New Surroundings

The boy walked down the path that connected the outside world to one of the greatest guilds he had heard so much about; Lamia Scale. He had been waiting for the day he, too, would become an official wizard and become apart of a grand guild to come since he first began practicing the strange art of Magic. With his Staff in hand, guiding through the darkness that is his world, the boy moved closer and closer to the giant doors. He could hear the waters cheering him on underneath the bridge, the trees were singing to him celebration in a grand chorus with the wind leading him onward. He placed his hand upon the door, feeling every adventurer like him taking their first steps into destiny. There was no turning back now, though the thought never appeared in his mind even once.

Pushing the doors open, Jornaal shut his past behind him to make way for the future. The grand hall was even more magnificent than the stories he was told had perceived them to be. He took in his surroundings to heart, stretching his mind's eye to its fullest. For though he could not physically see, he had trained the rest of his senses to compensate further than his physical eyes could have taken, regardless. He kept the hood over his head to keep the scar over his face concealed, but that still didn't stop the smile that came over it.

It had been a VERY long day. In the past few hours Kara had gone out on a job to fetch a book at Peace Village a few miles away which had take a good while in itself. When she finally got back she had returned home to quickly tidy any mess that was there. It took her a total of 6 hours for all of that, and she'd barely had a break in that time. Thus the violet-haired maiden of Lamia Scale. But alas there wouldn't be much rest, as she'd signed up for a quick job at the local tavern as well. They'd been a little short-staffed of late, and they felt that having Kara around might also boost sales. Of course, she'd have to be careful with her magic - if she cast it accidentally then anyone in the vicinity who touched her amethyst would be unable to get drunk for a couple of hours.

BANG! Kara's head hit the table as the massive doors to the guild were pushed open, the sudden bustle of the streets fortunately drowning out the sound of Kara's surprised reaction. She rubbed her head where it had impacted the table with a sigh before getting to her feet and straightening herself up. As Master Zuo Cii was often busy and liked extravagant entrances, Kara had recently taken it upon herself to welcome anyone who came to the guild while she was there. Usually it was a good opportunity to have some fun and wind up a newbie, but on this occasions she was simply too tired for it all. All the same, she still made the effort and held herself in her usual manner, showing next to no signs of her weariness as she walked towards the boy who had entered their guildhall. "Hello there, welcome to Lamia Scale. Are you here to run an errand?" Okay, maybe she did have just enough energy for a small bit of banter.

Taking in his new surroundings, Jornaal heard the footsteps of a young woman coming towards him. Still a bit shy around people, he pulled his hood down over his face as far as it would go to cover his face. She spoke so sweetly to him, he was almost thrown off his feet, for he did not expect to be met with such kindness. Most of the time, whenever he travels into a town, the boy is met with aggressiveness and hostility due to his displeasing complexion. He knew he needed to stop thinking like that about all people, and, so, found the courage to address his greeter. "Thank you so much, miss, but no, I am here in hopes to join your guild. Is the GuildMaster around?" He did his best to speak up and direct while remaining polite in front of a lady. His grandpa taught him everything he knows, which includes how to treat a woman correctly.

Kara looked the boy up and down for a moment. He was a few inches short than she was, and the tone of his voice suggested he was in his early to mid teens, making him a few years younger than her as well. He revealed that he wanted to join Lamia Scale, and that he wanted to speak with the guildmaster. Kara smiled, remembering her first steps into the guild not so long ago. "Master Zuo Cii is busy at the moment, but I'm sure he'll be here shortly. He usually welcomes potential new members. While you're waiting though, feel free to get used to the guildhall and ask me any questions." she replied, stepping to the side as an invite for the boy to walk further forward. "Just to warn you, Master Zuo Cii is what you might call a little...eccentric. He'll take some getting used to, but he's a good man." The Amethyst mage held back a shudder as she remembered what had happened when she'd welcomed Ren Hengi to the guild not so long ago.

