Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Aurora sang to herself quietly as her Stag-Bear lumbered along the road, pulling the small caravan that Aurora sat in behind it.

“Tun thad erna thici, iseda tira thun.” Aurora sang sweetly to an audience of only her Stag-Bear and whatever wildlife was nearby.

If anyone was accompanying Aurora on the road, they wouldn’t have understood a single word of the song she was singing. ‘Irna ta dune’, or ‘From her hands’ if translated, was a Lemurian song, sung in the Lemurian language. And Aurora was the only being in the world who spoke the Lemurian tongue.
Because Lemuria did not exist. At least, not in this world.

Aurora’s singing petered off as her caravan crested the hill, revealing the small town she was heading to.

“Not long now, Baur.” Aurora assured her companion up front.

The stag-bear let out a quiet roar in response.

“Yes, yes.” Aurora chuckled. “I’ll see about getting you a nice big fish for your troubles.”

Baur roared again, continuing to pull the caravan along at a slightly quicker pace.

Reaching close to the town, Aurora ignored the apprehensive-to-fearful looks that the sight of a stag-bear garnered from those around. As long as people weren’t screaming and running for the hills, something that many had done before Aurora and Baur’s reputation had spread, everything was fine.
Stopping just outside of the town, Aurora slowly climbed down from her place at the front of the caravan, wincing at the aches and pains that sitting for so long on a moving surface had aggravated.

Baur stomped impatiently until Aurora made her way over to him and reached for the harness holding him to the caravan.

“Patience, my friend. It has been a long journey for us both.” Aurora chided gently.

People drew even further away as the stag-bear was released from the harness, the animal wasting no time in indulging in his freedom, circling around the caravan and having a good shake. He then looked back to Aurora.

“Go on then.” Aurora urged, waving her arms out towards the woods that bordered the town.

The stag-bear didn’t need any further permission, running and disappearing into the woods.

Aurora sighed and grabbed her walking stick from where she’d left it at the front of the caravan before going about setting up her mobile home for her stay at the town. Slowly but surely, Aurora set up her firepit, and after some contemplation, set up her weaving loom.

“Hmm,” Auroa frowned as she took stock of her supplies in the caravan. “Less than I thought.”

She and her animal companion really had been on the road for a while, and it had been even longer since they’d reached a larger settlement such as the town. And while there were some resources that Aurora and Baur could gather in the wild for themselves, many things could also only be acquired in settlements, or even only in large settlements.

Mentally listing what she would need to buy, Aurora hung up her quilts, tapestries and other assorted crafts for anyone who would come by to see and possibly be interested in buying. Then she set to work on the loom while she waited to be able to go into the town.

…

Heavy stomps announced Baur’s return and Aurora stifled a giggle at how much greenery the stag-bear had picked up on his jaunt through the woods.

“Come here, dear one.” Aurora said, reaching up and removing the vines that had managed to tangle around Baur’s antlers.

With Baur back, Aurora left him to guard the caravan while she made her way into town. There were times that Aurora could leave her portable home without waiting for Baur to come and guard it, and the caravan did have traps to ward off would-be-thieves, but the town she and Baur were visiting didn’t have the best of reputations.

The short trip from her camp to the town was painfully slow, Aurora’s aging body only allowing her to move so fast without complaining. In her prime, Aurora would have run the entire way and not felt the least bit tired. But then again, in her Prime, Aurora had walked everywhere with only what she and Baur carried in saddlebags, no need for a caravan for Baur to be stuck pulling around everywhere.
Age had forced Aurora to make accommodations. Traveling from settlement to settlement had become increasingly harder for Aurora to just walk, Baur wasn’t exactly built to be a mount, and sleeping rough introduced increasing pain. On top of that, Aurora had started to need more than what she and Baur could carry. Longer travel times meant that they needed more supplies to last them between settlements, and with less and less people willing to trade Aurora’s skills as an adventurer due to her increasing age, she had turned to craft as a trade, which meant carrying around the craft supplies and tools.

Once in town, Aurora first made her way to the local publishers.

“Aurora!” A man with a truly fabulous moustache greeted the woman.

“Harold, how have you been.” Aurora accepted the man’s hug.

“Business has been booming lately.” Harold bragged. “A new author published their first work and it’s gotten quite popular, though not to the heights that Child of Light did. The only thing that would match that book would be a sequel.” He gave Aurora a pointed look.

“Harold.” Aurora sighed good-naturedly. “I’ve told you many times, the only adventure of mine that I’m willing to monetise is my first.”

Harold gave his own sigh. “I will never understand why you are so reluctant to write about your adventures. With how many you’ve been on, you could have filled this entire room.”

Aurora chuckled.

“Now that, my dear, is an exaggeration.” She said. “It’d only be half the room.”

In the early days of her unexpected new life, Aurora had decided to turn her first pilgrimage across the land of Lemuria into a storybook, lovingly rendering the tale in watercolour and rhyme. She had mostly done it to just have a project to focus on while waiting to grow old enough to leave her village without needing a guardian, as well as a way to memorialise her old life.
But after finally being able to return to her pilgriming ways, Aurora had shared her book with fellow travellers and many had expressed their love for her work. It had encouraged Aurora to share her story further and find someone to reproduce her book, which had led her to Harold’s father and his small publishing business. Aurora had only intended to get some copies to trade with others on her travels, but had made a deal to allow the family business to publish copies of her storybook and sell them. ‘Child of Light’, as she had titled her book, had proven to be insanely popular, making the family business and Aurora herself a lot of money and spreading her book further than she ever expected.
Even today, many decades later, Aurora was still making some money off of her first and only book.

“Are there any royalties for me to collect?” Aurora decided to get down to business.

Harold dug around in his desk until he found the paper he was looking for and read it, then he disappeared into a back room for a few minutes for a few minutes before returning with a pouch that clinked when he handed it to Aurora alongside a copy of the paper.

Aurora smiled at how heavy the pouch felt and the sales numbers on the paper. It seemed that Harold’s good business had extended to the sale of her book, meaning that she wouldn’t have to worry about trade for a while.

“How many copies do you want for yourself this time?” Harold asked, picking up a notebook and pencil.

Aurora tapped her chin before giving a number. She still had a couple of copies left over from her last visit, so she didn’t need that many.

“I’m set up just outside the North-West way into town. Baur should be clearly visible next to my caravan.” Aurora said for the delivery.

“He’s still around then?” Harold sighed as he noted down the order.

Aurora chuckled. “Yes. If the delivery boy brings along some fish, Baur should behave.” She advised.

After sharing a brief tea with her publisher, Aurora moved on to the other business she had in the town.

“Hmm.” Aurora looked over the different Eco crystals on the stall in front of her, trying to determine if she really needed them or not.

There was always Eco to find out in the wild, and Aurora herself was fortunate enough to have been reborn as a natural Eco Channeler in this world, but crystals still had their own convenience. The small, crystal-powered, heater that Aurora used in her caravan when it was cold for instance.

From the corner of her eye, Aurora caught movement and felt a small disturbance on her cloak.

“Now, that is not a very polite thing to do.” Aurora maintained her polite demeanour as she looked down.

Her would-be pickpocket looked up at Aurora with startled eyes, snatching his hand back. She frowned slightly when she saw that he couldn’t have been more than five-years-old, as well as the state of his clothing.

“And just where, little one, are your parents?” Aurora asked gently.

Despite her protesting knees, Aurora crouched down to be at the boy’s level, ignoring the sharp crack they made as she did so.

“Uh…” The boy mumbled, shy from being caught.

“There he is!” A sudden shout caused the boy to jump.

Looking up, Aurora saw a trio of uncouth-looking men advancing towards them with scowls on their faces. The boy quickly hid himself behind Aurora as she raised herself back up, facing the men with unflinching calmness.

“Can I help you gentlemen?” Aurora asked when they stopped in front of her.

“Hand over the brat!” The ringleader of the group demanded.

“And what business do you have with him.” Aurora remained calm, moving the hand not holding her cane to shield the boy peaking out from behind her cloak.

“That little, snotnosed, punk tried to steal from us. He needs to be taught a lesson about stealing.” The man snarled.

Aurora raised an eyebrow. Based on the trio’s appearance and demeanour, as well as the reputation for certain parts of the town, she doubted that they had any leg to stand on regarding the morality of stealing. She also doubted that they’d be giving the young pickpocket an age-appropriate lesson.

“Kind sirs,” Aurora said in a way that made it clear that she regarded them as anything but. “I’m afraid that you’re mistaken. My grandson has been with me all day, and the both of us have only just arrived in town. It is not possible for him to have taken anything from you.”

Behind her, the kid nodded his head so hard it threatened to come off.

“Yeah! I didn’ try to steal nothin’.” He defended, having no issue with going along with Aurora’s story if it got him out of trouble.

“Don’t try and fool us, yah old hag.” One of the other men scowled.

“Yeah, we know it was him.” Said thug number three.

Aurora shifted her demeanour to one of offence and hurt.

“My little Gen would do no such thing.” She hugged the boy to her side, going with the first name that popped into her head. “He’s a good boy. I don’t know where I’d be without him. He looks after me and gets me everything I need when my old bones can’t rise from bed, and he works so hard even though he’s only a little boy. And you’d dare accuse him of something like theft?”

Aurora exaggerated her hunch and weakened her voice to make herself appear older and frailer than she truly was.
There were many disadvantages to being old. But age did come with some advantages of its own.

The thugs lost some of their aggression as Aurora spoke, starting to feel awkward under Aurora’s emotional blackmail, though the leader shook his head and held onto his aggression.

“Don’t try and fool me.” He sneered and made an aggressive step forward. “I know it was him.”

Removing her spare hand from the boy, Aurora pulled in back into the folds of her cloak and placed it on the hilt of the sword she had concealed behind it.

“Please, sirs, leave me and my grandson alone. You’re upsetting him.” She continued her frail old lady act even as she prepared to draw her sword.

Thankfully, the young boy was cunning enough to pick up on the cue and began sobbing loudly.

“Granma!” He wailed, drawing attention from all around them. “Wanna go home!”

“Please, don’t hurt us.” Aurora added loudly enough for the increasing audience to hear.

Thankfully, the increasing attention made the thugs withdraw, shooting the boy and Aurora one last dirty look before running off.

