Her thoughts were interrupted by a wurm. Oh, great, something to harass me. And I still haven't fully recovered from that fight with Fu. I can't believe I'm still sore with that! Valeria, you're getting dangerously tired and sore. Watch it. Valeria's thoughts almost took her right past the beast. Unfortunately, the acid spittle and the lightning bolts that were popping out of the wurm's head dissolved Valeria's boots into mere waste. It was then she realized that something was trying to kill her. A funny tingling feeling was tickling her feet, and this big, green thing was starting to squiggle around, real mad.

Very well, if it wanted to get thrashed THAT badly, how could she refuse? Then, as she stomped down, she realized she was on the path barefoot. Now she was ticked. "My boots! I can't believe you burned my boots, you creature!! You shall pay dearly, for those were my only pair of boots! Now where the heck am I going to find any more, in this place? DIE!!"

Taking in no hesitations, she lunged at the monster, brandishing her Seven Star Sword and her Falcon Rune at the same time. It was then, at that moment that this feeling of nothingness washed over her. The only thing that was familiar about it, was that she had felt this moment before, where she was demonstrating her skills, and when she was at her master's place, there was somebody watching her. . .A queasy feeling of déja vü.

Of course, she didn't have time to watch over every single detail here. Especially when she had more pressing business to do, like to obliterate the wurm in front of her. She stabbed the wurm rapidly, in multiple locations many times, inflicting many wounds on the gigantic beast. It oozed purple sap from it's terrible cuts inflicted by Valeria and her Seven Star Sword, and it decided she wasn't much of a meal to be battling to the death for anyway. It had to leave, to find a suitable tree for it’s. . . purpose, for it was coming to be that time of the month.

Valeria watched it writhe and wiggle around for a bit. Then she just stared at it as it slinked off with it's purple gunk. Happily, she skipped the rest of the way carefully, 'cause she was barefoot. She was proud that even in her poor state she was able to scare of such a big monster.

Eventually, she reached the hamlet of Banner, for that was all she could call it. It was a tiny little village located near the river, and a small fishing community. There was no hustle and bustle of the usual big cities, just calm serenity. This wouldn't be that bad place to go, for a break or two. She couldn't be thinking of that now, however, as she remembered that she was here on business. . .And a little bit of revenge seeking for herself.

As soon as she came in sight of the village, she froze. There, smack dab in the middle of the village, was a person who looked like McDohl. What the heck's this? If that's McDohl, then Lepant's going to want to know this! Maybe he can finally abdicate the throne of presidency to its rightful owner. Not that he was doing bad, but. . .

As she moved closer towards her destination, she spied that it was just a little child, dressed up in red clothing. "Damn. I keep on forgetting that McDohl's not the only one allowed to wear red. Any person sensible in fashion sense would know better than to wear red clothing, but then again, I never did think McDohl knew what he was doing with his clothes. But he looks awfully familiar to me. . .why?"

Valeria decided that the only way she was going to find out was to actually question the boy. Just when she was about to question him, he took off like a bullet towards the inn, after the words, "Dinner time!” was yelled. Ahh, maybe next time. I've got to find a way into the City-State proper right now, and the only way I'm going to be able to do that is by boat.

"Uhhh, excuse me. Excuse me, sir, but would you have any transportation available to get me north?" Valeria was didn't even have a map of the land, so she had NO clue as to which town was where.

"Well, for a lady like yourself, we have a boat that heads to Radat every once and a while. From there, you can choose to stay at South Window, which is just west of there, or you can go to Kuskus, which is north of South Window. There's a bigger port there that you can take to get to Muse, the capital of the City-State. I think there was some problem there, last I heard. You can always try to get there, anyway."

This was much more than what Valeria had expected from this fisherman. She wondered if he knew more than that and just wasn't telling, or if he was always this open with everybody. She decided to accept the comments. . .And the boat ride. "Thank you, sire. I shall just have to take up your fine offer on your trip to go north," she breathed gratefully. "Could we possibly go at this moment? I have to get myself new footwear, as I had a uncomfortable battle with an acid-spitting wurm, and it's not all that comfortable to go barefoot everywhere."

"Shore, lady. We can get you to Radat right now! We also have a great amount of wood, so we're pretty decent at making wooden clogs. Would you like to try on a pair? You can keep them, and they're much better than walking on sore feet all the time." The fisherman was so nice. Valeria could feel herself blush as she accepted the gift he offered her, though she didn't know why.

"Wait, there's another lady who want's to go north with us? Do you mind if we take her?" Valeria thought, then finally decided, Why not? So it was there that three people, two females and one fisherman made their way up to Radat by boat.

As she was travelling north, she let her thoughts drift. There was a cloaked figure on deck, staring at her, and she was wondering what was her problem. She couldn't get a clear view of the person's face, however, and after a while she ignored the staring. She didn't want to start a fight with the only other passenger, although it disturbed her that she had a familiar feeling about her.

When they reached Radat, Valeria tried to open up conversation with the passenger, but to no avail. What's her problem? Valeria wondered if she had done anything while on this voyage to anger the guest, but couldn't think of anything in particular. They both got off, and Valeria thanked the man. She looked around once she got there, and found out that there was nothing in particular. She also happened to notice that the cloaked figure possessed a sword similar to her's as she passed Valeria to the north. That's my sword! Where is it? Oh, ok. I have mine. . .So why then does she have one that looks like it? And is that the Falcon...

...!!!

"ANITA!"

She screamed at the cloaked figure, chasing her down, but it was too far for her to catch up to the already fleeing figure, especially in her newly aquired wooden clogs. That was she, Valeria was now sure. Why would she have been staring at her all the time. . .and have the Falcon rune. . .and the Star Sword? She would have to spend the night here, then get up in the morning to look around and get some help finding her way around this foreign country. And chase down that girl. And give her a good thrashing for running away. When she found her again, in this country, that is.

As she was about to leave the harbour, she spied upon Tengaar. What she doing here? And why is she in a place like this without. . .

Here solemn thoughts were distracted by the sounds of a fight taking place. It was a duel between a buff fisherman, and, at the opposite end stood Tengaar's abused boyfriend Hix. She could easily tell that the fisherman and Hix were brought down to their last breaths, and this match would soon be over. After a moment of silence, Hix charged the stationary fisherman. She could also tell that Hix was performing a desperate attack, but that his opponent's stance would counter it, and Hix would be a done duck. Then Hix slowed his speed down considerably, and connected with the defending man's head with his hilt, which brought the big man down.

Valeria was amused. Hix had grown, in maturity and in fighting level, but Tengaar would never let him hear any of it. She might even have trouble beating him as well. As she pored over her analysis of what she had seen this day, she never noticed Hix and Tengaar walking off to talk to a strange man, then entering the house. She looked around, suddenly, wondering where the two kids had disappeared to, but she said, "Forget it! First I mean up with Anita, then she runs off, then I see Hix and Tengaar, but obviously they're also busy. Time to get some rest."