Chapter 4: The real world Part 2

The caravan luckily hears him and stops for him or else he would probably have kept chasing them.

"Who's making all that noise." A smaller than Ghost, well-built man with a minor beard comes out of the first wagon.

He has brown hair and his short beard that went down to his chin showing hints of gray. "We have strict leaving times to keep on the time it is not our fault if you miss us. Hurry up kid I won't give you another chance."

"Thank you, sir" He increases his speed not wanting to cause the caravan to wait any longer.

"I am sorry for troubling you. A female elder said you probably won't be back for a while and I just don't have the time to wait for another means of travel." He says then full on bows to him showing how seriously sorry he is to him.

"There was no need to bow, but your apology has been accepted. Now tell me why a kid your age is hiding every part of your body and face. Also why you need to get to the next city so badly." He questions me while obviously trying to size me up.

"Everyone else thought that I was a dwarf I guess there is no use trying to fool the real thing. As for why I'm trying to hide my identity. Isn't knowing that I'm pretending to be a dwarf enough?" Ghost is utterly flabbergasted that he figured it out so quickly.

"Of course it is enough as long you won't harm my dear daughter that is. Humans and dwarves rarely meet each other so your act may work on them, but you're too tall to be a dwarf.

"Even while wearing that cloak I can tell you're too weak. Dwarfs may be small but we're proud of our muscles and our alcohol."

He emphasizes on the muscles by flexing his arm and as he looks around the wagon he sees various steel barrel laying around.

So it's the stereotypical dwarf race in this world. I wonder if there is a world out there with the opposite version of dwarfs.

"I see. Well, I promise you I shall do no harm to your daughter. I shall also promise you that if anything should happen I will do my best to protect your goods."

"I don't think a little kid like you will be able to understand your own limits, so just watch over my daughter if we get attacked no more no less. Understand?"

"Completely, I won't try to do anything that I can't do. By the way, you keep mentioning your daughter yet you have introduced her or yourself to me. I would, but sadly I can't. Also, what's the elder's name I never had the opportunity to ask."

His face shows signs of anger and then replies. "The elder is called elder. The king said to make it easier on him that all the leaders of the village should be both old and called elder."

"My real name is in dwarven tongue, but everyone just calls me Cat, since my wife does."

"My daughter isn't really related to me since my wife and I can't have a child. She's a unknown and if you insult her in any way I'll skin you alive. Daniela, I found someone your age that wants to meet you."

He yells into the back of the wagon.

-For a man even shorter than me he sure can yell.-

"Coming daddy!" Acute yell returns the previous rough yell at a much less ear hurting volume.

A small girl comes into the room with slightly longer and pointed ears. They are barely visible and wouldn't be noticed if one wasn't looking carefully for them.

She also has short blond hair ear length that looked like it would barely be able to hide her special ears. But her hair is tucked behind them instead.

"This is here my pride and joy. Daniela this young lad may be trying to hide it but he is around your age. I want him to hang out with you while we travel so both of you can meet someone your age."

The dwarf named cat boastfully shows off his adopted daughter while the young girl blushes out of embarrassment.

"You can call me Ghost it's nice to meet you. I haven't met someone younger than me in a while. It probably would be nice to act like a kid again."

Ghost says while still using his usual mature tone, that he uses to get jobs a bit too old for his age.

She tilts her head then says "you say old words. Aren't you always a kid. I mean you're not an adult so."

"Yeah, I guess you're right Daniela." Ghost openly admits that he probably shouldn't be using such a tone to speak to someone of similar age to him.

"Just call me Dani dad is the only one who uses that princess like name." The cute energetic girl keeps bossing him around as he tries to remain a good guest and not get kicked out.

"As you wish." He says while trying to remain like a caretaker instead of a friend because he doesn't want to make the seemingly short tempered dwarf get mad.

"You speak weirdly sometimes you know that? I think people shouldn't change nor hate others." She suddenly goes off talking about any random thing that comes to her mind not really thinking before she says anything.

"That is random and impossible you and I both know that." Ghost bluntly shoots down her go happy attitude in disgust.

"But, I want that! If I want that then others may want that. If others want that then." She tries to make a coherent argument but of course, with her nonchalant attitude nothing good comes from it.

"Then what? Not everyone will think the same way as you. For what you say to become true everyone in the world has to think like that." Ghost stops her from trying to fry her brain over an issue that is impossible to solve.

"Well, what if everyone does think that way and it's all a giant misunderstanding!" She says completely showing off how pure she still is even after what happened to her race.

"That's a long word coming from you and I don't think that the world would be better if everyone loved each other so there." Ghost gets more and more annoyed at how nonchalant she is about something so dreadful and serious.

