I made a list of the things we would need such as rations, luggage bags, and other miscellany. By now, I knew the general time merchants tended to pass by Befson so I knew one would come by next week. I continued my usual routine, but I did meet with Lars privately to tell him I was planning to leave soon.

“So, you’re finally leaving.”

“It sounds weird when you state it simply.”

“Sorry, anyways, I will miss you Braith, you’re a great guy.”

“I’ll miss you, too, Lars,” I replied awkwardly, but genuinely.

“So, where are you headed?”

“Well, the final destination will be the Plains of War.”

“The Plains of War? That is quite the distance.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“You might go weeks without coming by any towns if you’re headed there.”

“Really? I mean, uh, yeah, we’ll get by.”

“We?” Oh damn.

“Uh, sorry, I meant ‘I’.”

“Since you’re headed far, you’ll probably need a compass,” Lars continued without further question.

“Yeah. Um, are those any cheaper than maps?”

“No, they are actually more expensive.”

“Um…how much more?”

“Braith, how much money have you saved up?”

“Um…I think maybe around six hundred copper coins.” I was aware that was not exactly a lot for 8 years of savings, but I was working as a part-time lumberjack while raising a child. To put it in perspective, 1000 copper coins is around the amount one can earn from a year of manual labour. This is before any expenses. And a single copper coin can get you two loaves of bread.

“That’s not enough,” Lars flatly stated.

“It’s not?”

“No.”

“How much will I need?”

“A good one would probably cost about two thousand.”

“What?!” That’s four thousand loaves of bread!

“I’m serious,” Lars answered to my silent follow-up question.

“I-Is there any way to get a cheaper one?”

“You can try to bargain with a merchant, but I doubt you’ll ever get one with that amount. Also, you’re going to need that money for other supplies and for traveling as well.” I have greatly underestimated traveling. All the commercials back home make it seem so simple.

“Uh…” My mouth was agape. Lars patted me on the shoulder.

“You could always just try traveling without one if you really have to. Most don’t use one anyways.” I have exceedingly little confidence in improvising in the wilderness. I slumped forward.

“What do I do now?”

“Do what you think you need to do. I’m sure things will turn out just fine if you do.”

A week later, a merchant came to town and by then I had long since gotten over my momentary depression. I exchanged a lot of my copper coins for bronze ones at a ten to one ratio and bought all the things on my list except for two items: a map and a compass. I tried to do some bargaining, but there was simply too big of a gap between what I could spend and how much they cost. Now, I am not about to work another twenty or so years in Befson so I’m just going to have to wing it. Not the safest, or smartest, or even that good of an idea since I’m also caring for a thirteen year old girl, but she seemed receptive enough. She really loves danger for some reason. I think she’s actually proud of that one time she almost died in the snow just because she knocked out a wolf in the end. Sure didn’t seem that way when it originally happened, but hey, kids grow up.

I went back to the lodge and organized all the stuff I bought. Tasha and I had already agreed to leave in the morning so after this last night in Befson, we’d be gone. I told Lars that I wouldn’t be having another shortsword lesson with him and to not tell anybody else that I was leaving. Now, all that was left to do was just wait for morning to come. Well, wait and relax one last time in the hot spring, since we wouldn’t be using it again for…a very long time, at least.

I brought my shortsword and Tasha brought with her a wooden stick in case any wild animals attacked, which they haven’t since the time Tasha knocked out that bear. The hot spring isn’t that big and it isn’t divided in any way so we do technically bathe together. But, it’s not weird or anything, just some father-daughter quality time. Okay, it’s still kind of weird for me. I don’t really know what’s more awkward: this or having the ‘talk’ with her at some point.

We were casually chatting to each other in the hot spring when we heard noises in the distance. We stopped talking for a moment and then we thought we heard yelling. I got out of the hot spring.

“I’m just going to check that out.”

“I’m coming with you,” she said, getting out as well.

