Thank-you in advance to those who read this, and I love you in advance to those who reply. ^_^



Kanani, on her fourteenth birthday, was invited to take a visit to town. Her clothes were in
tatters and were small on her growing frame. She also needed shoes and a decent comb for her 
hair, which never seemed to stop growing and hung nearly to her knees.

Kanani was extremely excited and borrowed one of Spowaban's tunics so she would look half-way 
presentable.

At dawn they flew down to the ferry dock so they could wait for Traalso, the old wizened ferry
keeper and his handsome nephew, Cirol.

The two came at the precise time they were supposed to, since old Traalso was so exacting in 
his work.

The ferry was a very wide, rickety-looking thing that seemed to be as old as its captain. There 
were side rails that people could grip when the river was choppy, and a large square hold in 
the center for people's belongings.

Traalso, looking much like his craft, was a thin and wrinkled old man who looked about to fly 
into the wind. His rough, leathery skin hung off of poor bones like a dirty old leather tunic. 
His large round head had long since lost its hair, and was completely bald except a few white 
strands that refused to part with him. His craggy face was oddly soft and friendly, and 
greeted them with a large, rather toothless smile.

His nephew, however, was the exact opposite. He was sturdy and strong, if a little short, and 
had smooth bronze skin that shone in the early morning sun. His hair was thick and a rich dark
brown, lightened by the intense sunlight he was under all day. He was also friendly-looking, if 
quiet, and had a ready smile for them.

Traalso squinted at Spowaban and Kanani, before calling out to the green man. "Going by ferry 
today, eh son? Lucky for you, there are no other passengers or else it would be hard to get 
someone as big as you on the boat!" He laughed breathlessly and squinted more as they docked 
on shore. "I see we do have another passenger! A lovely young woman!" he bowed stiffly to 
Kanani and smiled slyly at Spowaban, "Got yourself a wife here, huh?"

Spowaban sighed impatiently, "No. She's not my wife. I'm training her to be a warrior, but I 
found that she's in need of new clothes among other things."

"Ah... I see... A warrior, eh?" He squinted at Kanani more, scrutinizing her carefully, "She's 
much too pretty to be a warrior... Why don't you find some nice young man to take her place? 
Let her marry and have children as lovely as she is."

"As pretty as she is to you, she is extremely strong and will be very important to 
Frizzghigge..."

Ignoring him, Traalso smiled toothlessly at Kanani. "Tell me, girl, what is your name?"

"Kanani," she murmured, trying to avoid his gaze.

He smiled again, "You know, my nephew here," his voice lowered to whisper, "my nephew is in 
need of a woman... Need you a man?" He laughed again, a high-pitched, squeaky laugh, made 
mostly of air.

She shook her head, frowning, and made her way with Spowaban onto the ferry.

Cirol offered a hand to help her up and blushing, she took it, meeting his eyes for a fleeting 
instant. He was quite a handsome fellow, and with the sun shining in his hair just so, she 
pleasantly forgot about Jukilo, content to look at this handsome young ferryman.

Occasionally, Cirol would glance back at her and, both blushing beneath bronze skin, they 
would glance away quickly. However, they always stole more furtive glances at eachother. 
Finally, the ferry ride ended and Kanani was forced to leave the company of Cirol. He helped
her out of the ferry, holding onto her hand for just a second longer than was necessary before 
smiling a smile just for her and getting back on the boat with his uncle.

Flustered and confused, Kanani blushed and tentatively smiled back. Never had she ever acted 
that way, nor had anyone act such a way toward her. Oddly enough, she didn't want Spowaban to 
have noticed anything odd. For some reason, she found herself wanting to keep it a secret from 
the world.

Still warm and happy from her encounter with Cirol, she made her way with Spowaban through the 
near-empty docks toward the bustling town.

They wove through peddlers with huge carts, displaying crafts that Kanani had never before 
seen. Women in richly-woven gowns and heavy, jewel-laden hair walked imperiously down the 
barren docksides. Most people she saw were thin and haggard, desperately trying to get anyone 
to buy anything they could afford to sell. There were lines of dusty, closed stores-apparently 
shut-down from lack of funds. And then, they made it to the town itself.

Kanani had never seen so many people in all her life. There were people with shining golden 
hair, as bright as the sun and others that had fiery red hair and pale skin. People in a 
myriad of different colors and fabrics, all intent on their own purposes. Strange men and 
women holding signs stood on street corners yelled and cried out about prophecies and 
religions. Other, braver and burlier people, irritably told them to be quiet. Women and men in 
skimpy clothing stood under shadowed overhangs, watching others with predatory gleams, while 
casually jingling coins about. Women, surrounded by squalling children, busily forced their 
ways through. Young couples held hands and walked together through the streets, talking 
privately amongst themselves.

It was an amazing place for Kanani. In all her imaginings of the "town" the men spoke of, she 
had never been able to imagine the images she saw then.

Spowaban took her arm and gently led the dazed girl through the city streets, trying to ignore 
the outward glances she was getting from the men in the town. //I'm never, ever going to try 
and train a young girl ever again... Not unless she looks like a maggot...//

They walked into a clothing store that Spowaban had heard about the past month. Surprisingly, 
it was still open-one of the few places that was.

A pleasant young woman walked up and smiled cheerfully at them. "Hello sir, miss," she 
curtsied politely, "can I help either of you?"

Spowaban explained the situation and the woman immediately went to work fulfilling his order 
of fighting clothes, something warm, and something semi-formal Kanani could wear to town. In 
a mere hour Kanani had cajoled Spowaban into buying more clothes than he thought he could fit 
into the cave. She walked out of the store, wearing a new deep blue dress with yellow trim.