Aurora sighed in relief as everyone around them quickly went back to their own business now that the confrontation was seemingly over.

“Now. Where were-?” Aurora turned to face the young boy only to find that he was no longer behind her.

“Thanks, old lady!” The young boy waved to Aurora as he ran off, disappearing around a corner.

“Hmm.” Aurora frowned.

She had been hoping to give the boy a lecture on the morality and dangers of stealing, then take him back to his parents. She could try and catch him, which she would be able to do, but her body would complain about it later and she was already aching from the long journey to the town.

“Hopefully he stays out of trouble.” Aurora muttered to herself, going back to her shopping.

Much later, Aurora was back at her caravan, staring into the embers of her campfire while Baur slept soundly nearby.

The remains of the fish she had bought for her dinner sat nearby and she really did need to wrap up the leftovers before flies started getting at it, but Aurora found it difficult to find the motivation. She was cozy, wrapped up in her quilt, and doing anything meant exposing herself to the cold night air.

Aurora mused on old memories as she rubbed her thumb along the bowl of her long smoking pipe, tapping the lip of it against her mouth. It was unlit and didn’t even have anything in it since Aurora rarely, if ever, smoked. She had seen in in a shop one day and had been reminded so much of Capalli pipes that she had bought it.
She hadn’t smoked much in her old life either, never understanding the appeal. But she had done it a few times when in talks and celebration with the Capilli people, even learning how to blow smoke rings. The weight in her hand had proven to be a comfort.

Still as she was, Aurora’s sharp hearing allowed her to pick up the sound of quiet footsteps approaching her camp. She remained still as they got closer, ready to spring into action the moment she suspected sinister intentions.
Was it one of those thugs from earlier, still angry about what she had done? No, the footsteps were much too light to be one of them. In fact, they were light enough to be someone else who Aurora had met while in town.

From the corner of her eye, Aurora watched as a small child entered into her camp. And based on the messy red hair and dirty clothes, it was her little pickpocket.
Walking as slowly and carefully as a five-year-old could, the boy made his way towards Aurora’s leftover fish, reaching out towards it with grabby hands.

“You know,” Aurora broke the silence, causing the boy to jump in shock. “It’s common curtesy to ask before taking someone’s food.”

“I, uh…I wasn’t….” The pickpocket fumbled with his excuse.

“You were going to steal my food.” Aurora told him. “Just like how you were trying to steal from my pockets earlier.”

The boy didn’t respond, just looking down at his feet.

“Well?” Aurora said expectantly.

“Well, what?” The boy looked at Aurora in confusion.

“Are you going to ask?”

The boy gave her a dumbfounded look.

“Gimmie the food?” He asked hesitantly, as if expecting a trick.

Aurora tutted and shook her head.

“That is not how you ask for something.” She gently admonished. “You say, ‘please may I have some of your food?’.”

The boy looked even more dumbfounded, as if the concept of manners was something completely alien to him. Still, he did want the fish.

“Please may I have some of your food?” He parroted.

“You may.” Aurora gestured with her pipe.

The boy didn’t waste any time, grabbing the fish and stuffing his face with as much of it as he could. Aurora winced at the mess he was making.
When he was done, Aurora indicated to a bucket of water for him to clean himself in.

“As you have eaten at my table, so to speak, perhaps you could share in your name.” Aurora said.

The boy squinted at her. “You speak funny.” He said.

Aurora chuckled slightly. He was far from the first to comment on her manner of speech.

“I speak as a Lemurian. And our patterns of speech do not always sound natural when spoken in your tongue.” She explained.

“Wots Lemuan? And why don’ you speak like us when usin’ our langage.” The boy questioned, his buck teeth giving him a notable lisp.

“Lemuria is my home country, where I lived before coming to this world. As to why I do not adjust my speech, it just feels more natural to me, and I don’t see why I should adjust it. Aurora sighed. “Now, would you be so kind as you share your name?”

“I’m Daxter.” The boy said. “Wots your name?”

“I am Aurora, little one.” Aurora returned.

“Aur…Aura…Au-rara.” Daxter tried to say.

“Aurora.” She corrected him.

The young boy tried again but still struggled. “I’m gonna call you Aura.” He eventually decided with a shrug.

“Close enough.” Aurora shrugged herself, knowing that trying to correct the young boy would only be a losing battle.

Now that the boy had been fed, Aurora expected him to disappear back home, but instead Daxter moved over to the dying fire and crouched down in front of it in search of warmth.

“Daxter, do you not have a home to return to? Surely your guardians will be concerned.” Aurora asked.

“Nah.” Daxter responded casually. “The doors probly locked already. No point in goin’ back til mornin’.”

Aurora frowned.

“You get locked out of the house if you are not home in time? But you cannot be more than five.” She said.

Daxter shrugged.

“Any kid not back by curfew gets locked out.” He said like it was normal.

“How utterly barbaric and cruel.” Aurora scowled. “You said ‘any child.’ Do you live in an orphanage?”

“Yeah.” Daxter confirmed. “All the adults there are bastards. And they always come afta me.”

“Language!” Aurora admonished, shocked at such a young boy swearing so casually.

“Wha?” Daxter clearly didn’t see any issue with it.

“It is uncivilised to speak in such ways.” Aurora told him. “Especially for one so young as yourself.”

“But it’s what they are.” Daxter protested.

Aurora sighed.

“I would like for you to stay here until morning, where I know you will be safe and not in danger form any of the uncouth individuals that prowl the streets at night. I can walk you back to the orphanage in the morning.” She said.

“I can stay?” Daxter said in awe. His expression then shifted to one of suspicion. “You’re not one of those kid snatchers, are you?”

Aurora fixed Daxter with a look.

“No. Do I look like I steal children?”

Daxter shrugged.

“I dunno.” He said.

Aurora huffed.

“Well, if you are worried, I will not invite you inside my caravan. It is cold out, but Baur can provide you with warmth.” She offered.

At Aurora’s mention of the sleeping stag-bear, Daxter apparently took notice of the creature for the first time.

“Ahh! Wats tha!” Daxter screamed, falling to his butt and crawling away.

At the scream, Baur opened his eyes to regard the screaming child, which only served to terrify him further.

“Ah! He’s gonna eat me!” Daxter scrambled to hide behind Aurora.

“Peace, young one.” Aurora attempted to calm him. “That is Baur, my stag-bear. And he is not going to eat you.”

“But-but-but he’s all big and scary.” Daxter pointed.

“Scary?” Aurora chuckled. “Perhaps to those he regards as enemies. But I am not his enemy and neither are you. So, we are in no danger.”

There were indeed many times in which her companion could be terrifying, but there were also many times where Baur would act like an extremely overgrown dog.

Aurora reluctantly moved from her comfortable position, taking care to keep her quilt wrapped around herself, and approached Baur. The stag-bear lazily lifted his head to greet her, allowing her to rub the top of his head.

“See?” Aurora said to Daxter.

Daxter cautiously approached, inching closer and raising his hand until he touched Baur’s fur. When the stag-bear didn’t react, he stroked the fur more confidently.

“G-good boy.” A smile crept onto the young boy’s face.

Baur sneezed, which caused Daxter to suddenly snatch his hand back as though it was an act of aggression.
Aurora narrowed her eyes at her companion, wondering if Baur had done that on purpose. Her friend did have a mischievous streak, though it had faded somewhat with his own old age.

“Now, just because Baur is friendly, it does not mean that other stag-bears are. So, do not go up to other animals expecting to pet them.” Aurora warned.

“Where’d yah get him?” Daxter asked, following Aurora as she went back to her seat.

“I found him as a cub.” Aurora explained. “His mother had…passed on and so I decided to take care of him. When he had grown, instead of leaving to live his own life as I had expected, he stayed resolutely by my side. And he has been a faithful companion, both in battle and in travel, ever since.”

“Battle?” Daxter’s interest rose.

“Oh, yes.” Aurora smiled. “I used to ride Baur into battle. He may not be very fast, but very little remains standing when he chooses to charge. No bandit dare stand in his way.”

“Cool.” Daxter said in awe. “Can I ride him?”

“You will have to ask him tomorrow. Now is the time for sleep.” Aurora shook her head.

It was late and Aurora had already been contemplating going to bed before Daxter had arrived.

“…M not tired.” Daxter protested, even though it was clear that he was.

“Tired or not, it is time for bed.” Aurora told him.

Shivering as she removed her quilt, Aurora draped it over Daxter, swamping the young boy in the thick material.

“Hey.” Daxter protested even as he wrapped the quilt around himself to fight off the cold he had clearly been feeling.

Grabbing her cane, Aurora walked over to her caravan and climbed inside.

“Goodnight, little one. And sweet dreams.” Aurora said to Daxter before closing the door behind her and climbing into her bed.

“Night.” Daxter mumbled in reply, taking the seat that Aurora had vacated and wrapping himself well in her quilt.

The boy was gone in the morning, and so was Aurora’s quilt. She didn’t mind. Despite sharing her food and camp, Aurora was still a stranger to Daxter, and the quilt was probably something worth stealing to Daxter depending on the level of care he got at the orphanage.
She would have to see the orphanage for herself and possibly do something about it before she left.

Aurora went about her usual day at her camp, starting with her usual warm ups.
Her sword flashed in the bright morning sun, cutting through the air with practiced ease and slaying invisible enemies. Though she wasn’t exactly the heroic adventurer she once was, she saw no reason to let herself grow rusty in her old age. And there was still those who sought her out for teaching from time to time, though she didn’t exactly make herself available by being so nomadic, so only those who truly desired her teaching, or were just lucky enough to run into her on the road, were able to learn from her.

After her exercises, Aurora settled down in front of her loom to work on her current tapestry while Baur left to entertain himself in the woods. Every so often, she would receive a visitor who would look at the completed work she had laid out and they would talk trade while Aurora continued her work. Some would deem her prices too high, some left with vague promises to return with better trade, and one even bought from her, trading away a Power Cell for an embroidered shawl.
The day passed like that, with Aurora only pausing for her meals or to go for a walk in the woods herself after Baur returned to guard her caravan.

When night came, Aurora dug out another one of her quilts to sit by her fire as the air grew cold.
Her day remained completely absent of young visitors and she eventually turned in for the night.

