Snippet #1626303

Bianca was startled from her sleep, jostled by the sudden stopping of the caravan she had stowed away in. The cargo around her shifted as they came to a sudden halt, the motion forcing her to wake from her slumber. It wasn’t the best of sleeps she’d had lately, but if she was to going to go on an adventure like this, she knew there would be plenty of rough times ahead. Though in her mind, a bad sleep was about as rough as she thought it would get.

“Ah, the shipment of food, right? From Lor? Yeah, we’ve been waiting on this one for a while. What took you guys so long?”

The magical girl heard the merchant and his supplier talking just outside, their conversation already too dull and boring for her to listen to the rest of. Merchants and suppliers? Ugh. That had nothing to do with adventure. Sure, a hero and his party would come across a merchant every now and then, but rarely were they fully included or involved in the important parts of those tales, especially the parts with all the bravery and excitement. So, she decided that the time had come for her to depart this uninteresting scene.

After shuffling through the supplies, she peered around the corner to ensure that no one was watching over the cargo hold. Unfortunately, a single guard was standing watch, his back currently turned to little Bianca. As his head began to spin around to see what all that rustling was about behind him, she dove headfirst into the pile, hiding herself once more. Drat. She’d need a plan to get out of here undetected. And after a few moments of thinking, she knew just what to do.

To the guard, it would seem like a stray piece of meat randomly flew out of the cargo hold and onto the ground in front of him, a few meters away. Puzzled, he walked over and picked it up, studying it, making sure it hadn’t sprouted wings. He shrugged before he went to put it back with the rest of the cargo. And by the time he returned, the little intruder had gathered her belongings, as well as some of the food around her, and fled, running down the alleyway into the quaint town of Remington.

“Excuse me!” Bianca shouted to the first person she saw in the street. She tugged on the gentleman’s trousers. “Excuse me! Down here!”

She continued to rudely tug on his clothes until he finally started paying attention to her. Not that it took all that long. He squatted down to her level before speaking.

“Oh, what’s wrong little girl? Are you lost?”

“Nope! I’m here to find adventure! I wanted to ask someone where I might be able to find some. You’re the first person I’ve seen, so I’ll ask you. Do you know?”

The man gave Bianca a funny look as he stood back up, cocking his head to the side.

“Adventure? Aren’t you a little young to be going on an adventure?”

“No way! I'm awesome! Look at what I can do!” She waved her hands in a circular motion, and started up the relatively short chant for a weak spell such as the one she was about to conjure.

“The backlit canopy of the world...Starry Dream!”

Suddenly, a bunch of brightly coloured stars appeared around her, Bianca doing a little twirl and a flourish with her staff as she showed off her move. It was at least very visually impressive.

“Amazing, right?” She grinned wide at the man.

The man shook his head. “Little girl, you should really go back home to your parents. I’m sure they’re worried sick about you. Did you run away?”

Almost instantly, as soon as he began speaking, she put on her best pouty face.

“Look, mister servant man, I’d really appreciate it if you just told me, okay? I can take care of myself. I just wanna have some adventure and excitement! And you’re obligated to tell me. Or else.”

The man chuckled. Servant man? This girl was too much. “Or else what?”

“Or else I’ll whack you with my staff!” She pulled out her oversized staff and waved it menacingly. “Don’t make me angry, buster. I know I’m super cute and pretty and all, but you wouldn’t like a girl like me when I’m angry.”

He was still chuckling and smiling, but brought up his hands defensively. It was true. She really was super cute. Even when she was angry.

“Okay, okay, that’s enough. You don’t have to go that far.” He put his hands down and sighed. “If you want to try and find some adventure, your best bet would be to start over at the job board near the bar.”

She cocked her head to the side, still gripping her staff with both hands as she looked at him.

“The job board at the bar? Wuzzat?”

“Oh, uh...it’s just that way.” He pointed directly at it. As luck would have it, they were already relatively close to it. How utterly convienient.

“I still say you should head home to your parents and...”

“Thanks a bunch, servant man! I’ll see you around!”

The man shook his head as he watched Bianca head off, turning and going back to his normal day.

Bianca, meanwhile, ran into a certain pair of girls on her way to the board, bumping into them accidentally as she ran past.

“Sorry!” She yelled out, but continued past them until she reached the board, reading each job description over.

“Boring, boring, stupid...hey...what’s this?” She leaned forward and took a closer look at the picture. ‘Red Wolves Mercenary group’. Mercenaries? The word sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on why. At the moment, though, out of all the stuff posted on the board, this one seemed by far the most interesting. Especially with the word recruiting. Could it mean they were wanting people to go on an adventure? If that was the case, she wanted to be signed up right now! But...still, there might be something else cooler on the board. She continued examining it over. Or at least, she would until she was interrupted or finally made a decision.