Hime's Arrival to Silver Wolf!

hime found herself wondering why the mysterious stranger had recommended she try to find a job up in the mountains. there didn't seem to be anyone around except lititle wild animals and snowmen. she realized that the snowmen had to be built by someone still, so she stared at the snowy peak and decided to search for a way up to the top.

surprising to her that the grey stone path was easy to find, hime was cautious about stepping on it at first. what if one of the steps suddenly may disappear from her feet? but she tried it out, and she found the way to be good going. the road was flat and maybe meant for traffic, because hime knew supplies had to get up to the guild hall in a way.

then however she hit the storm. it was a sudden onset of blank white that blew into her eyes and she could no longer tell where she was going, if her feet were walking backwards, if her shoes were slipping on the icy stones, or if her fingers were frozen on her hands.

in the distance hime thought maybe there was a blueu glow, and then the light disappeared. her eyes would have watered from sadness at the idea of never finding her way out of the storm, but she thought about how warm it might be if she made it to the top of the mountain and the hall. so, she kept walking. it was slow but steady. her eyes kept seeing faint blue light, so she would try to go in their direction, but the girl could not even see her feet so it was difficult to trust in any diriection.

and then she walked almost straight into one of those blue lights that suddenly appear in front of her. it was like drinking hot cocoa, because her insides felt warm and suddenly around her the wind died down. she could see that the light was actually a wolf, who scared her at first because she did not like dogs so much, but it was different, and it smelled nice, clean, and like fire. and hime really yliked fire, probably more than everything else.

suddenly the storm and cold disappeared in a flash, so she was left with a snowflake on the tip of her nose and light dots in her hair. she flipped her peach hair and shook out the little ice pieces. she had chosen to wear a light outfit, and now it actually felt okay, because she had regretted it earlier. when she looked behind her, she saw a clear wall of runes that glowed with a white light. the girl was tempted to touch them, but she decided to keep moving.

hime laughed as she finally realized that the cold was gone from her insides. she loved warmth, and fire, even though it was beautiful how ice was. maybe this place would have a job for her to tend a fireplace after all, like the mysterious stranger said. she admired the garden because it was colorful and growinig with green, even though everything has frost and is white.

inside it is like a hotel, but the candles make it feel warm and ancient. she does not see a fireplace, but still the light is orange, so it seems like the room is full of a fire's light. this she likes a lot, and she laughs again in a way so her voice echoes inside a room where she cannot see anybody else.

- hello! hime said. is anyone here?

Zeltaath rubbed his eye with his hands as he shuffled downstairs, his steps made light thuds as he walked around. He sleepily made his way to the dining area to quiet his roaring stomach. The hall was particularly quiet with a lot of the guildmates being out on missions and Cinder was already passed out upstairs. He stopped in his tracks when he heard laughter echo through the hall and then a girl call out.

The wooden floorboards made it difficult to sneak around but that didn't stop him. Zel goofily poked his head out from around corners and looked for the suspect making the noise. In the open hall, he prowled on all fours to keep his head down. When he caught sight of the girl he quickly tiptoed over to the girl, which turned into a sprint before he jumped up in front of her.

Jumping:

Filled with excitement to meet a new person in the guild hall he constantly jumped all over the place. "Hello! You're new, I'm Zeltaath or Zel if that's easier for you. Who are you? Do you like to play? Have you ever played out in the snow? Did you like the snowmen? I made a few of them. Do you have any magic? Can I see? What do you do? Where'd you come from?" Zel hardly took a breath in between his barrage of questions. This caused his words to sometimes fade in and out and blend together making some of the questions inaudible.

Leona gotten up and gotten dressed and filled her pack with food, water, hand sanitizer, and her desert cloak. She was wearing an olive green t-shirt and khaki cargo pants with boots. She was going to pay a visit to Capital Crocus and go to Johbaasa's Rare Tomes to find and buy a copy of To Infernus And Back. She also had not heard back from Margaret the Herbalist in Beanstalk Village. Hopefully the old woman was still alive.

Leona had closed her room door and made her way down the stairs. She had entered the foyer and was about to leave the guild hall when she heard a voice call out. It was a female voice, and an unfamiliar one at that. It sounded like a visitor.

