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Prologue
I have already learned the true nature of this world; every single language spoken by581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Nhr2mDSgj
all the miscreated, bid farewell to all those that I ever met, and just finished predicting581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1LS030hJu1
most outcomes - not bad for someone born only a day ago.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlPn80ld1nu
And now I must wait here for him, atop such a generous outcrop of stone; one so581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhzLICFwE8h
easily protruding from the most graceful display of running water. A creek, I think it581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5BXOzfo46b
is called, that much like me, seems to always be running but never getting anywhere.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhfnXNM2G4g
I cannot think of a better example of the flow of time and design working perfectly581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeXMO8REbwH
in tandem. Yet another sample of what can be expected in this world above, I suppose581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzBXqB3yTO
and hope; an example that for so long has dared to cross these woods that the one581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKHU0eDGkj
I am waiting for, sometimes calls his own.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRUOqukRBWM
He should be here any moment now; my inherited memories keep assuring me581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoov8JJJSNe
that he comes by this exact spot every day to make his crossing, and today will be no581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oVUX1WAqM
exception. He will come. He will come and he will find me; he will find me, and he581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcdYkISX38M
will say:581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiD7T8Ce6RY
“And who might you be?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkP3DhjsHy
After I turned around, I was greeted with a weird-looking old figure, much more so581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNIteYFb84j
than I was expecting, with an uneven pair of glasses barely hanging from his slightly581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLPySGtNPAR
twirled nose and a long set of grey hair cascading, knot after knot, from the top of his581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmpfLTD3Ji9
head. Several pieces of mismatched armour were strapped to his tall if a bit hunched,581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYXp2lTelEb
body. They had been collected over a long period of time and from all kinds of sources.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtfCEj0SzEn
His right hand held a solid piece of armament; he tried to disguise it as a walking stick,581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaVccHtEKHo
but it was most definitely a good weapon. A haversack hung from his other shoulder,581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA7fdLsu5f4
it was half open and mostly filled with all sorts of plants and a few samples of fungi.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh3YrjcN6QU
Then I noticed behind him followed a beast of burden; great of size and with quite581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb2cMTcWfUD
the relaxed jaw hanging under its corpulent nose. And if all the satchels covering its581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy9hYDzak9A
blue and green skin were not enough to define its purpose, its mellow eyes surely did581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaHcZQPPK8F
the trick. Also, between its massive shoulders and the middle of its curved back, rested581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5LNG4EuPWA
a large, purple saddle. One that was just big enough for two.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Wusmb7fkb
“I was waiting for you,” I steadily revealed to him.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEUG9pp6Qdd
“It would certainly seem that way.” The old man replied quite unpreoccupied,581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5sbECq1MGz
“Please tell me then, how is it that I am fated to find a little one such as yourself out581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtLx43HsyS
here, in the middle of these woods?” He asked as he began tying that beast to the581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0C1PCQ0ZUn
nearest tree.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3A7HNu8oVm
“I just said,” I repeated without taking my eyes from all the papers I was holding,581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi9lS7Q9Hl7
“that I came here to wait for you.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnWCaHT1waZ
“Quite right.” He stared at me for a moment, and then finally wetted his boots as he581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLM4CDsy85y
ventured into that running water to make his approach. He did so slowly and carefully,581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIE4HOMVGeO
as to not frighten me, which caused me to smile in appreciation. All the dirt and rips581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuLBFXYL5xb
in my mostly white clothes easily conveying to him that I had gone through quite a581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCU5yXGVmkb
lot recently.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi04RYYL8GW
“It’s alright. You can come closer.” I told him unabashedly.581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaXCtPWlVHB
“Oh, were you writing?” He was quick to notice when close enough, “And at such a581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5U8rDQuvlH
young age as well. Remarkable.” He then quickly followed that with a high opinion of581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZFbF1Ezlg1
my scattered drawings, before picking one up: “And what about these? Did you draw581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM5VKjJARUL
all of them as well?”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQQZ88L6EdT
“I did.”581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5CWcceV6o
“I know this man...” The old man confessed, “and this woman as well.” He added as581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9zebqs5QRz
his eyes caught glimpse of another half-finished sketch. He picked up that one as well,581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC5tnlVIKMF
and then held them close to each other ...581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsWLGcnbJG
“I know these people.” He insisted, without taking his eyes from those two pictures...
