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Prologue
I have already learned the true nature of this world; every single language spoken by522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK8iRG4kBbh
all the miscreated, bid farewell to all those that I ever met, and just finished predicting522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡucnLZOj42a
most outcomes - not bad for someone born only a day ago.522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7dKvoYyHj
And now I must wait here for him, atop such a generous outcrop of stone; one so522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYS24EGMWnF
easily protruding from the most graceful display of running water. A creek, I think it522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDY1DDeL8Sa
is called, that much like me, seems to always be running but never getting anywhere.522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTcu4azCZW
I cannot think of a better example of the flow of time and design working perfectly522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVLAfvCum2z
in tandem. Yet another sample of what can be expected in this world above, I suppose522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7es1EQ4t0Y
and hope; an example that for so long has dared to cross these woods that the one522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyljk5dE0Su
I am waiting for, sometimes calls his own.522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjIIGldh1nQ
He should be here any moment now; my inherited memories keep assuring me522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6jod66A7Pk
that he comes by this exact spot every day to make his crossing, and today will be no522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTX8aNUcpit
exception. He will come. He will come and he will find me; he will find me, and he522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIe6wUQ180I
will say:522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8iH2NxKtp
“And who might you be?”522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvJxIFKOB5O
After I turned around, I was greeted with a weird-looking old figure, much more so522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJA2uBn9Lf
than I was expecting, with an uneven pair of glasses barely hanging from his slightly522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA5NJS5GZJG
twirled nose and a long set of grey hair cascading, knot after knot, from the top of his522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMfbeIgZqdz
head. Several pieces of mismatched armour were strapped to his tall if a bit hunched,522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYHXg0Kuwb3
body. They had been collected over a long period of time and from all kinds of sources.522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJA2iCoUSzO
His right hand held a solid piece of armament; he tried to disguise it as a walking stick,522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNo4Akp8F3H
but it was most definitely a good weapon. A haversack hung from his other shoulder,522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRBDjcFJLPn
it was half open and mostly filled with all sorts of plants and a few samples of fungi.522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmn3f2LS6D
Then I noticed behind him followed a beast of burden; great of size and with quite522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYaPe8ypuIn
the relaxed jaw hanging under its corpulent nose. And if all the satchels covering its522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjSmDHa7VAx
blue and green skin were not enough to define its purpose, its mellow eyes surely did522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiqqxF5FiS5
the trick. Also, between its massive shoulders and the middle of its curved back, rested522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeBZDB75WDt
a large, purple saddle. One that was just big enough for two.522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3cQnXb9JhU
“I was waiting for you,” I steadily revealed to him.522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnFopr0E3sp
“It would certainly seem that way.” The old man replied quite unpreoccupied,522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKivBx0STGj
“Please tell me then, how is it that I am fated to find a little one such as yourself out522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPJgnvkdqzk
here, in the middle of these woods?” He asked as he began tying that beast to the522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjIkrBvyE5s
nearest tree.522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBeEZEPzwFL
“I just said,” I repeated without taking my eyes from all the papers I was holding,522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa9Gtw5RHAy
“that I came here to wait for you.”522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRLNG1Cp3Qi
“Quite right.” He stared at me for a moment, and then finally wetted his boots as he522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmpJ0Jvtj8
ventured into that running water to make his approach. He did so slowly and carefully,522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgANC2NVic
as to not frighten me, which caused me to smile in appreciation. All the dirt and rips522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVVzxIi9m8F
in my mostly white clothes easily conveying to him that I had gone through quite a522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbfthjP6bdp
lot recently.522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5aeZPJ9uIA
“It’s alright. You can come closer.” I told him unabashedly.522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡslv4hk00J9
“Oh, were you writing?” He was quick to notice when close enough, “And at such a522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2zCX5hkMA
young age as well. Remarkable.” He then quickly followed that with a high opinion of522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSC1V1Pewit
my scattered drawings, before picking one up: “And what about these? Did you draw522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhVUsWyMx16
all of them as well?”522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRuhnFj5oBH
“I did.”522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWyLSs5GMZL
“I know this man...” The old man confessed, “and this woman as well.” He added as522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqtXAPeahqc
his eyes caught glimpse of another half-finished sketch. He picked up that one as well,522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLfXFpM8dX
and then held them close to each other ...522Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsocWOGv2TQ
“I know these people.” He insisted, without taking his eyes from those two pictures...
