Chapter 3: The Morning After
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Waves of blue cascaded on the dew-covered grass, constantly shifting in
the early morning breeze.  Seb smiled to himself; now how often did you
meet someone with hair the color of the sky?  He'd once heard before
about a woman with bright green hair, but this was just eerie.  Still,
it was gorgeous: he wondered how his young saviour could bear to cut it.
His train of thought wandered on until suddenly the girl awoke, eyes
wide with terror.  Her mouth was open, formed in the shape of a scream,
but no sound came.  Seb snapped out of his daydreaming, and knelt down
beside her.  Her mouth was now closed, but her eyes kept the same
terrified look.

"Uh... are you okay?  Looks like you had one helluva nightmare," Seb
offered, not entirely sure of what to do, given the circumstances.

"You have no idea."

There was a distinct silence between the two for a moment while the girl
pulled herself together, and started to regain her steely demeanor.  Her
face flushed ever so slightly, somewhat embarrassed that the man she'd
just rescued had seen her in such a state.  She got up and checked over
her equipment, making sure everything was fine. Seb merely sat back on
the grass, still a bit out of it.  He just watched the girl go about her
business, fascinated.  Eventually, this got on her nerves.

"What is it?  Why are you staring at me like that?" she lashed out.  Seb
blinked a few times, then rubbed his temples with his forefingers.

"Sorry.  I just sort of spaced out for a minute.  I do that.  Anyway,
I'd just like to thank you for, you know, rescuing me and all.  I still
can't believe it was neccessary.  I feel like a complete idiot."

The corner of the girl's mouth lifted slightly.  "Oh, I think you're
being too hard on yourself.  You only seem to be, I dunno,
three-quarters of an idiot to me."

"Everybody's a comedian.  Oh, by the way, what's your name?  I don't
remember it offhand."

The girl extended her hand, which Seb grasped and began to shake.  He
was ever so slightly disturbed that the girl had a stronger grip than
he.  "It's Alin.  My name, I mean. Anyway, you want to get going to the
Opera House?  It's a pretty long trip, so we can talk more on the way."

As Alin prepared to leave, a glint of shimmering steel caught Seb's
gaze.  He looked harder, and noticed a knife, somewhat tarnished but
still sharp, lying in the grass near where Alin had been sleeping.  He
pointed at it.

"You forgot your knife," he offered helpfully.  His new companion turned
about, stared down at the knife, then finally knelt down and picked it
up, shuddering slightly as she felt her fingers touch lightly on the icy
blade.  She quickly pocketed it, and seemed quite relieved to have it
out of sight, at least to Seb's eyes.  She raised herself to her feet
once again.

"Let's go."

The two, already packed, set off, with Seb deciding that he might as
well walk at his new companion's speed; he was already halfway there,
and going the rest of the journey at normal speed wouldn't tarnish his
reputation.  Much.  The two had hardly travelled half a league before a
conversation started up again.

"So, what does a wee lass like you do for a living?  Dancer?  Courier,
like me?  Waitress?" Seb asked, his tone suitably light.

"I'm a mercenary.  I moonlight as an adventurer, but you get the idea."

"I don't know; maybe it's just me, but aren't you just the slightest bit
young for that line of work?  It just seems odd: you don't look like the
adventuring type, anyway."

"A misconception.  Being an adventurer is a mindset, not a physical
regime.  Although,  in your case," she paused, and gave Seb a wink, "a
height requirement might be neccessary to keep you as a courier."  She
began to laugh, as Seb crossed his arms over his chest defensively, and
narrowed his eyes.  Stupid little sow, he thought.  Joke or no, she
deserved a smack for the short crack.  Still, nice kid overall.  He
looked at her,  as she continued striding forward purposefully.  Her
face still carried an absurd grin  with it.  Seb began to consider:
perhaps it was about time to expand his courier business?  An extra pair
of legs couldn't hurt...

"C'mon!  You'd better get moving if you want to get to the Opera by
dawn!" Alin yelled from quite a piece ahead.  Seb gave himself a mental
thrashing for losing track of time again.  He really needed to work on
that.  Then, checking his RunningShoes over one last time, he dashed off
after his newfound companion.