Chapter 3

Solara opened her eyes. She was lying flat on her back in a field. She sat up and looked around. The scenery was gorgeous. The grass under her was thick, lush, and a vibrant emerald green. Flowers dotted the field and their scents combined with the fragrance of crushed grass.

Sol stood up and smacked the grass and dirt off her pants. Much to the annoyance of her teachers, Sol refused to wear the girls uniform, preferring the pants and shirt of the boys. She also frustrated them with her choice to constantly wear black steel-toed and -heeled boots. After a full six months of trying to deter both 'problems' through various means, including detention and suspension, they gave up. She was at least wearing a uniform and the boots helped discouraged other students from trying to pick fights.

Given that Sol didn't know where she was or even where she would start looking if she did, Sol simply picked a direction and started walking.

Sol looked around as she walked, just admiring the scenery. After walking for about an hour (judging by the movement of the sun), Sol stopped. She thought she heard something other than birds.

A short, sharp shout of pain ricocheted through the trees to her left. Sol blinked, then turned and strode towards the sound. About two minutes later, Sol came to the edge of a clearing. A massive ruin stood towards the back. In the front of the clearing, amongst the collapsed pillars, was a group of seven people.

Six of them were standing in a semi-circle. All of them were wearing hooded black robes. From her position, she could see at least two of them were wearing white and red diamond-checked masks. They were in front of a young woman with long, pink hair. It was braided into two plaits down to her hips, with two large purple spheres attached to each. The black kerchief tied over her head matched her knee-length, ragged hemmed black dress and knee-high black boots. She had a silver broom with a large magenta stone embedded at the tip in her hands.

Given that the six were wearing masks, it seemed reasonable to Sol to assume they were the 'bad guys.' She simply walked up behind the closest one. The girl noticed her and looked surprised, but the others didn't until she tapped the closest one on the shoulder.

The robed person whipped around, right into Sol's swinging fist. As her fist hit him in the face, there was *CRACK* and a *CRUNCH*. The crack clearly came from the splitting mask. It wasn't until he hit the ground, unconscious, that Sol realized that the crunch must have been his nose breaking.

Sol stepped over him, turning to the other five. "Six thugs to rob one woman? A little excessive, don't you think?" She smirked. "Perhaps you'd like to try me?"

The five remaining 'thugs' charged her. Sol avoided their attacks easily, they were pathetically slow. A few punches and a couple well placed kicks, and the five joined their companion on the ground. "Bloody idiots." Sol stated.

Turning, she looked at the woman she had helped. "You okay?"

"Ah, y-yes. Um, thank you." She looked both confused and suspicious. "I don't suppose you did that out of the goodness of your heart?" Sol cocked an eyebrow at that. "You want a reward?" she pressed.

Sol snorted. "No, girlie, I don't want a reward. I have a question, and if you don't answer it, I don't care. There are better things I can do with my time then get frustrated about some chick getting whiny."

She turned red, whether from anger or embarrassment, Sol couldn't say. "W-well, what is it?"

"Given that I just got here, I don't know where I am. I was hoping you could point me towards the nearest town."

"Oh. That's it?" Sol nodded. "Well, I – wait. What do you mean, you just got here?"

"I'm not from MÄR. Did the clothes not give it away?"

The girl stared. Then shook her head. "Look, if you help me get this ÄRM then I'll tell you how to get to town."

Now Sol stared. "I hope you're referring to something other than an actual limb."

"What? Eww! No, I said ÄRM, not arm!"

"A) you said the exact same word. I'm going off sound, not written word. B) you say that like it's supposed to mean something to me. It doesn't."

"…oh. Right." She cleared her throat. "An ÄRM is an accessory with unique powers engraved into it mystically. The one here is called 'Babbo.' No one seems to know what it looks like or even what it does, but it is agreed that it is powerful. Will you help me get it?"

Sol shrugged. "Sure. You got a name? Or should I just keep calling you 'girlie'?"

She turned red again as Sol smirked. "My name is Dorothy. What's yours? Or should I just call you 'rude'?" she snapped.

Sol laughed. Dorothy jumped. The sound was rusty, like she didn't do it much. "I like you, Dorothy. Name's Solara. Call me Sol."

"A-alright. Well, let's see about getting in here. I was trying to get the door open when those goons showed up."

Sol looked at the door. "Doesn't seem to have a lock. What's the problem?"

The door won't budge. Not even a little. I don't get why!"

Sol looked up. "That's why." She pointed towards the roof.

"Huh?"

"It's collapsed. The rubble must be blocking the door."

"Oh, just great. How are we supposed to get in now? If we hang around much longer I bet more of those goons will show up."

"Yo, Dorothy." Dorothy turned. Sol was a distance away, in front of an overgrown section of the wall. "This part of the wall is damaged. We can get in here." Before Dorothy could ask how she planned on getting through the wall, Sol spun and slammed her boot into the area she had indicated. The wall crumbled. Gesturing, Sol said, "Pink-haired ladies first." with a small smile.

Dorothy found herself smiling back. "Why, thank-you." The two entered the building.

"Any idea where it's supposed to be?" Sol asked.

"If I understood what I read correctly, Babbo should be at the back. There are bound to be traps thou-!" They had been walking, when Sol jerked Dorothy backward. A huge spike slammed into the ground right where she had been.

"Traps, huh?"

"Oh, shut up." Dorothy grumbled.

The two continued forward, being vigilant now. Another spike trap and the sound of barking dogs at one point (what was that for? Scaring cats?), but nothing else on the path they took.

