Ania's home

At the end of the woodland, stood a bizarre looking structure, cleverly hidden behind the thick trees. Rarely visited for its secluded location, this home was founded by Ania Eldred when she lost her way in the forest. With a bridge as its only connection to land, this house has been filled with books of knowledge of the world. It has several floors which contains a kitchen, a bathroom, a table with 5 chairs, a hammock, a single bed, books, books, and more books.

Ania sat peacefully by the the edge of the terrace. Letting her snow-white hair flow with the summer breeze while birds with different tunes sang from afar. Looking over the river and the bridge and across the forest, the young girl thought, if there would ever be someone who would come to visit her humble abode.

Alexei made his way through the woodland, moving swiftly between the trees. He had embarked on this journey since he was growing bored of the nearby town, but it seemed as though the boredom was determined to follow him; if he didn't find something interesting soon, he'd turn back and try to amuse himself by intimidating a local. That always seemed to cheer him up. Still, the trees seemed to get even thicker as he continued on; if he didn't know any better, Alexei would have sworn that they were purposefully trying to impede his progress.

Alexei finally came to an abrupt break in the trees, emerging into the sunlight. The reason for the clearing was immediately clear: an enormous lake began almost immediately after the woods ended, with what looked like a tower nestled in the center. Despite himself, Alexei grinned. I guess this won't be so boring after all, he thought as he began to search for an entrance. After a few seconds of scanning, his eyes fell upon a nearby bridge that led directly to the tower. Wasting no time, Alexei made his way to the bridge, swiftly stepping onto the wooden path and walking towards the tower. Reaching the doorway after a minute or so of walking, Alexei wasted no time in knocking loudly on the door several times. "Anybody home?" he asked quietly, more to himself than to whomever lived in the tower.

A thumping sound echoed throughout the house, startling Ania.
"kyaa!" she screamed as she tumbled off the terrace's edge.
"Anybody home?" An unfamiliar voice quietly inquired downstairs, which made Ania's heart, beat faster and louder than the knocking door.
She needed somewhere to hide, but where?
Running off with bare foot, Ania dashed down the stairs.
She found the table, and hurriedly tried to hide herself under it. Though in panic, she knocked over her half-drunk tea, breaking her teacup in the process.
"Crash!" it went, while Ania cowered and covered herself.
She made one fleeting glance at the door, and with horror, noted that it was unlocked.

"Kyaa!"
A sudden screech and several crashing noises caused Alexei to jump back a bit, expecting an attack. When none came, he straightened himself and listened for any other loud noises. Still cautious, he reached out and turned the doorknob, discovering that it was unlocked. Slowly, he opened the door, hearing it creak loudly (albeit not as loud as the noises from before). When the door opened fully, however, the situation was not as he expected. A young girl, only a little younger than him, was covering herself with what looked like a tablecloth. She was likely the source of the scream from earlier. As Alexei looked her up and down silently, he noted shards of what looked to be a cup of some sort, likely the crash from before. Looking up, he made eye contact with her, an eyebrow arched. "Hello?" He said in a questioning and bemused, but still quiet, tone.

Ania's body shook as the doorknob started turning. She had no idea what to do and could only stare as the door creaked open. With wide-pink eyes she looked at the visitor, who, with an arched eyebrows greeted. "Hello?"
He said this in a puzzled tone, which was more than what Ania expected.
"h-h-h-hi" she stammered as she greeted back.
Ania tried going out of the table, but was so nervous that she ended up bumping her head on it.
"Oww" she cried, with a small tear on her eyes.

Alexei watched the girl hit her head and failed to hold back a slight chuckle. This girl was definitely clumsy, which was funny, and her choice of living space intrigued him greatly; he was getting more and more interested by the minute. "Do you need help?" He offered, crouching. He began to extend a heavily bandaged left arm towards the girl, but changed his mind, extending his right hand instead to try and help her up.

