The Encounter

Dionysus had been on the wooded and dark trail on his way to Athens for merely seven grueling hours. He had little to his name, let alone much on his body, a pair of greek sandals, and a tunic with a dagger for protection, it was not much, but Dionysus' training with his father and his lean but grand stature made him a formidable target and hard to find for any would be attackers. He had felt a few eerie moments while walking the trail almost as if he was being watched, he could not tell if it was a wild animal, a bandit, group of soldiers, or simply just his overactive mind. But nonetheless Dionysus kept walking, but he did so with caution, he did not want to be taken by chance when he least expected it, so he set up camp and kept an eye out. He built a little hut with the fallen branches from dying trees and with rocks and stones to build supports. He layed and waited for his fire to reduce to ashes before going to bed.

The next morning Dionysus awoke, it was just before sunrise, but he could see the trail ahead of him, so with caution and swiftness he left his camp behind and continued for the last ten and half hours to Athens he had to go, periodically making stops to eat what he could find, drink some water, and use the bathroom when he had to. After trekking for a few more hours he came upon a mysterious looking cart with food that had been attacked. He was very weary about the situation as he had been feeling that uneasy feeling from the day before. He heard rustling in the bushes but acted like he heard nothing. Dionysus approached the wagon expecting an ambush from some bandits. He stepped within a few feet of the cart and in a swift and stark motion he turned and had hit an Athenian soldier, he stood on guard, armed with his dagger. After a minute of standing Dionysus helped the Athenian up and apologized for putting the soldier on his ass. He exclaimed to the soldier "Malakas, you can't just sneak up on a man like that, could have been killed!". The soldier calmly brushed himself off, smiled at Dionysus and with a swift exhale claimed "You're not from around here, are you? We've had terrible thieving bandits and mercenaries looting and scouring our supplies, we set up this trap to catch them, but you clearly are not one of them as you seem to have some formal training", with another exhale the soldier states "I'm Markos, Commander of the Megaris detachment. We're tasked with scouting for Spartans and other frivolous malakas".

After a few silent and uncomfortable minutes, Dionysus begrudgingly coughed up "I'm Dionysus, abandoned son of Corinthian Commander Eros Nikolaou, and hopeful wanderer traveling to Athens to find my grandfather". After a few shared laughs between Dionysus, Markos, and his men, Markos had decided to accompany Dionysus to Athens while his men stayed back. The two men had traversed the road for a few more hours before stopping to eat as neither had eaten in the last twelve hours. They had wandered upon a little home with a few fields. They agreed they should knock on the door to see if they could stay there for some food and a little wine before the last five hours of the trek to the great city-state of Athens. This little home was owned by a frail old couple who allowed the men to enter their home with open arms and made the most extravagant dinner for them, it had plenty of wine, quail eggs, olives, fish, cheese, and freshly made bread. The men were very thankful for the meal and the welcoming environment the couple gave them. After eating and assisting in cleaning up afterwards the men said their thank you's and farewells before leaving and heading back on the grueling march to Athens.

After a few more hours of walking and a few encounters with wild animals, the two were in earshot of the bustling city of Athens, they could see the tall, menacing stone walls that prevented the Spartan threat from entering the city, the walls had men all over them to prevent any possible penetration of the city, the entrance to the city they were heading for had constant watch by heavily armed and well trained soldiers, there was never an instance when the wall and the city's main entrance didn't have men watching. Dionysus was very glad to have met Markos now as he had abruptly noticed that without him, without Markos, he probably would have never gotten in during this time of war and all the bloodshed of Spartans, Athenians, Corinthians, and all the other allies on their respected sides of the war. Dionysus hoped and prayed to the gods that Markos would be able to convince the very brutish and menacing guard at the entrance to let him through, Dionysus needed to find his grandfather, he needed to get into Athens, he began to worry when minutes had passed, he had began to lose hope. Markos returned to Dionysus and nodded, Dionysus was allowed into Athens, he was not seen as a threat, he was happy. They began to search for his grandfather, which Dionysus eventually realized that it would take a long time to find his grandfather due to the immense size of Athens, but with the persistence he adopted from his father, he searched.