The man sat Sonder down in the chair inside the hut.
As there was no other chair, he leaned on the table.
"So," he said. "Simple questions first. Who are you?"
Sonder looked up to him in a literal sense.
"My name is Sonder, also known as Blackbird."
"Blackbird? Not 'The Blackbird' or 'Black Bird,' as in two words?"
As this wasn't something she had thought about much, she said. "I guess it's one word. I'm not sure how Vell wanted it to be written."
"And this Vell, Vellichor. He's famous?"
"From what I know, I think he may be the most famous mage in the entire world."
The man rubbed his chin. "And you say that I look like him?"
"You do."
"A lot?"
"A lot."
The man played a bit with the featherling in his palm. "Would you say that he's younger or older than me?"
That made Sonder think for another moment. Vell was old, very old.
Was there even a chance that this man was older than Vell? Not likely.
"I would say he's older."
"And I guess he's been famous for a long time? I wonder how nobody ever told me. And I never got mistaken for him either. This all feels a little too… outlandish for me. Do you understand?"
"I do, but it's the truth."
"If you say so. I don't believe you're any harm, not to me at least, but you may still be a burglar caught in the act. But then again, we are in the middle of nowhere. What would a burglar do here, of all places? That would be a good place to start, wouldn't it? Why are you here, girl?"
Sonder realized that the truth did sound very strange.
She mastered the usage of a few Dico words to cast a spell to guide her to the thing she wanted most right now, and that guidance led her here.
But still, she told the truth.
The man listened, and his face scrunched up.
"That's weird. Why did it lead you here?" He asked, as confused as Sonder was. "I don't know you, and it doesn't seem like you know me, which would be weird in another way. Besides looking like your friend Vellichor, there doesn't seem to be anything linking the two of us."
Sonder folded her hands in her lap. "I don't know," she said honestly.
The man snorted softly. "That's good, in a way. I'd be worried if you already had a neat answer for that."
She glanced at the featherling, now drifting lazily between his hand and her shoulder, then back to him.
He drummed his fingers against the table. "It's kind of unfortunate that you came. I was having a very quiet year. So, you're not a burglar, but instead a mage on a journey. That's wondrous, I say."
"I'm sorry about going through your things."
"Don't be; you didn't steal anything and put everything back, didn't you?"
"I did."
"Well… How about we try to find out what led you here?"