Looking in a different direction

A week later.

An endless crowd of people filled each side of the road. The kids waved and jumped at the front—their eyes glinting like jewels. So many of them would dream to one day be in this position, to carry everyone's hopes on their backs.

As we marched, a band followed behind us, their melody inspiring—triumphant, even—as if the battle had already been won. It proclaimed that failure wasn't even a possibility.

Betta rode at the front, her head standing taller than anyone else's due to the sheer size of the buffalo she sat on. She pumped her fists and screamed a battle cry that resounded stronger than a landslide—her way of saying "I'm your hero, and I'll slay any evil that threatens our peace."

A few steps behind her, Rasbora rode curled into herself like a pillbug, timidly waving. Her eyes rested on the ground, avoiding faces, but at least she seemed to be holding her lunch in. Even I'd heard about her incident from back in the day, despite not having attended her investiture.

As for me, I let myself get carried away by the cheers. Didn't question whether I deserved them or not, and simply enjoyed the moment. I raised my hands, smiled, saluted everyone I could and overall did as one would expect from an actual Paladin during a procession.

Soon enough we reached the river that signaled the end of the city. The Gem Capital was built upon a wide patch of land in the middle of the Great Topaz River, in a section where it split in two for several kilometers before merging back downstream. Outside the river border were the farmlands that fed the growing population of the city—most of them with rice.

At the start of the bridge, a banner of several lines of knights awaited. We stopped our march upon reaching them and the music fell silent. The knights all saluted and began shifting their formation in rhythm, the sounds of their organized movement a melody in its own right. They revealed the Council members at the center of their ranks. One by one, each of the rulers stepped forward to give an elaborate speech about hope, justice and peace. Mostly sweet talk—not just for the citizens, but also for the scribes, merchants and other travelers who would carry the news to every corner of the nation.

I didn't pay much attention to the specifics. Instead, my eyes were drawn to the distance, to the big marvel of architecture that was the city's aqueduct. Such a clever way to link what many would've seen as an insurmountable gap. Thanks to the efforts of a few brave souls so long ago, everyone around had access to pure clean water nowadays.

The last member of the Council finished their speech and made way for the three of us to cross the bridge, signaling the start of our quest. I felt a certain… excitement at the idea of beginning anew. One that reminded me of my first time parting on a journey as a Paladin. I didn't need to think about the destination yet. For now, I could just enjoy the adventure.

ᗢ⫘⫘⫘⫘𖦹⫘⫘⫘⫘♡

In these kinds of travels, the first few days were such a delight—a chance to leave the stiffness of man-made architecture and admire nature in all its glory. Like the trees.

And then end up feeling like a tree yourself with how stiff your lower back would get. It had been months since the last time I rode a buffalo so I forgot how coarse the beefy boys were. Until I got used to riding them again, my back would hurt like a stick had been shoved inside me.

We were given four for our trek, one each and an extra for additional belongings. Well, technically we were only given three, since Amanita had been Betta's buffalo since forever.

The route we followed for now was just the main road to and from the Capital—a solid stone path as reliable as the sun rising. Yet by contrast, our surroundings presented a lush mass of green with patches of bluish water, all accompanied by the strong scent of someone rubbing wet grass in your face. Not unpleasant, just a bit stuffy. This was supposed to be the Dry Season by the way.

After several hours of travel, we set camp for the day a short while before the sun would set. At this rate we'd reach the northern borders within four—or maybe five—months, likely around the beginning of Mist Season. Betta took the buffalos somewhere out of sight to let them wallow, which left me alone with Rasbora.

"So, how you feeling about the trip?" I asked as I began preparing dinner. "Excited about your first Paladin quest?"

She dipped her head. "It's nice, aye." Then she returned to her task. Her cupped chestnut hair barely swayed in the breeze as she worked on setting up the tents. A few freckles adorned the tan of her focused face, reminding me of the irregularities in my own skin, though the light patches on my body were a much less common sight. I didn't know of anyone who shared such a peculiarity.

Something the two of us did share was eye color—a similar hue of purple. Other than appearances, however, I wasn't aware if there was anything else we had in common.

