The sun completely settled in Pandara, completely darkening the wallpaper with the exception of a few speckles.

"Something must have happened, they couldn't have gone for this long."

Sharon grew more worried by the second.

"Should I go look for them? Maybe the king came to know of Hoshi and they captured him."

Sharon hurried at the front door but hesitated to twist the handle.

"(I can't, I don't want to go out at night. Even though I know all that was in the past, why haven't I coped with it yet?)"

"Useless outsider!"

"Go back to work! You whore!"

"We have no place for you here! Sleep on the streets!"

Vile remarks bombarded her brain.

"(No, that was all in the past. I must focus on my present and for those I truly care about)."

She opened the door, brushing aside countless oppugnant thoughts, to step into the forest pathway leading to the town's marketplace. The sulking darkness was countered as the trees began illuminating.

"Today's Soul night? Thank Cora," Sharon self talked.

Sharon took a few steps and halted when more remarks crossed her mind,

"You damn bitch! You are nothing. You should've just died outside."

"Work your ass off or I will take even that dried up piece of bread!"

"Damn it, shut up! Shut up!" Sharon vexed.

"They say, soul night, in which all trees and bodies of liquids radiate yellow light are reincarnations of pure souls that guide lost travellers."

A calming voice came from the right.

It was Kieri, who was sure that Sharon would be worried for her husband and venture out on her own despite her old fear.

"You're Hirishima's colleague right? What are you doing here?" Sharon asked.

"I came here to tell you what happened with Hirishima," Kieri addressed.

"Is he alright? All this fretting is going to be the end of me," Sharon worried.

"It's just that the warriors needed him for a special training session for young soldiers. Now, because it's late, he would be spending the night in the headquarters," Kieri stated.

"...And Hoshi? The boy that was with him?"

"Hirishima figured it would be best for him to join the young students and gain experience in first hand combat training," Kieri solemnly replied.

"Is that right? Why didn't he come to tell me himself? Why would he send you?" Sharon doubted.

"I insisted, he was tired after the session so I decided to help him out. Besides, it's dangerous for that kid to tread in the night," Kieri reasoned.

"I see, that's a relief."

Kieri's unfaltering expression made Sharon believe every word.

"You take care, I will head back now." Kieri bid farewell to the unwary wife who also returned to her house.

Next day, as the sun rose....

Hoshi woke up in a small filthy room with rays of light landing on his shut eyes from the broken ceiling. He was lying on a ground spread hay bed without any blanket on top.

"Where am I?" He flexed his trunk up to examine his surroundings.

The room was cramped with miscellaneous books, transcripts and broken crates. There was no sign of any furniture except a small table which had seen better days. The table had a plethora of different sized candles, a couple ink pots and a few brushes scattered on it. There was one door right in front of Hoshi with a half cut barrel filled with water right besides it.

Hoshi stood up and set his eyes at the writing on a scroll lying open on the worn out table.

"Those who rise from the mesial of our progenitor's judgment, will receive a boost in their fortunity of summoning virtuous from hell fire itself.

"(What does this mean? Who exactly was that hooded man? What time is it!? I should find Sir Hirishima, he must be looking for me. But first)," Hoshi planned before he looked down at the rough bandages that were severed earlier.

He removed them to expose a few linear scabs on his hands with no apparent bleeding. Next up, he opened the front door and entered an alleyway surrounded by large houses on each side. He rotated his head to take a quick glance at the wooden shack he rested in. The uneven structure suggested that it was built by an amateur who just desperately wanted cheap shelter. He began walking forwards only to be flabbergasted once he exited the alleyway.

He saw a huge open space with shops ranging from small stalls to multi floored houses. The street was well lit by the sun and was composed around a large well with aligned benches. There were a huge variety of people selling and buying goods. He saw people varying in gender, height, age, hairstyles and body shape. He even saw young children whose smiles filled his heart with joy.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"Amazing, the problem of recognizing different people must be non-existent here," Hoshi mumbled.

"Mother, who is that orange haired fellow?" A little girl pointed out Hoshi.

"Let's go." Her mother pulled her away.

"But why? He looks lost, shouldn't we help him?" The girl was puzzled.

Hoshi's joy was short-lived as many people began briskly walking away once taking notice of him. Others however, began to hoard around him and bombarded with questions and remarks.

"Is he an outsider?"

"How did he get here?"

"Is he a demon?"

"Ummm, my name is...." Hoshi was overwhelmed by the rising attention.

"I heard there is a spiky hair fellow at the main square."

"An outsider maybe? Or some lunatic?"

"We should go check it out!"

People around the hooded man conversed as he was buying steamed buns from a small stall nearby.

"Spiky hair fellow? Don't tell me.."

He unsettled at this news.

"Here you go sir.." the vendor packed two freshly prepared buns into a bag and forwarded towards the hooded man.

"Keep the change!" He swiftly snatched the bag and threw coins at the vendor before rushing off towards the crowd his eyes settled on.

"Hey! What's the hurry?" the vendor yelled.

"Where did you come from?"

"Orange hair? Never seen someone with them. Are you even from Pandara?"

"He must be an outsider! We must let the guards know!"

