Sorenil A World At Its Limits

What was once the greatest city to ever be built, is now barely recognizable. The faintest remains of scattered ruins amongst rolling hills of dust. Ilinum had been a major center for culture, trade, and academics. As the years had gone by and time had worn away at the high walls and sprawling monuments, all that remains are a few stone walls and the occasional hut built by the few who still live in this place.

Upon stepping out into the region, the door which led to the odd room vanished, with seemingly no structure ever having been present for that door to have been built into. The Arrivals had been deposited just at the edge of the region of rolling hills, with a few taller ones nearby to help them get their bearings.

When they stepped into the city he could sleep the faint firewood and food. He couldn't tell these people might of had. He sped up his pace to match Sophia's, he also felt like they were being watched. It was understandable, they were strangers to these people.

He held her hand clutch onto his and he looked down at her hearing her suggestion "Fine. But stay close to me, I'm going to pretend that your my younger sister," He quietly mentioned and let a deep breath out. He relaxed his face so that he was naturally smiling so he didn't look so harsh at first glance "We should go to the city centre, that seems like the best place he could be at the moment," He suggested as he followsed the paths through the ruined city.

As Sophia and Haru continued, the small huts and makeshift homes became more commonplace, eventually reaching a point where they encircled what seemed to be the remains of a town square, possibly with a fountain in the center, although only a small pile of dust sat there. Soft footfalls could be heard from one of the houses, followed by the creaking of an old wooden door. A middle aged man with a dark complexion and thick stubble dressed in old clothes stepped out. He stared at the pair with an inquisitive gaze for a moment. "Y'two must be travelers eh? Probably from one of them cities still standin' tall an' proud. But I'm not too sure how ya managed to keep your effects all neat and tidy." He spoke a bit quietly, probably not wanting to disturb the others who were probably resting. "What brings y'two out to this old place? We don't have much left anyhow." He said, gesturing to the run down homes around them. He didn't seem hostile but moreso unwelcoming, as though he didn't trust the two Arrivals.

Sophia smirked at his suggestion. "Okay, big brother Haru. Does that make me a princess?" She wasn't really looking for an answer, only teasing.

When he hesitated, she spoke up to the man. "We're looking for somebody who used to be part of an order who wore blue uniforms." She figured such an odd sounding sentence would sound a fraction less so coming from a child. "Did I say that right, brother? I can't remember." She looked up to him, before turning back to the man. "Da says it's important to learn history from the people who lived it, so big brother and I are trying to find important people and ask them about the past." It was vague enough to be a passable lie, she hoped.

Haru rolled his eyes "I guess it does, you definitely have the dress for it," He glanced down at her dress, although it was definitely different to the dresses women wore in his culture.

He saw the man, he took in how he looked and acted like, Haru could tell that this man didn’t trust him but he didn’t blame the guy. He was about to speak but Sophia beat him to it, her excuse was good. He smiled a tiny bit and nodded "Yes you did, it was definitely a blue uniform, a young man precisely," He added, his voice was extremely soft as he was trying to make his role look convincing. He shifted on the spot "Are you able to help us? Oh, it would be nice to know if there was any place that we could say for the night? I’ve been travelling all day and my sister gets cranky if she doesn’t get her rest," He teased, chuckling and took his other hand and ruffled her hair.

The man looked back and forth between Haru and Sophia before letting out an exasperated sigh. "Guess the old codger in those hills must have talked up that kiddo again. He's up north by the shores, 'bout two days travel. But lemme tell you that the kid in blue isn't that old, so you'd better hope you haven't bet the home on him being some sort of historian." He said, pointing to the north to indicate where he meant. "Also, if y'want a place to rest your heads, just use any old hut that doesn't have anyone in it. There are plenty of those to go around." He said before returning to his own home to rest. There were a few other people from different homes looking between the boards of their windows but nobody was wanting to go and talk to Haru and Sophia. The people may have been fearful or just distrusting of them.

"No, sir. We haven't bet anything. We're just looking for people who seem important. If he isn't all that great, it's still not a waste of time to travel and learn, I don't think." It was funny to hear him talk about the Artisan like the weird town recluse. But she didn't laugh so as not to offend. He obviously was more than an old codger though. Maybe these people just didn't know about his abilities.

Once they were back out of earshot she turned to Haru. "Oh dear. Sounds like at this late hour we'll have to poke our heads into strangers' huts to see if they are empty. Isn't that awkward?" Sophia shook her head. "Two days, huh. If not for the danger of traveling in the dark, I'd say let's keep heading towards our destination. But we don't know about the dangers here yet."

She thought for a moment. "It is concerning, that man saying there are plenty of empty huts. There must be a reason they are empty. Probably has something to do with the people here being so skittish. Oh well. I can't think of another plan, can you?"

Once the older man when back to his humble shelter he slowly made his way to the fountain seeing that there was no water that flowed, he guessed that the city’s water pipes were broken so that they would have to find another way to get some water. Haru sat on the fountains edge "It will be awkward so if we do settle for the night I think we should find a hut a bit further away from these towns people as I can tell that we’re not exactly wanted here," He states, his tone returned to normal as he stopped acting.

