Throwing his cloak's hood over his head, Sydra activates its shadow ability and fades away into the darkness. Walking to the edge of the boat, Sydra looks down at his friends, his sad look turning into one of resolve. Turning around, Sydra runs to the other side of the boat and jumps off, spreading his wings before hitting the water.
Flapping his wings, Sydra flies swiftly over the waves, in the direction of the Seasun Islands. Before he had left, Sydra had written a note for the others and left it on the desk. The note explained why he was leaving, and what he planned to do, as well as detailed instructions on what to do with the treasures he also left around the Captian's Quarters.
Over the next few days, Sydra made his way across the ocean, stopping occasionally to rest on a small boat he brought out of his Arbor Sanctum. On the fifth day, Sydra finally lands on the beach of the Seasun Islands and makes his way up to the gateway.
"It looks like the others have yet to make it here yet," Sydra says, noticing that there was no evidence of people visiting the island after they left it. Turning around, Sydra glances out across the ocean and notices a small dot on the horizon. "But it looks like they aren't far behind me,"
Passing through the gateway, Sydra is surprised to find that it has been surrounded by wooden walls. Looking around, Sydra notices a wooden door to the left, and quietly approaches it. Pressing his ear up to the door, Sydra hears the sound of carts moving back and forth and the voices of people talking to one another.
"Halt! No one is allowed to enter this area until the Elven Runemaster finds out where the Gateway leads," a loud commanding voice says, telling Sydra exactly what he needs to know. Stepping away from the door, Sydra flips up his hood once more, fading into the shadows around him.
'It seems that in the time we were gone, the elves managed to make their way here, and discovered the Gateway,' Sydra thinks as he cracks open the door and looks out. On the other side, Sydra sees a young elven boy walking dejectedly back to his laughing friends. The area around the wooden walls is being guarded by several Elven Knights wearing dark blue armor, and more elves are setting up tents farther past them.
Slipping through the crack, Sydra closes the door behind him and sneaks past the Elven Guards, 'I guess no one thought of guarding someone from coming through the Gateway,' he thinks.
Passing by the guards, Sydra makes his way through the campsite, planning on simply leaving without alerting anyone. However, as he passes by one of the tents, someone steps out of it and bumps into Sydra, knocking him down, and removing the hood in the process.
"Oh, sorry about that... Sydra?" stopping mid-sentence, the Elven man bends down and looks closely at Sydra, "It really is you! What are you doing here?"
Looking up, Sydra sees that the Elven man is none other than Nate, wearing the same light green armor he had been wearing when he saved Sydra. Standing up, Sydra dusts himself off before looking around, "Do you mind if we talk inside your tent?"
Nodding his head, Nate holds open the tent flap for Sydra, walking in after him. Walking through the tent, Nate sits down on his cot, and motions for Sydra to sit in a chair. "So... How come you here?" he asks.
Sitting down in the chair, Sydra explains what has happened since they last saw each other, leaving out some of the details about the more sensitive topics. Listening quietly, Nate nods his head as Sydra comes to the end of his story.
"So now you're leaving your friends, and going off on your own?" Nate asks, confusion covering his face as he looks at Sydra, "But why? It sounds like they didn't blame you for what happened, and although the girl sacrificed herself for you, that doesn't mean you have to be on your own from now on,"
"I know, but I am unwilling to put others in danger just because of my selfish desire," Sydra says, as he glances through the tent flap. Noticing that it is becoming dark outside, Sydra stands up and walks outside, Nate following after him.
"So you're going now?" Nate asks, watching as Sydra nods and summons several items out of his Arbor Sanctum, one of which was Robert's Fluttershi. Shocked, Nate walks over to the pile of items and looks through it, amazed by all the unique things there.
"I am, the others should be coming through the gateway any moment now, and I want to be gone before they show up. When they do, do you mind giving these things to them?" Sydra asks, pulling the cloak's hood up.
"Sure, I'll make sure that they receive every item," Nate says, turning around, but Sydra is already gone. 'I hope this journey will help you realize keeping yourself from people isn't the right choice,' he thinks, before calling some people over to help gather up the items in chests.
Deciding to stick to the ground, Sydra spends the next month following the path the elves created on their way to the gateway. Every few days, he would come across one of the ruins, which would be filled with a variety of people exploring it, until he eventually found himself at the end of the path. Leaving the Emerald Sea Forest, Sydra walks into the town he had visited after coming to this world.
"Wow, Emerald Pine Valley has certainly changed after we left," Sydra says, noticing that the once medium-sized town has become much larger after it became the starting point to explore the ten ruins. Even though it was nighttime, the town was still very lively as people from all over, crowded the streets.
Walking through the town, Sydra heads towards Echo's forge, a spatial pouch filled with ore and minerals in his hands. As he gets closer, Sydra sees a large building in the place where Echo's forge used to be, with the sign Echo and Philo's Forge And Food, hanging above the door.
Laughing, Sydra drops his hood and makes his way into the building, which is now filled with tables spread around a large forge in the middle. Standing there, Philo uses the embers of the forge to cook food for people, while Echo, and a few other young ladies, take the customer's orders.
'It looks like this place is used for forging during the day, and as a restaurant during the night,' Sydra thinks as he makes his way over to a table and sits down, waiting for someone to approach.
"Excuse me, sir. What may I get for you tonight?" a young lady with bright red hair asks, raising her small notebook up to take Sydra's order.
Glancing through the menu, Sydra picks something called the Night Ox and sends the girl off. A few minutes later, and a plate of Ox steak is placed in front of Sydra, who devours it within minutes. Once it is gone, Sydra gets up from the table and pays for his food, handing his waitress the spatial bag as he does so.
"Please give this to the cook, and let her know it is for her sister," Sydra says, before leaving the building. Peeking inside the bag, the waitress is stunned by the amount of ore inside and quickly makes her way over to Philo.
Noticing her approach, Philo pauses in her work and looks up, "What is it, Rachel?" she asks.
"This man just handed this spatial pouch to me, and told me to give it to you for your sister," Rachel says, handing the pouch over to Philo, who glances inside.
Seeing all the precious ores, as well as gems and minerals inside, surprise covers Philo's face as her eyes dart around the restaurant. Not seeing anyone, Philo turns to Rachel, a desperate look on her face, "Who gave this to you, and what did he look like?" she asks.
Startled by Philo's sudden behavior, Rachel stutters as she turns around, "I'm not... I'm not sure who gave it to me, but he had white hair, and piercing blue eyes," she says, before getting pushed to the side as Philo jumps over the forge and runs over to Echo.
Showing Echo what's in the pouch, and telling her who she thinks it's from, the two girls race out of the building, looking up and down the street. "Dang it, it looks like he is already gone," Philo says, dejectedly walking back into the building.
'Sydra... Why didn't you tell us you were here," Echo wonders, sadly turning around and following her sister back inside.
Looking down at the street from the top of a building across the road, Sydra sighs as he watches the girls go back inside. 'I'm sorry, but I'm not ready to see anyone yet,' he thinks, before pulling the map he took from the Wither Ship out of his pocket and choosing a direction to go in.