PM to join A Reminder of an Old Home(Garland)

[Lora]

Timestamp: Fall 6th, 515

Turning the knob, Lora gingerly opened the door of what was her new home. From the inside, this rented apartment wasn’t much different from her cottage back in Mura but opening the door showed just how changed her surroundings really were.

Her eyes were met with the view of the street, it's paved stones reflecting the light of the sun that was out of view because of how close the buildings were together. She watched as several people walked by the opened door. Just like everywhere else in Syliras, everything was in order. Back in Mura, the mornings had greeted her with a view of the water and the shining buildings that made up the city. The light and the buildings all seemed to flow together and it gave of an air of beauty. Although Lora wasn’t a total stranger to the area of Syliras, she had gotten used to the almost magical glow that Mura provided.

Disregarding her nostalgia, Lora took a step out onto the road, taking a deep breath of the early morning air. She tried to ignore the fact that it didn’t smell like the sea as it had back in Mura. It had a very distinct smell that Lora couldn’t quite put her finger on. It smelled like the city, not just the people, the city itself, as though it had a distinct smell just for the purpose of having a distinct smell.

The warm air seemed be layered with a hidden crispness, a cold waiting to come lurking just below the surface. It was still early fall but Lora knew the weather would soon be chilly. Cold was something she was looking forward to feeling again. It had never gotten too cold in Mura and although, cold had never been Lora’s favorite weather, it was one of the many things she was excited to have again.

Carefully, she wrapped her fingers around the knob of the door and pulled it shut behind her. In Mura, she would often leave her door opened and let the fresh air in. Here, she knew not to do that but still had to continuously remind herself to close it. There had already been a few times she had accidentally left the door opened when leaving her house.

Forcing a smile on to her face, Lora began walking down the road. People walked around her, most of them going to their jobs or on some important errand. Lora herself was not going anywhere specific. She was merely striding along and enjoying the world around her, maybe looking for and idea for her art, but mostly just enjoying herself.

She walked slowly trying to take in all her surroundings. The buildings, the people, and the leaves some of which had already begun to change color, all amazed her. Unfortunately, not everyone else walking along the street had the same appreciation for their surroundings. This meant people were walking around her far faster than she was walking leading quite a few of them to accidentally bumping into her, despite the fact the street wasn’t exactly crowded.

Suddenly, Lora began to walk faster as well. Up just ahead of her she could see an alley way jutting off from the main road. This was sure to have less people on it. As she reached it, Lora ducked into the alley way and was immediately shrouded in a shadow provided by the towering buildings around her. Although she would have liked to walk in the sun, the empty street was well worth it. Resuming her slow pace, Lora continued her early morning walk.

[Garland]

It was early in the season, the wind felt nice on Garland's face, though the city was still a bit too stuffy for him.

Even though he is a city boy, he never actually felt like a city boy. He loves sea air when he goes out on the docks, he enjoys the sounds and smells of the woods, but he wasn't talented in seafaring, or is he any good at living off the land, and the quiet of living in the country would be very boring for him.

Still, he loves Syliras in a way, it was a bastion of peace in a world where strife was the norm. The city was in no way a haven for the lazy, or useless, but for the honest man, this place is a port in a middle of a storm.

The squire was on patrol, keeping an eye out around the residential areas. There he saw a figure go into an alley-way, for some reason, this person seemed very familiar, but he couldn't quite place where he had seen her before.

Garland walked fast towards the other side of the alleyway to cut off whoever went into the alley. Normally people don't go into alleys, it was quite odd. He had to keep an eye out on suspicious behavior, and following a potential criminal into an uncrowded alleyway will most likely alert them to your presence.

As he made it to the other side of the alleyway, he turned into the alley. He looked down into the alley, seeing a familiar face, he still couldn't quite place her face, but his heart did begin to throb.

His legs felt weak for whatever reason, he felt something akin to fear, though he wasn't feeling the fear of being hurt or anything of the like, he was feeling the dread of messing up, making a fool of himself and he has no idea why.

