EXTERIOR – Inkpce, small yet very well guarded town along the southernmost end of Triangle Valley, right against the border. Somewhat familiar.

  PRESENT - THE GIRL (still wearing fur armor, but a pale green hoodie and the navy-blue ball cap. And sungsses.) - THE BOY (Usual threadbare stuff) - RANDOM GUARDS AND PASSERBY.

  TIME - MID AFTERNOON

  “This town sucks hard and nobody cares about it.” Sayeth the girl as the two walked through the reasonably busy streets, making no effort to quiet her voice from the ears of the many passerby. A few frowns emerged among the crowd. ”Buuuut the bridge here is closest to the pce we’re going soooo whaaatever.”

  “that is good.” The boy looked out at the town with a sparkle in his eye.

  “..?” The girl turned to him and raised a skeptical eyebrow. “There’s something different about your weird pervert stare this time… What’re you looki' at, Bug?”

  “i have been to this town before.” He expined, eagerly drinking in all the semi-familiar sensations from so many months ago.

  “Why the heck would you come to a suck-no-one-cares town like this?”

  “it was near the spot the man put me.” Briefly, he wondered what his fate might have been, had the man pced him out of sight of the guards by the bridge. How long would the boy have stood there, perfectly still? Would he be there, even now? Truly, he did not know. He was different then, after all.

  “There's ‘the man’ again…” The girl squinted, turning away from the boy and back to the path. “What the heck is that supposed to mean? Why would the Storm and Winds leave you with a memory like that?”

  “he had a yellow shirt with colorful flowers on it. he seemed fatherly.” He re-expined.

  “And what’s with that fashion sense!? What’s significant about that!?” She tapped her feet angrily as they walked side-by-side through the little town, steadily nearing the river.

  “i d-“

  “I knoooooow.” Biiiiiiiig eye roll. “Okay, so… Maybe that’s what your dad looked like? And the Storm and the Winds just used something familiar to send a message to you? That kinda makes sense, right?”

  “it might.”

  “Remember anything in particur he said?”

  “… i was told that he did not like my existence.” He recalled, squinting his still very wide eyes ever so slightly. “and i was given a choice. death or banishment. banishment brought me here. he told me i would need good luck. and that he ‘sure as hell wouldn’t help me.”

  “Help you?” Her face furls confuse/annoyedly. “Of course they wouldn’t, why even bring it up? And why’s it so dismissive of you!? Why even show up, if that’s the case?! That's weird, your memories are weird, you’re weird!”

  “so you have said.”

  “Yes I have! Weird and annoying!” She loudly decred.

  The boy nodded.

  They walk.

  . . .

  She sighs, her shoulders slump some. “Buuuut, I guess that’s fine… Been here all my life anyway, not like there's much reason to hurry at this point… I guess…” She most definitely guessed. “STILL! Try harder to remember more!”

  “i do not think there is more to remember.”

  “TRY HARDER ANYWAYS! DO MORE!”

  “okay.” He wasn’t sure how, but he’d certainly try.

  Following this conversation, it is not long before their journey (which had, at this point, consisted of a walk, a cart ride, another walk, a brief stop to contempte whether or not to violently rob some travelling merchants (begrudgingly allowed them to pass, as she was out of uniform), and finally one st stroll through town) had been halted once more.

  As they stepped near the bridge, they were stopped by a pair of guards, cd in moderately heavy armor, armed with rge and well-built shields and spears. There was a tall woman, who was fairly new to this and not familiar to anyone present, nor did she care to be, alongside a man, who was very slightly familiar. Perhaps he had a bit of a crush on the woman beside him, but it would be rgely irrelevant and not explored here.

  Why even?

  “Hold.” The man stepped towards the boy and the girl, pcing his shield arm, not his spear arm, forward. “Do you seek to cross the bridge? If so, state your business…” He spoke with guard-ly conviction to begin with, but trailed some as his gaze drifted over to the boy.

  “We’re going hunting beasts and dungeons, yes we’re aware of the dangers beyond the valley, yes I’m well armored, and yes I am armed on account of magic, yes I’m prepared for Bandits on all accounts, bhbhbh we’ll be fine.” The girl uncaringly stated.

  “Ah, yes.” The male guard refocused. “I see you’re well experienced. Armed on account of magic, what do you cim?”

  “Ehhh earth water.” She hastily created a small ball of mud in the air and tossed it aside.

  “Yes, that’s fine...” He reached for a notepad and clipboard that had been pced on the arm of the bridge (this is not as precarious as it seems, the board is magically adhesed to the bridge.) and jotted a quick note down. “You’re clearly well prepared, that’s good enough.”

  “Great.” She didn’t care.

  He looked up, his gaze falling again on the boy.

  “But, ah…” He squints, as if trying to recall something.

  . . . “hi.” Says the boy, after a notable silence.

  “See, that’s what you look like to everyone else.” The girl told the boy. “’Cept, with wide eyes. Point is, you’re super creepy and weird.”

  “so you have said.”

  “I, uh-“ The guard blinked a few times to clear his head. “S-Sorry. It’s just- You look familiar for some reason… So, wh-”

  “we have met before.” The boy remembers. “several months ago. on this bridge. my clothes were softer. yours were not.”

  “OH! It’s- AH! You’re that guy! From that time!”

  “yes.”

  “Wow! That’s- I’ve been wondering what the hell happened to you! So you have a friend! That’s good, I was concerned you were just some feral orphan ying in a shallow grave by now or some…” He seemed to come to the realization that this was a strange thing to say to someone you’d only met once, for a handful of minutes over half a year ago. Especially someone significantly younger than you. “Well, looks like you’re fine, anyways. That’s good, yeah. Uh, go ahead and pass, you’re good.”

  “we will.” The boy nodded, and the girl dragged him across the bridge by the colr of his shirt.

  “Ah, yeah…” The guard’s face was slightly red, pinly embarrassed. He looked over at the other guard standing beside him… She didn’t seem to care. At all. Actually, she seemed like she was hardly paying attention, just gazing mindlessly out into the river.

  He should probably scold her for scking off on the job.

  He’d do that. Later. Definitely. Probably.