Around the main city of Tapestry there were many unused tunnels that didn"t go anywhere important. Maybe they served a purpose at one time, or maybe they were mined out for special ores and crystals.Or maybe an earth attuned individual got bored one day and thought "maybe I"ll just blast a cave into existence in this general direction." And then waved his hand and reduced stone into rubble.
This was a sentiment Noone understood well at the moment. He sat at the mouth of one of the upper caves in the stone surrounding the city. He looked down on the city from above and watched the lights, the people. He still had not managed to come to terms with his feelings. Or maybe he had? Mostly he just wasn"t thinking at all.
In his hand was a new sea stone. He realized he had crushed the other one and left it in the elder"s quarters - something he was more than a little embarra.s.sed about. "Strong like the stone, soft like the stream." he whispered to himself.
When he was young, before his mother had pa.s.sed on, she had left those words for him. He wasn"t always sure he fully understood them, but he did his best to live up to those words.
He did not hold anything against his mother, he had always known how tired and frail and sad she was. She tried to take care of him for as long as she could. But eventually she just couldn"t... Her husband whom she had lost the same day she had gained Noone… It was too much for her.
A light rumbling filled the cave, grabbing Noone"s attention. He looked around trying to determine the source.
Suddenly the cave exploded in a rush of flame! Noone did not have time to react before he was kicked out of the tunnel by what he could have sworn was a person. Flame burst out of the tunnel behind him and he and a girl both started to fall out of the sky above the city.
"Adria!" Noone was shocked
"Noone!" Adria was ecstatic!
Crash!! The ground was shattered.
Noone stood up in the middle of the street brushing himself off and looking down at the vaguely person shaped crater he had created. He cleared his throat, looking around to see if anyone else had noticed.
In front of him a young redheaded fire-starter landed on her feet.
"d.a.m.n Noone! Your body has only gotten tougher since I have been gone." She grinned "What are you made of? Stone?"
Noone, well aware of the temperament of the young woman in front of him, just smiled. They rushed into each other"s arms and hugged, Noone hadn"t seen Adria in two years.
"Ow ow ow! Okay okay!! I give!" Noone continued to squeeze Adria tighter lifting her off the ground mocking her. "You shot me out of the sky." He said matter of factly.
"I kicked you into the sky, you fell out of the sky." Adria clarified, completely without shame.
"Hmph." Noone set Adria down and they both grinned at each other. "It really has been too long Adria."
"Yeah."
"You know when you left all the elders had a fit."
"Really?"
"Yeah, even Elder Azelle."
"Really!?"
"Yeah, the head of your family said when you got back he would make you spend 1000 years welding minecarts in the forge."
"Pschhh," Adria laughed out loud at that. " I really should go see them."
"Oh yeah, when did you get back?"
"Just now, I tried to make it back before your attunement test."
At this Noone had nothing to say... Adria noticed his expression change as soon as she mentioned it. She knew it had indeed effected Noone more than he let on.
"Let"s get food Noone? It"s been years since I had a decent meal."
"Yeah, that sounds good right now."
…
The short Elder and Elder Azelle were talking with the head of Adria"s family, trying to calm him down.
"I can"t believe that girl is still alive! How dare she! She should have just never come back!" He growled between clenched teeth.
The other two elders had wry smiles on their face. They knew he didn"t really mean these things. In fact, he loved her more than anyone else.
"Then again..." he continued. "Our lineage has always had talents! She truly is a talent! A talent of generations!"
They did not know what to say at how quickly this old man switched from anger to boasting.
"So, where is she? Why has she not come to greet the family she so boldly left behind on her little adventure?" He inquired.
The two elders looked at each other. "Most likely to go find Noone, before she left she asked about him."
"Ah... yes... those two have always been rather close." The fiery man muttered. In Tapestry, their closeness was well known. Although they had never expressed romantic interest in each other, many thought they were just young, and it was only a matter of time. So none of the elders were entirely sure what to think about Noone and Adria.
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"By the way, now that Adria is back there is something that we need to discuss…" Elder Azelle let the sentence trail off. Everyone knew what he was talking about, and no one was sure how to approach it.
Even though an elder leaving the conclave with a prodigy was something that must be done, and everyone knew that, to many it has become synonymous with certain death. No one has ever returned.
Everyone looked down, not sure what to say first. The loss of an elder was bad, the loss of a prodigy was worse, the loss of both was a tragedy.
And yet everyone understood that they couldn"t not send individuals out. One day they will need to take back the world after the desolation has pa.s.sed. So, until that day comes, they must continue to send people out and wait for their return.
Around Tapestry for hundreds of miles was a barrier that kept any other creatures out. The Ancestor placed it there to protect the people of Tapestry. As such, only individuals with the Common Heritage of the Ancestor would be able to pa.s.s into it from the outside.
"Will someone please go get Liter?" Elder Azelle sighed.