Rencesvals

Ren's earlier assessment of Horunka wasn't wrong. The village, barely a hamlet, also barely four corners, totaled about seven buildings surrounded by a flimsy palisade of young oak trees. They were stout and rugged, but nowhere near as durable as their elders. Butt ends planted to some depth in the area's black soil, they rose about ten feet from the ground and were lashed together with makeshift rope of questionable integrity. It didn't look like much because it wasn't. The inn at the camp's centre was barely more than a shack and made Verdy positively beam at the state of the Happy Daze

"Do you ever hear much from the others?" Ren knew he hadn't. The strain of past events had pushed them all apart in the same way that losing a child can shatter marriages. Despite all the years together, or perhaps because of them, they could no longer stand the static grief that inevitably built when they were near. He and Verdy had been somewhat of an oddity, both staying at the Daze. How aptly named. "No, not really. I try reaching out every once in a while, but don't get more than a few courteous words in reply. There's no conversation. Everyone has drifted their own separate

Ren just laughed. Verdy always found a way to cull the brooding right out from under him. "I'm not sure that you were really meant to agree with me so readily," he said, his dusty gloved hand reaching up to cover hers, "but thanks, I think." Something snapped loudly from deeper in the woods, followed by the scraping of branch on branch and a heavy thud. Loggers. Hopefully. "We're not far from Horunka, and the day has gotten away from us. Let's pack up what we have and find a safe place with food for the evening. I'm not sure my stomach can stand any more of your cooking." A

"I chose blue because she'd already chosen red." Haltingly spoken, but managed nonetheless. "I'm grateful for what you tried to do that day, Ren. I always will be." "Even if I failed? Even if Aus kept me from getting to her?" The vengeful flame in his heart still burned to be unleashed. He'd fought with every ounce of rage only to see her fractured into a thousand sparkling motes of crystalline light less than a hand span beyond his reach. As calm as everyone always thought he was, the desperate fury of that moment lingered deep within, building like a pressure vessel and wanting t

"Few people understand the need for a sense of self more than someone who shares their face with another." Verdy's voice cracked as she spoke. Grief was still too close to her heart. Like a slowing pulse, the beat of pick striking earth stuttered and stopped. "I'm sorry." A dismissive wave discarded the sentiment. "It's fine. What's done is done, right? I know you didn't mean it that way." Looking back to the cart and Biscuit grazing on the lean tufts of sparse grass that managed to grow by the trail's edge, Verdy pushed it all back down. "She'd kick my ass for clinging to th

"When you spend your life looking at your sister like an image in a mirror, it can be nice to be able to change the reflection." Candid and honest, as was so often the case with her. Ren had always admired how forthright she could be, even if occasionally a little snappish. Verdy's silver tongue had pierced the hearts of a few would-be suitors who proved too bold while bearing super-inflated egos. She always set them straight. If they were decent about it, she'd let them down easy. The brasher crowd were fated to crash and burn in the harshest and most painfully embarrassing ways imagina

"What?" Focused on turning over broken soil and stone as Ren clove the ground apart with a third-rate pickaxe, she clearly hadn't been expecting it. "Ummm... the eyes and hair. You and Vin went very different ways with your looks. Was it because you needed to feel different from each other?" They were identical twins in the real world. Distinct in many ways, yet virtually indistinguishable in physical terms. "It just struck me as curious, and I wondered how you felt about it." Leaning against the tool's worn handle, he allowed himself a moment's respite for a drink of water and res

Hard labour was hardly the stuff of courtship, and this wasn't meant to be that anyway. Ren and Verdy had long been close friends. Her playful, teasing manner played well against his nerdy awkwardness. Before SAO, they had often found themselves exchanging wordy banter, twisting each other's lines to keep the taunting match going as long as each could sustain without breaking into laughter. It often left their companions in stitches. Ren knew she was the naturally better player as a literature and languages student. He just gave it his best shot and cheerfully accepted his defeats just t