He took a deep breath and walked towards the girl, there was no way someone as lovely as her could be any danger to anyone, right? Still, it was dangerous walking in an alleyway alone, even in the city of peace.

"H-Hello, Ma'am." His voice croaked and he was stuttering like a child who just spoke to a girl for the first time.

First time? Garland thought, he had met her before, a long time ago. She hadn't aged a day in his eyes and he had no idea how he had not recognized her before.

"Lora? Is that you?" He asked in an uncharacteristically timid voice. He had no idea what was wrong with his voice or why his heart was pounding, he wasn't usually like this when he's with his other friends.

[Lora]

Allowing the sounds of the city and motion of her own legs to drift into the background, Lora stared up at that sky. It was a rich blue color that stretched on for what seemed like forever and reminded Lora of the ocean. There was not a cloud to be seen anywhere, just the pure blue sky. Lora felt like she might fall into it. It was beautiful.

Suddenly, a voice from right in front of her spoke. It politely said hello. Her head shot down and her aimless walking immediately jerked to a stop. A young man was standing in front of her staring at her. From his appearance Lora would have guessed he was a knight or a squire. Although she couldn’t really tell. Had she met him before? There seemed to be something familiar about him but she couldn’t think from where or come up with a name. It was like he looked like someone she knew but she couldn’t tell who that someone was.

“Hello,” She replied politely but a little vaguely. She was still trying to guess where she might have known him from. She had only just moved back to the city. How could she have both met and forgotten him in the few days she had been here.

“Lora? Is that you?” The man asked suddenly. His voice sounded a little shy.

Lora was taken aback. This man knew her name. How did she not know his? She continued to search her memories for some thought of this man or where she had known him. She was coming up with nothing. The effort of her thinking showed on her face in the form of a thoughtful expression and an unfocused look in her eyes. Ticks passed before Lora realized she hadn’t provided an answer to the question she had been asked.

“Oh, yes, sorry, I am Lora.” She burst out. Her voice echoed off the walls of the buildings around her before mingling with the distant sound of voices from the people on the street. Wishing she had said it quieter, Lora continued talking. “Who are you?” As soon as she said it, Lora realized how rude she must have sounded. “I mean I don’t quite remember you. I know I’ve met you. I just can’t place where. I’m sorry.” Flustered, she couldn’t help from rambling.

Lora turned her face away from the man and stared down at her sandels. She hoped the man wouldn’t be offended by her rudeness. As she stared at the sandals her mind began to drift to how she needed new shoes. Her mind wandered to the topic of how the weather was getting colder and before long these sandals, which had been perfectly fine for the mild weather of Mura, would not serve to keep her feet nearly warm enough. She made a mental note to herself to buy herself new shoes, maybe boots, before her drifting mind was pulled back into the real situation around her.

“If you don’t mind, could you tell me who you are?” Lora winced. That didn’t come out as smoothly as she had planned it to in her head. Trying to ignore the lack of eloquence, Lora glanced up at the man, her eyes displayed a mixture of apology and anticipation for his answer.

[Garland]

Garland couldn't help but feel disappointed when she didn't recognize him, but it had been years since they saw each other, and he does look a little more gruff and rough than he did before.

He gave a tiny smile to show that he wasn't mad at her. "Don't worry, it has been a long time. I wouldn't hold it against you if you didn't remember me." He blushed when he looked at her face, it seemed like nothing has changed, except maybe the height.

He gave a smile and took off his glove. "It's great to see you again, Lora. It's me, Garland." He extended his arm to shake hers, he hoped that she would accept. He was also very worried, even though he said his name, maybe she wouldn't remember him.

He took a deep breath and looked around. "Ummm... When did you get back in Syliras? Are you just visiting or something?" He said and put back his gauntlet on his hand. "It has been around 4 to 5 years since we've seen each other right, a lot of things have happened since then. I'm a squire now, as you can see."