The next day started the same as the previous, but this time when she went for a walk in the woods, she was surprised to find a familiar face. While walking, she spotted a bag with apples spilling out of them at the base of a tree.

“Hello, up there.” Aurora greeted Daxter, who was up on a high tree branch.

“…Hi.” Daxter replied, looking quite white-faced as he looked down after.

“May I ask as to why you are up there?”

“Pickin’ apples.” Daxter said, showing off one of said apples.

“I see.” Aurora said calmly. “Would you like some help getting down?”

“No!” Daxter cried defensively.

Aurora raised an eyebrow.

“So, you can get down on your own?”

“Yeah!”

“Then why don’t you?”

“…Because.” Daxter failed to come up with an answer.

Aurora sighed and shook her head.

“There’s no shame in needing help.” She told the boy.

Daxter remained silent for a moment. “…Okay.” He eventually admitted.

Aurora regarded the tree that Daxter was stuck in. She could scale it herself and carry Daxter down, or she could get Baur to prop himself against the tree to act as a platform, or she could just go with the simplest solution.

Aurora held out her arms.

“Jump, little one, I will catch you.” She assured.

Daxter looked at Aurora warily.

“Really?” He questioned.

“I assure you that I am stronger than I look.” Aurora responded with a gentle smile.

Daxter shifted uneasily as he got into position to jump, only to slip.

“Ahh!” Daxter cried as he fell.

Aurora braced herself and her hair shot upward to float behind her.

“Oof!” Daxter grunted as he was caught.

He kept his eyes screwed tight and latched onto Aurora, fear from the sudden fall still coursing through him even as the following seconds proved that he wasn’t about to hit the ground painfully.
Eventually, he did open his eyes and gasped in awe at the Eco that enveloped Aurora’s form, causing her long hair to float as if in water.

“Pretty.” Daxter muttered.

Aurora gently lowered Daxter to the ground and he allowed himself to be put on his feet. She then drew up to her proper hight and her aura of Eco dissipated, her hair flopping back down her back.

“There. I did tell you that I would catch you.” Aurora smiled.

“You, you’re a…a…you use Eco.” Daxter said excitedly, forgetting the word for Eco-users.

“Indeed, I am a Channeler.” Aurora nodded.

She bent down and picked up Daxter’s bag of apples.

“How?” Daxter questioned.

“I was born into this world as one.” Aurora answered simply. “Here is your fruit.”

She handed the bag of apples to Daxter, which the boy eagerly took as soon as he remembered it existed.

Aurora guided Daxter out of the forest while fielding the boy’s questions, leaning a bit more on her cane as they went. The use of Eco had given her the strength to catch Daxter without hurting herself, but calling on her stores had left her ever so slightly drained.

It had been a bit of a shock to learn just how different the current world was to Lemuria, that magic systems (though every Sage and scholar of Eco denied it being magic) could exist in different worlds but be so disparate from each other.
In Lemuria, magic could change the very world, transform beings, summon storms, lift entire cities from the ground, and other such wonders that Aurora had come to take for granted during her life in Lemuria. But this world had Eco, a more primal and solid force that existed on rules completely different to what Aurora had been used to.
Aurora had been born into this world as a natural Channeler, giving her the ability to use Eco from the moment she first touched it. And not just one type of Eco, as it was for other Channelers, Aurora was gifted the rare upon rare ability to channel all of the world’s Ecos. And as she grew, Aurora had cultivated her new abilities, setting out to learn from Sages and Precursor Oracles. She had learned the path of the Sage, with a vital step of the process being to take Eco into oneself and store it to call upon for later use, as she had done with Daxter.
And with many things that came with age, Aurora’s channelling abilities had been much stronger when she was in her prime. Calling on the Eco within herself to catch a falling child wouldn’t have phased her at all. Though, her channelling abilities hadn’t suffered as much as her physical body.

“Indeed, I have quite the reputation.” Aurora responded to another one of Daxter’s questions as they arrived at her camp.

“Do ya think ya could scare the nuns?” Daxter asked. “They might treat me right if you scare them.”

“I’ll…think about it.” Aurora responded.

Though Aurora preferred to use the diplomatic route when possible, she wasn’t above using her position to get her way. More than once in her old life, an uppity noble had been cowed by the reminded that Aurora’s position as Queen allowed her many liberties, or an unruly representative from another continent had been reminded that Aurora’s kingdom could more than crush any opposition. And while she may not be Queen of an entire continent anymore, she had still managed to build a strong reputation in this world.

Aurora went about preparing lunch, barely needing to think about it before adding another portion for Daxter. The boy’s eyes lit up at the sight of the plate being handed to him, which made Aurora feel warm inside, the type of warmth she had not felt since she’d last cared for her great-grandchildren from her previous life.
That thought made Aurora’s mood drop slightly, though she tried her best to not let it get to her.

Aurora had had not only great-grandchildren, but a grandson, a daughter, and though who she had come to regard as part of her family also. She had lived a long life in Lemuria and had raised a wonderful family who she had loved with all her heart. But even Aurora, who had died and been resurrected twice in her youth, had been subject to time, and had peacefully passed on from her world surrounded by her family.
With her life at its natural end, Aurora had expected to pass onto Heaven. Instead, she had woken in a new world to live her life all over again.
A new world and a new life without her cherished family.

Aurora shook herself out of her thoughts and turned her attention back to Daxter. The boy had started to babble about whatever came into his head between bites of food, having become comfortable with Aurora since their last encounter.

“Can I ride the bear now?” Daxter asked after they had eaten.

“You will have to ask Baur.” Aurora repeated what she had said when Daxter had asked the first time.

Daxter suddenly looked unsure, regarding Baur with wary eyes.
His face then became one of resolution as he marched over to the stag-bear.

“I wanna ride you.” He declared.

Baur regarded Daxter with disinterest.

“You will have to be more polite than that.” Aurora called over. “I raised Baur to be polite and expect politeness in return.”

Though Baur only really took the latter half of that lesson to heart.

Daxter took a deep breath and tried again.

“Can I ride you?”

“Try, ‘May I please ride upon your back.” Aurora suggested.

Daxter’s face twisted in annoyance at Aurora’s insistence of manners.

“May I please ride on your back.” He repeated regardless.

Finally, Baur shifted, standing to shake himself before lowering himself down again. Daxter made a valiant effort of trying to climb up the creature, but the stag-bear proved too tall for him to manage.

“Let me help.” Aurora offered, talking hold of Daxter’s waist.

She hoisted Daxter up onto Baur’s back, then pulled herself up after him, positioning herself behind Daxter and keeping him steading on Baur’s uneven back.

“Gently now, if you please, Baur.” Aurora instructed her faithful companion.

The stag-bear rose and began slowly lumbering around the field between the woods and the town.

Daxter laughed in joy at first, but his enjoyment eventually began to fade at Baur maintained his slow and steady pace.

“Can’t he go any faster?” The young boy demanded.

“Baur goes at the speed he desires.” Aurora told Daxter. “He is graciously allowing us to ride him. We are not his masters.”

“But he’s so slow.” Daxter complained. “There’s no way he charged into battle if this is his speed.”

Aurora opened her mouth to tell the young boy that Baur was old like she was when the stag-bear stopped and his ears twitched.

“Oh no.” Aurora said, grabbing Daxter around the waist with one arm, clutching onto Baur’s fur with her other and clamping onto her friend with her legs.

Daxter had just insulted Baur’s pride as a warrior, and stag-bears did not take insults to their pride well.

“Ahh!” Daxter screamed as Baur suddenly shot off at full speed, bounding towards the woods.

Aurora did her best to keep them on Baur’s back, calling upon the Blue Eco within her to create a static cling between them. Stag-bears were not built to be mounts, their bodies too wide and their backs too unrulily, even in her prime Aurora had sometimes struggled to cling to Baur as he charged them into battle.

“Baur, calm yourself.” Aurora demanded.

Baur refused to listen, charging them through the woods as if in hunt for prey. Though, he thankfully avoided low-hanging branches that would have struck his passengers.

“Make him stop.” Daxter cried, clinging to Aurora’s arm.

“You insulted him. You need to apologise.” Aurora told the boy, debating grabbing him and leaping off of Baur.

“Wha?! But I didn’t!” Daxter denied.

“You denied that he is a warrior. Just apologise.” Aurora grunted at the shudder that went through Baur’s body as he leaped over a fallen log.

“Alright! I’m sorry!” Daxter screamed.

Aurora sighed in relief as Baur slowed down and turned around, resuming his slow lumbering pace back to camp.

“There, there, it’s alright now.” Aurora comforted Daxter, who was crying from it all.

Once back at camp, Aurora slid from Baur with Daxter in her arms. It didn’t surprise her that Daxter ran off back into the town as soon as his feet touched the safety of the ground.

“That was a very mean thing you did.” Aurora scowled at Baur.

She then winced as her body made her aware of all her new aches that came from Baur’s abrupt and rough ride.

The stag-bear nudged Aurora in apology and tried to give her a pitiful look, which wasn’t very effective considering his eyes were completely black and not capable of getting wider to look cute.

Surprisingly, Daxter returned the next day. And the day after that.
Once he realised that Aurora didn’t mind feeding him, he would turn up for both lunch and dinner every day. It was a drain on Aurora’s food stores and meant that she would have to restock more than expected before setting off on the road again, but she didn’t mind.

“Do you not have to get back for curfew?” Aurora asked in concern, looking at the late sky one day.

“Mmm.” Daxter didn’t give a reply, snuggled up under the new quilt that Aurora had shared with him.

Her previous quilt had still yet to make a reappearance.

Aurora regarded Daxter thoughtfully.

“Do you not wish to go back?” She asked.

“Mgh.” Daxter gave another illegible reply. “…like it here.”

“Now, I cannot be very fun company. I am only an old lady after all.”

Daxter shrugged.

“Better than the others.” He admitted.

Aurora frowned.

She had seen for herself the state of Daxter’s orphanage when she had last been in town to restock her supplies. It hadn’t been as bad as she feared but there was definitely room for improvement, the orphanage staff content to mostly ignore the children unless they got into physical confrontations, and there was also that policy of locking the doors after curfew regardless of whether all the children were there. On top of that, the orphanage was clearly underfunded, which Aurora would have to do something about before she left.
She had also noticed that when Daxter was in the orphanage, he had been off on his own in a corner while the other children played together, and the young boy didn’t seem like the type to enjoy his own company over others.

