Andromedus had arrived at Overwing before the week ended; it had taken him three days and three quarters of a day to get there. It would probably take him a bit longer to get to Castle Lovre, no less than two days, no more than three, depending on many factors that could affect travel. If Andromedus had to guess, he’d say it’d take only two days if he travelled nonstop. By then, most people would most likely know he’s back, the news would spread as fast as it can. At this time, most people around Overwing were getting ready for afternoon or late afternoon activities; time zones being the deciding factor. Most families would be outside having fun, most of them probably playing with their pets. Andromedus didn’t exactly anticipate this fact, both because of his missing foot and because he didn’t really like talking all that much. Of course, he’d talk if someone had asked him about the ocean, but most people didn’t exactly care for the ocean. The elemental factor came into play here, most of the people living on Overwing had the air element. Andromedus had the air element as well, hence his wings, but he also had water as an element. Something pretty common is having a subelement, so it’s nothing odd.
However, Andromedus had to think about how to deal with his missing foot when it came to being a prince on Overwing; so he shoved his knowledge of elements elsewhere as he went over his options. It wouldn’t be great to just appear with a missing foot, people liked to ask questions and get all nosy even when they shouldn’t; Andromedus didn’t exactly like talking about how it had happened, so that was crossed off the list. He had tried to wear his boot over it before, but he ended up meeting the ground face-first when he tried; so that was off the list as well. He could wait until night to begin travelling to Castle Lovre, avoiding people until he actually got there. It seemed to be the easiest thing to do, there was usually a lot of space between towns and cities. The town he was docked at, Ebbot, was quite close to the dry outlands; most people don’t go into the dry outlands if they can help it. He didn’t take much with him to the castle and back when he did go, so travel on foot would be no big deal. Waiting until night seemed to be the best option, so he decided that’s what he was going to do. The sun was already starting to set, so he wouldn’t have to wait long. Thirty minutes later, only after making sure his boat is secure, he finally leaves the dock.
By the time he got to Ebbot, the town was asleep. There was really nothing of interest, since the shops were closed and the town residents were sleeping. It wasn’t unusual for people to pass through the town at night, travellers always passed through or stopped at a town at night; usually to make sure they’re on the right path. He kept walking; since he already knew this path by heart. He was slightly slowed down by his missing foot, but it was no big deal; he’d already learned what he can and can’t do with it. Something felt different about the town this time, though Andromedus brushed it off as just a weird feeling. He had experienced it before, many times before. He always ignored it, or chose not to think about it. Sighing and finally making it to the outlands, he examined the area around him. The outlands were a barren, desert-like terrain with barely any animals or plants. If you asked anyone, they’d probably say not to go through the outlands. Andromedus knew what he was doing, or at least he thought he did. The only nocturnal animal in the outlands was a bird of prey, local to most of Overwing. They don’t attack people, and are generally friendly, so he didn’t care much.
The outlands are just as empty as he had expected, nothing but dry dirt, sand, and the occasional cactus. The sky only got darker, the moon nothing more than a small sliver of light in the sky. If Andromedus had to guess, it’d be around eleven-thirty PM. It was nearly winter, which is why it’s so dark. He kept walking, watching the ground. He’d travelled this path countless times before, it’s practically burned into his memory and impossible to forget. Even if he did forget it, he has a map with the path marked on it. He looked around, noticing how dark it really was; nearly too dark for him to see. Since it was so dark, and because he knew he would most likely not fall asleep, he decided to start a small fire. He knew how to control the fire, since it really wasn’t that hard, he’d learned the skill on Ireai. The flame was a light purple in color, something that bothered him slightly. He focused on the flame and keeping it controlled, ignoring everything else. It kept his mind from wandering too far; he liked keeping his thoughts in chains.