They reached the back room. A large chest stood on a pedestal. There was nothing else visible in the cavernous room.

"There's no way this room isn't trapped. I don't think we can avoid setting it off though." Sol stated. Dorothy nodded, agreeing with that assessment. Sol simply stuck her leg into the room.

A stone embedded in the pedestal gleamed. The ground shook as a massive stone golem appeared and slammed down. Sol's eyes widened. "Damn. That thing's huge."

"Aren't you going to fight it?" Dorothy demanded.

Sol gave her an incredulous look. "Do I look that bloody damn stupid to you? Hell no. I happen to like living."

"Well, then what good are you?!" Dorothy exclaimed in frustration.

"I'm going to hazard a guess that you have something that can take that on for a few moments, at least, yes?"

"Of course -"

Sol cut her off. "Then use it. I'll get Babbo while you distract it. Hanging around here for a long time is probably a bad idea, anyway. Unless you really want to see if more of your friends from earlier show up."

Dorothy grimaced, then nodded. She shooed Sol away from her. She lifted her left arm in front of her and stood still for several long seconds. Then she extended her arm and yelled, "Go! Flying Leo!" A large flying lion appeared in the air. It roared and dove at the stone golem.

As soon as the golem was focused on the lion, Sol ran forward. She dodged around the golems stomping feet. Getting to the pedestal, she jumped up onto it. Her boot connected with the chest as she landed. The sound told her that the chest wasn't going to move. So, without any further thought, she wrenched the chest open.

Sol stared. Dorothy had said an ÄRM was an accessory. Who the hell called a kendama an accessory? Who puts a goofy half-foot long nose with a mustache on the ball? And was it snoring?!

Just then it snorted, waking itself up. "Huh? What are you looking at? And where am I? I can't remember anything. How long have I been asleep? And how did I get here?" the longer it spoke, the more pissed off it sounded.

"Sol, is Babbo there? This guardian is getting hard to handle!"

"This thing is talking."

"What?! Don't be ridiculous! A talking accessory would be disgusting!" Dorothy yelled.

The kendama didn't like that. "Who's disgusting?! You take that back!" It shouted as it sprang out of the chest. Dorothy stared blankly.

"What are you?" Sol asked.

"Babbo. That's all I remember."

Sol blinked. "Great. Let's go."

Babbo jumped back into the chest and bit the edge. "I wiw not! I'm goig mack to fweep!"

"Seriously? Weren't you just bitching about not knowing how long you've been asleep?" Sol asked, mildly disgusted.

Dorothy yelled. Sol turned to see Flying Leo disappear. The bracelet it had originally been appeared and crumbled. So much for that. The stone golem grabbed Dorothy.

"Son of a bitch. Come here, you." She grabbed Babbo by his mustache to force him to let go of the chest, not realizing he had dozed off. Babbo yelled in pain, but Sol switched to holding the chain as soon as she got him loose. Babbo started yelling something about dueling, but Sol didn't particularly happen to care. She was judging the point to hit to knock the golem on its ass.

Sol chuck Babbo (who screamed in surprise). He hit the golem high in the chest. It stumbled and dropped Dorothy. Sol ran and jumped. The hammer expanded in her hand as she brought it down in an overhead swing. The blow knocked the golem off its feet. Defeated, the golem reverted to the form of a bracelet. Dorothy picked it up.

Sol hitched the hammer over her shoulder. She and Dorothy walked outside, Sol dragging the reluctant Babbo. Outside, Dorothy told Babbo that she wanted to take him.

"No, no, NO! I absolutely refuse! I will not be your ÄRM!"

"What?! Why?!"

"You simply reek of evil magic! I don't even what to be touched by you!"

"But…I've searched so long…gone so far…!" Dorothy grabbed Babbo midway through her sentence and, shocked by his weight, dropped him. "What the - ! Sol, you threw this thing?! He weighs a ton!"

"Hmm. Yeah, he probably does." Dorothy blinked. "Anyway, you got the ÄRM, even if it isn't cooperating. You gonna tell me which way to go?"

"Oh. Right. Um, Sol, why don't you take this ugly brute with you?" Dorothy smiled sweetly.

"I heard that! How dare you speak of a gentleman like that! Besides, I detest that one too."

Ignoring him, Sol shrugged. "Sure. He might be helpful. If he figures out how to stop bitching, anyway."

"Hey! How – ow!" Sol slammed her boot down on top of him, the sound of steel on metal (I've never seen anything say what metal ÄRM's are made out of have you?) ringing through the clearing.

Dorothy snickered. "Anyway, head west. That's the closest village. It's quite a ways off though. And you should keep in mind, people may attack you. Babbo's rare. People will want him. You may even run into more of them." She pointed to the broken mask lying on the ground, the only thing left of her six attackers.

Sol nodded. "I understand. See you later, Dorothy."

Dorothy jumped onto her broom and took off, waving. Babbo started to yell at Sol again, then stopped, sniffing. "What a peculiar small you have…like nothing of this world…"

"Probably because I'm from a different world." Babbo looked at her in surprise. "Look, I'm not from here, so I don't know a lot. You've been asleep for who knows how long and have no memories. You and I will get through the world a lot easier and a lot safer together than we will separately. Make sense?"

"Hmm, yes I suppose you are right. For now, we will travel together." Babbo grumbled a bit but conceded in the end.

And so, the two started west, unaware of the true depth of the relationship they had just started to build.