“Daxter, I will not be here much longer.” Aurora warned the young boy. “I will be leaving tomorrow.”

“What?!” Daxter cried.

“I am not one to stay in a single place for long.” Aurora explained. “I have to leave eventually.”

“But-but-but you can’t go!” Daxter scrambled out from under his quilt to grab onto Aurora’s dress. “I don’ wan’ ya to go!”

“Oh, Daxter.” Aurora sighed, crouching down to bring the young boy into a hug.

Daxter clung to Aurora, as if his grip alone could force her to stay.

Picking Daxter up, Aurora reached into her caravan and brought out one of the copies of her book. She had gradually been reading it to the young boy during his visits, dramatically recounting her first adventure and expanding on details that she had not included in her stylised transcript.
With book in one hand and Daxter in the other, Aurora sat down in her usual seat and wrapped her quilt around the both of them.

“Now, where were we?” Aurora opened the page they were last on.

“The moon shone through her misty veil,
The stars winked joyfully,
As Aurora left the tower
And made her journey to the sea.
If the highest of the high
Was in the sky, the lowest of the low had to be
Beneath the white-capped waves
Of the Lemurian sea.”

…

“Now, my dear, the fire has died,
And night is dark and deep.
Close your eyes, let go
And drift off to sleep.”

Aurora finished the story quietly, Daxter already limp and just about asleep in her arms.
She put aside the book and pressed a kiss to his brow before leaning back in her chair and closing her own eyes. Her back and neck would kill her in the morning, but she didn’t want to risk waking up Daxter by getting up and putting him in her caravan’s bed.

She had expected Daxter to be sad that she would be leaving, he wouldn’t have kept coming back if he didn’t like her, but she hadn’t expected him to be so upset. Then again, she would be lying if she said that the thought of leaving Daxter behind didn’t hurt. They had only known each other for a week, yet it seemed as though both of them had become attached.

Aurora would have liked to bring Daxter with her, but a life on the road with only an old woman and a stag-bear for company was not a good one for a child.
Maybe it could have worked if Aurora travelled in a community of other nomads, as she often did from time to time if their paths aligned. A community that would have helped an old woman in caring for a child while they were on the road and that had other children for him to play with. But Aurora inevitably always parted from these communities, to be part of a community was to be beholden to the will of the group, and Aurora favoured going where the wind took her and where there was the most adventure to be found.
More than once, Aurora had been asked to remain with a community, her fellow nomads concerned about such an old woman being on her own, but she had remained stubborn. She would continue going where she pleased until her body forced her to stop.

“I know it hurts to say goodbye, but this is simply the way things have to be.” Aurora tried to comfort Daxter as she walked with him.

Daxter didn’t say anything, he just clutched his arms around the copy of Aurora’s book that she had gifted him as a peace offering.

Aurora sighed. She really didn’t want her and Daxter’s parting to be like this.

They finally reached the orphanage and Aurora crouched down in front of Daxter.

“Goodbye, little one.” She said.

Daxter pouted and reached out to cling to Aurora’s dress.

“Don’t leave me.” He pleaded again.

“I do not wish for things to be this way.” Aurora confessed. “But I doubt that you would be happy with a life ever on the path of travel, with only Baur and a wizened elder for company.”

“I could manage.” Daxter muttered.

“Possibly. But it would be far better for you to remain here, where things are stable. And perhaps you may even find a loving family to take care of you.”

Daxter muttered something that sounded like, “Yeah, right.”

Aurora kept her face calm as she rose.

“I have other business in the town, and then I will be leaving.” She told the young boy, holding out her hand. “Goodbye, Daxter.”

“Bye, Aura.” Daxter replied, sniffing as he shook her hand.

Reluctantly, Aurora turned around and left.
Her first stop, the mayor’s office.

Behind her, Daxter watched Aurora go, a calculating look replacing his sad one.

…

Aurora smiled self-satisfactorily as she stepped out of the mayor’s office.

After a very productive conversation full of veiled threats, Aurora had gotten the mayor to promise to better fund the orphanage. Of course, Aurora trusted that man’s word as far as she could throw him, so she had also made it very clear about what could happen to a mayor who did not keep his word, and promised that she would have the people she knew check in whenever they were in the town to make sure he’d kept to his promise.
Aurora wasn’t a queen, but she had saved and made allies of some very important and powerful people over the years, and they all owed her favours.

With her deed done, Aurora stopped off at the market to top off on her food stock before heading back to her camp, where everything was already packed away and ready to go.

“Time to go, Baur!” Aurora called over to her companion, who was nosing around the back of the caravan.

Baur snorted and grumbled.

“I know.” Aurora said, following the same dance that always happened when it came time to leave.

She picked up Baur’s harness and indicated for him to take his place in front of the caravan.

Slowly and reluctantly, Baur lumbered over and allowed Aurora to hook him up to the front of the caravan, but not without much grumbling, and the stag-bear didn’t do anything to make it easier for Aurora.

Aurora sighed in relief and climbed up to the front of her caravan.
With a click of her tongue, they were off to their next destination.

It was getting to be dark by the time Aurora decided to stop for the night. She released Baur from his hated harness and decided to forgo making a fire in favour of just wearing more layers and eating some dried food.

As she sat, Aurora looked up at the stars and tried to read them for a sign of whether she was heading in the right direction. They couldn’t be used for divination the same way that they could in Lemuria, but Aurora still liked to dictate her travels based on what the stars signalled using Lemurian divination methods. They didn’t always point her in the right direction, but it was useful for when she didn’t have a specific destination in mind.
‘South’, they pointed.

As Aurora waited to turn in for the night, she sang quietly to herself.

“Sha telika, sha tash a la.” She sang in native Lemurian.

It was a song about her prior ancestor, Erin the Conqueror.

Thud.

Aurora paused in her singing at the quiet noise.

“Baur?” She peaked out around her caravan but so no sign that her companion had returned.

Picking up her sword and cane, Aurora searched cautiously around her caravan for the source of the noise but found nothing, not even any tracks that would have suggested that something had been there.

“Hmm.” Aurora hummed in suspicion.

Next, Aurora checked inside her caravan but found nothing out of place. Which was strange since the noise had definitely sounded like it came from her home.

Reluctantly resigning herself to the idea that the noise had been nothing, Aurora settled back into her seat to await Baur’s return, eventually resuming her song.
Eventually, Baur did return and Aurora settled in for the night. But for some reason she still couldn’t shake her uneasy feeling.

The next morning, they set off again.

…

As it was nearing midday, Aurora heard another thump, this one louder and undeniably caused by something.
She didn’t even wait for Baur to come to a stop before turning and opening her caravan door, looking around in the dim light to try and find what had caused the noise.
Aurora’s eyes narrowed when she saw that the box holding her food stock was unlatched, something she never left unsecured when the caravan was moving. The cabinet that stored her extra quilts and blankets was also open, the mess inside suggesting that something had been in there.
But more damning was the lump under the covers of her bed. A lump that looked suspiciously like a small person lying flat in hopes their shape under the covers would go unnoticed.

With a sinking feeling that she knew who exactly was under the covers, Aurora abandoned her grip on her sword and walked over to her bed, wrenching back the covers.

Daxter’s fearful face stared back.

“Daxter! What are you doing here.” Aurora rubbed her eyes.

“I…well I…” Daxter pushed himself up from the bed.

“Daxter, you cannot just sneak yourself onto someone’s caravan and trick them into kidnapping you.” Aurora told Daxter, making sure that her disappointment was clear on her face.

“You didn’t kidnap me. I decided to come along.” Daxter argued.

“That is not how others are going to see it. And I have already told you why you cannot come with me.” Aurora crossed her arms. “Now I will have to turn around and take you back. Poor Baur is going to have to pull the caravan for even longer now.”

“I’m not goin’ back.” Daxter denied.

“You most certainly are.” Aurora told Daxter sternly. “You cannot force your care onto me.”

“Then I’ll go off on ma own.” Daxter declared.

He barged passed Aurora and hopped out of the caravan before she could grab him.

“Daxter!” Aurora called after him in alarm.

The open road was not a safe place for young children.

Aurora exited her caravan in time to see Daxter dodge Baur’s attempt to grab him and run off down the road.

Aurora sighed.

“Follow along, Baur.” She instructed her companion.

Leaving the stag-bear to continue pulling the caravan along on his own, Aurora summoned Blue Eco from inside her and used it to close the gap between her and Daxter and then keep pace with him.

“Daxter, you cannot just run off on you own.” She stressed to the young boy.

“Why not? You don’ wan’ me?” Daxter cried, continuing to run.

“It is not that I do not want you, Daxter. It is that I am not in a position to give you the proper care you require.” Aurora tried to explain.

Unfortunately, for one so young as Daxter, and not helped by his emotional state, the boy didn’t understand the difference between not wanting someone and not being able to have them. Either excuse just equated to rejection.

“Then I’ll look afta maself.” Daxter insisted. “I’m not goin’ back there. I won’t let ya take me”

“It is dangerous out here. There are so many ways you could get hurt.” Aurora tried.

“It ain’t safe back there.” Daxter shot back.

“I know the orphanage isn’t very good, but I have spoken with the mayor to fix that. It will be better for you now.”

“I don’ care!” Daxter screeched.

Sighing, Aurora stepped in front of Daxter and grabbed his arms to stop him.

“Let go!” Daxter cried. “Let go! Let go! Let go!”

Aurora held on.

“Daxter, why are you so determined not to go back?” She asked gently.

“Cause nobody cares ‘bout me.” Daxter stomped his foot. “Evryone jus’ ignores me, or picks on me, an’ I hate it! An’ I-I try ta tell an adult like we told, but they neva do anythin’ ‘bout the otha kids. An-an’ they always forget to leave food for me. An’ they lock me out! An’ ma name’s not in tha files. An-an-an…”

Aurora drew Daxter into an embrace when he descended into illegible sobs.
She picked him up as Baur drew level with them and carried him into her caravan.

