Just Another Day (W.92.509, Open)

[Kayiri]

And so, despite this special occasion, Kayiri was sad.

In his tent he sat, head in his hands, a sigh escaping his lips. His hair was all over the place. He hadn't cared enough to do anything about it in the past few days. Too much stress, too much to think about, too much going on...

With an annoyed, almost angry, grunt, he pushed himself to his feet, pacing like a lion around the small confines of his tent. He had spent all that time. Adventuring, like the heroes of old, to reclaim his bow. The taste of battle, the death of one's opponents... It was all so hard to walk away from. It was what he was trained, no, indoctrinated to do...

But that wasn't the hardest part. No, the hardest part was parting ways with Dachua and Hex. Despite having hardly known the former, and only known the latter for a shortly longer time, he found it damn near impossible to just forget about them and get on with his life. No one was like them, no one as influential as them. No one had fought and shed blood alongside him but them.

He missed them. He honestly did. And here he was, on his 22nd birthday, alone, thirsting for adventure, thirsting for someone like Hex or Dachua to talk to. A deep sigh escaped his lips once again, and he exited his tent. He took in a deep breath, feeling his lungs tickle at the air. His eyes were closed as he took in a few more calming breaths. Finally, after about three minutes of this, he walked back inside, calmed again.

He emerged soon after with an actually presentable appearance. Right up in his face was his father, a smile on his face. Kayiri returned the smile, wrapping his arms around the old man.

"Happy birthday, Kayiri," the man spoke softly, his grip firm despite his aging appearance. Kayiri's smile grew ever so slightly. "Thank you, Father," he spoke in response, holding the man at arms length. They spoke quickly and softly, their conversation finishing soon after.

"The worst part about my birthday," Kayiri mused at the end, "is that everyone's too busy at the damned towers to celebrates it." They both laughed, and after gathering Kayiri's mother, proceeded outside, making their way to the center of Endrykas, which was having a celebration for the New Year.

As soon as they were there, Kayiri shot off to the left, sitting down on the side, eyes scanning the crowd for anyone of interest...