This story is part of the Wanderer series.
As she got closer to the village, Nozomi noticed a band of children running through the golden tallgrass in the outskirts. From what she could tell, they had noticed her already, leaning towards each other and staring in her direction. Their little mouths flapped as they chatted about something. Nozomi smiled as she approached them. Once she was close enough, the children, realizing she saw them, ran up to her.
“Hi,” one of them squeaked, a freckled-faced boy with grayish-green hair, and looked like the eldest of the four children. The others awkwardly stared at Nozomi in silence.
“Hello,” she replied, smiling. Nozomi said no more, encouraging them to drive the conversation.
“You not from here?” the boy continued.
“No, I am not.”
“Traveler?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
“Do you allow travelers here?”
The rest of the children continued to stare in silence. However, one of them, a small girl with the same features as the other children, except for her dark-brown eyes, seemed to notice the strange features hidden under Nozomi’s turban, and became wide-eyed with curiosity.
The boy started to turn away. “I ask Papa,” he mumbled.
Nozomi nodded. “If you can, please.” Out over the horizon, the sun was starting to dip in the sky. It was about time she found somewhere to settle for the night. In addition, she always enjoyed intermingling with the locals out in this country.
The boy ran off, the other children following him like little ducklings. However, part way back to the village, he glanced back and stopped, noticing Nozomi had stayed put where she was. The other children did the same.
“This way,” the boy beckoned, raising his squeaky voice a little.
Nozomi shook her head, keeping her smile on. “I will wait here until I know I can enter.”
He stood there, seemingly confused, but eventually turned and ran off again, into the village with the rest of his band. Nozomi stared off to the side back towards the rolling hills, right at the niche where the sun would set tonight.
It wasn’t long before the boy returned, this time without the other children, but instead a man in very loose and colorfully white and blue robes. He looked just like an older version of his son, save for his modest mustache. He walked up to her with his hands gripped behind his back, a common gesture she has observed from this country. His son gripped him by the elbow with one hand.
“Hello, traveler,” he began. “What brings you to our village?”
“I am traveling northeast, towards the plains.”
The man nodded. “Are you taking your enlightened journey?” However, just as the words left his mouth, he took a closer look at her, his face changing to an expression she was very familiar with by now. “You are not from this country, yes?”
“No, I am from the Land of Forests.”
He raised his brows. “From the far south? You traveled a long way.”
Nozomi beamed. “Yup!”
The father grew as curious about this strange girl as his son was. “Why travel to this country?”
“I am meeting a friend in the plains,” she simply answered, not disclosing any more information.
He nodded again. “A friend.”
“Yes.”
“From this country?”
“Yes.”
He nodded some more, turning his body side to side. “Very good. Very good… How come you know this friend?”
“I met her in my previous travels.”
“You traveled to here before?”
“Not along this route. But yes, I’ve traveled through this country before.”
“Very good.”
The man was constantly nodding now, which appeared to signify his approval. Nozomi did not observe this behavior with the previous village she stumbled across. A great deal of variety out in these lands, she thought.
“Come, come,” he beckoned with a twist of his body. “Jochi bring you inside. We can talk inside.”
“Thank you.”
They walked towards the tented village, crossing between two rectangular stones, porous and weathered, that seemed to indicate the outer boundary.
As they walked through, the other villagers did not notice the foreigner at first, given her inconspicuous tan clothing that matched the local attire close enough. They were all busy, either carrying weaved baskets or talking amongst each other. The few that did notice locked their gaze onto her. Nozomi smiled and did her best to say hello to each one she noticed. They nodded back in kind.
Eventually, they stopped at a tent with a firepit in front of it. Sitting around it were several other villagers and children, some of which Nozomi recognized from earlier. The firepit wasn’t burning at the moment. There were one man and two other women sitting in this circle.
“This is the traveler?” one of the women spoke.
“Yes,” said Jochi. “The traveler.”
“Hello,” Nozomi smiled and nodded, mimicking their way of greeting.
“A girl?” the woman spoke again. “Just you?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “Just me.”
The older woman laughed, beckoning towards Jochi with a hand. “When Khasar said there was a traveler, Nomin thought it was a trader.”
Nozomi shook her head. “I have nothing to trade, unfortunately.”
The woman dismissively waved. “All well. Trader or not, you are welcomed here.”
“Thank you.”
“What do they call you, traveler?”
“I am Yumi,” she replied, giving them her alias.
“Yumi,” the woman repeated, nodding as her tongue stumbled with the name.
All of a sudden, Nozomi felt a very strong presence nearby. It emanated from inside the tent, drawing her eyes towards it. At that moment, the flaps of the tent parted and a elderly woman stepped out. She was wearing brilliantly cyan and golden robes. The elderly woman was squinting in the direction of Nozomi before she even left the tent.
“Narma senses a visitor.”