To the next horizon

I use no Generative AI to write for me.

I use no Generative AI to create images for me.

I do not wish to write with people who actively use Generative AI.

If you write with me, you won't ever have to fear any AI being used to doing my replies for you. I will not feed your writing to ChatGPT and the like, and I would appreciate it if you don't feed my writing to any kind of Generative AI either. You do not have my consent to do so.

"Xaos."

"I'm mostly worried about things getting done."

"Still say Xaos is a fake freak. Can't deny him being a real yearner though."

"You're right," he answered eventually. "About listening. I think in general people are able to tell when you're genuinely interested in what you're saying instead of just being polite, and it makes it easier to share. It's impressive still that the Dalish were willing to share their stories. The encounters I have had have been… polite. Cordial. Which is not a word you want to use when dealing with them. But understandable since they're so cautious about outsiders."

She settled herself, checking the kettle she'd put on the fire to pour them both cups of tea. They were hardy, travel-worn cups, insulated metal for keeping beverages warm. They were dwarven made, expensive but worth the investment.

"I'm not surprised. They're literally named the Forgotten Ones; their names not just forbidden, but intentionally forgotten. The opposing faction to the the Elven pantheon, their domains malign; terror, pestilence, spite, malevolence. They sought to corrupt the elven people, as opposed to the gods who wished to guide them."

"Well she's very, very little right now so she can't go very far from her mommy, but here." She opens a small folio with a picture taken of her younger brother, his wife, and their two small daughters. "See, that's Julie, who's old enough to play with you now, and there is little April." The picture held a man with brown hair, lighter than Erin's, but similarly colored violet eyes, and a woman with him that had dirty blonde hair and a friendly smile. Their girls had rich brown hair, one a slightly older child just barely into toddlerhood, and the new infant had her blanket pulled back so her face was visible.

“  it’s not something i usually talk about,  because it’s not something most people can understand.  ” 

“  i don’t need to be understood.  i just want to be accepted.  ”

“  the harder you fight against the paths life puts you on,  the steeper the climb becomes,  the worse the falls.  ”

“  i’ve always been honest about what sort of person i am.  there’s few indignities worse than lying to oneself.  ”

“  the sooner you accept what you are,  the sooner you can embrace the strengths that come with it.  ”

“  i find there are two sorts of people.  those who talk too much and think too little.  and those with too many thoughts and not enough words.  ”  

“  it’s not so much that letting someone know who i really am scares me.  it just seems tedious to spend all that time pulling back the layers and asking to be understood,  when there’s that chance they’ll leave anyway.  ”

“  i don’t like how you looked at me then.  i don’t ever want to see that in your eyes again when i’m reflected in them.  ”

“  there’s a lot of people in this world just existing.  going from one thing to the next in an endless cycle until they die.  ”  

“  it’s not shallow confidence when i tell you i’m not the sort of person you want to go making an enemy out of.  trust my experience.  careful how you tread. ”  

“  i can’t walk this path with you.  but i can be there when you reach the end of it.  ”

“  you want to tell me something—  i can see it.  so you might as well speak.  ”  

“  the unfortunate truth is,  i think i’d forgive any flaw in a person if they loved me enough.  ” 

“  is there really nothing i could do that would scare you away from me?  ”

“  why did you think i wouldn’t notice you?  ”

“  why didn’t you come to me for help?  why wouldn’t i have helped?  ” 

“  do you think my love for you is so little that you hurting me would make a difference in showing up when you need me?  ”

“  what was that— you got this look in your eyes just now and then pushed it back down.  tell me what you were thinking.  ”

“  i don’t need anything from you.  i’m here because i want to be.  ”

“  i won’t reject your help.  but you must know none of this will be easy.  ”

“  i’m already involved.  so tell me the truth.  and let us figure it out together.  ”

“  don’t you try and treat me like i’m just anyone else in a crowded room.  i know you.  ”  

“  you swallow your words and bury your thoughts so often.  i would love to see the day it all comes barreling out.  ”

“  i think there’s more inside you than everyone else would believe.  and i think that’s how you want it.  you like to be underestimated.  ”

“  i find comfort in being misunderstood.  ”

“  one day,  you’re going to snap.  and i would pay millions to be there to see it.  ”

“  what i wouldn’t give to know all the secrets hiding behind those eyes.  ”

“  love is a knife.  we either cut ourselves in the process of falling,  or slice the arteries of the one we adore.  ” 

"Darling. Story pirates are cool. Real pirates...not so much."

"Leave my tea stash alone."

"Thank you. Truthfully, thank you for that," he eventually manages, and even manages to mean it. But he doesn't know what else to say and so when she tells him the pipes are his, he gladly takes the distraction to give them a quick blow. The sound that comes out isn't quite music, more of an experimental toot than a knowledged tune - off key and terrible but it still elicits a pleased laugh out of Alistair.

"Yes, I can see how that might annoy them," he admits. "They're absolutely perfect, thanks."

Before he can annoy the two of them, he lays the pipes to the side and gets comfortable again with his arms over his knees. He considers her offer, head tilting as he thinks about what he wants.

But right now he could just be Warden Alistair, sleeping on the ground, going to some horrid mystery where his talents were to be properly used. Huzzah for silver linings. She just hoped the ending of this particular adventure was...worth it.

Faces flashed before her mind, making her feel guilty for enjoying herself now, then stupid. If anyone in the world understood finding small joys in the journey, it was a pack of former troubadours.

And now she'd been quiet too long.

"Ah...beg pardon. But really, elders of any stripe are happy to share stories with someone they think is genuinely willing to listen. I may be a shemlen, but I'm also a lone traveler with no notable name. Passing stories along however they can be passed is sometimes the only way you can keep them alive. But regardless."

"Can we stop bringing that up please? I already feel like a moron in regards to that, he was going to let Trinity dice me so he could giggle about it. Honestly I shouldn't even be surprised, he couldn't get his ass together enough to actually...say anything. But yes...he did very good things for pretty awful reasons. But they were still...good things. With ultimately good effects, far reaching ones if Novis doesn't ruin it. He ended generational wars, blended cultures."