The girl had to have been twelve years old, maybe less. One of the three large thugs threw her to ground. Her clothes while not finely decorated were of an obviously higher quality than the fraying, patched clothes of her attackers.

"I'd just like to confirm that I'm not somehow misunderstanding the situation and that I am indeed justified in beating the ever living shit out of you?" Elise spoke with a casual air and a dangerous grin as she hobbled into the alley.

The thugs were a motley lot, one was weedy and sickly thin with a line length typical in the lows, another was a massive broad-shouldered man missing his left hand with a touch more magic and the last had grey eyes, marking him as a refugee from Vouran, and he had a considerably shorter line than normal. The Vouran's line was, of course, nowhere near as short as Elise's. They looked over Elise as she approached.

"Don't mind us, this one here is from higher on the hill and she thought it a good idea to wander around the lows alone without sharing anything with the people she was gawking at. Me and the boys thought that was rude. Kinda like you're being rude now by being a nosy busybody,"

Elise sighed softly.

"Really? We have more than enough uniformed robbers and thieves we don't need ununiformed ones. But you have my thanks, I've had a stressful day and I was hoping you'd help me unwind a little. It's been a while since I had a good excuse to let loose. So come, let us dance a moment,"

The thugs burst out laughing.

The thin weedy one smiled a malevolent smile "You? You?! You think you can take-"

Elise closed the distance between them in seconds and brought her iron rod down hard across his face before he could even finish his sentence. The impact stunned him and splashed blood and teeth across the alley but Elise was already moving on to the second thug, the Vouran, who was reacting slowly. He had only begun to attempt to cast something when Elise's iron rod slammed into the hand holding his wand. There was a wet, crack as his fingers broke. He screamed in agony. His poorly maintained crappy wand clattered to the ground and was trampled by Elise as she launched herself at the final thug. The large man had bad thread control and a poor wand. He'd had the most time to cast something but it hadn't been enough, Elise was just too fast. With her rod in hand and a manic grin on her face she was on him before he could complete the spell pattern of the spell he was trying to cast. She hit him in the throat first to stun him a little and followed up by turning his weight and size against him and performing a throw. Her old wounds were bright searing beacons of agony as she sent the massive man to the ground but there was a sweetness to this pain, a familiarity. This agony was an old and comfortable friend.

The thin thug having recovered from the daze her rod left him in held up his hands in surrender as the Vouran thug, his face grimacing in pain fled from the alleyway. Just like that, the fight was over mere heartbeats after it began. The massive thug dragged himself up from the ground, eyed Elise warily and then retreated with his companions, his head hung low. Elise felt unsatisfied. The few fleeting drops of adrenaline she had gained was far from enough to sate her. The fight had been too quick and they had given up too easily.

The young girl was staring at her. The child's line was shorter than any Elise had ever seen besides her own, her clothes were of a fine make but weren't overly decorated and she had a few marks on her face that were rapidly developing into bruises.

Elise had driven off the muggers but she didn't feel much inclination to get involved further. Though she supposed she couldn't just leave the kid lying in a back alley.

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"Hey, are you lost? You're from the merchant quarter up near the plaza, right? You're dressed like you are. I can direct you that way if you'd like,"

The kid didn't respond and instead just kept staring at Elise from the ground.

"Well, then I have things to be doing and unless you-"

"How did you do it?" the child's voice was a whisper, her question sounded like a quiet, desperate plea. "You're useless like me. Weren't you scared? How did you do it? How did you beat them?"

Elise squatted down next to her.

"The same way I beat a lot of people. By virtue of my opponents not having the faintest clue what they're doing. Take that fight for instance if; spells are slow, which is why the big guy should have been in the front buying time for his buddies to cast instead of the back. But because he was a little more powerful than them he was in the back concentrating on his spell rather than defending himself. Which made him an easy target. Since neither of the other two were in any way skilled melee fighters and were trying to cast spells themselves they couldn't buy him enough time. They lost the fight almost instantly because they focused solely on magical power and nothing else. There's a reason soldiers are issued swords and not just focuses. So often all people see or think about is magic when in reality things are always much more complicated. Magic does not solve everything. Look I'm really not good at this whole sage advice shtick despite...well never mind. The point I'm clumsily trying to say is your not useless, I've never met someone useless yet," Elise extended a hand to help her up "So clear those thoughts from your head and go on home,"

The kid looked at Elise's hand nervously for a few moments as if it were some kind of disguised snake waiting to drop its pretence and bite her.

"I... can't go home,"

It was Elise's turn to stare at the girl.

"What? Why not? You a runway?"

She shook her head and looked down, her eyes finding a spot on the ground to look at to avoid meeting Elise's gaze.

"Kicked out...because I'm useless," she croaked out.

Elise's eyes narrowed. Her next words were spoken softly and slowly.

"Because you're short lined?"

It was like the bursting of a dam, words and tears spilt forth from her. The tears ran down her face and dripped to the ground one by one.

"Yes. I can't do anything. Every apprenticeship I tried for has turned me down. I can't get a job. I can't get a trade. I'll never get a husband. My parents told me I had till I was thirteen to prove, to show them that I'm not a burden and I couldn't do that either. The only thing I can do is fail. I failed them. I can't do anything right. I can't do anything at all. I can't even move through the city without failing at that too and getting mugged. I-"

Elise interrupted her by grabbing her and hauling her to her feet.

"If we're having a conversation this deep then it's time you got off the damn ground. Now look I'm a card-carrying callous asshole so I'm not typically good in these kinds of situations. I don't know what it is you want from me and I'm not sure I could even give it to you if I knew but just...make a plan. Make a plan and stick to it. I don't know. I really don't know. What is it that you want?"

"What I want? I want what you have. I wish I could have the confidence to march into an alley and challenge three guys to a fight. You have an apron and tools, you have a trade, you have an income. You're not a burden like me, you're not a failure like me. Tell me how. Please?"

"I can't teach confidence, happiness or hope. Words cannot fill those holes but-"

It felt wrong to extend the offer she was about to. Something about the thought of it bothered her in ways that were initially hard to identify. But she was able to put a word to the emotions that welled up in her when she thought of it; fear. She was afraid of having someone truly get to know her. Always she was afraid always she was hesitating when it really mattered. How often in her own childhood had she begged in her heart that someone else would extend a kind hand? That they would just once believe that was capable of more? What was a little irrational fear next to that? Her hesitation faded away.

"-I can teach you a trade. How would you like to be an apprentice for my shop? It is 'Wood and Iron' a small focus shop around the corner. I can show you how to burn channels, make some focuses and enchant some wood,"

The girl's tears flowed faster, staining her already mud-spattered clothes.

"You don't even know my name,"

"Well let's fix that, shall we? I am Elise what's your name?"

"Willow, Willow Font,"

Elise offered her hand to Willow for the second time and smiled.

"Hey there Willow you coming?"

Unlike the first time, Willow reached out and took it.