It took a while for Daxter to calm down, the young boy keeping a death grip on Aurora’s dress the entire time as he smeared tears and snot into her bodice.

“There, there.” Aurora comforted, offering Daxter some water which he drank. “Now, what was this you were saying about your name not being in the files?”

“There’s this big draw thing in the head’s room wif everyone’s name and stuff in it.” Daxter sniffed. “I know how ta read ma name, but I couldn’t find it in there. Everyone else’s was there, that I could read anyway.”

Aurora frowned heavily.

Daxter’s information wasn’t in the orphanage’s records?

“Perhaps your information was elsewhere at the time.” She suggested.

Daxter shook his head.

“I asked the old hag ‘bout it when she caught me. Said I was left at the orphanage without anythin’ ‘cept ma name, an’ they didn’t bother writin’ anythin’ down.” He explained.

Aurora fought to keep her rising anger from showing at Daxter’s explanation. They didn’t create any record for Daxter at the orphanage? What if he went missing, there would be no evidence of him existing except for his bed? He would have no citizenship.
Considering that the staff didn’t care about locking Daxter outside where any number of dangers could find him, had they even reported him missing yet?

It the mayor didn’t make good on his promise to improve the orphanage, Aurora would personally see that he got what he deserved, after she had dealt with the orphanage staff.

Aurora sat back and tried to think.
With what Daxter had told her, the idea of turning around to take Daxter back to the source of such clear trauma sounded less appealing than attempting to take care of him by herself on the road. Even if the orphanage did improve, would Daxter ever feel safe there after what he’d already been though? Would he try to run off again the moment she left him?
There was also the matter of Daxter’s information, or lack thereof. With no proper record of Daxter’s information at the orphanage, no one was going to go looking for him if she left him there and he ran off again. It also meant that if Aurora agreed to keep Daxter, she didn’t need to go back to the orphanage and formally adopt him. Which was still something that was not a good idea.
But there was a village only a few days travel South. Perhaps Aurora could find a good orphanage that it was better to leave Daxter with, or find a good person who would be willing to take Daxter into their home.

Aurora sighed heavily.

“Daxter, I still can’t properly take care of you.” She said.

“Noo…” Daxter whined. “I don’ wanna-”

“I know, I know.” Aurora calmed the young boy’s struggles. “But I’ll give you a choice. We can turn around and I will take you back, and I can assure you that things will get better there. Or we can continue onto the next settlement and we willl try and find you a place to live there.”

Daxter remained silent for a while.

“What do you want to do?” Aurora eventually prompted.

“I don’ wanna go back.” Daxter muttered.

“Forward it is.” Aurora sighed.

She pretended not to see the smile of triumph on Daxter’s face.

Aurora placed Daxter in her bed, the young boy exhausted after his breakdown, she then exited her caravan and took up her place at the front again.

“Daxter will be with us until the next settlement. If that is fine with you, Baur.” She told her companion.

Baur grunted and resumed his walking towards the South.

“It’s just for a little while.” Aurora told herself.

It didn’t sound much like a reassurance.

Chapter Text

Daxter woke up from his nap feeling content and warm.
The bed beneath him was much softer than his bed at the orphanage, and much more comfortable than the cramped cupboard that he’d hidden himself away in during the night. And the quilt covering him was the perfect weight.

Beyond the bed, Daxter also had the satisfaction of his plan working out. Aurora had found Daxter much quicker than he’d wanted, he’d been hoping to hide away for a couple more days so that the old lady wouldn’t think it worth it to turn around, but turning up the waterworks had convinced her to keep him anyway. True, Aurora had spoken about dropping him off with someone else at the next settlement, but Daxter was sure that he could wear her down into keeping him before that happened.
Aurora wasn’t really what Daxter had been hoping for when he dreamed of being adopted by a loving family, she was old, talked weird and he couldn’t understand her half the time, lived in a caravan pulled by a scary stag-bear that Daxter was still uncomfortable around, and she smelled weird too. But she also gave him food and a warm quilt, didn’t chase him away, told him stories, and her smile made him feel all warm inside because it was something just for him. So, Daxter was willing to work with what he’d been given.

Climbing out of Aurora’s bed, Daxter went over to the cupboard that he had stowed away in and pulled out his quilt. Aurora hadn’t said that the quilt she had wrapped him in that first night was his, but she hadn’t asked for it back either, so that made it his and he had made sure to bring it with him when he made his plan to stow away.
Wrapping the quilt around him, leaving much of it trailing on the floor, Daxter grabbed the book that Aurora had given him and opened the door to the outside.

The caravan was stopped and Baur was nowhere to be seen. Aurora was off to the side of the road not that far away, picking berries from a thorny bush.

“Ah, hello Daxter.” Aurora greeted.

“Wat ya doin’?” Daxter questioned, sitting at the top of the steps for the caravan.

“Picking brambles.” Aurora showed off the basket she was using for collection and her stained fingers.

“Oh, okay.” Daxter said. “I’m hungry.”

He had been interrupted in his attempts to get food earlier and had been too tired to bother asking for anything after his talk with Aurora, so now his stomach was really loud in its demand for food.

Aurora walked over and presented Daxter with the basket of berries.

“We shall set off again once Baur returns from his excursion.” Aurora told Daxter as she retrieved a second basket to pick berries with.

Eventually, Daxter ate the berries from the basket and joined Aurora at the bushes, reluctantly leaving his quilt behind.

“Ow!” Daxter yanked his hand back after trying to pick a berry for himself. “It hurt me.”
Tears prickled in his eyes.

“These bushes have thorns, so you do need to be careful.” Aurora warning came too late.

The old woman showed off a fresh but surface-level scratch on the back of her hand, showing that even she couldn’t avoid getting hurt.

“Well, Ima leave ya to that.” Daxter said.

He wasn’t going to put up being stabbed just for some berries. He’d let Aurora to pick them for him.

Eventually, Baur returned and was hooked up to his harness again, then they were on the move again. This time, Daxter sat beside Aurora at the front of the caravan, once again wrapped in his quilt. It wasn’t all that cold during the day, but Daxter just liked the comfort that the quilt gave him.

To pass the time, Daxter read through his book again. He was still only just learning to read, so could only read a few words, leaving him to just stare at the pretty pictures and try to remember what the words had been when Aurora read it to him.

“Wha this word?” Daxter pointed to one of the words, like he had done many times since opening the book.

“It says my name, Aurora.” The old lady explained.

“Oh.” Daxter said, looking at the book. “She has the same name as you.”

The old lady chuckled. “That is me.” She explained.

“Really?” Daxter held up the book and scrutinised the young girl in the book, and then looked up at Aurora, trying to see the resemblance. “But yah ain’t got red hair. Yours is white.”

Aurora chuckled again. “That, young sir, it because I am so very old. You’ll find that we all lose the colour in our hair when we get old.”

Daxter frowned, not satisfied with the answer.

“Tha’ not right.” He concluded. “Tha’ old hag at the orphanage was old like you. Her hair was grey, like ash from tha’ fireplace. Yours is pretty.”

“Well, thank you for your compliment.” Aurora smiled. “But colours can vary. Though, in truth, my hair became white due to my use of Eco. Using Eco so much can change your colour, Sages receive the worst of it, both their skin and hair becoming the colour of their primary Eco.”

“Cool.” Daxter commented. “Yah really went on tha’ adventure? Yah met giants and took down an evil queen and stuff.”

“Indeed I did.” Aurora nodded.

Daxter looked at the book again.

“How come I’ve neva seen anyone like yah friends?” He asked, pointing at a picture of Robert, who looked like a giant mouse in boots, a cap and a cape.

“That…is a little more complicated, I’m afraid.” Aurora sighed, getting that look on her face that adults had when they were trying to think of how to explain something.

“You see, this world in which we live in, from the land to the ocean to the sky, is only one of many worlds. Like how an island is only one of many islands, or how a house is only one of many houses. Do you understand.” Aurora started.

Daxter furrowed his eyebrows.

“I think.” He responded.

Aurora nodded. “Well, in each of these worlds, things can be very different from each other. In this world, there is Eco, but in another world, there is no such thing as Eco.”

“But I thought Eco made tha world work.” Daxter interrupted, recalling his lessons on Eco from the orphanage staff.

“It’s how it makes this world work.” Aurora corrected. “In that other world, different…things make the world work. And while in some worlds, you have only one species that can think and talk, in others there will be many different species that form civilisations. Such as it was in Lemuria.”

“Okay.” Daxter said slowly, trying to wrap his head around Aurora’s explanation. “So…can we go to L…la…larmara next?”

Aurora suddenly gained a sad look on her face.

“No, I’m afraid not.” She said, looking off into the distance instead of at Daxter.

“Why not?” He asked gently. He wanted to demand since the other world looked so much better than this one, but Aurora’s expression made him hold back.

“Traveling between worlds is not as easy as traveling between houses, or traveling between islands.” Aurora sighed heavily. “If it was, I would have returned long ago. Very rarely do passages between worlds open, and very rarely are they consistent. I left Lemuria an old woman, older still than I am now, and then was reborn into this world as just a babe. I doubt there is a way back this time.”

“Why’s you come here then?”

“I wish I knew.”

Daxter looked up at Aurora in concern, the old lady looked so close to tears. On impulse, he hugged her.
Long and strong arms returned the hug and they stayed like that for a bit before parting.
Then, Aurora shook her head and the kind smile was back.

“Enough of this talk of worlds.” She declared. “We shall focus on only this one. And in this world, you require reading lessons.”

Daxter groaned, but didn’t protest dropping the prior subject.

Aurora got up and carefully walked into her caravan while it was still moving along, emerging with a slate and chalk, wiping off whatever had been written on it already.

“Now,” Aurora said as she sat back down. “Can you write your name?”

Aurora hummed to herself as she removed the pot from over the fire and poured the berry preserve into jars. She didn’t make as much as she usually would, due to Daxter eating a lot of the berries she had picked, but it still added something long-lasting to her food stock, which she would need going into the winter months.

It was late, Daxter already curled up in Aurora’s bed under his quilt, and Baur was still out hunting and enjoying his freedom from the harness, leaving Aurora alone with her thoughts.

Her earlier conversation with Daxter had dredged up old memories. Memories of when she had first come to this world.

