LogFAQs > #912376877

The night was quiet and lonely. Three days had passed but it was the first time that she realized she had gotten used to being around Corella. The former Hero wasn't very chatty but it was still nice to have a living person in the next room over, someone you could speak to if you were lonely. Even if it meant just to go into the room and look at her, just seeing Corella was enough to make her happy sometimes.

Here, out in the wild, where she was alone, it felt very different. If Gabriela wanted to see another person or talk to them right now there was nothing she could do. Then nearest person was probably miles away, and that was assuming anyone else would even bother to be out hunting during this time of year. Otherwise she was going to remain alone until she got to Nengaurd.

Pelengreer became more thin as you traveled further to the north, and so even though Gabriela had gone in a straight line, she was actually getting closer to the western border. Nen was surprisingly close to a few battlefields of note and that much was obvious just from looking at the atmosphere and the people.

Even four years after the war ended, you could still see lost and forgotten soldiers lurking around. There were smiths who were preparing new bins of weapons and talking somberly about how the next war would be starting soon. Young romantics tried to entice their objects of affection away from a life of violence and strife -- they could always flee to the east and live peaceful lives there. But the ones who had been born to live the life of a soldier, who had trained since youth, couldn't abandon their country so easily.

"You can love me if you want to, but I can't promise that I'll return from the battlefield alive.

And if you don't want to wait for someone like me... I understand.

I already gave up the right to live a normal life. It's one of the sacrifices I'm willing to make, to keep this world safe from the primordial rot."

It was a sad way of life, but Gabriela liked to imagine that the young soldier might actually return home. Maybe those lovers would be reunited one day after all, and the romantic will have waited fondly and patiently, showing loyalty that was admirable even for those out of a storybook kind of love. Or maybe, if things went well, they could avoid going to war entirely.

Those two could start a life in Nenguard and raise a family together without ever worrying about monsters or invaders from the Alliance... without worrying about the dark plots of the Emeralds... and never suffering at the hands of the cruel wizards and fiends from the west. Gabriela hoped they could see that sort of ending instead.

Sleeping in a bed for the first time in a while was nice. The inn at Nenguard was overpriced and the service was below average. Life on the road made her appreciate such flawed comforts more than she would have otherwise. An Gabriela had an odd feeling of comfort as she slept that night; if she wanted to see someone else, if she wanted to talk to someone else, she could go downstairs and join the other travelers in the common hall around the fire.

She didn't choose to do that, but that ability to be around others at will gave her security.

The Shrine of Storms had no particular military value, and during the current climate (where everyone was expecting war with the Alliance to break out), it had been temporarily abandoned. If there was still a young cleric tending to the shrine they must have stepped out to get some water or supplies. Going down the great hill to the closest village was a journey that, including the return trip, likely took the better part of a day.

Gabriela, having left from that village in the morning, was able to make it here at a decent time.
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~* and now I only see your dull imposter ~*
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