Preparing For The Journey Ahead

After Maya had told her parents that she wanted to travel with me. She told them that she wanted to help me with finding out more about how I wound up in this world. With figuring out how the ancient Bestia could be related to the mirror.
But most importantly, because travelling was something that SHE wanted to do.

At first they were reluctant. Their daughter had just come home from an encounter with a senus and now she suddenly bursted out saying that she wanted to travel around the kingdom.
It was all a little too much to handle and process in a relatively short timespan.
But the longer they sat down on it, the happier they became that their daughter wanted to do and discover something for herself.
Richard and Iris shared a look, a small nod and then turned to Maya to tell her.

‘Fine… we’ll allow it.’ Richard said.
‘REALLY?’ Maya excitedly exclaimed.
‘Really.’

The happiness on Maya’s face can only be described as pure and childlike bliss. Her excitement of her parents’ permission got her almost jumping from joy.

‘But… we do ask you two to wait for a bit.’ Iris said.
‘Okaaay, but why?’
‘Just like how Micheal got ready, you also need stuff of your own. Besides, if you brought in a senus, then that probably means that they are going to take it apart for materials. If you were the ones who took it down, then those materials and what can be made from it, is yours.’ Richard answered.
‘Oh yeah, I… kinda forgot about that.’ Maya said, while scratching behind her cat ears.
‘Also, and this is a bit of selfishness on our part, we want you to stay for a little bit. We want to make sure you are properly prepared, but we also want to see you be comfortable with what you’re about to do.’ Iris said.
‘We are your parents.’ Richard continued. ‘And even if we are behind it, we will still worry about you. We want to see you happy. Don’t forget that, okay?’
‘…Thanks.’ Maya said, while lowering her head.

Maya looked relieved. Like a heavy thought was finally lifted from her shoulders. And I couldn’t help but pat her back to comfort her when she sat like that.
I was there too, once.

‘I guess our journey will have to wait a little bit.’ Maya said to me.
‘That’s fine by me.’ I said to her.

The next two weeks were once again spend preparing.
We went to Elize to ask her to make similair things for Maya and saw how she finished some of the things she was working on for me. She made me two tunics and a pair of trousers. Which I was very thankful for, because my clothes were starting to smell. I’d sometimes wash them, but at some point they just became dirty and I wished I had other clothes. I immediately changed clothes the moment I had the opportunity.

Elize did ask me to leave my clothes with her for a while. She was curious about how it was made and wanted to study it as inspiration for some of her future clothes she’d make and I happily obliged. With the things she made for me, it was the least I could do and she seemed genuinely fascinated by my clothes.
Elize also made me a gray cloak which looked familair to me and I’d soon realize why.

To see what happened to the senus, we went to Johan’s place. Besides being a blacksmith, I learned that Johan and most blacksmiths in this world are also experts with taking apart a senus’ body and determining what parts can be used.
One of the things he made, he gifted to me. It was a sword, made out of the senus’s blade-like horns. The blade was about 50 centimeters long and my hand naturally fitted around the hilt.

‘Look at the finely sharp horn. I barely had to sharpen it myself. Most of that was directly from the beast itself. It can easily cut through wood and put a dent in metal without any part of it chipping of. For it’s light weight it’s surprisingly sturdy. So to best complement it, I made the hilt as light as I could without sacrificing sturdyness. This is easily my masterpiece. You’re one lucky guy for somehow taking that thing down.’ Johan rambled.

A man of many words indeed. When it came to something he made and was proud of, he truly wouldn’t stop talking. Which was kind of endearing to me. To be so open about the thing you are passionate about and sharing it with someone else. I wish to be like that too someday.
He ended up lending the senus’ skin to Elize for her to make it into… something. Which ultimately led to her making a cloak out of it.

But most importantly, those two weeks Maya and I were just having fun. We ran around the place, just messing around.
Even though we couldn’t wait for the moment to leave. Sometimes even staying awake at night, just to talk about whatever we might find and see out there.
Big cities. Incredibly dense forests with colourful flora and fauna. Beautiful crystal lakes like at Raphael Falls. 
We let our imaginations run wild. …And we definitely lost some sleep because of it. But I didn’t regret a single thing about it.
All of it fed into our excitement for what was ahead.

And then, after those two weeks were over, it was time to say goodbye.