It had been hard at first. Unlike when Aurora had first reincarnated from her homeland of Austria to Lemuria, she had reincarnated into the new world as a helpless baby instead of the same form she’d originally had. Though, considering that Aurora had been an old woman at the end of her mortal coil and not a nine-year-old, it did make sense for her to receive a new body.
But that didn’t change that Aurora had been stuck in the form of an infant while having the mind of a fully-grown woman with an entire lifetime of experience behind her. Unable to do anything herself and forced to let her new parents take care of everything for her, Aurora had been left with little to do other than think and question why she had been reincarnated again rather than joining her friends and family in heaven.
Was there even a heaven at all? Or was reincarnation into new worlds just the way things worked when you died, and Aurora was able to retain her memories for some reason? And what did that mean for her family back in Lemuria? It was one thing to leave them at the natural end to her life, confident that they would reunite again in heaven when their own times came, it was another to be given an entirely new life to live, forced to live without her family or anyone else from her former life.

Even after growing past her helpless infant stage and expressing her independence, Aurora’s options had been painfully limited. It turned out that, unlike in Lemuria, people, and specifically Aurora’s new parents, didn’t like the idea of young children galivanting off into a dangerous world all by themselves, even unnaturally smart and skilled children like Aurora. So, Aurora was stuck in her village, only able to occasionally venture outside its borders when accompanied by an adult, until she finally came of age.

After a painfully long time that seemed to drag on forever, Aurora had finally become old enough to venture out on her own, and wasted no time in making pilgrimage across the land. From North to South and East to West, from the highest of the high to the lowest of the low, Aurora explored all there was to offer, learning all she could about the new land she had been brought to.
And just like in her first pilgrimage across Lemuria, Aurora had met all manner of colourful characters throughout her travels. Some she only knew for as long as she was visiting their home, some she travelled alongside for a time, some became her teachers, and later on some she became the teacher of.
But no matter how far Aurora explored, no matter who she met, and no matter how far she delved into the mysteries of the Precursors, she could not find a way back to Lemuria.

It wasn’t like Aurora had dedicated her entirely life to finding a way back home, but she had still looked in hopes that she might. She had managed to find her way back into Austria in time to rescue her people after her reincarnation into Lemuria, after all. So, it stood to reason that a passageway would also exist between Lemuria and this new world. That there was a way that Aurora could get back to her family, if only for a moment.
But no passageway was forthcoming, though Aurora had searched for a long time before she was willing to accept it.

Then again, perhaps it was for the best that Aurora had not been able to find a way back to Lemuria.
The passage of time between Austria and Lemuria had not been concurrent. While Aurora’s first pilgrimage across Lemuria had taken over a week, barely two days had passed in Austria.
Time was also not always linier. In Lemuria, Aurora had found letters from and then met a young woman by the name of Sophie Ashton Ellis, someone who had come into Lemuria a little before Aurora had, yet had left from Austria over a century in Aurora’s future. It had been fascinating to listen about all the innovation that had happened in just a century, all without the use of magic.
But with that in mind, if the same rules held true between Lemuria and the new world, then Aurora may not have liked what she found if she had succeeded in discovering a way back. She could arrive back in Lemuria to find all of her family long gone and her former home unrecognisable, or she could have arrived in Lemuria centuries before even her mother was born and there were no descendants to cherish.

It had been both a bitter pill and a weight off of her shoulders when Aurora had finally accepted that she couldn’t go back. Though, perhaps some of that bitterness could have been alleviated if she knew for what purpose she had been brought to this new world.

The idea that she had been brought into the new world for a reason had helped Aurora cope with the fact that she would have to live a lifetime without her family or meeting her old friends in heaven. As a former queen, Aurora understood the importance of duty and sacrifice for the greater good, like when she had chosen to remain in Lemuria to protect it over returning to Austria to be with her dying father. But just like with finding a way back, a reason for her reincarnation refused to present itself no matter how hard she searched.
Oh, Aurora had definitely achieved a great deal over her many years. She was a well-regarded hero who had defeated countless foes and saved many lives, but she was also far from the only hero in this world. While there were many minor evils, and even some medium-level evils, in the world that Aurora had taken care of, it wasn’t as if she was the only one capable of doing so, other heroes would have come along to deal with the threats if she hadn’t been there first. There were no major evils that threatened the entire country, who Aurora alone was uniquely equipped to fight, like Umbra in Lemuria.
So, if Aurora hadn’t been brought into this world to stop a great evil or invoke some great change, why had she been brought here?

The arrival of Baur shook Aurora from her thoughts.

The great beast groaned and lumbered over to Aurora, almost knocking her over as he pressed his nose against her.

“I am alright, my friend.” Aurora assured the stag-bear. “Just old thoughts.”

Baur groaned again and gave Aurora a harder push towards her caravan.

“Alright. Alright.” Aurora chuckled. “I get the message.”

Thankfully, she had already cleaned up after her berry preserve while lost in her thoughts.

The presence of her faithful companion served to remind Aurora that although she missed Lemuria and all that it contained, and searched for a reason for her reincarnation, her new life was far from a punishment.
She had met and made many friends who were just as dear to her as her old ones. The land held many fascinating wonders that she loved to explore and learn of. And though she had refrained from building herself another family, she had had many students who she had taken under her wing and loved as honorary children.
And if Aurora had never come to this land, she wouldn’t have had any of it, nor would she have met Baur.

“Goodnight, dear Baur.” Aurora rubbed Baur’s head before climbing into her caravan.

“Aura, look! I got one!” Daxter yelled, triumphantly holding a toad up above his head.

Aurora looked over at him from where she was weaving on her loom.

“Very well caught, young one.” She praised. “Though, I believe that he does not enjoy being so far from the ground.”

“Oh.” Daxter lowered his catch to look it in its wide face. “Okay.”

Rather than setting the toad down, Daxter pulled it to his chest. His chest height was lower than above his head, so that meant it would be fine now, right?

Daxter continued to explore around the river that he and Aurora had stopped at for a proper rest from their traveling, clutching his new animal friend to his chest.
He had never seen so much water before, or so many animals. And everything was so pretty.
It made him even happier that he had stowed away on Aurora’s caravan and left that stinky town with its stupid orphanage. Though, riding in the caravan all day was getting to be really boring.

“Hop, hop, hop!” Daxter giggled as he hopped along the side of the river like the toad in his arms would have.

“Daxter, don’t go too far!” Aurora called after him.

“I won’t!” Daxter responded, then proceeded to ignore the instruction.

Continuing to follow the river downwards, Daxter frowned in confusion as he caught sight of smoke rising out from behind some bushes.
Curious, Daxter followed the smoke, emerging around the bushes into an entirely different camp to the one that Aurora had set up. Around the campfire were a group of dirty-looking men that reminded Daxter a lot of the thugs that dwelt in the back alleys in his old home town.

“Well, what have we got here?” One of the men took notice of Daxter, standing up.

Daxter instinctively backed away at how rough their voice sounded.

“Aw, you’re scaring the poor lad.” Another of the men cooed unconvincingly.

“I knew I heard something earlier.” Another of the men muttered, a wicked grin growing on his face. “There must be another camp nearby.”

“Say, kid, where’s your parents?” The second man asked. “Why don’t we take you back to them. It’s very dangerous in these woods after all.”

It was a seemingly good-natured question, but the man’s unsettling smile and the chuckles of the other men around him at his last remark only made Daxter afraid.

“No!” Daxter shouted the first thing that came to his mind.

“No?” The men began to come closer, one of them crouching down to leer closer to the boy’s face. “Listen, kid, I don’t think you-”

“No!” Daxter shouted again.

Instinctively, he lashed out, kicking the crouching man right between the legs.
As the man cried out in pain and clutched his damaged pride while his companions laughed at his predicament, Daxter spun on his heel and ran away as fast as he could.

“After him!” Daxter could hear one of them men shout behind him.

“Aura!” Daxter cried as the old woman came back into view. “Aura! Help!”

Aurora reacted immediately, dropping her weaving tools and hurrying over to meet her young charge.
Her eyes widened when she saw the men chasing after him.

“Halt!”

Daxter didn’t stop, running right into Aurora’s legs and clutching at her dress as he quickly hid behind her, dropping his toad in the process. But when he turned to face his pursuers, he found that they had stopped, almost as if they had been compelled to obey the old woman’s demand.

“What be your business with my grandson?” Aurora fell back on the lie about her and Daxter’s relation.

“No business with him, ma’am.” Said the man at the front of the pack.

“Speak for yourself.” Hissed the man that Daxter had kicked between his legs.

The first man ignored him. “We simply wanted to make sure that he wasn’t alone.” He continued, eyes roving around Aurora’s campsite behind them. “Is it just the two of you?”

“I thank you for your concern for my grandson. As you can see, he has returned to me, so we may now go our separate ways.” Aurora pointedly ignored the leader’s second question with a slight narrowing of her eyes.

“Now, let’s not be too hasty.” The leader walked forward slightly, hands up as if to show he meant no harm. “We’re follow travellers, aren’t we? In fact, my troop has found ourselves dreadfully low on supplies, and I’m sure that you will have stuff to share with us in that caravan of yours.”

“I’m afraid you are mistaken.” Aurora put a hand on Daxter and gently guided him back towards the caravan. “We only have enough for us, there is nothing to spare.”

The men began approaching at the same pace as their retreat.

“Ah, so it is just the two of you.” The leader concluded, a grin growing on his face.

“No! We have Baur!” Daxter shouted, trying to not show how scared the group of men made him.

“Baur?” The men slowed their pace slightly, looking around.

“My stag-bear.” Aurora explained. “He is very territorial. So, I recommend that you leave before he returns.”

Some of the men stepped back at the idea of such a dangerous animal being nearby. But one of the others laughed.

“A stag-bear?” He scoffed. “You really want us to believe that you have a stag-bear? And old lady like you? You’re just making it up.”

“Enough with all this.” Another of the men told their leader. “You’re not fooling them and I’m sick of waiting.”

The leader hummed in agreement.

“Well, if you don’t have anything to share, we’ll just have to take everything we want anyway.” He said, dropping the pretence.

“Bandits.” Aurora frowned, having already guess what they were from the moment she saw them.

