But I digress.

If there was one thing I regret --one of the things I regret, anyway -- it was letting my job be my priority in life. If I hadn't, I wouldn't be having much trouble trying to relate with other people today. I may know how to deal with them professionally, but once the office disappears from my line of version, I'm a hopeless case.

Maybe all this free time I've got now is to rectify that. Start anew, speak my mind more often, get in touch with all those old friends I've lost contact with. There are scores of people out there waiting for me to mingle with.

Mingle. There's that word again.

Elly had never, in all of her eight years (she prided herself on being mature-er than other children her age), had an opportunity to see much of people from other towns and villages, having spent all her life within that small isolated community known to most as Banner's Village. She had long accepted her fate as a simple innkeeper's daughter, and her dream to explore places unseen slowly drifted away like the tides that came to and fro along the shores of the small fishing village. Make-believe games with some of her friends were the next best thing; a small solace away from the hours she spends calling out to passers-by to come stay for a time at the inn her parents ran, though not many visitors visit her hometown in the first place. Sometimes, she wished for a miracle, for something different and exciting to happen in her life to disrupt the boredom, if only for just a moment.

Her miracle came in the form of a young weary traveller trudging into the village, apparently from within the deep recesses of the forest right next to it.

She had short hair; that was the first thing Elly had noticed about her. All the women in Banner's Village wore their hair long (except maybe for that strange woman who comes often to their inn and drinks too much), whether in braids or in a long ponytail. The stranger's was cut short much like that of a boy's, a small red bandanna covering part of her forehead in an attempt to keep most of the bangs off her large blue eyes. She was dressed in an outfit no one in the area would even think of wearing, that was another thing she had noticed; as black as a raven, with so many folds that she couldn't tell where one ended and the other started, yet not completely hiding the full bodysuit underneath. Strange, this one. She was the exact opposite of most everyone she knew.

And that, in Elly's mind, made her an answer to her prayers.

Being the obedient daughter, she continued to call out to visitors from the entrance of the inn, though she watched the stranger's approach, curiosity growing with every step. When the latter was only a few feet away, she paused, took a deep breath, and sang out in a surprising display of lung power for someone of a short stature.

"Hello there! How would you like to spend the night in the best inn in the village? For a reasonable price!" Well technically, this was the only inn in the village --and from anywhere within a thirty kilometer radius-- but Elly liked to believe that the rest had closed up shop from bankruptcy when her father decided to open his own. She flashed her cutest smile - a trick she learned that usually worked.

The stranger stopped and smiled back at her. Her hair and clothes were rumpled, as if she had been running hard, and her eyes look a little strained. "An inn? I haven't slept in an inn for about three - " She blinked and stopped hereself. "Has it been that long? Well, would you mind telling me what place this is, little miss?"

"Banner's Village, ma'am."

"And what country is this area in?"

It was Elly's turn to blink. From what side of the continent did this strange girl come from? She hoped she wasn't one of those non-humans living in the forest, if she can believe what Koh says. But then again, Koh would say just about anything, from his made up stories to his tales of his favorite hero, some leader who took part in some war years ago. "It's under the City-States of Jouston. But it used to be under another country a few years back, I think." She'd heard that from her father once. Not that it really mattered though; Banner Village was Banner Village, wherever it was a part of.

The woman contemplated on that for a full minute, shrugged, and smiled again. "Well. That's a nice name. And sure, I'd love to stay at your inn for awhile."

"Great!" Elly's face brightened, even as she stepped to one side to grant the stranger access to the front door. Elly 28, Visitors, 0. Darn but she was good.

Elly didn't see her again until that evening, at the dining hall. Her mom prepares the best food this side of the river, but the stranger didn't seem to have known that, limiting her movements to picking at her plate and often staring into space, a thoughtful frown on her face. From time to time, she would take a small sip from her cup, grimacing a little; probably unused to strong drink. Sitting only a couple of tables away, Elly had plenty of time to observe the newcomer.

