512 AD

Connacht had hoped that they could leave as soon as possible, seeing as she was excited to find Tir na Nog. However, the weather did not seem to be on her side. If they were to leave, they would need favorable weather conditions, which they didn't have.

The wind was blowing in the wrong way and the oceans were also too rough for any sailing. It filled Connacht with boiling frustration, especially since this seemed to be the case for the entire week. It felt like nature was getting in her way, something she didn't have any patience for.

"Unless you want to be blown back to shore by the force of those waves I don't recommend it." Nagnata had said with a frown, one hand on the side of the currach while looking at her with a glum expression.

"But I can't- I just don't want to wait, possibly weeks, to set sail!" Connacht knew it sounded childish, but she was frustrated and wanted to express her frustration in some way. She wanted to leave as soon as possible, but she couldn't because the winds just had to be blowing east.

"I don't know what else to tell you, Connacht." Nagnata replied with a sigh.

Connacht scowled and crossed her arms, "What should I do till then?"

"Rest up? We don't know how far we're going after all, or you could try getting more supplies? Just in case you run low?" Nagnata suggested, leaning back against the boat.

"I say no to both of those things." Connacht retorted with a deep frown.

"Then I don't know what else to tell you." Nagnata muttered, closing her eyes.

Connacht grumbled to herself in annoyance. This was annoying. This is also stupid. Why can't the weather not be like this? Why does the weather seem to be against me!? 

"I am going to see Tara." she declared, turning around and walking away.

"What?!" Nagnata widened her eyes in surprise, "But you've already talked to her! What could possibly change!? Do you think she'll have a new message for you?! It will probably be the same thing as last time!"

Connacht ignored her. She just continued walking, preparing to take Cruachan and visit Tara. If anyone can offer me some assistance, it's Tara. Besides, surely she can tell me something new and good, right?

"Connacht!" Nagnata called in exasperation, but Connacht didn't reply, nor turn around to speak with Nagnata. She just kept on walking.

"Can you-" a voice sounded from behind her, and as the person was trying to keep up with Connacht, they tripped, "Slow down please?!"

"Not now Cruachan! We need to go now!"

"But where are we going?!"

"To the Hill of Tara!" she called back, continuing to walk faster.

"But we can literally fly! What's the point of walking?!" He called after her, speeding up to the point where he was almost running and, at the same time, trying to gesture at their wings.

"You want to fly on that injured wing of yours? Okay then." She said, pausing in her tracks and turning to face him. "Let's see how far you get."

"Well... no..." he admitted, stopping next to her a couple of seconds later, breathless, seeming a tad bit embarrassed.

"Exactly what I thought. Now let's move." She started moving again and heard Cruachan groan but reluctantly follow. Cruachan had hurt his left wing trying to do a stupid stunt. He mainly had done it to prove to the other Cityhumans that he was great at doing tricks, which Connacht knew was completely false. As a result, Cruachan wouldn't be able to fly for a while. To Connacht, it was a little funny; however, it was also annoying and worrying. She wanted to be able to get places faster, and that was by flying, but since he had an injured wing, she knew better than to push her luck. It was funny because Cruachan was usually the responsible one. He organized plans, kept track of events, and was the capital. She never would have guessed he would pull some sort of stupid stunt. But he had, and now he couldn't fly. His own fault, though, for being a fool. At least he won't do something like this again.

"Couldn't we have just taken horses?!" Cruachan called, continuing to pant.

"Well, yes, however... I don't really want to ride one..." she said in a casual, awkward tone, refusing to look Cruachan in the eyes.

"You're scared of them aren't you?" his tone filled with skepticism.

"PFFT- Scared?! Absolutely not. I fear nothing and nothing fears me. Now let's keep going." she said, pretending the question was never brought up. Cruachan looked suspiciously at her with a frown but sighed and followed anyway. Although, she could've sworn she heard the words, "I doubt that."

They moved quickly, the trees swaying slightly in the wind. The air was cold and bitter, clouds covered the sky above, and Connacht could see the stones that marked where the capital of Meath lay in the distance. If she was correct, Tara should be there and possibly waiting. She hoped she wouldn't run into Meath because if she did, there could be more than an argument, which Connacht was not in the mood for. Although, it would be a way to get rid of her pent-up frustration.

Cruachan continued to try to keep up but was slightly panting now. " Could we maybe take a break?"

"Don't be overdramatic, we are almost there." Connacht replied, rolling her eyes and continuing to walk. They were so close. Cruachan muttered something under his breath about death and she could've sworn she heard her own name.

"What was that?" Connacht asked.

"Nothing..." Cruachan sighed, his tone full of resignation.