“We prefer to think of ourselves as entrepreneurs.” The leader said with a casual shrug, drawing a sword alongside the rest of the men. “But that doesn’t mean that things have to end nasty for you. So, tell you what, you and your grandson turn out your pockets and step to the side, and we won’t harm a single hair on your heads.”

“No.” Aurora replied calmly and simply.

“What?” The leader looked at Aurora, dumbfounded.

“I said, no.” Aurora repeated, pushing Daxter towards the caravan while she stood her ground.

“I…I don’t think you understand the situation.” The leader laughed in disbelief. “You’re an old crone and a little brat. You have no chance against all of us.”

“You will turn around and go back the way you came. You will leave my grandson and I alone. And you will not bother us again.” Aurora ordered, shifting her stance.

Daxter looked up at Aurora in awe.
She no longer had a slight hunch, instead standing up straight and holding her walking stick off the ground. Gone was her usual softness and gentle demeanour that Daxter had always known, replaced with a serious and determined expression. And her similarly soft and gentle voice and been replaced by the pure authority of that of a queen.

The bandits were taken aback. The leader quickly shook it off and forced a laugh.

“You really think that you’re in any position to be making demands.” He pointed at Aurora.

Aurora didn’t acknowledge him.

“Daxter. Go back to the caravan and lock yourself inside. And do not look outside again until I tell you that it is safe.” Aurora kept her eyes on the bandits as she addressed her young charge.

Daxter didn’t argue, though it meant forcing himself to leave the safety that hiding behind Aurora gave him. He scrambled up the wooden steps, slipping and grazing his knee before practically diving inside.

“You’ve just doomed the both of you, lady.” The bandit leader stated before charging forward with a yell, the rest of his troupe standing back under the belief that he wouldn’t need their help.

Daxter caught a glimpse of Aurora dropping her cloak and drawing the sword that she kept concealed underneath it before he managed to slam the caravan door shut and lock it. He then scrambled away from the door and ran over to the cupboard that held their quilts, squeezing himself inside and pulling that door closed too.

Daxter clamped his hands over his ears to block out the upsetting noises coming from outside the caravan. There were clashes of metal on metal, thudding, squelching sounds accompanied by loud screams that turned his stomach, and yelling. He screamed when something impacted against the caravan.

‘What’s going on?’ Daxter wondered. ‘Where’s Baur? If he was here, then we would be safe.’

As if summoned by his thoughts, a loud roar heralded the return of the stag-bear.
There were more screams and thuds, and then everything was silent.

After a pause, the sound of feet climbing the caravan steps could be heard. Daxter tensed in his hiding place as he heard the door unlock and open.

“Daxter?” It was Aurora.

Daxter wanted to leap out and run to her, but something kept him in place and silent. Fear still clutched him tight and would not allow him to do anything.

“Daxter, everything is fine now, dear one. You can come out.” Aurora said, her footsteps moving around the caravan as she searched for his hiding place.

Eventually, the door to his cupboard was opened and Daxter instinctively flinched back even though he knew it was Aurora on the other side.

“Oh, Daxter.” Aurora said sadly at seeing his curled-up form.

Gently, Aurora pulled Daxter from the cupboard and held him against her, one hand stroking his hair.

“It is okay, little one. You are safe.” She assured.

At the assurance, Daxter burst into loud and uncontrollable tears, grabbing hold of Aurora’s dress in an iron grip. He breathed in the familiar smell of Eco, which was much stronger than usual, and he couldn’t pin down a specific Eco scent.

“Nana!” He wailed into Aurora’s chest.

There was a brief pause in the hand stroking his head before it resumed and Aurora hugged him tighter.

“It is okay, my child, it is okay.” Aurora repeated her assurances.

They remained like that for a long time, until all of Daxter’s tears had run dry, his eyes were sore and he had a headache.
Eventually, Aurora rose up with Daxter in her arms and moved over to the bed, gently depositing him onto it. But when Aurora tried to let go, Daxter remained clinging to her.

“No.” Daxter cried. “No.”

“Shh, it is alright, dear one.” Aurora shushed, trying to remove Daxter’s hold on her dress. “I just need to clean things up outside and put Baur in his harness. I will be just outside and perfectly safe.”

Daxter moved to leave the bed, wanting to stay with Aurora even if it meant going outside so that he could keep an eye on her. But Aurora stopped him, moving her body to shield him from the outside through the open door.

“No, you need to stay in here for now.” Aurora instructed firmly. “Can you do that for me?”

It was then that Daxter noticed that Aurora’s dress had speckles of red staining it, and looking down he saw that the hem of her long skirt was almost entirely stained with a dark red.
At the sight of it, Daxter suddenly didn’t want to go outside at all, the feeling winning out over his desire not to be parted from Aurora.

With a parting reassuring smile, Aurora pulled Daxter’s quilt over him and left the caravan, shutting the door behind her. She returned moments later with her loom and weaving supplies, just dumping them against the wall instead of properly putting them away and securing them like she usually did. She left again and Daxter heard the sound of Baur being put in his harness, though absent of the stag-bears usual grumbling when it came to being hooked up to the caravan.

The caravan then began moving, shaking and shuddering as Baur pulled it back to the open road. Once things became a bit smoother, meaning that they were on the road again, Aurora entered back into the caravan, leaving Baur to direct the caravan all by himself.

Daxter watched as Aurora went about putting away and securing everything that she would have usually done before setting off, having to pick up many of the things that had moved and fallen as the caravan moved due to not being secured.
Then, Aurora stripped off her stained clothes and stuffed them into a sack instead of the wash basket, before pulling on a sleep gown.

Silently, Aurora climbed into the bed beside Daxter and pulled the young boy to her, placing herself between him and the door. Daxter clung to her like before and burrowed into her arms. The two of them stayed like that until they both fell asleep.

Aurora smiled at the gleeful awe on Daxter’s face as they travelled across the ocean. Though she still felt her own joy at being on the open water, the first time was different and Daxter’s mood was contagious.

Daxter had bounced back astoundingly fast from the incident with the bandits, for the most part. Back to being loud, inquisitive and hardly listening to what he was told. Though, the event had still left its mark.
If finding Daxter a suitable home or family had been a difficult prospect before, it was practically impossible now.

The pair of them had been travelling together for a couple of months now and Aurora had found many nice and suitable people who could have taken in Daxter and given him the proper home he needed. But Daxter had been stubborn in his insistence that he didn’t like these people and that there was something ‘wrong’ about them.
Even when Aurora could see that Daxter was lying and that he did like the people that she had found for him, he would burst out into hysterics the moment she tried to leave or even hinted at leaving him behind. And these outbursts would either have Aurora cave and take him back, or the potential family decide not to take him in after all. Some of the people even told Aurora that it was clear that she was the best fit for being Daxter’s guardian, even though the road was still no place for a growing child.
And so, Daxter continued to travel with Aurora.

“I think I see it!” Daxter yelled, looking out across the water.

“Aye, that’s it.” A man, one of the barge crew, affirmed. “Sandover Village.”

Other passengers followed Daxter’s pointing to see a coastal village emerge from around the cliff that the barge was following along at a distance.
Sandover Village was a small and fairly isolated settlement. Paths to it on foot were few and hazardous, with no room for caravans or even carts. So those wishing to travel to Sandover would take boats along the coast to reach it.
Every so often, trading caravans would take a barge to Sandover Village and set up for a few days, the trade from the village apparently being good enough to be worth the trip. Arriving at the set off point just in time for the traders to load onto the barge, Aurora had decided to join the passage.
Isolated as it was, Aurora hadn’t even been aware that there was a Sandover Village until her last true student had talked about his home and suggested that she visit it, but by then she already had her caravan and was too old to take the way by foot, and she had never been in the area to catch the barge before now.
Hopefully Mar would now stop bugging her to visit his home village whenever they ran into each other.

Aurora kept a firm hold on Daxter as the barge approached the beach, knowing that her young charge would jump off before the vessel was secured if she didn’t. When they finally docked, Aurora let him go with the warning to not stray too far or get in anybody’s way before going to her caravan to wait for her turn to disembark.

Baur was not there to pull the caravan as he usually did, both the crew and the passengers not wanting to be stuck on a barge with such a large and ferocious beast, no matter how much Aurora assured them that the stag-bear wasn’t a threat to them. So, Baur had been left to make his own way to Sandover through the hazardous jungle that cut Sandover off from the rest of the world.
This left Aurora to deal with moving her caravan by herself, but the application of some Red Eco allowed her to pull the entire thing along to where she wanted to set up, much to the amazement of everyone around her.

Finding her own space above the tideline on the beach, Aurora went about setting up what she had to trade. Her stock was nothing compared to what the professional traders were offering up, but it was unique enough that she’d hopefully garner some interest while she was visiting.

“Aurora?” A voice called out after a couple of hours.

Aurora looked up from the embroidery she was doing between conversations with the villagers to see a familiar face approaching.

“Carter!” She grinned, pulling herself to her feet.

The two old friends greeted each other with a hug.

“It’s been a while.” Carter commented when they parted.

“Indeed it has. I believe that you still had some hair when last we met.” Aurora mocked lightly.

“At least I didn’t go prematurely white.” Carter stroked his blond moustache and muttonchop.

“I believe it rather suites me.” Aurora flared out her hair.

That wasn’t exactly true. Aurora much rather preferred her original cherry-red hair, and going white so young had reminded her a little too much of Nora, someone from her old life who she preferred not to think of. But she didn’t exactly get a say in the matter when so much Eco usage had bleached her hair the colour of snow.

“So, how have you been?”

The two elders began to catch up with each other, comparing travels and accomplishments since they had last seen each other. And then reminisced on their shared past adventures.
Carter had been green when Aurora had first met him, starting off on his own for the first time and in need of some protection while he investigated some Precursor ruin. Already established as a capable heroine for many years, Aurora had ended up going with him and they had been friends since. They had travelled together for a time, and perhaps their relationship could have evolved past companionship if Aurora had let it, but despite both being adventurers, their paths had eventually parted. Carter had been an archaeologist while Aurora was a heroine, so while their professions often had them crossing paths and travelling down the same roads, they would eventually have to go their separate ways.

“A Green Sage?” Aurora hummed as Carter got to local news.