And I have more blood on my hands than before... He shook the thought out of his head, but he then remembered when he was younger, a little more innocent than he was now.

"So... Do you... want to walk around with me?" He asked with a trepidation in his voice. Why was he feeling this way? The only other person he felt like this with is... April.

He thought he had gotten over Lora, but it seemed that he was still rather infatuated by the Konti girl. "It's nice seeing you again, you haven't aged a day." He grinned a bit and said. "You're still as cute as the day I met you!"

Why did I just say that!?! He mentally berated himself for his words, he was never that good with words when he was nervous, but he did try to keep himself in check.

[Lora]

Garland. Lora rolled the name over in her mind. She knew she had heard it before, she just couldn’t remember from where. The memory seemed to be hidden behind a veil in her mind so that she could almost remember it but not quite. Garland. The name echoed in her head. She knew she had heard it before. Realizing Garland’s hand was awaiting her handshake, she quickly she accepted his outstretched hand and shook it gingerly, before she let too much time pass.

As she shook his hand, Lora looked up at Garland’s face, still trying to place it. By accident, she caught his eye, activating her konti gift. Suddenly, she was very aware that Garland was very talented at unarmed combat. She averted her eyes quickly and blink a few times, trying to recover from the overwhelming thought that came with her gift. Lora struggled to overcome the sudden thought and return to what she was thinking about before.

She didn’t like using her gift when people didn’t agree to it. She felt like it was an invasion of their privacy. Just as she was opening her mouth to apologies to Garland, is identity clicked in her memory. The combination of hearing his name and seeing his face, actually looking into his eyes, suddenly combined in Lora’s mind to bring about the memory.

It had been a few years back, before she moved to Mura, she had met him and they had shared some food. She might not have remember the short event if not for the handkerchief he had given her that she had kept hanging outside her window for a significant amount of time.

“Garland!” She exclaimed. She had been shaking his hand increasingly slowly as her mind had forgotten about the action and moved on to identifying the man before her. When she once again acknowledged she was doing the action, she began to shake it more rigorously, excited that she remembered who Garland was. “I remember you now. From before I left. How did I forget that?”

Realizing she had been shaking Garland’s hand for a few ticks, Lora let go and allowed her hands to fall back to her side.


“Just a few days ago. I’m here to stay, at least as far as I know.” Lora answered his question.

“You’re a squire? Congratulations. Did that happen recently or has it been a while?” Lora smiled, genuinely happy for Garland. “Are you going to be a knight?” She asked, wide eyed. She had never known anyone who was a knight, or was going to be. They had always seemed like a far off power, and had in fact scared her a little but she had been a lot younger then. Frowning, Lora realized how long it had been since she had been here. So much had changed about her too. When she had last lived here, her mother had been alive.

Lora realized this was why she kept feeling like she didn’t quite fit with the city, like she was just out of synch. It had been too long. She had adjusted to life in Mura, now she needed to adjust to life here.

Lora looked up as Garland asked if she wanted to walk with him. “Yes, that would be lovely.” Lora smiled. She figured it would be nice to have someone with her. Her solitary walks had gotten rather lonely.

When Garland made his next comment, Lora, who had begun to move towards him so they could walk, stopped dead in her tracks. She stared at him, her mouth slightly opened in shock. She felt her face grown bright red but that knowledge drifted into the background.

No one had ever said something like that to her. She didn’t know how to process it. For what seemed like a long time, Lora didn’t know what to say, she just stared and tried, unsuccessfully, to pull her thoughts together.

“Um...um, t-thank you.” Her voice was suddenly very quiet and nervous sounding. “I...um...I don’t...um...” Her voice faded off.

Although Lora’s eyes were not looking directly at Garlands face, her mind brought up the memory of it. She suddenly realized that he wasn’t bad looking himself. She had never really thought about how muscular he was either until now.

