After two months, Dorian hears that stories about his moniker, The Stalker, changed yet again. No longer does this figure simply make hiding impossible, now it is said that even witches can't disappear from his eyes and despite this, despite his strengthened prowesses, the lone man still never charges for finding children.
With all those stories about himself, Dorian can't help but smile more often. Who wouldn't after all. He first heard this less than a week after his separation with Hansel and Gretel. It seems that the second in command, now Sheriff, was the first one to tell this and, with his own upright reputation his word spread like fire.
Now, each night that the man stays in the woods, while playing with Gibbs he tells the dog about all his good deeds, how he is such a good man and how Gibbs should be proud of him. The shadow, of course, always wags its tail and barks joyfully, happy to see its master happy.
With such knowledge, Dorian happily enters the next town only to freeze in stupor. When the people see him, they either cast disdainful glances at him or outright ignore him. Comforting himself, he tries to think that he simply entered a town where most inhabitants are skeptical about him and his reputation, until he awaits at the center, as usual. There, he is made to wait for more than an hour before an elder deigns to come. Once again, Dorian faces himself targeted by yet another disdainful gaze.
— What do we have here, another Stalker impersonator ? You're only the third one this week.
Blinking, Dorian doesn't know what to say, what to answer. Whatever he can think of, in order to prove his identity, would either be easily said by impersonators too or would harm his way of earning money. He can't ask to be given work without pay, or at lesser wages, can he ? And, the third one ? But the week has only begun…
— Well… Cat's got your tongue, heh ? So, what can this humble villager do for the mighty Stalker? Our rooms aren't good enough for anyone of your standing, aren't they ? Or do you need our most expensive meal for a simple task ?
Hiding a sigh, Dorian tries to think of anything to say or do for the man to cease his disdainful ways.
— I only wanted to know if there was a need for anything. Then can I ask you something, don't worry, it's not related to any form of reward.
— Go ahead, then. At least you're not the worse that we had.
— I'm mostly curious. What if the real Stalker came to your town and, being received like this, leaves without a word ?
The elder scoffs. A smirk appears on his face while his gaze stays full of contempt.
— Oh, trying this approach, not bad, kid, not a lot of you think about this. Can I assume that, by saying that, you recognize that you're not the real one ?
The young man sighs openly this time.
— I never said that, but you'll never believe me, so I at least wanted to know how you would be able to differentiate the true one from the impostors.
It's finally the elder's time to blink and pause.
— And if I tell you this, you'll be able to improve your impersonation, right ? Well, not that you can do a lot about it. He can go toe to toe with witches, kid, and only with a sword. This means that he's a strong and dangerous warrior, not a scrawny boy like you.
Dorian smiles softly. He may not be able to change their view like this, but now he can at least understand where the misunderstanding comes from.
— Don't the rumors say that his appearance is unassuming ? Well, I won't argue anymore…
— One can't believe everything said, rumors tend to overrate the truth. So, now that your lie is exposed, why don't you do something useful instead of wasting everyone's time ?
Dorian grits his teeth in frustration. He doesn't want to engage more with this hard headed old man. He however knows that, from now on, he may encounter other people like this, already deceived by impersonators.
— I won't argue, but I still claim to be the Stalker. Now, why not put this claim to test ? Have someone, anyone in this town, hide something, while I stay within your vicinity. And tomorrow the thing will be found. What do you think of that ?
The elder sends a murderous glare to this overconfident brat. No one ever pushed the impersonation so hard, and this would waste even more time, not only his own now, to expose the lie.
— And how would that proves that you're not another impostor, better at finding things ?
— Because, even if I only take a searching job here, at least you'll be able to see my value. And didn't he begin by taking only searching tasks ? The true one would be at least proficient in those, right ?
With a sigh, the old man finally folds. Since he can't deter the brat from his idea, he'll have to think of something.
