Prowess and Prizes

Chapter 2

Jenna didn't immediately approach the vigilantes, much to Yuzi's disappointment. Jenna didn't consider herself to be shy, but how was one supposed to approach this? Yuzi, for all her scheming, didn't have any good ideas. They spent the whole afternoon idling around town, gathering what little intel they could on the two strangers. The basic story was this: the two men were in town because they believed a terrible menace by the name of "Bloodthorn" was in the area, and might launch some unprovoked raid against the town. Further details were scant; why anyone would bother to terrorize this backwoods town was entirely unclear. While some townspeople seemed to take the threat of this "Bloodthorn" seriously, Jenna and Yuzi couldn't help but be amused by the name itself. "I guess 'Slaughterfang' was taken," joked Jenna.

The two strangers, once they were done addressing the crowd in the center of town, had moved on to the local tavern. This was predictable enough, although inconvenient for Jenna and Yuzi. Approaching these men in public would be awkward enough; doing so inside the tavern would be an order of magnitude more conspicuous than that. But this did give the two girls an excuse to visit the glassblower's shop, a favorite pastime. There, they could watch the mesmerizing work of the master glassblower, who would turn molten blobs of glass into beautiful ornaments so quickly and effortlessly that one had to assume magical powers were at play. This shop happened to be next door to the tavern, allowing Jenna and Yuzi to subtly keep an eye out for when the men might move to another venue. But as time passed, this seemed to be a fruitless endeavor.

The sun began to set, so it was time for Jenna and Yuzi to part ways and head home. For all they knew, the strangers would remain in the tavern well into the night, so there wasn't much point in lingering. While both girls were old enough that the children's curfew didn't officially apply to them, they knew it was inadvisable to stay out in town too late into the evening. It would be different if they lived close to each other and could walk home together, but alas, they lived on opposite sides of town.

Jenna and Yuzi went their separate ways without any drawn-out goodbyes. They had already agreed that neither of them would attend seminary tomorrow, that they would meet in town in the morning and continue scheming to find an employee for Jenna's father.

Despite the theoretical risks that lurked in the forest after dark, Jenna enjoyed walking alone. As much as she liked Yuzi, it was a bit exhausting to have the younger girl by her side for hours at a time, watching her, waiting for her to make a move that she didn't know how to make. As she left the town common behind her, and entered the shadows of the forest once again, Jenna allowed herself to be still. No one was watching her now, she could just... exist. Jenna enjoyed the sensation of taking in long, deep breaths, and exhaling even more slowly as she walked the familiar trail home. She had lived long enough that she could appreciate how the trees adorning this path were growing with her; their branches more robust now than how she remembered them in her earliest memories.

"Miss!" It was an unfamiliar man's voice echoing amongst the trees behind her, startling Jenna out of her meditation.

She turned and saw the man a ways behind her, waving. Further down the path, a second man was catching up with the first. Even though the light was fading, she immediately knew who they were. It was the two strangers, the vigilantes. The abrupt greeting had startled her, but Jenna knew a few more deep breaths would help keep her calm.

"Miss, please excuse me!" continued the man as he hurried towards her, raising both hands as if to demonstrate his harmlessness. This was the younger, charismatic man who had done most of the talking back in town. "It's not safe out here," he continued. "Please, would you accept an escort?"

Jenna wondered how these men could have caught up with her, since she had never seen them leave the tavern. Her paranoia was piqued. Had they been secretly following her? An ironic question, since she had been secretly following them for the better part of the afternoon. Ordinarily she would have no interest in being "escorted" down this path by two men who surely were less familiar with the trail than she was. But she couldn't dismiss the notion that in this moment, the fates had intervened and introduced her to these men who she had struggled to approach earlier.