The day passes in restless sleep. The rocky area you are in combined with a near constant wind to create a strange, reverberating sound, like some otherworldly moan, that makes sleep difficult. For some reason, your thoughts are drawn to the strange man who found you in the wreckage of the pirate base. In your memory, you are sitting in his underground shelter by the light of a small lamp, pictures of a long-ago family on the stone walls around his small table. You remember he spoke to you, offering words of comfort, and in your memory he turns to you just as you remember, but the words he says are different than you remember.
"Dawson, who we are is 10% what happens to us, and 90% how we react to it. You are lonely and angry because you choose to be that way, consciously or not. It has become comfortable for you, and throwing that aside scares you. You think it defines who you are, but that is the tail wagging the dog. You can choose to be who you want to be, Dawson. But first you must know what it is you want to be. You must know who you want to be. Only then can you find peace.
"And you are lonely, even if you will not admit it. You seek solace in the arms of others, but in your heart you know that is only to mask the loneliness you feel. Jeremy, Kelso, Arienne... you were drawn to them to salve the lonliness you wear about you like a cloak. Will you set aside that burden? Do you have the courage to set aside the past and live your life in the moment?"
With a start you awaken to see a small rodent sniffing around your bag. At your movement, it scurries away.
Glancing at the sky, you see the sun has gone down, and the moaning wind is starting to fade. Before you stretches the unbroken expanse of the northern desert, and two months worth of walking lay before you.
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