A Long Journey

Well here we are on the ship back to Forte, bound for Stormont. It's been a long journey thus far, full of ups and downs, twists and turns and I am certain there will be many more to come. I both hope that Shannon has and hasn't accepted my invitation. We have lived together for eight years but this would be the first time that I would ever have met her. I don't know what she would be expecting of me and certainly don't know what I expect of her. I suppose I will find out soon enough, for now I should focus on one problem at a time.
 
Master Tawaka is still with us. It would appear that the way of the Fortian Knight is a ridged and ultimately flawed one. It is not enough to simply wield a sword with deadly purpose, when you fight you must fight with your fist, your mind and the environment around you too. With each passing duel I lose to Master Tawaka the more I realise this, but I am getting closer. I suppose this is why he is the master and I am still the apprentice. We continue to discuss matters at length and even just chat generally, I must confess I'm growing rather fond of him, who would have thought it? It's as if he's the person I'm closest to right now.
 
It's been rather strange rejoining the company. Quite clearly they have all been through a lot, both collectively and individually and I've missed it all. I'm still unsure as to why Magden isn't with us, as much as I've never fully trusted him, if at all, I do know that he has always had the best interests of the realm at heart and we will need his power if we are to ever defeat the Other King. I feel that because I've been away and changed so much that I don't really know how to approach Takuma and Martin and they with me, though Takuma is always all ease and friendliness. There is a level of empathy between Takuma and I, we are both lost souls with broken pasts and understand the true nature of the world. That does help to bridge the gap.
 
Martin. Where do we start with you? Where did it all go wrong? A naïve boy with good morals and principles who always strived to do the right thing seemingly twisted into an arrogant, narcissistic tyrant who will heed no advice but his own. Takuma asked if it was our fault, I answered that neither of us were in the best position to guide him in the first place. Is it Magden's fault then? Were me and Takuma really the best he could come up with? Or is Sir Sodo correct that destiny and fate is all woven by the gods? I am beginning to believe in them or at least in a higher power. Martin's head is currently in a whirl, wrestling with all of these emotions he's bottled up and now questions his lineage and even talks of giving everything up, including the artifacts. At this point he seems truly not ready to lead the world into a war to save itself and I don't know if there is anything I can do to help. He believes me superfluous to the quest and himself my superior in every way.
 
Back in Tsoana Martin remarked that I seemed indifferent. Perhaps he is not wrong. Since rediscovering myself, I have found a sense of freedom in being unattached to my old life. My holdings have been passed on to a successor who will care for them and do right by the people and once this quest is over I will have no obligation to anyone. That's why I feel that I could never return to Dojon and live in the shadow of Master Tawaka, bound to serve. I am here for this quest and this quest alone because my dead King, mentor and friend asked it of me, I will take orders from no one, no one is above me. I am not indifferent to the mission to stop the Other King but perhaps I am indifferent to Martin. I don't truly know him and I don't have any real connection to him. We are both here simply to see this quest completed. He may still very well become King, but he will never be my King.