About something that he was constantly pondering over solutions ever since he returned to Earth. All though considering his current attitude he probably still hasn't understood completely what he did.

"It's just a dream you don't have to squash it meanie." She sticks her tongue at him then storms off.

"Oi brat you didn't have to be so mean to her. I get you have matured a little bit too fast, but she is just your everyday bright young girl."

"Can't she dream of a peaceful world. Hearing that from a girl who is mistreated because of race warms my heart. How could you just go and destroy her like that."

"You're right I was wrong in both ways. I acted like a kid arguing with her then like an adult. Should I go in now and talk to her or wait till she comes to me?"

Him asking the elderly dwarf shoes his lack of interactions with humans and his inability to understand how they feel.

"I'm not your all-knowing guide you decide kid. That's part of life making your own decisions. I thought you would have learned that by now. Maybe you are more of a kid then I thought."

"Ok, I'm going to go talk to her then. She wasn't completely wrong in what she said."

"Fine, go straight inside and keep going till you see a pink door. Don't barge in knock and if she lets you in the good luck. If she doesn't then don't force yourself in. If I find you causing trouble to her I'm banning you from all of the carriages got that."

"Yes, sir. Thank you for your advice I will always try to remember it in the future." Ghost enters inside and follows Cat's instructions. He eventually finds the link door and knocks on it.

"Go away I don't care who you are. Even if it is mom I still won't let you in." A sad and lonely voice can be heard through the door. It hurts his heart a little that he actually caused her to become like this

"Well it is not your mom nor your dad, but I just wanted to say a couple words before I go to one of the other wagons."

"I acted wrong earlier and I am sorry. Your dream is possible, but having no one hate anyone isn't likely. Instead, you should change it to racial equality. So no one ever mistreats you or your parents." He says through the door hoping that this truth would cheer her up enough to have a stable conversation.

"Sniff is that really possible?" Her voice slowly changes from it's heartbroken to a little bit more upbeat.

"Of course it is. This caravan is evidence of that. No one minds you and the leader of it is a dwarf. Here I shall do everything that is in my power to make sure it can happen in this country. I know that may not sound like much but it is something."

She opens the door and hugs him then says back in her cheerful voice. "I believe in you Ghost!"

"Whoa, I don't know what I did to warrant a hug, but I'm glad you're feeling ok now. So you are not mad at me anymore."

He just awkwardly stands their without hugging her back and tries to understand why she hugged him. This again shows how lacking he is in social interaction.

"You think just a couple of words and a promise will make me feel better? I am holding you to that promise to make this world equal."

"I can't wipe out racism, but there might be a way to make it less common. I don't know how you're expecting me to do this. We just met and you have no idea about anything about me."

"You're the one that said you would do it." She looks like she is about to start crying again, while Ghost is stumbling around not used to being near anyone his age, much less a female.

-Ugh, she is right. Why did I have to say something so stupid? Well, I guess it's not impossible.-

"Sigh! You're right I did say that." He resigns himself to his fate of not being able to argue back to her and just tries to make her happy.

"So, what you want to play?" She once again has a one hundred and eighty degrees in her mood shift and asks about normal kid things.

"I don't know I never got to play with someone before. You're the first person who I met that treats me like a kid." Ghost goes back to talking in his trying to be old tone and slowly makes the mood more depressed again.

"The same everyone shuns me because of my race. How about we tell each other who our favorite heroes are? Mines the most recent one whose name was never revealed."

"Why he wiped out your race and put you in this situation! Shouldn't he be your most hated hero?"

Ghost is visibly happy about how someone actually doesn't think bad of him but pretends to not like the ''mysterious' hero.

"Don't let the story's you here fool you. Sure he killed hundreds of thousands unknown, but in the last battle, he spared everyone and single-handedly fought the leader. My uncle said that if they kept fighting the hero would have a bigger advantage."

"Was your uncle one of the people he spared?"

"Yeah, my uncle was all that I had before the war. Sadly he was killed by the people that the hero protected."

Naturally, if none of the people survived the incident than they would get rid of her uncle. The king probably wanted to rule over the unknown and his own people with Ghost's fearsome reputation.

"You know sometimes I think that the hero didn't even know the whole story and if he did he would have helped us."

"You may be right, but it doesn't change the fact that he didn't help. Wanna play tag?" Ghost tries to change the topic by being random and completely changing the topic from his sad past.

"Yeah."

He chases her around the tiny wagon while trying to cheer her up and stop these terrible conversation choices.

He never actually manages to catch up to her and after ten minutes he has to sit for a second and catch his breath.

"Wow, Ghost you've tried already. Why did you ask to play tag if you were going to get tired so fast?"

"I asked to play tag because I thought it would be fun. Also, no other games came to mind."

