Fantasy Roadtrip Vibes

Exiting north towards Fallowfield was much the same as approaching from Ter’aquit to the east in terms of scenery. Drab-coloured fields of grain lined the road as far as the eye could see, one plot of land leading into the next and providing little to look at. As much as I had wanted to see it, I couldn't help but feel that I had already experienced the view once or twice before, drawing on lukewarm memories of cross-country trips that took me through the Great Plains of North America. Luckily, the thoughts weren't too traumatic and merely mirrored my growing disinterest in the unending terrain, making me wish for a faster form of transportation with every slow step forward.

At least it was a beautiful day to walk in the countryside, with comfortable temperatures and a cloudless sky. Strolling forward, I watched the acres of grain bow and bend under gentle gusts, revealing rolling waves that reminded me of the ocean. But as I admired the beauty of nature, I was no less cautious. I had learned from my experiences after all, and was no longer the same fool I had been a few weeks ago. With firsthand experiences now to remind me that the world was a dangerous place, I knew that there were roving gangs of bandits, monsters, and environmental hazards galore that wanted us dead. So as I watched the world around us, I kept my senses sharp and my attention focused for potential threats.

This wasn't to say that we maintained silence as we travelled. Enjoying pleasant conversations as we walked off the early morning booze, the four of us took turns being the designated vigilant watchman. But as the day dragged on, eventually even the talkative Aesandoral struggled to find things to chat about. After all, we had just spent nearly a full week of close contact leading up to our current side quest.

Then came the fact that after looking at the same golden fields of grain for hours, it began to feel like we weren’t progressing forward. This, paired with the lack of clouds to break up the monotony, slowly resulted in an emotional burden that weighed on me with every step forward.

I’m so bored! I eventually thought, looking around for trouble as I continued my watch. Everything seems clear. So maybe a game? 

“How about a game?” I asked my companions, locking my eyes on a particular marker in the distance. “Maybe a few rounds of eyespy?”

“No!” Their response was unanimous, with Rionriv turning around from the front of the pack and shooting me a death glance.

“How about we play a game of you-spy your surroundings?” Rionriv offered up with an accusatory finger pointed in my direction. “That way we don’t get ambushed by predators…again.”

“That’s the definition of eyespy…” I grumbled to myself as I looked forward at the endless plains with a huff.

So, with my attempt at entertainment an abysmal failure, I fell quiet once more. Walking for a while longer like this, I listened as sporadic conversations popped into existence, mostly school gossip, but all inevitably fading into quiet over time. At some points, I butted in, using my all-powerful understanding to spill tea on major school events that had been covered in my story. And while the triop loved these moments, it also provided ample opportunities to ask more questions about my past life. Thankfully, if things got too close to comfort, all I had to do was remind them that I needed to be on the lookout, giving me the breathing room I needed.

Eventually, my time on watch ended, and I was free to join in conversations or try to find ways to stave off my boredom. That's when I decided to give my second favourite road trip activity a chance—a little caravan karaoke.

“How about a song? A little caravan karaoke.” I finally brought up, dodging the question of what Tahvin’s occupation had been. “Any requests?”

"Oh! Oh!" Sharzin jumped in quickly, flipping her body towards me and trotting backwards as she continued. “That one about the ledge.”

Surprised by her sudden interest in the topic, I froze. Her response had come almost too quickly, to the point that it drew suspicion. I couldn't help but wonder if caravan karaoke was an actual thing in this world, and if Sharzin had been waiting for this exact moment? Or if she just really liked the idea of a sing-along?

"The...song about the ledge?" I eventually asked.

“You know! The one by the bards with the third eye. From the music box in your apartment.”

I immediately knew she had been talking about the CD player that Phyllis recreated from all the information removed from my traumatic memories. Whenever the girls would come over to study in my too-small-for-four-people apartment, the device was usually going and playing some knock-off variant of popular World Eighty-Two music. And, if I wasn’t keeping a constant eye on the rogue, she was playing disc jockey from the shadows.

