After some time the fear and frustration had subsided enough for me to acknowledge the two strangers still standing in the room, watching over me with confused expressions on their faces.

The woman had crouched down to my height and tried to talk to me. I felt a ball grow back in my throat. I still felt sensitive. So when she tried to talk to me, it made me feel smaller and even weaker.

I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes again.

The woman visibly panicked and turned to the man. Despite having most of his face covered by a large cowl, I could tell from the shape of his mouth that he was just as confused as she was.

He said something at random and the girl looked incredulous, but still turned to me with an uncertain expression.

The confusion only made me want to  cry harder.

After some hesitation, the woman  hid her face behind her hands. Confused I watched on as I tried to wipe my face of tears unsuccessfully.

After a long moment of waiting, she pulled back her hand, revealing a strange expression. Her tongue pulled out and her eyes crossed.

I couldn’t help letting out a puff of laughter through my tears. Why did this make me laugh? It was something completely absurd. Maids had done it to me countless times to Dalton when he was a baby, yet I couldn’t stop myself.

She hid her face again and, this time, when she revealed it, she was biting her upper lips and looking upward making her look like a fish.

I tried to contain it, but I exploded in laughter, why was I finding this so funny? Maybe I wanted to laugh, to feel reassured somehow?

She continued doing this until most of my tears had run dry. She ran her hand through my hair and ruffled my short hair roughly. 

She said a few words, but feeling calmer this time, I simply pointed at my ear and shook my head. Hopefully, that would be enough for her to understand.

She still seemed puzzled and turned to her partner, who slowly approached us and also tried to speak a few words to which I had no choice, but to tilt my head in confusion.

I felt wary of actually saying anything outloud to make a point. No one ever understood me and it tended to make people angry or disgusted. I would rather just stay quiet.

While they were wondering what to do next, I noticed the woman suddenly glancing up. In an instant she pulled me toward her and I let out an audible yelp. I was scared that she was trying to hurt me, but when I turned around I noticed broken bricks now laid where I had been a second before.

“That was close!”

Darkie said from my arms

[Yeah…]

I felt a shiver run through my spine as I imagined what would have happened if the woman hadn’t pulled me out of the way.

Not wanting to get crushed by the walls, I looked at the two strangers and urgently pointed toward the exit.

The woman understood and nodded.

She stood up from her prone position and, surprisingly, took me by the hand. We went down the stairs, and she started guiding me through the ruins in the opposite direction from the entrance. I wasn’t sure where we were going, but afraid of what would happen otherwise, I didn’t struggle and let myself be pulled along.

The rest of the ruins slowly devolved into not much more than waist-high walls and piles of bricks. Before I knew it, the remains of the castle were far behind us.

“I wonder where we’re going…”

Darkie suddenly mentioned after a while.

[Back to the caravan, I guess.]

I simply replied to him with a mental shrug.

“Do you really think so?”

I stopped in my tracks, nearly tripping over when the woman kept pulling me along for a moment.

They both turned to me surprised.

[What do you mean by that?]

I quietly asked Darkie in my mind.

“Well, I don’t really recognise these people. I don’t think they’re part of the caravan.”

I looked up at the two strangers.

Darkie was right. These weren’t just strangers. They were completely new people. They weren’t dressed like anyone I had ever seen even, even in passing.

What if they were bad people? Maybe I should run for it?

I looked back behind me. All I could see were rolling hills after rolling hills. Not a single familiar landmark or even sign of life. Even if I was to run, would I be able to find my way? I turned to the two strangers who were looking at me with worried expressions.

They looked like nice people for the most part. Enough to be worried about me and trying to make me laugh. I could feel my heartbeat throbbing in my chest. What should I do?

“There’s one way to see if they’re good or bad people…”

Darkie said hesitantly, but I felt afraid. What if they were really bad people?

No, Darkie is right. There’s only one way.

[H-Hello!]

I said out loud while I squeezed Darkie between my arms.

They looked at me for a moment, not moving. Almost as if they were afraid I would run away if they did.

[My name is Silika. Sii-Lee-Kah.]

I continued.

