TRAVEL PARTNERS

A few minutes later, the little girl's eyes fluttered open. The first thing she noticed was that she was holding on to Almathea's hand tightly. Almathea was busy doodling characters on the soil using a stick, so she did not notice that the girl had woken up until she jumped up.

"W-who are you?"

The girl asked.

Almathea glanced up at her. The girl had beautiful purple eyes that contrasted beautifully with her dark skin.

She was looking at Thea with a frightened look in her eyes.

Almathea smiled, trying to seem harmless, "I am Almathea. You passed out here yesterday night."

The girl gasped and began to look through her clothes. She was wearing a dress that fell to her ankles and there was a small pouch strapped to her waist.

She pulled the small pouch from its string and looked through the items.

Curious, Almathea brought her head forward and tried to see what was in the pouch. The girl glared at her but did not pull the pouch out of her sight.

There were small pieces of copper coins inside the pouch.

Tears pooled in the little girl's eyes as she pulled out the copper coins. They were ten in total. After counting them, she began to cry.

Almathea moved back, unaware of how to comfort her. The little girl wiped her tears, "I am sorry for crying like this, it's just that this money was all my family had. Now..."

"Can you not take it back to them?"

The little girl paused and looked at Almathea with a little scrutiny.

"I - cannot."

She studied the area around them, noticing that it was only her, the donkey, and Almathea in the area. "You have not answered my question. Who are you?"

"Oh, I am..." Almathea paused. Should she give out her name to this stranger she had just met? The girl looked harmless though. She stood and tapped her chin in thought.

The girl looked at her, and shook her head, "if you do not want to tell me, how about I tell you mine? I am called Evy Laetitia." She bowed into a curtsy after introducing herself.

Almathea nodded. She had a really pretty name. "I am Almathea."

They shook hands. "Just Almathea? Do you not have a family name?"

Almathea shook her head quickly. She doubted it would be good if people knew her family name. That feeling was burning inside her once more.

"That's a pity. How about we share mine? We could be sisters!"

Almathea laughed and patted the little girl's head. "I do not think that we can become sisters, little one."

She placed her hand over her head as if asking why Almathea had patted her. "Don't pat my head like that. I am not a child."

Almathea cocked her head, "You look like a child though. How old are you? Thirteen? Fourteen?"

Evy gasped and placed her hand on her chest, "I will have you know that I am turning seventeen seasons in a few weeks."

It was Almathea's turn to be shocked, "Then why are you so short? You barely reach my shoulders."

"T-that." Evy flushed. "I will grow taller without a doubt! You just wait and see!"

Almathea laughed and patted her head once more. "Okay. You will definitely grow taller."

Without wasting a second, now that she was sure that Evy was not dying, Almathea strapped her donkey back to the cart. She then ensured she had not forgotten anything. When she was done double-checking all of her stuff, she turned to Evy, "This is where we part then. Don't get hurt again."

She was tempted to ask about the bloodstain on her chin, but she pushed the feeling down. It might not be something Evy wanted to speak about.

Almathea had only taken a few steps forward when Evy began to follow behind her.

She sighed and turned back. Evy's eyes were glossed over, "Please, I- I don't have anywhere to return to. Can I come with you?"

Almathea paused in her steps. She felt that having someone come with her was not a good idea in the slightest. Before she could speak out, Evy had begun to mumble something underneath her breath, "I promise that I will not be any trouble. I can pay you too." She clutched the worn-out pouch that had the few copper coins.

The taller girl sighed. She opened her mouth to refuse, but Evy continued to speak, "I do not eat a lot of food, so you don't have to worry about me finishing all the food. I can also hunt little animals and I know how to differentiate between different plants, so I will pick out what we can eat. I can also help you hunt monsters so that we can get prizes from it. I am not that strong, but I can be helpful."

Evy continued to ramble for a few more moments before Almathea raised her hand to stop her from speaking. "I understand. But the problem isn't you. I am afraid that if you come with me, you might get hurt. I do not have most of my memories. So I don't know if I am a danger to you if you do decide to come with me. Also, I am not strong enough to hunt monsters."

"It's okay. I can do everything, but can we journey together. Being alone is scary." Evy whispered the last few words, but Almathea still heard her.

Those words struck a chord somewhere within her. She felt like she had also wanted to be with other people, but she was stuck all alone.

Almathea shook her head. She could not believe that she was agreeing to journey with this small girl.

With a sigh, she spoke up, "Alright I guess. Can you clean the blood on your chin first?"

Evy raised her hand and rubbed her chin. The blood had already dried long before, so it was futile trying to wipe it without water."

Almathea waited as Evy ran back to the trickling water and washed her face. After washing her face, Evy looked over the river, at the land on the other side with a small frown on her pretty little face.

"Are you done?"

Almathea's words pulled her out of her reverie and she ran back to the cart. "Yes."

A few minutes later, they were back on the road that Almathea had diverted from. Contrary to how the road was deserted the previous day, there were small carts and carriages on the dirt road this time.

Almathea raised her brow at the now busy road. How is it that it was a large contrast to the way it had been the previous day?