Leona walked until she found the source of the voice. The source was a tall, peach-haired young woman wearing a light outfit that was not suited for travel in snowy terrain. She was standing next to one of the fireplaces in the guild hall. As the newly minted Guild Ace, it was Leona's job to greet the visitor. However, it appeared that Zeltaath had beaten the blonde to it.

"Hello there. I'm Leona Jarnefeldt. And who might you be?" Leona asked the girl once Zeltaath had finished speaking to the newcomer.

hime poked in her bag for a lollipop, and she unwrapped it and slid it delicate-like in her mouth. this one was cherry flavored, it was one of her favorites. when a boy with very vibrant hairr jumped high in front of her, she choked on her lollipop and spat iit out on the ground. making a small hmph noise, hime nudged the candy with her foot and then looked to stare the boy in the eye.

- you - she was cut off when he started asking a million questions. my name isn't important so, you can call me phrionsa. or hime, if it is easier for you.
- the snowmen were... okay, she said but she smiled at the boy whose name she was sure to not be able to pronounce. to let him know that she did like the snowmen. then she was distracted by another person, which was good because she did not plan to answer any more of his questions for now.

she reached out to pat the boy's head and she turrned to the new stranger. she was very beautiful, with practical clothes.

- hey, she said lightly, and smirked with the corner of her mouth. she did not bother to introduce herself again. she did ask another question.
- i heard maybe i can work here in the hall ?

because she was not sure exactly the best place to work or if it was okay, she asked only the simple question. really, she wanted to join the guild, but she thought maybe it would be better to get to know more about the hall.

Zel gave Hime a warm friendly smile after his barrage of questions letting her answer some and allowing him to catch his breath. After she got what answers she could squeeze in, Zel sensed Leona walk up. "Hey Ace!" he said as he gave her a half open-handed wave.

Head Pat:

As a way to transition from Zel to Leona, Hime patted his head. At first, he was taken by surprise and looked her over with his heterochromia eyes nervously. Eventually settled down and accepted the head pats with a friendly smile. His stomach began to growl loudly once more and took that as his queue to quickly run to the kitchen for a quick bite before rejoining the two later on.

"Yeah, you can work in the hall. We always need researchers." Leona said to the newcomer. Listening to Zeltaath clued the blonde in on the girl's name. It was Hime. That was an interesting name, but so was the surname Jarnefeldt. Leona did not have any room to cast stones.

"Hi Zeltaath..." Leona said as the new guy bolted from the area to go to the kitchen. She shrugged her shoulders and turned to the new girl. The new girl was taller than the blonde, but not too much taller. Anyway, it was time to focus.

"As I was saying, there's always an opening in the guild, Hime. Our Guild Master's Poko Monstar. I'm the Guild Ace." Leona introduced herself. She was still getting used to her new rank. It was quite the responsibility, but Leona would grow into it. She had to for the guild's sake.

- thanks, ace. hime responded with another small smile. researchers for what, she wondered in silence in her head, but she figured she could find out soon. when the boy left, she did not wave good bye but she raised an eyebrow at the speed and suddenness of it.

the blonde girl who had just now gone introducing herself as the ace, was a little bit smaller than hime, and the peach head hid a smile. she did like being taller than other people, but she knew it was nice to hide in a crowd sometimes.

- charmed to meet you. the girl thought she should call the woman ace, since the boy had done so, and she had already startetd, so it would make sense.

- the place around the guild is a little cold for me, but inside it looks very warm, she said her observations with a smile. she was not really a mage yet, because she was still figuring out her magic. but, she hoped to become one soon, and this guild was nice, so maybe she could ask about joining. it would be easier to work as a researcher, she thought, too that way.

"At Silver Wolf we research magic, magical artifacts and magical lore. We try to find practical uses for all of those things. It's not easy. It takes long hours and a lot of visits to the guild library to do research. Research usually doesn't pay off right away... you've gotta put effort into it over a long period of time." Leona cautioned Hime.

"We also explore regions of Earthland in search of said artifacts. But that's not our main job. Our main job's doing research." Leona added. She hardly had room to lecture Hime about Silver Wolf's focus. Leona had only done a little research, nothing on the scale expected of the guild. She was working to address that problem with her research into the Cursed Lands. It was dull reading, but there was enough of interest to motivate her to finish the academic tome.

