It was a bright morning where the sun's blazing light was caressed by the gentle breeze that waltzed through the vivid and colorful flowers which adorned the place. The garden of Crocus, the holy capital, was as alive as it could possibly be. The elderly took strolls across the garden as the kids played with one another, kicking and throwing a ball and rejoicing with laughter. Couples sat on benches with their hands intertwined as they laughed and gazed upon the beautiful sight in front of them. On a bench, away from the crowd sat a young woman with long blonde hair. Her lilac eyes gazed across the garden, observing people and capturing the magnificent view within her memory. She strangely felt at peace as the wind slid through strands of her hair and her finger moved over one another as she played with them. She often did that when she felt happy, it was her way of displaying her joy rather than a smile. As she sat there with her monotonous expression, she felt a presence next to her; someone had sat down beside her. Her gaze drifted towards her right and her eyes landed upon a familiar young man with brown hair. He sat there clutching a paper in her hand and exhaled an exhausted sigh.

It was as if he had noticed a pair of eyes on her that he turned to face her and his frown turned to a small smile, but of course, received no facial reply from her as she just continued staring, trying to recall who he was. It was obvious enough that the man felt slightly awkward and resorted to starting a conversation, "Um, good morning. The weather's quite beautiful today isn't it?" Her gaze didn't flicker as simply gave him a small nod. It struck her then, "Mr. Armin Bartholomew, if I'm right?" Her low and plain voice caused him to widen his eyes slightly in surprise, "You know who I am?" Once again, her simple reply was a small nod. His smile widened, "It's probably because of my family." He scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment. Her silence remained as he realized that she was not much of a talker. His eyes began to wander around again as frustration was embedded there.

Minutes passed by before he sighed in defeat and hauled himself off the bench as if having to continue a daunting task once again. Xandra decided to speak up, "Are you looking for something?" His attention turned towards her as he gave out a small smile, "Uh yeah, I happened to lose my sword somewhere here." She just stared at him blankly for a few moments, making him even more awkward than before, "That's quite foolish of a Knight. To lose his sword, and that too in a garden full of elderly people and children." Her words seemed to cut through him like a knife. His expression showed a mix of guilt and embarrassment. Xandra proceeded to pick up the paper that he previously clutched but had dropped onto the bench and read through the black inked letters. Once she was done, with a sigh, she stood up and looked at him in the eye, with her and unintentionally domineering gaze. "I'll look for it instead, you seem quite exhausted." An expression of relief washed over his face but he suddenly tensed up again, "Oh no, I couldn't ask an ordinary citizen to do a job for me. That would be very irresponsible of me." She stood there silently for a moment before once again speaking, much to her dismay, "I, too, am a Rune Knight. You're position is higher than mine so I shall help you." She paused, "Moreover, there's a reward so I don't mind." Her honesty had surfaced.

He simply let out a small laugh, "Alright, I'll be waiting here then." And so she set out, walking through the garden, looking in the vast flower covered surface to locate the sword. Seconds turned to several minutes as she strolled through the garden two to three times, looking around the trees and next to walking citizens. Sweat rolled down her forehead, dampening her dark blue shirt. The sword, it seemed, was very cleverly lost. She hoped that it hadn't fallen in anyone's hands, or at least not anyone who could hurt others using it. It was then that it caught her eyes. She squinted her eyes to get a clearer view and there was no doubt about it, there was a sword, and as she feared, it was fallen into someone's hands, or more like something's paws. She sauntered over to the small brown dog which held a sheathed sword in it's mouth. Although she knew not what Mr. Armin's sword looked like, she was quite sure that this was it because it's not everyday that you see swords around  garden full of people. She reached her hand to go and grab the sword but quite unfortunately, it seemed as if the animal wanted to have some fun. It ran. She had quite a soft spot for animals so she wasn't annoyed, instead, she chased after it. The dog was, much to her surprise, quite fast that even she had a hard time catching up.

Annoyance had indeed started to seep in as she wanted to get this over with fast. Her shirt was damp with sweat and strands of her hair stuck to her forehead and the nape of her neck due to the moisture. Her shoes hit the ground as she chased after the dog, attracting the gaze of many. With a sudden jerk, she jumped and let herself fall, more towards the side, catching the animal in her arms so it wouldn't crush underneath her weight. She had finally caught it and luckily, it did not resist. Xandra petted the dog as she took the sword from it's mouth and proceeded to play with it for a few minutes. Hauling herself off the ground, she dusted her clothes and carried the sword to the bench where Mr. Armin Bartholomew was waiting. Handing him the sword, she stood there with her same expressionless face. He gave her the reward for which she had worked. "Good Job. Oh, right. I didn't ask for your name." He smiled. She continued staring at him in silence, "Xandra Queen" With a small, awkward bow, she strolled away. Today had been a tiring day, but not one that she had personally disliked.

[Word Count: 1086/1000]