He liked to have some sort of control over what his brain produced; it seemed to really have some kind of second mind. When his mind wandered, there usually weren’t good or bittersweet thoughts; most of them were just plain bad. It wasn’t about his family or anything around him, it was more just thoughts about him. He tried to ignore them, however sometimes that didn’t work. He didn’t like to put too much time to thinking about them, either. He’d sometimes go through episodes of being tired. Not tired as in he needed sleep, it was more of an emotional tired. He’d sometimes be angry at nothing, but he’d always brushed it off as just being a bad day. At first, he’d forced himself to work through it, until he learned that it really just made it worse; after that he took small breaks when he really needed them. It helped a little, if he was being honest. It was an old helliund woman who had taught him to not overwork himself; she was the village elder and had seen things like that happen many times before. She’d even experienced it herself when she was young. Her name was Rosie; though she had recently passed. It’s one of the big reasons he left Ireai, he was particularly fond of her and viewed her as almost a mother figure, so when she passed it affected him badly.
He took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts. He watched the flame as it danced, willing the thought of why he left Ireai away. Most of it was still too fresh in his mind, and he didn’t want to focus on it. He sat cross-legged in front of the flame, just watching it. It moved wildly in every direction possible; as if it were trying to reach out and touch everything it could. It was kind of like an emotion; just more physical and a lot hotter. He kept watching it, practically hugging himself at this point. He must’ve fallen asleep, because it was suddenly morning and his fire had gone out. There was a singular lone bird nearby, picking at what was probably a dead mouse. Nothing else but the outlands could be seen from where Andromedus was sitting. Standing up and getting the dirt out of his tail the best he could, he slowly walks over to it. It was too small to be an adult, so it was most likely a juvenile. It most likely just recently learned how to fly; if Andromedus knew anything about this kind of bird. A Royal Saphina, known for their stunning blue color, these birds made loyal pets and ate small rodents; they were friendly and quite social as well. It looks at him once, and then goes back to eating, ignoring him completely. It eventually takes notice of the fact that he’s still watching it, and it finally looks back up at him; chirping once curiously. The both of them watch eachother.
The bird decides that he’s a likeable person, approaching him slowly. He crouches down, reaching a hand out to it. The bird seems to hesitate, but eventually rubs against his hand; and from this point on, the two of them are declared friends. He watches it climb up his arm, chuckling at it slightly.
“You are quite the pretty bird,” he mumbles to it, the bird climbs up to his shoulder and practically nests in his wild hair; the bird nearly matched his hair in color, and it could probably hide in there without being noticed if it really wanted to, “it’s always the hair, isn’t it?”
The bird chirps in response, sitting on his shoulder. He sighs contentedly, looking at the sky to check the time; something he’d learned to do when he was overseas. Deciding that now was the best possible time to continue his travelling to Castle Lovre, he finds his path again and begins to follow it. The rest of the trek through the dry outlands wasn’t long, since he always took the shortest route possible. Now the terrain was mostly plains, nothing but grass and few scattered trees. Still no towns or cities, though. His bird had eventually flown off, looking for food. It returned two hours later, seeming to be satisfied with whatever rodent it had caught.
Around noon he stopped walking to take a break, which was only about thirty minutes long. He had found a lone apple tree, which provided both apples and shade. Not even two hours later, Hera town was in sight; which means Castle Lovre was as well. To get to the entrance of the castle, you actually had to go through Hera town. Andromedus’ brother, Robin, was most likely in the town right now. If he knew anything about Andromedus’ current predicament—his missing foot—he’d probably find it funny. Robin would also take an interest in the bird, he seemed to like birds just as much as Andromedus does. Francis would most likely beg him to take her overseas, while Barukiri would be indifferent to the situation. Francis was a lot like Andromedus, constantly wanting to know more about everything. She wasn’t much of the stereotypical princess, more of a warrior princess; perhaps that’s what happens when you have three older brothers. Maybe this time he’d agree to take her with him, maybe. Though, by now he was practically on the edge of Hera lake, with Hera town less than half a mile away. If he was going to hide this missing foot from the public, he’d have to find an alternate route into the castle. He already knew his answer—the alleys.
