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The Journey Never Ends (Original Fantasy Quest)

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[X] Go alone

This whole update, I was imagining Johnny River's "Secret Agent Man" with different lyrics.

There's an elf who leads a life of danger
To everyone she meets she stays a stranger
With every move she makes
Another chance she takes
Odds are cults won't live to see tomorrow
 
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Volume 1: Chapter 8 - Sumeri
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    • [X] Go alone - 10 votes

    You hold out the pair of sunglasses Fatoumata gave you when she prepped you for the scouting job you decided to undertake. When you told her of your great cover name for it, the miu simply looked at you for a few moments before blinking and turning away to prepare the rest of the details for this. She must've been stunned at your improvisation skills.

    Of course, a pair of glasses isn't the only thing you have. You've changed your casual clothes for a loose shirt and pair of… jeans. You glare down at the offending piece of clothing you've been forced into. People all over the world seem to be wearing these in recent years yet you have no idea why. You shift your legs. It is deeply uncomfortable.

    Without your bow, quiver, or bag on you because of the need to remove any identifying features, you feel strangely bare as well. Vulnerable in a way you haven't felt in a while. It's a ridiculous thought considering that you can handle yourself perfectly fine without your weapon, but it's something that bothers you all the same. There's a certain assurance that you feel when you have your belongings with you, something beyond a feeling of physical safety. Standing in some random location in the city with nothing to your name but loaned out clothes… you feel strangely disconnected and distant. As if this is some dream. You stare at a wall in front of you, the material blurring together as things start swaying slightly…

    It takes a moment for you to notice your hands shaking. You shake your head violently and put on the sunglasses, taking a deep breath as you do. This… you don't know what overcame you like that. There's probably something off with how this is bothering you much more than a dangerous operation into a cultist's hideout or being robbed on the road, but you shelve that for later. With luck, you'll forget all about this and move on with your life like you always do.

    So this is how you approach Amina. As a tall figure wearing a pair of sunglasses, jeans constantly being fidgeted with, and a slightly hunched over posture. You're not entirely sure what the human is thinking when she sees you walking towards her with unsure steps, but her bright smile grows wider at the sight of you regardless once she recognizes who you are.

    "Ho there, fair Dee! 'Tis good to see you once more. How farest thou?"

    You blink, snapped out of your funk by her vocabulary. Not only does it seem like she's maintaining her role even when alone, she's gotten even more into it. Her group must've made a compromise with her to tone it down in public with them. You won't be too surprised if your acceptance of her oddities played a role in her inviting you out today. While she isn't wearing her armor right now, the knightly human is wearing a gambeson like what one would wear underneath it along with a thick pair of trousers.

    "Hail, Ser Amina," you say, a small smile forming despite yourself as you bow. "I am quite well. How about you and your companions?"

    "Ah, they hath undertaken their own quests in this city," she replies as the two of you begin walking together.

    You frown a little at that, "Are the five of you each on their own?"

    "Thou needst not worry. None of us go out alone. I simply thought this to be a good opportunity for us all to venture out!" Amina reassures you.

    "I'm flattered by how much trust you seem to place in me," you say, still skeptical. "But we only just met two days ago. I'm not so sure going somewhere alone with a person like that is wise…"

    She merely shakes her head, "I wouldst not place my companions in danger, but I have faith in mine own skill to fend off any scoundrels and knaves. As for the pair of us being unknown to the other? 'Tis a matter we come together like this for, yes?"

    Despite the lighthearted tone of the conversation so far, the sentiment behind her last statement makes you look briefly away. By the Light, she is really trying to emulate people long past in more ways that one, isn't she… an image flies unbidden in your mind's eye of a dusty looking alerion with a hood beckoning you, followed by the rather normal looking commander greeting you amiably and introducing you to her inner circle.

    Amina continues when you're silent for a little too long, "I shall begin! Mine companions and I hail from faraway Avista, that land of glittering towers and people come from all walks of life! Though our dreams may differ, we are all united in our vision to venture out into the world beyond our home. I fulfilled my duties as a squire to the most honorable knights of the realm and trained to become a skilled warrior without peer! Now I set out to broaden my horizons."

    You run her words through your mind, trying to translate it into a more modern interpretation. You could be mistaken, and much of Avista used to be territories outside the original lands of the three races that first formed the union, but Amina's group probably consists entirely of immigrants. More accurately, children born in Avista from parents who moved there, aside from perhaps Aya. You suspect there's something there in how they all became friends and decided to take up the adventuring life, but you're not sure of the specifics yet.

    While you doubt there to be actual knights with any martial ability these days, Amina must've been trained somewhere. What that training is, you can't say. It's always been something left a little unsaid, but there has always been something enhancing the bodies and skills of those that dedicated themselves to purely physical melee combat beyond blessings and magical enhancements. There are several traditional orders with their own methods of creating unmatched warriors, but that has never been required for many fighters.

