The next day, everyone was up early. Men complained of being hung over, while women complained about some minor pain in their legs.
"I haven't done that in a while... My legs will hurt for a few days.", a woman, who had danced yesterday, complained.
Many of those complaints were the same. Even Ida complained that she was feeling a bit tired and had some slight pain in her legs.
Only Feyra was feeling fine and packed her stuff already. She had no time to stay longer, even though she wanted to.
"Are you leaving already?", Julia asked.
"Yes. I still have to travel further. My plan is to get to the harbour city in the southwest and then to the Empire. I don't want to delay for too long as I don't know how the seasons in the Empire are.", Feyra answered, strapping her bag over her shoulder.
"Before you get to the harbour city there is another village. It's not too far from here. You may still reach it today if you're fast enough.", Julia said, before turning around and seeing Hendrik enter.
Hendrik carried some large boxes. "No need to worry about cleaning up. We will do that." He then proceeded to walk to a storage room in the back and put the boxes down.
Feyra nodded and thanked everyone for letting her stay. Ida was sad, knowing Feyra would leave already. "Miss Feyra can't you stay a little longer?"
"Ida... Miss Feyra also has things to do. No need to worry. She'll write letters or perhaps visit us again.", Julia said, trying to calm Ida down.
"You can also write letters, Ida. You can learn to write with them. Just tell the letter pigeon to look for a peculiar traveler with leather armour, a chainmail skirt and a peculiar hair colour.", Feyra said, patting Ida's head.
Ida nodded and cheered up a little again. "Then I'll learn to write and wait until you come again!", she said, before running off to her room. Ida had found a new goal now. She not only needed to train her powers, putting marmalade on a piece of bread, but now also how to write.
Julia and Hendrik followed Feyra outside, before they waved after her. All the other children were looking at the silhouette that was disappearing into the forest behind the village.
"Will she come visit again?", a few of them asked, looking at Julia.
"I'm sure she'll come back to visit us."
Feyra was now walking further into the forest. Birds started chirping again and the animals rusteled through the bushes.
While she walked, a nut fell on her head, before she looked up to see a bird flying over her.
It likely lost its nut... And it just so happened to fall on my head. Ouch... That hurts. I never expected a nut falling down to hurt so much. What luck I have, that not many things can kill me easily anymore.
With that, Feyra went further, rubbing the spot on her head that was still stinging with pain. Shortly after, she let go again and felt the pain relieve a bit. She looked around, seeing squirrels and birds in the tree, who had twigs in their mouths or nuts between their paws. Feyra smiled seeing these little animals go about their daily life.
No worries... Hah how nice would that be? These animals have their routine and don't have to trouble themselves with situations like mine.
Feyra walked further until she saw the river directly flowing next to her. Further up, the river had been calmer, but now it got more violent and flowed faster.
In the end, this river will end in the large ocean lying ahead. Once I reach the harbour city I should be able to see even more water. In other terms I see the ocean then.
She was already excited getting to know what this black figure had meant. If it came to knowledge, she couldn't contain her excitement at all and became like a little child.
Her curiosity got the better of her every time. Feyra was swinging her arms around, humming a tune which she was very familiar with. Other than other times, she did so in a more cheerful way, rather than the calming sound she had always heard.
Now that I think about it... That black figure was very suspicious and ominous. Why did I listen to them in the first place? To gain knowledge or to see if what they said was right? I don't know... It's just... There is also a weird sense of trust, although I clearly feel fear when seeing them. Weird...
Feyra went further, continuing to hum her tune before she sat down and looked through her bag. It was best if she ate something in a while, before her stomach would complain again.
Those 721 years without food made me incredibly hungry. If I really ever want to save food, I need to first satisfy my need that has built up. Why did I even sleep so long? Just why are there so many unanswered questions?
Feyra was inwardly crying, knowing she had too many questions but no answers. The first question still bothering her, why they put her in this dark place and hung her up. She was clearly asleep or unconscious. The second question, she wished to know more about, was her birth. She still wasn't sure what to think about the fact that she was born from the blood of a God. And the third question was none other than the one she just thought of now. She had slept for far too long. Why was it that she hadn't woken up? Why would she wake up only more than 700 years later? Were there other factors involved in this whole thing?
Racking my brain won't do me any good if I find no answers... I guess I just have to continue and see if there are other countries and nations that have any information. There is just too much about the Kingdom too... So many unsolved questions...
