Chapter 15: Off road

I took one glance.

Not the last, that's for sure.

But I know it would take a while before I would see Greenrun again.

From a distance, I see my beloved Dukedom. The breathtaking terrain that surrounds it, the lush woodlands that spreads vast to the furthest valleys beyond the horizons, the great Lake, all the slithering streams that connect like circuits; grass fields, and prairies that will all be soon covered in ice as the winter snow icings the land in white.

After getting out from the dungeons through the same hole by the margins of the Lake, we walked off roads for about an hour or so and now we're somewhere in the foot of a mountain path where countless thin but sturdy looking tall trees are seen crowding the entire vicinity.

The snow has ceased and the sky seems to be upset despite the tranquil clouds idly rolling by.

Every now and then, the heaven roars and flashes. I wonder if a thunderstorm is afoot or... if that's a reflection of Aeron's mood.

I sighed

and went on walking a little behind Aide and his comrades. Faram is farthest behind though. I wonder if I should wait for him, is what I thought but the others seem to be walking continuously and unmindfully. So maybe, I thought as I try to simply focus my eyes on the path we're taking, this is the formation they all normally walk with?— Aide leads, the other follows and Faram walks alone a little far behind.

I watched the muddy ground and realized my doll-like shoes aren't really built for these kinds of walk. I should get a new shoes some other time but I'm far more embarrass to ask Faram to get me one. Perhaps I could make money on my own somehow?

"How you holding up back there?"

I looked up ahead and saw Aide halted, studying me tentatively. "I'm... good" I replied as I reached him and he began to match my pace in walking. "You need to walk a little faster if you want to keep up!" Aide says and I just turned to look at Faram over my shoulder, "How about him?" I asked, Aide followed my eyes and glance at Faram who was walking in silence towards us.

"Worried about your master?" Aide chuckled. "You don't have to though. He looks out for us, that's why he walks far behind."

"It's not that I'm worried" I corrected, "Just curious how your party formation goes"

"You think too much!" Aide ruffles my head. "Hmm. Your hair color stands out. It might soon become a problem... Use this for the mean time!" He took his cloak off and hands it over to me. Aide is surprisingly friendly.

"Keep walking" stated Faram as he finally reached us, ceasing from his walk.

He's wearing a blindfold but I'm pretty sure he's focusing his attention on me.

"Look, we need to head south. But for now we try to avoid those who will be searching for you." Aide explains. "Let's move. I'll introduce you to the others later when we rest"

I nodded.

Aide suddenly disappeared before me and reappears farthest front.

I eyed Faram tentatively as he just stood beside me in silence.

No reaction.

He's like a mannequin.

Oh wait.

Is he waiting for me to start walking?

Fine, I'll walk.

I turned about face and went on walking.

After covering few distance, I saw him finally begin walking once again.

So they really do maintain this formation.

I wore the cloak on and returned my focus on the ground, pulling the hood over my head.

The lightning flashes above us once again without a drop of rain being shed.

I'm starting to believe it's really my brother's mood that's affecting the weather.

••▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅••

When nightfall came, we all gathered around a small fire pit

When nightfall came,

we all gathered around a small fire pit.

"So— this is Scias, he played Leon's role yesterday." Aide introduces.

Scias stood before me in a tall and lanky posture, wearing a black cloak and a porcelain-looking mask where a black smile is carved across the entire mask, almost like a slice, with a pair of black painted eyes. Just pure black. No holes.

"Nice to meet ya' again, Aerra." he says with a muffled voice.

I nodded in response.

"Take your mask off, dumbass!" Aide hits Scias nonchalantly on the head.

"OW!? Why are you being so violent all of a sudden, you tomboy?!?" Scias stomps his feet and butt face his forehead on Aide who stubbornly challenged him back.

Tomboy?

Scias stood back up straight and faced me more calmly this time, "Don't be fooled by this crossdresser here. She's actually just doing it to lure cute girls, such as yourself." Scias stated, taking his face mask off, revealing a cropped-haired guy with squinty eyes of jade. One of his eyes are closed, where a scar is seen running across it, downwards.

Aide's a crossdresser?

So Aide is actually a woman...?

Aide's fist swings across his head. "Don't just make up lies in front of the kid, you piece of shit!"

"BE GRATEFUL I DON'T HIT WOMEN!!!" Scias retorted out loud, grinding his teeth.

