Alone in a Strange Land

Gonyaul had an interrupted sleep and shallow at best when he did pass out. Between the heartbreak and the fact he was alone, with no protective watch, made it hard to rest despite his attempts at meditations. Every single sound seemed more threatening. Every recall of Voah was just a reminder of the wonderful woman he just lost.

Now morning, he crawled feeling sleep deprived from the tent. He was greeted by the hopeful visage of the sunrise. It painted the foreign environment and himself in a golden and comforting warmth. Gonyaul looked in the direction Voah had left last night. His spirit grew sad of all the things he wished he could have said, because it may have very well been the last time he would ever see her. He stared longingly and was simply still.

He held onto a hope that she would still come over the horizon any second. Thus he took his time doing a slow body control dance to celebrate the new day. He then wrapped his eyes and meditated. While in his thoughts, he played back their travels together; enjoying every moment of the time they shared. When he was done he looked again to the horizon. It was empty; however, he had filled his heart with the joys she had brought into his life in their time together and that was worth being grateful about.

Gonyaul remained seated and ended his morning with two prayers. One was to Hoi and the other to Cambena. These were the two pillars which Voah seemed most connected to so it made sense since he was praying for her well-being and happiness. Afterwards, he just remained still again and breathed.

When the noon day sun was staring down at him, Gonyaul realized he had give enough time to waiting. He did not have the luxury to remain here and pine after that which was gone. He had made his move and observed the response. It was rejection. It was time to switch gears and enter into survival mode.

The stew was the last of their rations and he was not adept at hunting prey on the move. He was planning on fasting today anyway; however, he would need protein eventually. His water reserves were adequate, but not great. He had no weapons. In addition, he did not have a great idea of where exactly he was or the exact direction to get somewhere known. He would have to figure all these things out and more.

He did have his camp equipment, that was something to be grateful for. And he had Amu. Despite how much indifference Amu gave him, she was still present.

By the time he packed everything up and prepared his horse, Gonyaul had determined on his next course of action. Whether it was right or wrong was irrelevant. It was survival basics, have a goal and create solutions towards it.

He began riding back towards the Odsier slaughter. There may be food, water, tools, weapons, etc. among the ruinations. He should arrive by evening and could set up camp there for the night. In the morning he would scrounge for anything useful.

And if the bodies were still exposed to the elements maybe he would bury them after all.