Rest with us

Alanis took deep breathes as she leaned her hands on her knees. Her legs felt weak and her head felt light and floaty.

She stood on a slight incline as that was what a hill was. She was standing around the middle of a hill resting as she looked up at the figure who was relaxing under a tree. Slightly leaning back into the trunk with his eyes closed as the wind blew in a soft manner around her and the person resting on the top of the hill the rustling of the trees leaves and the heavy breathing of Alanis woke the sleeping person at the top of the hill.

Arjuna lazily opened his eyes as he looked down the hill. There Alanis stood hands on her knees and a flustered expression on her face as she slightly lifted it up to face Arjuna.

The sides of Arjuna's mouth were slightly raised as he looked at Alanis. An annoyed expression covered Alanis as she shouted out

"wipe that smug look off your face I know I lost!"

Arjuna continued to look at Alanis with a smug grin not saying a word.

Alanis felt like she was getting mocked, her a distant traveler who had gone through the treacherous death mountains alone who had endured the cold storms, who had been trained by a high elf in magic. She who had lived in the forest alone for a few years.

And this smug handsome brat was looking down on her just because he beat her in an unspoken race.

Arjuna finished internally gloating over his victory against Alanis and closed his eyes again. Enjoying the soft breezes that would periodically come over. It felt like it embraced Arjuna and his surroundings wrapping him in an invisible hug.

A sincere grin escaped Arjuna's lips as he felt the breeze, smelled the cool clean air, and heard the gentle rustling and swaying of the tree above him.

Arjuna loved places like these. He felt most at home here, surrounded by nature, by peace, by harmony.

It was places like these that Arjuna would always seek out. It was why his dream had spoken so loudly to him. That cliff, that view, that plain that he saw. That was his most ideal place. Arjuna fell in love with that place the moment he laid eyes on it.

Arjuna reaffirmed his goals as he closed his eyes and remembered that beautiful landscape.

Someday he would find that place, and if it didn't exist, he would make it.

The city of Dawn sparkled in the distance like a pearl in the sea of tall grass, the sun was setting over the plains nestling itself behind the mountains casting red rays across the plains.

Arjuna didn't know much, he was born into the world only a bit ago. But that didn't mean he couldn't dream. Faster than most, Arjuna found something he could reach out to, something he deeply desired.

The twins that Jason had summoned took after parts of Jason's personality. Arjuna had taken after the explorer part of Jason. The part that wanted to travel the world, the one that sought out things.

The part that was inquisitive and even sightly whimsical.

Arjuna had that, and as he lay in the grass his back against the strong tree trunk, he dreamed of exploring worlds, hiking up mountains, through treacherous caves.

Alanis sat down as she continued to breathe heavily still recovering from her usage of mana and over-exerting her body.

She looked back up to see Arjuna resting peacefully. Alanis smilled to herself as she watched Arjuna as the sunset behind him, casting golden-red rays through the leaves in the tree and bouncing off Arjuna's hair in a cool light. The shadow of the tree extended and a general atmosphere of peacefulness defined the scene.

A handsome black-haired boy smiling to himself as he sat at the top of the hill as the sun softly glowed as it sunk down. The wind only slightly rustling the leaves of the tree. An elf with a black cloak wrapped around her, with only the hood removed. She was looking at Arjuna with a smile as the wind slightly lifted her long beautiful blond hair.

Revealing the leaf ornaments that she had on them.

Alanis smilled as she realized that she hadn't seen an atmosphere like this in a while. In fact, the last time she remembered feeling this content and relaxed was way back in her childhood.

The forest she and her family grew up in. It was a beautiful one, during the nighttime the stars would come out and shine like the elegantly carved orb lanterns her people used to light their paths.

She started to remember her village. The smooth minimalistic houses were usually made on a nest of trees or sometimes even embedded in it carefully.

Small streams of water ran on the ground with small gardens of white flowers growing alongside them while a few elves walked on the ground the sound of their chatter rising up to the ears of her as a child.

Sometimes fireflies would appear beckoned by the great spirit of the forest. And at night they would all float around the air in mass as the moon shone down on the elven village.

Alanis smilled to herself, yes those moments when the twinkling light rose all around her illuminating the entire village in the forest showing off the small homes made of white birch and with fresh branches covered in leaves growing over the roofs and with the smooth arches covered in small gems that shone in a green light whenever some sort of light hit it.

Alanis remembered holding out her hand as a firefly flew down and landed in it. She felt her father and mother reassuringly place their hands on her shoulders as she cupped her hands to look closer at the small insect.

With her family, she released it, and with wonder she watched it join the multitude of fireflies as they seemed to descend up into the sky.

Yes, that was the moment when she felt peace and happiness. Probably one of the last times she felt it in her childhood.

Alanis blinked her eyes quickly, she felt her eyes watering up and didn't want to cry at such a beautiful moment such as this.

It was simply a relaxing time, neither Arjuna nor Alanis said anything yet as Arjuna cracked his eyes open to look at the sunset, and when Alanis fully laid down her cloak falling to the ground for a bit as she placed her smooth white arms behind her back.

The two felt some sort of connection with each other.

They couldn't really explain and god knows neither of them was going to say it. But before they were rivals, they met because of the Nightfall Archer class and they both wanted it. Alanis thought it was impossibly for a human to get the class, but she saw in frount of her eyes Arjuna defy the only Nightfall Archer they knew, probably one of the most powerful people she had ever seen.

And somehow come to a consensus with him. She was amazed, not only with his actions, but the meaning behind them, the never-ending determination, and yet the lightheartedness that Arjuna kept close to him.

Arjuna too looked at Alan in a new light. He still kinda thought about her as kinda annoying. Not letting her check out all the things he was curious about, but besides his brother since Arjuna was born, he had never had a companion, a rival, or a friend.

It was all so new to him, and yet here he was lying down with a random elf that he had met at a random inn and gone on a few adventures together with.

If there was any companion to Arjuna at that moment, it would have been her.

The sun's rays slowly faded as the sun almost completely dipped behind the mountains, it now resembled a flaming red ball.

The two silently watched the sunset. Quietly and peacefully. Both with grins on their faces some sad and nostalgic others peaceful and relaxed dreaming of what was to come.

Darkness moved in like a creeping shadow, Alanis could see its rolling front slowly overtaking the land, it was soon spread towards the hill that she and Arjuna sat on.

Arjuna also noticed it. He rose up and stretched out his arms as he said with a yawn

"well Alan that was fun, lets head back to the inn we can head to the Archer guild a bit later"

Saying that Arjuna started to slowly descend down the hill, but soon his speed increased. The stars started to shine in the sky as Arjuna swung his arms as he trotted down the hill.

Alanis smilled and stepped down the hill with Arjuna she gave a small whisper as Arjuna passed her as he happily trotted down the hill with lighthearted steps.

"my name's Alanis"