Finally, they reached it—the top of the Hill. Stones with curved symbols ingrained onto them surrounded the top with one single large stone in the middle. Connacht knew about it, or at least, she knew that this was where the symbolic high kingship ceremony took place. She knew little about it, though, since she took little interest in that kind of stuff. Besides, it was just some dumb symbolic title, nothing special. Connacht also knew it transferred from Meath to the Northern Uí Néill, also known as Aliech. Her main problem, though, was the fact that the two of them tended to not understand what boundaries were.

Connacht approached the large stone in the middle, feeling curious. Its grey carvings held mystery and secrets. But suddenly, a voice came from behind the stone, startling Connacht.

"I thought you would visit." Tara stepped out from behind it. She looked the same as usual, her blue-whitish hair pulled back in a braid and her green eyes looking misty and distant.

"Of course you did." Connacht chuckled after a moment and smiled brightly, "Do you know why I've come then?"

"I do. You want to know what will happen on your journey." she replied, narrowing her eyes and fixing Connacht with an intense gaze, "But that, I cannot tell you."

Connacht's smile wavered, "what do you mean you cannot tell me?"

"It means what I said." Tara replied, closing her eyes. Her expression showed slight irritation.

"But why not?" Connacht asked, continuing to try and smile, which was now becoming increasingly difficult.

"I am not a fortune teller, Connacht. I don't just tell you stuff because you ask me too. I have my limits of how much of the future can in fact be revealed. When you visited for the first time I told you all I could." Tara replied, opening her eyes as she finished speaking.

Connacht felt one of her eyes twitch and tried to speak quickly, "But surely you can't say something different? Like if the weather will be great tomorrow."

Tara sighed, "No. I cannot. I told you, I don't just blatantly say what the future holds."

"Surely you can tell me something else though right? Anything would be great actually." Connacht asked in the politest tone she could muster.

Tara stared blankly at her, silence the only thing present, before she closed her eyes and nodded, "Perhaps I can."

Connacht felt a flicker of joy as she said that but felt it vanish almost as fast as it had appeared. Someone else was coming from the other side of the hill, the last person Connacht wanted to see. Meath had the same outfit on as usual and was clutching the handle of his sword, which was in his sheath. "Connacht."

"Meath." Her tone was full of disdain. She glared at him, feeling her wings bristle in agitation.

Cruachan's eyes darted from Connaught to Meath, and he cleared his throat, "Connacht maybe we should..."

"Not now." She hissed at him from the corner of her mouth, continuing to glare at Meath.

Tara, who seemed to see where this was going, sighed, "Meath there is no need for you to be on edge. I promise she has just come with a question. She will be leaving soon."

Meath stared at her for a long moment before turning away, seeming slightly more relaxed, and letting go of the hilt, but a hint of suspicion still remained in his gaze. "Alright, fine. But just don't take long."

Tara approached Connacht and took her hand, leading her to the opposite side of where Cruachan and Meath were. Cruachan was looking at Connacht with an anxious look of 'Why are you leaving me with him?' Meanwhile, Meath leaned back against one of the stones, crossing his arms and examining the ground for some odd reason.

Once they were on the other side, Tara spoke quickly and calmly, which forced Connacht to stop looking at Cruachan, "Listen I cannot tell you much, as I've mentioned, I have told you almost everything I could. However, I can give you a warning. Since you came here, it would be best to at least give you something then nothing at all. Someone who will go with you has a chance of not coming back. Someone who will be faced with a choice and that choice will be affected by your own choices.."

Connacht listened, feeling her wings lower slightly, "but who might that be?"

Tara gazed at her, clearly unimpressed, while Connacht gave an extremely exasperated sigh, raised her hands in the sky for an instant, and took a step back from Tara. " Oh, right, of course. You can't tell me. I forgot."

"Now I have told you this, you should leave. I have no other information I can reveal to you. Also Meath will want you to leave as soon as possible." Tara began to turn away from Connacht.

"Are you sure you can't mention anything else?" Connacht asked hopefully, but Tara simply shook her head, "no. There is nothing else that can be revealed."

"But when you sat, they won't be coming back. Do you mean death or—" Connacht stopped herself, knowing she wouldn't get an answer. Tara sighed, "Again, I cannot tell you that, even if it may be right or wrong."

"Wait, why don't you just come and follow us on the journey?" Connacht asked a little too loudly, which made her worry that Meath may have heard her.

Tara's frown deepened before replying, glancing over her shoulder, "I can't. I have my duties, Connacht. This is your journey, not mine. Besides, what use would I be? A guide for what will happen in the future? No. I cannot do that."

Connacht gave a small frustrated sigh as she turned away from Tara, walking back over to where Cruachan was. "Well then this is goodbye."