Feyra shook her head, before she stood up again and tried walking. She slanted to the left side and then to the right. Her vision was blurry and she felt weak, until her field of view became even more blurred.
Damn it... Those were... Poisonous berries...
Feyra woke up once again, still feeling like the world was spinning around her, her vision still blurry. She had picked up those berries not long ago. They had looked like regular berries, but now it was clear those were the hideous sort of berries, that liked disguising themselves as other berries.
That's the Disguising Berry. It disguised itself as a normal berry and just waited to be found... Usually one can tell by their tautness. Their outer shell is taut. These berries are able to mimick other berries but not their exact properties. Most berries open up once they get too taut. Those berries however don't... So they're too perfect for their own good. That's how one would be able to tell which one is which... Guess I wasn't though... I wasn't careful enough...
Feyra still felt the effects of the berries and decided to continue lying down for now. If she stood up now, she would slant to the sides again.
This also confirmed one of her theories that poison didn't do a lot to her, but she still didn't like the feeling and the side effects that she had to endure now.
This was an accident... Next time I double check the berries.
She told herself over and over again what she needed to look out for when gathering berries.
In the Kingdom there hadn't been as many berries that were poisonous, but the most common one was the Disguising Berry. Every child hated this berry. Whenever they went out in the forest and gathered berries together, it was almost sure that three quarters were these Disguising Berries.
Even Princess Loreen went into the trap and had a basket full of berries. After sorting through them, she only had five of them left.
Feyra had accidentally eaten these berries before in the past, when she had been gathering them with the princess. The effects were stronger on her back then, and the princess had to carry her back before she could be treated.
After all that, Feyra learned about the berries and how to distinguish them. Princess Loreen was impressed by that, and since then they never had a single one of those berries in their baskets again.
The good old times... Well it's questionable if they were that good, knowing what would happen in the future. Yet they are still better than now... As children we had more freedom. Once we grew up, society had its expectations. But even then, the King and Queen made sure we had freedom. It's sad this only happened a few times. Princess Loreen had more freedom than I did.
Looking back at everything, Feyra realized that although she thought she had been gone from the Father's watch, he had still watched her, beside one time.
Not long after did the effects wear off and Feyra was able to sit up again. She took out some herbs and prepared them, before she started chewing on them.
It was already getting late and the sun was going down. Feyra knew that she may reach the next village late in the night or even just the next morning.
Better I rest... I'll look for a better sleeping place but with those herbs I should get better at least.
Feyra stood up and walked over to a spot of grass, from which she could see the stars and the night sky.
She lay down on her back and looked up. The stars formed constellations and figures. Feyra didn't know their names, but she knew that these constellations and figures varied across the universe. Once a scholar, who had visited the Kingdom, had said something weird.
"On another planet those constellations do not exist! The stars stand different, forming other constellations and forms. Some stars we see aren't seen by others!", he had said. No one wanted to believe him, so he was called a madman.
Later people learned he hadn't been so off, and the constellations seemed to truly vary. Yet even with that knowledge, most didn't believe it in the end.
Feyra was woken up by a butterfly that had sat down on her nose and tickled her. She sneezed and sat up before looking around and noticing it was morning.
I want to sleep longer... Just five more minutes?
She lay back down again, closing her eyes. The birds chirped and made for a beautiful and calming sound.
The butterfly sat back down on Feyra's nose, making her sneeze again. This time, she looked at the butterfly and noticed it was completely black, before it flew off in the direction of the next village.
This butterfly... I've never seen something like this before. It felt too intentional but also... I can't put it into words.
She then touched her hair and noticed leaves and twigs in it. Feyra went to the water and washed it out before she continued towards the next village.
She yawned a few times and even sat down on a stone to rest a bit.
What is wrong today? Oh wait... I took herbs yesterday... Their side effect is tiredness. Even in the past I slept through the day after I had taken them. Well... That's an explanation.
Knowing now where it came from, she started sleeping again for a few hours, before being woken up by the butterfly once again.
Just what does this butterfly have!?
She walked behind it and reached the entrance of the next village. Everyone was cautious and whispering. When they saw the butterfly flying around they got scared and stepped back a bit.
"What is going on here?", Feyra asked, rubbing her eye.
"Someone has the plague!"