They looked at each other, uncertainly. The woman slowly turned her body toward me and crouched down to my height. She slowly pointed toward me before asking something very slowly. I couldn’t tell what she was saying, but I recognised the way she was saying my name at the end, so I nodded.

[Yes! Siileekah.]

She smiled and nodded.

She pulled back her hand and put it against her chest before slowly saying some words, but I shook my head.

[I’m sorry. I can’t hear you.]

I bowed my head down apologetically while nervously playing with Darkie’s ear.

[But I’m a good girl, I swear!]

I added rapidly as I lifted my head once more.

I waited nervously as she looked at me hesitantly. She tried to say something again, but I just shook my head while pointing at my ear.

[I’m really sorry.]

She smiled sympathetically before extending a hand.

They– Don’t look mad. Or even slightly disgusted.

I felt a wave of relief wash over me as I grasped the extended hand and continued following the two through the long grasses.

By the time we arrived at an encampement, the sun had almost set. 

Partway through I had been so tired that the woman had let me piggyback. I had been curious as to why she was the one carrying me instead of the man since he looked much larger than her, but not being able to voice my questions, I had just gone along.

When we arrived, it seemed they had some friends waiting for them and they happily welcomed them. Many of them carried swords or daggers and wore different sorts of outfits. They didn’t look like soldiers though. I was a bit wary of them since they looked a bit scary, but they all smiled nicely at me.

The camp was pretty small, with only 5 tents for the seven of them and two horses tied to a hitch some distance away from the campfire. I didn’t see a road, but I thought I noticed a small path heading between two hills.

The woman let me climb down from her back and led me by the hand toward the crackling fire.

Although it wasn’t especially cold, the warm fires felt soothing against my cool cheeks.

The man and woman went to put down their things some distance away, while the rest of their friends joined me around the campfire. One of the men tried to talk to me, but was seemingly interrupted. The woman who had brought me here then came to sit next to me and said something while pointing at the pot above the campfire.

Another man quickly produced two bowls and poured two piping portions of meat-rich stew. Not having eaten since the morning, I happily started drinking the soup. 

Meanwhile, everyone around the campfire became involved in excited discussions. From their gesticulation and the occasional glance in my direction, I guessed that they must have been recounting their encounter with the monster. I still felt a bit shaken from the encounter, but I tried my best to shrug it off. 

Trying to distract myself, I started looking at the people around the campfire.

As I had noticed earlier, the people didn’t look what I would usually think as typical.

The man across from me was half bald. As in, his head was shaved on the left side but was long and luscious on the right. The one next to him was covered in drawings from head to toe. Next to them was a short woman, who wore a bandage across her head and over her nose. On her lip, I could see a ring with a pearl bouncing as she spoke. Then, next to me, were a pair of twins, but they were so similar, that I could barely distinguish them from one another.

Adding to that, the tall and spindly leather-bound girl and the man in the black robes. It was a very strange group of people, to say the least.

While I let my eyes wander, I suddenly noticed a single person wasn’t eating from the large pot. The black-robed man was simply sitting there while talking to the others.

Why wasn’t he eating? He might not be hungry… But did that make sense? We had walked for several hours and the tall woman was happily wolfing down her meal, he should be very hungry. 

I looked around worried and noticed there weren’t any other bowls for him to eat out of. I looked down and realised I must have been eating out of his.

Suddenly feeling guilty. I got up from my seat and extended the dish toward him. It took him a moment to even realise I was there and even then he only looked at his friends confused before shaking his head at me.

Was he shy?

I insistently pointed the bowl at him

[Eat! You have to eat]

He shook his hands and an awkward smile emerged from underneath the hood. He raised his hands in a defensive position.

I shook my head and let out a sigh. Skipping food isn’t good. Jade had told me as much.

I decisively forced the bowl into his hands.

-Not eating is bad for your health!-

I signed annoyed.

As I was starting to turn away, I noticed the woman laughing at us. She then said something to the robed man while pointing at me. 

Before I could react, I was suddenly and roughly gripped by the neck. My eyes darted toward my assailant who turned out to be the black-robbed man.