Maria
*Jiang Hao traveled in the North of Ambrosia where the Kingdom of Kahlo lied, at the heart of the forest. He had been walking for a while, getting away from his home. It had been getting far too boring sitting in his cottage, and he was already all-too familiar with the city.*

*While he was walking, he spotted a herd of sheep. Pausing in his steps, he blinked as he stared at them. There were about 100 sheeps together. He tilted his head, contemplating to himself. It had been a while since he had mutton, and he missed the flavour dearly. He tapped his foot as he thought to himself, before he headed towards the group silently.*

*Jiang Hao carefully and quietly walked towards them, making his posture seem as unthreatening as possible. From his sleeves, he took out some alfalfas and held his hand out to one. It was trusting, far too trusting, and ate the alfalfas from his hand. The sheep was quite fat, surely delicious.*
Jeff
*The herd was all made of quite- uh, healthy looking sheep and goats. It's abit weird considering how all of them seemingly have thin coats. That isn't normal for a wild herd now is it?*

*Maybe the herd's shepherd is nearby? But in a land of hunters, shepherds are hard to find. Maybe it's a nomad? Is that possible??*

*Eh, who cares as long as they get a nice meat dinner. There are many ways one can could cook a mutton, either by braising or stewing it. He'll have to get a cookbook from one of the city's shops later.*

*Suddenly, a rustle could be heard from the bushes. . .*

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Maria
*Jiang Hao halted in his movements, eyes darting from the sheep to the bush. Perhaps a wolf coming to hunt for dinner? Are the wolves' habitats even nearby?*

*He kept an eye on the bush, before placing focus back on the sheep he was feeding. He was capable enough to defend himself against wolves, anyways.*
Ruth
**"STOP!"** *A figure said as they emerge from the bushes. Seemingly wary of Jiang Hao's attempt at trying to lead one of their sheep astray, for what they can only assumed for eating purposes.*

"Good day sir, may I ask what you're trying to do?" *They said, getting ready to strike the man's head with the crook incase he tries anything.*

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Maria
*Ah, so that was what — or rather, who was in the bushes. Jiang Hao hummed as he continued feeding the sheep alfalfas until it disappeared from his palm. He then stood up, raising his hands as an attempt to show the person to spare him from the... Crook. It looked like it could use some polishing. Well, he wasn't the shepard here, he supposed that he shouldn't judge.*

"Oh? I found your herd adorable. They look healthy, and I wanted to give them so alfalfas. Really trusting, your sheep are," *He replied, using a nimble finger to lower the crook. He had an eyebrow raised, his expression calm and curious.*
Ruth
*Their eyes squints, not really trusting what Jiang Hao said as the kind innocent truth, but decided to lower their shepherd's crook.* "Alright, sorry for the sudden scare. I was afraid you were one of those hunters with ill intentions."

*They muttered something under their breath, before continuing* "What is a young man such as yourself doing in the forest at this hour?" *Kohen questioned, tilting his head.*

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Maria
"Is it really wrong for someone to just walk around? It is not too late, not too early. I find it just the right time to walk around," *He answered coolly, a smile playing on his lips.*

*Jiang Hao used a finger to twirl his hair absent-mindedly. He bowed head slightly in greeting.*

"What's your name, stranger?" *He asked.* "I assume that you're the shepard for this herd here?"
Ruth
"Yes I am this herd's shepherd," *They said as they stick their shepherd's crook into the ground next to them.*

*The shepherd was unaware of the awkward way they speak. It's almost as if they hadn't talk to anyone in such a long while.*

"Ah- I apologize, it's improper of me to not introduce myself, My name is Kohen and you are...?" 

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Maria
"Kohen? A nice name, fitting for someone like you. My name is..." *He pursed his lips as he thought. Should he introduce himself along with his given name, or only his courtesy name? The person seemed... Almost as if they had not had a conversation with anyone in ages.*

"My name is Jiang Wu Bei, you can just call me Wu Bei," *He finally decided.* "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kohen."
Ruth
"Jiang Wu Bei..." *Kohen muttered that name to themselves for abit, before finally responding,* "It's uh- lovely to meet you too, Wu Bei."

*Suddenly everything went quiet for a moment as Kohen doesn't know what to continue the conversation with.. So the only natural thing? Small talk.*

"So uh... What do you work as Wu Bei?" *They asked.*

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Maria
"I'm an artisan, oh dear Shepard," *He chuckled.* "I'm assuming that it has been a while since you visited the city? Or rather, any other living beings at all?"

*He placed his hands on his back, clasping them as he looked over Kohen.*
Ruth
"Ah, uh-" *The Shepherd wondered if they should lie or tell the truth, though they don't know why they wanted to lie so badly about their pathetic social life.*

*In the end however, they decided to tell the truth* "This is my first time stepping out of my village since a very very long time."

"Infact, I don't remember the last time I've talk to a humanoid being... You're one of the first actually -"

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Maria
*Jiang Hao raised another eyebrow. It was far from surprising. In fact, it was to be expected. He could tell that the shepard was fairly isolated from everyone else. Perhaps it was for the best.*

"It's best it was me, and not someone else. Who knows? Maybe they would have ulterior motives," *He said, cocking his head to the side.* "For being someone who has been isolated for so long, you're fairly trusting of strangers."
Ruth
*Kohen thought about what Wu Bei said for a moment, thinking of what to respond with before finally saying-* "I trust the world to keep me away from harm until my time to finally depart, besides incase of any danger my herd would've sense it already."

*Just as he finished talking, one of the sheep bump their head on Hao's left leg, it seemed to have taken a liking to the strange artisan despite him being a stranger.*"Hm, it appears that Mushroom has taken a liking to you."

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