"If you're still interested in joining the guild, I can tell you more." Leona offered.

research is nice, the girl said, trying very hard not to blink blankly at the ace. honestly, she didn't really understand what research was, but it seemed to be discovering ways to use things and make them work. that was definitely cool. she would be interested in exploring, too.

- i'm interested in joining, hime said. it seemed like a productive job? how many people do research here? she was okay with crowds, but not great.

Leona noticed that Hime was trying her best to follow along. However, Leona might not be explaining the concepts properly. Her making a mistake was not unprecedented. She had to keep Hime engaged.

"To be honest, I'm not a very good researcher yet. My mother's a village scribe in Desierto. She taught me the basics, but I'm not very good. The library staff helped me enough to get me going. They'll help you too." Leona assured Hime. The former then remembered the new girl's question concerning how many researchers the guild had.

"I don't know how many researchers we have, Hime. You'll have to ask Poko Monstar, our Guild Master. She knows all the details. I was only promoted to Ace a few days ago and I haven't learned everything yet." Leona told Hime the truth. Leona truthfully did not know enough to give a satisfactory answer. She hoped to learn the answer for future new recruits who asked the same question.

"I'm eighteen years old, Hime." Leona replied to the newcomer. Her age was no state secret. Leona was rather youthful for such a position of responsibility. She herself did not expect to earn it so soon in her time with Silver Wolf. The next question was just as easy to answer.

"I'm from Desierto. To narrow it down, I'm from a village in Desierto called Nebdoui. It's small potatoes compared to the Three Cities. The Three Cities are each run by a sultan and they're a lot easier to live in because they have amenities and the rule of law. Unfortunately, Nebdoui's in the desert and the sultan's laws don't reach beyond the city gate." Leona explained to Hime. Leona should know. When she was first exiled, she made a beeline for the cities. Somehow she managed to make it unscathed and was rewarded with a glimpse of the good life. Well, what passed for the good life in Desierto.

"Forget what you see in movies... Deseirto's a rough place to live. Desierto has lots of bandits and slavers. You can't throw a rock without hitting one. If you travel to the region, be ready for a fight. They'll kill or enslave anyone they come across, so don't hold back in a fight because they certainly won't." Leona warned her in case Hime decided to take a trip out to the region.

"You could say that, Hime." Leona said to Hime. She was not offended by the age question at all. The blonde felt fairly certain that she was one of the older members of the guild. She was definitely older than Hime. The new girl seemed a little young despite her height.

"I kind of miss Nebdoui, Hime. My family's still there. I can't go back until the exile order is lifted, but I don't know when that'll be. Since the incident that led to my exile involved an argument with the chief's son that turned into a fight, it's gonna be awhile. But I'm only banned from Nebdoui, not Desierto itself, so the rest of the region's fair game." Leona answered Hime's question truthfully. The blonde was not sworn to secrecy on the matter, so she would tell who she wanted. Still, it was not a subject she cared to bring up frequently. Every day she found herself hoping that Joshua did not finally carry out his threat to kill her family. Until she could go back, Leona would just have to hope that her family was still alive.

"How I got here? I can tell you, but it's a bit of a story. Do you have some time on your hands?" Leona asked Hime. Leona was willing to tell, but she wanted to make sure Hime had time to hear it all. She did not want to engage the girl if she had something pressing to do.

"All right. Follow me and I'll tell you what happened." Leona said to Hime as the former walked over to the couches the latter had pointed out. The blonde set down her well-worn backpack at her feet. She had nowhere urgent to go.

"After my exile, I went to another desert village called Berreb. Nebdoui and Berreb were allies... we'd help train their people to fight off bandits and they'd send farmers to help us develop our agriculture. As luck would have it, I had gotten there just before a bandit raid started. So I helped them fight it off. After I killed two bandits and wounded five, the people of Rerbeb managed to fend off the attack. Things got interesting after the fighting was over." Leona started.

