Sooo... Since I have yet to write a replacement for this chapter written the moment I posted the last so long ago, I have decided to post it in the meantime, because why the firetruck not, right?

I'm so very sorry about the wait, honestly.. As always, feel free to toss me some ideas via PM. I'm not sure if I will rewrite the dream section completely or just build off of it. We'll have to see, but hopeully I can decide sooner than later.

Please enjoy.

There was a market, busy with life, voices being carried throughout the air as the people went about their day. Crowds all flocked along the dusty streets, carts and wooden stands scattered down the sides, pressed up against the sandstone buildings, overflowing with various goods from colourful robes and materials to precious stones and gems, pendants and vibrant carpets to carved-out dishes and various pieces of kitchenware. A band, seemingly out of practice played strange, handmade instruments in the distance as the people bustled about. Kids ran, streaming through the bodies, weaving in and out as they chased one another

Others leaned up against the stone railings at the top of the buildings, looking down on the people with a sense of dignity, standing higher than them. They could see what everyone below was doing, as well as across to the other buildings where other children rested or chased each other over. There were enough planks and wooden structures against the walls between the gaps between roofs for their games to become a challenge of endurance.

"Hey, what're you doing up here, lady? This is our spot!" one of the kids called over to a girl, leaning against the rail and watching as well. This drew the attention of his friends, who all looked over in her direction. She too redirected her attention. "You can't just be up here like that!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, standing up straight. She was just barely taller than two of the boys and noticed that there were only five, all more than likely younger than her, with fiery red-orange hair. She leaned back against the rail before making a small clicking sound with her tongue. "If you tell me how to get down, I'll happily be out of your guys' hair. Sound fair?"

The boy who had called her out nodded, looking to be the second shortest of them all. The other boys chuckled, watching as he moved towards the balcony. The girl tilted her head, her heart almost dropping as he began to crawl over the railing. She reached out telling him to wait and be careful, wondering why the other boys were still giggling, and what about. He leaned back, holding onto the railing with a big toothy smile, the other boys moving forwards to hop over the rail as well, grasping the edges. "The only way to get down is to climb! Are you sure you still wanna get down, lady?"

The girl moved to the edge, peering over. There seemed to be some posts and square stone pegs sticking out along the wall, fairly distanced apart but accessible. Lower down there was an empty wooden stand, the top horizontal bar reaching approximately one-third of the way up. She was sure that she could easily make it down there, especially as she watched all of the boys start to descend, moving with practiced skill and speed. The one boy had waited up top as the others made their way down. "Sure, I can probably do this."

The boy gave a hearty sound as he smiled even more before slipping down to begin his descent as well. The girl chuckled before carefully swinging her leg over the railing to get ready to go down, but something had caught her eye on another roof. Looking over her shoulder, she had found nothing to be there. The boy called up to her and she looked down, giving a smile as she too began to make her way down, much more slowly than the other boys. She carefully dabbed her feet down each time, reaching for the nearest piece she could hold herself up on.

Her feet only slipped once, but luckily she hadn't put down enough weight that would have caused her to slip more and fall. The boy called up to her telling her to be more careful and she couldn't help but laugh. The lower she got, the quicker she began to move until she made it to the top of the stand, swinging down without a single ounce of grace to stand on the ground. The boys all stayed around, the one stepping forwards again to address her.

"That wasn't too bad, lady!" he complimented with a smile, a small glint in his eye as he giggled, "do you wanna play with us? Please, you gotta, lady!"

The girl couldn't help but laugh, informing them that she wasn't so sure how well she would match up against them, but as he began to pout she added on saying that she hadn't had anywhere to be so there wouldn't be any harm in her playing with them for a little while. The boy shouted happily as he said that they were going to play tag, and she would be it. He said that the market was the boundaries, and they had to stay on the ground, playing in the crowd of people.

The girl looked around, wondering how well she could dodge the bodies as she chased the kids. The boys began to run off, the one calling back over his shoulder as he told her that they were starting now. She smiled again before following them, trying to careful weave through the crowd without bumping into anyone in the streets.

It was like a maze, running into the more open area which was littered with stands everywhere. She looked around quickly, trying to spot any of the boys, looking mostly for anyone on the run, as they would most likely be someone she is looking for. As she searched around, her eyes met one of the other boys', and the second he took off, she was chasing after them. The closer she got, the less she cared about brushing by someone, but something caught her eye, and she looked back once more.