“Fine.” I just put on some pants, belt and boots, grabbed my shortsword and headed towards the sound of yelling. Not right away though, I had to tell Tasha to put on a shirt as well.

“But-”

“Just do it, Tasha!” We went off and we heard the sound of a man screaming in pain. As we got closer, we saw the merchant from earlier coming out of the trees, breathless. When he saw us, he shouted out one word.

“Run!” Right as he said that, the man tripped on a tree root. I went over to help him and Tasha went in the direction that man ran away from.

“Tasha, wait!” I went after her and I saw a man lying on the ground, grasping onto a bleeding arm. There was a sword lying on the ground next to him and a bear just in front. The bear was salivating but it was not growling or anything. It was looking straight at Tasha while remaining silent. Suddenly the bear turned around and ran off in a panic.

“Yeah, you better run!” Tasha shouted at the bear, taking several strides towards the fleeing creature. I went over to the bleeding man to check on him. I looked at his blood-soaked arm and his drained face. He also had a gash on the side of his leg.

“Are you okay?” I asked quite stupidly. The man let out a long and loud groan in response. I didn’t know the first thing about treating bear injuries so this had me stumped. “Uh…I- I’ll carry you back to town.” He resisted at first, just to ask me to help him tear up some cloth to bind his arm and leg. I crudely followed his instructions and then lifted him so that he was sitting up. Then I tried to figure out where to grab him from next. The only thing I could think of was to cradle him in my arms but he resisted this as well as he wanted to be carried on my back, but after trying it and him crying out in pain due exerting force with his arm, I just went with the cradle. With some difficulty, I lifted him up as he grunted. I looked at the arm again and saw the blood start to trickle down. Was the binding not tight enough or is that older blood? As I started to walk back with Tasha following, we saw the merchant still on the ground.

“Huh? What happened to that bear?” the merchant asked while clutching his ankle.

“That pushover? Heh, ran away with its tail between its legs,” Tasha said with a smirk.

“Oh, you’re so very humble, Tasha.”

“What? That’s what happened.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyways, what’s wrong with you?” I asked the merchant.

“I sprained my ankle. Could you help bring me back to town?” I shot a glance over at Tasha. With a bit of a sigh, she went over to help the merchant up and gave him her wooden stick to use as a cane. “Much appreciated.”

“Enough, let’s get back to town.” Just as we were about to leave the forest, I remembered about Tasha. “Tasha, head on back; I’ll take care of the rest.”

“What? Oh…fine.” Tasha left us and I continued to carry the bleeding man while the other one limped behind. I entered the town shirtless with a man cradled in my arms, which was sure to attract attention but the only person outside that night was the old man I first met sitting on his porch. He didn’t seem to think much of it for some reason. I brought the injured man to the only “doctor” in town and luckily for him, the injuries were pretty bad but not life threatening, and would leave scars. After that, I prepared to leave, but the merchant stopped me.

“Wait, I can’t just let you leave without showing you my thanks.”

“It’s fine.”

“No, I will not take that as a response. You have saved our lives so some kind of reward is in order. Hmmm, come to think of it, you are that man from earlier today who was buying supplies from me. Right?”

“...Yes, I am.”

“Canteens, luggage bags, flint rocks...you plan on traveling soon, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do,” I answered, still trying to figure out what exactly he had in mind.

“Where to?” I hesitated. “Come on, you can tell me.”

“Uh…”

“Okay, how about this instead. I will pay you to help escort me. I will also pay for all food and lodgings. I am going north along the western coast.”

“Sorry, but I’m headed northeast.”

“Northeast? Without a map or compass?”

“Er…”

“How about this: instead of pay, if you stay as my escort for thirty days, I will give you a compass. Stay for another ten and I’ll give you a map. And of course, I will still pay for your food and lodgings!” My eyes widened a bit.

“So, if I guard you for forty days, you will give me a map and a compass?”

“Yes!” I was about to agree instantly before recalling Tasha again. I leaned in close and whispered in his ear.

“And what about my…daughter?”

