"Yes, I guess. I mean the trees had some outlines too, though they were fainter," commented Calden quietly to Astrid's question, before the strange kid had rushed them.<br/><br/>The kid took a small step back from Astrid when she was being spoken back to. For a moment she squinted at this new arrival, not quite sure if she had heard right. Then, the surprise shifted to pity and further rather quickly into simple amusement. The kid covered her mouth with both of her little palms. Her eyes however remained visible and could not hide the laughter in them, not that covering of the mouth did much to muffle her giggles either. She turned away from Astrid and the giggle grew to full on uncontrollable burst of hilarity. However, the kid was no stranger to these. With immense focus, she drew in a big breath that puffed her cheeks and let it out. She repeated this thrice before being able to face Astrid again. Her eyes were still slightly moist from tears.<br/><br/>"Ahhh... missy you are really daft aren't you?" The voice was just as bright as her smile. "Is this your first time being pick-pocketed or do you not even know what the word means? Hehehe..." She was biting the lower lip out of excitement. Clearly, from the reaction of rest of the townsfolk so far, travelers were not all that uncommon over here, but this little kid in particular seemed to find them (or at least Astrid) more fun than it made sense. "No, I'm not hungry," she stated, very matter-of-factly. "But, uhhuh! Money is pretty, look!" She brought her hands to the front from behind the back and held up a single silver coin towards Astrid's face. It was big in her small hands. A thick silver disk with grooved edges and something carved on both sides.<br/><br/>"How come you don't have any though?" She asked, still rolling the coin in her hands. "Travelers always have a lot of money or other things. How can you travel without money, or food, or anything?" The smile had at some point been replaced by concern and the kid's thick brown brows were furrowed in a quizzical look. She took a cautious step back, pocketing the coin in a swift move. Some measure of worry and doubt resonated in her voice. "Um... you're not something strange are you? You're not a monster or anything?"<br/><br/>Some of the adults who had been just idly looking at the situation from the other side of the street, whilst engaged in their own conversations turned their stern gazes towards the girls. Many still passed by mostly ignoring the whole scene, but some had overheard and were beginning to grow curious. Calden remained quiet all the while, but he was beginning to worry. Was this it? Was it going to be just like she had feared, even though he had said it would be alright.