Chapter 2 is dedicated to Brian. I’ll miss ya, buddy. <3

And special thanks to the above-mentioned Brian, Michelle, and Brent for all the encouragement! =D

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Chapter 2: On a Calm Day

It was a breezy midday in the sunny port town of Lith Harbor. The pristine, white city was flitting with life, townspeople going about their daily business and visiting the docks for fresh produce and other merchandise. Elsewhere, visitors to the seaport town enjoyed the balmy, salt-tinged air, and others still could be seen chatting with Pason as they prepared for a sun-filled vacation to Florina Beach. And, echoing in the distance, its tall masts and colors flying proudly, was the whirring sounds from the engines of the Victoria. The flying ship had just completed another depositing of newcomers to Victoria Island, and the roaring orders of Captain Shanks to prepare for take-off occasionally sounded over the general hustle and bustle.

However, Renelle could see none of the peace that permeated Lith Harbor, as her current position was one of being tucked away in Valene’s secluded home. Although the house sat on a beautiful cliff-side spot overlooking the main cove that housed the city, it was a rather odd choice for a cleric to be in. One would think that a healer would make herself readily available. But, no, anyone seeking treatment would have to scale a few ladders.

Thinking of this brought the fire wizard’s attention to the nearby window, taking a moment to soak in the view. And she would have taken longer, had not an annoying, jibing question interrupted her reverie.

“So…you just ran into him?”

Renelle huffed and affected her best glare across the room to her fellow elementalist, but this only caused the girl to grin wider.

“Oh, wait, no, you Teleported into him and banged your head on his staff!”

Apparently, her discomfiture caused her two best friends endless amounts of entertainment. Scowling once again at the thought, the girl tightened her red bandana about her forehead with enough ferocity to tear the cloth apart, and proceeded to go back to watching the pot of stew on the fire. Disciplining herself, the girl took a few breathes to calm herself down and clear her head. Ignore it. Just ignore it, and she’ll shut up.

But she must have twitched when she heard a snicker, because the moment afterward, a fit of laughter had broken out behind her.

Whirling back around, Renelle threateningly brandished a gunk-covered ladle at Valene and Cinia, the silent question of “What are you two laughing at?!” blazing in her eyes. It was enough that she had actually endured the embarrassment running into a stranger, not to mention actually stupidly sitting on top of said stranger, but now her two closest companions were continually poking fun at her. And even so, here she was, helping Valene make her little brew out of the Evil Eye Tails that had been so graciously gathered for her.

Glowering again at Cinia – who, for the record, was sitting on a stool in the corner of the kitchen and doing nothing – Renelle spared a glance at the present cleric in the room, but Valene merely smiled back and commented, “Don’t tie your bandana so tightly, Elle. You’ll worsen that bruise on your head.” “Hmph”-ing, the girl turned back around and poked at the bubbling piles of boiled lizard tails, self-consciously readjusting her headwear. “Y’know, Val, there wouldn’t be a bruise if you could just heal it and make it go away.”

The cleric didn’t look up from her root-cutting as she replied, “It’s better for those wounds to heal naturally, if they can.”

Cinia then interjected cheekily, “Yeah, Elle, don’t get so mad that you set your head on fire. Then Val would really have a healing job to do!”

There was a yell and a crash, and, sighing, Valene set down her fruit knife and went out the door after her two eccentric friends, pausing in the doorway for a moment to enjoy the sight of hot-headed Renelle flinging stew bits after the now-squealing Cinia. The child really didn’t like Evil Eyes in any form. And now she was racing back towards the house, shrieking “Vaaal make Elle stop!”

“I warned you not to tease her!” the cleric called back. Ah, well, she’d let them run around a bit, and get some energy out of their systems. Still, she couldn’t help but chuckle when Renelle began to hurl Fire Arrows after her prey.

After a few minutes, though, Valene imagined that Renelle had used up quite a bit of her magical energy, if not her physical, and was about to trot out and stop the feuding pair, when a crunching sound reached her ears. Dead silence – well, silence besides Elle’s roaring after Cinia – followed the sound, which meant…”Teryn, don’t even try it.”

“Aw, dang.” was followed by a small poof, and a grinning thief in Marine Shadow set and Dark Pilfer gradually faded into existence. Cocking an eyebrow, the cleric eyed the water balloon he was holding, and said, “Looks like putting in gravel around the house was a good idea,” before reaching up and pulling his hat down over his head. Not answering to his “Heeeey!” of surprise, Valene casually walked inside to make sure that Renelle’s now unattended stew hadn’t burned.

About 15 minutes later, the group of now four sat about the kitchen, the healer still tending her potions, Cinia now sulking in her corner, and the thief Teryn grinning sweetly at Renelle. He had been so thoughtful as to decide to dump the water balloon on her, and she had been forced to borrow a pair of jeans and a (bright) pink shirt while her Moonlight dried out. After occasional bouts of silence, Renelle would utter an “I hate you,” at the boy, and he would screw up his face like he was about to cry, which would induce a scowl from her, and at which point he would go back to grinning. Eventually, he stood up from his spot on the floor and went to stand in front of the fire wizard, making an attempt to be serious by deepening his voice and crossing his arms over his chest.

“Ms. Renny, you haven’t been being careful like I told you to! How silly you were to get this bruise on your forehead!” And before she could do anything, he had jerked up her bandana and was studying her brow with further seriousness, but a snorting laugh told her than he found it funny. “I hate you!” she growled at him, and this only made Teryn laugh harder, though he managed to make out between hoots, “Cin told me you ran into someone! Can’t believe you actually got a bump that bi-GAH!”

Valene sighed, shaking her head as she checked the fresh burn on Teryn’s arm. The thief himself was not sitting on the kitchen floor again, making a pitiful crying face up at the woman who had dealt him the vicious blow. “Reeeeeen!” he whined, “I didn’t meeean it!” But the only response he got was a huff and a glare, and he could say nothing more but wince as their healer-friend began to apply a cleaning ointment, commenting, “You guys should really know better than to tease her.”

The thief was silent for a moment, then said brightly, “But she’s so cute when she’s mad!”

“I hate you!”

Renelle was about to go off on Teryn again, when what sounded to be a frantic knock on the back door alerted their attention. Cinia, being closest, hopped up and answered, and what followed was a stream of hurried and alarmed speech that was begging for assistance of some kind. Unable to say anything through her surprise, the girl turned around and nodded for Valene. However, Renelle could see that her friend’s face had paled, and as her other companion reached the door, an exclamation of shock confirmed that something was amiss. The cleric wasted no time in ushering the person in – or rather, two persons in. A man, a wizard of some kind, and he appeared to be shouldering an injured bowman.

“Here, let me take her” – bow-woman then – “Cinia, help me!” Valene cried, and as the two exited, carefully carrying the injured girl, Renelle took a moment to observe the person who had brought her in. And, she had to stare a moment, before flushing a bright shade of red. “Y-you?!”

The wizard glanced up distractedly, only managing to meet her eyes for a moment. Though, in that small time frame, he seemed to recognize her as well. “…You’re that girl from Ant Tunnel yesterday…”

—–

Done. And really bad again.

Quick character basis run-down thing, because I think someone asked. O_o;

Renelle: derived from me/my main MS character on Bera =P
Valene: inspired from Lindsey, my best buddy, and her cleric
Cinia: her fizard comes from my friend Ariel’s character
Teryn: based on the eccentric personality of my friend Alex (though, I think part of Indescane’s character Azrael may have made it into him, too. XD Read her story, it is beautiful! =D Link )

Thanks for reading! <3