Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Days of Travel

The first day of travel did not consist of too much talking, the only exchanges that occurred were about whether Zycor was hungry or thirsty. As night began to fall on the first day of travel, Adria found a place to stop and make camp for the night. As she was making dinner, that familiar pain she had felt back at the village returned as she grabbed her chest. What was going on with her? Before she could think about it any further, Zycor asked, “Are you ok miss Adria? Did you hurt yourself?” 

Adria looked at Zycor after hearing those words, and when she saw he was genuinely concerned the pain in her chest began to wane a little bit. “I’m fine Zycor, thank you for worrying about me,” Adria responded. 

And with a sigh of relief from Zycor, dinner was ready. The two ate, and went to bed. Adria woke up Zycor at dawn on the second day, and they resumed their journey. Zycor, still silent, was just sitting at the far back of the wagon. When Adria noticed this, the pain came back. What was it? Why was it happening now of all times? As if her mouth moved on its own, she asked, “Hey Zycor, why are you sitting so far back there? If something is troubling you, why don’t you come up to the front here and we can talk about it?” 

After a brief pause, Zycor moved to the front of the wagon and sat down in the seat right behind Adria. Zycor softly responded, “Thank you.” 

Suddenly the pain she felt fully dissipated and what took its place was something she had never experienced before. It was a new emotion to Adria, though compared to how she normally felt, this was much better. Zycor, poking his upper body out the front next to Adria so they could see each other, asked, “I like the smile you have miss Adria. I don’t know what it was, but your other smiles didn’t feel right.” 

Adria suddenly blushing and touching her face with her free hands realized he was telling the truth, she was smiling! But why? What could make her smile so genuinely when she had not done so in over three decades? Adria told Zycor to, “Get back there, you might fall off and hurt yourself.” 

While he nodded, Zycor reeled his body back into the wagon and sat down. 

As they neared the end of the fourth day of travel, the duo arrived at the capital city. Adria decided they would spend the night at an inn there, then resupply in the morning. As they approached the gate, some guards stopped them and pointed their spears at Adria. “A demi-human sure has a lot of nerve showing themselves, and at the capital city no less! Men, arrest-.”

The soldier was cut off when the captain of the gate arrived and put his hand up. The man, after a brief pause, opened his mouth and said, “Greetings, I am the current commanding officer of the gates at the moment, my name is Hans Gruscher. I believe I recognize you ma’am, but I would like to see some identification.” 

Adria replied, “Of course, here you are,” as she hands Hans a small, thin plate with engravings on it. 

Hans poured some magic into the card and basic information about the owner appeared. Satisfied with his findings, Hans returned the plate back to Adria. “As I thought, we appreciate the information you provide along with your other… services. Ahem anyways, you may enter the city. Is there anyone else with you?” Hans inquired. 

Adria told him she did have company, a young boy she found while on her travels. Hans went around to the back of the wagon to peek in and inspect the individual. When he looked inside he was met with the cold stare of a young child. Hans said, “Woah kiddo, what’s with the hostility in your eyes? You could kill with that stare. Are you ok?” 

Zycor just stared at the commander as he remembered what the people who wore the same armor did to everyone he cared about. He maintained eye contact while he continued his glare. Hans went back around to the front of the wagon, “Is the kid alright back there? He seems to be swelling with emotions.” 

With slight hesitation Adria replied, “He has been through a lot and right now, we are just looking for a place to rest.” 

Hans nodded and gave the order to raise the gate and let them pass. When they checked into the inn and made it to their room, Zycor went back to his silent state, his eyes glazed over yet again. Adria said in the softest tone she could muster, “I know it must hurt, what happened. And seeing that man must have brought back things you were trying not to think about.” 

She paused as she saw Zycor was unresponsive. The way he looked pained her, and she couldn’t figure out why. Why is it that when she saw this child in such a state it hurts so much? She continued, “But you have me now, so you don’t have to worry… ok?” 

Adria felt confused and conflicted. Why would she go out of her way to comfort her merchandise? She planned to sell the kid off anyways, so why did she care? But when Zycor’s eyes regained their life and looked at her, the pain faded away yet again. Zycor said, “I’m fine now. Thank you.” 