Aide sighed, shaking her head in dismay. "It's true, I'm actually a woman but I don't dress up like this just to lure cute little kittens"

K-kittens. 💧 ( ō_ō)

She does perfectly look like a pretty boy with a charm that perhaps be effective enough to make any girls turn and look; an eye candy.

Her voice is androgynous too.

"So then... why?" I murmured, unsure.

Why dress up like a guy?

"Simply because..." she pauses, rakes her fingers across her fringed bangs, swaying it and then grins, perhaps a trademark smile of sort. "—I'm handsome!"

Scias chortles aloud. "A pervert, you mean."

Chains suddenly wraps around Scias face out from no where and binds him to the nearest tree. He squirms and scowled at Aide, struggling to get free.

"When I realized I look good as a guy, I maintained this image." She adds, casually pulling a mirror out from her rucksack and began to preen herself infront of it.

"Well, you manage it very well. I actually thought you were a guy." I commended.

"Aww, thank you, Aerrandria! Now here's a very nice young girl!" she says, placing her arms across my shoulder and gently leaning her head on mine. "You and I can be good buddies, yes?"

The last member who watched us in silence finally took her mask off, that has a form of a fox face with stitches on the upper corner. She just grunted and rolled her eyes, throwing herself down with both legs crossed on the ground. "We need to sleep so we can head out before daybreak. Greenrun's affiliations will surely commence a thorough searching through these mountains for her. And I'm pretty sure that would be done sooner than we can ever expect." Her voice was small and resembles that of a child.

"That's Emis. She seems like a child to the normal eyes but she's actually one of the oldest person across the known realm." Aide says in a chuckle.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE FUCKIN' WITH?! DO YOU HAVE A DEATHWISH, BRAT?!?" Emis roared, breaking her own composure and talking like a delinquent all of a sudden.

Ah. So she can change her voice into a deeper tone.... 💧

"Oh there ya' go! Now that's our Emis for ya!" Aide laughs.

Emis just twitches one corner of her lips up, "Tch!"

Emis has a normal looking face except for the tip of her nose that seems darker and thicker, like a cat's. She seem to have this thin lower lips and feline peridot colored eyes.

Emis must have noticed me studying her as she stood up and took her own cloak off, showing her long feline tail and ears. "Look, kid. I'm a Demi. That's why my age is far different from you humans. I'm 273 years old but it's equivalent to an 18 years old human." She explains, throwing both her hands on each side of her hips. One of her ear twitches. "And I'm not that old. Aide is just exaggerating!" she concluded, clicking her tongue in obvious annoyance. Her tail moves in a snappy yet fluid left to right motion.

Demi's are hybrid race of humans and bestiaras as I recall. They're usually seen— suppose to be, at the far eastern continent overseas, together with Bestiara race.

"And lastly, Faram." Aide just turned her head to where Faram stood in silence with crossed arms. "Well, you already know him. Anyway, Emis makes the masks. She will make one for you, right Emis?"

"Just give me more time. I need to see what fits you perfectly first." she says,

"Is there any special thing about these masks?" I blurted out. Surely they don't just wear it to look mysterious.

Suddenly they all turned and glanced at Faram.

Did I hit a serious topic?

"Everything will be explained in due time." Faram answered with his usual monotone. "Scias." he called out, unwinding his arms.

"Oh. Right!" Scias began to walk towards Faram. They both went and walked off towards the shadows of the woods.

"Where are they going?" I asked Aide.

"To fetch us dinner" she replied. "Next time let's do the hunt for the dinner, what say you?"

"Sure" I nodded.

"So, tell us how much do you know about the dark element first." Emis interjected.

"I'm curious too because you don't even know what the rot is despite being born inside this weird continent." Aide added.

"Well I know there are three main categories to the Dark Elements. The Black magic, Shadow magic and Null." I began, as I sat down in front of the bonfire.

"Hmmm. As you might have seen, Scias is an Enorcist. Do you know what that means?"

I nodded, "He can transform into the image of a dead person."

"Correct, he's a shapeshifter. As long as he killed it, he can change into it, be it a human, an animal, or a dæmon." Aide supplied. "That's just the ability of his element, but innately, Scias is actually a Transmuter. Can you guess what object can he turn into?"

"I don't... know." I replied. "A sword?"

"Looks like there are a lot of things we need to teach you!" Aide shook her head, sitting at another corner that faces the bonfire.

"I'm sorry" I murmured with head bowed down.

"Don't be. You're part of the group now. We will teach you everything there is to know until you master the dark element."

Emis suddenly shot Aide a meaningful look.

