Chapter Text
Sojourn
/ˈsɒdʒ(ə)n,ˈsɒdʒəːn/
noun
- a temporary stay somewhere.
So, this was Eorzea…
Home to the three great nations that had allied with each other against the threat of Garlemald. Among other nations left to fall, or left to their isolation. She’d heard the stories, of course, news often finds a way to travel, but the thought leaves a bitter taste in her mouth from what she could parse from their attitudes. As if there weren’t enough problems back in her own lands.
Still, she’d be a hypocrite to complain too much. She was the one to bring herself here, after all. Chasing a single hope heard on a rumour like a child. It’s a wonder she even came to commit this far into her sojourn to these foreign lands.
From her seat in the carriage, there’s little to be impressed by but desert roads that for malms and malms, seemingly stretching on for eternity.
She sighs as the carriage slows, dropping off some passengers and replacing them with new ones. The man it belongs to is a helpful sort, and his name escapes her at the moment. Though it wouldn’t be the first thing she’s forgotten.
The carriage gets moving again, large yellow birds known as Chocobo’s leading at the helm and driving them onwards. It’s not long before her mind wanders again, staring out at the distant landscape for next few hours, marvelling silently at how dry the arid air is. Not like home, where humidity clings to everything. Not like the green lands, and the vibrant buildings.
No. Everything here is brown, and orange… The only colour she can find is in the sapphire sky, and the occasional parched cactus.
Her thoughts drift aimlessly until what feels like a bolt pierces her skull and she doubles over in dizzying agony.
The world fades into nothingness.
And then it’s back.
She wakes up on carriage bench, her head spinning, disorientated in a way that’s both familiar and horrifying all at once. Had her stomach not been stronger, she might have lost her lunch. She’s fortunate like that though, sitting up and catching the voice of the kindly carriage owner checking in on her.
Aether sickness, he calls it. Eorzea’s rife with the stuff, and she wouldn’t be the first visitor to fall ill from it. He assures her it will pass in time, and she allows him the distraction of probing her with questions.
Though she does stumble on explaining exactly why she’s here. Where to even begin… No, she lacks the words to explain. He doesn’t press her for it, and the consideration is greatly respected.
She almost regrets her silence after one more chaotic disturbance to their journey rocks the carriage on their approach to the city. She can see it rising in the distance, a jewel in the desert that’s marred by these idiot crooks trying to blackmail her new friend – Brendt, she remembers.
Once again, she’s lucky like that. They evade the bullshit of those swindlers, thanks to an ambush attack by what she learns are called Amal’jaa, and her arrival to the city comes much faster, carried swiftly on the fear of those poor Chocobo’s legs.
Powerful birds, indeed. She makes sure to give them both a well earnt pat as she departs the carriage. She’s stopped before she can part ways, Brendt stands nearby and he holds out his hand.
“You never did tell me your name,” he says to her, placing a ring in her palm. “But here’s an idea… Become the sort of stories personage I can brag about havin’ met, an’ I’ll consider us square.”
He gives her a wink, chuckling as he climbs back into the carriage.
For a moment she’s stunned, taken aback by the kind gesture before she can get a word out from her mouth.
She spins on her heel to face him— Enrei! She calls out, but her voice gets lost beneath Brendt’s whistle, spurring his Chocobo’s into action. He waves her off, and then he is gone, and once again Enrei stands alone in a place that’s unfamiliar, with no one that she knows.
Well… There’s that then.
Now what?