Chapter 1

The lush grass sways softly in the gentle summer breeze, the smell of daisies tickling Kana's nose. Her eyes gradually open as she enters the waking world. She finds her hands slowly running along her left. She slowly rises from the soft bed of grass, shaking off the last hints of drowsiness with a long yawn.

Her dark brown eyes blink rapidly and are greeted with branches softly waving in the wind. Through the branches, hints of the sun break through. She shoots up, realizing the time. She straightens her short brown dress, wiping off some dirt on the bottom near her calves. She gently combs back her hazelnut hair, then grabs her woven straw basket, running towards the large wooden gates a little ways in the distance.

Fayfield Village is a remote village, far away from any major cities. However, though located very much in the outbacks, it boasts a decently sized population of nearly a thousand people. The plains around the village haven't been developed much, save for the pastures and wheat fields growing within a stone's throw from the village's walls. With only one entrance and exit to the village, it can become quite hectic around the summertime as people from all over come to visit the village's natural wonders, as such sights are scarce around the capital.

The gateway casts a long shadow across the ground. To a new visitor, it may appear at first glance to be intimidating, but to its residents, the walls merely provided shade to escape the glare of the sun. As she approaches the open gates, a young guardsman waves his hand in greeting.

"Good afternoon Kana!"

"Hello, good afternoon," Kana whispers as she returns his wave. Mikael responds with a cheeky grin before returning back to his station. Kana quickly rushes past him into the bustling town square.

Kana heads down the wide gravel and dirt path, tiny rocks clicking under her worn shoes. The various shouts and yells of the townsfolk surround her as they go about their daily business. A large man to her right hauled large sacks of grain from his cart, setting up his tent of various grains. A woman to her left haggled with the fisherman over the price of his most recent catches. In the background, she could hear two men in a violent argument. She quickened her step, her ears beginning to ache at all the noise. While she didn't mind all the action in the village, she much preferred the ambiance of her small cottage. She fishes out her shopping list from her worn pocket.

On the list are a few ingredients for tonight's supper. She would need to hurry if she wanted to get home in time to make it. She walks along the farmer's market, glancing all around her as she goes along. All around her people were bustling along, going about their daily lives. A bit further along, she spotted the first destination in her journey, the fish vendor.

Displayed on wooden hooks tied to the tent's ceiling were large filets of preserved fish. There were large filets of smoked cod, a bunch of dried herrings, and there was even a cut of salted salmon! 'How much I would have to save for salmon!' Kana's mouth watered at the thought. When she glanced down her pocket, though, harsh reality glanced back. Dismayed, she fished out two pieces of bronze Mytium. She gave them to the vendor, and the vendor handed her a small cut of cod, a filet the size of her forearm.

"Glad to do business, young lady!" The fish vendor waved Kana off with a small smile on his face. Kana waved back before heading onward towards some other shops. A few armed guards, wearing armor much fancier than what one would expect from guards in a rural village rush past. They seem to be searching for someone, calling out for their young miss. It seems that another young, hotblooded noble has gallivanted off during their vacation without notice. Well, such things were not uncommon around Fayfield, with the lax nature and usually calm weather. Kana paid it no heed as she went along shopping. Soon, Kana had her basket full, filled with various herbs and spices, the ones she couldn't grow in her own garden. The two fancy guards weren't seen since, so perhaps they've given up or their lady has been found already. She passes through the village gates on her way home, giving Mikhael a customary wave goodbye.

Kana's home is a long way from the village, past the golden meadows of wheat that surrounded Fayfield. The long pastures spread along the horizon, with farmers toiling in the fields. The wind gently blew from behind her, bending the golden wheat forward, as if pointing her back home. Eventually, the wheat-filled pasture falls behind her, and she arrives at her home. Although, perhaps home is a bit of an overstatement.

The thing Kana called home was more so in reality a broken-down shack, far from Fayfield Village. It was a small hut made of worn woven twigs. Its roof was made of straw, though it was just patchwork. Most likely, before Kana had chosen to settle in it, it had been a small, abandoned storage house. Kana gently opened the thin wooden door, careful not to knock it off its hinges. The interior of the shack matched the outside. The floor was made entirely out of dirt, with a few weeds growing in the few beams of light that broke through the roof. In the far corner, a small clay hearth oven sits. A small metal pot sits inside among the charcoal. It's extremely shoddy, as Kana had shaped it herself. To the opposite side, lies a mattress of various leaves and grasses. And next to it was a small wooden bucket, filled with water. Kana removes the pot from the oven and fills it with water. She grabs a small flint with a rock, creating sparks to light the charcoal. She fills her pot with the ingredients she had bought and settles down on her bed, waiting for her dinner to finish stewing.

