Kat

It's been about a week since I decided to let Sol travel with me. Well, more like I didn't want her to go off on her own again and hurt herself. Then I would feel responsible. People like her shouldn't be allowed to travel. Especially alone.

Sol's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "Hey, Kat, look! There's a town! And it's big!"

"That's great." I muttered, looking at the town ahead of us. Sol was right; it was huge.

"I know. Come on." She grabbed my hand and started towards the town, ignoring my protests. I huffed, snatching my hand away, and followed her at a normal pace. She must be really excited to sleep in an actual bed. Her head had, for the most part, healed. It bothered her occasionally, but it wasn't as bad as before. Thankfully.

"Hey, wait up." Sol heard me and stopped, looking back at me. She waved and grinned. I sighed and caught up to her.

"We should find someplace to eat. Then we can look around before finding a place to sleep," she said as soon as I reached her.

"Okay. You're paying for your own food, though."

She rolled her eyes and nodded. Instead of a sit down place, we each got food from stands. She got an apple and a loaf of bread, and I got chicken soup. We both got milk to drink. Well, that's one thing we have in common.

After eating, we discovered that, not only was the town big, but there were tons of people. Some of them looked a bit shifty, so I decided it was best not to trust any strangers. You're not supposed to trust strangers anyways, but still.

"So, what do you want to do? Look at some shops?" Sol asked. I gave her a look and she hurried to continue. "We don't have to buy anything, we'll just be looking, but, you know, it might be fun."

"Maybe." I was still distracted by all the people. How does Sol take no notice of them? "Just stay with me."

She smiled energetically. "Will do!"

A few minutes later, her eyes caught on a small shop a few yards away. Luckily, she thought before running off. She opened her mouth to say something, but I cut her off. "Yeah, I see it. Let's go."

I started to follow her, but something caught my eye. A shadow? It's broad daylight. An uneasy feeling settled over me. I turned back to Sol to ask if she saw it, but I didn't see her. I walked over to the shop she was headed to. "Have you seen a girl, my height, by herself, with black hair?" I asked the nearest person.

He looked over at me. "Maybe. When would she have been here?'

"Just now."

Rubbing his chin, he said, "I can't say I've seen her. Are you sure she came here?"

"This is where she… we were headed."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I can't help you."

I nodded and walked away, carefully looking around. She can't have gotten far. Maybe she saw something else? Or the same shadow that I saw? No, then we would've ended up at the same place. Where could she be? Great, this is just what I needed, a game a hide and seek. Let's see, if I was Sol, where would I go? That shop seems like a good option, but I don't see her anywhere around here.

I spent the next few… hours? searching for her, but I still came up short. before long it started to drizzle rain, which soon turned into an all-out downpour. I took shelter under an empty awning, watching as the streets cleared out. I don't blame them

Sol

Where could she have gone? Geez, I go to look at a shop, get pushed around by a bunch of people, and to top things off, I get separated from Kat. What could go wrong today?

As if in response, the light drizzle turned into heavy downpour, completely drenching me in water. Still, I refused to give up, and continued my search. What felt like an hour went by, with no luck, when something landed on my head.

"You know, if you stand out in the rain like this, you'll catch a cold."

I turned around to see a guy behind me. I couldn't make out many of his features through the rain, but by his voice, I guessed that he was about… a year older than me? I reached up to find a towel on my head.

"Oh, um, thanks, but I'm looking for someone."

He tilted his head. "Well, good luck finding her in this weather. You would have a better chance looking after the storm passes. Do you have a place to stay?"

"Uh, no…" I shook my head.

"Would you like to stay with me? Just until the storm passes?"

I studied him as carefully as I could. His tone didn't sound threatening, his words just sounded like an innocent question. "Sure, and where would that be?" If he lead me down an alley, I wasn't following.

"Right over there." He pointed towards a fairly large building, and I could just make out the word 'inn'.

I raised an eyebrow. "A hotel?"

"Yes, well, I'm just passing through," he said sheepishly. "Anyway, I'm soaked, you coming?"

"I guess."

I followed him off towards the inn, ducking inside after him. That's when I realized how wet and cold I actually was. When we go to his room. I sat down on the bed shaking.

He handed me a blanket. "Here."

I took it gratefully. "Th-thanks."

"You're welcome. So, who were you looking for?"

"My friend."

He lit a few candles, brightening up the room. As I watched, he pulled a towel off his head, laying it out flat on the floor. He was a few inches taller than me, with a lean muscular build. His hair was mainly gray, with streaks of brown, white, darker grays, and even black. His skin was fair colored, and it made me a bit self-conscience about my pale skin.

I noticed that he didn't respond. I broke the silence. "So, what's your name? Mine's Sol."

"Patch. Nice to meet you, Sol."

"Nice to meet you, too."

He sat down next to me. "So, tell me about this friend of yours."

"Well, she's strong, and confident, but she's not always the nicest person."

He nodded. "So, how did you get lost?"

I huffed. "Not lost, separated. And I really don't know."

Lightning flashed, and less than a second later, a crack of thunder boomed. I noticed Patch stiffen slightly. He spoke up, "Well, I for one am up for going to sleep. You?"

"Yeah, sure. Thanks for letting me stay here." There were two beds, which meant one for each of us.

"You're very welcome. Goodnight."

"Night."

With that, we both laid down in our bed and went to sleep.

Someone nudged me awake the next morning. "Hey, time to go look for your friend."

I opened my eyes, confused, before memories from the previous day came back to me. I looked up at Patch, who was standing over my bed. "Hey. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

I got up and we went out looking for Kat. Before too long, I saw Kat huddled under an awning. "Hey, Patch, I see her!"

Patch looked over to where Kat's head popped up. I ran over to her. "Hey, Kat, where have you been?"

She glared up at me. "Where have I been? Where have you been? I spent half the day yesterday looking for you!"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Well, you see,…"

"And who's that?" she demanded looking over my shoulder. I turned to see Patch walking over.

"Oh, that's Patch. He helped me find you…" I stopped. Kat was glaring at me.

She stood up abruptly. "Well, let's go."

"The weather isn't good for traveling." Patch's voice surprised both me and Kat.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kat asked, clearly offended.

"Look, the storms headed and that direction." He pointed towards the sky, and I could by Kat's reaction that's where we were about to go. "If you go there, you might get caught in the storm, but either way the soil won't be very good. It's too wet."

It makes sense. Kat looked ready to argue, but I stepped in. "Kat, he's right. We may as well stay here another day."

"Fine," she muttered. "Try not to get lost again."

We ended up staying at Patch's hotel room. Kat and I got the beds while Patch slept on the floor. In the morning, Kat told me to get up, and now we were almost done packing.

"So, where are you guys going?" Patch asked.

"What's it to you?" Kat answered.

"Be nice, Kat." I said. "I don't know where we're going. Just, moving on, I guess."

He nodded, and paused a moment before asking, "Do you mind if I join you guys?"

"Yes." Kat answered at the same time I said, "No."

There was a brief silence before I said, "No, you can come with us."

"But he…" Kat began to protest. "Fine, he can come."

"Thank you."