"Hahaha, you couldn't think of a game so you went with the one you can't do. Why didn't you just ask me for an idea?"

"Because I am an idiot."

"Honey mommy is home!" A soothing female voice is heard from the front of the wagon.

"Mom! Come on Ghost let me introduce you to my wonderful mother."

Ghost opens the door and sees Dani's elven mom. Her ears are longer than Dani's and have a sharper point.

With waist-length silver hair and eyes as blue as the vast ocean. Also, a modest-sized chest with long legs.

"Ghost this is my lovely wife Siena. Siena this is a guest that is staying with us till the next village. He is hiding his identity and he probably has his reasons so please don't bug him about it."

"You see if I'm this caravans merchant then she is my hired guard. She is also an amazing hunter which is great for saving money on food."

"Honey?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Can you be quiet and let me talk to our guest?"

"Yes ma'am, I'm sorry." She drags cat away and starts to whisper with him getting quieter and quieter. The last portion of the conversation is barely audible.

"Now Ghost I want you to promise me that you won't mistreat anyone by race while you are on this trip. I understand that you are trying to hide your identity and are probably a noble of some sorts." She shows him one finger.

Then she shows a second finger. "Second is that I won't make any promises to protect a noble, so if your life's in danger don't look to me."

"Honey, isn't that a little much?"

"I accept I can protect myself, probably." He interrupts the conversation before it drags on for the rest of this viewing.

"Ok then welcome aboard. I hope that you have a nice trip."

"Shouldn't you have run in there screaming mommy? You shouldn't pretend to be something you're not." Dani blushes a bright red then runs into the next room.

-And that's the difference between you and me Dani. Sister why did you have to leave me.-

The wagon continues along its straight path as days pass by along with it. Not even an interesting animal appears just plains. Trees slowly start to show up again and animals can finally be seen.

"I'm going to have to go out and hunt again. The food we brought wasn't fresh enough. Most of it will be spoiled before we get to the next village and I don't think you want to risk using the kingdoms supply ports."

"We can't if we do that we can pretty much kiss each other goodbye. Be careful this territory has had rumors of bandits."

"I know so always stay on watch and at least the magic beasts aren't as many."

"Wait if there are bandits in that forest then wouldn't they attack us after our guardian leaves?"

"Yes, but Ghost we really need the food and this is the best spot. It may have risks but if you don't take risks you won't get far in life."

"You sure you will be ok?" Ghost asks the motherly figure that he never really had.

"Of course I'm stronger than you think." She then leaves into the forest.

"Ghost, why hasn't mom, came back yet it's been hours."

"Come on out and give us all your supplies or we will kill you all starting with your youngest!"

"Bandits!" Someone screamed in the distance then a wagon is set ablaze.

"I thought I told you not to destroy the wagons." A tall buff man yells at a lanky skinny man.

"Sorry boss but they were acting suspiciously." The lanky man replies obviously scared and shaking about why he got promoted to his new job.

"Ghost don't leave the carriage to let me talk to them. Protect Dani while I try to negotiate for our lives."

"Good sir, if what you need is supplies then I can give it to you just don't harm anyone anymore then you have."

"Little dwarf are you the leader?" He says while pointing at Cat.

"Yes, I would like to call myself the leader." Cat replies in a polite tone.

"Hand over someone to us and then start giving us all your supplies." He orders Cat who's flabbergasted about the sudden order.

'Why do I need to hand someone over?" Cat's voice turns from confident into a very shaky and confused at the sudden change.

"Because you have to have some guards. I need to use someone as a hostage to make them surrender." He replies back as if it was obvious.

"Cat let me go." Ghost goes out and asks to be the bait to get closer to the bandits

"Ghost?"

"It's ok I have a plan. Mister, I'll be your hostage please don't harm anyone." Ghost tries to talk in the more innocent voice he can. Kinda like how Dani naturally talks, but a bit more forced.

"What a nice little lad or are you take off the mask."

-Dang it if I take off the mask they might figure me out. Well, this is in the middle of nowhere what's the worst that could happen.-

He takes off his mask slowly but surely. The bandit leader doesn't seem to care much about how Ghost looks.

"Plz don't harm me or my friends, mister." He asks him still trying to sound like how Dani usually talks like.

"Hmm, red eyes and blue hair. Do you wear that mask because you look like the hero? I would hide too if I looked like that monster. You can put it back on."

Ghost quickly puts it back on being scared that someone would realize who he was and be hated for his mistakes.

He slowly starts to walk up towards the bandits. "Please don't hurt me."

-Let's see there are only 10 of them I should be able to do it.-

"Don't worry I won't but I need another hostage. This one gave himself up too easily. I don't recognize him so that means he's new to the group. Dwarf give me your daughter the pride and joy of this group."

