>>6207591almost fell for it
(there was only one anon based enough to vote for staying out with Rubida a little more).
overall, the options were either go look for Sandora or anon voting themselves to go fetch Sandora, so this mostly means the quest is full of anons who are hot for the teacher.
Good.
Enjoy your update. This one comes with a little gift attached.
>>6206707After a little more time, just as Rubida starts to play with your silver hair, you feel a pang of hunger squirming in your stomach.
“We should go find Soralisa,” you mutter. “And the Asterite as well. If we have to discuss what to do I want to involve her as well.”
“Hm—” Rubida sighs, reluctantly letting go of your hair. It does make you feel better about yourself, how fascinated she seems to be with your mane now that you also accepted it. “Good call.” She stands up, picking up her sieve, and you follow her, tracing back your steps as you walk towards the tower amidst the endless wheat fields.
The plains open wide all around you, rich and golden, with a faint line of hills to the east, and the burnished line to the east, where you can still spot a hint of the Glass Heath which you left behind. This is hardly the core of the Thronelands, you are barely in the border of Tramontana, yet the feeling of emptiness finds you.
You didn’t experience it while you were traversing the Holy Land - back there, Ansàrra’s presence was constant, an ever-present hum that soothed you heart.
Here the field sings of nothing, and the endless horizon makes you squirm — it showcases how small you are before the earth and the stones and the vast sky. Your childhood was spent in a place that always had a clear horizon: the shores and the cliffs.
The open panorama always induces a bit of anxiety.
“Candente.”
“Coming, coming,” you reply, shaking off your thoughts and following Rubida at a brisker pace. You rub your hand over your reddened skin — you were not used to working out in te fields like that and you wince at the discomfort.
Rubida’s blue eyes notice, of course.
“I have some cream for that.”
“Oh, thanks. Or I can—”
“Stop trying to argue against your better, Candente. A soothing massage will do wonders for you, believe me. In these matters, I am far more refined than you.”
You briefly wonder why she is insisting so much, but you just nod. Better not to get on Rubida’s bad side when she gets so riled up.
“Alright.”
“Good call.”
[cont.]