"It doesn't mean you have to do it alone." Her tone, soft and sympathetic was enough to give him pause, half turning to show that he was listening, but failing to meet her gaze. There was no more awkward subject between them, but it meant a lot that she was willing to broach it. A tug and snap of cloth signaled that she'd put up her shield in the form of that weather-beaten blue hood. She always withdrew inside it when uncomfortable. "I... you're right. I'm sorry." Closing his eyes to make the admission, the truth had pushed them apart by their inability to face it. "It was kind of

Cursing might have followed. There was certainly a lot of thumping and squirming going on. Ren had already dismounted and tied Biscuit off so that he could survey the area for gathering nodes. A dust-covered, wild-haired woman with eyes half scolded and the other half scolding eventually clambered out of the wagon to storm-sulk her way to his side. "I was worried, alright. You do stupid things when left to your own devices!" A hinting smile admitting she was speaking about herself as much as him, Ren responded with one to match. "You've got a good thing going at the inn, Verdy

Pursing his lips, Ren pulled back some of the toppled goods to reveal a contorted blue-haired girl with her face smooshed between the curved blade of a shovel and a bag full of copper ore. Strangely adorable, but surely uncomfortable, she smiled awkwardly up a him with a look akin to the one he used to give his mother when he was caught pilfering from the cookie jar. "Verdy, what are you doing here?" Silence hung thick in the air, as if it could provide some manner of plausible deniability to a mystery that had already unraveled. "Heyyyy, Ren... uh... funny thing." Efforts to

Deep ruts soon marred the roads as they change from neatly set pale grey flagstone to unceremoniously brown dirt. The woodlands surrounding Torunka were sparse and littered with footpaths traveled by the many hunters who favoured them for hunting game. Torunka itself was little more than a hunting camp, with barely half a dozen buildings to mark its presence. It was nearing dusk by the time Ren finally arrived, having managed some success, but at a far slower pace than originally hoped. Jolting to the left as its wheels caught a large snarled root inconveniently projecting into the path ja

The next few hours passed pretty much the same way. Wandering short distances between the most convenient clusters of usable materials, Ren was finding his stride and rhythm. A few solitary players could still be scene wandering through the fields and pastures. Some were still performing the early lesson quests, having finally worked up the nerve to do so. Others were serving as escort for the ten thousandth time - a noble calling. New recruits were increasingly rare. An opportunity to convince another novice to pick up and learn to work a blade helped the whole, in the long term. It wa

Fluffy waves of pinks and oranges lapped at the eastern horizon as the solitary caravan finally made it out to the open road. The lands around the Town of Beginnings were mostly grass undulating in low ripples and rolls, dotted by solitary trees, fences and the occasional traveler. Boars, deer, sheep and other relatively unthreatening critters strolled lazily across the landscape in predictable, repeated patterns. Ren suppressed the thought that these had been killing fields in the earliest days. The hapless, innocent-looking beasts wandering about were once considered lethal. Now, they w

A few acquaintances waved or shouted encouragement as Ren made his way through town. Biscuit was clearly in no hurry, yet also basked in what it perceived as cheering for its own benefit. Her scruffy, matted fur constantly picked up random bits and bobs from her passage. Today it was a pair of colourful woolen mittens and a ebony comb with a flair for dramatic irony. "Come on, girl, just a little farther and we'll be in the clear." A gentle tug and ripple sent across the reigns was all it took. Ren knew just how to handle her. They made it to the outer gate without any trouble, pati

There was a time when passage through the Town of Beginnings was near impossible. Every route was jammed with players, many still in some manner of distress over Kayaba's disclosure. Rumours and speculation were rampant. No one really knew anything, and the worst sort were gleefully conning the gullible for shits and giggles. As players fought their way up to higher floors, the population was spread out over a broader area, but also slowly and steadily dwindling. Ren had never heard anything to suggest that players were capable of having children in SAO. What would such creatures even be

"Relax," he chided, his voice as soft and soothing as he could make it. "I've left nothing to chance. The route is mapped out." She scoffed at that, knowing full well that Ren could get lost in his own tea cup. "Have a little faith! Besides, I've managed to claw myself across quite a few floors of late. Taking a stroll around our own backyard will hardly break a sweat." A mountain of reassurances had been required just to get her this far. "I'm coming with you. There's no other way to have it. Just let me get my things and I'll..." Ren's face and raised hand stopped her cold. Th