He looked around tapping his foot against the cracked stone floor "You’re right it is a bit worrying, something big must have happened here but this is only one place. He did mention cities that were still ‘standing tall and proud’ so at least we know this hasn’t happened everywhere in this world so most likely there’s been an attack," He leaned forward resting his on his chin pulling down his lip slightly as he thought intensely "We can continue travelling if you want but keep in mind that this maybe one of the only times were we can stop and rest. I know we haven’t been travelling for long but truth be told before we came here I was already tired as I was fighting and I think I’ve strained my shoulder," He shifted from where he sat and rolled his right shoulder back. A look of discomfort was shown on his face.

She nodded at his assessment of the situation. "You're right. The less we disturb these folks the better."

So the well was dried up? She hadn't noticed that. Hopefully these people had enough to keep their crops growing.

Sophia's brow knit in concern. "Uh oh. We shouldn't push too hard if you're injured." She walked around him, studying him closely. "I wonder if I could help." She looked down at her hands, turning them up to study the markings on them. "No... I don't know this body well enough yet. It's too risky. I'd probably hurt you." She sighed. "Well, any healing techniques I do know only apply to my own world. Not likely to find the same ingredients here for medicine. So I suppose unless we can get some help, your best bet will be rest." Come to think of it, he did look pretty tired.

"Alright. Let's find that empty hut. But we should get out of here as soon as possible if we aren't welcome. Besides, it seems the last anyone needs is a drain on precious resources. We might be here to help save them, but they don't know that." She helped him search the huts that looked a little more out of shape - which wasn't saying very much - once they reached the outskirts of the town. The dust was everywhere. Like a blanket of sand covering everything. This close to the shore, the air did smell salty, but this dust certainly wasn't sand. Ash, maybe? Depleted soil? Well, surely the man in blue would tell them what had happened.

Finally they did start finding uninhabited huts. Quite a lot of them, eerily empty as the old man had implied. Her senses seemed so dull now, she didn't quite trust them, so she motioned for the prince to decide. The quiet was deafening, and for once she didn't feel like breaking it.

He got up "It’s nothing to major, I’ve suffered a lot worse before," He commented but then saw the determination in her eyes as she began to look for a shelter for them both. He sighs a little as he didn’t want her to worried about him that much, the stain might not even be bad… well he hoped… it if was then he it would take weeks for it to heal properly. He pretty sure it wasn’t as he would think it would hurt a lot more in that case.

"I won’t need that much rest, I can function after four hours of sleep but it’s you that will need more rest. Since you’re in a real world you’ll really feel the affects of being tired," He says thinking back to how she was describing her own world "Since your in a different body to what your used to then you mind surely will find it hard to cope with these changes, besides younger bodies need more rest as your growing up. We don’t know how long we’ll be here so expect anything," He says whilst they were looking for a place to stay for the night. Haru decided on a place that they found that had all four walls intact and most of the roof there, to protect them from the elements.

He sighed and spotted a old cot in the corner, it was dirty so he flipped it, it was slightly less dirty. He took of his satchel and his belt that held his sword. The prince leaned the sword against the wall and pew like chair against a wall. Since there was two pillows on the bed he took one and placed it on the pew "Sophia you sleep on the bed, here take this you don’t want to be cold," He unclipped his cape and handed it to her. His clothes provided more them enough warmth for him as it was made for travelling across the snowy mountains of his homeland.

"Well, you are half-right." She pursed her lips together, staring at what remained of one of the walls before continuing. "I am tired. But this body I'm in won't ever grow or get older. I only age in my own world. This body isn't like yours. I only look human. It's like a shell. A machine. I hadn't really thought about it much, but if we stay here, no matter how long it takes, I'll never grow up." She waved a hand dismissively. "But that's not even a concern, given everything we know. More important is that we succeed in our mission."

Again she shook her head. "Very chivalrous of you, but give me the bench instead. It might be hard to sleep for me just because this world is so different. Better for you to heal by sleeping well." She did, however, accept the cloak gratefully and wrap it around her shoulders, though like everything else she did for the first time, it took some trial and error and patience.

"Besides... I don't even know why I was chosen. I'm not even real, so my comfort doesn't mean as much as yours." She felt the tug of her robotic laws on this one. It may have been only half true, and she may have been able to hide or ignore the fact that she was a robot if she had wanted, but why lie to him? And why inconvenience him? He was her only ally in this world at the moment. And her initial assessment of him had been wrong. He definitely wasn't a noob. "Just take the bed. I don't like arguing. The bench is more my size anyway."

He studied her for a second, tilting his head when she mentioned that she was a machine. In his own world the most advanced technology they had were trains so it was a shock to him. He realised that there was so much more that he would have to learn to in a sense understand his travelling companion. He watched as she struggled with putting the cape on, he sighed lightly and walked up to her, clipping the buckles for her, going it slowly so she could understand and see.

