STAGE THREE: A Name to Call
Wearing a pair of woven sandals and a set of used clothes from the kind innkeeper, Freyja no longer stands out from the crowd. Now that she's feeling so much better, she left the inn to find her way back home. Luckily for her, the silver-haired young man already settled the bills before he left.
Indeed, it was an entirely different world. There is absolutely no way that floating crystals, strangely illuminated daggers and animals that looked like flying puppies could exist in the same Earth that she knows.
The city is bustling with people. And looking at them closely, they don't look much different from the humans Freyja is familiar of. Merchants are everywhere, shouting, peddling their goods. There's so much people, she would squeeze herself amongst the crowds just to get through to the other side of the road.
"Excuse me, let me through please!" She's starting to get tired, thirsty and hungry. There are meat buns, fried treats on sticks sold all over the city. But much to her disappointment, she didn't have a single cent on her. "Kirin." The first thing that came to her mind, was him. And this gave her an idea. "That's right! I'll go and look for him!"
Feeling miraculously energized, she dashed through every street, searched every nook and corner, peeked through every window hoping she would find him. Over and over, she searched but to no avail. The sun is starting to set, and her stomach grumbled louder than it has ever sounded in her entire life. Her legs wouldn't move anymore and she's starting to get nauseated. The excitement she felt earlier, is nowhere to be found now.
"Did he leave already? But, why am I looking for him anyway?" She thought. He was cold. He even said cruel words to her. But Freyja wanted to see him, like a newly hatched chick, chasing after the first one she saw.
"Well, well, little girl, what are you doing in this place by yourself?" Three buff men, wearing shabby tunics suddenly approached her from behind. Freyja stood on guard, now traumatized with random strangers approaching her.
"You see, you need to pay so that you could sit there. This is our territory." One said, eyeing her from head to toe. Unlike those hooded men who tried to kill her, Freyja sensed no similar murderous intent from these three. She apologized politely. "I'm sorry, but I don't have money right no-" Even before she could finish, one of them grabbed her arm. "Look, she'll definitely sell for a high price!"
"Yeah! We could to sell her to rich customers. She looks like a foreigner..."
"Let go of me!" With the little Aikido that she learned, Freyja managed to get away from the man's grasp. She grabbed a nearby stick and began hitting them hard. "OUCH! Now you're gonna get it!!" Agitated by her resistance, they ran after the now fleeing girl.
She almost escaped, but her unfamiliarity with the city roads, she ended up facing a dead-end in no time. Behind her, the three thugs heavily panting. "You brat!"
Obviously, Freyja can't win against the three of them. As they charged at her, she crouched, one thing—just one thing, came to her mind. "Kirin!"
That name escaped her lips. She didn't have a name to call but his. A brief moment of silence until a lightning bolt seemed to have fallen from above. Freyja felt it, HIS presence.
"WHAT?"
In the middle of the scene, Kirin came from up above, just like an angel sent from the heavens to her aid. Freyja was frozen solid in surprise, she could only watch Kirin effortlessly evade the punches of these goons.
"Tsh, you're looking for trouble pretty boy..." The thugs were confident. It was their territory after all, and they have the privilege to kill them without getting into trouble. They unsheathed their swords and with no hesitations, they charged at Kirin who just gave off a bored expression.
"Kirin! Watch out!" Freyja was about to jump in to help, but even before she could do so, Kirin disappeared before their very eyes. While the thugs were still wondering where he went, Kirin re-appeared from behind them, like a phantom. With a single blow on each of the thugs' napes, they instantly fell unconscious.
Freyja is still frozen solid, staring at him in bewilderment. Kirin looked at her and sighed. "Tsh, you're nothing but trouble, aren't you?"
"K-KIRIN! It really Is you!" She ran to him, examined him, pinching his arms, his legs and even his cheeks. "IT IS YOU!" She happily exclaimed, subconsciously clinging onto him again. "Are you a ninja? A super hero?" Extremely amazed that such a person exists. "A samurai, perhaps?"
"STUPID!" He flicked her forehead hard. "Haven't I told you to run away!? You see what happened? If I hadn't come, could you even imagine what they would have done!? Listen kid, the world is full of people like them. Worse, even!"
Freyja laughed at her own idiocy, and luck.
Kirin was about to turn his back, when the girl grabbed the sleeve of his shirt. Freyja, started sobbing... then, crying so hard. But she's smiling. Something he found very strange. She wouldn't wipe the smile off her face. If she did, she felt that she'd be giving up. It made her feel stronger. It is the only way she can bring herself to move forward. "Thank you..." She thanked him, again and again. Smiling, and tears gushing from her eyes. "...for saving me." She squeezed his sleeve.
Kirin said nothing, but just found himself, holding the girl gently in his arms. "Don't cry. You look weird." He whispered. Kirin raised her chin, and for the first time, their eyes met so closely that they could clearly see each other's reflection in them. With his hand, he wiped her tears off. "I said don't cry!" His usually straight face, now had a hint of panic.
Kirin let go, turned his back again and sighed. "Do what you want. But I'm warning you, you'll be in greater danger if you follow me."
Freyja's face lit up. Her eyes sparkled. Roughly wiping her tears she energetically nodded. "YEAH! OF COURSE!" Kirin started walking, and Freyja, ran after him. "Kirin!" She called his name out, cheerily.
Kirin smiled inwardly, realizing that it is the first time that someone called his name with a smile.
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