"Aahhhh...another day, another adventure..."
A young girl rises from the forest floor, stretching and popping her bones. She stood taller than most women her age, but then again, most women weren't adventurers either. The most striking part of her wasn't her self-proclaimed beauty though, and neither was it her scarlet red hair. No, although hardly anyone would ever be allowed to see it, what stood out the most was her single pointed ear, or to be more precise, the one, normal round ear she kept hidden in her hair at all times.
Although half-elves aren't that rare in the first place, they could usually pass off as elves in public and avoid being scorned and hated for simply being different. This girl, Serilia Blindseer, or Sera for short, was different, her odd appearance betraying her origin at a single glance, and although she hated it, she learned to live with it.
Presently, Sera was camping near a large forest lake. She had decided to stick around a few days to appreciate the sight, and the fish.
"Rod...bait...lure...alright, let's go!" Walking away from her camp, she headed to the lake, then sat near the edge, flinging out the bait and lure. Fishing was one of her favorite activities, and she was great at it. It took less than five minutes for the first bite to come.
As she fished, there was one odd thing that kept her a bit on edge. She would occasionally feel some sort of presence, or gaze, from the same direction across the lake. After eating lunch around noon and coming back to fish more, she still felt it, and it was much closer than before. When she took a glance in that direction, she thought she saw a silhouette of someone, but she couldn't be sure with all the trees and bushes. Either way, she decided to be prepared if anything wanted to do her harm, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Sera kept her battle spear close just in case, although she heard there weren't many predators in this forest.
Night came before long, fish roasting in the warm fire. "Another good haul of fish...maybe I should change profession...hmm?" Sera looks across the fire, a faint silhouette in the dark trees. 'Okay, let's try diplomacy first...'
"Umm, hello? Is anyone there?" The shape moved slightly, confirming that there was in fact someone there and it wasn't her eyes playing tricks on her. "Are you hungry? You can come closer. There's plenty of space." It seemed like they were hesitating, but they slowly walked closer. They wore a hood over their head, hiding most of their face, but judging by the way they walked, Sera could deduce it was a girl. She sat down on the opposite side of the fire, looking into the fire. Not a single word, but Sera smiled anyway. She liked helping people, and it wasn't like she was in desperate need of all the fish she had. In a minute or two, Sera grabbed one of the skewers of fish that were roasting, and walks around to the girl. She immediately tried to avoid her, crawling backwards, so she stopped approaching and just stretched the skewer over to her. She looked back and forth between the fish and Sera, then quickly nabbed it and started nibbling at the fish. Sera walked back, taking her own skewer, placed more in the fire, then sat back down.
"There's plenty more, so help yourself." The hooded girl nods shyly, still eating. "Do you have a name?" They suddenly froze at that, ignoring the question. "O-oh wait, sorry, where are my manners...gotta indroduce myself first. My name's Serilia Blindseer, but just call me Sera." "Ahh..." The girl opened her mouth, then closed it, still nervous. "..Mary..." She puts the finished skewer aside, then quickly nabs another one from the fire. She was very fast and agile, Sera noted. "Mary...that's your name?" The girl answers with a small nod, confirming her identity.
After that, converstion became scarce, although Mary gradually got less nervous, now sitting closer to the fire and a bit closer to Sera, although she might've just been getting cold. As she was thinking that, she saw Mary starting to wobble a bit, so she went to her pack and pulled out a small blanket and a rolled pack of clothes. She looks at her own, big and warm-looking blanket, then sighs. 'Why do I have to be so nice..?' She grabs her bigger blanket and fluffy pillow and hands it to Mary. "Ah..? ...Thank you..." Nodding and smiling, Sera head back to her spot, lying down and draping her small blanket over her. It didn't even cover her feet. "Good night, Mary."
Even with her less warm stuff, Sera fell asleep pretty quickly. Mary, on the other hand, couldn't, as she soon realized how considerate this person was towards her. She was a stranger, yet gave her her warmest blanket and pillow. "mmm..." With light movements, she approaches Sera and lays next to her, covering both of them in the blanket. Although she was nervous, she couldn't let this new acquaintance freeze because of her. And so they fell asleep next to each other, on this quiet, peaceful night.