Day Thirty.

The month since the attack on the American girl Hope and her three friends had passed with not too much activity from the Ganado. The girl had largely stayed in the lakeside cave that The Merchant had made into his home since the Las Plagas first started infecting the village. She'd venture out only sometimes just to get a breath of fresh air, but the Spanish Autumn was approaching now and she had made a comment about how it was warmer in the shack they were living in. The Merchant wondered if she was just too scared, too nervous to leave at all. He didn't really blame her.

The initial awkwardness of not really knowing someone and being forced to be in their company had long since passed. The Merchant, who was more of a reserved fellow when it came to relating to others, dare say that he was quite fond of Hope. It was nice having her around. He was never really lonely; he preferred solitude mostly, he'd always been a little shy to get close to anyone. But it was just...nice, having another human to talk to.

He had learned that she was from the Southern region of the United States. He could guess that from her accent initially, but she spoke fondly of where she was from, how it was warm and colorful and smelled like honeysuckle in the Summer. The exact opposite of the village at this point, he thought.

Hope and her friends had come to Europe for a grand backpacking adventure. She had mentioned she wasn't one for the outdoors to The Merchant quite a few times, but had caved to her friends' suggestion that she get out to "explore the world". They ended up in this remote part of Spain, which made The Merchant a little sad that they had such bad luck. Wrong place, wrong time, he thought.

She didn't like talking about the demise of her friends, so she usually got really quiet when The Merchant asked her about how she ended up here. So he left it alone.

She was pretty friendly, like himself. It took her a bit to come out of her shell, but when she did, it was like they were old friends. She liked to help The Merchant around the cave. She'd cook the fish he brought back from the lake better than even he could, those months prior to her arrival. She liked to make meals out of the produce he'd bring back every morning, not that the meals were too extravagant or anything, but he appreciated her attempts at normalcy in this dingy place.

At night, before The Merchant would slip out of the cave, he'd take some time to talk to her, to get to know her better. Hope loved creativity and talked in grandiose sentences about her hobbies, like how she enjoyed art and enjoyed creating things. The Merchant liked that about her. She was passionate.

Whenever she'd ask him about himself, though...

He didn't like talking about himself.

"Hey, let me ask you something," she had said one day, quizzically grinning, "what's your name?"

The Merchant chuckled his signature laugh.

"That's not important, now is it, stranguh?" he simply said. He called everyone stranger, even if he knew their name. He liked to keep a distance between himself and others, no matter how much he enjoyed their company.

Hope looked disappointed, but rebounded quickly. She started talking about herself again, filling The Merchant with a bit of relief.

He didn't like talking about himself...

He started to remember his past life, before he'd came to Pueblo. His life in Britain, his discharge from the military there, his own friends and family and how he'd never see them again...

Maybe one day he'd tell her about it, but today was not that day.

"Hey, Merch!"

He snapped out of his thoughts and looked to his left, towards Hope, who was leaning on a barrel with her arms crossed.

She had started calling him ''Merch', which he didn't care either way about. He thought it was kind of cute, actually. Better than asking him for his birth name, anyway.

"What is it, stranguh?"

Hope batted her eyelashes and give a small grin.

"Merch, what do you say I come out with you tonight? I'm getting super bored in here. I won't say a word or get in your way, I promise! I just need a change of scenery..."

The Merchant chuckled again.

"Stranguh, it's too dangerous out there. Besides, I don't want ya gettin' hurt. Gotta have ya around, y' know? I-"

Hope had gotten closer, VERY close, and had her arms around his elbow.

"Pleeeease? I know those bastards won't hurt me if you're around! You'll be like my personal bodyguard. I just wanna see what you do all night when you're not here. You don't even get any sleep..."

Hope was looking up at him with her big, beautiful brown eyes. They were no longer smudged from her makeup, and The Merchant could see her long lashes clearly now. How could he say no? He sighed.

"Alright, stranguh. But there's some things I need to tell ya now, before you're expecting a fun trip out on the lake..."

Hope listened intently, smiling.

—-

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU STEAL GUNS FROM A MILITARY BASE?!"

Hope was in shock. She rarely raised her voice, especially not to the mysterious Merchant she'd come to somewhat adore. But after hearing him tell her that he regularly goes to a nearby island to steal weapons?! What the HELL is he thinking?!

"Stranguh, stranguh..." he started, but Hope was having none of it.

"How could you do this?! Like, I don't care if you steal weapons or whatever, I couldn't care less," she began, her face red and puffy, "But you're going to get yourself KILLED doing that! A MILITARY base! I've never..."

The Merchant that stood before her rolled his blueish-silver eyes, admittedly irritating her even more.

"See, this is why I haven't brought ya with me before, mate. I knew ya'd not understand, but I PROMISE ya that nothin' is EVER gonna happen to me. I have to keep my business runnin', y' know, I HAVE to get weapons somehow...!"

Hope calmed down a little bit, crossing her arms and looking at the dirty floor beneath her boots. His business, eh? The one with no customers...?

At least, not that she knew of...?

"Fine." she spat out, "but I AM going with you. I'm not letting you do this alone anymore. I don't want to be cooped up here for eternity and I'm not going to let my only ally perish because he took a soldier's toy water guns from him."

The Merchant nodded.

"Fine, stranguh. But let's hurry. It's almost night an' I gotta get back before sunrise."

Hope forced a tiny smile.

This was either going to be terribly fun, or go terribly wrong.

—-

A/N

So here's the second chapter. I'm very excited to start writing more to this story. I've got the whole thing planned out, it's just hard to put some of it into words. I hope readers are enjoying it so far. I feel like as beloved as the Merchant is, that he's still under appreciated to some degree. I enjoy writing him and I hope my OC isn't too boring hehe. Thanks again and have a great day!