    After all, in a world with deadly weapons and magic, how else can a single champion or fighter wielding a simple hunk of steel lead bands or armies and be able to single-handedly determine the outcome of the fight? If they could be easily shot down by a single arrow or bullet from afar, many conflicts in history would've turned out differently. You can only hope that Amina has trained herself sufficiently for whatever trials lay ahead of her and her party.

    "Alas, there seems to be few who need the blade," Amina says a tad sheepishly. "I am glad to lend mine own strength to those in need of it, of course. What of thee, fair Dee? Which lands dost thou hail from, and why art thou wandering alone, if I may ask?"

    You jolt out of your musings and quickly try to come up with something, "Ah… I suppose you can say I also come from lands in Avista. The situation at home is… complex, and I have had to live on my own for quite a while now."

    There. That is a technically true statement you just uttered. Of course, Avista didn't even exist back when the elves first entered the world. What is now commonly referred to as the Central Kiengir region used to be anything north of the various kingdoms and empires in present day Tarshish and Sumeri. Your people lived in many different locations across the continent, but they usually formed towns on the borders of what was considered civilized lands.

    Unexpectedly, Amina sucks in a breath, "Oh, I'm so sorry—ah, I mean, I deeply apologize for mine insensitive remarks, Lady Dee."

    When did you get upgraded to… that's not important. You go over your words again to see what on Orbis caused her to react that way and groan inwardly at your careless wording.

    "Ser Amina, I think you misunderstood—"

    You're interrupted when the knight who has been perfectly polite and respectful of your space beforehand lays an arm around your shoulders and sniffles quietly.

    "There is no need for that. I fully understand thine struggles, Lady Dee, and the difficulty that comes with speaking of it to others. Call on us if ever thou needst a kind ear or more immediate assistance. We shall ride to thine aid and crush whatever ails thee!"

    Slightly overwhelmed by the twists and turns of your emotions the past few minutes, all you can do is burst into confused laughter.

    She panics, once again misinterpreting you, "Lady Dee!? Dee? Oh no, what did I say wrong? Don't cry, don't cry…"


    "Hup! Onward, Lady Dee!"

    You watch in slight amusement as everyone stares at Amina effortlessly carrying several heavy crates stacked on top of each other. When the two of your first entered the area, eyes were drawn to the tall duo dressed very differently from each other. It grew when the both of you demonstrated your strength, though Amina gasped when she saw you and gallantly offered to bear some of your burden. Playing along, you've been hauling less cargo than her for the past few hours.

    It's strange, you think to yourself. Back then, you used to do similar jobs for villages and towns you wandered into. They were a primary source of income along with whatever you managed to scavenge and gather during your travels. More dangerous quests existed of course, but you usually stayed away from those. They often required more than a single elf with a bow. For the past few hundred years though, you've largely stopped taking on such tasks. You can't tell if it's because of your participation in far bigger events, modern society transitioning to more full-time jobs and careers, or your financial security, but nostalgia wells up within you all the same.

    However, you sadly aren't here to enjoy the feeling of performing manual labor for random people in search of a reward. Your eyes have been tracking everyone in the building since you arrived. There's perhaps between twenty to thirty people here, with a few people overseeing it all. All seems normal at first glance, but you've noticed after a while that there seems to be a few workers who seem to be doing nothing more than watching everyone. You also saw two people step away with tablets in their hands speaking in hushed voices to someone.

    It's not clear evidence, but you feel that there is something going on here nevertheless. It can be something criminal if mundane in nature, but even that can be connected to the cults. Such insidious groups enjoy infiltrating operations such as these. There's only one thing left to do. You've been waiting for the stares to die down a little, and as you step into the truck, you set down the heavy crate.

    You wait for a particularly loud moment in the building before quickly prying open the crate using your strength to look inside. A sharp intake of breath escapes you as your fears are confirmed. A set of firearms are present inside, the glossy black material shining back into your eyes. Closing it as best you can and setting another crate on top of it, you move out of the truck before anyone notices anything wrong.

    You can call it in here and leave now, but you and the others were told to get in the last few trucks and move to where everything is being unloaded. Amina noted that part didn't seem to be in the job description but didn't protest when she remembered the expected time for the commission. Something about it bothers you though, and it can only help the investigation if you continue along with the process.

    Your eyes shift to Amina, the human having dropped off her own crates full of guns and munitions. Out of everyone here, she's the only one you can reasonably trust. She's also probably the most capable of fighting if it comes down to it. She's perhaps one of the least subtle people you've met in recent times though, and you're unsure if you really want to drag someone uninvolved into this whole mess.

