Rori lay on a hillside watching the world stretch out below him. The late afternoon sun was still far from the horizon. The ground sloped up sharply behind his back so that he was able to lay and yet still be relatively upright. It was the perfect spot to sit and watch and wait.
He picked up a stone that lay conveniently within reach and flung it at a large thick tree trunk that was about halfway down the hill. The rock sailed through the air in a clean arc but missed the tree by several feet.
“I hope I’m not interrupting?” said a voice from up the hill behind him.
Rori leaned forward and turned to look back. He didn’t recognize the man who was heading his way from the direction of the camp. But lately that didn’t surprise him. As the news of what had happened to Yoska and of how the clan was now being run had spread, new people had started drifting in. Some only stayed a short while as they realized that what they were looking for was not so simply found as switching clans. A steady stream of people passing through was something that was true of all Cunāe clans. What was unusual was the surprising number that stayed.
The guy looked friendly enough. His open and honest face was framed by shaggy brown hair that reached his collar. His clothes were a little conservative for your usual Cunāe, but then as many Cunāe were fond of saying, there was nothing ‘usual’ about any Cunāe. His boots, however, were exactly what you’d expect: well-worn and dirty.
“Not interrupting at all. Care to have a seat or did you need me for something?”
The man stood next to Rori and looked off into the distance.
“Mind if I ask what it is you are doing?” he said, then without waiting for Rori to answer he continued. “You’re one of this clan’s leaders, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right. Are you new?”
“Do you know what’s down there?” said the man pointing into the distance.
“Not really. I assume more hills and fields.”
“Care to find out?”
Rori sat back up and turned to fully face the man. The man was still staring in the direction he’d pointed and there was a gleam in his eye that could be read as either mischief or adventure.
“Do you mean now?” asked Rori with confusion.
“Yes, of course.”
“Do you know what’s down there?”
“I also assume more hills and fields, but there is almost assuredly something more just waiting to be discovered over the next ridge or around the next corner. All we need to do to find out is go.”
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The man’s voice conveyed an excitement and longing that Rori found infectious. The possibility of what might be out there was enormous and just begging to be discovered. All they need do is get up and head towards it.
“What about the clan?”
“I suppose they could come if they wanted, but I find that the best adventures are had in small numbers. Leave them here and let’s go see the world.”
“But I’m one of the clan’s leaders. I have responsibilities.”
“Do you?” asked the man as he looked at Rori and his surroundings. Somehow managing to convey in that look an appraisal of Rori’s current activity, or lack thereof, without being judgmental.
“I . . .” started Rori, but there didn’t seem any way to respond with any satisfactory meaning, so he trailed off into silence.
“I’ve heard you are quite the talented person, but I suspect they will get along fine without you. Leading a clan is usually something that keeps a person quite involved, or so I’ve been told. It doesn’t seem to me like it’s a job that a man of your talents would find all that challenging. Over there we just may find something new that would let those talents shine!”
“But I’ve responsibilities and obligations. The clan has needs that I should be looking towards,” Rori said. But even as he said it, he realized how untrue it sounded given his current locale.
“Responsibilities and obligations?” said the man, his face darkening just the slightest. “Not worth their trouble in my experience. What needs do they have that they specifically need you to fulfill?
Rori thought for a moment but struggled to come up with anything. Finally, he said, “Well, they are short on money at the moment. I’m pretty much the only one bringing it in.”
“Money? Money’s easy to find. You could turn over that rock and you’d probably find money. I don’t think they need your money.” As he pointed at a nearby stone the man laughed. It was a chortle but at the same time seemed somehow filled with irony.
Rori looked at the rock and then back up at the man. But the strange fellow was once again staring into the distance with a look of longing on his face.
“Someone could attack the clan,” Rori said trying to pour conviction into his words, but he doubted the sincerity of his own voice.
“Does that happen often?” the man asked.
“Not really. And there are plenty of people to help defend.”
Silence sat between them for several awkward moments and then the man took three steps down the hill and turned back to Rori.
“Not coming, then?”
Rori once again felt the pull of desire to get up and go, but he shrugged it aside and said, “No, my duty is here.”
“Your loss I suppose,” said the man. “I hope your duty is all that you want it to be.”
He then turned and strode down the hill and out of sight. Rori watched for quite a while hoping to catch sight of the man as he came out of some tree line in the distance but whichever way the man had gone, he remained hidden from view.
Eventually Rori got up, brushed off his pants and began to head back up the hill. He’d taken five steps before he stopped and looked back at the rock the man had pointed to.
He strode over to the rock and stooped down beside it. It looked like your standard stone and was about the size of a loaf of bread. Rori reached down and flipped the rock over.
It was somehow unsurprising that a gold coin lay pressed into the ground beneath. Rori picked up the coin and using his shirt rubbed off the dirt to shine it.
Examining the coin, he saw it wasn’t a Lorenthian coin. The usual relief of the Emperor was not to be seen, instead both sides of the coin had the image of the strange man Rori had just seen walk away.
