... 

I took a deep breath, then exhaled. It felt great being back here, after leaving for such a long time. The grass and trees this year seemed to be taken care of well, the elves must have been doing a great job.

Suddenly, a group of elven children ran up to me, shouting my name with joy. "Rena! You're finally back!" 

I recognized them immediately, I used to be their caretaker before I left on my expedition. "Yes... You've all grown quite a bit, I'm proud." I smiled. 

"Yay! Rena is proud of us! But Rena looks different, too!" one of them had exclaimed, as they wrapped their arms around me to form a group hug. 

I laughed, the children were always so upbeat, optimistic, and full-of-energy. They were right about me 'looking different', though. After gaining the titles 'Combat Ranger', and shortly after 'Wind Sneaker' by my peers, my appearance really had changed. As much as I'd hate to admit such a thing, I was becoming quite old. 

"Who has been taking care of you guys since I left?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Oh! After you were gone, a really pretty lady that kind-of looks like you said she was lost, and came into the Elf Village! The Elder let her stay here as a citizen if she took care of us, and she agreed!" another had explained, the woman he was talking about seemed very kind. 

"I see. I'd love to meet her." I commented. 

"I think she's with one of the Elder right now! Let's go visit!" the kids shouted. 

"Alright, then." I smiled, then headed over to the main building, where the Elder resided, with the kids.

 ... 

The structure was rather large; you could say it was a castle made of pure white. We walked up the grand, pale staircase, and entered the fortress. After taking a few more flight of stairs, we arrived in front of the Elder's room, as I knocked on the door. "Hello? Elder? It's Rena; I've returned from my journey."

"Ah, yes, Rena. Please do come in." a soft, weak voice replied.

I entered the room with the kids, it was quite bright from the sunlight beaming through gigantic glass window. A wooden desk accompanied by a stool made of the same material stood still, the Elder could be seen sitting down, smiling. She had rather pale skin, long, straight, light blonde hair, gentle gray eyes, and wrinkles here and there. She wore a white tunic with a green cape, a small crystal that resembled the El was in the middle of the cape. Beside the Elder was someone that wasn't familiar to me, she must have been the female the youngsters were speaking of. They were correct, she did resemble me in some aspects. The lady had the same facial features as I did, except her eyes were a shade of pink. She had long hair that reached down to her knees that were the same style of pink. As for her attire, she wore a beautiful green silk dress with black flats.

"You must be Rena." the lady said. Her voice seemed as kind as the children had said, however, right as she spoke, her facial expression turned rather unpleasant, as if she didn't want my presence here. I doubted that it was the case, so I ignored it.

"Yes. It's nice to meet you, Miss." I smiled. 

"My name is Sarah. The Elder had told me lots about you over the past few years." she smiled back. 

"Hi Sarah!" the kids greeted in unison. 

"Hello." she greeted back. 

"How was your adventure, Rena? I cannot thank you enough for restoring the El, you have my sincere gratitude." the Elder looked up at me with her gentle eyes. 

"It was fun. I made many allies on the way, we all searched and protected the El together." I replied. Her question made me think about Raven again, but I quickly dismissed the thoughts. I wasn't sure why I was daydreaming about him so often in the first place. 

"I have granted you the privilege to sleep in one of our royal bedrooms, the one on the far right of this hallway. Your home must be quite old and dusty now. It's the least I could do." the Elder offered. 

"Yes, that would be lovely, thank you very much, Elder." I accepted. 

"You may go rest in your room now, I would assume that you'd be tired." 

"Yes, Elder." 

"Aww, Rena won't be able to play with us?" the kids complained. 

"No, I'm afraid not. Another time, okay? I promise." I tried to cheer them up with a smile. 

"Okay! Bye bye, Rena!" the kids ran outside.

I waved goodbye to the Elder and Sarah, then headed to my room.

... 

I sat down on the pure white bed. It felt very comfortable and relaxing, as expected of one of the royal bedrooms. 

A few minutes later, there was a knock on my door. I stood up, and answered it. It was Sarah. What could she be doing here? 

"Rena! I thought you might need drink after your exploration, so this is for you." she smiled, handing me a mug of hot chocolate. "Winter is drawing near, so it's a great way to warm up."

"Oh, how kind of you! Thank you very much, Sarah." I smiled back, accepting the cup and taking a few sips. "It tastes delightful." 

"I'm glad you think so! I'll be leaving now so you can rest, I'll see you around!" she left the room, closing the door behind her. 

I drank the rest of the hot chocolate; I felt refreshed. Then, I laid down on my bed, and passed out. 

...

---[CHAPTER 2 - SARAH'S INTRODUCTION : END]---