Between Two Worlds

3

The next morning I remember what direction Strider had said was east. So I look left of that which would be south and head down the road through the trees.

I walk down the dirt road marked with horse prints and occasional carriage tracks. The mud has been dried by the morning sun that beams down through the clouds as they pass.

I had used some of the coins I stole to purchase a bit of food for the journey that I carry in a satchel.

My eyes look ahead as I watch the large hills near me all around when I leave the small settlement behind, my feet walking against the dirt, rocks buried in it like carcasses after years of decay. The wind lets my locks flow behind me as I adjust the strap of my bag, ready for the road into the wilderness.

I breathe and keep a steady long pace. I pass through a wooded area with a vacant road after I journey through a couple trees. Luckily I can walk for hours and not get tired much. That is a good thing, because it seems by the map that it might take a long while before I even reach the lands of Rohan.

I walk for hours it seems, down the path as a hill rises to my left, and dips at my right.

Plants of green grow around me, but less than the woods in the Shire had. This land seems more used to sunlight the further I go, leaving the marsh behind.

I watch a little squirrel hop over the road ahead and scurry up the tree. I listen to the birds sing, the sound so sweet in my ear.

I am not used to seeing wildlife... it seems even the smallest of flowers has a colony of insects under it, homes and families of so many different species all around me. Even if I have left the human settlements, I am still not alone.

I walk under branches, the smell of something new to me on my nose. So many scents I have never known. It awakens my lungs and makes me feel pure. In light of all that has happened, little blessings seem to find their way to me, reminding me that not all is bad.

My past is dark and monotone like old photos. But perhaps my future will have a bit more color... this world is something I have discovered... Another world! I mean this is just such a daydream! Ever since we are little we always wonder about other places, hope for other places, other universes where things are brighter, happier, full of adventure.

It makes me wonder how many of those actually exist. I look up towards the heavens, past the light skipping through the leaves in thought.

Oh this is all so strange... and so sudden. It was a tragic event that brought me here... but if I was not here I would be dead. So perhaps I was given a second chance to live and to make something of myself.

When the pain of Ryohnin returns I look down and shut my eyes, pushing it away the thoughts. I must do what he told me to do before he passed. And I cannot do that if my heart won't stop grieving for him...

I walk out of the trees and into the sunlight again, the hills still around me. And it looks like it would be that way for a while.

I travel until the sun sets behind the hills. I camp on the hillside with a fire and decide to take advantage of the sticks, seeing as there are not many trees on the road ahead. I bundle them up and pack them in my satchel for future fires. I eat a small amount of food for dinner, saving the rest for however many days I have to travel.

But when I sit there alone with my thoughts, trying to fall asleep... that's when I can't hold back my sorrow for my best friend... and I cry myself into slumber that night.

The next day I trek across the grass and slopes, the road getting less traveled the farther I go. I am heading for the river between here and the MistyMountains but I have a long way to go still.