The alleys were built to be confusing, but he knew how to get into them. It’d be finding his way into the castle from there that’d be difficult. The entrance was meant to fool thieves wanting to get into the castle, since it looked like they lead directly to the entrance. Instead, most people got lost in them; which is where Robin’s constant being in the town came from. He would walk through the alleys, having them memorized, and either help people out of them or bust thieves. If Andromedus was lucky, Robin would appear from around the corner right now and lead him through the alleys. He was sure he’d get lost. Eventually, he found a path that looked like it lead to the castle, but it ended up being a dead end. This trial and error process went on for hours, until he finally found the entrance to the castle. The door lead to an empty hallway, on the bottom floor of the castle. Entering the hallway and closing the door behind him, he looked around; there was truly nothing in this hallway. He’d probably end up searching for hours if he tried to find his father, Robin, or Francis, so he went with the most logical choice; the library.
However, Andromedus had to think about how to deal with his missing foot when it came to being a prince on Overwing; so he shoved his knowledge of elements elsewhere as he went over his options. It wouldn’t be great to just appear with a missing foot, people liked to ask questions and get all nosy even when they shouldn’t; Andromedus didn’t exactly like talking about how it had happened, so that was crossed off the list. He had tried to wear his boot over it before, but he ended up meeting the ground face-first when he tried; so that was off the list as well. He could wait until night to begin travelling to Castle Lovre, avoiding people until he actually got there. It seemed to be the easiest thing to do, there was usually a lot of space between towns and cities. The town he was docked at, Ebbot, was quite close to the dry outlands; most people don’t go into the dry outlands if they can help it. He didn’t take much with him to the castle and back when he did go, so travel on foot would be no big deal. Waiting until night seemed to be the best option, so he decided that’s what he was going to do. The sun was already starting to set, so he wouldn’t have to wait long. Thirty minutes later, only after making sure his boat is secure, he finally leaves the dock.
By the time he got to Ebbot, the town was asleep. There was really nothing of interest, since the shops were closed and the town residents were sleeping. It wasn’t unusual for people to pass through the town at night, travellers always passed through or stopped at a town at night; usually to make sure they’re on the right path. He kept walking; since he already knew this path by heart. He was slightly slowed down by his missing foot, but it was no big deal; he’d already learned what he can and can’t do with it. Something felt different about the town this time, though Andromedus brushed it off as just a weird feeling. He had experienced it before, many times before. He always ignored it, or chose not to think about it. Sighing and finally making it to the outlands, he examined the area around him. The outlands were a barren, desert-like terrain with barely any animals or plants. If you asked anyone, they’d probably say not to go through the outlands. Andromedus knew what he was doing, or at least he thought he did. The only nocturnal animal in the outlands was a bird of prey, local to most of Overwing. They don’t attack people, and are generally friendly, so he didn’t care much.
The outlands are just as empty as he had expected, nothing but dry dirt, sand, and the occasional cactus. The sky only got darker, the moon nothing more than a small sliver of light in the sky. If Andromedus had to guess, it’d be around eleven-thirty PM. It was nearly winter, which is why it’s so dark. He kept walking, watching the ground. He’d travelled this path countless times before, it’s practically burned into his memory and impossible to forget. Even if he did forget it, he has a map with the path marked on it. He looked around, noticing how dark it really was; nearly too dark for him to see. Since it was so dark, and because he knew he would most likely not fall asleep, he decided to start a small fire. He knew how to control the fire, since it really wasn’t that hard, he’d learned the skill on Ireai. The flame was a light purple in color, something that bothered him slightly. He focused on the flame and keeping it controlled, ignoring everything else. It kept his mind from wandering too far; he liked keeping his thoughts in chains.
He liked to have some sort of control over what his brain produced; it seemed to really have some kind of second mind. When his mind wandered, there usually weren’t good or bittersweet thoughts; most of them were just plain bad. It wasn’t about his family or anything around him, it was more just thoughts about him. He tried to ignore them, however sometimes that didn’t work. He didn’t like to put too much time to thinking about them, either. He’d sometimes go through episodes of being tired. Not tired as in he needed sleep, it was more of an emotional tired. He’d sometimes be angry at nothing, but he’d always brushed it off as just being a bad day. At first, he’d forced himself to work through it, until he learned that it really just made it worse; after that he took small breaks when he really needed them. It helped a little, if he was being honest. It was an old helliund woman who had taught him to not overwork himself; she was the village elder and had seen things like that happen many times before. She’d even experienced it herself when she was young. Her name was Rosie; though she had recently passed. It’s one of the big reasons he left Ireai, he was particularly fond of her and viewed her as almost a mother figure, so when she passed it affected him badly.
