Shattered Steps

Theia wiped the forming tears from her eyes as she got up off the bed and went to inspect the precarious letter face that she had recognized from the day before. Her tired limbs reached down to pluck the parchment from the wastebasket, its crinkled envelope still hugging its content. ''Why would Haruko leave this behind… did he know that I would try and follow him? Or is this just some lucky happenstance…'' Theia thought as she pulled out the folded note hidden within. It’s form was predominantly blank aside from a few small words scribbled at the top reading, “Probaso is falling, meet at the usual. - ☽ “ Theia stared at it hard, as if trying to decode it by sight. Theia had heard of the town of Probaso from the lessons Haruko had taught her during their geography discussions. “Probaso…a slave town in Minstrel… That’s all I can really remember about it…” Theia talked out loud, scratching her head in confusion. “That must be where he is headed to, or else why would he take off so suddenly. He must be going to meet this person to help save it from falling…whatever that means…” For the life of her she couldn’t pull any information from the vague note, but knew it must have had some significant importance if Haruko was just going to rush off so fast and leave her behind. “There’s no way he would leave me just like that…and say such hurtful things…” She tried to convince herself, not willing to accept that her teacher would up and abandon her like that after spending years together. The symbol at the bottom of the note was rather foreign to her, and was something that she couldn't decipher at all. She obviously knew that it was coded, or perhaps some sort of nickname for one of Haruko's old companions, but he had never mentioned any friends or had left to meet with anyone in all the time she had spent with him.

She shakes her head to brush out the flurrying thoughts inside, clenching her fist around the only motivation she had to keep herself from falling apart into the abyss of loneliness once more. With as much vigor as she could muster, she pushed herself up off of the bed, wiping the tears away, before returning to her room once more. Theia paused at the threshold of her bedroom, contemplating the foolishness of her next actions, but her determination to find answers overcame the thoughts of living out the rest of her life in mundane solitude inside this cabin. Oi, Mistrel is a pretty big continent...luckily I have enough money for the boat ride there, but Probaso has to be at least 300 miles inland; that's like a... she said thinking to herself as she begin to pull out her backpack and throwing clothes inside. ''10 day walk! Oh man...no. I have to save the little money I do have for the boat and food; maybe a hotel if I budget well enough. So I better pack up the camping gear too.'' she thought as she loaded up the large backpacking bag with enough clothes for a week, as well as basic hygiene necessities she grabbed from her bathroom. Luckily Haruko had taught her how to survive in the wilderness; taking her out into the neighboring woods to learn how to hunt, make fires, pitch tents, and any other survival skill the man had under his belt. She never knew that the knowledge would come into play on her journey to seek out the man who gave her such information, but the world has a funny way of playing out.

With all the gear that she could muster to fit inside such an expansive pack, she heaved it up and weaseled her arms through the straps; the weight of it all forcing the material to dig into her shoulders already. The pressure of it sent a sting of pain down into her hip, reminding her that she was not in the best of conditions to be facing such a journey. Running back inside to grab some extra bandages and dressing for her healing wound, she tightens her shoes and heaves the pack back onto her back once more before making her way past the front door. As her feet crunched hard against the gravel of the path outside the door, Theia took one last look at the quaint place she had come to call home. But with Haruko gone, it was no longer her home; just a place she had shared memories with. Her home was on the move to the city of Probaso, and Theia was determined to catch up with it to find out the answers of why that home had too abandoned her.