She thought she heard a soft 'goodbye' from behind her. But if she did, Connacht didn't completely care. Maybe it wasn't Tara's fault, but she hoped for better information. She didn't need- she didn't want to know that someone might not return. But then again, was it better she knew this information now? No. She would much rather have preferred information about the weather. Even still, the question haunted her mind: who wouldn't return? Why wouldn't they return? Why did future telling have to be so aggravating?

Cruachan smiled as Connacht approached and was about to speak before Meath's icy tone could be heard, "what are you planning, Connacht?"

Connacht paused in her steps and whipped around to face Meath, "nothing that concerns you Meath."

"Well, if you needed to see my capital, then I think it does concern me, " he replied with an intent frown.

"Did NÚN get under your skin again or something?" She asked teasingly but all the while frowning, clearly annoyed.

"That is not important."

"Then if your business isn't important to me, mine shouldn't be important to you. What I am doing shouldn't bother you, SO maybe shut your trap." Connacht concluded, crossing her arms and continuing to glare at Meath.

Meath's frown deepened as he replied, "You can't really blame me Conancht. You aren't the most trusting person. This has been proven many times before."

"Funny you should say that because neither are you, you are far from it actually." She replied, glaring at him intently, clenching her fists, feeling the slight urge to punch him.

"Connacht I think we should leave," Cruachan spoke up with a nervous smile, grabbing her wrist.

"You know what Cruachan, I think you are right we should. Before things get out of hand." She continued to glare at Meath, refusing to break eye contact, as she slowly took a step back.

"Whatever you are doing better not involve me or my capital," Meath warned, his dark green eyes continuing to burn into Connachts' blue ones.

"Oh don't worry it doesn't, so maybe you can stop being such a paranoid arrogant fool." She retorted, unclenching her fists. Meath narrowed his eyes.

"Connacht!" Cruachan interjected, his voice full of warning.

"Fine, we'll leave." She rolled her eyes, ripping her wrist out of Cruachans grasp. She began to walk, Cruachan following close behind. She knew it would be best to leave instead of letting the fight escalate. Meath hadn't replied, he just stood there, gripping the hilt of his sword watching as they walked down the hill.

"Whatever NÚN did to him, I hope it was absolutely awful." She grumbled, her fists were clenched once more.

"You shouldn't have been so- so- what's the word... quarrelsome! You could've caused it to become an all-out fight and then you could've gotten yourself hurt!" Cruachan scolded.

"Who are you? My mam?" Connacht snorted, rolling her eyes. She wasn't in the mood for being told off, especially by her own capital.

Cruachan was silent at that, seeming slightly annoyed by the comment, "no, but I worry for you Connacht. I don't want you hurting yourself or getting yourself killed because of you choosing to be reckless."

"Well I am fine! You can stop worrying! Nobody got hurt! Besides, you really are the one to talk. At least I can still fly." She spat back.

Cruachan sighed, ignoring her last comment, "Connacht, it might've not been fine if you continued to engage-"

"Well nothing happened, so maybe you can stop acting worried." She interrupted with a snarl.

He opened his mouth to reply but thought better of it, giving in and remaining quiet.

For the rest of the walk, they both stayed silent. Not a word escaped either one's lips.

Tara's words swarmed Connacht's mind: Someone who will go with you has a chance of not coming back.

Who could that possibly be? Surely none of them would straight up abandon me right? Connacht wasn't so convinced. But Tara hadn't said they would definitely leave, so perhaps it wouldn't happen. Don't worry about it, everything will turn out fine, it has to. But what if there is a deeper meaning? Could it mean someone might die? No, nothing of the sort will happen. I will make sure of it. Besides, again, it has the possibility of not happening at all.

She thought to herself, looking at Cruachan from the corner of her eye. He was walking beside her, examining a leaf and twirling it in his hand. Cruachan could be annoying at times, but she cared for him. He was loyal, and sure, he may have questioned her at times, but he would still do what he was told. She gave a sigh as sometimes, it felt like her capital was the only one that would never turn on her.

.....

A/N:

We have reached the second chapter! Yippie!

Also more notlisteningtoyourcapitalsyndrome!

About half of the countries suffer from this (maybe more idk)

Fun fact: This is the oldest chapter I have written that didn't get changed much. 

So, this part was actually inspired by how St. Brendan talked to a man who prophesied his journey.

Of course, there are differences because Connacht goes twice. However, Brendan was also warned that some of his men would not return. 

You guys can theorize who will not return, although I will add that it could always be someone who hasn't been introduced yet. ;)

Oh, so uh, by the way: Mam = Mom 

I am not really sure what else to add, so uh if you have any questions, feel free to ask! :D

(or if you have theories feel free to theorize)

I have to go back to suffering with school work. 

Have a nice week! Slán!