He took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts. He watched the flame as it danced, willing the thought of why he left Ireai away. Most of it was still too fresh in his mind, and he didn’t want to focus on it. He sat cross-legged in front of the flame, just watching it. It moved wildly in every direction possible; as if it were trying to reach out and touch everything it could. It was kind of like an emotion; just more physical and a lot hotter. He kept watching it, practically hugging himself at this point. He must’ve fallen asleep, because it was suddenly morning and his fire had gone out. There was a singular lone bird nearby, picking at what was probably a dead mouse. Nothing else but the outlands could be seen from where Andromedus was sitting. Standing up and getting the dirt out of his tail the best he could, he slowly walks over to it. It was too small to be an adult, so it was most likely a juvenile. It most likely just recently learned how to fly; if Andromedus knew anything about this kind of bird. A Royal Saphina, known for their stunning blue color, these birds made loyal pets and ate small rodents; they were friendly and quite social as well. It looks at him once, and then goes back to eating, ignoring him completely. It eventually takes notice of the fact that he’s still watching it, and it finally looks back up at him; chirping once curiously. The both of them watch eachother.
The bird decides that he’s a likeable person, approaching him slowly. He crouches down, reaching a hand out to it. The bird seems to hesitate, but eventually rubs against his hand; and from this point on, the two of them are declared friends. He watches it climb up his arm, chuckling at it slightly.
“You are quite the pretty bird,” he mumbles to it, the bird climbs up to his shoulder and practically nests in his wild hair; the bird nearly matched his hair in color, and it could probably hide in there without being noticed if it really wanted to, “it’s always the hair, isn’t it?”
The bird chirps in response, sitting on his shoulder. He sighs contentedly, looking at the sky to check the time; something he’d learned to do when he was overseas. Deciding that now was the best possible time to continue his travelling to Castle Lovre, he finds his path again and begins to follow it. The rest of the trek through the dry outlands wasn’t long, since he always took the shortest route possible. Now the terrain was mostly plains, nothing but grass and few scattered trees. Still no towns or cities, though. His bird had eventually flown off, looking for food. It returned two hours later, seeming to be satisfied with whatever rodent it had caught.
Around noon he stopped walking to take a break, which was only about thirty minutes long. He had found a lone apple tree, which provided both apples and shade. Not even two hours later, Hera town was in sight; which means Castle Lovre was as well. To get to the entrance of the castle, you actually had to go through Hera town. Andromedus’ brother, Robin, was most likely in the town right now. If he knew anything about Andromedus’ current predicament—his missing foot—he’d probably find it funny. Robin would also take an interest in the bird, he seemed to like birds just as much as Andromedus does. Francis would most likely beg him to take her overseas, while Barukiri would be indifferent to the situation. Francis was a lot like Andromedus, constantly wanting to know more about everything. She wasn’t much of the stereotypical princess, more of a warrior princess; perhaps that’s what happens when you have three older brothers. Maybe this time he’d agree to take her with him, maybe. Though, by now he was practically on the edge of Hera lake, with Hera town less than half a mile away. If he was going to hide this missing foot from the public, he’d have to find an alternate route into the castle. He already knew his answer—the alleys.
The alleys were built to be confusing, but he knew how to get into them. It’d be finding his way into the castle from there that’d be difficult. The entrance was meant to fool thieves wanting to get into the castle, since it looked like they lead directly to the entrance. Instead, most people got lost in them; which is where Robin’s constant being in the town came from. He would walk through the alleys, having them memorized, and either help people out of them or bust thieves. If Andromedus was lucky, Robin would appear from around the corner right now and lead him through the alleys. He was sure he’d get lost. Eventually, he found a path that looked like it lead to the castle, but it ended up being a dead end. This trial and error process went on for hours, until he finally found the entrance to the castle. The door lead to an empty hallway, on the bottom floor of the castle. Entering the hallway and closing the door behind him, he looked around; there was truly nothing in this hallway. He’d probably end up searching for hours if he tried to find his father, Robin, or Francis, so he went with the most logical choice; the library.