[b]Miriam 
Chapter 10: Hospitality[/b]

It was truly the most auspicious and intangible sensation Miriam had felt, with weirdly placed calm she peered around her surroundings, it was black. It wasn't black from a lack of colour, or even light. It was a sort of vibrant darkness, it was perpetual and sometimes blinding. With a numb stare she looked down, the same black colour, nothing to indicate where she was, but yet she knew she was falling. There was no drag, no wind or any sight of what she was falling into, but she knew she was quickly descending... Somewhere. This didn't affect her cool state, however. She spread her arms slightly, blinked in pondering thought and looked around herself again. It might have been an instant after, or perhaps hours, but as she stared, something began to appear from the stubborn darkness and its oxymoron of a colour. Miriam tilted her head, whatever it was, it was far away, or at the very least surrounded deeply by the veil of dark. At a slow pace (It could have been fast, Miriam was honestly not to tell.) it began to flicker, a dim blue shining sphere that blinked through the darkness. Miriam scratched her scalp thoughtfully, attempting to gain some understanding of this new phenomenon. Before she could understand it, the torch of blue light suddenly imploded in on itself, before shattering like broken glass in tiny pieces. Miriam was hopelessly confounded, luckily not for long, as the blue light quickly reappeared, but this time it grew at a very rapid pace, until it had swallowed every inch of the surrounding black colour, it shone much too bright and different from the previous dark, it brought no calm emotion and no soothing to Miriam's mind. She didn't like where it was going.

She awoke with a frightful scream, every nerve of her body twitched to alert her mind of danger. She threw her arms in a brisk flail before bringing them over her head for some desperate protection. In such a state she lay for a minute or so, unable to move due to incapacitating dread. She wasn't certain what she was so afraid of, but her body was tense and her heart beat resoundly, as if it feared every beat might be its last, and needed to get as many out as fast as possible. She had been ready to accept her new black bed. It had been comfortable, if odd. Now it was gone, and she was back in this droll world and trapped in frozen fear. A fear she hadn't known since childhood. Miriam slowly opened her clenched eyes, dragging her head up from the ground with a shuddering groan. She was cold and felt extraordinarily heavy, above that, she wasn't able to grasp what had happened. She rolled over onto her back and spread her arms out to either side onto the cobbled road. Her hair lay over her face but she did not bother to move it. She remained on the ground, staring past the drapes of her messy black hair into the empty night sky, slowly regaining mindfulness.

After some time of recuperation she was able to drag herself onto her feet, if with a bit of a fumbling step. She spread her arms out to stop herself from falling back down on the ground, she fluttered her eyes quickly as her blurry vision became more clear. With a hand on the side of her head she looked up, how long had she been out, where exactly had she been just now, and what had exactly happened in the first place? The thoughts were a bother and only sped up her pounding headache. With a slow scan Miriam looked around the street, it was empty, no sign of the mysterious figure who had... Hit her? She wasn't sure, but they weren't here, at least. Which was probably good? She looked back to the Smith's house, the light was out in the window and the door properly closed. With a confused blink Miriam reset her gaze, that was something new in her field of vision. Against a wall someone sat, Miriam took an equally hobbling, equally careful step towards the person, narrowing her hazy eyes. It didn't look like the shady figure, though she hadn't gotten a proper look, and wasn't sure she could remember it properly, anyway. Neither was it Sarah, though it did look like a young girl, but definitely older than Sarah, closer to Miriam's own age probably. Her eyes were shut and her head flopped back against the wall, for a minute Miriam was afraid she was dead until she noticed her chest moving in breathing. The girl was dressed in an elegant dress, Miriam might have recognized it if not for her current state, Miriam was however alert enough to know when someone did not fit in. She slid a foot forward and poked the tip of it against the girl's leg. There wasn't much of a response, so Miriam did it again, more profoundly. She also spoke up, somewhat surprised how sore her throat felt.
	"H-hello?" This time there was a response, as the golden haired girl roused slightly, her head canting some and a murmur escaping her, she clutched a wooden staff close to her. Miriam had seen the kind before and blinked in slow, numb realization. She quickly looked around again, grasping the situation in a way she couldn't have before. She looked into the dark alleyway before quickly leaning over the girl to grab her by the shoulders, she gave them a brisk shake in hopes to rouse her. "Heeey. Wake up!" The girl moaned but opened her eyes tiredly, she gave a quick gasp of fright upon coming to her senses, but it was quickly exchanged by a more shrill gasp of pain. The girl moved a hand and held onto her shoulder, as if she was wounded, Miriam couldn't see it, though. She spoke again, eager to leave.
	"Can you walk?" The girl briskly nodded through gritting teeth, Miriam gave a light twitch of a frown as she saw the frail girl wasn't coping with the pain well but clearly attempted to soldier through it.
	"I-.. Y-yes." Miriam helped her up in a bit of a fumble, as she was hardly entirely healthy herself. She lent herself to support the girl and she began to walk them to the closest haven. Luckily it wasn't far to the Smith's house and Sarah was gracious enough to let them in and show them to some chairs. The younger girl was pale-faced and did not speak as she was led inside, she still clutched her staff closely. Miriam had made sure the blonde girl had gotten a seat in a chair, she had to repay her saviour somehow. After ensuring that the weary and wounded girl had sat down, Miriam found it as opportune time as any. And promptly sat down, thumped her head against the table and groaned in tired disparity: 
	"Screw Magic."