Nothing Is As It Seems

Wayfarer

As Navy walked the stone path to the center of the city, she took note of how "primal" Vyridia has become. All aspects of modern life were reversed, not completely but definitely enough to be recognized. The center of Vyrfall was a small village, and people lived in small log cabins that all looked very similar. There were a few people who couldn't afford to live amongst civilization, and resorted to the wilds.

Ferals, they call them. That was Navy, until her best friend Wayfarer took her in. People here often had strange names. They were usually named after a characteristic, like their hair color or the things they did. Navy was named for the unusual dark blue color of her short hair that swept over her right eye.

Wayfarer is the type of person that will wander the dangerous wilds with Navy just because it seems like a fun idea. If people started to look at them weirdly, they wouldn't have a care in the world. He is the type of person that will listen to all of Navy's problems, and actually have solutions for them. He'll remember all of their inside jokes and quote her randomly. Overall, he was an undoubtedly eccentric guy, but Navy couldn't ask for a better friend.

Navy was about to call for him before she saw him. A tall figure waving to her across the circular road in the center of the village. Navy recognized him immediately. He had a very light complexion, his unique spiked jet black hair completely contrasting from his white skin. He had a light beard forming around his face. His eyes were a piercing orange, but this wasn't very unusual in a fantasy land like Vyridia. The young man wore a long black coat with pockets and various tools attached to the belt around it.

That was Wayfarer, alright. Always standing out from the crowd. Navy broke into a light trot as she approached him. She almost reeled backwards, almost taken aback by his unique characteristics. Like all of the residents of Vyridia, he had animalistic ears upon his head and a tail.

"Cute" as it might seem to a stranger to this land, Wayfarer always insisted that it was a curse, saying that people bore the characteristics of an animal that matched their traits. Wayfarer was a wolf, not surprising because of his role as a hunter. He had black pointed ears and a long black tail.

Navy was surprised because she possessed no such characteristics. Everyone in Vyridia had animalistic ears and a tail... except for her. Normally, any normal person would see a human with animal parts as very unusual, but those people looked at Navy weird because she didn't have these parts. She was the only one in the province without them, and she didn't know why.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she wrapped her arms around Wayfarer's waist and pulled him into a tight embrace. She had to stand on her toes since he was taller than her. She felt his free arm on her back, and smiled. "Where have you been?"

"Out hunting, like always," replied Wayfarer, like it was obvious.

"Yeah, I know that," Navy replied. "But you've been away longer than usual."

"Well..." there was a brief pause. "I've been researching, talking to Saxon and stuff."

Saxon. Navy wrinkled her nose in distaste. She didn't know him personally, but she did know that he always had his nose in a book. He was quite fond of researching Vyridia and how it came to be, the gods of Vyridia, and its people. He was never a nice person and is known for snapping easily.

"I didn't know you were into research," Navy finally said.

"I'm still convinced this is all too good to be true, Navy. Except for a few disadvantages, the place is the picture of perfection. It's not... right. Something else is at work here. There has to be. Don't you think?"

Navy was quiet for a moment. "Sounds pretty farfetched to me." She saw Wayfarer hang his head a bit in disappointment. He never liked being told he was wrong. "It feels like all of this has been here for a while, and there's definitely a reason behind it. But curses? No, the gods would not do that to us."

"You'd be surprised, Navy. The gods do not tolerate any form of blasphemy or disrespect. And most of the time, the consequences are dire."

"I mean, yeah... But... I guess we'll find out when we find out. Not to be a jerk Wayfarer, but I'd rather not talk about it right now."

It always made Navy uncomfortable to talk about Vyridia's origin. There were too many dark stories behind it, and discussing it stirred up anxiety in her.

"I understand," Wayfarer said in acceptance. He then smiled and briefly touched her shoulder. "Hey, why don't you come inside with me? Come have some coffee."

"I can't pass that up," Navy smiled and nodded.