"My name is Kara Matheson, a member here at Lamia Scale. And you are?"

"ALL MAGES SCRAMBLE, GUILD INVASION PROTOCAL 1!" Zuo Cii would yell into a marble horn causing the message to echo throughout the guild as he prepared for his favorite training drill. Being a guildmaster was a very hard job, you had to supervise and manage countless little children with magical powers as they run around fighting monsters. Zuo Cii however was used to very hard work and always found time to lighten up his day with some 'playful' antics. However Zuo's idea of playful antics were usually guild shaking in magnitude, as the entirety of the guild was made of shining white marble it was easy for Zuo to manipulate the entire thing to his will which allowed him to do many things. Having given out the warning to everyone in his guild he began one of his guild wide activities, from his office located above the main entry hall he stomped on the ground and clapped his hands together and the guild would begin to change. The guild's windows would seal themselves shut blocking out daylight and the lighting lacrima that hung from the ceiling would get swallowed up into the roof plunging the guild into darkness.

Zuo would speak over the intercom substantially calmer then the first time "Now I hope you have all been studying the layout of the guild like I requested. Navigate the guild hall to my office as quickly as possible. Those who make it within twenties minutes will be rewarded with cake, those that don't will have to endure it." With that Zuo Cii kicked back in his marble stone chair and put his feet up on his marble desk to wait for what would come next as he humored himself with the idea of the guild members panicking and fretting over it after all he had just made it up just now and they would have no idea what he meant by that.

"I'm Jornaal, it's nice to meet you Kara." Jornaal put on a small smile, he had just taken his first steps into the guild and already he was becoming somewhat excepted. He had been afraid it would take longer than that for him to make a good impression. He pondered for a moment of any immediate questions he had that she might answer, but before he could really think of one, a loud, booming voice came over the entire guildhall; which, quite frankly, nearly scared the pants off of him.

"ALL MAGES SCRAMBLE, GUILD INVASION PROTOCAL 1!"

He started to freak out, especially when the lights suddenly went out. He noticed that the windows started to seal themselves which made the boy think they were under attack. Though while most people might fear the dark, Jornaal had lived in it for most of his life; giving him a good advantage to the guildmaster's trick. Though, even with this advantage, Jornaal had no idea where this office was. Given the few minutes he had to study the layout of the hall, he could already identify where, and how many, tables and other objects of such were located. His Second Sight ability helped him with that part, as well as locating all the mages who were now scrambling to get to the guildmaster's office. "What's going on here?" He asked Kara, hoping she wouldn't just abandon him to whatever it is.

Jornaal had barely gotten the words out of his mouth when the entire guildhall suddenly went pitch-black; the windows were sealed, the lighting lacrima went out, and the guild was about to go into chaos. And then that booming voice. "He's at it again...I swear to god, the next time someone new comes to join the guild, I'm going out..." she muttered. She couldn't see Jornaal at all right now, but she still knew where he was, so directed her voice to him. "That voice you heard just now was our Guildmaster Zuo Cii. He does these sorts of things on a regular basis." She let out a giggle followed by a sigh. "I did say he was eccentric...that man doesn't miss a thing that goes on in this building."

The girl attempted to look around, before sighing again. The guild was in a panic trying to remember the location of Zuo Cii's office. Kara knew all too well where it was, but getting there amongst all the rushing people was going to be the difficult part. She put her hand around Jornaal's wrist and began walking. "Stick close to me."

"Okay," the boy allowed himself to be lead by the young woman who was showing great kindness to him. Though he wasn't so sure entirely on her lead , unless she could somehow see in the dark. Hopefully she knew her own guildhall like the back of her hand, or they might get some bumps and bruises along the way. Working on pure memory, as well as his Second Sight, Jornaal easily maneuvered around the hall to the best of his ability. Following Kara, he used his staff as a helpful tool to not bump into anything, the walking made it easier. He felt that they should be in the middle of the hall by now, He kept getting bumped into by wandering guild members who weren't as prepared for this sort of training. A few times he nearly was separated from Kara's hand, the one link he had to navigating this place which was all so new to him. By the time they reached three-quarters of the way, a couple of them had started to push Jornaal in another direction, breaking the hold between him and Kara.

