wulfen

WHAT?! No wonder you were uploading so frequently then!

But you didn't wipe your account in the end.

Yeah, when I got home I accidentally sent a blurry photo into a group chat and my terminal wouldn't stop buzzing from all the message notifications.

Some were asking if I was changing my style to art photography, or maybe I was teasing my next video.

But there was this one person... who replied to me saying 'the composition of this rock strata fold resembles the boundary fault to the south of the mountain'.

He even attached a comparison photo, saying I should shoot with a polarizing filter next time.

I can't remember if I ever replied to that guy... but two days later, using the keywords he mentioned, I found a new lead to the ore vein.

After... afterwards, I actually discovered the rare ore, and that's the video you saw.

All because of a stranger's comment...

Yup.

Muriel... you're so much stronger than I am.

I... don't know about that.

Maybe it wouldn't have happened without that guy's casual comment. I mean, it <i>could</i> have, but that's how my story went.

So, when you talked about your 'final adventure', I thought I should just say a word or two, like that guy did.

Or maybe do something together with you, even.

At that moment, Muriel looks a little dazed.

The protagonist of the stories she told or even still kept secret was no longer her, but the girl in front of her.

She looks at the girl's face, and clearly sees herself reflected within.

She once silently stared at the stranger's comment on the terminal that night for a long time. Years later, in a group chat, she insists on following up on a quickly retracted message.

My final adventure'...

No, let's backtrack on that... it might be the final video, but there's no need to use such pretentious wording...

I'm so mad. My final adventure, and I come back empty handed.

Why is life full of regrets like this?

She had just confirmed her Oripathy diagnosis, and couldn't sleep the entire night.

Fear aside, what she found harder to accept was no longer being able to recklessly travel across the lands...

She could no longer casually collect rock samples in the middle of the night, nor stare at ore all day as if she wasn't on a ticking timer—

All of these 'no longers' came so much sooner than she expected. Sooner than other people, other explorers, other... Muriels that didn't get sick.

For a time she even believed she was no longer part of this land.

But I couldn't accept it... I just couldn't...

The air only carries the sound of firewood softly crackling alight.

Muriel's gaze falls onto the firelight dancing within the rock crevices, and after a long time, asks softly as if they were simply on a regular adventure.

BM, you hungry?

Huh? What's with the sudden... normal question?

Hehe... because we talked so much, and now I'm hungry. How's a midnight snack sound?

We have snacks left?

Wait, don't tell me, you mean that—

Muriel slowly pulls out a flattened lunchbox from the bottom of her backpack, waving it in front of BM.

Duh?

You actually kept it?!

I was going to save it for when we found some ore, but I'm thinking we can have it now, to celebrate.

After all, I put my top-notch exploring skills to use... to find the sneaky runaway BM.

Isn't this just... so sad? It's pathetic...

Only pathetic adventures are worth remembering.

BM nods in frustration, and opens the box—the dry rations made with various ingredients she can no longer recognize as her 'carefully prepared' meal, are now smashed into fragments.

...It really does look like that rock strata section we saw.

At least, the color is... similar...

Right—?

I always felt that if an adventure started so miserably, it should at least end a little better than how it started.

(Chewing)

It's pretty yummy actually. Have some too, BM!

Sheesh... I gave it to you fully knowing it was delicious, obviously!

The two exchange looks, and ultimately fail to hold back from bursting into laughter.

Moonlight merges with the flickering firelight, and the night gradually fades away amidst the duo's laughter.

The morning breeze pours down from the cliff top, ripping white mist into shreds of shadow. BM wakes up early, and quietly gets up without waking Muriel, all curled up next to her.

She follows the path they marked yesterday, her fingers touching the cold, rough rock patterns as her shoes kick up pebbles with dull thuds.

She does not know what she is looking for.

She only has a hunch—there was an abnormal light reflection in the warm-gray rock strata they were recording specimens from yesterday.

Day breaks.

BM is back at that spot.

She stands before the cliff as the sun rises, and bends down, parting the plants growing within the cracks in the rock, scraping loose soil away. Golden morning light happens to hit the mountain pass just in time, and lights up the exposed rock face.

At that very moment, tiny sparkles bloom from the ash-gray layer, as if tiny stars are growing within.

What's this...?

Is this the rare ore Muriel mentioned we might find here? Hah, it's not a rare ore, no, but apatite we've come across before...

In truth, Muriel had woken up even earlier, and quietly trailed BM with her tool bag up the mountain. She stands at a distance away, watching BM's back, excitement along with a tinge of pity in her eyes.

BM does not notice Muriel behind her, with her gaze focused on following the morning light as it swims within the rock texture, as if trying to find something deeper past the rock's composition.

But...

Why does the sunlight make it...?

BM is silent for a moment. She then kneels down, and reaches out to gently rub the apatite shard.

The sun shines down on her shoulders, the morning light slowly adding new tints to the crystal layer. Blue and green lights dance as if gently responding to her coming closer.

BM is momentarily stunned.

The next second, her shoulders shake.

Her elbows and back follow suit. Tears fall almost too suddenly, wetting the rock face and the back of her hands.

Muriel stays still, taking in the silent yet sharp sobs from BM before her. Behind her the breeze sweeps through the mountain valley, and a fowlbeast flies past the precipice as the entire mountainside is bathed in sunlight.