"Once the fight finished, they asked what I was doing there. So I told Berreb's chief the story of how I got exiled. I told them about the fight with the chief of Nebdoui's son after he fondled me at a banquet. Once I told them I was from Nebdoui, they offered me shelter in their village. They needed a good fighter around because a bandit gang was giving them grief." Leona continued. She wondered how Berreb was doing. Hopefully the Regudo were helping keep them safe. They were brave fighters and skilled archers who could get the job done.

"I spent one-and-a-half years in Berreb. When there wasn't a bandit raid, I helped on their farms. They were mostly farmers, which was why they made an alliance with Nebdoui in the first place. I even helped train some of their fighters. I took my share of hard knocks, but they were tired of being victimized and wanted to learn how to defend themselves." Leona stated. She recalled being hit with wooden staves, blunt swords, punches, and shields. She also recalled dodging arrows and taking a few hits from them. That was a painful time. But it was worth it because Berreb's people diligently trained to defend themselves and their way of life.

"Then one day a Berreb trader was going to the Three Cities and announced that he needed someone to help protect his caravan. The Berreb chief suggested that I go. He emphatically stated that he didn't want me to spend the rest of my life in a desert village, so I went with the caravan. By some miracle the caravan wasn't attacked, so all thirty-six of us made it safely after a two-week trip." Leona gave a brief rundown of what led her to the Three Cities. It was a remarkable journey in the regard that it was not attacked. Whether the bandits had gotten lazy during those two weeks or she was protected by some cosmic force she did not know. She did not question it.

"The Three Cities were nice places to live. I spent six months there. I can tell you about them if you're interested." Leona said to Hime.

"Once I got to the Three Cities, things got better. The merchant had a brother who took me in and gave me a place to stay. He also guided me around the city. His name was Kareem." Leona started again. Kareem was a good man who was a respected merchant and a frequent patron of the theater. While Leona did not care for theater, she went because he always paid for the tickets and food and refusing would have been rude to him.

"Kareem was a good guy to know. He brought me in as a favor to his brother. He also needed someone to watch over his family while he was away on business, so after he heard about my actions in Berreb, he gave me a chance to prove my worth. After thwarting a few late-night break-ins and at least one attempt on his life by a business rival, he was practically ready to adopt me." Leona recounted. She had caught a lot of lucky breaks up to this point. She hoped that the chain of fortunate events continued.

"Kareem helped me a lot. He showed me the library, a place called the Hall of Books. He introduced me to the staff, showed me shelves upon shelves brimming with books, and even showed me my first map, which was a map of Desierto. Going to that library was the first time I had ever seen a map, Hime. It's kinda strange what city people take for granted." Leona added to her story.

"My mother was a scribe back home, so I already knew how to read and write. But we didn't have any maps of the region, just scrolls. The village scroll tent had nothing on the Hall of Books. It didn't have a colored map of Desierto like the hall did." The blonde went on in a possible non-sequitur. She then realized that she had started to ramble. That was embarrassing.

"Sorry about my rambling, Hime. You want to hear more about the city, right?" Leona asked her.

"So, you wanna hear more about me?" Leona asked Hime as the latter placed a new lollipop in her mouth. Leona thought it over briefly, then took the plunge.

"OK. Lemme tell you a bit about myself then. I have an older brother who's an apprentice to the village blacksmith. His name's Leonidas. He's four years older than me." Leona started.

"I have a mother who's a village scribe. Her name's Sophia. And my father's a trader who travels around a lot, so he's not home too often. His name's Samuel." Leona continued.

"They're all back in Nebdoui. I'm kinda worried about them because the chief's son threatened to kill them after I rejected him. But I heard awhile back that they're still OK. I don't know for how long, though." Leona added. She recalled the letter from Erica about the shortsword that Joshua carried around but never used. She specifically recalled the words that he was "saving it for someone." The identity of that someone was never explained because Erica did not know. Leona did not like the implications.

"Anyway, life in Nebdoui's hard work. You have to tend the pack animals day in and day out. You have to help the village farmers when they need help. You also have to haul iron ore to the village from a trading post that's way outside the village border. Finally, you have to worry about bandit raids." Leona informed Hime. The blonde's explanation of desert life did not sound very romantic. That was because desert life was not very romantic. It involved a lot of hard work and uncertainty. Even in the best of times one had to work hard just to break even.

