Selindra felt sick. She couldn’t remember the last time that she had been out, or even what day it was or how long it had been since she had been full cognatively aware of what had been going on. Everything felt much like a blur to her, the time that had elapsed, along with any number of other questions that may have persisted through her head. Hell, even remembering why and when she had agreed to this sort of task remained a mystery to her. She stood there, on a bench in Hargeon, her mind still in fragments and a raging headache affecting her while there stood a small child not too far from her, having been pestering her for the better part of the last half hour or so. The girl, a short child of maybe 4 foot if even that, having faint blonde hair that was longer than it had any business to be, almost extending down to her knees, making Selindra wonder if even she could bear to have hair that long. It would be more annoying and difficult to maintain than what she would have liked to have deal with. Granted, her gray hair was hardly short either, but at the very least it was manageable. This however, was something to a far worse effect, one that was nothing more than annoying if she had to deal with, not as though she would willingly have it that long.

The girl’s persistent demands were perhaps what annoyed the woman far more than anything else that she could decipher from the girl. She was young, yes, but also very annoying. To the point where a part of Selindra had already begun considering pulling out her blade and ending the girl right here and now. However, that would be a gross mistake as she quickly recognized it to be. Far too many unknown variables for her to even consider it happening right, especially the big question of who she even was. She hoped that Selindra would be able to pick up some seashells, but not just some, but all of them that were scattered throughout the seas shore. Looking from both sides, the immediate decision to decline rang into her head, as was what she echoed aloud, causing the girl to complain and almost tear up with disappointment. Selindra had half a mind to slap the girl, as after all, if she was to be the guardian of this child, even for a short period, she had no intention of allowing her ot misbehave in such a manner. However, against all of the desire in her heart to hit the girl, she did not, instead only again reiterating that she would not do this task.

The girl eventually stopped, after having realized that there was little actual chance in which Selindra was going to do anything about it. If it were a question or battle of wills, Selindra was rather convinced that she had demonstrated her own strength and if pushed to such a battle, to some degree she did sort of hope for, there was little reason to think it woul actually end up with her collecting shells. Finally, the girl backed down, though her new request was that she be shaded from the raging heat of Hargeon, to which Selindra rolled her eyes. She was in the shade. The girl chose not to be because she was a child and therefore she was stupid. She could have easily moved into the shade if she wanted, but to assume that Selindra was going to get up from where she sat and suddenly act like an umbrella to this girl was arguably as dumb as what she had earlier requested. Selindra refused to get up, instead pointing to a spot on the ground just beside the bench. She would not offer a seat on the bench for the child as that would be rewarding bad behavior. If the child were to take a seat on the bench anyways, she would be lifted up and sat upon the ground. The girl made her decision when she walked into the sunlight, and if she wanted back into the more relaxing part, it would be because she was forced to, but not under the circumstances she might have hoped for.

The next request was perhaps as dumb as the other ones, but she figure she have a bit of fun with the girl at this point, entertaining her to an extent only to disappoint and upset the girl at the last second. She wanted to go towards the forest just outside of Hargeon, a place that Selindra was not interested in going in, partially due to it being dirty, also due to the reports of creatures that existed within the area, much of them being false and fake, but nevertheless plentiful enough such that it was not worth it for her to engage with anything, especially not with a headache as she had right now. However, as much as she was annoyed by the request of the girl, she got up from her comfortable seat and began to follow the girl, repeatedly tugging on the girl’s shirt if either she started to get too far ahead or otherwise began to drag her feet and slow down. If she wanted to go to this forest, she was going to go at Seldinra’s pace, not her own. It took a bit because the former White Witch-Hunter was in no mood to go quickly, rather referring to take it slow at a far more steady pace. However, eventually they did both get to their destination, albeit far later than what the girl was likely hoping that it would have been. Though, at this point Selindra did not much care for whether or not they actually had been there right then or if it had been just over several hours. Either way, the point was that the two of them were now where the little girl wanted to have been at, on the edge of the forest.

The girl insisted on going in, on picking flowers, but Selindra was having absolutely none of it. IT did not matter to her if it took all the jewels in the world or if it had been a scenario in which they were offering her something of greate value, she had no interest in going in there and the fact that this girl had been as miserable as she had been up to this point, it went against every action she made at this point, every point of discipline and order that she had attempted to instill within the girl, but so far it did not seem that any of these lessons that Selindra had hoped to instill was getting through to the girl. She however did change slightly inthat she was not crying. She was actually quiet, which impressed the former White Witch-Hunter, and as she looked down to praise the girl on taking the rejection well, she realized the true reason for why the girl was so quiet. She wasn’t there. Where she had gone, it was not hard to imagine that she was probably in the forest at this point, but with it being so expansive and covering such a huge area, it was hard to believe that it would have been an easy effort to go through and just find her. Sighing and cursing the girl at the same time, she began into the forest, swearing with every single step that she took inside the brush.

Selindra looked for what might have been hours, having obtained no efforts or results in managing to locate the girl. It was impossible to tell just where it was that she might have gotten lost in, whether it was a tree, under some brush, or maybe deeper within the forest. That led to a greater extent of problems, notably the creatures that were supposedly rumored to have been existing there. Selindra knew that whatever the creature might have been, there was no shortage of ways in which she could have dealt with those creatures as even in her travels she was noticing multiple ways of capitalizing on the environment and take advantage of things if they got bad. However though, she was confident in her ability by itself that there was little reason to think that she woul have been in trouble or otherwise at risk, but that could not have been the same for a little child. While she might not have been able to kill or harm the child, nor could she allow for the child to suffer either. After what was originally seemingly like a failed venture, the sound of a cry came to her mind, causing her to immediately head in a completely different direction than what she was originally thinking. After only a short time, she stumbled upon the little girl, balled up in a crying state underneath some bushes. Scolding and swearing at the child, she grabbed hold of the girl’s hand and dragging her off, not caring for what the girl might have triped upon or if there were bushes or shrubs that she might have cut herself upon. At this point, she was too infuriated and annoyed. She just wanted out of there and to return the girl to whomever the hell it was that originally left her with her in the first place. It had been bearable once upon a time dealing with this girl, but now it was just becoming to a point where it was unreasonable. Once she returned the girl, she got her money and then departed, hoping to never encounter the girl again.

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