“Yes. Arrived a few weeks back with a young one in tow.” Carter nodded, then indicated at a partially constructed hut on an outcrop. “That is to be his home. A bit more than what new arrivals usually get. But I suppose our dear mayor is willing to swallow the extra cost for having a Sage in his village.”

Aurora hummed. It had been a while since she had come across a Green Sage, they tended to be a bit more reclusive than other types of Eco Sages, living deep in the wilderness or otherwise away from settlements so as to better be one with nature. She wondered if this Samos was also an apprentice of Magi, the Sage of Green Eco who Aurora had learned from.

“He’s a rather odd man, though.” Carter commented. “And not in the way that all Sages are odd.”

Aurora gave Carter an unimpressed look that he ignored.

“When his hut was first being constructed, he kept asking for things that even I have never heard of, like a ‘zoomer’. He says unusual things like ‘ah, that is not a thing yet’, usually after asking after something that we don’t know about, or ‘there really are no walls’. And when he first saw the Eco clusters outside the village, he had this look of utter amazement on his face, as if he’d never seen an Eco cluster before.” The man explained.

Aurora pondered this, it did sound strange. It also tickled a feeling of familiarity within her, though she didn’t think it likely that this Samos was a reincarnation like her.

“Then there’s that boy of his.” Carter continued. “The lad is left to just wander the village most of the day while the Sage directs the construction of does his ‘Sagely’ things. He hardly ever seems to pay attention to the lad. I don’t even think that anyone knows his name yet.”

Aurora frowned. That was concerning.

“How old is he?” She asked.

“Can’t be older than five, I’d say.” Carter answered.

Aurora frowned harder. That was around the same age as Daxter, and she couldn’t imagine letting him constantly wander around without regularly checking on him.
Speaking of which, it seemed like Daxter had wandered out of sight during her conversation with Carter.

“Daxter!” Aurora called out, looking around.

“Who?” Carter questioned.

“My young charge. He’s five and has red hair.” Aurora explained, moving over to where she had last seen the boy.

“Ah, I was wondering who that lad belonged to. Though, I didn’t realise that you had taken in a child, especially at your age.” Carter commented.

“He is with me due to circumstance.” Aurora explained. “I have been trying to find him a new family, but it has been…difficult.”

Carter gave her a knowing smile that Aurora elected to ignore.

Thankfully, Daxter hadn’t wandered as far as she feared. Though, it seemed as though he had managed to make himself a friend in the intervening time.

“Oh, hello.” Aurora greeted when she saw another young boy helping Daxter in his search for shells. “May I ask who you are?”

The boy looked up at Aurora, wrinkling his nose and not saying anything.

“That’s Nana Aura, she speaks weird.” Daxter introduced his new friend to his guardian.

Warmth bloomed in Aurora’s chest at being called that. Daxter had taken to calling her ‘nana’ since their run in with the bandits.

The other boy waved but still didn’t say anything.

“This is the lad I was talking about.” Carter explained. “I’m afraid that he’s yet to say a word. It’s why we don’t know his name.”

“Yah don’t know his name?” Daxter questioned. “How can yah not know his name?”

“Because we haven’t been told it.” Carter raised an eyebrow at Daxter.

“Oh.” Daxter replied. “What’s yah name?” He turned to the other boy.

The boy still didn’t say anything, looking down at his feet, upset.

“It is alright if you cannot speak, little one.” Aurora assured. “It is not your fault.”

Daxter hummed and looked the other boy up and down.

“Yah look like a Jak. I’ma call yah Jak.” He concluded.

Aurora sighed.
Names were something important in this world, they could only be given to a child upon birth or claimed, just casually giving an unnamed child a new name was considered to be incredibly rude and insulting.

“Daxter, you cannot just-” Aurora started to admonish, but then paused when she saw that the other boy had lit up and was practically bouncing at the name he had been given. “Is…is that your name, little one?”

The other boy stopped and put a finger to his chin in thought, then he hesitantly shrugged.
It made Aurora feel cold inside.

“Do…you know your name?” She asked gently.

The boy didn’t say or do anything, but tears did start to gather in his eyes.
Evidently, the boy could not recall his own name.

“Tha’s fine.” Daxter declared. “Yah can be called Jak. So, yah have a name now.”

This cheered the other boy up instantly and he clapped his hands in agreement.

“Is that what you want to be called then, lad?” Carter asked the boy.

The boy nodded enthusiastically.

“Jak it is then.” Carter nodded.

The newly-named Jak smiled and then he and Daxter went back to their shell searching.

“I believe that I shall need to have a word with this Green Sage before I leave.” Aurora crossed her arms.

“If anyone can talk down to Samos, it’ll be you.” Carter chuckled.

The two elders went back to talking, with Aurora keeping a closer eye on both Daxter and Jak.

Aurora sat on one of the tall structures of Sentinel Beach, biting at her nail as she watched the other traders start to pack up their wares in preparation for loading onto the barge that would take them back to the well-travelled roads.
It had been almost a week since they had arrived, and now it was time to go. And Aurora was currently stuck between the decision to follow them, or to stay.

She wanted to follow them. She had sworn to herself long ago that she would never become settled in one place, a vow made from a combination of how limited her ability to wander as a pilgrim had become after accepting the mantle as Queen of Lemuria, even after abdicating the throne to her daughter, as being stuck in a single village for all of her child-years in this life. But Daxter had become a rather critical wrench in those plans.

At the sound of giggling, Aurora looked over to see Daxter and Jak using the base of a different Sentinel tower to climb onto Baur’s back and slide off him into the soft sand they had piled below. The stag-bear put up with being used as a slide admirably, barely seeming to acknowledge that the boys were there.

Baur’s arrival not long after the traders had sent the Sandover villagers into a panic. Stag-bears were not usually seen so far South, especially not with a jungle and volcanic fissures cutting the village off from the rest of the mainland, so they only knew of stag-bears from tales told by travellers of how ferocious they were.
Thankfully, Aurora had managed to calm the situation and show that Baur was tame. Surprisingly, the Green Sage had also helped in the matter by confirming that Baur wasn’t aggressive, the village apparently already trusting his word so soon after he had arrived.
Though, Baur was still expected to keep his distance from the village and everyone kept their distance from him. Everyone but Daxter and Jak.

The two boys had become fast friends and neither was seen without the other. It was the first genuine friendship that she had seen Daxter make, since either the children met on their travels didn’t like his loud personality, or Daxter stubbornly refused to make friends just like he stubbornly refused to accept a family so that he could continue to travel with Aurora. The benefits of his new friendship had also quickly shown themselves, with Daxter no longer being restless at the end of the day, and a heaviness that Aurora hadn’t even realised was there lifting.
Daxter wasn’t the only one to benefit, as Aurora had also seen Jak grow. To begin with, the mute boy had been withdrawn and allowed Daxter to drag him around everywhere. But after only a few days, Jak had found his voice enough to laugh occasionally and would run right beside Daxter instead of following behind.
The two boys were good for each other and practically inseparable.

Which brought Aurora to her dilemma.

There was no one in the village who could or would take Daxter into their home. And even if there was, Daxter would probably still choose to follow Aurora when she left, no matter how strong his friendship with Jak had become.
But the idea of splitting up the two boys was not something Aurora liked. They had formed a strong bond in such a short time and she could tell that splitting them up would be detrimental to the both of them.

There was also the matter of Jak. During the week, Aurora had practically become Jak’s guardian, keeping an eye on him alongside Daxter, making sure he was fed, allowing him to sleep in her caravan, and even giving him some of the clothes she had gotten for Daxter since he only seemed to own a single outfit.
True to Carter’s word, Samos the Sage barely seemed to pay attention to Jak, only checking up on him occasionally to make sure he was alive and in one piece. Leaving the actual care of Jak to the kindness of the rest of the villagers who would give him food when asked and let him sleep in whichever hut he wandered into.
Aurora had made sure to have strong words with Samos, with some added thinly-veiled threats for good measure. The man had baulked and argued, but he did step up his responsibilities as Jak’s actual guardian afterwards. Though, Aurora wasn’t sure how long he would keep that up after she left.
Aurora could always take Jak with her. But one, that would be actual kidnapping instead of accidental kidnapping like with Daxter, and two, if talking care of one child as an old woman on the road wasn’t ideal, taking care of two children as an old woman on the road was worse.

So, that left Aurora with the option of staying in Sandover with Daxter. To finally put her wandering days behind her and settle down like she had never intended to do.

“Mar would be pleased.” Aurora muttered to herself in thought.

Mar was one among many who tried to convince Aurora to settle in her old age, and the fact that she would possibly do so in his home village would make him incredibly smug.

“To go or to stay. To follow my heart or my heart.” Aurora sighed.

She had but two choices. To leave at the detriment of both Daxter and Jak, or to stay and tame her wandering heart for the sake of the boy she cared for, to keep him and raise him in a stable environment.

In the end, the choice was obvious, though still not easy.

“We’re really stayin’?” Daxter’s eyes practically sparkled as Aurora delivered the news.

“Yes, indeed we are.” Aurora sighed.
She couldn’t help but feel a little defeated over the matter.
“I have talked with the mayor and organised the terms for our residency, our living here.” She explained, rephrasing things when she saw that Daxter was struggling to understand the more complex word.

Small and isolated as it was, money was not something that Sandover used. Instead, villagers paid for their living by contributing to the community in some way. So, when asking the mayor to move into the village, Aurora had had to market her skills and other contributions.
Aurora’s tapestries and other crafts had proven to be very popular, meaning that Aurora could allow them to be taken and traded for supplies outside of Sandover. She was also a wizened mentor who could teach anyone willing to learn many things, making her an ideal teacher for the village youth. Though, the primary selling point had been the protection that Aurora could provide.
She was old, but she was also still a skilled Eco Channeler and could fight when she needed to. And she also had Baur, who could act as a powerful deterrent to those wishing to do harm through his sheer presence alone.

“Yayyy!” Daxter cried, jumping up and down and spinning in excitement. He then latched into Aurora’s waist. “Love yah, Nana!” He shouted.

Aurora startled, warmth blooming in her chest so hard that it left her momentarily breathless.
Then, she knelt down and embraced Daxter, embraced her grandson, back.

“And I loved you too, dear one.” She returned.