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Prologue
I have already learned the true nature of this world; every single language spoken by642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBTRuh8p7bW
all the miscreated, bid farewell to all those that I ever met, and just finished predicting642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCSKraYue1W
most outcomes - not bad for someone born only a day ago.642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzogeGFNZm
And now I must wait here for him, atop such a generous outcrop of stone; one so642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUq6oTrQOc
easily protruding from the most graceful display of running water. A creek, I think it642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbzsD39U4J4
is called, that much like me, seems to always be running but never getting anywhere.642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡltKSXg3bIC
I cannot think of a better example of the flow of time and design working perfectly642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyniPFdzlCW
in tandem. Yet another sample of what can be expected in this world above, I suppose642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHZTBzDrM4
and hope; an example that for so long has dared to cross these woods that the one642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFaJ5rusIqj
I am waiting for, sometimes calls his own.642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ06BtWhguzR
He should be here any moment now; my inherited memories keep assuring me642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0iRdU8Mfw4
that he comes by this exact spot every day to make his crossing, and today will be no642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTeeMXaIqxB
exception. He will come. He will come and he will find me; he will find me, and he642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqZzfEsYsaI
will say:642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5188YRewij
“And who might you be?”642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeu5Rpab0j1
After I turned around, I was greeted with a weird-looking old figure, much more so642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbYWJtqpurK
than I was expecting, with an uneven pair of glasses barely hanging from his slightly642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy7U37BLjBj
twirled nose and a long set of grey hair cascading, knot after knot, from the top of his642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwGtAs0Ua9i
head. Several pieces of mismatched armour were strapped to his tall if a bit hunched,642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNB5EwNrqoG
body. They had been collected over a long period of time and from all kinds of sources.642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgsrAnCOUom
His right hand held a solid piece of armament; he tried to disguise it as a walking stick,642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlOVP0fUkI0
but it was most definitely a good weapon. A haversack hung from his other shoulder,642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJcHoKo411J
it was half open and mostly filled with all sorts of plants and a few samples of fungi.642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WENw8qKoA
Then I noticed behind him followed a beast of burden; great of size and with quite642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWQxDaI97cH
the relaxed jaw hanging under its corpulent nose. And if all the satchels covering its642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4eFMWErrUm
blue and green skin were not enough to define its purpose, its mellow eyes surely did642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyA7KxTAloZ
the trick. Also, between its massive shoulders and the middle of its curved back, rested642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOLwt56Hsa5
a large, purple saddle. One that was just big enough for two.642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSak6XgkNKB
“I was waiting for you,” I steadily revealed to him.642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq0Or4LVLIW
“It would certainly seem that way.” The old man replied quite unpreoccupied,642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTCv8e6Axew
“Please tell me then, how is it that I am fated to find a little one such as yourself out642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc6rErlaPrY
here, in the middle of these woods?” He asked as he began tying that beast to the642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSiH5CXnXLG
nearest tree.642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ2LeHNG7Q7
“I just said,” I repeated without taking my eyes from all the papers I was holding,642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSnMSSHMQQ6
“that I came here to wait for you.”642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQkH06wLg3e
“Quite right.” He stared at me for a moment, and then finally wetted his boots as he642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPKOzszGqn
ventured into that running water to make his approach. He did so slowly and carefully,642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyqN8k8T2Fq
as to not frighten me, which caused me to smile in appreciation. All the dirt and rips642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMaX0JPf7oP
in my mostly white clothes easily conveying to him that I had gone through quite a642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBpOgT76b0A
lot recently.642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwVhzPSn437
“It’s alright. You can come closer.” I told him unabashedly.642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq3RKxYrlG1
“Oh, were you writing?” He was quick to notice when close enough, “And at such a642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ooSeAH5Z4
young age as well. Remarkable.” He then quickly followed that with a high opinion of642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuy5r3TTS7
my scattered drawings, before picking one up: “And what about these? Did you draw642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQiMJhzqgX
all of them as well?”642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJhLUYaz4d
“I did.”642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ4F0W639zV
“I know this man...” The old man confessed, “and this woman as well.” He added as642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlr2E5YocEf
his eyes caught glimpse of another half-finished sketch. He picked up that one as well,642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAk3j7ix8UY
and then held them close to each other ...642Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVLzyegDX4G
“I know these people.” He insisted, without taking his eyes from those two pictures...