"We have a belief where I come from that everything happens for a reason. There’s a reason why you were chosen, you may not know it at right now but it will come apparent in the future. Hey you are real, just look at you. You’re in a real world when before you said you were made into fake world, to be a character so to say," He says making a point, he placed a hand on her head "As long as you are with me then you are real. No matter what you might say or think,"

When she said for him to take the bed he sighed a little but could tell by the seriousness in her voice that she couldn’t be reasoned with "Fine, but if it is too uncomfortable for you then we’ll switch places, no matter what you say," He took his hand off her head and sat down on the bed.

"I would have figured it out by myself eventually. But thanks for showing me anyway. I'll try to remember." She felt silly being told she was real, with his hand on her head like a little girl. But she let him talk, only puffing out her cheeks slightly. She probably looked even younger than she was. "You're taking this big brother thing too seriously. I don't need to be consoled. As far as I'm concerned, I'm here to help you, not the other way around. But thank you anyway. I'll take it as a complement. As for being real or not... I would rather not think of myself. It makes things... complicated."

She sat on the edge of the cot, staring at the waning light through the cracked door. "This will probably not make much sense, but... How can you rest when it is so quiet? Where I come from, I could sense so much at once. But here, everything is so slow and quiet. Yet every sense or thought is overpowering, driving away the last. How can you be at peace when you are confined inside the small space of your body?"

He looked down at her and smiled a tiny bit "I'm taking the big brother thing to seriously? I didn't even notice..." He muttered and looked at the hole in the corner of the ceiling, the stars were just visible from where he sat, small twinkling dots in a pinch black sky "I haven't really changed then," He chuckled a bit and seemed to be thinking about something as Sophia spoke.

"How can I rest?" He repeated after her and glanced at her with a questioning look, letting her finish what she was going to say. Once she finished he thought for a while to give her an answer "I take everything one step at a time, focus on the moment. I know that I'm stuck to this body so I must take care of it, I clear and cleanse my mind on the task I do at that time. Right now it's for us to get some rest but then I'll pass it on to travelling again..." He took his shoes off and brought them up on the bed, sitting with them crossed and his back straight "I also meditate," He simply says, a bit if humor was hidden behind his voice "Would you care to join me?"

"So you only focus on the present moment. The next step. I suppose that makes sense." It was good that he understood her question. If she were to have to describe the amount of information she usually had to process on a moment by moment basis, it would take all night and into the morning.

Her look grew curious. "Meditation? That is... Monk class players use a skill called meditation to focus their power. I have heard that it is based on a concept of the real world. Well, I won't pass up a chance to learn something new." She laughed. "Truthfully, I want to know as much as I can about everything. I and my twin brother Philo shared that goal. We are even named after the pursuit of knowledge, Philosophy, so it should come as no surprise. But I am not like my brother. I feel that one must be quiet to learn and not constantly poking and asking questions." She missed him. But that was not a concern for now. She had to exist in the moment.

She copied his cross legged position, though nearly getting tangled in her long skirt in the process. "So teach me. It seems like a useful skill. It cannot hurt to try, anyway."

Whilst she was talking Haru was setting up were they were for the meditation, even though they weren't in a ideal place to do this. Haru had to make do with what was around them right now, the best place to do it would be a temple of some sort.
He didn't fully quite understand what she meant what a monk class was but he guessed it was something to do with her world so he didn't want to ask questions that he knew that the answers would probably confuse him.

He looked inside his clothes and pulled out a little bell "Since we don't have any proper equipment we'll do the most basic meditation technique, it's called Zazen," He informed her "This types clears the mind, putting your thoughts behind you as you focus on the present, it also makes you more relaxed and even quite attentive to your surroundings,"

Haru struck the little bell and it's ring called out the room "Close your eyes, just listen to the bell and my voice," He says calmly.

"Zazen," Sophia repeated thoughtfully, looking at the bell. It was about the last thing she would have expected for Haru to pull out. Listen only to the bell and his voice? "Well, I'll try. Go ahead." She closed her eyes to block out the starlight, even though he hadn't told her to. Was she supposed to? No, stop thinking so much!

During her fit of constant thinking, a gentle twinkling sound could be heard by Sophia and Haru. If they were to open their eyes, thin streaks of light in multiple colors could be seen passing through the small gaps in the walls of the home. If they were to look outside, a larger number of these streaks of light would be visible in the distance running parallel to what would be the main street of the town. If touched, the streaks would disperse briefly where contacted before reforming after a few seconds.

"Ignore any distractions…" Haru states as he heard the small twinkling sound, he didn’t what to pay any attention on it "Slow your breathing with me, take a deep breath in through your nose," He followed his own instructions "Then wait a few seconds before letting it out through your mouth," He exhaled, feeling his stress slowly peel away from him, especially from his shoulder area we’re the strain was. Haru had hoped that Sophia was following along with him. Although the twinkling sound was travelling past them he didn’t want to give in to the temptation.