She was walking up to the door of a general store in a minor village on the border of Ondisey and the Topazi Empire. It was a simple wooden hut with square windows and a door about one-and-a-half times her height. The design was becoming more familiar to her as she had left Darkon about two fef ago.
Fate was quite a bit stronger than she was that day in the alley, when the Traveler talked to her. It was still a fond memory. One she would hope never to forget.
--<*>--
He sighed. He may be new to the game, but even he could tell that the prices here were ridiculous. Twelve gold just for a ration? Not to mention that the blacksmith charged forty gold just to repair his armor. He shoved the door open, irritated. It resisted just a touch more than he expected, but flew open.
He watched a short, slender girl in ragged clothes fly back, landing on her back.
"Ow…" she groaned.
"I'm so sorry!" Seeker impulsively said, rushing to help her. In his haste, he slammed his forehead into the doorframe, having forgotten to duck it.
She was halfway up before he got to her and offered her a helping hand.
She looked at him and her eyes clouded for just a second. She took his hand and he pulled her to her feet.
"Are you okay?" he asked, while silently berating himself for hurting such a frail girl.
Her other hand flew behind her, probably for a weapon, before she seemed to realize it.
"Yes. Thank you for asking." She said, pushing some red-orange hair behind her ear. Silvery strands glinted in the yellow sun's brilliance as they moved.
Now that she stood, he could tell she was probably about four and a half feet tall. Her clothes were ragged, as though they hadn't been taken care of for months. She had no shoes, but her feet showed no wear. Must be some kind of design oversight on the designer's part.
Seeker looked over her again, trying to think of what he should do or say. He hardly talked to girls, even in real life.
"Can I help you?" she eventually asked. She looked down at the ground, refusing to meet his eyes.
"Your clothes…" he said, not sure how to put what he was going to ask into words.
"They suit me just fine for now, thank you." She said. Defensively, by his guess.
"Alright." he replied, physically backing off. "Could I at least treat you to a meal? It's the least I could do after knocking you on your butt in the street."
She looked me over, seeming to weigh the options in her mind. Finally, she nodded. "I guess you can. I'm not all that picky, so you can get whatever for me."
Seeker looked around a bit, before spotting a local. He asked for directions while the girl waited. She started humming along to the background tune by the time the local had finished giving directions.
On his return to her, he said, "It sounds like the local inn-slash-tavern is around that corner."
"I don't follow strangers." she said suddenly, folding her arms. Between her behavior and size, he decided to make a guess that she was in her early teens.
He was at a loss of what to say.
"We're not strangers if we know each other's names." she prodded.
"Okay. My name is Seeker. As in Seeker of Fate."
Her cheeks flushed bright red. She spun around and hid her face in her hair to try and stop anyone from seeing, but he had already caught a glimpse.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"No," she whispered, just barely loud enough for him to hear, "It's just that… My name is Fate."
They were both silent for a long time, standing still in the middle of an otherwise empty town square.
Finally, Seeker was able to put together a coherent sentence: "Would you still like to go get something to eat?"
As if shattering a frozen scene, she bolted off, leaving Seeker alone in the clearing.
"That was an interesting character." he said into the dust.
--<*>--
Fate watched from around a corner as the man, Seeker, slowly started moving in the direction he had pointed for the inn.
Something about him unnerved her. He wasn't normal. Unlike most Travelers, he did not hide the gemstone embedded in his forearm. And unlike most Travelers, who were putting on a face, he was almost… authentic.