By the time the stew finished, the sun was near setting. The sky was coated in a warm golden yellow, not unlike Kana's stew. Just a single bowl of it would be her dinner tonight, and the leftovers should be enough to last at least a day or two more. Kana had decided to have her dinner outside, bathing in the waning sunlight and the gentle breeze of twilight.

Out of the corner of her eye, a small robed figure appears along the path. It stumbled a bit as it trudged along, seemingly exhausted.

"A-Are you okay?" Kana tentatively called out to the figure.

"H-huh?!" A face glanced up from underneath their hood, revealing a rather young-looking girl. She pulls the hood down over her face, concealing it again. "U-um, I'm fine!" She attempts to hurry off down the path, but stumbles over her cloak, falling to the ground. The mysterious girl lets out a small groan. Kana offers her a hand, lifting her back to her feet.

"Are you sure you're fine?" Kana repeats. The girl shakes her head, about to repeat the same answer before her stomach interrupts with a loud growl. The girl, embarrassed, hangs her head. Kana hands her a bowl of stew, and pats the ground next to her, inviting the girl to join her for dinner. The girl accepts Kana's invitation and joins her on the ground. She takes off her hood and puts the bowl to her lips. She sips the soup slowly, with the air of a noble girl. Her body was fairly small, at least a head shorter than Kana was. If Kana had to guess, she would estimate the girl to be around 14 at the oldest.

"What's a girl as young as you doing all the way out here?" Kana inquired. "Won't your parents be worried?"

The girl gave Kana a confused look. "Do you not know who I am?"

'Is she a celebrity or something?' Kana thought. She didn't recognize the little girl at all. "No, sorry."

The girl suddenly stands up, straightening her back to appear as tall as possible and raising her cloak as if it were a cape. "I am the great witch Ti-!" she announces, before cutting herself short. "A-actually, my name isn't important… hehe…" She chuckles to herself before sitting back down. "Anyway, I'm not a little girl, okay! I'm 20 years old!"

Kana's bowl slips from her hand, dropping with a loud thunk onto the dirt below her. "What's with the shocked look?!" The girl asks, outraged.

"Sorry, but that's unbelievable. I mean, you'd be older than me!"

"Huh?! Well, how old are you, then?!"

"I'm 16." Hearing that, the older-than-she-appeared girl's shoulders droops, and her eyes seemed to lose a little bit of light.

"O-oh… I see… and yet you're so tall…"

Kana wasn't exactly sure how to comfort this mysterious girl, so she decided to try and shift the topic.

"So, Mrs. Ti-"

"Ti?"

"Sorry, was that rude of me?"

Ti seems to ponder it for a while, before shrugging her small shoulders. "Fine, you can call me Ti for now."

"So, Ti, what were you doing so far out?"

Ti jumps back into the air, resuming the same pose she used when she "introduced" herself.

"As you can probably tell, I'm a very important aristocrat! As such, even when taking a vacation to far-off slums like Fayfield Village, I'm always followed by a great number of retainers and bodyguards! BUT! It can get very stifling, having to deal with so many people, telling you what you can and can't do, where you can and can't go, so I ran away!"

"Are you sure you aren't 13…"

"Shaddap! The point is, rather than have to deal with all the annoying and mean retainers, I decided I would rather go for a stroll along the countryside!"

After finishing her rant, Ti sat back down next to Kana, a large smile beaming on her face. "And it's so nice out here! I've never felt such a cool breeze back in the capital. Although, it seems it's a lot more dangerous out here than in the capital as well."

Kana gave Ti a perplexed look. More dangerous than the capital? Kana supposed that people in the Capital would be living a nice cushy life, but for the year or so that Kana has been living around Fayfield Village, she had never encountered any serious dangers. Just as she was finishing that thought, though, a loud crash was heard behind them, and Kana's shack was split in half.