She was shopping in the local town. At least it was the one that was local after their latest shift. The quiet town bordered the wastes, and Arina wondered if there was any way that Howl would be there. She supposed he didn't do his own shopping anymore, probably sending out a servant.
Now the reader's attention is to be drawn to the fact that our heroine, Arina, does not know of the occurrences of just six months ago, and as such believes that Howl is still hiding out from Suliman, and as cowardly and alone as ever.
While browsing through some vegetable stands, her attention was caught by a flash of silver. She turned around as fast as she dared, with a basket of vegetables in her arms, and glimpsed a girl…a girl with hair the color of starlight…beautiful.
Not paying attention to your surroundings can lead to great disaster, dear readers, as Arina would soon find out. While turning around, trying to convince herself that girls don't have hair that color, her basket tumbled from her arms as a large man pushed past her to get to the neighboring fish stand.
Her vegetables spilled across the ground. People passed her, in too much of a hurry to help a young woman with her spilled groceries. She tried to collect the scattered potatoes; the tomatoes had either split on impact with the ground or had been kicked and or stepped on in the busy street. While she scrambled to refill her basket, another pair of hands joined hers and between the two of them they quickly rescued the wayward spuds.
Arina looked up to thank her helper, only to look straight into the eyes of the girl she had spotted mere moments before. She gasped, and muttered a quick "thank you" before rushing off towards her temporary portal. To her surprise and horror, the girl followed her. She purposefully avoided the portal, wanting to maintain her appearance as a normal human, and instead headed into the alleyways, hoping to lose her pursuer.
No such luck. The girl followed her closer than before, calling out to her, but there was no way Arina would allow herself to be cornered by someone who was obviously a witch or knew a magician who could brew up the potion to make her hair that color. That was just not a normal color for a girl of that age!
She finally discarded any last hopes of appearing as a normal human and dashed to her portal, disappearing through it.
She never expected to be followed.
MUAHAHAHAHA!
EVIL CLIFF-HANGER!
But hey, at least I updated
