Homesick

We were setting a campfire in the dirt; we were going to sleep in the carriage but for eating we were going to do it outside.

We hunt some rabbits and we were

putting the meat on the fire with a stick, as we were eating, I asked Alexander a question.

“Silver, do you already have permission? I didn’t even ask if you can even enter with us in the quest…”

“Oh yeah, I deliver the five initial quest all by myself”

“You alone, that should have been difficult” —Elizabeth said.

“Not at all, for someone like me it was as easy as hunting these rabbits, I wanted to try harder missions but the ones available needs more than just one person, and I think it is for something, so I didn’t want it to risk myself”

“So, you do think about this sort of stuff”

“Ryu!”

“Sorry…”

“Do not worry, mate. I know that by the way I express myself you could see me as a dumb person but I do assure you that I will not be in your way”

“I didn’t want to put it that way… We are counting on you too, Silver, we are a team now”

Alexander stopped eating and he started sobbing again.

“Come on, man…”

As I observed Alexander eating his food, I couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t take his armor off, he only opened the visor where it showed part of his mouth but we couldn’t see anything in reality.

“Why don’t you take off your helmet?”

“We are on an adventure right now, so I won’t take my armor right now if you want to see how handsome I am”

“Uh…”

Elizabeth laughed while I keep eating, when we stopped eating Alexander keep himself standing up instead of getting in the carriage

“What are you doing, Silver?”

“I'm keeping guard”

“I don’t think we should”

“Why not?”

“I’ve been sleeping with Elizabeth in the outsides for a lot of time”

“Where do you sleep?”

“In the woods, near the city”

“That is why… you are lucky now that you didn’t go into any trouble but one should always keep guard, that’s another of the reasons why you need more than yourself to go into harder missions, we are right now outside the city, the forest was in the territory still and no many people get in there”

“I understand why you are trying to say… you are right…”

I look back at Elizabeth.

“Sorry, Liz… Alright, you're taking first?”

“I am already doing it, Mister”

“Just call me, Ryu, it is getting too awkward”

“Okay… Ryu…”

“Don’t say it like that, man”

I got in the carriage and slept. Some hours later, I got up and Silver was still there. I touched his shoulder and made a move with my head. He got in and I took my sword while I rested my back in the carriage as I yawned.

It was the first time I got up this late in the middle of nowhere, the only thing in here was the dark night and the dust being pushed by the air. It made me feel very relaxed that I could fall asleep again but I was mountain guard now.

I started to play with my sword in the meantime as I got bored, just drawing stuff in the dirt while I look back and at the distance to make sure nothing came, but being alone in this environment wasn’t helping me much from what I heard when we were in the carriage.

I never forgot about my parents, but I never thought about going back to my own place, or asking or trying to find someone. Right now… what is what I want? I like the idea of going into adventures but I forgot where I came from…

I looked at my sword lost in my thoughts and at that moment, I felt the touch of a hand on my shoulder, I looked back and saw Elizabeth smiling.

“Getting lost in your thoughts again?”

“Yeah… sorry for what happened earlier… I am just thinking about my hometown…”

“Do you miss it?”

“I don’t even know… I am glad I left when I first got in here, but a lot of stuff happened, and now I am here going into a real adventure… I think it just… it doesn’t feel… real…”

I was struggling with my words and at that moment, Elizabeth took my hand and pointed it up.

“Remember what I told you?”

“Yeah…”

I sit down on the floor with Elizabeth, I rest my head on her shoulder as I look at the sky.

“Thank you, Liz…”

She didn’t say anything, I grabbed her hand and looked at the front.

“If you were with me back then… maybe I wouldn’t leave…”

“What are you saying, Ryu…”

Hours passed and I fell asleep. By the time I got up again, Alexander was getting ready to leave. I was being shaken by Elizabeth, I got up and cleaned my mouth with my forearm as I got into the carriage.

Elizabeth was laying down, slowly falling asleep as I got with Alexander.

“It should be one more day, right?”

“Yeah, our next stop should be in the town nearby the forest so we can go with all our energy, I heard that the food next town is incredible, we should really try it, oh and his blacksmith has the fame of-“

I smiled and let Alexander talk as I saw the road. Right now I was being an adventurer, a warrior, a swordsman, tomorrow, we will be doing an actual dungeon exploration, and who knows what else I would be doing in the future.

I am sure of something, as long as I am with Elizabeth, I can go forward with anything, if she was with me in my world, I’m sure I would have never left.

Not another person, not someone similar. It needed to be Elizabeth…

“And we can close the night with some wine, you guys drink?”

“We drink from time to time, but not that often”

“Awesome!”

“But let’s leave the toast for when we come back with the quest, that way it would be a way to celebrate”

“You are right! You are a genius, Ryu! How could I forget about such a thing!”

Alexander kept talking as I listened and looked at Elizabeth sleeping.

“She didn’t wake me up, she is a hard worker person”

“Liz? Yeah… she is awesome”

“Are you two like childhood friends? You seemed very close”

“We met a few months ago, and we just got along pretty well, I was received by her family when I didn’t have where to go”

“You got really lucky then, not a lot of people do that”

“I am aware of my luck; it almost seems too good to be truth”

“You don’t believe in your own efforts? Because it sounds like that”

“What do you mean?”

“You think luck is at your side, but in reality, part of that is true, but that is only the little push that it gives you, you know? To maintain the status, to keep the trust of her family, you must have done something good. So be proud of that, be proud!”

Alexander started laughing as I look at the road shocked for what he said, and it wasn’t the first time I heard it, Elizabeth tells me that, her family, my own parents told me that at some point

I smiled and I nodded with my head.

“I need some time for it, I am not the type that brags or wants to get all the credit”

“It is time to learn how to be a little selfish then, don’t you want something that might make other people angry?”

“I suppose I do… but I think I already made one of the greediest decisions… I want to believe in something and at the same time I don’t want that to happen”

“Sounds like it is complicated”

“You have no idea, Silver…”

“Call me just Alex, Elizabeth already calls me like that”

“Does she?! Damn, she is fast at getting to know other people”

“She is… I know why the other parties didn’t want me in their teams, and she spoke with me about that, she didn’t contain though, she gave me the full truth”

“Ah… sorry…”

“No worries, it’s fine, but I do appreciate it, this journey… even if you don’t want me in your team after this mission, just yesterday has been one of the most exciting days of my life, so I am really glad for that, you two are wonderful people”

I smiled at Alexander and patted his back.

“Thank us after the mission, if you got excited for that, imagine when we are actually in the dungeon, prepare for that”

“YES SIR!”

Alexander laughed, and Elizabeth made a noise, Alexander shut up and I contained my laugh looking the road.