Maren sat on the bench she’d rested on yesterday, where she and Koda had plotted while Mav worked out. Had all that really only been a day? It felt more like weeks ago.
It didn’t help that this was the second day in a row that she woke with the sun. Maren was strictly a ‘get up at the crack of noon’ kind of gal, so why hadn’t she been able to sleep the way she preferred?
In today’s case, it definitely couldn’t have been nerves. Why would she be anxious? She only had the possibility of acquiring her first guild member, which would put the odds of her traveling guild becoming a real, legitimate organization much higher. And it wasn’t like that one potential guild member might be too strong-headed or terrified about leaving behind everything he trained for these last two years and be branded a style of traitor for the rest of his life all so he could follow a stranger.
But he still wasn’t in the park!
Breathe, girl. Maren checked the time. Twenty minutes to ten. He still has time.
“Hey!” an excited voice called out.
Maren turned, her hair swinging over her shoulder. Her delight morphed into confusion as a blond man wearing a blue cloak ran to her, waving.
It was the traveler from the day before, the one who’d given her the request that led to all yesterday’s chaos.
“I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” the young man said, slightly breathless.
“What are you doing here?” Maren asked.
“Well, I went on my way to travel Neirea, like I said,” the man said. “But I realized that I didn’t know how to pay you the rest of the money when you completed the job.”
“So you came back to the city and – what? – been running around looking for me this whole time?”
“Kinda.” He laughed.
“You could have seen recent transactions and then sent another one to my address.”
His eyes widened. “That’s a thing?”
Maren nodded.
“Whoa! Learn something new everyday, right? But how would I have known if you finished the job?”
“Could’ve checked the news. It’s everywhere now. Not that I can take credit for it. Oh, by the way, don’t tell anyone you hired me for that job.”
“Oooookay?”
“And while we’re asking questions, why didn’t you tell me about the missing persons yesterday? That would’ve been useful information to have.”
“What missing persons?”
Maren blinked. “Twenty-three people were kidnapped over the last week.”
“They were?”
Maren’s jaw slackened. “How did you survive a day out on your own?”
The man puffed out his chest. “I’m really fast.”
“I recall.”
He tapped at his wristband. “Hey – what d’you know? – I can just send credits to you. How convenient. Here you go!”
Maren checked her tablet. Eight hundred more credits had been added. “This is a lot more than what you gave me before.”
“It was a bigger job than I expected,” he said, smiling. “Did you see? A whole street basically got destroyed.”
“I was kinda there.”
“Oh, right. Anyway, share it with your guild members. This was a job you couldn’t do alone, right?”
“Right. So it’s lucky I ran into some help. But, they’re not exactly my guild members.”
The man furrowed his brow. “Then who’s that?”
Maren turned. At first, she didn’t recognize him – she’d only seen him prim and pristine in his neat uniform and pulled back hair or haggard and frozen near death. Now, his long shaggy hair fell into his face and stuck out at many angles. He wore cargo shorts and an unzipped red sleeveless vest with a horizontal black line near the bottom. The lack of sleeves allowed him to proudly display his Flame Dancer Mark on his muscular left arm, as well was present to the world his chiseled abs and pecs. Finally, he held what looked like a gym bag over his shoulder. After all the uncertainty and anxiety, Maren almost couldn’t believe it. Mav, with a grin, strolled up to her.
He showed up! Something tingled in Maren’s stomach. She found herself smiling and, for some reason, her face grew quite warm.
“Thanks for everything,” the blond man said. “I’ll leave you to it.”
“Who’s that?” Mav said as he approached, then he glanced down at himself. “Is something wrong?”
“Oh!” God. Maren had been staring! “No, nothing. Sorry. Uh, this man’s the guy who gave me the contract about those...” she turned, but the blond man was gone again, “... experiments.”
Mav whistled. “Guy’s fast.”
“So he is.”
They stood there, the only sound coming from the wind and more cursed pigeons. It was only then that Maren realized she’d never had a full, one-on-one conversation with Mav. All their direct interactions had been either through Koda or during heated moments.
How well would they communicate with each other?
“Are... we supposed to do something?” Mav asked.
“I don’t know,” Maren said. “To be honest, I’m surprised I got this far. But I guess something formal and official-sounding is in order.”
She leaped onto the bench, one foot on its back. “Are you ready to create the most legendary of adventures and surmount great challenges?”
“Yes!” Mav shouted, pumping his fist.
She adjusted her pose, leaning forward on her knee, her foot pressed against the bench’s armrest. “To undergo the same epic feats written in tales of old and inscribe our names alongside them?”
“Yeah!”
Maren leaped to the lowest branch of the nearby alder tree and swung up. Thank the Lord she kept her balance. “Will you give life and limb to protect your family and the innocent who count on us!”
“You know it!”
“Then welcome, Mav, to Talam’s first traveling, and soon-to-be-greatest, guild that will at some point have a name!”
With a flourish, she swung her blanket off and threw it into the wind. As Mav cheered, it thankfully touched down next to him.
She hopped down from the branch and put the blanket back on. A chilly breeze rolled in and she needed the warmth.
“That was awesome!” Mav said.
“Just wait until we’re actually official,” Maren said. “We only have about thirty more days to get a third member.”
“It’ll be fine. If I could be convinced, we’ll easily get someone else in no time.”
Excitement swirled in Maren’s chest. It finally happened: she acquired a member! It took a long, painful day to do so, but it happened.
Maren’s dream, and subsequent mission, was soon to be realized.
“You’re right!” Maren exclaimed. “But now that we’re here, I guess actual introductions are in order. I’m Maren Daly, ex-Radiant Dawn guild member, Wave Leaper, and now leader of Talam’s first traveling guild.”
Mav grinned. “I’m Mav Ito, ex-Peace Keeper, Flame Dancer, and I’m really excited to travel with you and help people.”
Maren returned the smile. “Then let’s get this adventure started.”