Disclaimer: Jian's mine, but unless I've suddenly become Tamora Pierce, the rest isn't.
Chapter Two - Niko: Two weeks after Jian left home, she wondered what she had been thinking. On the road, she'd been captured by raiders and fitted with a slave's choke collar. They had brought her to Qalai, north of Janaal, where she would be sold. Right now, she sat in a wooden pen, waiting to be brought to the auction block. With nothing else to do, she watched her captors talk with potential customers interested in bypassing the bidding and buying a slave directly. You could do that, but it was always expensive. There were several people discussing terms at the moment, and while most of them had the looks of those intent on getting something they wanted, be it a bed-warmer or whatever, there was one man who didn't. He seemed almost disgusted at the whole scene, and Jian thought that maybe he had lost a loved one to slavery and was attempting to buy the person back.
The man was tall, with gray hair and a salt and pepper beard. He had an air of power about him that was interesting. He has also just won his bargain, and the raider he'd been speaking to held out a hand for money. The man gave it to him, and the raider walked over... to Jian's pen. He opened the door and yanked her out, dragging her over to the man. He handed over sale papers, which they both signed, and then sloped off.
Jian was trembling. What did this man want? Had she misread him? She felt a large hand on her shoulder and looked up into the craggy face and black eyes of her new owner. He gave her a reassuring smile and led her out of the slave yard and directly over to a man who, to Jian's shock, removed her slave collar and took the papers and stamped them with a seal that meant they were void.
The man led Jian away from there and walked with her a bit before stopping and turning to face her. "My name is Niklaren Goldeye. I'm not interested in a slave or servant, I'm a mage, and I was looking for you. I'll be taking you to Winding Circle Temple in Emelan, and you'll be able to start fresh there - if you want. Or I can just let you go if you wish."
Jian stared at him. He was trying to help her? He'd been looking for her? But then, she knew mages were odd, so maybe that made a warped kind of sense. "Thank you, Master Niklaren. I'll go to this temple; my luck, if I were to go on my own again, I'd get recaptured."
Niklaren smiled wryly. "Yes, perhaps you would," he replied. "And if I'm going to travel with you, I must insist you call me Niko. I'm no more formal than I have to be, I'm afraid. And I still don't know your name."
"It's Jianara, but I'm going by Jian now." The raiders had taken her hat, though not her talisman; for some reason, they'd seemed not to notice it. But without the hat pulled over her face, even in boys' clothes, she was obviously a girl, so she saw no point in not giving her full name.
"Well then, Jian, let's get going. Emelan is pretty far from here, and I'm in a bit of a rush these days. Not something I enjoy, but there it is."
Jian nodded and followed Niko. She wasn't sure she could trust him, but then, if things went bad, she no longer had the choke collar, so she could run if she had to. But somehow, she had the feeling she wouldn't need to.
A/N: Well, that wasn't great, but it's better than my last two scenarios, trust me. R&R, people!