A Chance Emcounter (Faye)

[Sakai Nagamasa]

Hawkeye walked the paved roads of the town square, taking in his surroundings and the people that walked by. He had been living in Nova for quite some time now, a few months. People still seemed a bit wary of him as he observed the nervous glances aimed in his direction, but they were far fewer then they used to be. The realization that he had been away from his home for so long was a startling one, and he suddenly felt a bit homesick. He knew he was allowed to return, but he felt there was still more for him to do or learn here in Nova, something he had yet to discover. He decided to rest for a bit, sitting down on a bench at the fountain. He closed his only good, open eye as he basked in the warm glow of the sun. It was a fine afternoon, with little clouds, and fair weather. He couldn't recall the last time he simply sat down to lounge in the park, though he looked a bit out of place in full armor and a weapon gripped tightly at his side.

[Deleted]

Faye decided to take a stroll into the park after getting the good news. She was feeling good so she decided to wear one of her more expensive outfits, a lavender dress that hugged her chest and waist tight and had Kanto flowers hand-stitched all over it. Her hair hung loosely with flowers woven throughout it. She was so excited to begin her life in Nova.

As Faye continued on her walk, she kept hearing footsteps behind her. Faye would turn around and see nothing and she continued to walk, picking up her pace just slightly. The footsteps grew louder and more persistent. Faye panicked and began to run, holding her dress up as she did so. She kept looking behind her and every time saw nothing, but still continued to hear things. As she ran, she tried to use her escape spell (Flutter-Bye) to make a wall of butterflies between her and the sounds that she kept hearing, but instead got an intense pain in her head that made her lose her focus.

Faye continued to run through the pain, but was not paying attention to where she was going. As a result, she ran right into a man that was sitting on a park bench. Her big dress made it hard for her to get up. As she fumbled to collect herself and pick herself up off the stranger's lap, she quickly raised her hand to her head and fell back down. She pulled her hand away slowly and saw the blood coming from her ears. The pain in her head intensified and she collapsed into a fetal position, covering both of her ears with her hands and screaming.

[Sakai Nagamasa]

Hawkeye was abruptly brought back to reality as something slammed into him out of nowhere, his eye shooting open in surprise. His immediate first reaction was to bolt up and draw his blade. He was about halfway through drawing his sword from it's sheath, the sun glinting off the steel when he looked down and saw what had hit him. A well dressed girl in a lavender dress was on the floor in front of him, looking dazed and afraid. The samurai swore obscenities under his breath as he he sheathed the blade, an annoyed look on his face as he glared at her with his singular eye.

"Bloody hell woman! Watch where you're going! I almost killed you!"

He was about to sit back down on the bench when he saw that something wasn't right. The woman was having difficulty getting up from the ground, he quickly noticed that blood was dripping down her ears. His annoyed look turned to one of shock, and he quickly knelt down to take a look at her...and winced as she started to scream, curling up into the fetal position. He tried his best to examine her, though it was a bit difficult. As a crowd began to form, murmuring and whisering, Hawkeye failed to find anything obvious like a wound on her person. He suddenly rose and grabbed a poor man by the collar, looking him dead in the eye as the man started to blurt out in surprise and protest.

"You! Find a healer! NOW."

He said the last word with finality as he pushed the man toward the direction of the castle, the man running like a demon possessed as he did what Hawkeye asked. He then turned to the crowd and waved his arm in a violent manner, stepping between them and the girl.

"Get back, idiots! Give her room and wait for a mage! Anyone gets too close otherwise, I'll GUT you!"

[Deleted]

She could hear the man yell at her, but only slightly. Her world seemed to slowly fade away as she slipped in and out of consciousness. When she would fade in, the pain in her head could be felt and she would scream out in agony.

Faye could tell that she had drawn a lot of attention with her screams but she was too weak to do anything about it. The screams had subdued to a soft cry. She still was curled up in a ball on the ground, holding her bleeding ears. She heard the man yelling at a commoner to get a healer. She attempted to raise her hand up to stop him, but it quickly fell back down to the ground. If someone were to find her and know who she was, she would surely be sent back to her father in that state. She managed to mumble a very soft, "noo..," but that was all she was able to get out.