“Oh, gotcha! U-um, okay.” I stuttered as I brought the song up in my mind before beginning to hum.

She wanted Three-Eyed Bard's song, Leaper. I-I can do this!

Gently bouncing to the beat with every step, I found the right moment between the hums and began to sing. I glanced at my companions, seeing them eying me closely as I belted out the lyrics. After a few verses and hitting the chorus, the performance nerves melted away. Sliding into the groove, I began to give it my all, truly believing I was doing well. That was until the second chorus began.

“Iz, stop.” Rionriv suddenly insisted, looking around. “Remember what I said about getting ambushed by predators? That racket is the literal definition of monster bait.”

"What?" I stopped immediately, looking at her as my face began to grow warm. "I—what do you mean?"

"It was awful. J-just stop, please."

YEEGUH—it was so bad that Rionriv said please. Gods, the embarrassment. I thought, quickly quieting myself as I looked down at my feet. That's almost worse than being pantsed by a succubus.

That was when Sharzin tugged on the side of my shirt. Glancing over to her, I stared at the big, glimmering eyes looking up at me. My broken heart began to lift as I looked into her gaze, wondering if she had at least appreciated my singing.

“That was the worst singing I have ever heard.” She spoke frankly. “You are never allowed to sing again. Ever. Do you understand? This was on me this time. ”

Aaahhhggg—Et tu, Sharzin?! T-This was what you requested!

“Sharzin, that’s—” Aesandoral stopped herself, remaining quiet long enough to become embarrassed before looking away from me.

And Aes?! If Aes won’t even defend me, it was truly terrible.

With that, I became silent and did nothing more than walk and keep watch. I was zero-for-two attempts to lighten the mood on the trip. So, coming to terms with it officially not being my day, I decided to stop while I was behind. We marched the remainder of the day in awkward tension, only breaking around midafternoon for a bite to eat and then again when we prepared to bed down for the evening

Stopping at the edge of a salt marsh that marked the entrance to the Greybrine Lake region, we decided it was as good a spot as any to set up our campsite. After all, the last thing we wanted was to get too far into the boggy landscape before darkness set in and have to spend hours struggling to find an appropriate place to sleep. Pinning down exactly where we wanted to rest for the night, we all jumped into the roles we had grown accustomed to. As Rionriv and Sharzin spent the remaining daylight hours foraging for some local edibles to enhance our meal, Aesandoral and I established our camp and concealed it from threats.

I was slower than Aesandoral at setting up my tent, meaning that by the time I had finished, the sun had set beneath the horizon and darkness had consumed the land. Taking a moment, I sat on the cool ground and looked up through the skeletal branches of the leafless brineland willows. It was the last night of the full moon, and being so far away from the flickering arcane lights of the city meant the sight of the rising disc was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.

Still cloudless, I could admire the silvery satellite in its entirety. It wasn’t completely different from the one that graced the sky of World Eighty-Two, but just enough to make it alien to me and take my breath away. While still a single large disc flanked by a night sky full of stars, what made this moon different was that it had its own satellite orbiting it. A moon with a moon, a thought that I remembered bringing a smile to my face as I wrote it into existence and one that made me smile even more to see.

“Iz, supper.” Sharzin called out to me, pulling me from my blissful moment.

“Coming.”

Picking myself up from the ground, I arrived at the campfire where a wooden bowl and a spork waited for me. I eyed the contents curiously, staring at the variety of leafy greens, seasoned meat, and fresh veggies procured while in Squalls Crossing. With a smile, I plopped myself beside Aesandoral in front of the fire, giving my thanks to the cook as I dug into the meal. 

Having learned my lesson in the dungeon, I didn’t bother overanalyzing the contents of the hodgepodge. Instead, gripping the spork, I began shovelling the food into my mouth and was immediately taken by the delicious flavour.

“Sharzin, what is this?” I asked excitedly, expecting another meal of Tennessee Fried Chicken, only to be proven wrong.

