(10) Two Daggers and a Prayer v (15) Standing Ground

[Raychel]

Raychel still found it amazing that she had actually left home. She had spent years in her parents’ home, feeling bored and stifled, and fantasizing about leaving. She had spent months thinking seriously about leaving. She had spent days secretly packing and making preparations. But still, part of her had not believed she would leave. It felt very much like a dream the evening when she dressed in her travel gear, put on her backpack, and left her carefully written goodbye note on the kitchen table. Now, a few weeks later, part of her was still in disbelief. She tried not to fixate on the strangeness of the situation. She told herself that the important thing was to keep going forward. Giving up and turning back was not not an option. Luckily, because the experience of actually having left home felt so surreal, Raychel was not tremendously tempted to turn back. The oddness of the situation sort of numbed Raychel to feeling homesick, and as long as she didn’t think about home and begin to doubt her decision, her curiosity and sense of adventure carried her forward on her journey.

There was one other thing to contend with though- despite the fact that she was eager to go forth and see the world, Raychel was not exactly sure what she should do. Being a thinker who also loved the outdoors, she would sit sometimes under a tree and ponder- almost agonize really- evaluating all of the different options that were available to her. In the end though, she would frequently find that thinking too deeply was really not the most effective method of figuring out what to do. It is more often the random occurrences and educated but quick and unexpected decisions that move things forward. When Raychel was passing through a small village one day, she overheard some people talking about the LCC in Lornius. Although it seemed crazy, she decided to go. She knew she wasn’t a warrior, but she also knew that she had little to lose and plenty to gain. She could get hurt in the tournament, but there would be excellent medical care to heal her. Although she might fear pain, she wanted to face it and overcome it. And although it was a long shot, if she actually did well in the tournament, Raychel would then have a name for herself outside of the town where she grew up.

Raychel was not sure what to expect when she got to Lornius, but upon arrival, she had to check to make sure she was at the right place. There didn’t seem to be much there, and what was there seemed to be rather dilapidated. Raychel had been expecting a tournament in a large, grand metropolis with a festival atmosphere. She envisioned knights riding in on armored horses and bards singing tales of heroism in tournaments past. Why was it so ominously empty?

Raychel reasoned to herself, “Okay. The captain of the ship that took me here said that the tournament is here, in this town. I don’t think he was lying; I just need to explore some more in order to find everyone.” She kept thinking this as she traversed deteriorated streets and shabby dwellings, finding no one. When she noticed the sun setting, her pace quickened. It became increasingly harder to resist an uneasy feeling.