Snippet #1258464

Darna heard them all exit the car and grin on one side of her mouth. They were close and she couldn't hide the happiness she felt very much longer. Sticking a hand in her pocket, Darna flicked her hair over her shoulder and gave her sunglasses one last push up the bridge of her nose.

"It's just a few minutes walk up the road and through town to Taven's. We can talk about everything there and not worry about prying ears." Turning on her booted heel, Darna started walking, a little skip in her step, down the steps. Four steps down, a sharp left turn and a straight path into the village with no name. It was a self contained place where everyone just liked everyone. It was very different from the home she'd grown up in. Of course, people bickered about this and that, but it was never meaningful enough to shatter the camaraderie felt through the doors of every home, shop, and business within.

They would pass a few small fields of hay, and then the forests would start up. Giant trees housing ancient memories of the worlds and people thousands of years before them. Darna kept her head down, trying to picture what it could all really look like. In her mind were childish drawings of blue skies, a yellow sun, some hand drawn trees and a fence that wasn't as straight as it most likely was. She knew the landscape from people telling her, from Taven teaching her, and from feeling most everything around her. The road still felt the same, but it had only been a few months since she'd last been here. A few months too long, where Darna was concerned.

The buildings were small like cottages, and between each one were trees trying to grow up or already grown to their potential. The Colonel smile softly to herself, her veil of hair hiding most of the expressions on her face. She didn't need to look up. The woman knew that in just a few seconds, Lora, the town busybody, would come barreling out of her bread shop.

"DARNA?!" She'd underestimated the woman. Of course she would make it earlier than expected. The large bosomed woman took Darna up in a tight hug, almost breaking her sunglasses.

"Taven has been talking non-stop about you the last couple of days!" She spoke quickly, with a small voice even for such a large body. "I had to throw a loaf pan at him to get him to shut up the other day! All he talks about is 'Darn this' and 'Darna that'! Ugh!" She had a jovial tone that meant she was simply teasing and Darna finally got up the strength to pat her on the shoulder. With that, she released her, allowing the younger woman to breath. Lora pushed past Darna to introduce herself to the rest of the group.

"I'm Lora! I own the bread shop here! Finest bread in Amestris, every one tells me! You should come in and have a piece!"

"Lora," Darna interrupted, finding the pudgy wrist and squeezing it gently. "We actually can't stay for very long. I need to speak with Taven and we all just need some rest. It's been a long day." Her voice was gentle, like nothing anyone would hear from her normally. Lora was family, if not by blood than by trust, and Darna would never do anything to hurt the woman. With a sigh, but a pat on Darna's hand, Lora conceded.

"I understand. It must be military business, Miss State Alchemist." She giggled and hugged Darna one last time. "Last I knew, the old codger was fixing up that little garden of his. He just left Xavier's place with some fertilizer a few minutes ago." Thanking her with a gentle smile, Darna turned and continued on her trek to her guardian's home. The closer they got, the faster Darna's feet carried her. To outsiders, it was a wonder she was blind. All Darna could see was blackness, but she could feel the warmth of him. The trees were so thick, only a few columns of light were falling through the canopy.

"Taven?" She called out. Her boots hit the rock path she'd anticipated and she stopped. If he had an herb garden, it was new, and she was unsure of where it was. Standing quite still for sometime, she tried to hear something other than the group's breathing behind her. "Taven!"

"Hey," his voice was right beside her and she turned to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck quickly. He still smelled like a father. All dirt, musty, and a little bit of something homely.

"Well!" He laughed patting her back. "I missed you too!" It was strange for Darna to greet him thus, but her thoughts and her memories had been many in the last few days that she couldn't help but try and seek solace where she had first received it. With another squeeze, Darna pulled away with a huge smile and turned.

"Taven, this is everyone. Everyone, introduce yourselves. I don't feel like it."

"Darna, didn't I teach you manners?" Taven asked with a bit of sternness in his voice.

"I always have manners. I introduced you. It's there burden to introduce themselves. I'm going inside." And with that, Darna made her way into the house at the end of the rock path. Taven stood with his hands in his jean's pocket, a toothy grin on his stubbly face. Darna would never know it, but he wasn't as old as most made him out to be. A man barely in his forties with long brown hair pulled back in a low, curling ponytail. Some would think him handsome in his age, but his personality was one you could only be friends with. In his eyes he was always hiding something. Sadness? Pity? One could never know and Taven would die before Darna would.

"Well, I suppose you all have come for something to eat? I have a small home, but I have plenty of places for you all to sleep if you plan to stay overnight." He moved to the side, a smile still on his face, a twinkle in his green eyes.