This story is part of the Wanderer series.
Chasing off the last wolf, Nozomi sticks her tongue out and blows at it as it saunters off. She lowers her arms, turning around and waving her sheathed sword in circles, laughing.
“See? No problem!”
“Well, they’re just wolves after all,” Rin grunts, looping the strap of her scabbard over her head to shoulder her sword on her back once more.
Chiara lowers her knives a bit, still keeping an eye on the wolves, but cracking a smile along with her friends. “Kind of like dogs!” she gasps. “But… less scary!”
Rin put her hands on her hips and shrugs. “Well, they are the same animals.”
“Eh?” She glances her way. “Really?”
Beaming, Nozomi turns her gaze to the stranger further back, not too far from the flock of sheep.
The girl is wearing baggy clothing, a white top and beige pants, typical of what is worn in the region, if not even simpler. She wore a cloth sash across her chest, the bag sloppily twisted back behind her. Her puffy turban is loosely spun around her head and falling to one side. She raises an arm up to adjust her headwear, returning a sheepish smile to the group.
“Thank you…” her soft voice called out. “The wolves here have been so desperate lately.”
Nozomi’s smile widens. “No problem! We’ve got your back!”
Realizing she was still bearing her throwing knives in front of a friendly, Chiara twirls them in her hands and slips them back into their pouches behind her back. “Yeah! We showed them!”
Shouldering her scabbard just like Rin, Nozomi approaches the stranger without hesitation, who stayed where she was. Her flock, which had quickly calmed down, is gradually moving to the shepherd’s side to envelop her.
“Are you okay?”
“Ah, yes, you needn’t worry about me.” Bringing her walking stick in front of her, she adjusts her sash, eyes fixed on the approaching girls. “There was no danger to me.”
Nodding, Nozomi turned her attention to the surrounding flock. “Are your pets fine?”
The question made her drop her shoulders and slightly tilt to the side, leaning into her stick, seemingly knocking her off guard. “Pets…?”
Rin walks up to Nozomi, raises a hand and drops it on her shoulder. “They’re not pets, you know,” she condescends.
Nozomi turns her head. “They’re not? How do you know?”
“They’re sheep!” Chiara blurts out, apparently proud she could recognize the animals.
“They’re stock. We call them livestock.”
Chiara lowers her arms, excitement waning. “Oh…”
“I mean, you’re not wrong,” Rin corrected herself. “But when there’s this many of them, you know, being herded by people, we call them livestock.”
“Oh…” Nozomi echoes, then raises her voice, her face showing a blind understanding. “Okay!”
The girl stares at them in silence, seemingly bemused by the group’s candid conversation. “Is it… just the three of you traveling together?”
“Yeah,” Rin replies with a grin. “Don’t worry, we can handle ourselves.”
The girl nodded with a murmur. “I can see that.”
“Not like we can’t handle a few nasty wolves!” Nozomi gloated.
“Mhm!” Chiara concurred.
Rin looks over her shoulder, towards the sunset-bathed hill they last saw them. Nozomi notices this and glances in the same direction, compelling Rin to explain herself.
“They might return, though, you never know.”
“Hm?” Nozomi scans the hills again. “But we scared them!”
“I wouldn’t say ‘scare,’” Rin corrects. “More like bugged them off.”
“Bugged?”
Not interested in explaining herself, Rin turns back to the stranger. “Have they been bugging you a lot?”
“More frequently than usual.” Clutching her sash with a hand, the girl stares out into the plains with concerned eyes. “I am not sure why they are so bold now. Normally, they would avoid humans and scavenge for something easier.”
Rin raises her eyes, interest piqued. “Are you by yourself?”
The girl nodded very gently. “Yes.”
“Ah… I sort of thought there would be more people herding this many animals. That’s a big responsibility.”
“It is a responsibility I own,” the girl simply replies, her smile subtly widening with pride.
“We should chase them down,” Nozomi suggests with a mischievous smile.
Frowning, Rin raises her voice. “Are you kidding me? What good will that do?”
“They’re bad guys!”
“They’re not bad guys, they’re just animals wanting some food!”
“Yeah! They want to steal her pets for food! That makes them bad!”
“I told you, they’re not pets!”
“They’re livestock!” Chiara joins in.
“You know what I mean!”
Out of the corner of her eye, Nozomi notices the stranger dip her chin down. Eying her, she notices the girl was stifling a giggle, smiling a bit. However, her smiles quickly disappears when she catches Nozomi’s gaze.
“My apologies… I… simply find your conversation amusing.”
Nozomi grins. “Don’t apologize for laughing!”
Rin playfully scoffs a little. “Laugh at her all you want. She’s a jokester.”
A little bruised by this characterization, Nozomi throws her hands to her sides and pouts, sticking her face into Rin’s a little bit. “Hey! I can be serious sometimes!”
Palming Nozomi in the forehead, Rin pushes Nozomi out of her space. “Well, then you’re not proving yourself right now!”
Nozomi pulls away and straightens her headwear, continuing to pout without a word.
Seeing this, Chiara realizes her hood had fallen off her head during the engagement. She could feel her hair freely swaying with the breeze. She instinctively moves to slip it back on, but she keeps her hands clutched to the fabric, well aware the stranger had seen her golden hair. Noticing the stranger turn their attention towards her, Chiara freezes, betraying her panic.
“Ah… I…”
Hearing her, Nozomi and Rin glance at Chiara, then back up at the stranger, quickly realizing what was going on.
The stranger shook her head, mildly smiling. “I observed the three of you are not from this land, but it is all right. I pay little heed to your strangeness. It only intrigues me, somewhat.”
Chiara breathes out a little. Nozomi, on the other hand, isn’t as worried.
“Oh, of course not!”
Rin eyes her. “Wasn’t that the point of wearing these?”
“But she’s friendly, right?” Raising an arm, Nozomi flicks her hand towards Rin’s face. “I mean, this close up I can see the color of your eyes and eyebrows. Right?”
Nozomi turns to the girl as she spouts her last question. She draws her shoulders in, seemingly surprised to have the attention turned to her.
“Uh… Yes…”
“Yeah, so if we wanted to hide, we shouldn’t have approached her.”
Rin scoffs. “You approached her. Not me.”
The assertion frustrates Nozomi. “What am I going to do, not help?!”
“After we chased off the wolves, you approached her,” Rin clarifies.
“She was talking to us! She was friendly!”
Chiara cut in between the two. “Stop it, you two. You’re talking about… um, her… like she isn’t here… Um…”
Gazing forward, she met the stranger’s gaze who stood baffled at their bickering.
“What was your name again?”
The girl opens her lips, but does not say anything, hesitating. Both Rin and Nozomi look towards the stranger with Chiara.
“I don’t think she said her name,” says Rin.
Straightening up, the girl regathers herself, pulling her stick closer to her and trying to look brave. “My name is Alisan.”
“Hello Alisan! I’m Nozomi!” she exclaims, immediately perking up and beaming.
“Rin,” she grins.
“I’m Chiara! The fourth prin—”
Stopping short, Chiara caught herself.
“Uh— The fourth. Child… of my family. Not that that matters…”
Alisan slowly nodded, dipping her head down a bit. “Good to meet you three. And thank you again for helping me.”
Nozomi put a hand behind her head, giggling. “No problem! Glad that you’re safe!”