"What? She might be capable!" Aide shrugs, impassively.

Emis sighed and shook her head. "No body can master the dark element. There's only a thin hair line probability of being able to keep your sanity when trying to master it. If it was possible in the first place, Faram would have been the number one instead of that loud and arrogant buffoon, Claude."

I veered my eyes to the fire and remembered the shadowed reflection I had

I veered my eyes to the fire and remembered the shadowed reflection I had. Perhaps, she was the corruption I would lose to if I become vulnerable again. I wonder if I would see her again in my dreams.

"Look here, lets start with the basics!" Aide grabs a twig nearby and began to doddle something on the ground. "I know ya' already have learned these from your homeschooling, but I just want to clear out common misunderstandings—!"

"People from this continent mistakenly believe that any Light elemental user can just simply turn to the Dark element whenever they want

"People from this continent mistakenly believe that any Light elemental user can just simply turn to the Dark element whenever they want. That's bullshit." Aide stated bitterly.

"You can only learn powers that falls under the same element as what you are born with

"You can only learn powers that falls under the same element as what you are born with.

Since we are all born here as Dark Elemental users, we can only choose between Black magic, Shadow, and the null. You can't force yourself learning Fire or Healing because that's only applicable to Light Elemental users, ya' got that?"

I nodded fervently.

"Good!" Aide began to erase the doodles she made on the ground. "And another thing I want to clear...

Being a dark magus doesn't necessarily mean you're evil. Even a Light magus can be evil. It depends entirely on the person, not the element."

This time I nodded briefly, "I know" I said smiling, gingerly. I'm pretty sure she said that just to make me feel better.

"Alright, now about Transmuters. Scias for example. He is a—!"

"Hey hey hey, why do you have to use me as your example!" Scias interrupts as he merges out from the woods, holding their hunt, five small dead animals.

"Because I have to teach her that Transmuters can either be a weapon or an equip," Aide explains. Scias walks to us and sets their hunt down on the fire, like barbecue.

"She'll learn it when she sees it!" Scias says, sweeping his eyes at me.

I straightened my back.

"Hey, how about we make a deal?" He asks in a sneer

I tilted my head to the side curiously, "What deal?"

"If you can guess what I can transform into as a Transmuter, I'll gladly take you in as my Meister."

"Ooh, now that would be interesting to watch." Aide says with a brief whistle. "We never take in Meisters unless..." she darts Faram a glance and suddenly purses her lips in a seal.

"There are lots of things you need to understand, Ri. But most might be best just to witness it on your own." Faram says, leaning on a tree with crossed arms.

Everyone fell silent so I just replied, "Alright."

Hm.

I should guess what Scias can become, huh?

••▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅••

I woke up later that night with a nagging full bladder and found only the darkness of the woods welcoming my sight

I woke up later that night with a nagging full bladder and found only the darkness of the woods welcoming my sight.

The sky has calmed down though, the thunderclouds are gone. I wonder how Aeron is doing?

I wonder how my parents are doing?

I stood up and dusted my skirt off. It's so silent out here.

The two moons are out but they aren't that bright unlike the night of the Harvest Moons, but they provided enough moonlight just to illuminate where I was stepping on to.

I walked quietly from the camp and towards the woods.

"You should go back to sleep"

I quivered in surprise at the sudden voice.

I looked up and realized Faram was sitting up by a branch.

I figured, amidst having sharp senses, I still wasn't able to sense Faram. He must be really strong.

"I just... need to... umm" I paused. It's embarrassing to say out loud what it is exactly that I need to do.

"Okay. Be quick..." he says quietly. He must've understood.

I watch him and he just sat up there in utter silence.

With his blindfold, it's hard to tell if his eyes are open or not.

I wonder if he's even planning to sleep or if he's just awake the entire time to stay on guard?

He seems to have this certain sense of authority and respect from his comrades. When he talks, they listen.

When he orders, they follow.

I wonder...

Well...

he could just taken another apprentice if he wants to. I really see no point in fetching me back if his only motive is to watch the rot.

As far as I know, to watch doesn't entirely mean one should intervene.

"Faram?" I called out, almost whispering.

He didn't reply.

"Why exactly did you come back for me?" I asked.

Again, no reply.

I just shook the thoughts off and proceeded to the woods.

———

When I returned, Faram called me out. "Ri."

He gestured me to come up.

I pressed on my feet then jumped up. Landing unsteadily on the branch of a tree where Faram sat. He was leaning on the trunk when I turned to him.