As Faye looked up, she could see the man running towards the castle. As she began to panic, her adrenaline kicked in and she managed to scramble to her feet. She began to slowly run the opposite direction of the castle, but quickly stumbles and falls a short distance away. As she crashed to the ground, she let a small gasp as her face hit the paved walkway. She began to fade and lose consciousness again. Her eyes closed as she slipped off to sleep.

[Sakai Nagamasa]

Hawkeye spun around when he noticed that the girl was trying to get up and and flee. He started to follow, but stopped when she tripped and fell. He sighed with frustration, growling a little under his breath as he made his way toward the girl. The crowd had started trying to form around her again as he moved; he made quick work of them as he shoved a few people aside, glaring at them with his one eye as he shouted.

"I said get BACK, morons! Don't make me start hacking off limbs! '<Stupid peasants!>' "

He knelt down near the girl again, checking her pulse as he examined her. She seemed to be fading into unconsciousness. The samurai was never too good with bedside manner, always having been a warrior. His approach was more...blunt. He grabbed a hold of the girl and slapped her across the face as people gasped in horror, though no one moved to stop him after he had made the threat to start chopping off body parts.

"Hey! Stay awake! No passing out! That's how people die, you stupid girl!"

As he was yelling, the man he had sent to the castle ran up, wheezing for breath as a healer followed closely behind. The mage made their way toward Faye, kneeling down as they made Hawkeye step back, and started the process of a spell.

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Faye could feel the sting of the man's hand making contact with her face. Her eyes opened slightly, only to have them roll back into her head again. Even though, she was slipping, she could hear the man yelling at her to stay awake.

She mumbled a few words incoherently and managed to open her eyes just enough to see the mage coming towards her. She wanted to fight and run away, in fear that someone would recognize her and send her home. As the mage began his spell, she could feel the weakness and pain in her head fade away. Her eyes opened to a squint and she managed to raise up off the ground, supporting herself with her arms. She looked over at the man who had slapped her. "Wha.. what happened?"

[Sakai Nagamasa]

The healer seemed focus, though a bit puzzled; he had never seen a case like this. He was not sure HOW the wounds were caused, but he was able to patch them up well enough. When the process was done, he stood up and sighed in relief, nodding to the samurai to let her know that she was healed. He nodded back, palming a few gold coins for the man's trouble before kneeling back down. The girl seemed coherent at this point and back to normal. He looked her in the eyes when he speak with a hard gaze...or "eye" in his case.

"You tell me. You bumped into me, started screaming bloody murder, then fell down bleeding from your ears. That normal for you, girl?"

[Deleted]

Faye blinked as the man explained what had just happened. "I..I.." She was very confused and unable to recall that series of events. "I only remember coming here after speaking with the headmaster at the Arch. I apologize for running you over." She then thought back to when he spoke of her bloody ears. "That has never happened to me before today, so I don't believe it is normal." Of course, she was unaware that it was completely normal for her. She had never attempted to use magic outside of Kanto before today. "I am Faye, by the way. And once again, I am very sorry for bumping into you and causing all of this commotion." She looked into the samurai's eyes with deep sincerity.

[Sakai Nagamasa]

The samurai's hard gaze was met with a softer more sincere one, and after a while, the man's intense expression melted away, leaving one of exasperation as he closed his eye and sighed. The girl seemed harmless...and a bit clueless. Now that things had calmed down a bit, he was able to get a good look at her. She was quite attractive, and dressed in a floral pattern not commonly seen in Nova. It gave him the impression she was a noble of some kind. He also caught a mention of the Arch, which by now he was somewhat familiar with.

"Don't worry about it. And I'm Sakai Nagamasa. Or Hawkeye. Whichever you prefer."

He offered her his hand as he remained kneeling to help her up.

"You came to study as a mage did you, Faye-dono?"

[Deleted]

Faye took the man's hand and used his support to pull herself off the ground. "It's nice to meet you Sakai."

"It's just Faye, but, yes, there is more to the story, but I did come to study as a mage." Faye felt that enough people knew the truth of why she was here. She didn't like lying but she also didn't want to risk being turned in. "So, can you explain to me a little more of what just happened? I still don't remember." Faye wanted to understand why there were so many people around her and why she couldn't remember anything that happened just moments before.