//Never, ever training another girl, period. No question. She's the last girl.//

Happily, Kanani bid farewell to the young woman and grabbed his arm. More sure of herself, and 
with a clue as to what the purpose of this trip was, she dragged him into another store for a 
"decent pair or two" of shoes. In another hour she had five pair and was still going strong.

Wearing now a pair of deep blue shoes to match her dress she dragged Spowaban into several 
stores for her accessories. She got an arsenal of brushes, ribbons, clips, and other things 
for her hair, and put a few sculpted metal daisy hair clips in before lunch.

Happily, she chattered at him as they ate, surrounded by her new things. She smiled courteously 
at everyone that passed by, and got quite a few lingering glances from the young men in the 
town.

They started out getting things for Spowaban when she hit her first person.

It was getting later in the afternoon, and Spowaban was bartering with a shop owner over a 
cloak that had caught his eye. Bored, Kanani went outside to watch the people go by. A pair of 
older men walked up to her and began to roughly speak to her, saying things that had never been 
incorporated into her vocabulary, since they never would have crossed Jukilo's innocent lips. 
When they began grabbing her, trying to drag her off, she exploded and punched the taller one 
squarely in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. The shorter of the two looked from Kanani to 
his comrade and fled the scene.

Spowaban came rushing out at the commotion and saw Kanani standing shocked near a man that was 
laying on the ground with a badly broken nose.

"I... I hit him... Spowaban... I hit someone... Oh, my..." He took the distraught girl into 
the store and asked her what had happened. When she explained he began laughing a deep, 
melodious laugh that filled the store.

Swinging her up in an impromptu hug he laughed again and cried out about how wonderful it 
was. Spowaban then went outside to explain to the bystanders what had happened and to see 
that the man was properly dealt with.

Still shocked and mortified at her own behavior, she required quite a bit of calming down 
before she was composed again. She laughed then at her own temper and found herself quite 
justified in hitting him. Everyone outside had already gotten over the event by the time they 
left the store. Kanani continued her trip with Spowaban much more confident and brave than 
when they had started it. She felt then that no one would ever hurt her again-that she could 
defend herself against anyone and anything.

It was nearly dark when they caught the next-to-last ferry out of town. Traalso and Cirol 
seemed happy to see them both, and the pair of men commented on Kanani's new appearance.

She blushingly recounted her day to Cirol who laughed heartily at her retelling of the "fight"
she'd had. They talked to eachother quietly the entire ride back, flirting subconsciously with 
one another and sharing some sort of secret conversation.

At the end of the ride, Kanani was kissed lightly on the cheek and helped onto shore. Happier 
than she could ever remember being she smiled blithely up at him and hesitantly kissed him 
back.

Spowaban gathered part of their things, letting her carry the rest of it, and waited for her 
to quit blushing and start walking.

They had to walk since Spowaban couldn't fly all of it. It was either Kanani or the things and 
he wasn't about to leave Kanani with Cirol: He'd never get her back. It took almost two hours 
of walking to get back, but Kanani didn't care. She had hit a man, gotten wonderful new 
clothes, and been kissed by Cirol-she was far too excited to be upset about trudging the 
stuff up to the cave.

She collapsed into bed, content with life, and whispered a quiet "thank-you" to Spowaban 
before slipping into a deep dreamless sleep.

*~*~*

The next day was filled with new promise. Energized and confidant, she began her usual 
training at dawn and this time, actually hit Spowaban. The slight damage he received was far 
less than she was capable of, but at least it was something. At least she had dared to hit him.

Of course, the effect was slightly marred by her constant apologizing, but at least he had a 
small smart of pain. She could hit him and that made all the difference in the world. Kanani's 
training went splendidly in the next few days. Spowaban sported a few semi-large bruises that 
shone purple on his green skin. Also, Kanani's bruises were nearly non-existent-he hadn't been 
able to get a decent punch in for the last three days.

That week, also, he decided to let Kanani go see Cirol at the docks. She was so happy when she 
received that statement, throwing her arms around his neck in a tight, exhilarated, hug. She 
put on a rich red dress that brought out the bronze of her skin and waited patiently for the 
ferry. It came exactly at the time it was supposed to, and she drank in the sight of Cirol's 
happily surprised expression. Pleased for her.

He wrapped her up in a long lingering hug and kissed her lightly on the cheek again. They rode 
together to the other side of the river and back, whispering quietly to one another and 
laughing at their own private jokes that no one else was allowed to hear. Until well into the 
afternoon they simply talked to each other, reveling in the welcome company. He showed her the 
wonderful things he saw everyday in the river, and told her the latest gossip about the regular 
passengers on the ferry. He also praised her training and admired her strength, which made her 
blush violently under her burnished skin. They had to part at sundown, which nearly brought 
tears to Kanani's eyes. He gave her another long, lingering hug, but this time his lips met 
firmly with hers and she had her first real kiss of her life. He was warm and soft and made 
chills run down her spine, but they were wonderful excited chills, that made her want more. 
She held his hand as the ferry drifted away and waved a melancholy farewell to this man who so 
illuminated her life.

In the cave, she told Spowaban most of what had happened, but left out many things in an 
attempt to keep her clandestine love a true secret.

That week her training went even more smoothly. She had re-trained herself to be able to hit 
Spowaban and it was going splendidly. She was showing her true colors as the warrior Spowaban 
knew she was. The only thing he was terrified of telling her was that she would have to leave 
and join the Frizzghiggian Imperial Army. Of course, he would go with her since she was like a 
daughter to him, but she would have to leave Cirol. That was the problem. However, she wouldn't 
be called for a good while, so she had time to enjoy her little relationship. They would 
probably tire of each other eventually anyway, so he thought.