It had taken weeks to gather tools and supplied enough for Ren to make ready his one-man caravan. It wasn't much to look at: a sheltered wagon pulled by the most obstinate oxen in the universe. He'd be making this run solo, mainly because he had no collateral to entice partners or investors. No one was willing to risk well-earned col on such a risky venture. And why would they? Ren was no different than any other white-haired bum on the street, and there were strangely plenty of those these days. Sword neatly tucked into its scabbard, and traveling cloak wrapped around his shoulders, the

The night had gotten away from him in more ways than he could possibly explain. Did he ever actually leave the Shift? Did it matter? Spinning the tiny treasure around in his hand, Ren threw a cloak over his shoulders and clasped it closed around his neck without hesitation. Whatever this had been, he would cherish it and learn, paying the favour forward to others who might need the same catharsis. There were so many shattered and broken souls in this world. Maybe his true calling was to gather them up and help them find their callings. Birds chirped even in the caverns of Tomoika,

When the spots finally cleared, Ren found himself seated at his workbench in the back of The Knight Shift. The forge still simmered, but most of its heat and light had gone dormant and every lantern in the shop was dark. He still wore the work clothes and apron from before Euphyme came knocking on his door. There was no sign of the letter, only a simple tin brooch carefully laid on the table next to his arm. Looking more closely at it, he noticed the small bird concealed within the spiral crook at the back of the horn - a nightingale. "What the f-" Familiar warbling echoed from

His head felt like it had lead weights attached as he slowly lifted it back up to meet the goddess' gaze. "How is this a foraging quest?!" The women before him collectively smiled. "Our goal was to see if you could learn to live in harmony with your world. It is a test whose answer is different for every initiate. Yours depended solely on whether you would rail blindly against the injustices of your circumstances or seek to move beyond them. We are pleased with the results, as you should be." Demeter gestured to one of her daughters, who brought forth a small, unadorned brooch of

Sand filled his boots and every crevice between them and his neck. Everything itched. He'd been toiling on his hands and knees all day and would benefit from a bath himself when this was all over - elsewhere. Slender fingers tenderly traced the lines and ridges of his face, removing the blind and exposing his eyes once more to the harsh glare of the world. Ren hissed and grimaced as it burned his sight, etching lines and spots into his retina that took a minute to adjust and make them fade. "So?" The cold, harsh voice of a demanding goddess. "Where is the work I required to have done

"I don't truly know," came Ren's response. "This is what I hope it means." Murmured marvel and approval surrounded and blanketed him. "I recently had the good fortune of traveling to a place called the Temple of Three where the very nature of the universe was symbolically laid bare. The spirits there spoke, and I was fortunate enough to be stupefied enough to listen. Would that more of use could learn the same lesson." A slender palm gently slid itself upon his back, then another and another. Empathy. Such a dauntingly fragile thing, especially in a world afire with chaos and horro

Hands moved over sand and rock, serving as rakes and grooming tools for the very earth as Ren poured cathartic memories through his fingertips. The voices around him gradually changes their tunes as they watched him work. Hostile taunts and fear gave way to curiosity and admiration in turn. Nymphs are accustomed to the predations of lust brought on by the cursed nature of their overwhelming beauty. Men lost their minds to it, become obsessed and insatiable in their cravings. Too often, it led to the player's downfall or demise. The latter could even offer the greater relief, depending on

"We're not leaving," the surly one threatened. "It's not our problem if you can't pick a plant. Who can't do that, anyway? Sounds like a lame excuse." Euphyme could be heard scolding her in the background. "I understand your hesitation. This isn't exactly my preferred option either." That drew a few laughs. "Maybe under other circumstances. Please. All I ask is the chance to work quietly and in peace. I promise that your baths will be better for it afterwards." Much whispering and heated debate followed, most of which he couldn't follow. All the while, the scents and superna