The view from above the upper part of the city was peculiar. All she could see was the endless seas of tree leaves that stretch for miles. Nolan only wore his graying coat. His coat whipped by the air, and his should-length silver hair being blown backward.

You silly girl, Aria thought. How could you be so bold!

She was confused, and she could only look at the endless trees in front of her. The trees were brightly lit by strange creatures that glow in the dark. Fireflies and strange creatures that glow like lamps. Below were the purple leaves falling endlessly.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” He said to her. “It is a pleasure to see this sight. Tell me, Aria, what do you dream about?”

“Huh?” She said. She could not answer.

“I dreamed of peace inside my mind,” Nolan told her.

How strange it was to tell a person he barely knows. Maybe, it because Aria was still a stranger that she thought, that he could tell her this.

“I want to see distant lands. I heard of a field of gold that stretches for miles. It is a field where sailing ships crossed and they say that every blow of the wind puts the mind to ease. I only heard of it once. But yet I want to see such sight. That’s why I started my travel. I began this journey. Nolan, why do you travel?”

“I don’t know it myself,” Nolan squatted. “I’ve been traveling for so long that it is a surprise how I could even stand up. My feet are sore and my mind burdened with so many memories. Indeed, this place is beautiful, and yet I just know that this isn’t going to be the end. How many realms will I have to cross? How many wonderful views are mine to see? How many can a man see before he kneels from exhaustion?”

He was tired. His voice was so exhausted that she thought that he might just break down right there. But he continued squatting with his eyes hidden from her. He continued looking at the endless trees before him. He was not a stone man. He was a wind.

“The things you speak, I can’t understand them. But a person must know the reason why they move their feet in the first place. I want to see those fields. That’s why I travel and lived on.”

“After that?”

“I’ll think about that when it happens. One objective at a time. Isn’t that how it usually goes?”

There was a beat somewhere. Nolan smiled silly with those words. He squeezed his eyes and turned his attention back to Aria. Aria froze with his mirror-like stare. She saw herself in his eyes. This made her pause. There was a flustered look on her eyes as she backs away, and tug on her curled braid.

“Did you bring anything to drink?”

“Why would I bring any?”

He fished out a wineskin on his belt. “Here, have some wine, it is good, I promised that.”

She took it by hand and sipped. Her cheeks flushed red and she parted her lips away from the wine. “This is good, what is this wine?”

“Grape wine, fermented by an old wood elf living in a hollow of a tree. He had welcomed me into his abode and offered me a wine to drink. The grapefruit came from an ancient tree that swims under a crystal river. There were so many strange rock formations around that tree and his abode felt more like a tower. He had many recipes and he was graceful enough to share with me.”

“A sage, you met a Wise Man. That is quite the lucky encounter.”

“Is it?” Nolan said. “He was a talkative Wood-Elf, filled with knowledge, and he died when he taught me everything he knew. I buried him beside his wife. There were fourteen graves near him and there were carvings on those graves. His last wish was to bury his tower underneath the ashes. I made sure that there was no memory left. The man wanted to be forgotten and I was going to fulfill the he-elf’s request. That was a task I could do so.”

“But why?”

“I have no clue. I had to burn all of his belongings and made sure that it wouldn’t burn the entire forest. He wanted to be forgotten. He wanted to keep all of his memories to himself.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Aria said.

“I feel the same,” he took the wineskin and took a drink. He wiped his lips with his sleeves and turned his attention to the side. His eyes grew distant for a second, like a hawk watching from afar. “Quite the night isn’t it? Aria, have you danced under the moonlight once?”

She couldn’t reply. Her hand was taken and she found herself dancing, swayed and led by his grace. The pride in her wanted a getaway. But her silly heart was grabbed by a rough hand. She gave up. She let this stranger danced her under the sway of the moonlight.

Oh, the girls would laugh at me! She thought. However, she decided to dance away, not letting it bother her any longer, giggling, softly smiling under the silver light. She noticed others who were dancing under the moonlight as well. A troubadour took his time, he strung his lute, and another followed, a drum was heard and the beat of the dance became a hurried one.

She found herself unable to think. The grin of the man before her was rather irritating. Yet, she danced under his tune and was surprised by how this man could easily sway her despite how proud she was with her strength. Besides, it didn’t bother, there was a friend to be made along the roads, and she was not against meeting a new friend in this City where Adventurers prove themselves.

And so Aria danced with Nolan, laughing, letting her warrior side rest for a while. She had traveled quite a bit, and there was no need to hold back when she had accepted this man as a friend.

There was a giggle in the dark.