• Once Again They Meet

    It's been a year. A year since she left Talutah at the city to care for their village as she went off to wander aimlessly in the wilderness. She knew she'd be fine. She's a survivor after all.

    In the end though, she ended up wandering from town to town, scavenging for food and work. She knew it was a pitiful lifestyle but it was the only one she knew of besides being dragged into an adventure by Talutah. And frankly, she liked living a pathetic life a lot more than dying in a fight Talutah had started.

    She took a sip of her mead as she paused with her musings. All the while she watched the happenings of the tavern she was sitting in. It was a decent place considering the last inn she was at the night before. The wooden chairs and tables weren't too mismatched, the food and drink were satisfactory, the floors somewhat cleaner than most.

    She was watching a boy attempt flirting with a pretty waitress and fail miserably when the tavern doors burst open, revealing a small band of fighters. They seemed to be celebrating about something by their obvious excitement. One of them let out a loud laugh that she recognized instantly.

    She finished off her drink, put up her hood and paid for her tab at the bar. She was just leaving when a hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around with a familiar strength.

    "Anais! What are you doing here?"

    She was looking at a face that has changed very little in the past year but enough for her to notice the difference. It still had its large smile, crinkled dark eyes and slightly crooked nose. A faded scar was on the right side of its right eyebrow that she did not notice before. It was Talutah.

    Anais mentally groaned and answered, "Leaving. Now let go of my shoulder."

    "But you haven't met my friends," Talutah replied. Anais felt her eyebrow twitch in annoyance.

    "Talutah, I don't want to meet your . . . friends," she hissed, spitting out the last word in almost hidden envy. Talutah gave a grin, having picked up on Anais' tone. Anais grit her teeth in silent rage. Next thing she knew, she was being pulled over to a table filled with people. Talutah shoved into a chair and took a seat next to her.

    "Who's this?" asked a young man with blonde hair and a bristled jaw. He gave Anais a leering look. Her eyebrow started to twitch again. Talutah laughed, "This is Anais. She's from the same village as me."

    "Really?" inquired an older woman of a willowy build, ivory skin, and high cheek bones. Her wild blonde curls tamed into a thick braid. "How did you two meet, exactly?"

    Anais then said, "Don't expect me to give out information about myself when I don't even know who you are."

    The girl flushed, frustrated at Anais' cold voice and rude attitude.

    "That's Lucille. She's an archer. The guy with brown hair is Orion, the dark one is Uriah, and the blonde perv over here is Vincent," Talutah answered, grinning at her old friend's cankerous attitude towards her other friends.

    Orion had the average looks of a farm boy, sun browned skin, reddish brown hair and sable brown eyes. Uriah was of African descent with beaded dreads and bright eyes of blue. Anais nodded her acknowledgment to each young man but ignored Lucille, angering the girl further.

    By now a couple of waiters came to the table to place plates of food and a tankards of beer in front of them all. The men, Lucille and Talutah dug in heartily, obviously hungry from the day's work. Anais took this as her cue to leave but Talutah pushed her back down onto her chair and gave her a plate of food.

    "Will you eat and celebrate with us tonight?" she asked, with a large grin on her expectant face. Anais narrowed her eyes at the impudent glint in Talutah's eye. She let out an aggravated sigh, "Fine, but you're paying for me."

    "Deal!"

    "So what is the meaning of this . . . get to together," Anais queried.

    Vincent eagerly answered, telling her about their victory over a cave troll in the Old Iron Mines a few miles north of their current location. He painted stunning pictures of their travel to the mines, the battle of the troll and the journey here. Orion and Uriah added their own perspectives and anecdotes to the story as well. Even Lucille put in forgotten details and Talutah recounted the more gory details of the fight.

    By the time the story ended the food and drink had been cleared away and the moon had long since risen. The other patrons of the tavern were more quiet and fewer in number. Orion was dozing in his chair.

    "So what are you doing here, Anais?" Uriah questioned.

    "I'm just passing through," came the vague reply.

    Uriah looked as if to continue when Anais stood up once more with a curt "good night" and left the building. But she didn't leave without Talutah wrestling a promise from her to meet them tomorrow for breakfast in the city square. Anais then walked to the inn she had roomed at and went to bed.