“You are... You’re...um...You too.”She frowned, that wasn’t what she meant to say. “I mean, you are rather...um… good looking.” Although there was no hair out of place, Lora moved to push her hair out of her face. That was a nervous tick of hers. She tilted her head toward the ground and bit her lip. Lora wished she could have thought of something better to say.


“So…should we walk?” Lora asked, dreading the silence and wishing to take the conversation in a different direction. “The cold is coming, can’t you feel it?” Lora commented on the first thing that came to mind. “In Mura it never got as cold as it does here. It was nice but the cold is nice too. I miss it.” She stopped, sure that her ranting was spiraling down into meaningless ramble. “So, um, is there somewhere specific you wanted to walk to?”

[Garland]

“You are... You’re...um...You too. I mean, you are rather...um… good looking.”

Garland was a happy she agreed to have a walk with him. Though what he said before made him feel quite awkward, and what she replied just made the entire conversation awkward.

"O-Oh... Umm... W-Well, Thank you." He blushed, his usually tanned face from the days patrolling outside was turned into a bright pink. He looked over to Lora and she seemed cuter than usual when she was blushing.

“So…should we walk? The cold is coming, can’t you feel it? In Mura it never got as cold as it does here. It was nice but the cold is nice too. I miss it. So, um, is there somewhere specific you wanted to walk to?”

Garland gave a small smile and rubbed the blush off his face. "Winter is coming, but it is still a little ways away, there's nothing better than sitting near a fire with a bit of ale or with good friends." He said and started walking towards somewhere. "I don't really have a set place in mind... I just wanted to spend some time with you and maybe do a little catching up."

The streets were crowded like it has always been, he extended his hand and decided to hold Lora's hand, somewhat reminiscent of the first time they had met. "To answer your previous question, I've been a squire for around a year now, I don't think I'm close to becoming a knight, but I think I have a lot more experience than the average squire."

Garland looked around and wondered if Lora had been around the city much, there was always something to see around here and something to do. The city would always bring some fresh new merchandise in the bazaar, always a bit of sport or riding down in the tracks and fights and spars in the pits.

Though today, maybe just a walk in the park would suffice. "Umm... Would you like to take a walk in the park? Near Kova's well? The few trees there have started shedding their leaves and it is quite a sight to behold. What do you say?"

[Lora]

Lora nodded and fell into step with Garland as he began to stride away. “That would be nice.” She commented on Garland’s offer for them to catch up. So much had happened since she had last seen him, she couldn’t wait to tell him about it. Rather, she couldn’t wait to tell anyone about it. She wanted someone else in Syliras to experience Konti Isle, if only through her words.

As they walked, they entered the main street. Lora was once again surrounded with the noise of many people talking at once. Everything became more hectic as people surrounded Lora, all with their own destinations. The street seemed to have gotten even more crowded than only moments ago when Lora was last walking on it.

Noticing Garland had extended his hand again, this time not to shake, Lora was bit surprised. She stared at the hand for a moment before placing her own hand in Garland’s much larger one. Smiling, she continued down the street, now with no fear of losing him in crowd.

Garland went on to explain his situation as a squire. Lora nodded when he said he had more experience than most squires. “Yes, you're very talented at unarmed combat.”

Lora gasped as she realized she only knew that because of her gift. Her hand automatically shot out of Garland’s as it went to cover her mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have known that. See, earlier, I used my konti gift on you. But it was an accident. I didn’t mean to. I really should have asked first. Oh, and my gift allows me to see someone’s greatest talent. Yours is unarmed combat.” She attempted to explain herself but couldn’t help but think that she made the situation worse.

Shifting her gaze to her feet, Lora almost ran into a man in front of her. She made a mental note to watch where she was going in the future. Her hand fell awkwardly to her side. She wished she could place it back into the comfort of Garland’s hand but now that she had retracted it, she doubted that was an option.

She looked back at Garland as he offered to go to the park with her. She hadn’t been back there since returning to Syliras but she had loved to go and hang out around the well when she was a child. It had seemed so mysterious and all of her friends had had stories about it. There was something very intriguing about it and so, although she had never thrown in a coin, she had enjoyed being around it.

