Stalker

Chapter 2:A Much Needed Friend

To my surprise, I slept well my first night in my new little home. There weren't any nightmares, there weren't any bad memories, and, most importantly, there was no Mother Gothel to wake up to. It was probably the best feeling I've had in a long time. 

Sitting up to stretch, I glanced around my room only to have my stomach rumble as loud as a growling bear. 

"Oh yeah..." I remembered, feeling stupid for not stopping by the town yesterday after I arrived. "I don't have any food." 

Getting dressed was never a long task for me to do. Sure, my hair was always an obstacle, but I had slept in my braid the night before so it was much easier to deal with as I got ready for my day. I splashed some warm water on my face, brushed my teeth, and tried my best to make my dress look decent since I haven't changed clothes in almost a week due to all of the traveling that I had to do to get here.

"Looks like I'll probably need some clothes, too," I chimed, starting to take note of all of the little things that I'd get to get in order to be well off. "Hmm.... And maybe a few decorations, too!"

With my empty bag slung across my shoulders and a decent sized wad of money stuck inside its pocket, I set out for the town, which was fortunately very close by. I started to smile when I felt my bare feet touch the soft dirt roads leading into town. I've never once worn a pair of shoes and I had only felt solid, natural ground a few times in my entire life so it was always an enjoyable experience to finally be able to have the freedom of walking wherever I wanted and experiencing what it felt like to be outside and a part of the world. 

As I walked closer into town, I noticed a few people nearby eyeing my strange appearance, specifically my shoe-less feet. But I didn't care. I was just happy to be here. It was a very different feeling from what I had yesterday when I arrived and I wanted to make sure I cherished all of the good feelings I get since I didn't feel them often. 

The town itself wasn't too much bigger than what I saw on my carriage ride in and it was easy to recognize all of the shops and food places around. One by one, I went into all sorts of stores and food markets to buy the basic necessities I needed to get my new life started. And it was super exciting! Instead of making my own clothes, like I did with Mother Gothel, I was now able to browse around and feel like a normal person. I did my own grocery shopping by myself even though I wasn't sure what all I wanted to get. After all, Mother Gothel always bought the groceries for us so I never did learn how to do it. I got a few plain vases as well to bring home and paint on to help give my house some color to look at. Despite refusing to buy shoes, things were starting to looking up. What was even better was that the items here were very cheap to buy! And that went fantastically with how limited my money was until I found somewhere to get a job. 

A job...

I've never had one of those before...

I hoped and prayed that I could find a place that I could do well in. I didn't know what it was like to have to work or pay bills since Mother Gothel had always sheltered me from everything "worldly". Hopefully, with the new dresses and supplies I obtained during the afternoon, I'd be able to look presentable enough to get a job to help me along. 

"Shopping spree?" An unfamiliar voice spoke up, startling me greatly. The only people that I had talked with up to this point were those that worked in the shops I bought things at. Other than them (and the people who kept staring at my bare feet), no one payed me a second glance. 

My head flipped around to see a nice, handsome-looking young man with longer brown hair, with a little braid weaved in, and a light beard growing on his face. He wore attire very different from everyone else here; a loose white shirt covered with tough leather armor having a scale-like texture on it, brown pants that were fitted tucking into black boots, and he carried around a helmet that matched his armor in is hand.