03. A Cautious Meeting
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While I waited for the girl to wake up, I managed to clear enough of the wall to fit a person through and brought the rest of the gear in as soon as I could to prevent animals from taking anything or it getting lost in the snow. There was a sword, two spears, and a bow with a quiver of 30 arrows among the belongings. I presume they didn’t use the bow on her to avoid “damaging the merchandise.” 

Inside the bags, I found more food, blankets, coats, some weapons and armor care kits, and a bag of coins in each pack with varying amounts and types of coins. They all have a similar design base, so I assume it’s from the same country, but some are made of bronze while others are made of copper, silver, and gold. Some of the coins are even made of the same metal but are smaller in size than their counterparts. Hopefully I can learn more about the local currency once she wakes up. 

Speaking of her, I realized she was so cold because she was still in clothes she had sweat in, so I used the sword to cut an extra blanket into a makeshift dress and used telekinesis to change her clothes into something dry and warm. It took a lot of effort considering I had to get it on her while she was unconscious and she is heavier than most of the rocks I’ve been moving, but I don’t want someone to die because I was too lazy. Plus, it will help me level up my skill more so I can lift heavier rocks so I can get out of here sooner. Once she had finally started warming up, all I could do was keep the fire going and wait. Thankfully, while it was big enough to keep her warm, it was not big enough to allow anyone to see me. The hole in the wall was now allowing a good amount of sunlight in, enough to reach the girl, but the angle of the sun compared to where the hole is doesn’t let the light reach me. She finally started stirring awake, making me nervous for the coming conversation.

"Mmn, where am I? Did they leave?" She looked at the wall of rocks before carefully looking around, her vision stopping on me. 'She can't see me, right?'

"What is that thing? It's enormous! Is it made completely of metal? I have never seen anything like that before..."

'Well great, she CAN see me...of COURSE she can see me since cats have NIGHT vision, and she looks to be a cat beast-kin. I am a complete dunce, forgetting something like that. OW! did she just hit me? It didn't really hurt, but it sure surprised me.'

"Can you not do that?" I say to her telepathically.

"WHA- Who are you, where are you, what do you want from me?!" She looks completely terrified, backing up against the wall near the campfire.

"I am the one who saved you, killed the slavers that came after you, made a fire to keep you warm, and made a fresh dress so you didn't freeze to death wearing clothes soaked in sweat. You can also thank me for the food there in the bag next to you." I don't tell her about the weapons yet and hid them in my third car in case she isn't a grateful person and tries to harm me anyways. 

"Umm, thank you for doing that, but what do you want with me? I'm not tasty, I've tried, and there's no reason to keep me alive since I'm cursed so..." 'What the hell does she mean she's tried? I mean, I could see she's really skinny, but don't tell me she's literally starving to death?'

"Why wouldn't I? You are a kid, so you are supposed to be protected. Also, what do you mean by you being cursed? All I see is a hungry kid who was in trouble. Speaking of which, go ahead and eat something, the food is in the bag closest to the fire."

"..." she doesn't reply to me and cautiously grabs the bag I pointed out and starts eating the jerky ravenously, occasionally glancing back up towards me and looking around the cave. I don't think she realizes that I AM the train yet, and I hope to keep it that way. Would she even know what I am? Do other trains exist in this world, or have they maybe been lost to time? I would assume there at least used to be some since I am sitting on railroad tracks that seem to lead out of the cave. 

She finishes eating the jerky and some hard bread and looks up towards me.

"I don't know who you are or why you helped me but thank you. Also, do you really not know about my cursed eyes?"

I look at her and realize she probably was a victim of prejudice due to her heterochromia.

"You mean your heterochromia? I think they look pretty, not cursed. Many where I come from would be jealous of you for having such pretty eyes." The best way I learned to get someone to open up to you and learn more about them is to show kindness and be on their side until you know enough about them to make a decision. Plus, they are in fact a very pretty color, one Royal blue and one Jade green. They fit very well with her shoulder length blonde hair.

"You...you aren't afraid of them? Of me?"

"No, why would I be? It's not like you are going to end the world or something."

She narrows her eyes at me, backing up a bit more. "You do know about the curse, you lied to me!"

'Hold up, I'm so confused right now.' "Wait, you mean the 'cursed eyes' of yours have something to do with ending the world? For real?"

She nods her head once. "The person who caused the apocalypse 1000 years ago was a demi-human like me with two-colored eyes. I am a cursed existence."

'Yep, definitely prejudice victim.' "Have you ever had a crazy urge to end the world or kill people, maybe torture and enslave?"

After a moment's hesitation, she shakes her head no, seemingly confused by my question.

"Then you aren't cursed and those who claim you are, are idiots. It's a case of correlation instead of causation, so you have no reason to be afraid of your eyes or fear them. This also means that I have no reason to fear you or your eyes as well, so you have nothing to worry about."

"Corla-wha?"

"Correlation, it means these two things happen to exist alongside each other, the existence of one does not cause the other to exist."

"...I don't get it, I'm sorry." She looked at the ground, shaking her head sadly.

"No worries, sorry for not being able to explain it well. All you need to know is there is no reason for me to be scared of you and no reason for you to hate your eyes or yourself. Be more confident, stand up for yourself by showing others kindness and helping them no matter what they say about you. Eventually people will realize you are different from what they expect and that you are a wonderful person with a heart of gold."

"Mn, thank you..." She bowed in my direction, in a way similar to the Japanese when they show respect.

"Of course, happy to help. Now, what's your plan from here?" She looked up, a little startled at the question. 'Did she not consider where she might go now that she was chased away? I hope she can at least afford to help me before she goes on her own path. I didn't help her because I want something from her, but considering I am trapped in a cave right now, I don't have many other options than to rely on her.'

"I don't know, I have nowhere to go. Um, could you let me stay here with you? I promise to do whatever you want me to, just please don't leave me!" By the end of her sentence, tears were dripping down her face and pooling on the ground. Although, promising something like that to a complete stranger is dangerous for her, I guess I should at least teach her some life lessons as repayment for the help she will be giving me.

"What's your name, kid?"

"My names Anya, what's yours?"

"The name's Edward and I have a little advice for you, and a proposition. First off, don't ever make a promise like that to strangers, or anyone for that matter, since most people aren't always good and will take advantage of people like you when they can for their own gain. You should instead offer your assistance with anything you are willing and able to help them with, in those exact words, and don't feel afraid to refuse someone's request if it doesn't feel right. Second, you can indeed help me with something. For reasons I can't say right now I am trapped in here and have no way of leaving. I am not at full strength right now and need to kill monsters, animals, and enemies like the ones who were after you to regain it. If you are willing to help me lure things of that nature to where I can kill them with the power I have now, I will help you get wherever you want to go when you have decided what you want to do. What do you say?"

After my initial life lesson, her expression turned for the better while listening to my proposition. It seems like I may finally be able to leave this place once I get a little stronger with her help. Not much longer and I can ride the rails, travelling to new places and seeing the world and all it has to offer.

"Yes, I would be glad to help!" She said, with a smile as bright as the sun.

A/N: I have been trying to do a triple chapter release for this week to give you all some stuff to read and to thank you for the support but ran out of time due to a busier schedule than expected. I am doing a double chapter release right now and will publish the third chapter by Saturday at the latest. After that I will go back to doing one chapter per week for a while. Thank you for reading my book and being so supportive. I will see you all later, have a good week.

 

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