After a brief silence, the two said their goodnights and turned in for the night.

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Days five through twelve were traveled without incident. Zycor had become more curious about Adria and her life, and began to inquire about her and her work. Adria told Zycor that she was a merchant that dealt with exotic and hard to come by goods. Though she did not lie to him outright, she left out some… minor details. He asked about where she came from, if she had friends, what she liked to do for fun. Eventually, Adria started to subconsciously open up more and more to Zycor, much more than she ever intended to with merchandise. She told him friends were not really needed where she came from. Everyone cared more about money than friendship. As for hobbies, she commented in an unsure tone, “Money, I guess? I never really thought about it.”

While they made camp on the twelfth night and sat around the fire, and they waited for dinner to be done, Adria began to think. She could recall that when she was a kid, she was different from the others, she cared about something no one else seemed to care about. But for the life of her, she could not recall what it was. While lost in thought, Zycor began to speak, “Um, I know I say it a lot but, thank you again miss Adria. To be honest, I thought I would be alone in that village, just waiting to go to sleep forever… Like everyone else. But then you came along! You came along and said you would take care of me! So I wanted to just thank you, miss Adria!” 

When he said he felt “alone,” she realized that was it. She remembered how she felt alone, how no one truly cared about her, and how she needed to “grow up.” No one else had cared, no one else would care, everyone she knew was only ever out for themselves. And that’s why she bottled up her feelings and tried her hardest to ignore it. But now, there was someone that genuinely cared, someone that felt the same way she did, someone she felt she needed, and wanted, to protect. Adria, with a smile, replied, “Thank you, Zycor,” before she hugged him and headed to bed.

Midway through the thirteenth day, they neared their destination, the demi-human village of the Mothraki. As the mountain came into sight it was now a straight shot to the village, and Adria stopped. Zycor asked, “Is everything ok? Why did we suddenly stop?” 

Adria had a decision to make, would she take this child to her village and just sell him off, or would she abandon her race to care for this child. Money can always be replenished, but being able to find this feeling again, Adria was certain she wouldn’t. She asked Zycor, “Hey Zycor, what do you think about me adopting you, right here and now. It would mean we would have to travel for a little longer but, I promise to take good care of you.” 

Adria gripped the Lead, worried about what his answer would be. She wasn’t sure how she would be able to manage the pain if he said no. Would she be able to handle that loneliness again? 

Zycor, who had not been able to show any expression at any point during their journey, managed to find a smile one more time. He put his hand on Adria’s and told her, “I love my mom and dad, even now. But, I consider you to be my mom as well now. You have cared for me, comforted me, and helped me continue to move forward. You always look so lonely, so let me stay with you so you won’t be lonely anymore.” 

Adria, about to cry, began to loosen her grip when Zycor finished by saying, “I love you, mama Adria.” 

And with that, Adria started to cry while embracing Zycor and saying, “Thank you so much! I have always wanted to hear those words spoken to me with sincerity! I swear to you, I will take care of you as my own child!” 

And thus, Zycor found someone else he could care about and Adria got what she had always longed for, someone who would be there for her and genuinely care about her.

As Adria dried her tears and released Zycor, she said, “Ok *sniffle*, that’s enough of that. Let's head somewhere else, I have a great place in mind!” 

Zycor replied, “Ok, I trust you.” 

As Adria turned the carriage to head towards their new destination, Zycor asked her, “Excuse me, mama Adria. You have a second part of your name, right?” 

She replied, “Yes, it's my family name. Come to think of it, I don’t remember you ever telling me yours.” 

“Well, I never learned it, or at least do not remember it,” Zycor replied. He then continued  and asked, “Would it be ok if I use yours?” 

Completely flustered and overjoyed she promptly responded, “Yes, of course! It would make me so happy! From now on you shall be Zycor Mori!” 

And with that, the Mori family was born. Though they were of different races, everyone that saw them could not deny that the love they shared was that of a mother and her son.

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