She hoped that the woman hadn't noticed her staring all throughout the meal. She just seemed so different from the other girls, that it was hard not to. And apparently, from the way the other guests kept looking over at her, a lot of the people present seemed to think the same way too.

Koh chose to burst in at that moment. "Elly!" He yelped happily, his dark eyes shining. "HE's here!"

Inwardly, Elly groaned. "What is it this time? Who's here?"

"Well, maybe not here." Koh amended. "But HE's around this area! Old Tar the peddler just came by this afternoon, and he says that there's prolly gonna be a war soon, and HE's come back again to fight!"

"Who? Oh wait...it's not that general person you're fawning over, are you?"

"I do NOT fawn! Whatever that means! And HE's not just some plain old general, HE's a hero! HE lead the fight against the....the Skkuret Moon I think, but then HE went away and no can find HIM but now HE's back cause Tar said there's gonna be another war with some Highlantern people!" Koh was nearly out of breath by the time he was finished, but he only seemed to be just working up.

Elly rolled her eyes. "You always have some new general hero everytime we get news from other towns! My mom always said never to tell tall tales, Koh! `Sides, old Tar's older than anybody I've ever seen before and he's......" Her voice trailed off as her eyes wandered back to the girl a few tables over.

Her cup wasn't even half empty yet, so Elly was pretty sure that it wasn't because she was drunk. It was a slow flush right at first, but that quickly spread to the rest of her face, increasing in color as it came along. What was even stranger was that the girl's nose was actually starting to twitch.

The woman, that cool stranger who'd just recently arrived, was staring at Koh as if she's just discovered an ancient rune long extinct. And she was blushing something fierce, harder than Elly thought was possible.

"Ummmm.......lady?" Koh had seen her as well. He rushed over to her then stopped, busy trying to figure out if he had offended her in some way, and getting ready to run if he had. "Are you okay?"

"Oh! I'm fine..just when I'd forgotten all about....." Hands trembling slightly, the girl raised the cup, tilted back her head, and drained its contents without so much as a shudder. Slowly, she set it back down. "It's just.....oh damn....I mean, disappearing just when he did and standing me up....agh...." She turned to Koh. "Where did they say your...hero was last seen?"

Koh floundered under her stare. "Um, um...Tar's wasn't so sure, it was somewhere around Salt Minnow, I think."

"Huh?"

"South Window." Elly, who had followed him, quickly rushed to his defense. "I know, cause my dad took me n my mom for a trip there once. You mean Koh's actually telling the truth?"

"I...think so. I knew a man like him once. He was the president of the country I came from." A hand groped for the cup again, having been refilled once more by a passing attendant.

"You know him? Really and truly?" Koh jumped at the chance to prove himself right, for once in his lifetime. "What's he like? Is he ten feet tall and beats up enemies with one swing of his sword?"

The stranger downed her drink as quickly as she did the first. "He didn't ussh a sword." The stranger sounded like she was far away, and at the first stages of the effects of ale. "He didn't like hurtin people, but he had these.....eyes that kind of drew people to him, that's what made him so popular."

"Are you a warrior too?" Koh's eyes were as wide as saucers. "Are you a spy?"

The girl grinned. "You can say that. But I'm on va-ca-tion right now." She giggled, as if she'd just said something extremely funny. Quickly getting a hold of herself, she stood up, a newly refilled drink on hand. "It was nice talking to you two, but I suppose I may as well take to my room if I want to leave at first light tomorrow. If you'll excuse me...." she said, more softly, beginning to make her way towards the stairs leading to the rooms.

Elly and Koh stared after her. "She doesn't sound like a spy." Koh complained, a little crestfallen.

The next day, the stranger settled her bill with Elly's father, and left Banner Village, as quietly as she had arrived.

The next day, Elly watched her leave, and wished that she could have stayed longer, or at least, gotten to learn her name.