Parry. Attack. Blades.

Parry. Blades.

Attack. Parry. Blades.

The memory stirs up feelings of rage within you. You feel surrounded, trapped, overwhelmed.

"That's enough for today, Kira."

You recognize The Slayer standing tall and proud, but with a look of frustration on her face. She wipes beads of sweat from her brow, lips curling into a frown as her master waves her off. Kira is one of the swiftest members in The Guild, a result of a lifetime of training. She grew up in a mountainous region to the North, in a small village named Ryknir, known for their blademasters.

Kira is short-tempered, demanding perfection from herself and those around her. She's not afraid to point out when someone isn't pulling their weight, which can make it difficult to find companions that are thick-skinned enough to deal with her. This memory is a day before she joined The Guild. Aggravated at her poor performance during training, Kira takes a walk at dusk outside the village. The sun sets and the air chills when she becomes aware of movement further down the hill. Clutching her blades, she jogs down the steep decline. Whenever Kira sees approaching travelers, a small part of her hopes dearly that they may be her missing parents. They left the village on a mission years ago and never returned.

Instead, Kira finds an injured wanderer, their thick armor resembling the toughness of a tree trunk.

You recognize The Warden. Despite her injuries, she casually introduces herself as Skye. She is a woman who you will one day come to discover is one of the clumsiest members of The Guild. Of her own accord, she fell into a few pitfalls and traps that scavengers in the area laid along the way. Kira tends to Skye's injuries, as Skye regales her with stories about life in The Guild. She was out on an expedition and became horribly lost, making a grand total of forty-nine wrong turns until she realized that she had wandered astray to the North.

Skye is jovial and welcoming to the point that some of the others think she's a bit of a birdbrain. She doesn't let anything get to her, constantly rolling with the punches and dealing with whatever life throws her way. Before joining The Guild, Skye was part of a wandering pack of nomads, so she had never had a place to call home. The Guild offers her family, friends, comfort, stability, and some of the best training grounds in the world.

The last part intrigues Kira. Better training means better skills, better skills means better jobs, and better jobs means better money.

They leave together, Skye babbling away about what celebratory meal they should have BK prepare for them to welcome the newest Guild member. When they come to the first fork in the road, Skye is distracted for a moment. She could have sworn, she tells Kira, that she had seen an oak tree just like the one in front of them the other day. Kira can’t help but roll her eyes, as she digs her dagger into the tree trunk to mark their left turn. It’s no wonder Skye gets hopelessly lost, she thinks to herself. She doesn’t know enough to create landmarks in case she gets turned around.

The two stop and make camp for the night. Skye asks Kira an endless amount of questions. What’s her favorite animal? Her favorite color? Her favorite season? Kira responds in grumpy monosyllables, asking herself if she’s made a huge mistake. Skye’s laughing stops suddenly, and she looks up at the full moon, its face misty through the cloud cover. She grabs a piece of paper from her pocket, unfolding it to reveal a star chart. Frowning, she quickly drops everything and shimmies up the nearest tree to the very top branch. She looks out at the horizon for what feels like an eternity. Her eyes narrow at a small town on the outskirts of the forest. She climbs back to the ground, ignoring Kira’s questioning look, and pulls out a map.

Skye traces an ink blot marking the small town with her finger and crosses the blot with a red slash.

She sternly tells Kira they must leave and douses the small campfire they had only just created. Bewildered at such a shift in Skye’s demeanor, Kira decides against arguing and follows her in the opposite direction of the town.

The full moon shines with a slightly crimson tinge.

The memory ends.