Chapter 3: A New Journey

After two days of traveling through wide fields, forest and disgusting swamps, Echo finally reaches.... a street. A cobblestone one. Better than traveling through nature at least.

'Finally, something human-built. Hopefully this means I'm on the right way. Now, where to go...'

The street leads either north our south, and he decides to head further south. And after a few hours of a very much unexciting walk down that road, something finally happens. Echo spots a carriage drawn by two giant ground-sloths, terrifying creatures even bigger than bears, closing in on him from behind.

'Probably a merchant', he reckons, and decides to ask if he's on the right track.

As the carriage draws close, he waves the hood wearing merchant, and with a loud whistle, the sloths come to a halt. Echo is taken aback when he realizes it's actually a woman, and quite the beautiful one at that. She has big, sparkling orange eyes, white long hair, a rather slim face, and two lovely bo... animals carrying her. They surely have the perfect size. The sloths, that is. Definitely the sloths. She appears to be quite young herself, maybe about 16 or 17 years old.

"Hello there, traveler. What do you want?", she asks in a rough tone.

'She really has a beautiful voice, but what's her deal? Why is she so rude?', he thinks to himself.

"I asked you a question."

"I'm trying to get to the capital, could you tell me if I'm heading the right way?", he asks.

"Yeah right, you don't know how to get to the capital. Sure. Tell your friends to come out and try to rob me, an ambush won't work."

Echo is staggered. 'What is she talking about?! An ambush?'

"Lady, I don't know what you're talking about, but like I said, I'm -" Echo is stopped mid sentence. The woman who just sat on her carriage is suddenly right in front of him, pointing a knife at his throat. That's definitely no ordinary merchant, she moved so fast that Echo didn't even have time to flinch.

"Cut the crap, boy!", she warns him.

"But I really don't know!"

"Don't know my ass! How could you not know how to get to the capital, when you're on one of the main roads to it! No one is that stupid!", she continues to roar.

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHICH ROAD I'M ON WHEN I'VE NEVER BEEN ON ONE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE?!", he screams back, moving dangerously close to the knife's tip.

The lady is taken aback. Could she have been wrong? Is this really just a traveler who doesn't know the way? She has to make sure, with the amount of bandits pulling cheap tricks like this.

"Why are you going to the capital then, if you don't even know where it is, and carry nothing with you but a small bag?", she asks.

"That's none of your business.", he tells her scowlingly.

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"What the fuck? How is it not my business?! I want to know what's your deal for my own safety!"

"I don't give a shit. If you would have just answered my question with a simple 'yes' from the beginning, then we would have both been on our way!", he yells at her.

The woman sighs. 'He really just is some lost idiot, huh?', she reckons. She draws back her knife, and takes a good look at him. 'Now that I think about it, he is a little young for a bandit. There are some his age, but very few. He also looks quite roughed up, has he just been traveling through nature before? And also - ugh', she takes a step back and coughs, waving her hand in front of her nose. 'He reeks!'.

"Well, that was uncalled for.", Echo says jokingly. "So, have you calmed down now? Thank you. I'll be on my way then, I wish you the very best on your travels, or something like that." He turns away from her, and starts walking. The woman keeps standing there, looking his way, dumbfounded by the situation she was in.

'Was I acting like an asshole just now? I mean, I have to be cautious, but still...', she questions herself. She gets back on her carriage a couple minutes later, Echo already out of sight behind a hill. 'Should I take him to the capital with me? I mean, he reeks, and looks like shit, and gets riled up fast, but if he's just a boy? But what if this is actually part of an elaborated act to ambush me? UHH, stop overthinking so much Aurora! He's just a boy, lost on his way to the capital. That's it. Besides, having a good standing with NPC's never hurts, maybe I can hire him as a companion later or something like that.'

She's made her decision, and with a whistle, her carriage starts moving again. Once she passes by Echo again, she stops.

"Boy, if you want a ride to the capital, come with me.", she tells him.

"Why would I want to ride with you? It's very suspicious of you to switch up your attitude like that. What, are you trying to rob me now?"

"Are you stupid? What would I even gain from robing you?"

"I don't know, satisfaction? You seem like a sadistic bitch to me.", he notes.

"You're really pissing me off, you know that? Anyway, I just thought I could do this as an apology for attacking you earlier. Also, it will take you at least another week if you travel on foot."

"A week?! Seriously?!"

'If it takes me another week, it only wastes time. Guess I'm gonna have to take her offer. And even though her personality is as rotten as they come, at least she's easy on the eyes, I don't mind that', he decides.

"Alright, I'm gonna take you up on your offer.", he tells her.

She stretches out her hand, and Echo takes her help getting up.

"My name Aurora, nice to meet you."

"Name's echo, it's such a pleasure.", he replies in a condescending tone, putting on a huge fake smile as he sits down.

'I'm already regretting this choice.', Aurora thinks to herself. 'Well, maybe the rewards with these kind of characters are bigger'.

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