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Cerra had finnally reached her destination- the small village of Thobie. It seemed quaint- mostly just small houses and a few main stores, most of them being markets. She was so tired from walking all day, she decided to look for an inn.
It took maybe 15 minutes to reach the only inn in the village. It was very shabby and small; but it would do. She had barely enough time to pull up the covers before she fell asleep.

Cerra woke up to screaming; she kicked off the covers and headed for the window. It was almost pitch-black outside, Cerra guessed it was the middle of the night. There was a skirmish outside between two men, and a women who held a toddler in her arms. She headed out onto the second-story balcony, but was sure to remain as silent as possible. She listened in on the conversation- which was easy to do because they were yelling.
"You stay away from my family!" The older man said.
"You cannot tell me what I can and can't do," the other said, Cerra thought he sounded a bit insane, what had this guy done? "Now get out of my way before I..."
"The day I get out of your way is the day I die!"
"Well then, you'd better say your last words now," the younger man chuckled. He pulled a savage-looking hunting knife out, it must have been concealed in his belt. The women shrieked and the toddler was bawling. She tried to back away, holding her baby safely, but the man said, "If you move one inch lady, your husband won't be the only one who dies tonight!"
Cerra had to do something- fast. She ran back in her room and grabbed her sheath of arrows, her bow, and her sword belt that contained her daggar. Throwing the sheath over her shoulders, she bolted back out of the room and onto the balcony again.
The man was just about to stab the husband when Cerra let her arrow fly; it hit him right where she wanted it to- his hand that held the knife. With a scream of pain, he dropped his knife and yanked out the arrow with his other hand. He didn't have a chance to pick it up, because Cerra had jumped off the balcony and kicked him right in the middle of his back- making him fall hard onto the ground.
Gasping to regain his breath that got knocked out of him, he staggered to his knees. Cerra grabbed him by the head and put her own daggar underneath his chin. She whispered to him, "If you ever come near this family again, I will not think twice about running this knife through your neck!" The second she let go of him was the second he bolted down the street. Cerra picked up his knife and threw it into the nearest trash can.
The husband was utterly shocked, "You... you saved my family," he managed to get out.
"Don't mention it," Cerra replied. She walked toward the inn's doors and entered, heading back to her room. Once inside, she looked out the window and saw the family hugging each other, clearly glad to be alive. Cerra smiled, it filled her with joy to think that she had kept a family safe. She realized, the poem was right- she was a guardian from above!

Although it was still night, Cerra was too wound up to go back to sleep. Besides, she had slept for several hours anyway. She got out of bed and stretched. She changed her clothes to a cotton shirt and some spandex shorts. Cerra wished she had brought her favorite pants with her, but they were too big to fit in her bag. She glanced at the armour she had shoved into the corner of the room. Unfortunately, she would have to put it back on before she checked out of the inn. They didn't particularly bother her, she just felt self-conscious when she wore it. It seemed too conspicuous. Luckily, she had a spell for that.
She grabbed her key and locked her door as she left and went down the stairs towards the main room. Maybe she would walk around Thobie for a while. What if she found that man who had attacked that family? She hoped he was out of the village by now; but she was a bit worried, so she thought she might look around to be sure- he didn't seem all that sane.
When she entered the lobby, someone burst through the front doors and said, "I need a room." Cerra was relieved she wasn't the only stranger who came into a village unannounced.

Cerra thought that the girl was overeacting a little bit. But she had to ease the situation, for this was the only inn in town, and the inn keeper looked genuinly frightened that the girl was going to use her weapon.
She moved smoothly closer to the dying fire so the girl could see her more clearly. She must have not looked very imposing to her; she wished now that she had put on her armour that she had left in the room, or at least put on her daggar hilt.
"Its alright," Cerra said, "She can have mine, I was just coming to check out." She dug into her pocket and produced a few of the only human cash she had. She handed iit to the old man who ran the inn, his hands were shaking, then she said, "Just give me a few moments to gather my things."
She walked back upstairs and shoved her few belongings into her backpack. She had no room for any armour in her backpack, and it was too much to carry; she had no choice but to put it on. She decided it would be better to disguise it now, into something less conspicuous. She thought for a few minutes to correctly remember the words of one of the only magic spells Kopyitch had tought her.
"Regelmatige kleren," she said in elven. The plaited steel and leather skirt now looked like a navy school girl-style skirt. The breast plate also made of steel with leather lacing at the sides now just looked like a grey t-shirt. Her leather boots with steel knee-guards resembled high-fashion red boots. She folded her long winter coat and hung it on her arm and descended to the lobby.
"It's all yours," she called to the girl that was still waiting. And with a nod to the inn keeper, she left.

