"We are the authors of history."~ Azir, The Emperor of The Sands.
We steppin' into the Freljord boys and girls.
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A day was all Gregori took to grieve for his wife and unborn child. That day was spent recuperating and regaining his energy.
Gregori was welcomed into the nomad family quite easily. He expected the nomads to be apprehensive but they were very understanding.
Every single one of them was nice to him. Even when they didn't speak the same language. But he knew Frelian and that just made it easier to talk to them all.
Even Aalms was a pretty nice guy once you got to know him. He sounded quite violent when speaking Velarian. But his Frelian made it easy for him to get his points across.
The kids in the group were quite curious of the outsider and his child. They kept either watching him and Daisy or the rare few who walked up to him and asked questions about him. Questions he answered.
It was quite normal to walk into the room Daisy was unconscious and see three or so babies around her. Poking her around the body. The older kids played outside, either chasing after each other or riding on Elmarks and Elnuks.
The even older ones followed the men into forests to forage and hunt.
Gregori proved his usefulness but hunting quite a few creatures. He taught the teenagers about some less known edible plants in the area. He gained affection from the teens when he helped a couple of them hunt a few birds successfully.
The women on the other hand, were extremely straightforward. As he brought the results of the hunt back to the nomad camp, they walked up to him and grabbed the carcasses and started butchering them right in front of him. Thanking him off-handedly they started to salt the meat to make eat last longer. The nomads relied heavily on meat jerky and dried meats in their diets. Stews were a staple. Soups with cut of bits of meat. Raw fruits. The occasional bread popped up into the dinner menu. Milk was quite big with the nomads. They made various things with milk. Tea however was their best drink.
The women also took responsibility in feeding the unconscious Daisy.
Despite all his anger with his current situation, Gregori was content. He had decided to gain their favor and he put all him effort into that.
He had good conversations with the men. Roark had given him many a thing to think about through their conversations. It put things into perspective, his situations was worse than it actually seemed.
A lot worse.
Daisy's survival was not guaranteed.
Annie's mental stability was not guaranteed.
His own sanity was not guaranteed.
If everything did go as expected, the chances of him coming out unscathed was infinitesimal. He had vowed to take out not one, but two of Noxus's biggest players. Though he was sure the Faceless were behind the Black Rose, it was not like they didn't have strong combatants. His position as a Hastur and an ex-member of the Gray Legion, could net him useful information but no one would side with him in his retribution.
It would be a one man job.
He might not come back. Or come back whole at least.
Roark had asked him a question, "If you could have only one thing, your revenge or your children, what would you choose?"
Gregori rushed to answer but a hand from Roark put a stop to that.
"Think. Think before speaking. Things are not as easy as they seem. You will have to make this choice in the future. I don't even want an answer, I just want you to think. What is more important? Your revenge or your life with your children. There is no right answer here, but you still need to make a distinction as to why you are going to do what you will eventually end up doing."
Gregori was in his mid thirties. He had gotten a lot of advice from a lot of people. But for the first time, he wasn't given something. He was just asked a question and was told to find the answer himself.
His original answer was his children.
It would have been that every single time.
And it would remain that way.
Revenge could wait. Once his children got older and started their own families, he could begin then.
It was not like there would be anyone to miss him.
"I wonder." The words from Roark broke him out of his thoughts. "Why did you choose to come east? You only had one chance, either east of west. So why east?"
Smiling, Gregori answered, "West has Noxian settlements. Our previous conversation led me to believe you don't like them. The warbands in that area are also known to treat nomads and pilgrims harshly. Finally, you insinuated that you would go to the Freljord. The areas close to the sea are all still at war or are constantly skirmishing. You wouldn't risk that. Hence, east was the only way."
"Heh heh heh. Smart lad." Roark said chuckling to himself.
"The days were I could have been called a lad are long over Roark. The events of the past week have just reinforced that."
"In my eyes you are still a lad. Look at me. I've lost everything. My family. My love. My children. All that remains of them are memories and all that remain of my enemies are the scars on my body. You are in a similar position. One day the choice will come. Until that choice, you will be a lad to me."
