James looks back at Cortana, who has a surprised expression. Sighing, James stores the rest of the gear in his inventory. Lastly, walking slowly to the horse and staying calm, he confidently reaches out to the side. Patting the side of the horse while talking to her. " Good girl, you look healthy and young." he starts to pet her while talking. "What do you think? Do you want to go together?" If not, that's ok." Lightly tugging on her harness to see if she would follow. With a grunt, the horse shakes its head but steps with James.
James asked, "What's wrong, girl." Thinking about it, he smiles. "Oh, I'm sorry, do you want a name?." the horse sighs, looking at James with anticipation, clearing his throat for a second to think she is a roan blue American quarter." How about Storm?" The horse snorts to convey her agreement. Petting Storm more, he nods. "Sounds good, guiding her to a more open area. Then he moves to the side and mounts Storm. "ok, storm, let's try this out, shall we" with a soft, gentle tap of my feet and a cluck of his cheek. Storm starts to walk forward with confidence.
Smiling, "Looks like we are going to be a team James said with a small pat on Storm's neck. Storm agreed with a Nicker. Cortana lands on James' shoulder again, looking annoyed. "Don't think you can just move on without talking about what just happened," James sighs. " what is there to say? I'm a normal man with a normal life. My job was as a contractor. Governments would hire me to help 3rd world countries. So, of course, I had to learn to protect myself." Cortana smirked, "That's not normal at all!" James shook his head. "What do you mean not normal? There are tons of people like me, plus normal is different from one person to the next."
Cortana asked with a frown. "Still, the average person would still think that was not normal." this time, James frowned. "What's an average person, or, in fact, what is a normal life or even what is life? All of these things are mostly opinions. Take news, for example, or even books. Explaining, teaching, or talking about anything without opinion or bias is hard. Even when you try to be fair and impartial. One or two things will eventually slip out," I thought. "People have their lifestyle, traits, and experiences accumulated over the years."
It's the age-old question: can a human ever be considered fair with emotions and a soul"? James finished, " I don't think so." Before Cortana could respond. Storm whined, and James turned his head to his left, looking off into the distance. Then suddenly, there was a distant clap of hoofs hitting the ground. James leaned forward a bit and clicked his cheek twice. Storm responded and started to jog at a light pace up the hill and onto the road just in time to see five people on horseback sprinting almost at full speed. He moved to the side of the road at a nice jog.
James pretended to not be concerned about the riders. When the riders got close enough to notice James, the first rider at the front gave a high-pitched whistle to alert the other riders and James to the situation. James summoned his ID tags around his neck and modified them. Calm and collected, James shifted his weight to his right side, looking back. He can see the riders now. That's when the smile appeared on James' face. Dressed in gold and blue, four men surrounded a middle rider with heavy armor, noticing that the middle rider was the only one with a face-covering helmet. With a task, he moved further off the road on the shoulder to give them more room.
Hopefully, giving them room to carry on. But unfortunately, the riders appeared to be slowing down. So, too, did James. He leaned back a bit and then placed a hand on Storm's back, and Storm responded by slowing down. James positioned himself and stormed on the right shoulder, facing the opposite side of the road. James cleared his throat And turned his head towards the riders of blue and gold. The rider in front strode up to James and announced more, then spoke, "The knights of Freida 7th Calvary 2nd platoon we acquired by law to ask if you need anything. Thinking about the world's standard, James responded with, "James Winters, traveler of Giandrea, currently towards the village of Brook. I don't acquire any assistance."
The rider, surprised by the response, thought about his counter. But then the knight to the middle knight's left strode up. His armor was the same. The only difference was he had a blue cape with golden embroidery. " Traveler, you must have just come of age. Have you decided on your occupation yet? If not, we can always use a new Townsman, especially for a bright young man like yourself." James smiled knowingly. "Sir knight, I'm sure this is a great area to live in, especially with the 2nd platoon of the 7th Calvary here. Unfortunately, this will be my first visit to any new town, so I still have a bit of travel time before deciding." I see. If you are going to Brook, look for us if you need a reason to stay. We will be at the Golden Light Tavern" the knight said, smiling back.
James slightly bowed his head "Thank you for the invitation. The knight bowed back and signed for the group to ride out. When the troop was almost out of sight, James rode on, shaking his head under his breath. "No, thank you. Cortana looked up. "Well, that was a rare occasion." James looked down at her. " Yeah, too rare. Hope all is well