“Deconstructed burrito bowl.” The rogue responded proudly as she sat across the fire from me. "Like from Burrito Gong."

I watched as Sharzin lifted the spork to her own mouth and bit down on the meal. She chewed thoughtfully, tasting every flavour before swallowing. 

“Hmm," The rogue continued to speak. "I could adjust the spice ratio and cook the meat more slowly to improve the flavour.”

“Look at you, Zin,” I remarked as I shoved another sporkful of the meal past my lips. “I think you found your true calling. Maybe adventuring isn't for you, and you need to dedicate more time to cooking—”

A gold and jewel-encrusted dagger cut through the flames and planted itself in the ground between my legs.

GYAH! What the hell?

I looked from the blade back to Sharzin, who sat with a burrito bowl in one hand and another recently looted dagger poised to throw in the other. She appeared a little more than nonplussed with me, wearing a fiery fury that I had not seen before on her often unimpressed face.

“Take it back!” She demanded. “I am not destined to be some pregnant housewife slaving over a cooktop.”

“Whoa, that is not what I said.” I raised my hands, bowl included, into the air. “I was merely meaning you could probably open a restaurant and make some serious coin off this.”

Sharzin's demeanour quickly shifted as she lowered the dagger. Looking back down into her bowl, I could see the faint look of embarrassment begin to cover her face. With a glance at the rest of the triop, I could see them quietly watching the spat between the rogue and me, doing their best not to engage in the conflict.

“Oh, I think I overreacted.”

“Yuh’think?!" I gasped in reply, gradually lowering my hands as I turned back to her. "You want to talk about it?”

“You have secrets too.”

“Yep. Yep. Mmmhmm—fair.” I quickly dropped the subject before moving on to a more campfire-appropriate conversation. "Sooo, that dungeon—am I right?"

Awkward start or not, we all began talking about our dungeon dive once more. As we conversed, I enjoyed a hearty second helping of burrito bowl before passing around a pair of the fyreweed cigarettes I had brought along. With good company full of laughter, the evening dragged on until, finally, with dinner and a smoky dessert done, we set up our watch schedule before I settled into the position around the fire for the first stretch. I eyed my companions as they crawled into their concealed tents, reminding myself that Sharzin would be following me on watch with Aesandoral taking the remainder of the night and early morning.

Sitting beside the campfire, eyeing the flames as they reached up from the charred wood and becoming lost in memories of my old life, I listened to the creatures that owned the evening. The sounds of small nocturnal animals and insects that came to life and changed their tunes the closer we got to midnight. Occasional fireflies blinked to life before disappearing into the marsh, where little will-o'-wisps danced past the trees. The natural sleep track was beautiful to listen to, only disturbed at one point by something in the distance that made my hair stand.

A loud feline yowl silenced the world around the midnight hour. I listened cautiously as more distant howls went on for several minutes, as additional tiger-like creatures joined in. Curiously, I paid attention to the sounds, trying to remember what creature could have been so close to the lakes at such a late hour. But before I could recall, the cries and yowls eventually fell quiet, and nature's soundtrack returned to our campsite.

“I don’t remember putting tigers in Moal’aw,” I grumbled to myself as I approached Sharzin’s tent. “Nor did I put anything about tiger orgies. I'll just blame Phyllis for that.”

Reaching in, I gave the rogue's foot a shake. With my watch over, it was officially her turn to start.

“Hey, your watch," I whispered to her. "Get up."

"Mmmmgggrrrr—" Sharzin replied, rolling over and sitting up in her tent. "Mmm?"

"Sharzin, it's your watch. Watch out for tigers, I think they're fugging tonight.”

“What?” She mumbled groggily.

"Tigers, or something, are fuggin'. Other than that, nothing to report."

"What does that mean?"

“Exactly what it sounds like. Your watch. Night.” I finished with a yawn before stumbling away towards my tent.

Slinking in under the tarp, my face rested against the small pillow of clothes and, before I knew it, I was asleep.