— Since the Stalker began by finding lost people and never asks for reward with children related tasks, you'll have to prove yourself like this. We'll have three children hide as best as they can, this evening, and you'll have until midnight to find them. Take longer than that and I'll know that you're another fake.
Dorian nods. He won't earn any more trust than that and, even that, he needed to fight tooth and nail to obtain this concession.
— I agree. I'll wait in the woods until sunset, you can have someone, anyone, keep a tab on me until this time. I'll begin to act once the watcher goes back. I only ask for a physical description when the children will be hidden, in order not to find some unruly one instead.
— Agreed. My son will keep watch over you.
With that said, a man walks to Dorian, still looking older than the Stalker, with a frown.
— My son will be included, he'll love this hide and seek game. I promised to play with him today, this will be my way to apologise.
Looking at the clearly angered man, Dorian smiles wryly. His tone stays cold however.
— I'm sorry, mister. But I wouldn't have made this offer if not for being unfairly received.
Without giving the other any time to answer, he turns back and walks to the wood. Here, he stays and waits until the agreed time, in a forceful silence since his guard doesn't seem to be eager to talk.
Hours later, his silent watcher finally stands up as the sun sets.
— I'll go back first. See you tomorrow, impostor.
Once the elder's son is out of view, Dorian orders his birds to find the children while he begins to walk to the town. He knows that the search won't be long, since his shadows can easily find hidden children. This time, since there is no urgent time limit in his opinion, he won't use his swapping ability, as this is too much of a risk for the few benefits that it could give him.
Before he even enters the outskirts, three of his birds are stationary. When he finally arrives at the village center, five of them stay still. In front of him, the elder awaits.
— Can you describe me the missing children, please ?
Once Dorian gathers the appearance of the hidden targets, he orders his shadows to fly in a circle, out of view from the townspeople, over their hiding spot. As expected, three birds only begin to do so and Dorian goes to the children, finding them on the spot.
— You were good, I'll lead you to the elder, but before that, I have a hunch that some others are braving the curfew. Follow me.
Under the youngs' incredulous gaze, Dorian goes to the last hiding spots and goes back to the center with his targets and two frowning teenagers. Obviously, the elder and parents' faces are full of disbelief when they see the group coming.
— Elder, do you know the parents of those two ?
— Y… Yes ?
— Good. I'll go back to the woods then, see you tomorrow.
Under shock, the old man misses the chance to call back Dorian and can only look at him with disbelief. It seems that the young man is used to sleeping in the woods, thus nailing the coffin. Dread washes over the assembled people, as they slowly realize that they dismissed the Stalker from the beginning.
The very next morning, when Dorian comes back to town, the gazes directed at him are completely different. When there only was contempt the day before, now guilt can be seen in the people's eyes. Despite his smugness, the man hides his smirk. This won't help his case, after all. Arriving at the center, he sees that the elder and his son are already here, waiting.
— Hello, my name is Dorian. Would you be in need of something ?
— We…
— I'm sorry. I shouldn't have talked to you like this yesterday.
The elder's voice is cut off by his own son's. He sighs.
— We would like to apologise, Mister Stalker, about our previous attitude.
Dorian shrugs while trying to hide his satisfied smirk. While he knows that pressing the matter wouldn't help his image here, he can't help but answer playfully.
— Well, no one would think that the Stalker is such a scrawny boy, right ?
As expected, the elder's shoulders slumps but he doesn't answer immediately.
— To be honest, we… Aren't in need of help right now. I only assumed your identity because of the number of impostors appearing recently, all with unbelievable claims. Now, you proved yourself better than even those claims so… Once again, we would like to apologise.
*So, everything was for naught…*
— I see… Well, thank you for your apology, I think. Can I still buy some provisions before going ?
------------------
Hello everyone!
Here I am, the Silent author, talking for the first time 😅
Just a heads up, I'll have to go for a month, and without enough backlog to follow through, so I have to take a pause in publishing here, sooo, next chapter will be Monday 09/01/2025
Have fun ^^