Path to the Void [Points of Light 1 - RPG fantasy]

1.05

Morning brought with it sore muscles and a dread of walking any further even before I got out of bed. The makeshift bed I’d slept in Maribelle’s daughters’ room was not much better than the floor in any case. I groaned and sat up, rolling the blankets neatly and putting them in a corner before making my way down the hall.

Breakfast in Maribelle’s house, with her son and two daughters, was already louder than I had anticipated. I descend the stairs after a bit of hesitation, but the four of them hardly even notice me, occupied with cooking and setting out dishes. Only Min seems to notice my arrival, raising one hand to beckon me over to the bench she’s seated on. I slip along the wall to sit next to her.

“The bags are already packed,” she said as I settled into my seat. “They’re in Maribelle’s room upstairs until we’re ready to leave.” I hummed acknowledgment, tapping my fingers on my leg, and we sat in silence for a few minutes, just observing the household going about its routine without us. Eventually, Min continued, “So where did you slip out to last night?”

I stilled my fingers, and took a moment to work my response into words – “I wanted to see what the town looked like at night. I went down to the square and sat for a while, then came back.”

Min seemed to accept my words, inclining her head in something that wasn’t quite a nod, but close enough to get the same meaning across. “What did you think?”

I paused. “It was much quieter than the forest. Every sound came from somewhere, not like the sound of the wind in the leaves.” Min looked amused at that, and spoke up when I went silent for a moment, waiting for her explanation.

“Most people think just the opposite. That cities are loud, and the wilderness is peaceful.”

“They’re not wrong,” I said, thinking of the chaos at the marketplace earlier in the day. “There are a lot of people here. But I think I like their sounds better, and I’d like to see a real city.”

Min hummed thoughtfully, but didn’t reply, and by that time, Maribelle was shooing her children towards the table, and I was more than ready to eat.

—-

It wasn’t until we were most of the way out of the town on the road that the subject came up again. There was no traffic out among the farmhouses today; only a few animals and a pair of farmhands repairing a fence noticed our passing. It was after we’d exchanged called greetings towards their work deeper into the field that Min spoke to me.

“So do you want to go to the city?”

My steps slowed as I thought about it. “I’d like to. But it isn’t very practical, is it? I don’t even know where to go.” Trying to find my way through the countryside without a map – even if the roads went mostly straight to the city, I wasn’t really comfortable with the idea.

“I think you’d do fine,” Min said, as we started to pass beyond the fences. The edge of the forest, where the road narrowed to a trail, wasn’t much farther ahead. “There are people who chase their fortunes there with a lot less consideration and manage to make something of themselves. And there are people who do a lot more preparation and fail, because it winds up not being like what they expected, and they can’t adapt.”

“And I can?” My voice was hesitant; my feet dragged a little on the road, making loud scuffing sounds and sending up a small cloud of dust. The dry part of summer was just beginning; there wouldn’t be much rain until after the autumn harvest. As such things went, it was a good time to travel.

“Of course you can.” Min’s voice was very fond, but there was a tension in it I couldn’t quite pin down and understand. “You started out with no memories, didn’t you? And while I can’t speak to the impressions anyone else had of you, I know that Maribelle and Irvine only thought you were a bit quiet for your age and perhaps a bit on the daydreamy side.”