Gregori looked at him contemplatively.
"One day lad. One day I want you to come find me. Tell me everything about yourself. Tell me your choices and their repercussions. Tell me about your revenge. Tell me about how you raised your children. You asked me what you could do it repay this favor? This is all I ask."
Gregori nodded and sunk back into his thoughts.
The week passed by.
Waking up early in the morning, Gregori walked into the forest behind them to check for any oddities and also to check for any traps that had successfully captured animals. Rabbits were quite active in this region. He also took the time to check tracks for an warbeasts or warbands.
As far as he knew, Noxus was out for him. A passing warband would just destroy any and all hope for saving Daisy as well as taking revenge.
He spotted nothing out of the ordinary. He picked up the rabbits that had fallen to the traps and carried them back to the camp. Destroying the traps along the way. They were made out of materials from the forest and they would remain in the forest.
"Gregori! Today's the day we move. The cattle's ready and so are we. Ooh and are those more rabbits I see?" Aalms walked toward him, his gruff voice making him sound intimidating despite trying to sound nice.
"The last bit for you and your family Aalms. Then unfortunately we have to part ways." Gregori spoke softly.
"Bah! We still have a few days left. Travel is going to be what, 3 days? Then once we set up shop, the Avarosan Tribe members need to come as well, they might not be there on the first day." Aalms was strangely optimistic about the journey ahead as well as happy at the fact that Gregori would be there for longer.
Gregori supposed that the man had grown accustomed to bringing in large amounts of edible food over the week. Everyone looked at him like he was some kind of hero with how they had been able to eat.
Even Roark was happy with how his people went to sleep with full bellies.
"Anyway, me wife's got some clothes for you and your babe to get you through the cold. The women spent some time making them so treat it well." Aalms informed as he took the meat off his hands.
Nodding, Gregori walked toward the women, with Aalms in tow.
"Ladies." He spoke respectfully.
"Here you go hunter. Clothes to brave the cold. Keep your babe close to your chest, she will need the warmth even if she isn't awake."
"Thank you, I don't know how I could ever repay-"
"You have done enough. You brought is food. You taught the young to hunt and forage. That is more than enough. This is from us as thanks." The ladies interrupted.
"Aalms stop playing with the meat. Hand it over and go your way. We have to pack up to move and if I catch you slaking, you aren't getting food." A lady called out from the crowd, presumably Aalms's wife.
"On it dear." Aalms called out as he moved to where the men were dismantling the tents.
Gregori carried the clothes to the tent with his daughter and slipped on the warm clothes. The fur on the inside doing well to keep the heat in. He did the same to his daughter, sliding on the clothes and ensuring her ears were covered.
He carried her outside and helped dismantle all the tents.
Later as the nomads were doing their final checks for everything, he sat cross legged gently rocking his daughter in his arms. His eyes were fixated on the sky. On the one star that refused to fade away even in face of the sun. It seemed like the location it pointed to was just a small walk away but reality would disappoint.
"That star's been quite bright recently. Lasts all day and all night." Remarked Roark as he walked up to Gregori.
Gregori just stared at it in silence.
"Well lad. I believe it is time to go." Roark said looking in the direction they were meant to travel.
Gregori looked there as well and then slowly stood up, balancing on his knees and then pushing himself up. He didn't want to put Daisy down and pick her up after standing again, feeling like it would be a slight against her.
He had treated her with all the care in the world and would continue to treat her that way, unconscious or not. He didn't need her to see how much he cared for her.
It was enough for him to know.
The only issue he kept facing was Annie.
Knowing that her safety was guaranteed provided him with some basic relief but he hoped she wouldn't think that he had abandoned her. Deep down even he felt like not searching for her that instant was abandoning her.
He had thought about this for hours on end and for days.
Knowing he made the correct decision didn't make things easier. Hoping that he would be able to save Daisy and then find Annie was the only thing keep him together.
Sighing, he made his way to the nomads.
And onwards they began, into the Freljord.