warmth. || Sinbad x OC

prolouge.

"They weren't joking when they said it gets hotter the farther you go from the capital." The purple haired man says, covering his eyes while looking up towards the sun.

"Hinahoho can barely keep up." Mystras responds, looking behind him at the enormous man who was panting and dragging behind them.

"Don't worry Hinahoho! The village is just ahead!" Sinbad yells, Hinahoho groaning in response. It didn't matter to the man who was sensitive to the heat, as he could currently only see stars.

As the group approached the small town, Sinbad started to recall how much it looked like the village he grew up in. It was clearly poorer than the capital they had just visited, full of small homes made from sand, tattered cloth covering any opening in the homes, and people gathering under poorly made awnings, taking cover from the suns gaze. Despite the look of the town, the people couldn't seem to be happier. Children running around, people carrying arms full of food while smiling, and people laughing. It was a sight to behold, a small poor village with people whose spirits couldn't be higher. Its what he hoped his hometown would be like one day.

As they made their way to the center of the town, Hinahoho requested they take a break at a local tavern before he passed out of heat exhaustion. The four of them agreed it would be best to take a break to drink, eat and cool down before discussing their plans for searching the town.

"I think this is a waste of time. How do they know for a fact that she's here? This could all be for nothing." Ja'far spoke up.

"Yes, but if we want connections with the Aramean Kingdom then we have to do this. They were almost certain she was here anyway." Mystras replied.

"You're right but we can never be sure."

"We'll find her, I'm sure of it! For a start we could ask around, the King said she had dark red hair so if she's here she would be easy to find." Sinbad enthused. "Excuse me miss," he says catching the attention of the server, "Have any travelers with dark red hair come through town?"

"No, but we do have a resident with red hair. She's relatively new to town." The woman said, catching Sinbad's gaze. "U-Uh, she should be around town. You cant miss her." She walks away, containing her blush.

"Alright! Mystras if you want to stay here with Hinahoho while Ja'far and I search for her. We should be back before nightfall." Sinbad exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'll keep him company." Mystras says while Hinahoho lays face first on the table.

Sinbad and Ja'far exited the small tavern and go into the heat, agreeing that the best place to look first is the center of the town, or the market for this instance. As they made their way to the center, they made note of all the different types of fruit and vegetables they had never seen. Sinbad especially looked at all the goods the town was selling, visiting many of the stands while Ja'far scolded him, telling him he needed to stay on task.

"These are amazing exotic fruits, Ja'far! If we find the source then maybe we can trade them around the world! I'm sure many people would enjoy-"

"We cant trade them unless we get permission from the King," Ja'far spit out, "and in order to get permission we have to find some stupid girl-"

"Ah," The fruit stand owner speaks up, eyes glistening towards the center of town, "Sorry boys, shops closed! She's doing her magic again!" He continued, while sprinting off into a crowd. Sinbad and Ja'far gave each other a look of concern, before following the man into the crowd, maneuvering through the crowd and trying not to push anyone. Ja'far sometimes having to stand on his toes just to see over people. As the two finally reached the center of the crowd, Sinbad's eyes widen at the sight of a red haired girl.

The girl, who was relatively tall for her age, was standing under a large tree with limp leaves and decrepit flowers, assuming that the tree was dying. She stood facing the tree, where Sinbad couldn't see her face, and holding the palm of her hand up to the tree. The tree, which was once dying, started to revitalize. The leaves started to turn a luscious green color, the bark started to harden, and any flowers on the tree started to turn into beautiful red fruit. It was like magic to the people of the village. The villagers were cheering, calling out to the red haired girl and thanking her. Any fruit that was reachable by the villagers was handed out to children, giant smiles encased on their faces.

Finally, the red haired girl turned around to face the crowd and met the eyes of the young traveler. Sinbad's eyes widened even more with admiration, knowing that this girl was responsible for the happiness in the poor village. To him, it felt as time stopped and he was staring at her for an eternity. He felt connected to this girl for some reason, feeling something different than what he normally felt towards beautiful women.

She was more than what she led on.