He walked on the road unknowing where he was heading. His only goal was to stick to the road till he found a town, a city, whichever came first he didn't care.
As he walked he saw at a distance a horse drawn cart. The driver diligent for dangers glancing around. As they got closer and closer to eachother the driver noticed Saburo and gave him his full attention. Unfortunately it didn't help that Saburo looked very odd, made so due to his appearance. Especially his blood red cloak. His clothes attire screamed a warning to the driver, as the driver closed the distance.
"Hey! Hey! Is it possible if you could give me a ride to the nearest city or town?" He called out to the stranger. Unfortunately for Saburo the guy had already made his decision at the sight of Saburo. Though he was caught off guard by Saburo's request, he wasn't going to just simply take such a risk as he continued on.
Saburo saw the stranger purposefully avoid meeting his gaze as he quickened the pace of the cart past him. Saburo could only stand there staring after it as if it was going to stop or do a 180 and come back.
As Saburo continued on he was hit with a cool calm gentle breeze. It felt good hitting his skin, the air itself free of city city smells. He couldn't remmber the last time he had ever felt such a fresh breeze hit his face.
The longer he walked the more he started appreciating the actual scenery of the landscape around him. It had been such a long time since he had seen so much plant life since getting used to the city.
To his right were rolling fields of flat grass whilst to his left after a small frontier of grass was a gathering of tree life. He was unsure how big the wooded area was, but as far as his eyes could see he saw tree after tree leading deeper into the wooded area. He decided to take to whistling as a way to pass the time.
"Hey traveller! Traveller." He heard someone shout from behind him as he walked. With a quick head turn he saw a 2 horse drawn wagon coming up his rear. He stopped walking to let it catch up. As it drew closer he saw an old man who appeared as though he was in his 50s, with sprouting white hair he looked strong for his age.
"Hello there young traveller am a merchant simply looking for directions." greeting Saburo with a smile. "Do you know how far Sleekfalls is?" He stared at Saburo expecting him to know what he was talking about.
"Sleekfalls? I don't know where that is." Saburo could only reply in defeat. As though unfazed the old man's smile never left his face. "Ah so you are unfamiliar with this road as I am."
"Yes that's it." Replied quickly shaking his head in agreement.
"Would you like to accompany me then. Unfamiliar roads such as this are always the most dangerous for old vulnerable merchants such as I. Plus two people are always better than one." Saburo cheered in his heart, but he didn't want to seem too eager to the old man's offer.
"Thank you so much for the offer but I don't want to be of trouble to you." The merchant's smile disappeared as he bid Saburo farewell and whistled at his horses as he pulled away.
"What just happened" Saburo stood there trying to piece together what had just occured. He quickly snapped out of his daze as he called after the old man. "Hey holdon I accept your offer!" Upon hearing Saburo's desperate shouts the old man slowed his wagon to a stop.
"Oh so you changed your mind I take it then?" The old man's smile reappeared on his face.
"Um... Yes I thought about it and you had a point two people are always better than one, especailly on these tricky roads." The old man simple laughed upon hearing Saburo's answer. Saburo could only shut his mouth in embarrassment as the wagon was pulled forwards once more by the horses.
A few minutes passed by in silence before the old man broke it.
"The name's Caleb Carter from the city Avinnois its a great trading city." After he spoke his lips sealed back up, as he waited for this young acquaintance to introduce himself, unfortunately Saburo was in a dilemma wether he should say where he was from or keep it to himself either way he had to respond back.
"Am Saburo Reiji." However Saburo found out he had panicked for no reason.
"Saburo Reiji. Now that's one uncommon name. I have never heard it before." As Caleb looked over at him, of-course the old man had his suspicions but it didn't matter much to him. It was none of his business after all. "So heading anywhere in particular or are you just going where ever the road takes you."
Saburo thought over for a bit before replying. "Am heading over to Sleekfalls."
"Ah how lucky we met. So any business you have there or are you just looking around?" Caleb peered at Saburo.
"Mmm... I will shall see when I get there. By the way.... You said you were a merchant what are you selling exactly?"
"Ohhahaha... look for yourself." The old man replied with a laugh. Saburo turned to look into the wagon to find nothing much, if anything of value. Once he looked into the wagon Caleb spoke. "As you can see am transporting nothing of value aside from my belongings and some personal food. I'm going there to buy not to sell." At this they continued on their small talk.
"You know for a man who says they are vulnerable, your body certainly doesn't look the part." The old man grunted in response. "You know I used to be a soldier before i became a simple merchant, but those days are long gone." The old man sighed to himself.
As they continued on the old man even shared some of his food with his new found mysterious acquaintance. He treated him as a young child, telling him of his many travels and rich past.