Whenever she closed her eyes, all Noelle could see was Henneth Lagor. The large yet cozy village was situated in a spacious lush meadow whose sides eventually rose to create a deep valley that went mostly unnoticed by the residents due to its sheer size. In the middle snaked one of the largest rivers in all of Hullen, Leithia, that sustained the population of around a thousand both literally economy. Not even the wonders of this new land of Lella was enough to make the feeling of homesickness entirely disappear. Nevertheless, it never dimmed her cheerful disposition, nor her curiosity towards the secrets that this new land carried. 

As she had boarded the ship docked a little way off Hullen’s coast with her two new companions, Noelle found herself sitting on the edge of the ship, her legs dangling off the edge as she bid her homeland goodbye for an indefinite amount of time. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too long, she mused to herself as she nearly slid off the edge and into the water as the ship jerked, setting sail away from Hullen. With a final wave to the massive island-like landmass, Noelle swung round and set her feet back onto the ship, heading off towards her companions.

Accompanying her on their epic quest for Hullen’s gem were Sir Jak and Oliver. Both men Noelle were strangers to Noelle, strangers she quickly started chatting up for the sake of conversation. Talking wasn’t as tiring as finding something to amuse herself with, considering her occasionally short attention span. If Sir Jak and Oliver weren’t game for her chatty company, Noelle often wandered about the ship and spoke to the sailors and the crew, entertaining herself by keeping up a stream of rapid words and watching them attempt to keep up. It was an effortless way to keep her amused until they docked at Lella. And they did dock several days later and as Noelle stepped onto the soft sand of Lella’s coastline, slightly unsteady from the ship’s constant rocking, she took in the foreign country’s warm climate and lush forests, drinking it all in. The nature somewhat reminded her of Henneth Lagor, bringing a radiant smile upon her face that could rarely be brought on by anything else. Her heart already ached for the family she’d left behind, even though she’d sworn she wouldn’t return until she got tired of traipsing across the world. And it certainly wasn’t happening anytime soon. Her father’s absence had instilled a sense of independence within her, a silent form of defiance towards the man that had torn apart her childhood and her mother’s sanity.

Heartstone was beautiful. Of course, to Noelle, nothing could compare to Henneth Lagor and Aria but Hearthstone came a close second, the city’s astounding array of colors only serving to increase her wonder. Almost giddy with excitement, Noelle took in as much as she could, finding it impossible to take her eyes off the distinctive array of colors that spanned across Heartstone’s cloud formations. However, they weren’t to remain there for long as Noelle, Sir Jak and Oliver were routed towards a forest instead, in search of shelther. Noelle still had little to no idea to what this quest would entail and what it would bring them. Danger, perhaps, but Noelle wasn’t much too apprehensive at the thought of combating a rogue sorcerer or two – it was only the notion of getting up and doing work that put her off. Noelle couldn’t be bothered with using her spells unless really necessary. As they were taught to her by her mother while she was still sane and a prodigy at magic, Noelle grasped the basics of mist-based spells and expanded over the years. Her six years of traveling around Hullen brought her more knowledge, seeing as she couldn’t be bothered with doing something else other than learning magic. Learning magic required a considerably less amount of effort than doing something else like tailoring or blacksmithing to sustain herself, and surely it beat the prospect of doing nothing, which could be just as bad as doing too much. At least when people asked her what she did for a living, she could reply with, “Magic,” rather than, “Nothing,” which truthfully applied quite a bit more in her case. 

Venturing into the depths of an unknown forest wasn’t as bad as Noelle had initially predicted it would be; they’d found company! A girl seemingly around her age, a man with a striking mustache, a girl with pink hair and another with white, and at last, a man a bit older than her sporting a light shade of hair. They’d seemingly come from different continents as well, Noelle learned as she took a seat on a log and offered her new companions a radiant smile. It was always nice to meet other travelers; there were more to share the workload, meaning Noelle didn’t have to do quite as much. Nevertheless, she contributed as much as she could in return for a place to spend the rest of the night. Despite her excitement, Noelle still found the place alien and rather impossible to navigate around. Lella was all green and forest and towering trees with vibrant green canopies, something that made her head spin with the attack of green on her eyes. 

The girl-with-amber-eyes' statement didn't go unnoticed. Giving the young woman a bright smile, Noelle replied half to herself; "It certainly does seem so. You think it could be fate?" A light laugh accompanied that bizarre statement, denoting that it was a bit of a joke.

“So where do you all come from? Obviously some of you are from Lella but what about the rest of you? I’m Noelle, by the way, nice to meet you all. And thank you for the soup.” Noelle spoke up after the other white-haired, amber-eyed girl, not bothering with revealing her last name. A bowl of steaming soup rested in her lap as Noelle flapped her hand over it in an attempt to cool it down. Eventually it did and she sipped it slowly, feeling the warmth spread through her.