their control. And everyone expects me to deal with them. Always having the perfect saviour to blame for not solving one’s problems, but never realizing that if he does not solve all the problems, maybe he is not the perfect saviour.”, he explains.

“I get that you can’t solve everything”, Lex tells him, sobbing. “But why would you not even help the one’s in need right in front of you, and look down on them instead?”, she needs to know.

“If it will not make a difference, why bother?”, he asks her.

“That’s an easy excuse for being an ungrateful bastard!”, she replies.

He meets her eyes with his blank gaze. ‘Things never change, do they?’, he wonders as he turns away from them, and starts walking to his hut.

As he walks through the door, the others haven’t moved an inch.

“I was wrong.”, Marc admits furiously. “This bastard wasn’t unaware of the things he could have helped with. He just doesn’t give a shit. About us, about the ones in need, about anyone. The only one that fucker cares about is himself, and he can’t be bothered for anything or anyone else.”

“It’s… not possible.”, Lex replies. “This can’t leave him completely cold. There’s no way, even if he says so. If he saw the village being attacked, he would do something about it. I’m sure!”, she reaffirms herself. “Why else would he be the chosen one? Why would someone who doesn’t care about anyone be chosen?”

“Maybe the earth has made a mistake. I wouldn’t put any hopes in him if I were you.”, Marc answers her.

“It’s not about trusting him. Lex is right. I don’t believe destiny would decide wrong, that’s why I can’t abandon him just yet.”, Elaine supports Lex.

Marc starts walking towards their home as darkness slowly enchroaches their surroundings. “You give destiny too much credit. But, we’ll have no choice but to see. Making an enemy of him now, or trying to get him away from here, would only cause us a shitload of trouble. Maybe the earth tried to get rid off him in that river, but we messed that up.”