Keiko knew where she had to go first, Yuna’s journal tucked into the satchel at her side.
Caden. He was an old friend of hers, although he had followed his family out to the countryside long before Yuna became an adventurer.
Keiko had considered sending a message ahead of herself before deciding it was safer not to, there was no telling who was watching.
Her journey was quiet, avoiding the trouble she knew would come about if she took the forest or city paths.
Yuna’s instructions had so often been vague, but this was one she had given without need for obscurity.
“When the time comes for you to find them, you need to be careful. They’ll have their eyes on you because of me. Avoid the cities, there are too many watchers. The forests need to wait, while they don’t like them either, they will not follow you until you have the others.”
Keiko hadn’t followed the rivers since she was a child, unwilling to listen to all the voices that sang with the bubbling water. But she didn’t have a choice anymore, the mission was more important than her own discomfort.
The river took her away from lakes and pools, towards the sea. It wasn’t what anyone called a conventional country.
The first farm she came across was the wrong one. The roof on the barn had recently been burnt and there were no animals.
The couple in charge had given her instructions to continue on.
The next few farms still weren’t right, each farmer telling it her that she would find him at the next one along.
It wasn’t until the fifth farm that she got more information.
“Caden? He hasn’t been around here since Winter. I heard that he’s got his own cottage these days, out past his folk’s farmland.” It was almost ridiculous that she was getting more information from a ghost than a member of the living.
“All the others have been leading you astray.” The spectre said with a shake of his head. “You’re best off talking to his parents, missy, luckily they aren’t too far that way.”
She thanked him for his time and continued on. He hadn’t even seemed to notice that he wasn’t alive anymore.
Even with the ghost’s and his parent’s information, it took her longer than she would like to admit to actually find Caden’s cottage.
It was a small thing next to a cliff, overlooking the ocean. It was almost exactly how they dreamt of it, all those years ago.
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