The bandit asks while seeming that he knows this caravan a bit too well and is actually targeting this group on purpose.

"Please no." Cat tries to stop them from taking his precious daughter but Dani stops him trusting Ghost.

"It's an ok dad" Dani goes up to the bandit leader courageously.

"It's ok Dani There is nothing to be afraid of." Ghost tells her as he can see that she's shaking from fear.

"I promise you that as long as I can see you will be safe." Suddenly 10 bandits fall to the floor. "Phew, that wasn't fun."

"What happened?" Cat asks staring at Ghost in shock at what the little kid just managed to do.

"Your wife called me a noble, didn't she? What happened was magic. Enough said." Ghost still doesn't want them to know that he is a mass murderer.

"Well we promised that we wouldn't ask about you, so then I you for saving us." Cat starts to talk respectfully to Ghost, but slowly stops after realizing that it would probably not be what he would want.

"Cough! you monster."

"Oh, you're still alive. I have a question why did you target the young girl and this group's supplies. If you lie you won't die but it will surely hurt." Ghost gives him a half-assed threat while trying to bluff his way into some convenient information.

"Spit! and how would you know if I'm lying."

"Touche."

"What?" He looks at Ghost confused as does everyone else, because of the lack of a good translation to some of his words.

"Nothing, fine if I think you're lying it will hurt a lot. Now let's see how does having a heart attack feel?" He tries to ignore the embarrassment of the translation not working that well for his joke.

"Ok, cough I was hired to take their supplies and kill the girl."

"By whom." Ghost starts to mess a bit with his blood

"I don't know he sent a representative to the meeting. Please, I don't have an idea."

"Well thank you for your patronage." His eyes go lifeless. "Well seems someone is targeting you and before you ask no this sadly wasn't my first time killing."

"What happened to mommy?"

"Judging by how the men were acting she's fine. They were probably too afraid to attack us while she was here. They needed you for when she came back."

"You sure?"

"Positively."

"Thank you, Ghost."

"So now we should just wait?"

"Probably." He continues talking even though it isn't in his power to decide where the caravan ends up doing.

A female comes out of the forest dragging an elk bigger than probably two of her. "Hey guys I caught a gigantic elk it's big enough to feed is for the rest of our trip. What happened?"

"We got attacked and Ghost saved us, mommy. I was so scared." Dani says while running into her mother's bloody arms. She starts to cry out and pushes her face into her mother's chest.

"It's ok honey I'm here for you. Thank you for protecting my family." She pats her daughters head and starts to be very respectful to Ghost after realizing how mean she was.

"Your welcome, as you said we should have enough food for the rest of the trip. So we don't have to go through something like this again."

The sky gets to its peak of noon when they arrive at the next village and everyone decides that it's best that they stop here, for now, to let everyone rest and relax.

They all agree that after the bandit fiasco some of the members of their caravan might want to just sell their goods instead of waiting any longer.

Dani takes Ghost outside where the horses pull the wagon and then points out at the wooden city in the distance.

There are walls like the first city, but this time they were not made out of wood. Instead, they are made out of a much more solid material maybe even concrete, but Ghost doubts that they have the technology for it.

"Ghost look it is the next city. The proud city of Gervis. Which is, of course, named after our grand king. Who is the only one who can protect us from the nobles."

"You admire the king?"

"Of course who wouldn't. He started out as the ring of his family but now look at him. He was also very kind from what daddy told me."

"So, you like the king and his story yet you don't even remember that his name is Belin and not Gervis? Anyways, I've been wondering why does your mom call him Cat?"

"Uhh, was that the name of this city oops. Some people probably got mad at me for saying that instead, but I doubt everyone will mind my little error teehee. I don't know. Mommy why you call daddy cat?"

"Because dearly, he is just so small and adorable. Also, he is so docile the only thing that can fit him is cat." She goes off remembering when they missed each other and starts to go off into her own little world.

"Docile when we first met he threatened to kill me." Ghost wakes her up from her sweet sweet memories and laughs at what Ghost just said as if it's the funniest thing she has ever heard.

"He wouldn't have done it dear. He has a temper, but he can't really harm you. I got a brilliant idea! How about you take Dani out to visit the town. She doesn't really get to go out often since we are constantly doing work and I feel bad."

She says while staring at Cat completely lovey-dovey and hints at Ghost to leave them for a bit.

"Ok, I promise I'll protect her."

"You better." She starts to actually threaten him seriously unlike Cat who probably said it half-heartedly. There's even a little bit of killing intent in the air.

"Shouldn't we ask dad first?" Dani asks while being confused at why her mom is suddenly pushing her away.

"It's ok dear go and have fun I'll talk with your father when he gets back."

"Thanks, mom. Let's go Ghost."