"Cerra," she replied, grasping the girl's hand with her own. She definately sounded like she had quite some experience on the road, and she was older than Cerra. "And don't worry about me- I'm very used to the cold. I have no need for that type of clothing. And take the room- I insist; I was just about to leave anyway. No use in having a room if you can't sleep in it. Bodyguard, huh?" Cerra thought this profession was different; she hadn't met anyone who had traveled for a job before.
The girl had sheathed her weapon. It was very large and hefty-looking. Kopyitch had told her to steer clear of those; he said elves were born with naturally quick reflexes and had to pick weapons that enabled them to use that to their advantage. Thus, she trained with a daggar and bow and arrows. "Ever get tired of carrying that around?" She asked her, eyeing the weapon on her back.

"Technically no, but I did break it up. A young man tried to kill a father and husband for some reason unknown to me. It had something to do with a child, or even the wife," Cerra responded. "I was going to take a walk around to make sure he left the poor family alone. You can join me if you'd like."
Cerra pulled her bow farther up on her shoulder next to her sheath of arrows and sort-of tucked it in the strap of her backpack so it wouldn't fall back down. Then she opened the door and walked out into the brisk night air. It didn't seem as cold as Cerra had thought it might be so she left her jacket draped over her arms.

Cerra tilted her head when the girl said it was brave that she had invited her to come along. Cerra didn't think it was a courageous thing to do- just polite. Sure, the girl seemed hostile, but she was very straightforward when she spoke. Cerra actually thought highly of her.
"Are you from these parts of Winter?" Cerra asked her as they started to walk around. She kept her eyes wide open for the young, possibly insane man; but the streets remained empty. "I am from a small village called Reubyn several miles away."

Cerra didn't know what to say. It was puzzling to her why the girl wanted to remain so anonymous; it wasn't like Cerra was ever going to see her again anyway. Then again, if she wasn't going to see her again, she decided it didn't matter.
"Do what you'd like, but I am going to walk around." Cerra turned her attention back on the street. Nothing seemed out of place- a quiet twilight street with garbage cans near the road for them to be emptied, just like the one she had thrown the man's hunting knife inside.
She passed by an alleyway. Something didn't feel right to her. Farther up the street, she had heard crickets chirping and the occasional hoot from an owl or another nocturnal animal. This alleyway was dead silent. She pulled her daggar from where it hung on her belt.
"Something's not right," she whispered. Just then, a figure dove at her from behind a dumpster and knocked her over. She only had time to flip so she was lying on her back when it attempted to pin her. She realized in the dim light that it was the unstable man that she had stopped from killing that family.
Unbeknownst to her, he had retrieved his knife from the trash can she threw it in; she had thought he ran down the street before she concealed it! He must not have seen Skadi who trailed behind her a ways, for he made no move for her.
His attempt at stabbing her was pitiful, she effortlessly dodged it even though he had her pinned. He was now telling her, "Who's going to come to the little heroe's rescue now, huh?" He was laughing bitterly, "I've got you right where I want you. Just another trophy to add to my collection!"
Cerra obviously now knew that this guy really was insane! He had killed people before; and she guessed he was going to kill either the wife or the child before the husband interviened!
He spit on the ground and took a hold of her head, "Now I won't think twice when I run this knife through your neck!"

"Fine," she answered through her clamped mouth. How could she have been so stupid? She knew better! Of course she knew to stay on her toes, to avoid danger; but the man was so unpredictable. Even the way he had pinned her, Cerra couldn't have calculated that! His mind was just too far gone.
She angrily sheathed her daggar and kicked the dumpster that he jumped out of. She had to remind herself that she was going places she had never been before- her old village of Reubyn was much different; but, of course, it had been an elven town. Human towns were different, more technological. Back home, they had thought television and cell phones were pointless! The elven race was far older than that of humans, and more traditional.
"You didn't have to come back," she retorted to Skadi's piece of advice, "I could have handled him!" Although she knew far better than that and if Skadi hadn't been there, she could have been killed by the deranged man. She was just angry at herself. "But thanks, anyway," she mumbled.