A Bad Part of Town to be Lost

[Alonwynn]

The little girl looked wide-eyed up at the cloaked figure before her. Her round cheeks glistened with the tears that had been streaming down her face moments before. She looked young, five years old maybe, with ratty clothes, bare, muddy feet and dirty brown wet hair. The girl sat in a corner between two run-down buildings, the trash around her feet soggy from a recent rain. The odor in this part of the city offended the nose, trash and waste littered the area.

The stranger looked down at the filthy child who had been sobbing only moments before, until soft words were spoken and the child looked up. "Why are you crying, child?" the melodic voice had said. The girl looked up, unable to speak, her blue eyes wide and round. The stranger crouched low to the ground, the brilliant emerald green cloak the figure wore crumpling on the packed earthen street left muddy from the rain. The girl's eyes followed the movements of the stranger without blinking, startled and confused. "Are you lost?" the voice asked again, and the little girl nodded, never taking her eyes off the figure and not speaking. "Where do you live?" asked the stranger.

"N-near the city dump," said the girl, nearly sobbing again.

"Well you're a long way from home. How did you get all the way over here?" said the stranger, as delicate, slender hands reached up to pull the silver-trimmed hood of the soft cloak back. The little girl's eyes widened more as she looked upon the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. A mass of blond curls cascaded down her back, strands of silver woven through it near the crown of her head. Almond-shaped pale green eyes looked at her kindly, soft creamy skin on her slender face, and delicately pointed ears poked up out of her hair slighly. The elven woman smiled kindly and offered a hand to the little girl. "Can I help you find your way home?" she asked.

The little girl reached out timidly, and when she saw that the woman wasn't pulling away, she grabbed the hand tightly and stood up. The elf reached up with her other hand and brushed the girl's wet hair out of her eyes.

"What's your name?" she asked the girl.

"Rexa," replied the child, obviously proud of her name.

The woman smiled and said, "It's very nice to meet you Rexa. What do you say we find your mother? I'm sure she'll be worried about you."

Rexa nodded, and followed the stranger down the street.

The southern streets of Waterdeep are a jumbled maze of curves and alleys, and there is no straight line between any two points. The woman knew her way well, though, and before Rexa knew it she was wrapped in her mother's arms, and her brothers and sisters were dancing and jumping around the pair.

The elven woman stood at a distance, smiling at the sweet reunion before slipping silently away to make her way back toward the raucous tavern and what was hidden behind it.