2: The meeting
Sparrow's was a quiet Inn and Restaurant. Or at least it WAS in the Summer, Fall and Winter! In Spring, the entire city was packed to the max with foreign warriors and fighters trying their hand at the Labyrinth, and Sparrows was not exempted from said packing. Arianna, Lynn and Loi sat together at a solid oak table near the back of the inn. "Did you travel here with anyone, Arianna?" Lynn asked as they waited for the server to bring them their order. Arianna shook her head. "No, I came here looking for work." Loi raised an eyebrow. "And I suppose it has something to do with the freelance symbol you wear?" Arianna turned slightly pink and absentmindedly fidgeted with the symbol on her bag. Freelance agents wore red circles with a cross in the middle. The color of cross usually symbolized what kind of warrior this freelance was, but Arianna's was white. "Well, yes. You see, my brother is at home... He's dying. I came here to try and earn extra money to send back for the doctors." She explained sadly. "Ohh... I'm sorry." Lynn apologized. Arianna gave a weak sort of half-smile. "It's okay. He understands what must be done, and so do I." She explained hurriedly. Loi studied Arianna. "So what kind of warrior are you? You seem rather... Upperclass, so I don't believe you'd just be a run of the mill sell-sword. And I doubt you'd be a Duelsman or something of the like. So are you a healer or something? A hunter maybe?" Loi contemplated. "Oh, no, nothing like that. Although I do know a bit of healing I'm actually a-" Arianna was cut off as a waitress brought over their meal. "Enjoy." Was the waitress' farewell as she was swept back into the crowd, after delivering the food of course. Lynn looked happily at her plate, though Loi kept looking at Arianna, waiting for her to finish. Arianna looked down at the food, then back up. But instead of meeting Loi's eye, her gaze was drawn to someone else in the room. Loi turned to see what she was looking at. "Who is that..?" He wondered aloud as a loud... erm... person in purple entered the bar. Arianna shook her head, yet was unable to take her gaze away. "I haven't the slightest." She murmured. Lynn finally glanced up and joined the other two in staring at the purple hooded figure. "Ugh... how garish." She sniffed, staring at the gaudy purple cloak. They weren't the only ones to notice this person's presence. Short barks of laughter erupted from a group of Duelsmen as the purple person walked in. But instead of being angry, the stranger gaffed right back at them in a louder voice until the other men fell silent. Arianna held a hand up to her face to hide the smirk that was spreading across her lips. Loi watched, with an eyebrow cocked. Lynn, still unable to read the situation, rolled her eyes angrily and continued eating. The room continued with its noisy conversation as Loi and Arianna looked back to their own plates. The purple stranger, momentarily forgotten.
Winter looked around the bar excitedly. That was one of the perks of travel, no matter where you went, there would always be a bar. Ironically, Winter hated alcohol, but he loved the conversing and the laughter that took place. Of course, it usually started with laughter for some reason. Winter could never figure out why, but people usually laughed when they first saw him. Maybe it was his haircut... never mind, moving on. Winter took a seat on one of the barstools, waiting for the bartender to come over. A girl with mousy brown hair nodded at him from down the way. "Be with you in a mo', sir." She called breathlessly as she pulled down a bottle from the shelving. Winter gave a small wave to let her know he heard and swiveled around to look at the room. It was a very large bar, not the largest in the city, but enough to carry an echo across the high ceilings. As it was very packed, noise bombarded Winter from all directions. He took a deep breath in and just absorbed the chattering as the bartender finally got to his portion of seating. "Good evening... uhm.. sir..?" She started slowly. Winter swiveled back around. "Don't call me sir. Nothing about me is sir-ly. Call me Winter." He said flippantly. The girl looked confused but shook her head. "Alright then, 'Winter,' my names Christine." She introduced herself. Winter nodded. "How do you do? Well, no, it's pretty obvious how you do. You look awfully tired and worn out. Has it been a long day?" Winter prattled on. Christine looked Winter over, then finally released a tired chuckle. "Long month is more like it. All these hooligans coming here to challenge the 'great labyrinth,' more like a bunch of buffoons with swords." She complained. Winter nodded. "I hear ya. I actually came to challenge the labyrinth myself you know!" "O-oh! Please forgive me, sir, I didn't mean to be offensive.." Christine gasped, dithering slightly across the bar. "Christine, I'm Winter, not sir. And it's completely fine! It's not like you would've known. You're opinion is your own, and I admire you for giving it!" Winter said cheerily. Christine still looked a little frazzled but nodded again. "Er, right. Sorry. Uhmm... Can I get you something to drink?" She mumbled, still looking flustered at the insult she gave. Winter sighed. "Oh, sure. Do you serve coffee? I'd like some of that. You know, bars are the only places I can find Coffee anymore. It's quite sad." Winter began. Christine only stayed for about half of it, as soon as she heard the familiar drink; she was off to prepare it. Winter smiled as she hurried off. Oh yes, people around here are very strange, Winter thought to himself as he swiveled the chair again.
