"Catch her!!"

One of the burly men roared towards the other two running on my other side, whom I feared were getting closer to me by each second. I weaved through the narrow streets for the dear life of me, somehow managing to not crash into clueless passersby and random crates and boxes laid out on the cobblestone path. It was, after all, a docking bay so the dense foot traffic was both an advantage and disadvantage to me.

My heart jumped into my throat as I saw in my peripheral the pig looking one reach to grab my cloak, but I fortunately managed to kick a pile of wooden crates into his way, causing a big enough crash to stall all three of them.

"Aaaah! Pesterous girl!"

I heard all three of them roar several more insults, but I didn't mind as long as I manage to escape them. My heart only eased backed into my chest when I finally managed to put a good distance between the notorious dock guards, but nevertheless I kept running and weaving through random streets just to make sure I've really lost them. Don't get them wrong; them chasing me was justified, because I, in fact, only illegally boarded the transport ship from Collossus and was not able to show any papers upon arriving here at Olega. But of course, I can't simply surrender because there's just too many people wanting my head on a platter right now. I'd much rather stay a fugitive, thank you very much.

Once I was out of breath, I decided to rest for a moment, but staying in the streets was still too dangerous so I needed to look for an open building to hide. Fortunately, I managed to come across a small shop and swiftfully entered, making sure that no one else saw me.

"Hello," a friendly yet somewhat disinterested voice greeted, and I looked up to see a man behind the counter (perhaps the shopkeeper). He was not even looking at whoever entered as he was too busy tinkering with a small gadget in his hand. I didn't bother respond and just proceeded to slowly walk around the shop, absorbing the surroundings as well.

There was a variety of items on shelves and even hung on the walls, ranging from small machine parts up to vials of potions or something. Some items looked very, very antique. Overall, it seemed like an "anything-you-need-we-have-it" type of shop.

"She must be here somewhere!"

My breath hitched in my throat as I faintly heard the voices of the dock guards once again. I glanced at the narrow windows of the shop and could see them carefully scan the streets, and the pig-man was dangerously close to the side of the shop.

As I continued to pretend to walk around the shop, all my senses were directed onto the pig-man attempting to sniff around the street right outside. My heart was already pounding so loudly in my ear and I don't even know if I was still breathing.

"She's not here!"

He announced, and all three of them finally jogged away from the area. I let out a long sigh of relief. I glanced at the shopkeeper and fortunately, he didn't seem to mind the commotion outside as he was still unbothered while tinkering his gadget. Perhaps, these kinds of things were normal occurence in Olega? It was a crowded city after all.

As I completed my route around the shop, I started to head back out the door when something near the counter caught my eye. It was a dreamcatcher.

It was dangling from the ceiling at one end of the counter, and as if in a trance, I reached up to touch the three black feathers adorning it. It was only palm-sized and was rather plain, but what caught me in awe about it was the fact that it seemed awfully familiar.

Yes, I've had several faint dreams involving dreamcatchers, but out of all the ones I've seen in person, this one gave me the most familiar feeling.

"How much is this?" I heard myself say, though I didn't even have any credit to buy it in the first place.

"It's not for sa--" the shopkeeper stopped midway, causing me to look at him in confusion. He was staring back at me in shock as well, as if he'd seen a ghost. My heart started to pump loudly once again. Did he recognize that I'm a fugitive? But that can't be. This is the first time I've been to Olega, and I'm not even that big shot of a fugitive to be well known across different planets.

He carefully put down the gadget in his hand and slowly walked towards me from his side of the counter, his expression morphing from shock, to confusion, then to fascination. Meanwhile, I was watching his every move, while my feet were ready to bolt the hell out of there at any moment.

Once he was right in front of the counter where I was, he slowly and carefully looked me up and down, and at this point I think he had memorized every pore, every mole, and every wound on my face with the way he was so intensely staring at me.

"You look exactly like her..."

He whispered, as his gaze stopped on my lips. When his hand started to reach out to touch my face, I finally snapped out of it and swatted his hand away.

"I'm sorry mister, but whoever you think it is, I'm not her."

Not even waiting for his response, I quickly turned around to leave. As I exited through the door, I glared at the man one last time before slamming the door shut. I'd rather go back to risking my life out in the streets than stay in that shop.

What a fucking weirdo.

***

Unbeknownst to the woman, as soon as she left the shop, Qimir peered through the window to watch her figure walking away. A small smile formed on his lips as he whispered her name.

"Elysia..."