"Thanks," Rialynn grinned, relieved. with the last of the beds set up, she pushed herself up to her feet and made her way to the kitchen. She felt a strange sense of surrealism from the sheer nostalgia of the way the house still smelled after her years of absence. It was so familiar, the pots hanging on the same pegs, the same old dish towel set next to the larder. She gathered up the food her father had laid out and carried it to the front room so they could eat and talk until they were too tired to do much more than laugh at one another's lame jokes.
Morning seemed to come too soon. It filtered through the cracks in the curtains and stabbed at the eyes of the sleepers to urge them awake. The smell of hot coffee was rich in the air, the elder Kollmann having brewed some on the little potbelly stove. Boiled eggs and fresh bread slathered with butter and berry jam awaited them for breakfast, and Rialynn ate as if she were starved. She'd missed all of these familiar things, and once they found the portal, there was no telling how long it would be until she had a chance to come home and enjoy them again.
She wondered if she would have ever come home at all, if not for her conversation with Ramza that night in the hospital. Most likely, she would have continued wandering the countryside seeking new stories to tell and helping Sabien and the others find their destinies. She wondered if her other self was doing that even now.
Rialynn's father emerged from his room, a cloth-wrapped bundle held in his arms. The floorboards creaked under his weight as he approached Ramza and extended the bundle. "Sword," he grunted.
Rialynn's eyebrows went up. "The blacksmith was okay with the gil?"
He nodded. "Said he could melt it down and use it for some of his projects. We could only get one horse, though."
She wiped the crumbs from her fingers, frowning thoughtfully. One wasn't enough for the four of them. Looking to the others, she decided to just ask straight out. "You guys are fine with knocking out a soldier or two and riding off with their horses, right?"
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Morning seemed to come too soon. It filtered through the cracks in the curtains and stabbed at the eyes of the sleepers to urge them awake. The smell of hot coffee was rich in the air, the elder Kollmann having brewed some on the little potbelly stove. Boiled eggs and fresh bread slathered with butter and berry jam awaited them for breakfast, and Rialynn ate as if she were starved. She'd missed all of these familiar things, and once they found the portal, there was no telling how long it would be until she had a chance to come home and enjoy them again.
She wondered if she would have ever come home at all, if not for her conversation with Ramza that night in the hospital. Most likely, she would have continued wandering the countryside seeking new stories to tell and helping Sabien and the others find their destinies. She wondered if her other self was doing that even now.
Rialynn's father emerged from his room, a cloth-wrapped bundle held in his arms. The floorboards creaked under his weight as he approached Ramza and extended the bundle. "Sword," he grunted.
Rialynn's eyebrows went up. "The blacksmith was okay with the gil?"
He nodded. "Said he could melt it down and use it for some of his projects. We could only get one horse, though."
She wiped the crumbs from her fingers, frowning thoughtfully. One wasn't enough for the four of them. Looking to the others, she decided to just ask straight out. "You guys are fine with knocking out a soldier or two and riding off with their horses, right?"