Chapter Text
To my little moment of snow,
From the land where blossoms fall
As steel blades are born with vibrant ringing:
If fate can spare a mercy,
then I hope these words will find their way to you.
If you are reading this,
Then I know that your steps have scattered far and wide,
To corners beyond and crevices uncovered,
And there, you have glimpsed the wonders of this world.
You have seen mists that cover moonlit peaks,
Hollows of life and fire, frost-laced caverns never knowing spring.
Unknowable realms in possession of unspeakable beasts.
You also know what it means to be home.
How I wish I was there. I pushed my luck.
But though I may have hurt you,
I would not change a thing.
By now, you must understand the decisions I’ve made.
If so, then I know you have been brave.
More than that…
You have been good.
Right?
I wonder what path you chose. Pen or sword.
What is it that you wield today?
I’m certain that you’ll learn what I have learned.
And perhaps even more.
You’ll have gone further than I ever could.
That is my atonement for the lie that I abandoned you with.
And I hope that is enough.
Keep going.
There is still ever more.
To think this all started in passing at Bherna’s Gathering Hub some time ago. While helping the Wycademy researchers file through some old documents, you came across the record of a certain hunter from Kamura who had gone on a journey without an apparent return trip, many years ago. For a moment, you were fevered with the idea that you could possibly find out what happened to him, asking everyone in the vicinity if they knew anything regarding his whereabouts. But while it was a promising lead, you wound up swept aside by your work, unable to follow up on that trail.
Sojiro Yukino was a member of the Guild, and in time, so were you. Though his prolonged absence had him officially written off as deceased, and surely he was, the second you finally found a lead flipped a switch in you, making you wonder if it was possible to fill in the gaps between then and now. To finally tie up the singular loose end in your life.
But you let go of this a long time ago, didn’t you?
Your life as a hunter lead you across distant vistas, from your hometown of Kamura, to the Elgado Outpost, surrounding villages like Yukumo and Kokoto, to Moga, even a brief stint in the New World. With so many places to be and things to do, there was no time for worrying about the past. You choked down the feeling that you’d ever find that closure you convinced yourself you didn’t actually need.
Even though every step in your travels made you wonder if you stood where he once did.
It was only when you were summoned to help a boy find his people in a mysterious new land, you wound up getting entangled by that thread once more. Your time in the east coincided with that fate spoken of in that hunter’s final message.
And it unraveled in a way you could never have imagined.