For all of her father's best efforts, Kris never did quite grow to become the "precious princess" that he had hoped she would be. Their days of playing princess and knight did not play out as one would ordinarily expect, but instead involved a tiny, four year old girl struggling to lift a 6'2" man into her arms so that she could "save" him. Swinging around stick "swords", gallivanting about and having "adventures"--it had become apparent at a young age that the girl didn't have a desire to be protected, but that she wanted to be the protect_or_.

And so her day to embark on that particular journey had finally come. Although her father seemed none too happy about his little girl going off to join the Altean Knights, there was nothing he could do to quell her excitement. Their goodbye had been long and heartfelt, and Kris had felt a sudden pang of uncertainty as they hugged. She had never strayed from her desire to become a knight ever since she was a child, but in that one moment, a moment of doubt passed through her mind. Was this really the right thing for her to do?

_Yes,_ She thought later, feeling her breath catch in her throat as she stared up at the castle that awaited before her, _This was most definitely the right choice for me. I...I can't believe I'm actually here!_ Head tilted back, her bright gaze remained fixed on the castle as she walked forward, her dark hair swinging back and forth in a ponytail. _Oh, I can't wait! Just imagine...me, a knight! Kind, noble, stron--_

Her reverie was abruptly cut off when, in her distracted state, she failed to notice that someone had been standing right in front of her. In fact, it wasn't until she collided right into his back was she even made aware of his existence, letting out a sharp gasp as she jerked backwards. Stumbling back, she swung her arms around like a windmill in an effort to regain her balance, just barely managing to save herself from an embarrassing fall.

_Phew_.

Rubbing her chin with her hand, she tentatively lifted her gray eyes and glanced up at the figure, hoping to the gods that she hadn't just walked facefirst into someone important. "Er, my apologies..."