White Witch
Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 4:00 am
Disclaimer: The following entries are written to commemorate a few dear characters from another time, another place, another PW - The Way Inn. Some inconsistencies in timelines/events must be kindly disregarded in order to collate an understandable tale for the reader's benefit.
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Prologue:
"We have but only this life; one life to follow wherever the heart may go." ~ old Gur saying
We have been sailing for many days now. I don't know at which point exactly that I stopped counting. Perhaps it was that evening when we sat on the deck with supper on our laps, with the gods looking down at all of us from above. That was what the captain said.
I told him that those were not the gods, but the souls of those who had gone before.
* * * *
"Pack your bags, darlin'. It'll be on foot from here."
Card ruffles my hair and gives me a quick peck on the cheek before retrieving his satchel near the door. It bangs shut after him. I look at the piece of scarf I had been knitting with some frustration at having to stop so soon after I'd started, then to the woman beside me. "Was that what you two were arguing about the other night?" I ask.
Alaria rolls her eyes, not bothering to lift the laziness from her tone. "Look, Will. I offered to pay passage on the coach for all three of us, but he threatened to leave you behind if I did. So instead, we spent a two tenday in this shitty caravan. Now they won't take us any further just because the weather's turned for the worse. What was I supposed to say, huh?" She begins stuffing some clothing into a waterproof sack. Her words seem flippant, but I have grown accustomed to this and know that it is all part of what I must accept if I am to spend this journey with her.
I sigh a little. "Sometimes I think he's even more eager about this journey than I am. He doesn't have to go, you know. Neither do you."
Alaria says nothing, crouching to tighten the straps on an ox-skin travel chest. I watch her for a moment, admiring the elegant lines of her face, the arrogant tilt of her chin and the athletic way in which she gathers up our belongings in single, swift movements. Nearly a year and then some, yet... she is more a stranger than a friend in so many ways.
"We have such a long way to go, Alaria. I'm so glad you're both with me," I say placidly, and pull a brush through some tangled hair.
She looks at me, a quick smile touching her lips. Then the moment passes, and her face is a mask of unemotion once more. I have lost count of the times wondering what she must think of me. We are, after all, plenty worlds apart. Just like Seren and I. Yes... Seren. Where was she now? She had never been one for long goodbyes.
Outside, Card is shouting for us to get a move on. I gather up the last of the bags and step into the light of a frozen afternoon.
------------
Prologue:
"We have but only this life; one life to follow wherever the heart may go." ~ old Gur saying
We have been sailing for many days now. I don't know at which point exactly that I stopped counting. Perhaps it was that evening when we sat on the deck with supper on our laps, with the gods looking down at all of us from above. That was what the captain said.
I told him that those were not the gods, but the souls of those who had gone before.
* * * *
"Pack your bags, darlin'. It'll be on foot from here."
Card ruffles my hair and gives me a quick peck on the cheek before retrieving his satchel near the door. It bangs shut after him. I look at the piece of scarf I had been knitting with some frustration at having to stop so soon after I'd started, then to the woman beside me. "Was that what you two were arguing about the other night?" I ask.
Alaria rolls her eyes, not bothering to lift the laziness from her tone. "Look, Will. I offered to pay passage on the coach for all three of us, but he threatened to leave you behind if I did. So instead, we spent a two tenday in this shitty caravan. Now they won't take us any further just because the weather's turned for the worse. What was I supposed to say, huh?" She begins stuffing some clothing into a waterproof sack. Her words seem flippant, but I have grown accustomed to this and know that it is all part of what I must accept if I am to spend this journey with her.
I sigh a little. "Sometimes I think he's even more eager about this journey than I am. He doesn't have to go, you know. Neither do you."
Alaria says nothing, crouching to tighten the straps on an ox-skin travel chest. I watch her for a moment, admiring the elegant lines of her face, the arrogant tilt of her chin and the athletic way in which she gathers up our belongings in single, swift movements. Nearly a year and then some, yet... she is more a stranger than a friend in so many ways.
"We have such a long way to go, Alaria. I'm so glad you're both with me," I say placidly, and pull a brush through some tangled hair.
She looks at me, a quick smile touching her lips. Then the moment passes, and her face is a mask of unemotion once more. I have lost count of the times wondering what she must think of me. We are, after all, plenty worlds apart. Just like Seren and I. Yes... Seren. Where was she now? She had never been one for long goodbyes.
Outside, Card is shouting for us to get a move on. I gather up the last of the bags and step into the light of a frozen afternoon.