Scene #2384: Mage Apprentice Returns

Owner	Pose
Aren Cordelaine	Aren was off-duty for a while. His master had sent him away, while he was focusing on something very specific. You see, he had acquired a rare egg of a special type of lizard, a lizard which spat fire. Their scales were used in a lot of potions, but the best consistency was when they were still babies, and he didn't want to miss that window. He was not the sort to trust his apprentice with something like this, and so, there he was. Truth be told, this was a lot of his work. He had learned quite a bit on his travels, and all he did most of the time was assist him. Nobody really trusted a mage that had no formal training. In any case, on his time off, he was travelling down the road, assisting people as he went along. Including right now. A child had slipped and fallen into a rather deep ditch, and hurt his arm, so asking him to hold on to a rope was not smart. The blonde mage stood at the edge, looking down, and with a wave of his hand, summoned a cushion of air, levitating the child, which was, at the moment, floating up and towards solid ground.
Annie Sandberg	Annie had been playing with the fallen boy at the time, and looked on with relief as the young man arrived to help... using magic! Luckily, it wasn't too close to her, so the magic didn't interfere with her systems. As the boy is returned to safe ground, Annie approaches the man. "Thanks a lot for helping my friend," she says with a smile. "That was pretty neat! You got him back up and he didn't even touch anything!" Sure, he wasn't the only person who could do such things, but around here, she thought, magical levitation was probably about as common as... well, little android girls.
Aren Cordelaine	The blonde mage turned around and looked at Annie, and smiled, sheepishly. "Oh... Well yes. Thank you. It's nothing, really. I just saw him in trouble so I decided to come by and help. I'm sorry ... uhm. About your friend though. I'm sure he'll be okay in short time. Will you all be alright?"
Annie Sandberg	Annie nods. "Yeah. I guess if he's hurt we won't be able to do what we were going to do though," she points out sadly, as the boy joins his parents and heads back to his home. Waving goodbye, Annie looks back up at the visitor, now looking more hopeful. "I guess we'll be able to another day. Anyway, my name's Annie. What's yours?" she asks, putting her hands behind her back and bouncing a little on her feet as she awaits the answer. Despite magic's potential detrimental effects on her, she liked magic-users themselves, partly because her adoptive father and many of his traveling companions used magic- and partly because, as she once discovered, not all forms of magic caused harmful interference. This one seemed nice enough; helping a boy in trouble just because he was in the area. A traveling hero, she thought: awesome!
Aren Cordelaine	"I'm sorry to hear that. But there's always another time, right?" Aren said with a polite smile. "I'm Aren Cordelaine. It's a pleasure to meet you, Annie." He said, crouching a little, and brushing his trousers, which had the dust of travel on him. He could not tell that Annie was anything other than a normal human, of course, or that magic would have any effect on her. He would not even understand what an android was or even fathom it, with a world of simple technology as his. "I was just walking past the area, exploring, and came upon here. This is where the children of the area play?"
Annie Sandberg	"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Cordelaine." Annie answered, before taking a seat under a tree. "Yeah... Well, there are lots of places like that around here," she adds, waving an arm toward the distance. "It's just, this seemed like a good place since they'd just finished cleaning up after a big carnival fair. But I guess they didn't fix all the big holes yet." She laughs, but a bit uneasily, looking toward the troublesome ditch.
Aren Cordelaine	"Carnival fair... Oh. That does explain it. I was wondering why there would be a hole this deep here." He frowns. "You're.. very well-spoken Annie" He said, with a little smile. "So where are your parents? Do you live around here?"
Annie Sandberg	Annie shakes her head. "Nope. My mommy and daddy are busy most of the time, so I'm on my own a lot. But it's okay since I have lots of friends all over the place, and I can take care of myself if I have to," she explains. "I really like it around here though, so I was thinking of making a treehouse like some of the other kids have. It'd be like another home that's just for me!"
Aren Cordelaine	Aren gave a little grin and nod. "A treehouse, hm? I remember trying to build one with my brothers when I was a kid.." He rubs the back of his neck, awkwardly. "It didn't work out." Fell apart before much could be done. "What would you do, with a treehouse all to yourself?"
Annie Sandberg	"Decorate it, I guess," Annie answers. "With furniture and stuff. Then invite some friends over! ...how come yours didn't work?" she asks, realizing how strange that might be. "Did you not know magic yet? I bet using magic would help a lot to make one."
Aren Cordelaine	Aren shook his head and gave a little chuckle. "No, I didn't. No magic. We just weren't very good at it, I guess." The lack of technology probably didn't help. "It broke apart in a few hours. My brothers were upset, I was sad, and Dad was laughing so hard that he scared the neighbour's cows.."
Annie Sandberg	Annie laughs herself. "That must have caused a lot of trouble!" she observed. She didn't have a lot of experience with farm animals herself, but even she could tell that scared cows would be difficult to take care of. "But everything worked out in the end, right?"
Aren Cordelaine	Aren nodded a little. "Well... Eventually! After the cows calmed down and we repaired the fence they broke. And explained to our guests why Dad was laughing so hard, I guess! We've had worse problems. Never really got around to finishing one that actually stood up though."
Annie Sandberg	Annie thinks a bit. "Well... maybe you could help me make one then," she suggests with a big smile. "It'd be the best, don't you think?"
Aren Cordelaine	Aren blinked a little and shook his head. "With what happened with the last two? Are you sure? That's asking for trouble.." He said. Obviously, he was not very sure of his treehouse game. He had no real reason to think otherwise.
Annie Sandberg	Annie smiles again. "It's okay, you don't have to. ...What do you like to do for fun then?" she asks, standing up again. "Do you like games? I know all kinds of games."
Aren Cordelaine	Aren blinked a little. "Well, I'm ... up for anything, really." He said with a sheepish grin. "I haven't had much free time in a while. I've been exploring when I get the chance."
Annie Sandberg	"Oh, I like exploring too," Annie says, sounding more excited. "But... actually, right now I should probably go home!" Her internal clock was signaling such, and it wouldn't do to ignore it. "I hope we'll see each other again, Mr. Cordelaine. I think we'll be great friends!"
Aren Cordelaine	Aren smiled at the young girl. "Sure, Annie. It'll be a pleasure to be your friend. Take care of yourself, alright?" And he'd stand up and stretch. "I'll find a place to rest for the night..."
Annie Sandberg	Annie waves back to Aren as she trots off happily on her way to the nearest warp gate.