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Prologue
I have already learned the true nature of this world; every single language spoken by600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMMVEBfCS3
all the miscreated, bid farewell to all those that I ever met, and just finished predicting600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs9hQ6TptsP
most outcomes - not bad for someone born only a day ago.600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6zAyiOAHix
And now I must wait here for him, atop such a generous outcrop of stone; one so600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbIF6m5WsV
easily protruding from the most graceful display of running water. A creek, I think it600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5D2jcARpm5
is called, that much like me, seems to always be running but never getting anywhere.600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5qG1SJQtT
I cannot think of a better example of the flow of time and design working perfectly600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjVUpCcInMe
in tandem. Yet another sample of what can be expected in this world above, I suppose600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6mja2Nzr2
and hope; an example that for so long has dared to cross these woods that the one600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMjApRibBWb
I am waiting for, sometimes calls his own.600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhQsCJ1uSj
He should be here any moment now; my inherited memories keep assuring me600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsHnOIzWHx
that he comes by this exact spot every day to make his crossing, and today will be no600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQjqjCadAzR
exception. He will come. He will come and he will find me; he will find me, and he600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUSFGoxuYb
will say:600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoF89Hk1kqb
“And who might you be?”600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpYxaJzvBDm
After I turned around, I was greeted with a weird-looking old figure, much more so600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4GqZ73cE5x
than I was expecting, with an uneven pair of glasses barely hanging from his slightly600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz91ZaygjYy
twirled nose and a long set of grey hair cascading, knot after knot, from the top of his600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoKrrR27jmL
head. Several pieces of mismatched armour were strapped to his tall if a bit hunched,600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcSdUnm5KWj
body. They had been collected over a long period of time and from all kinds of sources.600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB07k7NG9Dc
His right hand held a solid piece of armament; he tried to disguise it as a walking stick,600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDPU6lbmG4K
but it was most definitely a good weapon. A haversack hung from his other shoulder,600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Lz3it2NQS
it was half open and mostly filled with all sorts of plants and a few samples of fungi.600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSOHvgdap6
Then I noticed behind him followed a beast of burden; great of size and with quite600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhiSnipXGwu
the relaxed jaw hanging under its corpulent nose. And if all the satchels covering its600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFV8CQHtAkL
blue and green skin were not enough to define its purpose, its mellow eyes surely did600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVdAWsSDBX
the trick. Also, between its massive shoulders and the middle of its curved back, rested600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOi1DiRa9C7
a large, purple saddle. One that was just big enough for two.600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwoHueAaaMd
“I was waiting for you,” I steadily revealed to him.600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0B4qu4tc8e
“It would certainly seem that way.” The old man replied quite unpreoccupied,600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM1iZuP5jo6
“Please tell me then, how is it that I am fated to find a little one such as yourself out600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8HuGguvmeN
here, in the middle of these woods?” He asked as he began tying that beast to the600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkG0KoSD9hO
nearest tree.600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbx83LKDcdy
“I just said,” I repeated without taking my eyes from all the papers I was holding,600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBf3Kt9r9pr
“that I came here to wait for you.”600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ7VowANDPR
“Quite right.” He stared at me for a moment, and then finally wetted his boots as he600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cVabP6kd2
ventured into that running water to make his approach. He did so slowly and carefully,600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvsodjlW19k
as to not frighten me, which caused me to smile in appreciation. All the dirt and rips600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIJI4UN7CH
in my mostly white clothes easily conveying to him that I had gone through quite a600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkuq09p1Xv5
lot recently.600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU9nOqVuaUj
“It’s alright. You can come closer.” I told him unabashedly.600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmx2CWy0dM
“Oh, were you writing?” He was quick to notice when close enough, “And at such a600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyUt6uNLWBT
young age as well. Remarkable.” He then quickly followed that with a high opinion of600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ8DZoeZRhB
my scattered drawings, before picking one up: “And what about these? Did you draw600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqZMWHMm1Br
all of them as well?”600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSlxj3pdqkr
“I did.”600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh69un1jXUt
“I know this man...” The old man confessed, “and this woman as well.” He added as600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnil7wu9LHR
his eyes caught glimpse of another half-finished sketch. He picked up that one as well,600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnHZESW8UjB
and then held them close to each other ...600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT6IZE4u0Dm
“I know these people.” He insisted, without taking his eyes from those two pictures...
