A Million Roads to Nowhere

Several Nights Under the Stars

Patrick's worldly possessions are as follows: a macrame crystal necklace from Aodhan, a green string, an obsidian ring, a sword called Clarity, two seashells, a handful of sand dollars, a storybook, a stack of drawings of Lena, some clothes (with one fancy pair), a flask, a handmade bow, and a map. He gathers all his things and puts them in his bag, save for the sword, the ring, and the necklace. He switches into a clean pair of clothes, but not before taking a bath, because he knows he probably won't get the chance to bathe for a week.

He leaves his room with his first order of business: find Isla.

He finds her in one of the drawing rooms, talking with a woman in such a fancy dress that there's no way she isn't some lady of great importance. Isla's tone isn't impressed with whatever the woman is talking to her about, so Patrick feels safe intruding and asking if she has some time to spare.

"Of course I do," Isla answers, smiling at him, then sending a more forced smile to the woman. "We were just getting done here."

"But I-"

"Later."

The woman leaves in a disgruntled fashion, peacock skirts swishing about her legs. The crack of her heels announces her position down the hall as she walks away. Isla takes in his packed bag and sword at his hip with a hum.

"Clementine told me she let you off," Isla says. "Where are you going?"

"Volcanta."

"What's there?"

Patrick blushes. "William and Aodhan."

Isla tsks. "I should have guessed that. Well, get on then. I won't keep you. Feel free to take whatever you need. If anyone gives you trouble, say you have my permission."

"I just thought I'd see you before I go. Thank you."

Isla cracks a smile. "You're too nice to vanish without a trace."

"Good luck with everything. I'll see you when Lady Clementine gets back."

"Until then."

Isla gives him one last smile and he offers a little wave before heading to the kitchens, where he asks for some rations to keep him going for a week. He can forage if he needs to- but it's safer to have food on him in case this part of Vaenyth proves to be much different from areas he's more familiar with.

He fills his flask with water and heads out to the stables where he takes a couple leads and a pretty spotted mare which he decides to call Sunny. He and Sunny leave the Hoarfrost together in a speedy manner, but slow down once they get to a road.

Volcanta is almost two weeks away at a leisurely speed. He'd go faster, but that's unfair to Sunny and he doesn't want to switch horses in a town somewhere. He realizes about halfway through the day that he doesn't have any coin on him, which hopefully shouldn't be a problem since he's perfectly capable of taking care of himself. He's competent- Clementine's told him as much.

Travelling alone is far different from travelling with friends, something he learns fairly quickly in the first few hours. For one, there's no one to talk to, unless Sunny counts. He's never thought of himself as a talkative person because he's always had Lena to listen to, but he finds he'd very much like to have people company- not that horse company is horrible. Sunny is a good listener, so he comments on things to pass the time.

"Look, there's an apple tree! Do you want to stop for apples?"

Since Sunny agrees to stop for apples, they go over to the tree and pick a couple, one for her and one for him. He puts a couple extra in her saddlebag and rides on. He considers going as much around the Pink as he can, since going straight through alone isn't the best idea he's ever had, but it's faster.