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Prologue
I have already learned the true nature of this world; every single language spoken by582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKiE3L0oX3h
all the miscreated, bid farewell to all those that I ever met, and just finished predicting582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYBgqvlE74O
most outcomes - not bad for someone born only a day ago.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡatK7dV6IlY
And now I must wait here for him, atop such a generous outcrop of stone; one so582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVY1kHzvAj3
easily protruding from the most graceful display of running water. A creek, I think it582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5zAqFHuhru
is called, that much like me, seems to always be running but never getting anywhere.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgH0CLRPQe4
I cannot think of a better example of the flow of time and design working perfectly582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJCAHqOHMBz
in tandem. Yet another sample of what can be expected in this world above, I suppose582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcn8KVOgCXv
and hope; an example that for so long has dared to cross these woods that the one582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfqAJoPXnfs
I am waiting for, sometimes calls his own.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxD8ETjoxHO
He should be here any moment now; my inherited memories keep assuring me582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdJ5EADPaQD
that he comes by this exact spot every day to make his crossing, and today will be no582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMP5PBbJrBi
exception. He will come. He will come and he will find me; he will find me, and he582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAkRQmS9s6W
will say:582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSg8ODmnKIh
“And who might you be?”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rjrgC2X8O
After I turned around, I was greeted with a weird-looking old figure, much more so582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXS7aK8zW7
than I was expecting, with an uneven pair of glasses barely hanging from his slightly582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb8NTn0NCpk
twirled nose and a long set of grey hair cascading, knot after knot, from the top of his582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIv19wuQoL
head. Several pieces of mismatched armour were strapped to his tall if a bit hunched,582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOTYXUJnypR
body. They had been collected over a long period of time and from all kinds of sources.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQ81lAKTTv
His right hand held a solid piece of armament; he tried to disguise it as a walking stick,582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmki8dx6Fl
but it was most definitely a good weapon. A haversack hung from his other shoulder,582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡczhUeWDZ4b
it was half open and mostly filled with all sorts of plants and a few samples of fungi.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJMxl40NBrN
Then I noticed behind him followed a beast of burden; great of size and with quite582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0AgPlAXt4
the relaxed jaw hanging under its corpulent nose. And if all the satchels covering its582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTLZyUvNa9
blue and green skin were not enough to define its purpose, its mellow eyes surely did582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI2bDkLEbfU
the trick. Also, between its massive shoulders and the middle of its curved back, rested582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ68TteJvo4x
a large, purple saddle. One that was just big enough for two.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfxW8xPOL0g
“I was waiting for you,” I steadily revealed to him.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfA3PfqDY8G
“It would certainly seem that way.” The old man replied quite unpreoccupied,582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRkF5ubQzw
“Please tell me then, how is it that I am fated to find a little one such as yourself out582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWPWoAGpC4u
here, in the middle of these woods?” He asked as he began tying that beast to the582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1a0MZrjYsV
nearest tree.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPFBcgBHvj
“I just said,” I repeated without taking my eyes from all the papers I was holding,582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEiVcbJvAsX
“that I came here to wait for you.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1alrasOf1s
“Quite right.” He stared at me for a moment, and then finally wetted his boots as he582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFF6lq2DDyF
ventured into that running water to make his approach. He did so slowly and carefully,582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOOTN0QwkIx
as to not frighten me, which caused me to smile in appreciation. All the dirt and rips582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBslxewH7u
in my mostly white clothes easily conveying to him that I had gone through quite a582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuPUrEn66Gq
lot recently.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKK1zCUkz4K
“It’s alright. You can come closer.” I told him unabashedly.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxoE5ox90cv
“Oh, were you writing?” He was quick to notice when close enough, “And at such a582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq8anKInyZH
young age as well. Remarkable.” He then quickly followed that with a high opinion of582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0fbUQj9Se8
my scattered drawings, before picking one up: “And what about these? Did you draw582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBFa5EcTudQ
all of them as well?”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9lKdWOH59F
“I did.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshfN4IHFtq
“I know this man...” The old man confessed, “and this woman as well.” He added as582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRI8w4U6Bqf
his eyes caught glimpse of another half-finished sketch. He picked up that one as well,582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdKah5hXPT
and then held them close to each other ...582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57ZoGfqvfY
“I know these people.” He insisted, without taking his eyes from those two pictures...
