The Search Continues

Gonyaul’s expectations were getting swung to and fro as he continued meticulously searching through the streets. He would have high hopes that just around the next bend he would find Voah. And since it was his hopes, he would find her safe and sound without any other issues. Time and time again, he was sorely disappointed by finding nothing but emptiness, or people he didn’t want to find making their way from the center of the city to wherever they were going. Then he would shake off the let down and reconstruct his hope for the next instance. It was like he had the attention span of a puppy, one second sad and the next enthusiastic again.

He felt like a fish swimming against the current as he moved through the street. Everything else had good reason to be moving from the center of the city. He had good reason to move towards it. At one point he got sidetracked. A young girl, possibly around nine years of age, he found looking distraught. Using what little he knew of Ozaniae tongue, he was able to find out she got separated and was turned around due to the commotion and darkness. Between the two of them working together, they were able to reunite her to her parents. In truth the young girl did most of the work, Gonyaul mainly provided moral support and comforting optimism.

He continued onward after he had said his goodbyes, a rejuvenated bounce in his step from having helped someone in need. He suddenly came to a halt. He had reached the center of the city again. Gonyaul didn’t want to draw attention to himself by walking across the square so he began progressing along its edges.

What he didn’t want to do, looked like it was what was necessary. He would have to go beyond the center of the city to the side further from the docks. The smell of the pyre, that cast the incensed crowd in an ominous light earlier, reminded him once again that this was against his better judgement. But if he were lost, he would hope others would not stop looking for him, so he continued, kept his head on a swivel, and his senses situationally alert.