Pieces of Sonder

Everyone looked around the chestnut grove. The only movement came from a single leaf drifting down.

“Let’s go deeper into the grove,” Infamous Biscuit said. “We don’t know how big this practice field is.”

For a second, K13 stared at him. Then his eyes cleared and he looked away, “Yes, we need to make sure everything is cleared out. I won’t be able to focus on playing if anything attacks us.”

His armor softly clinked as he led the way deeper into the chestnut grove. He glanced back every so often to the rest of the group. Meanwhile, Freya studied the chestnut trees. Green poky balls containing the chestnut nuts hung on the trees. None had fallen to the ground yet. She wondered how this grove could sustain such large demons when their favorite food source was seasonal and not currently edible. 

Her suspicion grew when they quickly reached the edge of the practice field. “This is a pretty small practice field for such large demons.”

Infamous Biscuit nodded, “We don’t want to wander out and have the squirrels respawn. Let’s go back to the center.”

Backtracking to the middle of the chestnut grove, they stopped at the foot of one of the largest trees. Freya asked, “Do you want to try to play?”

K13 peeked up at the tree canopy, “Yes, I can try here.”

He summoned his inventory and took out his violin case and recording stone. Freya eagerly waited. Even if his song didn’t get a response from a loneswell, she still wanted to hear him play.

After tuning his violin, K13 began to play a peaceful melody. This song sounded a bit more cheerful than others Freya had heard from him. The warm music made her smile.

Then a low-pitched, loud chirp sounded through the grove.

K13 paused. After a few seconds of poignant silence, he continued to play. Lightly strumming his bow across the violin, the quiet sound encouraged another voice to join in. 

At last, the chirps started in earnest. K13 used his foot to gently press the recording stone.

The loneswell’s song echoed through the grove. The low-pitched melody made Freya’s skin prickle. It only sang for a few verses, then went quiet. K13 returned with his violin again.

The two seemed to communicate back and forth, emulating each other’s songs. The loneswell’s low guttural staccato chirps contrasted the violin’s high, breathy singing.

Suddenly a terrible sadness overcame Freya. Not a type of sadness that made her want to cry, but a dull sorrow that paralyzed. 

Numbness spread from her heart to her fingertips. K13’s song continued merrily. Each tone seemed to intensify the feeling. Pain welled in her chest. Her stomach solidified into a heavy brick, making her throat constrict. The slight discomfort of the soles of her shoes intensified into a sharp ache. 

Freya looked at the others. Infamous Biscuit had his hand clenched over his heart, and Heilong was bent over with a hand over her mouth. Yet, K13 looked the same. The musician had his eyes closed, seeming not to notice anything.

Then she noticed something flashing at the top of her vision.

[Loneswell has cast Evocation]

The loneswell started singing again. K13 stopped playing. 

All the weight lifted off of Freya’s heart. 

The chirping of the loneswell got closer. A small black bird appeared out of the forest. It sat on a branch above them and sang. 

K13 lowered his violin and watched the loneswell sing. A small red mark on its chest became visible when it puffed itself out to sing louder tones. Freya found it hard to believe the small bird could make such loud music. Once the loneswell finished its song, it hopped around a few times on the branch, cocking its head from side to side. Then it flew off.

Touching the recording stone again, K13 stopped the recording. 

A heavy silence fell over the grove. Freya, Heilong, and Infamous Biscuit exchanged silent looks. Freya wanted to ask if the Evocation skill the loneswell cast did what she thought it did. By definition, “evocation” meant to bring forward or recall a memory, image, or feeling. 

While K13 played did that Evocation spell evoke his inner feelings?

“Thank you all again for helping,” K13 said, putting away his violin. “I just need to return this recording stone to finish my quest. Maybe the quest giver will give something to you too if she knows you helped me.”

“Thank you for letting us encroach on your quest,” Infamous Biscuit said, stepping forward. “We’ll come with you if you don’t mind.”

…

Once K13 told them the location, they all fast-traveled. 

When Freya heard the name of the city they were traveling to, she couldn’t help but get excited. She had never heard of the city of Kai Nai, but it sounded like a name from another continent.

Kai Nai didn’t disappoint. When Freya opened her eyes, she gasped.

Enormous buildings greeted them when they appeared in the city’s center. Kai Nai looked bigger than the capital of Freya’s country, White City. She was surprised by the height of the buildings surrounding her. Many reached more than ten stories tall.

Crowds of people wander the streets around them. They all wore loose-fitting, colorful clothing. Despite the shade of the tall buildings, sweat was already beading on her brow. Freya wondered if she was now on another continent near the equator. Like Infamous Biscuit, the people here had dark skin she knew was more common in the tropics.

Filled with excitement, she followed K13 as he led the way through the city.

“Are we on the continent of Naihei now?” Heilong asked.

Infamous Biscuit was looking at his game screen in front of him while walking. “According to the map, we’re on the west coast of Naihei.”

“Really!” Freya said.

“You’ve never been?” Infamous Biscuit guessed.

“I never been outside of Vansyl,” Freya said, referring to her own continent. “I always wanted to visit a different land.”

Heilong looked at her, confused, “But we were in Farsim the other day.”

“What? Farsim? When?”

“For the first dungeon I did with you guys, remember the hot desert?”

Freya stared back at her, “That was Farsim?”

“Yeah, specifically we were in the town of Tharvan in the country of Siyana on Farsim,” Heilong explained. “You know about the map feature, right?”

Freya nervously scratched her arm, “Yes, but it’s confusing to use.” 

“I’ll show you how to use it again when we have time,” Infamous Biscuit said gently. “It is useful.”

As they kept walking through the streets, Freya silently pulled up the map on her game screen. Her location was represented as a green dot in the middle of the screen. Grey textured landscape surrounded the dot. She couldn’t figure out how Infamous Biscuit had figured out they were on Naihei. 

“I received the quest from someone here,” K13 said, pausing outside a large red building.

Freya dismissed the map and looked up at the impressive structure. At its center, large white columns rose at least ten stories high. The rest of the building was made of red stone and spread out from the center, making the whole building the size of a city block.

At the top of the building in large letters read:

{Kai Nai Institute for Discovery and Conservancy}

---

~Info Corner~

Character Card

*K13*

Class: Berserker

Age: 22

Nationality: Singaporean

Ethnicity: Chinese Malay

Lives In: Sengkang, Singapore

In-Game Skills: Red Aura (innate), Brawler’s Madness (innate), Whirlwind Wrath (innate), Wall of Air, Music Memory

Likes: Music, train stations, lychee

Dislikes: Spicy food, public speaking