Patrick's worldly possessions are as follows: a macrame crystal necklace from Aodhan, a green string, an obsidian ring, a sword called Clarity, two seashells, a handful of sand dollars, a storybook, a stack of drawings of Lena, some clothes (with one fancy pair), a flask, a handmade bow, and a map. He gathers all his things and puts them in his bag, save for the sword, the ring, and the necklace. He switches into a clean pair of clothes, but not before taking a bath, because he knows he probably won't get the chance to bathe for a week.

He leaves his room with his first order of business: find Isla.

He finds her in one of the drawing rooms, talking with a woman in such a fancy dress that there's no way she isn't some lady of great importance. Isla's tone isn't impressed with whatever the woman is talking to her about, so Patrick feels safe intruding and asking if she has some time to spare.

"Of course I do," Isla answers, smiling at him, then sending a more forced smile to the woman. "We were just getting done here."

"But I-"

"Later."

The woman leaves in a disgruntled fashion, peacock skirts swishing about her legs. The crack of her heels announces her position down the hall as she walks away. Isla takes in his packed bag and sword at his hip with a hum.

"Clementine told me she let you off," Isla says. "Where are you going?"

"Volcanta."

"What's there?"

Patrick blushes. "William and Aodhan."

Isla tsks. "I should have guessed that. Well, get on then. I won't keep you. Feel free to take whatever you need. If anyone gives you trouble, say you have my permission."

"I just thought I'd see you before I go. Thank you."

Isla cracks a smile. "You're too nice to vanish without a trace."

"Good luck with everything. I'll see you when Lady Clementine gets back."

"Until then."

Isla gives him one last smile and he offers a little wave before heading to the kitchens, where he asks for some rations to keep him going for a week. He can forage if he needs to- but it's safer to have food on him in case this part of Vaenyth proves to be much different from areas he's more familiar with.

He fills his flask with water and heads out to the stables where he takes a couple leads and a pretty spotted mare which he decides to call Sunny. He and Sunny leave the Hoarfrost together in a speedy manner, but slow down once they get to a road.

Volcanta is almost two weeks away at a leisurely speed. He'd go faster, but that's unfair to Sunny and he doesn't want to switch horses in a town somewhere. He realizes about halfway through the day that he doesn't have any coin on him, which hopefully shouldn't be a problem since he's perfectly capable of taking care of himself. He's competent- Clementine's told him as much.

Travelling alone is far different from travelling with friends, something he learns fairly quickly in the first few hours. For one, there's no one to talk to, unless Sunny counts. He's never thought of himself as a talkative person because he's always had Lena to listen to, but he finds he'd very much like to have people company- not that horse company is horrible. Sunny is a good listener, so he comments on things to pass the time.

"Look, there's an apple tree! Do you want to stop for apples?"

Since Sunny agrees to stop for apples, they go over to the tree and pick a couple, one for her and one for him. He puts a couple extra in her saddlebag and rides on. He considers going as much around the Pink as he can, since going straight through alone isn't the best idea he's ever had, but it's faster.

He's not quite in the mountains yet, so he doesn't worry about finding an inn to stay the night in. For his first night on the road, he finds a nice tree to sleep under and lays out his bedroll. He ties up Sunny and she munches away at the grass while he eats a dinner of cheese melted over a couple potatoes.

It's summer now, but it doesn't get that hot in this part of Adaetram, so he's fine to sleep with a couple blankets wrapped around him like a cocoon. It's been some time since he's spent the night out in the elements like this, where anything could happen. Luckily, Adaetram's not known for bandits or ruffians, so he's not worried at all about that, though he is a tad worried that he'll run into some creature with a thirst for blood in the Pink. At least he has Ivo to watch over him, for he's sure if anything were to sneak up on him, the familiar would warn him about it.