“Your daughter?”

“Shhh!”

“Uh,” the merchant began before whispering as well, “uh, yes, she can come too and I’ll pay for her lodgings as well.”

“I also need to meet you by the forest; do you remember where we came out?”

“Yes, okay.”

“I’ll be ready after sunrise.” The merchant nodded and then extended his hand. We shook and I headed back to the lodge with a slight bounce in my step. Why is this place so awesome? The last few times I tried to help out where I came from, people just got mad at me.

I got back to my lodge and told Tasha the good news. She wasn’t as excited as I was, in fact, she seemed kind of indifferent about it. Maybe she just doesn’t understand how important a map and compass are. We went to sleep and I ended up waking up especially early in the morning. The sun was yet to rise and I thought I would get started on breakfast. Right as I was about to start cooking, there was knocking on the front door. Did the merchant just come straight to the lodge? I went and opened the door and found Lars.

“Oh, Lars, what are you doing here?”

“I came to wish you farewell.”

“Oh.”

“I also came to give you something.” He handed me his shortsword.

“A shortsword? But you already gave me one.”

“I just figured it would be good to have a spare.” There was something about the way he said that that made me a bit suspicious. Well, I had been suspicious for quite some time, but I still trusted Lars so I let that be.

“Thank you,” I said anyway.

“I also want to give you this.” He reached into his coat and pulled out a bag. I took it and opened it. It was filled with silver coins and I could see one gold coin buried underneath the silver ones. I looked at him, astonished.

“You’re giving me all of this?”

“Yes.”

“…wow,” I picked up one of the silver coins. “How much are these even worth?”

“One silver is worth fifty copper. The gold is worth twenty silver.” There looked to be at least thirty silver coins in the bag.

“Lars, this must be your life savings; why are you giving it all to me?”

“Wait, there’s one more thing.”

“More?!” Lars took one more thing out of his pocket and handed it over to me. It was a map of the continent.

“I- I thought you said nobody in town had one?”

“Nobody except for me.” I simply did not know what to say next.

“Lars…”

“Braith, I’m giving all of this to you because I think it’s worth it. Go on your travels and do what you need to do. I wish you the best of luck.” I put all the stuff down and actually hugged him. I haven’t hugged a man in…a very, very long time.

“Lars, thank you so much. I swear, I’ll finish what I set out to do and that I’ll come back some day.” Lars patted me on the back as I continued the embrace.

“Don’t worry too far into the future; just take things one step at a time.” He then stepped back a bit and I let go of him. He gave me a tired, but wide smile. “I’m going back to town now. Farewell.”

“You mean ‘see you again’, right?” Wow, even I thought that was lame. In response though, my friend just smiled wider.

“Of course.” He turned around and left. I stood in the doorway as he set off and when he was almost out of view, I felt something tug on my arm. I glanced back and saw Tasha looking up at me.

“Dad, are you okay?”

“What do you mean, Tasha?”

“You look…sad?”

“What?” I brought my fingers under my eyes and felt that they were dry. Good, I wasn’t crying. When I started teaching Tasha about different kinds of emotions, I started with happiness and sadness. Happiness was easy to explain; sadness was a lot more complicated. Being transported to another world was definitely…disrupting to say the least, but I was quite content with my new life. In the end, all I could do at the time was try to put on a sad expression, at which she laughed. The closest I really got to explaining sadness was when she accidentally banged her head against the wall and started to cry. She immediately linked crying to weakness and never cried again. She has also never seen me cry. As a point of pride, I don’t intend to change that. “Oh…don’t worry Tasha. I’m actually happy.”

“Huh?”

“I’m remembering just how great of a life I’ve had these past eight years.” She looked at me strangely at first, but then it looked like she slowly started to understand what I meant.

“Should I be sad too?” Maybe not.

“You don’t need to be. In fact, don’t force yourself to act like anything other than what you’re comfortable with. Just do what you feel you need to do.” Tasha gave me one strong nod.

“Got it.”