~ Renea Goldson ~

Renea looked at her surroundings with curiosity as she slowly ate the jerky in her hand. Many people looked at her strangely as she passed by. Sarah walked confidently towards the Village Inn, but Renea began to get rather nervous. She had no idea who they were meeting and she had no idea why they were meeting. Slowly she drifted ever so closer to her keeper and soon Sarah noticed.

"Listen Renea I know that you're not very comfortable with most people. I also understand you don't like being around them for extended periods of time, however we are going to be here for about the next week visiting with someone," Sarah said with a deep sigh.

"Who?" Renea asked slowly with a slight frown.

"I already told you dear, it's an old... acquaintance of mine," Sarah responded vaguely.

A slow frown made it's way onto Renea's lips. She did not like this, not one bit but what was she supposed to do? Sarah was her Keeper and her protector, it's not like she could just say no... right?" She slowly thought about it to herself, no that would be a terrible idea.

As soon as they walked through the door Renea's eyes widened at the overwhelming atmosphere around her. Men and women all around her shouted and raised glasses of pungent smelling liquids. She clung close to Sarah as they made their way through the thick crowd of people all laughing and dancing around.

Renea looked around cautiously trying to figure out where they were heading. Only when she saw two beautiful heads of curly scarlet hair did Sarah stop in front of a table. An older woman turned to look at Sarah her hair turned slightly gray from age. Her eyes a dark amber color burning brightly as she looked around.

"Hello, it has been a while hasn't it? Keath, Marie," Sarah asked with a smile.

"Awe, Sarah Red-Wind. It's a pleasure to see you once again," The man gave her a smile before gesturing for her to sit down. 

"The pleasure is all mine, and is this Sira? You've grown so much," Sarah smiled at the man and woman.

Renea on the other hand just stared at the people in front of her and bit her lip. That was three people she didn’t know and she would surely get cluster phobic. However when she turned to Sarah to speak she noticed the younger girl with crimson hair. The look of curiosity and wonder seemed to fill her dark brown eyes.

"Hi my name is Sira, what's yours?" the girl asked as she held out her hand to Renea.

In response Renea just stared at her in shock. While there were a lot of men that came over to her, there were almost no woman who would spare her a second glance. Now looking at this girl who looked to be maybe a year older then her she found herself raising her hand to take hers.

“Renea, Renea Goldson,” She responded as she tilted her head slightly.

As she tilted her head she was suddenly yanked into the empty seat beside her Keeper and Sira. Renea blinked at the girl for a moment before laughing. Sira just grinned at her for a long moment and smiled as she looked at Renea. Renea turned to Sarah but noticed that she was deep in a conversation with Keath.

"You don't look like a Goldson, no offence but aren't you a girl?" Sira asked with a slight chuckle.

"Ugh... Yeah, so what?" Renea asked with a slight frown across her face. Sira looked at her with a small smile.

"Nothing much, just trying to make small talk," She replied happily.

Renea narrowed her eyes slightly in suspicion, however with nothing to back her up she just nodded. The smile across her face was big and kind, and with nothing else to do she smiled at the girl. It wouldn't hurt to talk.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Renea, say what land do you hail from?" Sira asked with a huge smile across her face.

"W-What?" Renea stuttered in shock.

"What land do you come from? I'll go first, I am from Snow Bane a kingdom to the north-west of Crystal-Near over the sea. I'm a Gypsy but that's where I was born," Sira explained happily.

"Oh... I'm from Sybea," Renea lied, hoping that she wouldn't keep talking about the subject.

Almost immediately Sira let out a laugh so fierce that she had to clutch her stomach from the pain. Her eyes watered as she busted a gut.

"Pft... Yeah right, there is no way that you are from the Red-Fire Clan. Absolutely impossible," Sira said through her laughter.

"What do you mean impossible?" Renea asked offended by her laughter.

"Look you may be beautiful and all but I guarantee that you are not a Sybean. They are almost all pale skinned, and you are not," Sira said as she looked at Renea with a slight smile.

Looking at the girl Renea’s eyes filled with irritation. She had never been to Sybea to her knowledge, but there had been several times that Sarah had said they had traveled through it. It was the most logical excuse, but apparently this girl was too smart for her own good.

“Hey, hello? Are you still here?” Sira asked with a chuckle.

“Huh? What?” Renea asked as she turned her head to Sira.

“I asked if you were still here,” Sira laughed before her smile turned to a frown when she looked at Renea’s sad and confused expression that covered her face like a blanket.

“What’s wrong?” Sira asked.

“What? Nothing’s wrong,” Renea responded sharply.

Sira opened her mouth to speak only to be stop short when she saw the glare that Renea was sending the table. Renea wasn’t sure what to think or what to feel. Quickly she brushed it all aside, she would ask Sarah later when they returned home or when they got to their inn room.

“I have the book that you requested, it’s written in a different language from our own. It took me a long time to track this down, do you have the payment?” Keath’s stern voice asked slowly causing Renea to turn her head to look at the conversation.

“Of course, the two hundred silver just as you demand,” Sarah responded as she held out a bag of coins.

“Thank you, it was a pleasure doing business with you,” Keath said as he took the bag and handed Sarah an old book.

“Father, is this all we’re doing here?” Sira asked with a slightly bored voice.

The man in the cloak turned to Sira and glared slightly before sighing. He shook his head as he looked at her. “No we are not done, we are staying for the festival,” He responded calmly.

“Festival?” Both Sira and Renea asked in confusion.

“Oh I forgot to tell you Renea, there is a festival in town. We’re staying for it, trust me it’ll be fun,” Sarah said with a wide grin spread across her face.

“So that’s why we’re staying a few days,” Renea grumbled in annoyance.

“Come on now, let’s get us something to eat,” Sarah said as if she didn’t hear Renea speak.

“Okay Sarah,” Renea replied standing up to leave.

“Hey!” Sira’s voice filled Renea’s ears.