A Sight of Bad Weather

The volatile beams of sunlight cast a heavy curtain on the small, frail body of young Anna. All of the sand behind her was drenched, despite the ball of angry flame in the sky above. It was a result of multiple uses of magic; make-shift glaciers had been constructed out of seemingly thin air, only to melt away in moments. Although the cool was nice while it persisted, the energy it took to form such short-lived reliefs was not at all worth the sacrifice. In fact, Anna was now more tired than she'd been before she started using magic to cool herself off. Obviously there were plenty of more efficient ways she could have utilized her magic in order to save herself from the harsh climate, but she was only eight, and these things didn't come to her mind at the time. Instead, she was more focused with the massive, lizard like creature before her.

"Mister Lizard, could you give me a ride out of the desert?" Her naive smile set upon the beast as she slowly climbed aboard it's back. As one would imagine, the creature was not amused. It began to vibrate, shaking it's body back and forth, hooking it's toes beneath the sand as anchors. An electric shock was coming, but Anna was just as confused as the other few animals wandering the desert must have been. How could she have known that it's intentions were ill?

"GET OFF IT'S BACK!" No time, she only had a split second to react. A figure in a long coat stood from her place in the saddle of a white chocobo, making a leap towards the girl on the lizard's back. She soared through the air, tackling Anna off the creature and spinning, her back crashing into the sand dunes beside it. She rolled over, ready to shield Anna from the attack.

Not long after the figure forcefully removed Anna from the lizard's back, an explosive display of natural thunder magic showered the two in sparks. After checking to make sure that the humans had no intention of hostility, the large reptile turned around and began to wander off. Anna, at first, was unsure what to make of the whole thing, but in the end she determined that this mysterious person had saved her from the nefarious 'Mister Lizard', and that she had now adopted a sort of admiration for the heroic person.

Instead of introducing herself, Anna removed a piece of candy from her pocket and held it up to the woman. She was offering her one of her sweets as a sort of thank-you.

Leila pulled her hood back, letting her blonde-red hair free and inspecting the child now offering her candy. One of her eyebrows raised slowly, and her head tilted to the right. "What're you doing out here alone, kid? You leave a nomad train or something? Wander away from you parents?"

Anna got uncomfortable being beneath another person. She wasn't claustrophobic or anything, but it annoyed her that she couldn't move around. After squirming out from underneath her savior, Anna pushed the candy towards the woman and tugged at her sleeve. "I was following the magic, miss. My home is in Port Nowhere. I've been walking for a couple of days now."

Leila sighed in annoyance at her answer, standing up and brushing herself off. She brought two metal-clad fingers up to her mouth and let out a loud, clear whistle. Her chocobo strode through the sands over to them, standing a cautious distance away. Leila looked down once more at Anna, pursing her lips as she debated. Finally she sighed again, offering Anna her hand. "Come with me back to our camp. We can give you food and water, hopefully get you back to your parents or some such business."

"A camp?" Anna's eyes widened in excitement. She'd always wanted to see soldiers, and she knew that they made outposts for keeping watch or planning attacks. If this lady was really going to take her to a soldier camp, she had no objections. "My name is Anna." Deciding that Leila wasn't going to take it, the child put the candy back in to her dress and grabbed on to the lower portion of Leila's cloak. "Are you a soldier miss?"

Leila smiled some, spreading her cloak so the girl could see the armor she wore. "Yes, you could say that I'm a soldier." Leila grabbed the reins of her chocobo, pulling it closer to them. She suddenly heft Anna onto the saddle, swinging on behind her and grabbing the reins once more. She pointed to a small handle at the forefront of the saddle. "Hold on tightly to that, and lean back against me. It'll keep you on the saddle." With that she lightly whipped the reins, setting the beast into a slow trot.