Guided by Fate (Fiz-Bun Fluff)

Chapter 8

Fiz led me to a fairly large building, made out of stone bricks and set partially into the wall that surrounded the town. We walked inside and a small bell rang.

"Welcome!" An overly cheery man said, wearing what looked like a cross between a renaissance cosplay and a tuxedo. "You've come here for camping supplies, yes? What may I do for you?"

Fiz tapped her chin and spoke using a totally different tone than before.

"Um, we need, like, sleeping things? For outside?" She said in a slightly ditzy voice. What was she doing..?

"Oh, but if course, ma'am. Sleeping bags, tents, hammocks, what exactly do you need?"

"Well, like, I have one sleeping bag, but there's uhm, like, two of us. Can we get, like, another one?"

"Certainly, ma'am! Why don't I show you," He spread his hands and pulled a large, fuzzy sleeping bag out from the air. It was patterned in camouflage with lots of fur on the inside and a gemstone in the zipper. "My personal favorite! This one will keep you well hidden all night, thus keeping you safe from foes. After all, it's very dangerous out there."

"Is it?" Fiz asked. "Your posters said this place was, like, the most affordable, right?"

"Correct, ma'am!"

"And that, uhm, you'll make sure to provide the best choice for customers?"

"Correct again!"

Fiz suddenly dropped her accent and stared at him.

"Then why are you offering the most overpriced option?" She asks. "We both know the cloaking spell is barely strong enough to hide it from a wild animal, and that 'fur,' if you could call it that, wouldn't keep you any warmer than my outfit."

The man stammered, clearly caught off guard and cornered.

Fiz smiled playfully at him. "Soo~ what's an actual good option you guys have here?"

"I... w-well, we-"

"Keep in mind that, if you continue digging your hole, you'll be lying to a priestess." Fiz warned gently. Not trying to scare him, but warn him... I think.

"We have... several base models that are simply well-insulated. Outside of that, we deal mostly in... specialty gear," He said carefully.

"How much is it?"

"One gold... b-but for priests and government officials, it's only 75 silver."

Fiz smiled at me playfully. "Sounds good, right, Thomas?"

"Y-Yeah, it does. Here." I said, handing her the coins.

The man produced a brown sleeping bag, rolled up and ready for use - or storage. Fiz nodded and we walked away.

"Okay what the heck was that?" I asked.

"Huh? Oh! Well, I knew that that place had a bad vibe... so I tricked him." Fiz shrugged.

"Could you explain that a little better?" I asked.

"Bunnies are sensitive to a lot. The most notable things we can notice, though, are what I call vibes. It's kind of... I guess it's like leftover emotion? Ugh, that makes me sound like a succubus..." Fiz sighed, "But when people get scammed or tricked at a store, it leaves a sort of subconscious warning. I noticed that and played dumb."

"For what reason?"

"So he would pull out all the stops, silly! From there, I knew what kind of person he was and could tell when he was lying." She paused. "Well, guess. I was guessing when he was lying."

"That's... wow, that's really impressive, Fiz-Bun." I smiled, patting her head gently. She giggles, hopping slightly.

"Now we just need the fire stuff, right? There's a magic shop we can go to."

"Magic shop?" I tilted my head.

"Yeah. There are shops that sell gemstones packed with magic. There's one in town that sells flame gems, filled with Ember and Blaze magic," She smiled. "I ordered a whole bunch a while ago, and so Rasmodius has been hanging onto them for me."

"Wow, you really know everyone, don't you?" I asked, impressed.

"Well, I've been living here my whole life... mostly."

"Mostly?"

"I've left to visit other places or train magic, of course," Fiz rolled her eyes playfully.

We walked in silence for a moment.

"... did you have friends back in your world?" She asked finally.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I was in my first year of college - walking home from work - when I... was brought here."

I sighed.

"Would have been nice to say goodbye to people first. Maybe tell my mom and dad that I would be okay," I smiled gently.

"...do you miss them?" She asked quietly.

"It's not been even a day... but yeah. I do." I sighed.

We were quiet. I could tell Fiz felt bad for bringing this up.

"But... I guess I'm a bit of a stoic. I've always been the kind of person to accept my fate, even if it kind of sucks." I shrugged. "Do I miss them? Yeah. Can I do anything about it? Nah. So why waste time?"

Fiz looked at me, amazed.

"Wow... I guess that makes sense. Most heroes either ignore their past life, or are happy for another chance," She explained. "You're not like that, huh?"

"Nah. Not my thing, I guess."

Fiz giggled gently. "Sorry if this was a weird-"

"Don't be silly, Fiz-Bun. I don't mind." I rubbed her head again as we slowed to a stop in front of an old-looking tower.

"Here we are," Fiz smiled, her cheeks pink as she knocked on the tower door

He's gentle and sweet... it feels nice.

~~~~
Alright! Sorry about the delay between posts, I guess I lost steam a bit. I ended up making an extra long chapter today, explaining a bit more about Thomas' personality.

Anyway, that's all. Hope you've enjoyed!

World Building Update
7 Characters
12 Magic types
1 Town
5 Races

I totally didn't forget to count Zauz at the end of the last chapter sorryyyy