"Kara? Kara!" He shouted towards his guide, he could barely locate her by that distinct scent of hers. He wasn't exactly sure what it was, but it was one of the things he first noticed about her. He was tempted to use his magic, but thought that that would be too irresponsible to do so here, before he met the master and was fully initiated.

Kara growled as the grip between herself and Jornaal broke, a growl that was merely the beginning. Although she couldn't see the boy, she certainly was aware of the direction he'd been dragged in. As mages jostled her from side to side she began to push them back, trying to find the boy as soon as possible. He didn't need to know what it was yet, but with the way things were going he would most likely be the last member to reach the guild master's office. Kara wasn't going to let that happen.

Many of the members were so focused on getting to the guildmaster's office that they didn't care who was in the way. Kara however was being more patient, wanting to help Jornaal get to the office so that he could become a fully fledged member of the guild. "Jornaal! Follow my voice! I'm not going to the guildmaster without you!"

He heard her call and started moving in the direction of which he was originally separated from his host. The hall was starting to thin out as the other members were mostly upstairs by now, so it was easier to move. There were only a couple of them left by the time he reached Kara, "Is it always this exciting here?" He asked her with a smile starting to show on his face. If this is how they train themselves, Jornaal thought he was going to like it here. He took back her hand and continued to follow her to the guildmaster's office; He would love to be in this girl's team if he ever got the chance.

When Jornaal finally managed to reach Kara he was actually surprisingly happy, or at least that's what Kara thought as the boy called out to her. "Is it always this exciting here?" Exciting wasn't the word Kara would have used for it, but it was fitting she supposed. "There's always something going on here, and you never quite know what Master Zuo Cii is going to do next." she replied simply, albeit with a smile that would be reflected in her voice. "Now come on, we've got to get the his office as soon as possible." She gripped Jornaal's wrist with her left hand, then held her right hand over the top. "Amethyst Make: Handcuffs!"

The two were now bound by a loose fitting but tough amethyst chain as they began to run towards Zuo Cii's office, with Kara taking the lead of course. She knew the location of Zuo Cii's office, and would be able to find it easily; she'd been in there enough times to yell at him for nearly killing her. Due to most of the mages having run in their various directions, the hallway to the master's office was actually clearer than she'd expected it to be. It was also surprisingly (and somewhat eerily) quiet given the noise everyone had been making just moments before. How many people took a wrong turn?

Jornaal followed Kara all the way to the GuildMaster's office, though it was not like he had much choice as he was now handcuffed to his guide. He wasn't going to complain how they got there, their methods were intriguing that was for sure. He believed they had arrived once Kara slowed down to a stop, assuming she actually knew where she was going, though it didn't sound like there was anybody even in that office. If the whole guild was supposed to be in one room one would think it would be noisy, unless they throwing a surprise party for someone. Jornaal didn't appreciate surprises much, being blind, nearly everything was a surprise to him. Hey Kara, is it your birthday or something? I know it's a strange question, but why else would be so quiet; you know, unless they were throwing a surprise party. He knew it was a stupid question to ask, but he was still curious.

Kara looked around the corridor, no clue was to what to expect. This was Lamia Scale run by Zuo Cii after all, anything could happen. She almost jumped when Jornaal spoke, asking her if it was her birthday or something. It was a random question, but once he justified it, it made a little sense. "No...no it's not. My birthday isn't for a few days." she replied calmly, before approaching the door to the guildmaster's office cautiously and pushing it open, choosing to peek inside before she entered.

((Apologises for the poor post, not really sure what else to do on this occasion. Was hoping Zuo Cii would have posted first XP))