Rynth: Four Beats

| 7th of Teryusin — Year 362 of the Cycle of Synthesis, Grand Cycle ??? |

Raoul was the last to wake up. In the interest of keeping his promise to Calliope, he had pushed for Avil to take his place as second on the watch. Idri was little to no use in dark open spaces on account of her blindness, which meant the Genesise had to suck up the last three hours of the watch with only the company of a steaming metal mug of instant coffee and the chirping of unsleeping crickets. Praise be to Rodovere, for their first night on the road was about as empty as a set snare with no prey in its jaws.

Yawning, he slid down the zipper and crawled out to a lively morning sun. His friends, save for Idri, were already up and about and gathered by the now-rekindled campfire, waiting for Cali—who was sautéing up aromatics with a ladle in preparation for the small handful of eggs she held in her free hand. At his rising, she shared a blink of eye contact filled with gratitude before greeting him.

“Good morning, Raoul. I hope you had adequate rest. You may want to wash up by the river. I will have breakfast prepared in a few minutes.”

“Hey,” he brought another hand to his mouth, stifling a persistent yawn as he walked over to Avil’s side. He then laid an assessing hand on his friend, who was drowning himself in the bitterness of Meyer’s Instant Coffee. “You good, Avil? Back to caffeine-loading?”

His question was answered with a loud sip. “This is nothing. I’ve taken hundreds of all-nighters, so having three hours of sleep is almost godsent in comparison. You three sure slept soundly, though. First I’ve heard Cali snore that loud.”

The ‘Cali’ in question coughed, nearly choking. Sleep was the only time of the day she could not consistently control her bodily functions and speech. “...ahem. It is quite possible you mistook my snores for Raoul’s, Master Avil.”

“Did I now? Well, you two do have your tents beside each other, so it’s possible. The general direction’s the same.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that was me.” Raoul raised a hand, content with taking the fall for his overworked friend. “Must’ve been pretty tired yesterday.”

Staying in the conversation for longer than necessary would draw further attention to Cali. Clearing his throat, he patted Avil on the back and continued on the path down to the stream.

Right as he stepped on the course, he stopped, and then turned. Right then was the perfect opportunity, given he had missed out on it yesterday. While it was likely Idri was still washing off the sleep on her eyes, that wasn’t going to make the gift any less memorable. Pacing back to his tent, he dug through his belongings and found the small assortment of flowers he had picked the night prior while they were trekking. Hyacinths, red tulips, and strelitzias, all properly tied around a small bit of twine. The second was her favorite, but in general Idri preferred brighter, colorful flowers. In a way, the assortment reminded him of her—always bright and joyful and positive when it counted. The right kind of endearing. A ray of uplifting sunshine, in a sense.

Come what raised eyebrows might. Raoul hopped his way down and found Idri by that same streamside, splashing herself with cold mountain water while giggling at the effect it had on her sleep and face. She was far too invested in the feeling to notice him walking over even as the leather of his shoes crickle-crackled against beds of tiny stone.

She only noted his presence once he was three steps away. Turning, she immediately lit up at his scent and raised a hand to her chest-level and waved excitedly. “Good morning, Raoul. Did you sleep well?”

“Pretty well, actually. Even with three hours of sleep.” He replied, setting himself down beside her. He held out the flowers and pressed them into her palms. “Here.”

A pause. She tilted her head and accepted the gift, but felt around it. “It’s soft and fragile. Are these flowers?”

Raoul nodded, bending down to splash some water onto his face. “Yeah. I know you said you wanted flowers by yesterday, but it completely crossed my mind ‘cause of the whole looking-for-our-friends thing. Plus the fight we had with my mother. So I’m sorry for missing out.”

Idri was silent again. The five-second silence was only permeated by the soft rushing of the stream beside them, but it was soon replaced by a titter, and then overpowered again by a laugh.

“Raoul…! I’m thankful, of course!” she giggled, trying to hold back another fit of laughter. “But I wasn’t holding you to it. It was just me teasing you. I… I suppose I should’ve expected you would do it. You always keep your promises, after all.”

She brought the posy to her nose and sniffed, sighing dreamily as the sweet scents of his chosen three wafted over her. She unfurled her dress-robe slightly and slid them into a small pocket before running a hand across Raoul’s cheek. “Watch out, Raoul. If you’re going to keep delivering on your word, I might have to start relying on you even more.”

“That’s what I want. For you to rely on me, ‘cause I know I can rely on you.”

“Hehe. You’re on. Come on, let’s have breakfast and get back to adventuring.”

Without waiting, she took his hand in hers and dragged him back to the camp, much to his displeasure and scores of ‘I haven’t finished washing up yet-s.’ They arrived at the perfect time. Cali had just finished up on cooking and had laid out four piping hot egg-filled chicken sandwiches. She handed the first to Avil, who had already started digging in hungrily just before Idri and Raoul arrived.

“Here you go.” she murmured, handing the two other sandwiches to them.

“Thank you, Cali.”

She only began eating once they did. No unsatisfactory looks or comments. All faces of delight and gusto as they wolfed down their food.

“So…” Avil spoke up, being the first to finish his food. “Where to next? Rather, which route are we taking?”

Raoul continued through his chewing, glancing at his watch for the time. Thirteen past nine. Thanks to their late—or rather, early morning sleep, they started off the current day rather later than they would have hoped. Adventuring in the darkest hours of the night was just about much more hazardous than the day, and to make the most of their time they needed to opt for efficiency.

Is what he would’ve said if they were in a rush. They weren’t in any. Vonas laid at least two days ahead, and it wasn’t like Feroastin was expecting them. To see the sights and create their own adventure in a world already thoroughly adventured… now, that was what their party was about.

“Which route?” Idri asked.

“There’s two,” Avil explained, reading off a digital map of Manlifax he had downloaded on his phone. “We can go around the western side of the mountain in the distance. There’s a path there that crosses a wide waterfall. Supposedly, it’s a well-known pilgrimage site for Il-Lancasta worshippers.”

“One of the three gods of water,” Raoul remarked. “If I recall, he’s the god of waterfalls, wetlands, hot springs, and geysers. Along with other smaller bodies of water. Supposedly he’s Mostarii’s eldest son.”

Avil followed along. “Correct. His younger brother is Seikalsi-Anglus.”

“If I recall, Krocko mentioned a statue of Il-Lancasta under a waterfall. Is this it, Master Avil?”

He didn’t reply instantly, pinching his fingers to browse an article hyperlinked into the icon. After a bit, he tilted his phone to show them. “Looks like it. There’s a forest we have to walk through to get to the site if we want to see it.”

Idri shrugged, leaning into Raoul’s shoulder while she finished the last half of her sandwich. “Hmm… and the other paths?”

“Path. Just one, really. Nothing too noteworthy. Just more flat grasslands and prairies. Not that different from what we’ve been walking through the past half-day. There’s a road that leads to a nearby village that trading caravans usually take, but unless we plan on heading there, we won’t find a direct route to the Vonas plateau.”

“It’s pretty clear cut to me,” commented Raoul. He pointed a finger in the direction of the mountain. “I’ve had my fill of civilization for a bit, so some peace and quiet and reflection in front of a god’s statue sounds nice. What about you guys? Any qualms?”

None were had. They all agreed in unison with enthusiastic nods.

“Alright, then.”