Roy finished the last of the paperwork. It was already organized for the guild masters to look over when they pleased. The final results would probably come in... oh August or so, he predicted. And with that done, he stood up. It was nice to stand up, after sitting at a desk all day. Roy used to be an adventurer; he was a very successful one until he had found a monster he couldn't defeat. His hand brushed over the flap of leather held over his eye, the monster had stolen more then his right to adventure. But with this plan he was concocting, he felt the rush of adrenaline he used to feel when traversing the labyrinth. He might even be fired for doing something this bold, but he didn't regret it. It was time that this town lost its kingpins and had better people take their place. Even the mayor, a man whom no one even remembers him coming into office has ruled far beyond the expectation of his age. It was time for the elders to step down and make room for new heroes. New legends. And Roy was going to make sure this was going to happen.
Winter took a long drink of his coffee as a blond haired woman took a seat beside him at the bar. "Three coffees please." She spoke calmly to Christine. Christine nodded, turning for the pot she had already brewed for Winter. The woman glanced over at Winter for a moment. He smiled and offered her a hand. "I'm Winter." He chirped. The woman paused for a moment, stoically looking over his hand, then smiled softly, shaking his hand in return. "Arianna." She said in her smile. Winter cocked his head, studying the woman. "I absolutely LOVE your dress!" He said excitedly, recognizing the famous brand-name dress Arianna wore. A real smile broke through Arianna's face, she looked down, almost shyly, saying 'Thank you." In a smaller voice. Winter laughed. "You're quite welcome! Say, you wouldn't have happened to see the Dungeon Master around here, have you?" He asked, looking around the room again. Arianna glanced around as well, shaking her head. "I'm afraid not. But I'll keep an eye out for him." She said slowly as Christine set three mugs full of piping hot coffee on the bar top. "Enjoy." Christine said coolly as Arianna set coins down on the counter. Standing up, Arianna reached over for the mugs. "Here, let me help you with that." Winter interjected, taking one of the mugs up with his half-drank coffee. Arianna nodded her thanks as they weaved their way to the back of the room.
A blond haired man clothed in deep red and a girl with similar, yet darker hair, with sunglasses pushed up on her forehead sat together. The girl with the sunglasses rolled her eyes at Winter. "Oh great, it's the flamboyant guy. Just what we needed." She groaned as she sank down in her chair. Loi calmly accepted his coffee from Arianna as she took a seat beside him. "This is Winter." She said with calm look, regardless of Lynn's whining. Winter gave a little wave as he set down the remaining coffee for Lynn before turning. "You can join us, if you wish." Loi said quietly, taking a sip of his coffee. Winter turned back, a broad grin on his face. "Alright!" He cheered as he sat beside Lynn, who quickly moved her chair away from him. "Really Loi?" She pouted. Loi didn't meet her gaze, and just stared with fake interest at the wall. She had obviously tried this many times with him before to no avail. "So, are you adventurers as well?" Winter began, studying the three who sat with him. "I guess you could say so. We heard about the legend of the Labyrinth from our grandfather and decided to continue the family legacy by exploring it like he did!" Lynn spouted with annoyance, more to put Winter in his place then anything. Winter seemed rather oblivious to it though, he nodded. "The labyrinth has been around for ages.. I hope you do your family proud." He said. Loi nodded once with thanks. Lynn just growled and looked away.
Winter kept the conversation going in odd ways, Lynn would respond in an attempt to rile up Winter, but he was immune as Loi. Arianna listened in interest as Winter talked about his travels, even Loi couldn't help but be genuinely interested when he heard of the places Winter had been. "..And what happened after you reached the oasis?" Lynn asked in spite of herself as Winter told them about his adventures in the desert. "Well, the nomads who were with me immediately followed the map to these weird sets of rocks. And you know, after much examination, we came to the conclusion that the rocks were of the same stone of the type found in the great seas. It was a fascinating find actually!" He recalled with excitement as he retold story after story. The crowd in the bar was dwindling; Arianna glanced around the room as Lynn got into another question match with Winter about his adventure. She tapped Loi on the shoulder. He looked at her, then around the room, a look of confusion briefly flitting across his face. "Somethings wrong." He spoke suddenly, causing both Winter and Lynn to look up from their argument. Arianna stood up, "let's go check outside." She called as she ran to the door. Loi followed in fast pursuit with Lynn and Winter hot on his heels. What met their gaze made them freeze. A great beast crashed through the streets, howling. Running wildly, people dodged back and forth, trying to escape the awful beast. "What is that thing?" Lynn asked breathlessly. "It's a Ragelope! Quick! We have to stop it before it hurts someone!" Winter yelled as he snatched a knife off of one of the tables set outside Sparrows. Lynn just looked at him with shock. "And what do you expect to do with that thing?! We don't have any weapons and that won't do a thing!" She wailed as the beast Got closer. Loi looked back at her. "Then go and get your bow. We'll hold it off until then. Now GO!" He shouted at her as he pulled cards from his pockets. Lynn hesitated, but turned and ran at top speed back into the building. Arianna pulled a short sword out of her bag along with an Aspis shield. Winter nodded at her, before charging towards the beast.