She thought she had recognized a face in the crowd for but a moment. She snapped back into the moment as she collided with a large man working a stand, causing him to stumble, but not fall over. He had knocked over a small stand on his cart, sending it falling to the ground. She immediately got up off the ground, not even dusting herself off as she went over to try and assist the man, apologizing to him most vigorously. He seemed rather furious, cussing at her in a language she didn't know. She tried to help collect the little pendants and put them back on the little rack, but that seemed to upset him even more, shouting as people began to stare.

The girl's face began turning red as he tried swatting her hands away, and she wondered if he thought she was trying to steal from his items. As she tried to get up, a couple other little boys darted in, quickly grabbing some pendants before taking off again, giggling as they did so. The girl had tried to stop them, but to no avail, as she was yanked back by the man. She still couldn't understand what it was he was saying, but she didn't like how this was turning out. Especially not as the man brandished a rather large knife.

Her heart leapt as she began frantically trying to pull away, but with no success. He tugged her over to the table, one arm almost holding her in a headlock, the other on her wrist, tightly grasped in his hand as he held it down. As he kept it pinned, she quickly clued in to what was going on.

She's going to awaken from this...

...no...

I cannot allow that...

...not yet.

She cried out, trying to plead to the man and pull free, and the man only stopped as a voice, familiar but foreign in tongue, spoke out, hardly heard over the crowd. He looked out to find the voice, the girl trying to twist around enough to see as well. The man spoke, and the girl became more frightened, unable to see whomever was approaching, only hearing the soft tapping of their shoes on the solid ground.

From the way she was being held, she could not turn back to see nor peer around the man, but felt a small relief as he set the knife down, loosing her from the pinned position. She heard the gentle clinking of coins falling into the man's hand as she tried to tug her hand away but gasped aloud, squeaking as she was yanked forwards and flung at someone, not even given the chance to see who as she collided against their chest as they used one arm around her to stabilize her.

The girl's heart dropped, but she couldn't bring herself to looking up at the person she'd been thrown to, trying at first to lightly pull away without much conviction. He'd kept his arm lightly around her, his hand hardly touching her back as he dealt with the man, not sparing her even a single glance. The angered man stepped forwards, and she instinctively tried to move behind her saviour. It was in this instance that he gave a small side-glance down at her, allowing her to slip behind him, trying to tug him away, despite not even being in danger. He was surprised when she didn't try to run and instead clung to the back of his clothes gently, as she her mind was wrapped around the catching of his eye.

The other man began to laugh heavily, and the one she clung to gave his own coy chuckle. She pressed her face against the soft material of his shirt, casual, not entirely unlike the others around them, yet different. Their voices faded out of the busy crowd as it went on its way, his scent faint, but detectable as she began to feel lost in it. Enough so that she hardly noticed him turning slightly to quietly speak into her ear.

"Come..." he spoke softly, his hands slowly lifting hers from his clothes, the rest of the sounds washing away, becoming a different sound, a different crowd, more tame, more calm, as the music began to change, giving a different feel to the atmosphere which was a little more soothing. It felt to her as if time had halted as she held to his side, with his gloved hands trying to slip hers off.

She was more willing to let go, and her eyes remained closed, only until he let go. When she opened her eyes once more, he had vanished, he was gone and she now stood alone. Not even the vender from before was present. She tried to peer through the crowd, wondering if she could perhaps spot him, but a small tapping on her shoulder blade drew her attention away.

Spinning around, a tinge of disappointment was bitten back within her core as she saw the smaller boy looking up at her, seeming almost concerned. "Are you alright, lady?"

"Y...yeah, I'm fine," she said, trying for a small smile to reassure the boy. Her eyes lifted and she gazed through the people. She wanted to find him again; he was someone that she knew, someone she knew in this mess of people she has never seen before. The boy tugged on the side of her shirt as she looked away, asking the girl if she still wanted to play or not, a solemn voice masking the controversial hesitance it wore. "N...no, I have to...find someone...I'm sorry."

As she turned back to face the boy, he too was gone without a trace. She looked around for him at first, or any of the other children she had been playing with, but saw none of them. She seemed hesitant at first, but turned back to where she had thought he had gone when he let go of her. She couldn't see him anywhere, but knew he had to be in the crowd somewhere. Right now, against everything, she really just wanted to find him.