"What do you think of these woods?" he asks, maintaining a monotonous tone yet his voice was airy and serene.

I sat down properly this time, letting my feet dangle freely as I balance myself. I look around and didn't see anything particularly out of the ordinary. "It's dark and quiet. Too quiet." I replied, turning my head to where he sat and surprise to find his hand was stretched towards me.

"Look again" he says, as my eyes were covered by his big warm hand.

I remembered what he taught me before. To look at things beyond what you can only see with your eyes. So I listened and opened my senses thoroughly.

From a distance I can sense movements. Ah. It's gone. Was I imagining it?

"Focus" Faram says in a tone just above a whisper.

From behind, I can hear shuffling stumps of scurrying creatures. A can feel the wind blowing from my left. And then... I began to hear subtle noises of insects. They're not loud but I can somewhat hear them. It's quiet, almost so careful. But as they move with their feet and flap their wings, I can almost feel them as if they're crawling on my skin, I can hear them as if they just near my ears. I can sense them all around me, so loud and clear.

They're all awake and moving here and there, trying to hunt, eat, and survive. So many of them...

So many indeed.

"I'll ask again, what do you think of these woods?"

"It's buzzing with activity." I answered, his hand slowly moves away and I opened my eyes and studied him.

"People become blind to other things when they only depend on their eyes. They miss so many things around them."

"Is that why you're wearing a blindfold?" I asked as he just sighed as if I asked another dumb question.

"People in this continent depends too much on their eyes. Eyes are used as a receptor to light, to help you sense things through sight. But the world can be so much more than plain sight." He turns his head to the right. I followed his direction and saw nothing but the still trees. "In fact, you inhibit your own true sensing capacities when you rely too much on it."

I closed my eyes and listened, focusing at the direction that Faram has turned his head to.

From the drowning stillness, I can sense a small animal running around the branches of the tree from that direction. And then it went into a hole. It has... smaller other animals in it. Its babies perhaps?

"I understand..." I murmured, opening my eyes back and turned to face Faram.

"Learn to see without looking, Ri. Even with wide open eyes, you need to sharpen all your other senses... not to just win over enemies but to also to learn the world around you."

I nodded.

"So tell me, why are you still hesitating?" Faram asks, resting his one arm over his bent knee, as he just pulled it close to him, nonchalantly.

—hesitating???

"What do you mean?"

"I already taught you how to sense before. But you're not using that now. Your mind is off focus. Are you still hesitating about leaving and following us?"

I shook my head, "It's not that I'm hesitating! I'm just... I don't know... the things that happened just yesterday are still raw for me..."

"Your emotions are what's clouding your senses, is that it? You're being pathetic."

"I'm being human" I muttered, a bit annoyed.

"So I'm not human enough for you? I was worried you'd die out there like a helpless cub." he says but in a rather cold flat tone.

"No! It's not tha—!"

Wait. WHAT?!

He was worried?

He's capable of that?!?

I mean— of course he could but...

It's not on his image.

"I never thought you would be worried about me, to be honest." I murmured, I feel my face somewhat flushing.

He just hauled a sigh as if I said something unnecessary.

"Go back to sleep. Make sure you made up your mind when we set out tomorrow. You'll be a burden to us if you're still hesitating."

"I'm not hesitati—!"

Faram moves close suddenly and covered my mouth with his hand. He lays a finger on his lips in a shush gesture.

Ah. Right! I was being too loud.

I just watch him as he moves away and leans back to the trunk. "Now go get some rest."

I crunch my brows eyeing him for a moment and just leaped down.

I landed on my feet on the ground and then stood back up.

"Ri." he calls out quietly.

I looked up at where he sat and realized he thrown something down at me.

I manage to catch it. Two of them.

I opened my hand and looked at it,

to my surprise, I realized it's Nora's brooches.

I looked at Faram, baffled.

Did he took it from my bedroom for me?

"You have things you need to do too, right? You better focus your mind on that instead." he says and with that, he ended the conversation.

I walk back to my usual spot near the died out bonfire and laid down flat on the ground with the brooches on my hands.

How did he know I wanted to give these back?

I opened my hand and looked at the brooches against the dimly lit surroundings.

'I'm going to give your brooches back to your parents, Nora. I know it took me such a damn while, but this time for sure...'

I closed my eyes and soon my consciousness began to waver on me.

Slowly sinking in that lulling calm

as if floating on a surface water

until finally,

I fell asleep.

———End of Chapter 15———