x
Prologue
I have already learned the true nature of this world; every single language spoken by640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqQrwSkzHN
all the miscreated, bid farewell to all those that I ever met, and just finished predicting640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHuRB0DqEw
most outcomes - not bad for someone born only a day ago.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ7421nPjsy
And now I must wait here for him, atop such a generous outcrop of stone; one so640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB3oc255IFJ
easily protruding from the most graceful display of running water. A creek, I think it640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0IlLZ2nWuO
is called, that much like me, seems to always be running but never getting anywhere.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZsfJc5CmC
I cannot think of a better example of the flow of time and design working perfectly640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbF2tws1C8M
in tandem. Yet another sample of what can be expected in this world above, I suppose640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBoUSFlyX8Q
and hope; an example that for so long has dared to cross these woods that the one640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLYBUk5V431
I am waiting for, sometimes calls his own.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlMewN9mh6d
He should be here any moment now; my inherited memories keep assuring me640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ96bVUnH9nP
that he comes by this exact spot every day to make his crossing, and today will be no640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnuqH0pcsQh
exception. He will come. He will come and he will find me; he will find me, and he640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpeGljriOI
will say:640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeT1lBp7OWu
“And who might you be?”640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡElzb2H92Sp
After I turned around, I was greeted with a weird-looking old figure, much more so640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1okb2efyKa
than I was expecting, with an uneven pair of glasses barely hanging from his slightly640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZ5VrW7O7A
twirled nose and a long set of grey hair cascading, knot after knot, from the top of his640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIxWuMlBI9c
head. Several pieces of mismatched armour were strapped to his tall if a bit hunched,640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7z6WesIEvi
body. They had been collected over a long period of time and from all kinds of sources.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOacUfMkeCW
His right hand held a solid piece of armament; he tried to disguise it as a walking stick,640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzufR2ho294
but it was most definitely a good weapon. A haversack hung from his other shoulder,640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB670cTu1lD
it was half open and mostly filled with all sorts of plants and a few samples of fungi.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ572xJelDc0
Then I noticed behind him followed a beast of burden; great of size and with quite640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMbv2Zo7Ws
the relaxed jaw hanging under its corpulent nose. And if all the satchels covering its640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdGMLIGkXdE
blue and green skin were not enough to define its purpose, its mellow eyes surely did640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyqN2ttoX2t
the trick. Also, between its massive shoulders and the middle of its curved back, rested640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGYvkwOBSc5
a large, purple saddle. One that was just big enough for two.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzTfAylJF09
“I was waiting for you,” I steadily revealed to him.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXtND87tmZd
“It would certainly seem that way.” The old man replied quite unpreoccupied,640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqheoZcl9YV
“Please tell me then, how is it that I am fated to find a little one such as yourself out640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYjkAtzYmA
here, in the middle of these woods?” He asked as he began tying that beast to the640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9UQKZ9DpaN
nearest tree.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7X0E9ezSlD
“I just said,” I repeated without taking my eyes from all the papers I was holding,640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1GJ0OS24U
“that I came here to wait for you.”640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvNUAjWrCTy
“Quite right.” He stared at me for a moment, and then finally wetted his boots as he640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU1Fx99krmo
ventured into that running water to make his approach. He did so slowly and carefully,640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwsrwObPiBQ
as to not frighten me, which caused me to smile in appreciation. All the dirt and rips640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtRePaCqX2j
in my mostly white clothes easily conveying to him that I had gone through quite a640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhR6CAVzpn
lot recently.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRSjz25ooke
“It’s alright. You can come closer.” I told him unabashedly.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9khNfmXaUd
“Oh, were you writing?” He was quick to notice when close enough, “And at such a640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLA7dlfkxrk
young age as well. Remarkable.” He then quickly followed that with a high opinion of640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtxQAK9W0nP
my scattered drawings, before picking one up: “And what about these? Did you draw640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJfjwbaDSk
all of them as well?”640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7i90u4Pde
“I did.”640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUGtRcpw0Lk
“I know this man...” The old man confessed, “and this woman as well.” He added as640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8Wmr8TdJw
his eyes caught glimpse of another half-finished sketch. He picked up that one as well,640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wLdajlAs4
and then held them close to each other ...640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRt2og6utdZ
“I know these people.” He insisted, without taking his eyes from those two pictures...