We'd been fellow Paladins for almost seven months already, yet we barely knew each other. Although to be fair I hadn't done much to remedy that. It wasn't that I had anything against her, she just… arrived at a time when my heart wasn't in the right place for making new friends.

But I mean, the three of us had done our weekly training together, so we knew how to fight as a team. Personal relationships were optional.

And keeping her at arm's length would save you the trouble of being asked about the past.

…

"Where are you from, Rasbora? I'm from Creamriver Valley." Once again, I did the opposite of what my better judgement suggested.

Her hands stopped working, but she didn't turn my direction. "Ah'm from the southeast. A small village. Ya haven't heard of it."

"I've traversed quite a good portion of the world as a Paladin. I might just surprise you. Let's see… was it somewhere around the Fields of Vespertine?"

She stared at her hands without a reaction. Then, as if suddenly remembering we were having a conversation, blinked and shook her head.

"Alright, give me a hint."

"Eh? Ah guess… It's a bit high in the mountains. Mah people use yaks instead of buffaloes for the heavy work."

"Hmm. Yeah, I know about some of those. Greypeak?" She shook her head. "One of the settlements around Salt's Mountain Chain? Or maybe… what was that one called? Beaumont?"

Her eyes finally looked my direction. "A-aye, that's the place. Amazing. Have ya visited? Maybe ah was too young to remember ya."

"Come on, I'm only like ten years older than you. And sorry but I haven't been there, I've only heard of the region. What can you tell me about it?"

With that, the ice had been successfully shattered and grated into a refreshing snack. I kept the conversation flowing and got her to tell me a bunch of stuff about her homeland, though I sometimes had to squeeze for the details since her default responses leaned on the dry side.

Today marked the first step in a friendship that might last… well, perhaps not past the end of this journey, but at least we could get along until then—assuming Betta didn't tell her the truth about me before that.

ᗢ⫘⫘⫘⫘𖦹⫘⫘⫘⫘♡

When Betta returned with the herd, all of them—including Betta herself—were soaked like mops. Her normally bulky hair clinged to her armor in a way that reminded me of algae. Rasbora opened her mouth for a second, then wisely bit her tongue.

I could actually guess how Betta ended up like this, and although I'd love to tease her about it, the current state of our relationship meant the price would be at least a couple teeth. Not worth it, probably.

We ate dinner in complete silence other than the singing of frogs and buzzing of insects. Neither I nor Rasbora would risk annoying the bear named Betta by striking up a conversation. Well, she resembled a piranha more than a bear, but whatever.

"You outdid yourself again with the cooking, Dori. It looks so tasty," Oscar said from next to my shoulder.

It was just some trout broth, although the ingredients were of solid quality since they came from the Capital. They allowed me to strike the perfect balance between salty and sour that I liked in fish dishes.

"Enjoy your meal, but don't forget this won't last forever," he added. "Wait, that came out wrong. I mean that you'll eventually have to forage around and catch fish yourself. But I'm sure your team will be fine."

All three of us came from humble origins so we had some knowledge on how to get our own resources. If anything, Oscar being a noble was the kind of exception you only saw once every few generations.

He glanced at Betta, his face tensing for just a moment, then he turned to Rasbora. "You know, I saw you talking with Rasbora when I woke up a minute ago and I'm… I'm happy for you. It's good to have you make new friends. You'd been kinda aloof for the past year."

"Thanks, mom," I couldn't resist whispering.

Oscar put a hand on my shoulder. His fingers sank in, but I couldn't feel them. Not at all.

"Dori, I… I've avoided bringing it up because I understand you're going through a lot." I don't like where this is going. "With how Betta's been treating you ever since the incident and the whole matter with the Council and Mahi and… sorry, I'm digging up nasty stuff. What I want to get at is that you can talk to me. Well, not right now, but you get me."

I nodded in a way our companions wouldn't notice.

"Alright, good," he murmured. "Good."

We finished eating then wiped our utensils with some local grass and a bit of boiled water. I put out the fire and each of us went to sleep in one of the three tents. Doing nightwatch wasn't needed around these parts—worst-case our buffalos would bellow and wake us up if some predator got near.

So I closed my eyes and hoped Oscar's "you can talk to me" talk wouldn't become a recurring thing.