“That sounds great. I would love to. The trees must be beautiful. I would like to see that.” Lora replied, smiling. She had always loved to see trees changing color and dropping their leaves. It used to be one of her favorite things to paint. She made a mental note to paint the trees when she got a chance.

“There is something almost magical about them. Wouldn’t you agree?” Lora asked, her voice was distant as her mind drifted to thoughts of trees and their beauty. “How they just change colors and then just fall to the ground to be discarded. It's all very interesting.”

Lora smiled and continued walking forward in a bit of a daze, until she realized she was getting separated from Garland. Suddenly being pulled out of the depth of her own thoughts, Lora moved quickly to return to her companion’s side before the crowds pushed them further apart. There were so many people around them, Lora worried if they got separated, she would never be able to find him again.

Falling into step next to him, Lora spoke again. “So, how have you been?” She asked curiously. She had not known him well before so she doubted she would notice if anything had changed but she did want to find out. “Other than becoming a squire, of course.”

[Garland]

“Oh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have known that. See, earlier, I used my konti gift on you. But it was an accident. I didn’t mean to. I really should have asked first. Oh, and my gift allows me to see someone’s greatest talent. Yours is unarmed combat.”

He would have loved to have kept holding her hand, but he understood if she felt awkward holding his hand. "It's fine, don't worry, I don't mind. Besides I'm not really all that good with my fists, I mean I'm okay, but not the best."

“That sounds great. I would love to. The trees must be beautiful. I would like to see that. There is something almost magical about them. Wouldn’t you agree? How they just change colors and then just fall to the ground to be discarded. It's all very interesting.”

The two of them started walking off towards the park, it was a little ways away, but he was fine spending some time together with her. "Yeah, the park is a great place to relax, the falling leaves are beautiful when they cover the ground, and even more so when the sun sets and it just looks amazing." He couldn't help but take a glance at Lora while he was talking.

It seemed that she was a bit dazed here and there and he was worried they would get separated. He took her hand, he would rather not lose her to the crowd. "I hope you don't mind, but I don't want to get separated from you. The city is pretty big and maybe you might get lost."

“So, how have you been? Other than becoming a squire, of course.”

"I'm... well... Okay I guess, rather lonely I guess." He said and shook away the thoughts and his feelings. "But I am glad to see you though! We have so much to catch up on! Oh the pranks I did after you left, I should tell you about the time we had that adventure in that labyrinth! I believe we almost died three times in there, but... I would rather hear about Mura if you don't mind, I bet it was beautiful there."

Soon the two of them made it to Kova's Well, the leaves had turned into a golden orange and some were already starting to fall, the more stubborn trees held on to their green leaves but ultimately they will turn orange as well.

"This place is beautiful." Still he looked over to Lora, the scene was very beautiful, but it paled in comparison to the young Konti girl. "The sun is still high in the sky, we have plenty of time to walk around and such. A lot of things happened since you were gone, a few stores here and there got removed or replaced, I don't know if you've noticed but the city gates had been refurbished... Though I assumed you went in my boat from the docks..."

He thought back to the small ship out in the docks, and to the owner of the ship. He did wonder where April had gone, and if she had given birth by now. He wasn't sure if he should tell Lora about that Sverfa girl by the docks, but it will come up sooner or later.

[Lora]

“It is. Mura is so beautiful.” Lora confirmed Garland’s inquiry about the city Lora had previously considered her home. “It's magnificent. There is water everywhere. The buildings are pristine and shine in the sunlight. Everything seems to flow together. It's like a happy dream. The kind you don’t want to wake up from.” Her voice became distant as Lora thoughts turned to the island city.

After a time more of walking through the crowded streets the pair approached the well and the trees that surrounded it. Lora’s eyes were fixed on her sandals, deep in memory of the the island where she used to live. Having Garland’s hand to guide her, she didn’t even have to worry about where she was going and could completely drift through her thoughts. She didn’t even notice they had arrived until Garland called for her attention by saying, “This place is beautiful.”

