Paladin knew he had to make a choice. He could live the rest of his days hiding in the World's Edge, mourning dead lives long lost, or he could most, find something with which to fill his time. He was not the type to stand idly, to nothing and let the world evolve around him as he remained stagnant. If the world was changing, so would he, but he did not realize just how much he would have to evolve.

The world had gone dark, and it happened suddenly. He did not understand, but that did not matter. That could not matter. If the world changed, so would he. If he could adapt from the racist bastard he was bred to be to what he is now, then he could certainly adapt to any nonsense these foreign gods and land could throw his way.

So, he started slowly. Crimson eyes narrowed to try and see through the dark, and he moved south. Strange trees, illuminated from the inside out, guided him to the familiar sounds of the crashing ocean which, this time, had strange, glowing algae in the water. At least there was some form of ambient light, because he was going to fall into the familiar pattern of what he had once done on the tides.

Paladin started on one end of the beach and then pushed his body into a brisk trot, ignoring the stinging pain in his hip and shoulder. Old injuries had a way of flaring, but he would push through, as he was taught. The black dun began his exercise on the hardened part of the sand first and then gradually moved to the deeper sections, nostrils flaring in rhythm with his eager breath. When he felt his muscles burning and lungs stinging, he did not stop. Instead he pushed his body beyond that limit, reveling in the chemical release of endorphins and adrenalin.

Though time was irrelevant, he estimated that he spent nearly an hour at his task, and the muscles along his chest, back and hips were deeply defined and thickly corded once more. If he continued this routine, he may even return to his previous, youthful condition in very little time.

On his return trek north, toward the edge, he stayed close to the oceans, his bodied dried of shimmering sweat from the winds, his muscles stretched by his lengthy walk. The quickness of his breath settled into a slower pace, and he frowned at the sky, wondering if monsters would emerge from this darkness too. Would it rain ash? Like it did in Dorngarrow?

@[Psyche]