Takachi was lost, and all she knew was that the pirates were somewhere behind her, and that Hargeon was somewhere to the west of her. Still trying to remember whether the sun set in the east or the west. She decided to just head in a random direction, but was then faced with the question of what random direction she should choose?

Still unable to decide, Takachi continued walking without changing her course. After a while she decided it was time to settle in, since the day was almost done and she was making little to no progress. So she climbed a tree and settled into one of the higher branches for the night.

XXX

Takachi slept with one eye open, figuratively speaking of course, literally speaking she was sleeping with both eyes closed. Rest assured she was well rested.

Soon after coming into consciousness she opened her eyes and stretched. She then observed her surroundings. The other trees were green, the ground was littered with roots, and her left foot was ruffed up. After assessing the area, she climbed down, slinging the pack across her shoulders she started looking for food. Stomach grumbling as she continued forward.

It was day's like these, not that she'd had any before, that she appreciated civilization. People getting together so that people could do things other than gather and hunt. People trained in the art of cooking food, those people that make shoes, and everyone else. She appreciated that she didn't have one of these large roles in civilization.

That was when she heard footsteps, responding in kind she hid behind a tree. 'It's not the pirates is it?' she very much hoped it wasn't pirates. She looked out from behind the tree to see three personages.

'They don't look like pirates,' she thought. Two of them were guys, one with an orange ponytail and the other guy having short black hair, in between them was a girl with blue hair and glasses.

Against her not that better judgment she decided to ask for help. She stepped forward and cleared her throat with a mediocre "Ahem" there eyes snapped to her, and she looked down.

"Um, do you happen to, uh, know where the nearest town is." Takachi said, trying to break the tension she continued "You're not um pirates? Are you?" They were still staring, their jaws on the floor. If it wouldn't have been more embarrassing, her face would have heated up from embarrassment.

"Are you lost?" The blue haired girl spoke, and Takachi nodded while continuing to avoid eye contact. "There's a town close by, we can show you the way if you want."

"...Thanks." Takachi said, she nodded. She really wanted to avoid getting lost again. Besides, they seemed nice enough.

"I'm Levy, and this is Jet and Droy." The newly dubbed Levy said. Taking the hint, Takachi responded.

"I'm Takachi." This time she neglected to give her last name, not because she mistrusted the trio but because they didn't do so themselves, and she didn't want to make a bad impression. "So uh, which way is the town?" She said despite her nerves.

"Just follow us." Jet said with a grin, and Takachi just nodded, again. She then proceeded to follow them.

"Where are you from?" Levy said, a little while later.

"Hargeon." Takachi responded in kind. Talking to them wasn't bad, it was just the whole awkward situation part that bothered her.

"That's near our town!" Droy said. Takachi was suddenly struck with how much worse an awkward silence would make things.

"So um, where do you live?" She Said

"We live in Magnolia." Jet said. It was only after the silence fell that Takachi realised she should ask something.

"So what do you uh, do?" Takachi Said. Good, nice and casual.

"We're wizards!" Jet said.

"Team shadow gear!" They said together.

"Um, where'd you get your a-uh team name?" Takachi said, feeling hard pressed to finish the sentence.

"We've just always been team shadow gear." Droy said.

"So what do you do?" Levy said with a kind smile.

"Oh, me, I'm a photographer." Takachi said, before they lapsed into a silence. Not that awkward but definitely not comfortable. Luckily it only took a few more seconds until the trees started to give way to an average sized town.

"We're here," Droy said.

"Um thank you for your help." Takachi said once again looking away from the group.

"Just stop by Magnolia if you ever need help." Levy said, and Takachi was once again struck by how genuinely nice these people were.

"I uh will." Takachi said. She watched them walk away before she realised that they were headed in the same direction as her. She took a deep breath and ran after them.

"Wait up!"She said, raising her voice. "So, we're uh, walking in the same direction, and I uh, don't want to get lost." Takachi took another breath and gathered her courage to the best of her ability. "So would it be alright if I, I um walked with you?" Takachi shut her eyes for a moment, afraid of their reaction.

"Sure! That's fine with us. Right?" Levy said, taking a moment to see if her teammates agreed with her, which they did, by some miracle. Takachi opened her eyes in surprise.

"Uh awesome." She said.

"So what did you guys think of the latest Larry Foster book?" Levy asked. For some surprising reason Takachi didn't even find it that hard to talk with team shadow gear. They fell into a comfortable chatter, where the team would talk about something and Takachi would respond in kind.

XXX

"Bye team shadow gear, If your uh, ever in Hargeon, I'll uh probably be in Hargeon." Takachi said, sad to see team shadow gear leave.

"Don't worry I'm sure we'll run into each other." Levy said. Takachi smiled yet again, even if it was hard to tell with the way her sandy hair covered the majority of her face. Takachi's smile faded as she watched them disappear into the sunset.

After they disappeared from sight she made her way into Hargeon. She stopped briefly for a 500 jewel snack on her way to the docks. When she got to the docks the merchants were still talking amongst themselves.

"Um, I got the uh merchandise you wanted." Takachi said, and the merchants looked up in happiness upon seeing the pack.

"Thank you!" They said and swept it away from her.

"Do I get a uh reward or something?" She asked. Sure it was awkward but she nearly died for that pack. It would be a shame to leave empty handed.

"Oh yeah, here." One of them said before presenting her with a whaping 40,000 jewels. It was chump change by merchant standards, but by takachi standards it was a lot. She honestly couldn't say she regretted the adventure, not just because of the money and despite the low points, because it was so exciting! And she had made friends.

With this in mind she headed to the Weekly wizard to complete her assignment before she went go home.