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Prologue
I have already learned the true nature of this world; every single language spoken by579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsEixSIFAxc
all the miscreated, bid farewell to all those that I ever met, and just finished predicting579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoqGWKku3JB
most outcomes - not bad for someone born only a day ago.579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKSFCqyKN8
And now I must wait here for him, atop such a generous outcrop of stone; one so579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdz1Bg7MC9w
easily protruding from the most graceful display of running water. A creek, I think it579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWDD63rSlJz
is called, that much like me, seems to always be running but never getting anywhere.579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡObWExFx8Qh
I cannot think of a better example of the flow of time and design working perfectly579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyNU1Z3x3IZ
in tandem. Yet another sample of what can be expected in this world above, I suppose579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7AdeCLiHq
and hope; an example that for so long has dared to cross these woods that the one579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLpIqtnT26Q
I am waiting for, sometimes calls his own.579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeBDP4dmRbZ
He should be here any moment now; my inherited memories keep assuring me579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnK6TCuw826
that he comes by this exact spot every day to make his crossing, and today will be no579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1zDMBkwU21
exception. He will come. He will come and he will find me; he will find me, and he579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJvFSSMNay8
will say:579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB9JhOnVBkd
“And who might you be?”579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF7xGEjgFVd
After I turned around, I was greeted with a weird-looking old figure, much more so579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNH7Y0gTHCI
than I was expecting, with an uneven pair of glasses barely hanging from his slightly579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIzFWozhr0u
twirled nose and a long set of grey hair cascading, knot after knot, from the top of his579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSMrO9rWrfz
head. Several pieces of mismatched armour were strapped to his tall if a bit hunched,579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBWXSr2BDSV
body. They had been collected over a long period of time and from all kinds of sources.579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2UQi1hx2FT
His right hand held a solid piece of armament; he tried to disguise it as a walking stick,579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡefiVn3kV8O
but it was most definitely a good weapon. A haversack hung from his other shoulder,579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVVUd1bYesW
it was half open and mostly filled with all sorts of plants and a few samples of fungi.579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclULb0AQqz
Then I noticed behind him followed a beast of burden; great of size and with quite579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvdai7ar4f
the relaxed jaw hanging under its corpulent nose. And if all the satchels covering its579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡByq5ONHNiv
blue and green skin were not enough to define its purpose, its mellow eyes surely did579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Q4Hnrrij8
the trick. Also, between its massive shoulders and the middle of its curved back, rested579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZunGZ50vSi
a large, purple saddle. One that was just big enough for two.579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTNRKi4FSXD
“I was waiting for you,” I steadily revealed to him.579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdjiSeDGwpS
“It would certainly seem that way.” The old man replied quite unpreoccupied,579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPm5QlWARkH
“Please tell me then, how is it that I am fated to find a little one such as yourself out579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuapax4VJCT
here, in the middle of these woods?” He asked as he began tying that beast to the579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjJNaZiUbz
nearest tree.579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWQKrT4qXqc
“I just said,” I repeated without taking my eyes from all the papers I was holding,579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDS1Vmk79Q1
“that I came here to wait for you.”579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpdURaOyxP2
“Quite right.” He stared at me for a moment, and then finally wetted his boots as he579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSX9gS1mMiM
ventured into that running water to make his approach. He did so slowly and carefully,579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3HmkMK3z32
as to not frighten me, which caused me to smile in appreciation. All the dirt and rips579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4cftBPyQI9
in my mostly white clothes easily conveying to him that I had gone through quite a579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkWdcE07FgA
lot recently.579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0lQcPbbal8
“It’s alright. You can come closer.” I told him unabashedly.579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4k0eVXtHxC
“Oh, were you writing?” He was quick to notice when close enough, “And at such a579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5eXjgvo4zI
young age as well. Remarkable.” He then quickly followed that with a high opinion of579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5VVMKq8ctc
my scattered drawings, before picking one up: “And what about these? Did you draw579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1PqwtvrOf
all of them as well?”579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtTSnBBXn5o
“I did.”579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkmdvXf3VOq
“I know this man...” The old man confessed, “and this woman as well.” He added as579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzcRhxXwPcd
his eyes caught glimpse of another half-finished sketch. He picked up that one as well,579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhVIt467brF
and then held them close to each other ...579Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsAfHDpow5
“I know these people.” He insisted, without taking his eyes from those two pictures...