Ania held her cheeks in embarrassment as her guest made a slight chuckle.
She made a worried look on her face, only to hear him offer. "Do you need help?"
The snow-haired mage took a short pause, and stared at her unexpected visitor.
She bobbed her head, before extending a shaking arm. Her hands was about to touch his, when the man suddenly changed his mind only to extend his other arm to help.
"Ahh.."!! Ania exclaimed in surprise, as she comically dived down to the floor.

"Ahh..!!" Alexei jumped a bit at the girl's exclamation, only to shake his head sadly when he realized that she had simply tripped. "Your clumsiness is something else," he muttered, obviously doing his best to hold back laughter. He extended his right hand once more towards the girl. "For real this time. I won't bite."

"For real this time. I won't bite."
Ania nodded obediently, biting her lower lip for luck. Slowly, she took the guy's hand and was successfully out of her hiding place in seconds.
"Ummm...." she tried to suppress her tensed state, but was unable to so. "I-I-I..ahhh..." Ania looked at the floor, so that she looked like she was making a really deep japanese bow.
"I'm Ania, nice to meet you!!!" she shouted in determination while her fingers fumbled non-stop behind her.

Alexei simply watched the girl, his expression similar to that of a child who found a new toy. This girl is going to be fun to tease, he thought. Who needs to intimidate townsfolk when somebody like her is around? Running through the possibilities in his head, he bowed as well. "I'm Alexei. Nice to meet you." Returning to an upright position, he asked, "May I sit at the table? My feet are weary from traveling."

"Y-Y-yes please...A-alexei-san" she said as she stood up properly, trying her best to please her guest, though it really puzzled her as to why he would not seat on the chair. "Tea?" she asked. "u..umm.. I've got several sweets if you like?" Sweets were Ania's treasures, but she would not hesitate to share it if it means gaining friends. "Please use everything in here to your heart's content...a-a-and if you need anything.." Ania's face turned a little red as it would be an honor to help her visitor. "please call on me" Ania smiled a little, though her smile was still shaking from nervousness.

Alexei took a seat in one of the chairs at the table, shaking his head. "I don't want food right now," he said calmly. A few seconds later, he added, "I don't like sweets." Inside his head, however, he was ecstatic. Not only was this girl clumsy, she was trusting, too? This just kept getting better. "Can I have some bandages?" He asked, doing his best to hide his elation as he brought his bandaged left arm out from under the cloak. "It's time to change these out. They're getting blood-soaked."

Ania laughed in her mind as her guest sat at one of the chairs. It was funny cause she thought he would be sitting on the table.
"I don't want food right now" He said rather calmly. "I don't like sweets."
Ania nodded, now she really had no idea what to do.
"Can I have some bandages?" The guest asked making the young mage's pink eyes brightened.
"Bandages?!"
"It's time to change these out. They're getting blood-soaked." her companion said showing her his bandaged left arm.
"Yes!" Ania said, running towards a cabinet where she hides her bandages. Though when she came back, the coverings was already all around her.
"Sorry" she apologized. Lifting the wrappings off her head and in a very abashed way, handed the bandages.

"Sorry," the girl said apologetically as she bashfully handed the mess of bandages to Alexei. He couldn't help himself as he took the bandages: He laughed. "You're funny," he said between chuckles, attempting and failing to calm himself down. Finally, after a good ten seconds, he managed to stop laughing, looking at her seriously. "Sorry," he said apologetically, "I didn't mean it. You're just a funny person; being around you makes me want to laugh." 

Setting the tangled new bandages to the side, Alexei began to unwrap the bandages around his left arm, revealing two deep gashes in the arm. They weren't fresh, but they still looked painful; they obviously were, given how gingerly Alexei handled the unwrapped arm.

