From Dust and Steel (Hassian x MC x Nai'o) (Palia)

A Casual Wagon Ride

I had never been one to procrastinate before. I always liked to get things done as soon as possible so I wouldn't have to worry about them later. This, of course, included getting a custom dress made by Jel for the Declaration Ball. I didn't own any formal attire and Jel was more than happy to take on a new challenge. But the day of the ball was getting closer and I still didn't have a finished dress. This was the closest to procrastination I had ever been... in my current memory anyway.

To keep myself occupied from the building anxiety, I went searching for those Flowstones Zeki needed from the Pavel Mines. Thankfully there weren't many tunnels to explore and finding the Flowstones were easier than I had imagined. Almost too easy. Zeki could have done a better job at hiding these. They were literally just laying around. One found near a couple of barrels, another by a minecart in the northern tunnel, one on an outcrop just a short rock climb away, and another by the southern exit to the Flooded Fortress. That was four. Zeki said there were five. I was looking around the mines for the last one when I decided to take a break from all the climbing. There was a small pond at the bottom of Pavel Mines that was known to harbor all sorts of nocturnal fish. A makeshift dock was made on the pond's edge that bordered the center of the mines. I sat there now with my legs dangling over the edge. The water looked mostly shallow and refreshing even. I wonder what it would be like to take a swim there. Just as I was debating stripping down to my underwear, Hodari came upon me. He still gave sexy-middle-aged-man vibes. I tried not to focus on the way his shirt sleeves seemed to tight over his biceps.

"Glad to see you're all in one piece." His voice was deep and sultry.

It occurred to me that the last time he saw me, I was on the back of his wagon on the way to Chayne's temple. I was bleeding and dying and fading into motes of flow.

I smiled sympathetically. "Sorry about that. But thank you for helping when you did."

"Ain't no problem. You've done a lot for me and Najuma. You're practically family. There ain't no way I was gonna let ya die."

"That's very kind of you to say."

"It's the truth, I swear it."

I let out a hearty laugh. "And I believe you! You and everyone I've met so far in Palia have been so kind and welcoming to me."

We spent a good time together sitting and chatting on the underground dock. He had come to do his daily mining. The mines were his livelihood after all. I told him I was looking for small glowing rocks. I showed him the four I currently possess as reference and told him the locations I'd found them.

He rubbed his stubble covered chin in contemplation. "Well ya seem to have gotten all the ones I knew was 'round here. Except that one." He pointed behind me.

Surely enough, just at the end of the dock, on a large algae covered boulder, was the last Flowstone. It was out of place and sitting in plain sight. It was so obvious that I let out a frustrated grown at my own stupidity. Turns out I was so determined it'd be in the tunnels like the rest of them that I neglected to consider it would be in the largest open area of the mines. I scooped the last rock into my bag and thanked him.

"Hey Wren. You be careful with those, ya hear?" He warned as we said our goodbyes. I gave him a curt nod. I avoided telling him they were Flowstones. They were illegal afterall. But it seemed he knew just by looking at them. Then again maybe he was aware that Zeki had scattered them across the mines in the first place. He knew these tunnels like the back of his hand. Surely he would notice something had changed or if small glowing rocks suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

I decided to wait at the wagon stop in Pulsewater Plains. Nai'o provided his transportation services every day between the hours of 10am-6pm. It took roughly two hours for him to complete his route from the Kilima Center Stables to the Bahari Center Stables. On his route to and fro, he had eight wagon stops which he passed, picking up anybody looking to hitch a ride to another location on his route. There was a large sign at every wagon stop that contained a map of Bahari (or Kilima) and all the stops in the region. Alongside that was a list of times that the wagon would reach this specific stop. The times never changed. It was a rough time estimate of course so it was always a wise idea to get to a stop ten minutes earlier. Which I had done.