Chapter 4
Waking up, Seven looked to see a building burning in flames while she was out in an open area that looked to be a forest. No high fever; there was nothing that was making her sick or rapidly weak now. 'Where is this?' Continuing to look, she did not understand how she managed to get out of the cage when she was surrounded by fire all over in that place.
"Fire! Fire! Get the fire out!"
"Run! Everyone run! It's spreading too fast!"
Hearing people shout startled her as she ran to hide in the nearby bushes that were not within fire reach yet. Trembling, she saw people hold buckets of water while trying to take out the fire that all of a sudden burst out. Some still tried to limit the reach of the fire. 'I have to get out of here!' She hurried along to get away from all the commotion that had occurred. Still feeling weak; her body was still burning with a light fever, but she knew that it was no time to rest. There was only a moment of running before she fumbled and tumbled down a muddy hill going down. Not knowing what had happened after, she woke up to find that she was in what looked to be an old molding wooden box with a rag-like blanket on it. Sniffing it, the scent was terrible, but it was clear that someone other than her was living in it.
"Oh, you're awake." Hearing a young boy's voice, she jumped back and shook to see that he could hurt her. A growl escaped from her mouth with her instincts to bare her teeth at him came out.
"It's okay. I won't hurt you." His voice was calm, making Seven relax a little to hear that he wasn't going to hurt her. He did not hold anything in his hands that looked dangerous. Observing him very carefully and making sure every part of him held no weapon that he could use against her. "Here." Seeing bread in front of her, she looked at it, not knowing if it was safe to eat.
Seeing him take a bite, he clearly showed her that there was nothing wrong with it. Slowly taking the food, she ate to the side and kept her face looking away from him. The boy wore rag-like clothes, but they were not as thin as his hat. "You had a terrible fever that was running." He said, sitting down some distance between the two. Seems like he wanted to see what he could find out from this person he saved in a muddy ditch. Seeing how hungry she must have been, he could not see any of her hair covered by dirt and mud. Seeing only her eyes held a crimson red that would point her out. "Do you have a name?" He asked her.
Seven continued to ignore him; her stomach had felt like it had not eaten anything better than this. The bread was… basically the most delicious thing that she had ever eaten. Once she had eaten the entire thing, she looked at the boy with dirty blonde hair and bright brown eyes. Wondering if he had any more food on him, she did not see any and just laid back with the blanket over her. 'I'm still hungry, but he is probably a beggar. It would likely not be easy for him to get food.' There was no point in asking for more if making a living there was hard enough as it was.
"Go ahead and rest for the day." Hearing his voice, she calmly went back to sleep for the rest of the day. There was a sense of safety for the first time and a comfortable sleep that she could have for once.
Over time, she came to find out that his name was Otie and that he used to belong to a well-known baron family who owned a few businesses back then when he was much younger. Listening to him and his stories, she felt pity for him that they had fallen to ruins due to a few scams within his family's business. Eating the bread that was given to her, she did not complain about the food since it was likely the best thing she had eaten ever since she entered into this body. Not only that, but she had noticed some changes in her body, which she had seen that below her back, it was aching with her ears at times also aching.
"It feels nice to know that I am not alone out here in the streets." He said, looking down at the little girl who was right beside him. Seven remained silent; she had not spoken a word to him since they first met. "I'll just call you Red. Your eyes are red, so I'll call you Red." He then said out of the blue, making her look at him and not care if he gave her a name or not. Otie just smiled at her, almost like it was his best achievement ever.
'In this world, names do not matter to me. What is the point of a name?' Seven thought, not caring if Otie gave her a name. Getting up, she took a look out into the alleyway where they had been staying; there would be people who passed by with fancy suits and dresses, almost like a street meant for the beggars to be and entertain the rich by giving them food. 'It seems as though this is not like any modern world that I used to live in. I recall more stuff like TV or phones, but here… it's much older, it seems.' She picked up what she could about the current world she was in.
Otie could see the curious girl who looked around at all the people who walked around the town with luxury written on them. "Do you like how they all dress?" Otie did not know what was written on the little girl's face. "Red?" He did not even know if she wanted any fine clothes or jewelry.
Seven shook her head; she did not seek fine dresses or refined luxury. It was all a bunch of drama and trouble behind it all. It was just materials that people wanted to make themselves look better than the others. 'They may look fine and well-dressed, but it does not hide what they have deep inside.' Every being is different and most tend to be greedy and selfish beings.
"Hey, Red, why don't I teach you how to get food?" Otie looked to the girl who he thought could help him. Following him, he instructed her to sit down. She made herself look pitiful with a ragged blanket to cover herself with, which made her situation even worse. Sitting down on the cold floor, she happened to catch the eye of noblewomen.
"Goodness, what is a young girl like you doing out here?" The woman worried, staring at the young orphan while her husband came behind to see the little girl.
Seven just stared at them and hid more within the ragged blanket which softened the woman's heart and she wanted to take her home but they knew that they would not be looked upon well. 'Why do you look at me with such gazes?' Seven didn't want their sympathy of pity on her.
Both the woman and man left for a brief bit and came back with a fresh new blanket for her and a bag of bread with some jam. "I'm sorry, sweetie. This is about the best that we can do. We will try to come when we can. My name is Annalia." The woman spoke with such sweet and comforting words. Seven did not speak back but nodded with an innocent gaze at them as they left.
With the day ending and the streets becoming empty. Otie had returned to see that she had done a lot more than he had thought. "Wow! Red, you seem excellent at this!" Otie had them return to their home in the wooden box with the food in there. "How did you manage to pull that off???" Otie did not know how she made people give her a good amount of food and a warm blanket. Seven just shrugged her shoulders, not caring about how she did it since they had food to fill their stomachs. "I need to get you more out there!" Otie smiled, looking to see how they did not have to starve that day. He would always struggle for food, but he found a source. Seven went on to eat the bread and dip it into the jar of jams that were given to them. It made bread only taste better.
Seven would follow Otie, who would even manage to pickpocket some noblemen while she only watched him from afar. 'I wonder what the joy is in pickpocketing these people. Doesn't he know that there are consequences for his actions? Even I find myself looking like a beggar on the streets and sitting down an easier job.' Staring at him, she did not want to be involved in this. Seeing Otie get captured, she sighed to bite the man's hand as they managed to escape before they were found punished for all of the pickpocketing.