Ania tried to hide her red-face as Alexei laughed.
"You're funny" He said.
Ania bit her lip, slumped her shoulders and shifted from foot to foot.
"Sorry," he said apologetically, "I didn't mean it. You're just a funny person; being around you makes me want to laugh."
The snow-haired mage smiled a little, though she had a feeling that the color of her face had flushed so red that she now had more color than a tomato.

Alexei started wrapping bandages around his arm, which Ania observed to be heavily gashed.
She sat down across his seat, and watched as he gingerly wrapped it around his arm.
Ania looked down at her own bandaged arms, compared to Alexei's, hers had been long gone. She had kept bandages, since scars never planned to leave her skin, and it triggers bad memories.
"Alexei-san" she began curiously. "May I ask what happened to your arm?"

"Umm" Ania lifted her fingers to her lips, putting it in a position of timidly thinking. "Something bad" She said as her eyes shifted to the table. There was a long pause before Ania could speak again. "Ahahaha" she said, smiling and waving her hands in front of Alexei. "It would be better if we don't dwell in the past right?" Ania felt embarrassed, she looked down and feigned a chuckle.

Outwardly, Alexei nodded, but inwardly he was happy. This girl just gets more interesting, he mused. She's clumsy, which is funny, but she obviously has a fascinating story to tell. I wonder if there's a way to get the story out of her...

He didn't say any of this out loud; instead, he finished wrapping his arm in bandages and leaned back in the chair. "So, why do you live in this tower on the outskirts of the woods?" He asked, trying to get to know the girl in front of him better.

"Ahh..." Ania made a slight smile. "I only actually found this house... I lost my way in the woods you see" Ania rested her hands on the table. "Been here for a few weeks, found out that this place was abandoned... and since I couldn't find my way back to the guild, I thought of staying for a little while more."

"I see," Alexei mused, watching the girl in front of him intently. She's a guild mage? Alexei thought, looking to see if there were any hints as to her magic around. I never would have suspected that. "So, you belong to a guild?" Alexei inquired. "Which one do you belong to?" He readjusted his position in the chair, straightening up again.

"Blue pegasus" Ania showed her guild sign that was located at the palm of her right hand. "And you?" she asked with a smile. "I'm sorry if I'm wrong, but I do feel some magic energy from you"
Ania got up to grab a jar of marshmallows located at the center of the table. She grabbed a handful of the sweets and started munching on them, while listening to Alexei.

Seeing Ania go and get her snacks, Alexei rummaged through his bag for a bag of trail mix and began eating as well. "I don't belong to a guild," he explained. "I dislike being tied down and feeling responsible for others, so I try not to associate. Most people are boring, anyway; I only like the interesting ones." He looked up intently at Ania as he finished, as if trying to determine something.

"Ohh..." Ania nodded while Alexei spoke, afterwards she said. "well... I guess I'm quite the opposite. I don't think I'll ever live without anyone around" After all she had a large fear of being alone. Ania looked at Alexei, curling her eyebrows with a frown as he looked at her intently. "Alexei-san, is there a problem?"

“Ojou!!” Abigail, Marielle Sky’s maid cried out as her young lady ran out into the forest. She huffed and puffed, carrying the young master’s luggage in both hands. “What in the world am I actually carrying?” she complained.
Suddenly, a blonde head appeared upside down in front of her.
“Ahhh!” she screamed.
“Abigail!! Shhh!!!” Marielle Sky hushed her servant, as she held on to a vine.
“Ojou-sama, go down from there. That’s very unlady-like”
“Pffttt” Marielle ignored her, as a certain sound piqued her curiosity.
“Can you hear that?” she asked.
“Hear what?” the magic-less maid asked, when suddenly a huge bull appeared from behind them. Marielle simply pulled her head up, while Abigail ran up to the forest, leaving her young master with a sweat drop on her head.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! Ojou-samaaaaaaaaaa HELPPPPPP!!!!!!” The maid shouted so loudly as she ran into a bridge and a certain building which she had no time to think about while the monster trailed close behind.