Standing in the doorframe of the cottage was an elegant and short girl. She had plain brown hair with a white shirt. Her hair was tied neatly in a bun. Her pants looked to be made of leather. Her outfit was quite similar to Lunar's in fact. The girl's eyes were blue with hints of green in the center. Her skin was a nice tan color with a tiny birthmark on her cheek.
Safe to say she was not mundane by any means. She had to be the most beautiful woman alive, she must be a queen.
The girl was carrying a basket which dropped from her hands when she saw Lunar. Her mouth was dropped for a split second but her face swiftly returned back to the gentle face that Lunar saw.
The girl stuttered for a moment before speaking
"Y-your up!" the girl almost yelled.
Lunar stayed silent for a little while his brow was furrowed but then he spoke.
"Um who are you and where am I" his voice was neutral, his body however was stiff. The outskirts never taught him much but when it did decided to teach the only subject it knew was survival. If you needed to steal it taught you how. If you needed to fight it taught you how. But the most important unit in the school of stink was *never trust anyone*
Lunar had been betrayed more times than he could count, eventually he stopped trying to make friends and started trying to survive. The only real connection he had was shrimp and he had disappeared a few weeks ago so there was not a soul in the world he trusted.
'Maybe it would have been different if he had never ran away'
Lunar shook that thought away as the girl spoke once again.
"Im Amilia, Amilia da Luthos" the girl's voice was kind, no sign of malice but Lunar knew better.
"Interesting name… im Lunar" he was hesitant to revile his real name but he could not come up with one and it might complicate things in the future
"And your middle and last name?" the girls voice was questioning
Lunar did not have a last name nor a middle name. Nor was he associated with any clan. If he did, I wonder what it would be. To be respected.
'Sir Lunar the mighty' ah only if.
There was another thing plaguing Lunar's mind. "Da Luthos" was not english nor did it sound like any known language but he was uneducated so it probably was one he had simply never heard of.
"I don't have a last or middle name"
The girl's eyes went wide for a second but they quickly returned to their natural shape.
"Oh um okay. So you're a peasant? Not that i judge or anything like that"
This girl doesn't know what's good for her.
"Your fine its basically true" he was basically a peasant in societal standard. He had never had a title and the thought of having one made Lunar quite happy of course the closest lunar was ever going to get was maybe getting a true name.
"You should sit please, you must have just woken up" Amilia said with a smile forming on her face.
Several minutes passed since Amilia had asked the moon to sit. He was now sitting down in one of the wooden chairs, basked in a ray of sunlight coming through the window. Lunar also had a cup of tea from one of the several plants in this area. It tasted good so Lunar did not mind. Of course he was suspicious of poison but if Amilia wanted to do anything to him while he was sleeping she could have already.
He did not trust her but he needed to gain her trust and since the number one rule in the dream realm is stick together then it would be nice to have a companion. He would need all the minds he could get.
Sipping the tea Lunar looked up at Amilia who was also greedily drinking the tea like she hadn't had water in days. You would think that I would be doing the same since getting tea on the outskirts was near impossible. Scratch that it was impossible. Most of the world is covered in pollution, and most plant life is dead. The only way to get tea would be by growing your own, or spending a fortune and if you lived in the outskirts and could afford tea what are you still doing in the outskirts?
The tea, as bitter as it was, also had a strange sweet flavor at the end which Lunar liked. This might be the only time he gets to try tea so he was not going to spit it out.
The two sat there in silence for a while until Amilia finally broke the silence with her voice.
"So Lunar… you're not from around here are you? I was wondering because you don't have a middle or last name. Most people around here have one of those unless there is a peasant and they stay at the castle and are burn marked and you don't have one of those. You said earlier that you were basically a peasant so you must not be one but something that similar"
The girl asked the question with a curious look. She was smart to say the least she deduced that all from a few minutes with Lunar.
Lunar coughed out of a slight nervousness. He couldn't just tell this girl he was infected by a disease that makes you fall asleep into a nightmare and she only really exists inside my head.
"Well im from a city called NCQS the name sounds weird i know i honestly don't even know what the name really is just the abbreviation. But I lived in the very outer settlement of the city so i dont have a family or a title or last name im just Lunar"
Just Lunar only Lunar.
"What family do you have, siblings or a mom or dad who did something impressive? Some people earn titles simple by doing something amazing or by being related to someone who did something amazing" amilia asked a easy question but it raised questions. Yes Lunar had a sibling, one sister, both his parents had disappeared a long time ago the government simply found the pair and told them there was no constipation or anything, their parents had died while they were working.
Lunar and Luna's mom was a kind lady from what Lunar could remember. Always trying to give them the world even though their circumstances would point to otherwise. The children's dad and the moms husband was a strong man but all so gentle he worked everyday for the kids and his wife. Their mom had only been with them on weekends and they hardly ever saw their father but they knew he provided the most for them and cared for them. Sometimes Lunar would wonder what his life would still be like if they still lived of course he barely knew them sadly so perhaps they were bad people with a soft spot he wished he knew.
However for his sister it was different they were twins born the same day they were not identical but they had super similar features like there features. Lunar did not know where his sister was; he only hoped she was adopted into a nice family. Even though they had a fight and he had run away from her when they were much younger, that was years ago and most of the anger he had with her left a long time ago and now all Lunar wanted was for her to be safe.
"I have 1 sister but im not close to her i haven't seen her in years and both my parents are dead" Lunar simply put the truth he may have grown up in the outskirts but he had manners this person did save his life after all.
"How sad. I wont push however your business is your business. I do have another question however. Why were you in the woods all alone? You're far from any civilization in the closest town. Well its more like a village is 50 miles away from here"
Lunar did not like this line of questions, if he were to tell this lady who he was and how he got here she would not believe him even for a second it's way too hard to believe so Lunar needed to come up with an excuse and fast.