Xonia had lost count of the days since she had lit the pyre near the bank of a river and watched it engulf the body she could not and would not just leave for the animals. She did not leave him until he became ashes in the wind, the smell of burnt flesh haunting her ever since. She was lost without her guardian; she had never felt so very alone in the world. It was hard enough to have no clue as to who she was and where she came from, but to be so very discombobulated as to where she was going made it that much harder. It wasn’t fair.
Laurent was the only man she had in her life… Like a father… and he’d done his very best to make sure she was alright. He’d found her when she was a child and she had too many blurred memories tucked away somewhere in her someone broken mind. The man had never treated her badly, never made her think she was stupid because of her old injury. He had been her protector for almost a decade without asking for anything in return.
He always told her about her origins starting from the moment he’d taken her under his wing, that he found her half dead with a wound upon her head she could very well have died from. She’d lived and flourished because of his care, and she’d loved him as a daughter would. His absence was felt quite deeply… No, it was not fair at all,
She was nothing but a vagabond traversing the wilds blindly for a time, barely acknowledging her loss because she had no time to cry or linger over him. The girl had to move on, and move on she did.
The days blurred one into the next: sleep, wake, eat, walk, rest and repeat. There was only the sun and the moon telling her the time, and a compass that was useless for the moment since she did not even know where she was. It could have been maddening if she had let it be so. She had doggedly kept moving unless necessity dictated, and found herself just outside of a city that was quite unfamiliar to her.
The indecision to walk into the city was rampant, warning bells ringing through her thoughts as she debated internally. Fuck, but it was hard to choose without the voice of reason that was Lorent. In the end, however, she did go forward and she did enter into the city after pulling her hood up and tilting her head downward.
Gemlike eyes would cast a dubious stare every now and then, and she was careful not to bump into any of the people milling about. There were women who were dressed garishly and she felt her cheeks flush at the sight of half bared bosoms… She’d skirt around them and ignore offers for a good time. Sorry ladies, she thought with some amusement, you are not my type…
It wasn’t until she found herself staring at the façade of an establishment that she paused in her meandering. A tavern, if the sound of uproarious laughter had anything to say about it. That and there was a man who seemed to have passed out right outside of the building. Xonia thought of pilfering from the man but decided against it for the fact that it wasn’t cool to steal from the unconscious… She wasn’t a barbarian even if she seemed to have stumbled upon a rather shabby town with lots of unsavory characters to be had.
She simply walked on by and entered the establishment, flinching as something crashed against the wall to the left of her. The nomad would not dare look over her shoulder. She’d move to the bar to sit on a crate, keeping the hood over her head to keep her face in the shadows within the confines. Meager coin lined her pocket, fished out and presented to the man behind the bar with her request, “Clever Fellow.” It was the only alcohol she had ever tasted and she would stick to it.
The young woman then started to question her universe. What will I do now? Do I continue my journey without asking questions, or should I find out who I am, if at all possible? Countless questions swirled through her thoughts until the drink was paid for and in hand. She nodded in thanks.
I guess I had better get my shit together and figure out what my next step is.
She took a sip.