In the morning, he eats a breakfast of apple and cheese then promptly gets on his way. He makes good ground before nightfall, having decided to cut diagonally to the Tomyris. He'll follow the river downstream to Volcanta, knowing he can't miss the city since it's on the riverside. For good measure, he does the spell Clementine gave him and the moment he steps foot in the right direction, it glows yellow and buzzes whenever he walks even slightly the wrong way.

He thinks about his friends often, and he tries not to look at his ring when he does because it would be a bit weird to spy on them. With that said, he does sneak a few peeks (he's curious, all right? it's not illegal) and sees a rather uninteresting vision of a bored‌‌ Signe talking to Rozenn, Aodhan laughing at something William must have said, William running into a wall, Aithne squinting down at a piece of paper then suspiciously looking upward. When he thinks about Lena, he sees nothing and much the same happens when he thinks of Clementine. He worries that she's dead, but he figures she just has a pretty strong anti-scrying amulet on her at all times. That's more logical and less distressing.

Something he sees that is more distressing happens when he thinks of Alistair and he sees the man huddled together with Oliver, leaning over an open tome, speaking enthusiastically. At first, Patrick is insulted, because that means he got replaced, then he remembers he doesn't care and tries not to waste his time thinking about it. It's none of his business, anyway.

He reaches the Tomyris River without any difficulty, although it is strange to be in the Pink again. It's been so long since he's seen the mountains, nevertheless been in them. The color of the soil brings back so many memories. He met Brynjar in these mountains- not this part specifically, but the general area. Aithne caught and cooked a bird once- that was impressive. Lena still laughed a lot then, and he and Aodhan hadn't kissed yet. William was shyer and they were all just on their way to Blue Point to see Signe.

It's been forever, Patrick thinks. Ugh.

He travels down the river for an entire week at which point he runs low on food and has to slow down to forage for roots to cook and other plants to eat on the way. He ties a snare with Sunny's lead and spends a whole day trying to catch a rabbit, luckily managing to catch one. He spits it and roasts it over a fire, feeling particularly chuffed with himself.

At Volcanta, I could catch food for Aodhan and William, he thinks cheerily.

The thought is absolutely thrilling. When he gets there, he can wrap them up in the biggest hug ever and kiss them with no hesitation- that's allowed. He's pretty sure he's allowed to do that. The closer he gets, the more excited he is, so he tells Sunny all about it.

"It's going to be great," he tells her. "I bet Aodhan has a lot of plants at his house. He seems like the kind of person who would have a lot of plants. What do you think? Oh, right- you haven't met him. You'd like him. He's really nice. Can be scary if he wants to be. William's not scary at all- just cute. He likes horses so he'd like you. Maybe I should bring them a gift? I don't have any coin."

A couple more days of travel bring him to the bend in the river, where the water slows down on a flat plane and begins moving east rather than straight south. Volcanta is on the curve and he'll be there in a few days for sure.

Patrick's filling up his flask in the water when a boat comes into view. The person in it is the first person he's seen in a few days, so he gleefully waves to them and gets a wave in return. The boat comes closer, oars sending ripples through the water.

The stranger grins at him, wide and positively charming. "Hey, stranger. Need a ride?"

"Ah, I have a horse. I don't have any money, either."

"Well, you can help me catch some fish and that will be good enough. It's been me for some days. Where are you headed?"

"Volcanta."

"That's on the way! I'm going all the way to the ocean." The person swoops their hand down, grinning. "I'm Mislan, by the way."

"You were given a boy's name?" Patrick questions. Mislan's wearing a blouson shirt that's quite open in the front, revealing tanned skin. He tries not to look, because he's a gentleman and he doesn't stare at people's chest areas.

"I am a boy."

"But you have..."

Mislan grins. "Breasts? Yeah. That doesn't really matter, does it?"

"No. I didn't mean to be rude."

The fisherman shrugs. "Eh, some people don't know. Kinda weird for a magic folk like you not to know, though. People like you tend to be more accepting. ‌I saw your familiar for a moment there- a cat. Not very original."