"Stay back everyone he could very well be a demon!"

A huge crowd gave Hoshi no room to breathe.

"He is not an outsider! Sorry everyone! He just dyed his hair orange! Isn't that right boy?" The hooded man pushed and shoved his way through the crowd towards Hoshi.

"Umm this is my natural-"

"His hair was naturally getting white because of some disease. So he hastily dunk his head into a cloth dye! That's all!" After interrupting Hoshi, the man tried his best to inveigle the crowd.

"Well that's one mystery, but what about his body? He is too brawny to be a kid!" a man demurred.

"Yeah what's up with that? What do you feed him?" another man added.

"It's just... We live in the mountains where we work really hard and face countless predators and bandits everyday. Hence, the jacked up body! Hahaha."

"Huh? Are you two hunters? Also, why should we believe someone who hides his face?"

"Yeah! Show us your face!"

The crowd still objected his statements.

"If this is what it takes to persuade you all, very well."

The hooded man gently took off his hood to reveal a very scarred and burnt up face with the lack of eyebrows and hair.

"Oh.. you look..."

"He looks like he has been through shit."

"He looks undead."

The crowd decided to step back after seeing his face.

"Look, I also look different, don't I? We are a band of oddities haha. So it's nothing to be anxious of! He is a Pandarian just like us!" He hid his dejection behind an unpleasant smile.

The crowd were disgusted and disturbed by the man's face and passed callous comments.

"Very hideous!"

"No wonder you hide your face!"

"Go back to the mountains you ape!"

"Yeah and take your lil freak with you!"

The man was clearly hiding his uneasiness under his forced smile. Realising this, Hoshi was about to confront those commentators but was stopped by the man who grabbed his hand and took him back in the alley. The crowd began dispersing and returning to their lives once the two left.

"Are you crazy!? Walking the streets on your own? Do you have any idea what laws we have against outsiders?" After entering the shaq, the man released Hoshi and scolded him.

"Your face, what happened?" Hoshi questioned.

"Worry about yourself kid, you almost gave me a heart attack back there." The man lowered his voice and sat down on the single hay bed.

"Why do you care about me that much anyways? Do you need me for something?" Hoshi asked.

"I do, but I will fill you in about that later. Here, eat this while it's still hot."

The man pulled out the packet of buns from his coat and handed one over to Hoshi.

"What's this?"

"You never had a beef filled bun before? It's one of my favourites!" The man took out his bun from the packet and proceeded to take a bite but was interrupted by Hoshi's sudden curiosity.

"What's beef?"

"Where are you from kid? Beef is a type of meat coming from a ... Why am I even explaining this, just eat up. It tastes good, that's all that matters."

The man began eating his bun.

"If you say so."

Hoshi kneeled down and also took a bite of his food only to be astonished at the flavour,

"Amazing! I have never tasted something this delicious before!"

"Right? It's heavenly! I may be poor but still can't go a day without these!" the man conceded.

"So, what's your name and what do you need me for?" Hoshi calmly asked.

"Your tone changed huh?"

"I can tell you are a kind person, the way you exposed your shortcomings for my sake confirmed that," Hoshi replied.

"(This kid.. reminds me of something that died in me.) I was such an idiot," the man whispered.

"You said something?"

"Huh? I said, you shouldn't trust someone just like that, they could be manipulating you know. I mean I am not but someone else could be!" the man blurted.

"Whatever you say sir."

"You... Never mind. My name is Xiang, what's yours?" Xiang asked.

"Hoshi."

"Sounds similar to Mochi, I dig it!" Xiang laughed.

"Mochi?"

"Forget it. Now then... wear this."

Xiang ate his food, got up and pulled out a large black hood with a cape to give it to Hoshi from under the haybed.

"A hood like yours? What for?"

"We are going out and this is your disguise, I made it myself from the clothes I 'found' at a bathhouse. You wanted to know why I saved you? I will explain everything outside."

Xiang pulled up his hood and walked towards the front door.

"Why not here?"

Hoshi examined the clothes he received.

"Can't you see? This place sucks! It smells like shit in here! I need a place more fitting for our conversation," Xiang tartly said.

"(Really? I thought he had a better reason than that.)" pondered Hoshi.

"Something on your mind?"

"It's Nothing."

Hoshi placed his hood on. It was a little big on the head but fitted nicely with his body. He looked as if he was departing to assassinate someone.

"Looks good on ya kid, I would even say you look second to me," Xiang chatted.

"Before we depart, may I ask what happened to my sword?" asked Hoshi.

"How do you think I bought those buns? Can't believe that old thing sold for that much."

Xiang's light mood was overwhelmed by Hoshi's glare once he finished that sentence.

"You did what!? Do you have any idea how precious that was to me!?" yelled Hoshi.

"(Damn, kid got serious in a fraction of a second.) Alright Alright, I will buy it back for you once we are done with this," assured Xiang.

"Done with what?" Hoshi backed off.

"Try to keep up will ya?" Xiang opened the front door and signaled Hoshi to follow who immediately nodded.

Both left the shaq to enter back into the main square with Xiang leading the way east of the large well.

End of chapter eight.