If it was the worst of times, life could get unpleasant very quickly. Famine was only one failed harvest away. Drought was also a persistent threat. When both were combined, it was no exaggeration to say that they could be the death of a village.

"Ya know, that's a good question. I've never really given it much thought." Leona admitted to Hime. What would she have done had she not been exiled? Leona had never taken time to really think about that. She was not much of a thinker.

"My mother was a scribe, but I'm not a very good scholar. I kinda wanted to be a traveling trader like my father. He's been all over Earthland. He's fought with bandits, he's dined with royalty, he's even been across the ocean before." Leona listed one thought she had come up with in the past.

"I also considered becoming a blacksmith's apprentice like my brother, but the village blacksmith is kinda traditional. He doesn't think women should do a man's work. Even after I saved his life during a bandit raid, he's felt that way. He's one of the last ones in Nebdoui to hold that belief, but he IS sixty years old, so he's got a rosy vision of the old ways." Leona added in a tone indicating that she did not like that idea.

"Women got to do more because so Nebdoui had lost so many men in bandit raids that women had to fill the gaps and everyone just went with it. Women farmers, women traders, women doctors, even women soldiers. I was conscripted into the town guard when I was twelve years old. I made my first kill during a bandit raid. We were under attack and a few tried to break into the granary where most of our food reserve was, but I killed them with the help of the chief's son." Leona explained. It was not like Nebdoui had suddenly developed the belief of full female equality out of compassion. The expansion of women's roles was simply because there were not enough men to maintain the old ways of doing things. Still, she would not badmouth it. She much preferred being a fighter to being a housewife.

"To answer your question, if I hadn't been exiled, I would have probably become a traveling trader. I didn't want to stay at home. I wanted to travel the world and see life beyond the desert. In a way, I've already done that, but I want to keep on traveling for as long as I can. There's still plenty of world out there to explore." Leona ultimately answered Hime's question. It took awhile, but she had gotten there. Hopefully Hime had not gotten bored in the meantime.

"I would say that being part of the guild helped me fulfill that dream, Hime. I've been to Hargeon Town, Silent Cemetery, Lycan Woods, Hosenka, Tolgalen, Desierto, and a few other places I can't remember at the moment. I wouldn't have been able to go to all of those places if I had stayed in Nebdoui." Leona replied in the affirmative. The next question was just as good as the first one. The question was why Leona wanted to explore.

"Why I wanted to explore? To be honest, I wanted to see life beyond the desert. My father told me about all sorts of places and I wanted to see them for myself, but I couldn't because I was needed at home... or so I was told. My mother always disapproved of my father's traveling around and wanted him to settle down. Maybe that's why he stays on the road." Leona explained before going off on a tangent about her father's wanderlust. Sophia was a good woman who tried to raise two children and provide for them the best she could, but Leona thought her a bit too conservative. She wanted Leona to stay home, marry, have children, and maybe even become a scribe like her. The blonde was not a homemaker. She was a fighter and an adventurer.

"To an extent, I do like fighting. I like to fight for those who can't defend themselves. For example, I defeated the serial killer Jacob Goodnight in Hargeon Town back when I was a Guildless mage. The town guard did everything they could, but they couldn't catch him. I put an end to Jacob for good before he could add anyone else to his tally of twelve victims." Leona explained to Hime.

"I use Wind Strike Magic. It's a style that my village has used for centuries. My mother Sophia taught it to me. It lets me change things up... I can play keep-away with melee opponents or get in the face of distance fighters while being able to use melee or fling projectiles of my own." Leona explained a bit about her magic. No magic style was "perfect", but Wind Strike Magic was well-suited to Leona's needs. She could put pressure on both melee fighters and distance fighters, knocking them out of comfort zones and forcing them to engage her or pay the price and be gradually worn down. However, the balanced offense had no specialization, so she was not incredibly good at one aspect of fighting. It was also geared towards one-on-one fights, so facing multiple opponents could and did give Leona trouble.

Its biggest flaw was that there was very little defense to the magic style. Leona had to rely on armor, allies, and a strong offense to cover this weakness, but it could never be fully removed. Still, Leona could not have asked to be trained in a magic style that was more suited to her style of fighting.