Patrick flushes. "I- um. He came like that! And I'm sort of new to uh, magic folk."

"I figured that." Mislan smiles, leaning on his oar. His dark braid droops elegantly over his shoulder and he flashes another shark-like grin. "What's your name?"

"Patrick."

"Want to travel with me, Patrick? Since we're going the same way? I can lead your horse to the boat so it can walk beside us."

"Um, okay!"

"Great. Get in."

Mislan rows closer to shore and Patrick climbs into the boat after tying the two leads together so Sunny won't get lost. Mislan adjusts his bags so they both have room and just let the flow of the river take them. Since the land is mostly level here, this part of the Tomyris isn't as dangerous to sail in. Besides, Patrick figures Mislan knows what he's doing.

"What are you going to‌ Volcanta for?" Mislan questions. "You don't look like you have anything to trade."

"I'm going to see my friends. Well, they're more than friends- um, we're really close."

Mislan smiles. "Your lovers?"

"We've never really exactly talked about it."

"You should when you get there then. No point wasting time dancing around each other when you could be spending time doing other more fun things."

"Aye- I suppose. Um, what are you going to the sea for?"

"Going to sell some fish down in the Aureate Sea. Catch some, sell at the markets. I always go there this time of year. I saw a mermaid once, you know."

"You did?"

Mislan nods, grinning slyly. "There's a whole bunch of mer down there. Legend has it my great-great grandmother was one of them."

"Is it kind of weird to be catching fish then?"

Mislan laughs. "Not at all! What do you think mermaids eat?"

Patrick desperately thinks of the word William used once, but to no avail. "Sea plants?"

"No. Definitely not. They eat fish. And humans, sometimes."

"I believe you."

"Good. I'm right."

Patrick spends the rest of the day chatting with Mislan. Once nightfall hits, they row to shore and pull the boat onto the grass so they can make a camp for the night. Patrick shares his rations with Mislan, and gets a fillet of fish in return. They sit eating dewberries in the light of the setting sun and Mislan talks aimlessly and endlessly.

Lena would have liked him, Patrick muses.

"So, are you good with that sword or what?"

"I'm good with it."

"Have you actually fought anyone? I‌ bet you haven't."

Patrick's lips quirk into a smile. "I've been in a couple battles."

"Battles? Like how big of battles? Magic battles? Like the one mages talk about. My dad was a mage, so that's why I know about that kind of thing. I never got any magic though."

"Decent sized battles, I think. Magic ones. One of them had dragons."

"No way! You're joking. Did you get really hurt?"

"Not that time. I've died before, though. That was worse."

"What?"

"One of my friends is a necromancer. She brought me back and another one tied me. He's a shaman and he's super powerful."

Mislan's eyes go into wide inky pools. "Like how powerful?"

"Um, one of the most powerful people I know. Aside from my Lady- she's a faery."

"Holy shit! Your life is crazy! I wish my life was that exciting. All I do is catch fish."

Patrick laughs. "It's uh, not as exciting anymore."

Mislan scoffs and Patrick grins. "If I had your life, I'd never be bored."

"It's not all that great."

"No way in hell do I‌ believe that."

"There's good parts."

"Like your lovers?" Mislan wiggles his eyebrows.

"Like them."

"So... are you going to tell me a proper story? Since you have so many of them, it's only fair."

"What kind of story?"

"Something less depressing than the time where you died."

"Uh, I can tell you about the dragon battle. I don't think that one was all that sad."

"Yeah, that one!"

Patrick smiles. Is this how Brynjar feels when I ask for stories? Mislan has to be about my age.

"Well, we had to sail across the ocean and I‌ had never been on a boat before..."

As he talks, Mislan listens to him with rapt attention. They lean against a tree and Patrick tells a story until the sun goes down and they curl up in their bedrolls, bodies shaking with excitement. Patrick feels hopeful and good and happy- he's almost to Volcanta.