    Choose One:

    [] Tell Amina about the weapons and parts of the investigation: She's trustworthy and seemingly capable. Having another pair of eyes with you in the middle of everything can only help, and the both of you stand a better chance of protecting everyone together if things get dangerous. It's possible she might be able to call for help from her friends beforehand too. Despite everything, Amina doesn't seem stupid or unintelligent either, and maintaining her act probably requires a lot of effort. And, it's only right to inform her of what she might be getting into.

    [] Don't tell Amina anything and try to get her away early: She's very... obvious, and any drastic shift of demeanor might give something away. The chance of her suddenly deciding to take action in an inopportune moment is all too possible too. Even though she and others have presumably graduated from college, they might honestly be too young for this as well. This is something you should handle yourself and send the naive young woman away on.


    AN:
    This again took me longer than I wanted. It's hard to pin down exactly how I want to write Amina, and it doesn't help that I need to refresh myself on certain archaic/Shakespearan language that I probably still got wrong in some areas. I also felt that I've been sort of glossing over some of Deirdre's issues, though it's sort of excused by her being focused on the mission she's set herself on. Now that she's in a bit more calm state of mind though, she's struggling to adjust. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed the interaction between the two. Next few updates will be pretty interesting depending on what you choose, I think.
     
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    • I…Think Deirdre is maybe a little…Unmoored? Like she's not properly connecting to Now given all the history at the back of her mind. That stuff, the legends she's forged in her wake, those thousands of years…That Weight, is real. But now? With strange technology, ever-changing nations, maybe even geographical changes at fondly remembered landmarks…
    Now is a dream. And it maybe takes a little while for new memories to have luster to match the older ones.
    (Unfortunately that 'now's a dream' thing reminds me of my grandma who's not as sharp as she once was-she often remarks that she 'dreamt' something that happened a little bit ago.)
     
    [X] Tell Amina about the weapons and parts of the investigation

    If she's been able to put on an act as long as she has been, I don't see why a little longer would be impossible for her. Besides, worrying about Amina being too young for this seems like an old geezer having an instinctive reaction more than anything legitimate. Also, yeah, it seems fair she should have some idea of what's happening all around her.
     
    [X] Tell Amina about the weapons and parts of the investigation

    Fuck it, why not?
     
    Zaealix said:
    I…Think Deirdre is maybe a little…Unmoored? Like she's not properly connecting to Now given all the history at the back of her mind. That stuff, the legends she's forged in her wake, those thousands of years…That Weight, is real. But now? With strange technology, ever-changing nations, maybe even geographical changes at fondly remembered landmarks…
    Now is a dream. And it maybe takes a little while for new memories to have luster to match the older ones.
    (Unfortunately that 'now's a dream' thing reminds me of my grandma who's not as sharp as she once was-she often remarks that she 'dreamt' something that happened a little bit ago.)
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Very astute observation, and something I'd love to expand on with my own thoughts since it's something that isn't too vote influencing. I'm still kind of learning and wondering how to direct this too in a way. It's a feeling that I think expresses itself even with regular people not too uncommonly, even if they're only in their twenties or thirties. How many times has someone suddenly looked back and realized how much time has passed, and how things have or haven't changed for them? How all those moments in the past seemed so pressing and immediate, but it's all distant but so integral to their identity in the present day. The disconnect is disorienting even at that age.

    I can barely even imagine what it's like to have a hundred years of memories, lessons, and change in a life much less thousands. Going through lifetimes where you grow into a person from all you've learned and experienced, but then you just sort of… keep living, and that wisdom fades or becomes warped. Eventually, I can't help but think it results in someone running through a series of actions and habits fueled by the build-up of millennia of memories without truly thinking about it until it suddenly hits them in the face that wait, something is off with how everything is going right now. For now, there are things that need her immediate attention distracting her. Deirdre's elven psychology helps manage things in a way, but it reinforces that sort of "just keep on plodding forward" mentality that seems to be one of the few things propping her up.

    I've spent a lot of time considering how to describe this, and even with some personal experience and relation to it, it's still difficult because this also isn't a human growing old. Something I've been thinking on for a while as I read through stories of various kinds is that a lot of wisdom, philosophy, and other such things for how to go through life and be content sort of hinges on a human mentality and lifespan. It's not that Deirdre can't learn things from other people of course, but these epiphanies on, I'm not sure on a better word for this, self-actualization, aren't some static thing that Deirdre always has or will maintain. I think there is truly something strange about someone who just keeps on living for so long that some people don't fully grasp even when they are aware of these differences when writing characters with a long/immortal lifespan.

    Unfortunately, I'm not someone that is always the most, uh, organized writer, and it's been a challenge to properly write and plan for even this singular aspect of the story because of its scale. It's even a little difficult to talk about it generally like this, and it's not even mentioning various traumas or how Deirdre might perceive certain things. Something I hope I'll improve and expand on as the story progresses. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, and experience as well. I appreciate it a lot.
     
    [x] Tell Amina about the weapons and parts of the investigation
     
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