“I’m sure you are,” Juna replied to Annara rude and uncalled for comment.

She had apparently taken it quite seriously, although it wasn’t as if Juna had meant to question her adequacy in combat situations. She was sure that she had adequate combat abilities, although it wasn’t as if they were involved in situations of extreme combat. Rather, the challenge was getting so that no one had died, which was something which they had probably all failed at least once. God knows Juna had failed, and her failure was something she would never forget, but now she was getting distracted.

Annara went on ahead of her, as she was quite eager to go inside. Juna didn’t know what was going on in Annara’s head, and there was no way of knowing what was. What was certain, however, was that Annara would be going in first. Was Annara always quite so moody and irritable? Juna could not quite recall so, but then again it was not as if she was a close friend, although she did care about her deeply. In a way, it seemed like Annara’s mood shifted from angry to angrier, and she rushed inside the house Lothren had been. Juna wasn’t aware of what was wrong, just that it was. Juna followed suit, even if that meant leaving Aust in the dust. He’d be fine.

Juna saw the knight, who was surprisingly still for a man with such hatred and fervor in his eyes, which was perhaps the second strongest combination of emotions in the world. Juna could tell that if he had any choice, he would spring on Lothren in a moment, but it seemed the power of a rifle was convincing enough. Lothren held the Knight’s fate, and his life was like a string of yarn in between a blade of scissors, ready to be cut at the first notice.

Annara seemed to have had some bad experience with the Knights of Areta. Juna understood, of course, but she didn’t get violent like Annara did. She hit him multiple times, and they were good hits too. Now, as entertaining as it may be to see a Knight get pummeled by a cute girl, senseless violence inevitably had to stop. That was the price that needed to be paid.

Juna grabbed Annara by her arms and carefully pulled her back a few feet. She needed to calm down, and Juna needed to be the one to do it. She had a feeling, though, that she wasn’t leaning on Annara’s good side. Juna thought she had a good nature, but she was not sure about a kind nature.

“Well that was something,” Juna said, giving Annara a smile. “But don’t hold it against me for doing this.”

“I understand the want, the need, for revenge,” Juna said, and her smile had disappeared into an expression of deep serious. “But you can’t go and attack him simply because he is a knight. And even for the one who you want revenge on, you must be willing to become evil, and more evil than they ever could be, because they never had your morals, but you did.”

“Well, why don’t we get on to the next order of business,” Juna said, her smile and seemingly carefree demeanor returning. “Now sir knight, I am an elf, and I’m sure you are overjoyed to meet me. If we become friends I’m sure everything will go great, and I’m sure you know it too.”