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Prologue
I have already learned the true nature of this world; every single language spoken by428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡinWN3lHoBc
all the miscreated, bid farewell to all those that I ever met, and just finished predicting428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpw7ilEMpt
most outcomes - not bad for someone born only a day ago.428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIZZQFkuaA8
And now I must wait here for him, atop such a generous outcrop of stone; one so428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfdcifeyhdC
easily protruding from the most graceful display of running water. A creek, I think it428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUwnehTQJI7
is called, that much like me, seems to always be running but never getting anywhere.428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYpHBFZpj8b
I cannot think of a better example of the flow of time and design working perfectly428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLh2VBljBsL
in tandem. Yet another sample of what can be expected in this world above, I suppose428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡot5DDFgDZq
and hope; an example that for so long has dared to cross these woods that the one428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbT2ZyXUXdc
I am waiting for, sometimes calls his own.428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgYC5Ttn6o
He should be here any moment now; my inherited memories keep assuring me428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQE1ZeYBFJh
that he comes by this exact spot every day to make his crossing, and today will be no428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHlVB76kiI
exception. He will come. He will come and he will find me; he will find me, and he428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgVpvXpe2J
will say:428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHhTbCmfzf
“And who might you be?”428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5TWjpvaCK
After I turned around, I was greeted with a weird-looking old figure, much more so428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4OS9whLRoM
than I was expecting, with an uneven pair of glasses barely hanging from his slightly428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1YwvniapUG
twirled nose and a long set of grey hair cascading, knot after knot, from the top of his428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6JtZyYxh29
head. Several pieces of mismatched armour were strapped to his tall if a bit hunched,428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUci8IcwMm
body. They had been collected over a long period of time and from all kinds of sources.428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGiruudCrb
His right hand held a solid piece of armament; he tried to disguise it as a walking stick,428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TGaFctzKC
but it was most definitely a good weapon. A haversack hung from his other shoulder,428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrXyLygcvbJ
it was half open and mostly filled with all sorts of plants and a few samples of fungi.428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfbwqJEkJz
Then I noticed behind him followed a beast of burden; great of size and with quite428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSAM71A24q9
the relaxed jaw hanging under its corpulent nose. And if all the satchels covering its428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3zvyJDFLy
blue and green skin were not enough to define its purpose, its mellow eyes surely did428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMWCdgGcLgV
the trick. Also, between its massive shoulders and the middle of its curved back, rested428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkipnz6xUI4
a large, purple saddle. One that was just big enough for two.428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZYfRm7RvS
“I was waiting for you,” I steadily revealed to him.428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVsNlBB7BGP
“It would certainly seem that way.” The old man replied quite unpreoccupied,428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZz37UfLoe
“Please tell me then, how is it that I am fated to find a little one such as yourself out428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8SWOMJlzUn
here, in the middle of these woods?” He asked as he began tying that beast to the428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8qn0bRhugs
nearest tree.428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ41pCKee4Vf
“I just said,” I repeated without taking my eyes from all the papers I was holding,428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjAnvhM3XN
“that I came here to wait for you.”428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Ym6DNgVRK
“Quite right.” He stared at me for a moment, and then finally wetted his boots as he428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnwOulSpkH
ventured into that running water to make his approach. He did so slowly and carefully,428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkS3WlVdbPD
as to not frighten me, which caused me to smile in appreciation. All the dirt and rips428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmh9oexadbl
in my mostly white clothes easily conveying to him that I had gone through quite a428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1LBpqD2h2
lot recently.428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5eeitA7mrB
“It’s alright. You can come closer.” I told him unabashedly.428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡauYMSmwds9
“Oh, were you writing?” He was quick to notice when close enough, “And at such a428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7f7xMznPCJ
young age as well. Remarkable.” He then quickly followed that with a high opinion of428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTFD5dlplu
my scattered drawings, before picking one up: “And what about these? Did you draw428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtWBpaPzuVi
all of them as well?”428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSDWiJztsS
“I did.”428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ8u3Q8dDiI
“I know this man...” The old man confessed, “and this woman as well.” He added as428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOZKcMNuXi6
his eyes caught glimpse of another half-finished sketch. He picked up that one as well,428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX7AgrQNbaG
and then held them close to each other ...428Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdFb0yA2i2r
“I know these people.” He insisted, without taking his eyes from those two pictures...
