Emily is Ready

Forest had the biggest smile on his face when he returned home, and it only got bigger when his daughter shouted “DADDY!” and ran up to hug his waist. “DADDY, I GOT AN A ON MY HISTORY QUIZ! LOOK! LOOK!” Emily squealed, shoving the paper in his face.
“That’s fantastic!” Forest replied, proudly hugging back.
“NOW am I smart enough to go adventuring Daddy?” she asked. “Please, please, PLEASE!?”
Forest kept smiling but hesitated in his response. This question was no stranger to him, especially in recent times, but this time answering felt tougher. Forest had no doubts that Emily had the capabilities of eventually being an adventurer, and even Forest dreamed about the days of him with his daughter and wife venturing off into the unknown as a team. But Forest had promised himself to be a father first, adventurer later, and his daughter hadn’t yet reached her teen years. Emily could be the most skilled and qualified twelve-year-old explorer in the lands. Even then, Forest couldn’t help but be protective. He needed to be absolutely sure that when he would eventually depart with Emily, that he picked the right time.
“Sweetie, I’m very proud of you, but there’s more to exploring than being smart,” he replied.
“I know, but I’m good at being strong too!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been running a lot, like you said to! When will I be ready to go!?”
Forest could tell Emily wasn’t going to let go of the question for the day. If he didn’t do something, he’d be hearing it all night. He smiled. “Tell you what, I’ve had a good day myself. After dinner tonight, why don’t we take a hike all around town? Show off some of that stamina you have?”
Emily stared back considering. “That’s a lot of walking…”
“Explorers do a lot of walking.”
Something triggered in her mind, and her confidence returned to her all at once. “Ok! Let’s do it!” She said, hugging Forest’s waist again.
While the conversation had been going, Sylvia had made her way from the kitchen area to watch her daughter brag about her paper. When Emily had dashed off into her room in excitement, Forest caught her eyes and smiled. The two embraced with a kiss before sitting down at the dining table.
“You seem to be in a good mood,” she noted. “Did you meet with Bizeid then?”
“Yes,” Forest replied. “He agreed to re-teach me some combat sword training and survival skills.”
“Really?” Sylvia said amused. “You still need tips on surviving in the wild?”
“It felt really good to get the basics drilled back into my head,” Forest grinned. “Brings me back to when I was first learning these things…”
“Is it going to be a regular arrangement now?” Sylvia asked.
“I… don’t know, our session got interrupted before I could ask, since he had to get back to work. I’ll make sure to ask if he has time.”
There was a bit of silence after that, spent with the couple staring into each other’s eyes. Forest could tell that Sylvia was deep in thought, but from the smiled, it was a good thought.
“…what?” he asked.
“Just… thinking,” she said. “I haven’t seen you this excited since… well, since our adventuring days.”
“I know…”
Another brief pause. “So… it’s finally happening then,” Sylvia said.
Forest smiled, knowing what his wife meant. “I think so.”
Forest and Sylvia had been debating for a long time when they would eventually leave Mythrite and depart for an adventure. The question had always been when Emily would be ready. She had expressed early on that she wanted to explore like her parents once did and had been spending every moment she could preparing for that dream. Forest never truly felt confident in what he believed meant Emily was officially prepared. At first, he wanted to wait until Emily became an adult. That plan became harder to hold to when Emily progressed far faster than either he or Sylvia could have predicted. She determinedly studied everything that the wilderness had to offer and became twice the survival expert Forest had been at her age. She stayed physically fit as well, making sure she kept a particular focus on maintaining energy after long-term walks. All throughout her childhood, she asked what she could do to speed up her preparedness for the wild. Forest and Sylvia agreed that she needed a challenge. They began to scale up the difficulty, having her try running slightly more distance than normal, spend some nights away from home, go camping, among other ideas. Emily continued to progress and ace every test they threw at her.
Leaving her hometown and going to Mythrite proved to be the hardest challenge for her yet. She had to say goodbye to her friends, knowing that there was a chance she may never see them again, and leave the place that she had always considered home. She knew nothing about Mythrite going in either, and had to go into a place completely new to her. This hadn’t stopped Emily’s excitement for a moment. She was thrilled to see new places, and while she missed her friends back home, she took the move to Mythrite very well, and adjusted quickly.
It had been her peppy attitude that convinced Forest. Emily was almost ready, far faster than he had anticipated. Sylvia shared in Forest’s revelation, and the two wondered what the next step would look like.
It was at the Highharvestide Festival where Forest hatched an idea and had gone home to share it with his wife. The two were more than excited. Forest had concocted a plan that would finally lead to the family leaving Mythrite for their first grand adventure, and Emily knew nothing about it.
Sylvia stared into her husband’s eyes, excited. “After all of these years… we’re finally back.”
Forest glanced in the direction of Emily’s bedroom. “Emily’s about to have the best birthday of her life.”