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"Agreed," Earendil agreed. "Shall we go see her?"

Iorlas looked at the two of them. "That's one of the people in your group?" she asked, surprised.

Earendil chuckled at her as they started over towards the crowd (which was beginning to disperse). "And the man who shouted as well. Believe it or not, only a year ago he didn't even know how to smile."

A look of wonder crossed Iorlas' face, and she followed after him curiously.

"Does she always carry that staff with her?" Iorlas asked curiously.

Earendil nodded affirmatively, and she nodded slowly. "That could be it. Anyone carrying a staff is considered fair game here. It's sort of the village's pride, I think."

Aethos had been about to run to Alassëa to congratulate her, but he turned to see who had called his name. "Hey, Miyuki!" he beamed. "There you are! We were wondering when all of you would show up. Where have you been? No, never mind that right now. Did you see that spar? Did you see how Alassëa won?"

There was a sharp whistle, and the falcon dove down from the sky and landed on the blind woman's shoulder.

Iorlas blinked. "Able?" she asked. She looked back at Alassëa to see if she could see what Lin meant. As she looked, Alassëa changed her grip on the staff and started tapping the ground in front of herself, making her way over to Aethos.

"Oh ..." Iorlas murmured softly in enlightenment. "So when Miyuki said she could fight very well blind, she didn't just mean with a blindfold on ..."

Aethos grinned at Miyuki. "Excellent," he said, though it was hard to tell if he was glad she'd seen the end of the fight, or if he was glad that she'd gotten a staff. "Now come on, let's go congratulate her properly."

A smile spread over Alassëa's face, and she picked up her pace, heading more quickly now towards Aethos and Miyuki.

"Hello, Miyuki," she greeted the kitsune warmly. "Do you have a good morning?"

Her speech was coming along marvelously - thanks to endless hours of talking with Aethos.

Iorlas found herself admiring Alassëa even while she found herself feeling sorry for her. "Amazing," she murmured softly.

Alassëa listened with great interest, completely and purposefully ignoring Aethos, who was trying to give her the bag of gold he'd won.

She smiled at Miyuki once the kitsune had finished with her tale.

"Thank you very much," she said warmly. "I can teach you, too, if you would like to learn."

Without warning, she reached over with her staff and rapped Aethos on the back of his knuckles, making him yelp slightly and jump back.

Earendil laughed at Lin. "Not often. Usually when you were angry. Especially when you were angry with that ninja, when you were very, very little."

He grinned at her. "Come on, we promised Iorlas that we would introduce her to the rest of our party, and there are two of them right here."

"He is interrupting, is what he is doing," Alassëa replied, though she was smiling in an amused sort of fashion as she said it. She tilted her head towards Aethos. "What bag do you mean?"

"This," Aethos said, holding the bag against her hand so that she could take it. "This is your winnings from the spar. It is quite a bit, I don't know exactly how much."

Alassëa pushed the bag back towards him. "You hold it for me," she told him firmly. "I do not have a bag to carry it in. Yes?"

Aethos chuckled softly. "All right." He looked up as Lin, Earendil, Andarien and Iorlas approached them, and tilted his head curiously. "Well now, who do we have here?" he asked.

Alassëa blinked and looked slightly upwards, as if looking over their heads.

"In the inn," Aethos answered Miyuki's question. "We were on our way inside to eat when Alassëa was challenged."

Alassëa rolled her eyes. "And while we now know our new friend's name, we have continued without introducing ourselves," she pointed out to Aethos. She tilted her head in Iorlas's direction, which she could tell because of where the unknown scent was coming from. "I am Alassëa, and this is Aethos, of Amon Darthir."

Iorlas blushed. She wasn't used to people going out of their way to accommodate her. "A pleasure to meet you," she said warmly. "Where is Amon Darthir?"