Lora looked up to find that she was surrounded by colourful trees, some of their warmly colored leaves having fallen to the ground but many of them had remained, painting the trees in bright reds, oranges and yellows. Lora’s eyes widened and her mouth fell opened in awe. Many of the leaves were still bright green so the trees appeared to only have dashes of color among their leaves. The mix of the greens and the warmer tones worked well, it was beautiful. Even more so than Lora remembered.

“Its...its amazing.” Her opened mouth formed into a smile. She continued to stare at the trees even as Garland started talking again. She was completely zoned out for the first part of what he said but she was able to tear her attention away from the trees in order to hear him say that the gates had been refurbished.

Lora frowned. She hadn’t noticed the refurbished gates. Pulling up the memory she had of the old gate and comparing it to the memories of the one she had walked through just days earlier, she noticed they were different. How had she missed that?

“I actually did come through the gate.” Lora corrected. “I didn’t notice before but I suppose they were newer looking. I actually haven't visited the docks yet. Since returning, that is. There are a lot of places I haven't visited yet. ” Lora frowned to herself. She wished she had gotten a chance to look around the city more but she had just kept pushing it off. Making a mental note to look around more before it got to cold, Lora returned the smile to her face.

“The city has changed a lot. Well, more than the city, the people. Or maybe it just me that's changed.” Lora shrugged and looked down at the ground. That was what she had been worried about since arriving back here. She felt like she didn’t fit into the city. It felt to her like the city had moved on and she had missed a huge part of it and was trying to catch up. It made her worry she wasn’t suited to life here any more. Syliras was so drastically different to Mura and she was having trouble making the transition.

Suddenly, Lora got an idea. “What if we go to the docks, now?” Lora looked at Garland and smiled in excitment. “Since I haven’t been there yet and I’ve wanted to go there again. Now is as good a time as any, right?” Lora began to move in the direction that she was pretty sure led to the docks, pulling Garland’s hand along with her.

[Garland]

. “What if we go to the docks, now? Since I haven’t been there yet and I’ve wanted to go there again. Now is as good a time as any, right?”

He had no problems with going to the docks. "Sounds good, the sea is quite nice, but I would reckon it's a bit less... crystal clear than Mura judging from how you described it." He smiled softly and walked around, crunching the leaves under his heavy boots.

He liked it here, it was always quiet, a perfect place to relax, maybe even nap if one had the time. The docks on the other hand was the opposite at times, its usually busy with the fishing ships and boats going in and out of the docks, unloading and loading cargo and such, but sometimes there are slow days and just looking out into the sea is rather relaxing as well.

And the place is rather lively at night, sailors and deckhands drinking in the pubs, sometimes there are even a few merchants hawking a few of the their wares to the sailors. It could be the second busiest part in the city, next to the bazaar of course.

"We can leave now if you want, it shouldn't be too far." He said and kept walking through the park, there were a few people here and there, some were couples, others were just walking alone, enjoying the beautiful scenery.

"You should see this place during spring, the flowers are just beautiful, fields of white, pink, green and all the other colors just blend together perfectly." He said softly, reminiscing of the spring days in Syliras, most of the time is just fun, removing the last bits of snow from winter, making sure the drainage of the city was free of obstruction in case of floods and such.

"Hey, do you still have that handkerchief I gave you?" He asked curiously, oddly enough he cared for something so trivial, it was just a piece of cloth, but he did wonder if she kept it or just lost it when she moved.

As they two of them walked down the road, leading out the park and then heading in the direction of the city docks, Garland couldn't help but wonder if Lora left 'someone' back in Mura, like a special 'someone' he was too nervous to ask such a question.

Soon enough the two of them made it to the docks, the place was as busy as ever, cargo being hauled to and fro, sails being raised or lowered, men doing anything and everything they can. "I guess this place is busier than Mura. So, do you want to walk around here or do you want to go anywhere else?"