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Name:Library of Rain Author:
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Two days after she met with Lon, Rain returned to the cobbler to pick up her new shoes. The silver-haired cobbler smiled as Rain stepped into the store.

“Welcome back, young miss. Your shoes are ready as promised. Give me a moment.” With that, the shopkeeper walked into a back room. A moment later, he returned carrying a pair of soft-looking gray shoes.

“Here we are, a pair of ashmin leather boots dyed gray so that ash and snow won't stain them. The soles are made of thicker seator hide for extra durability.”

The shoes were well-made and looked comfortable. It was a simple but pretty design that would go up just past her ankle. Rain did wish she could have them be more colorful, maybe a bright red, but she understood that the ash would ruin any bright-colored shoes.

When she tried to take the shoes, the cobbler shook his head and motioned for her to sit. Complying with the request, Rain sat.

The cobbler grabbed his rag and cleaned her feet, explaining how to care for the shoes properly. He explained socks and how they were easier to clean than shoes, hence why she should wear them.

Most of this was stuff Rain knew from her “terms skill,” but the man's voice was soothing, and Rain wasn’t in any hurry to be somewhere.

After cleaning Rain's feet, the shopkeeper put two gray socks on her feet. The socks were oddly comfortable. Rain almost put them on her favorites list but decided she needed to start being more picky.

After the socks were the shoes, they were also comfortable, though the added weight on her feet felt odd. She wondered if she would get tired faster because of these.

After being asked to try them out, Rain stood up and walked around. Everything felt great. Her right shoe had a slight pricking feeling, but she ignored it.

“They're perfect! Thank you.” Rain said to the old man.

The shopkeeper smiled in satisfaction. “Thank you, young miss. You’ve already paid in full, so please come to me again when you require your next pair of shoes.”

The Fiddler’s Retreat was a stone building with cheery blue lines painted on the front. A sign overhead had a man with a fiddle running from a mob of angry people. Rain laughed. Not what she expected when she got the note.

Entering, she found a warm atmosphere with tables spaced randomly around the room. A pretty older woman and a girl who must have been her daughter were weaving between tables, serving food, and filling drinks. In a corner, a man misrepresented the establishment by playing a flute. There was a bar with an older man behind it. He was talking with one of the customers.

Rain decided the bar would be the coolest place to give the contact line. So she went over and climbed onto one of the massive stools. The stool was so tall that her feet couldn’t find anything to rest on as she sat. But the real killer of the cool act she had been going for was that her head was barely above the level of the counter.

When the man behind the counter finished talking, he looked over and asked with a smile, “What can I get for you, young miss?”

“I’d like a honeyed milk, please.”

Yeah, she shouldn’t have tried to look cool; this whole act was doomed from the start.

“Ah yes,” the man said, “that will be two opps.”

Rain paid, and the man went out back to get her order. When he returned, he held a small cup of milk and sat it down in front of her.

“Here you are. Take your time and enjoy.”

Unsure what she was supposed to do now, Rain sat back and took a drink. The milk was really sweet and cool. It was definitely up there in the list of her favorite foods.

A familiar boy approached her before she finished her drink and asked if she could come with him. The boy was the same one who had been following her the other day, and Rain really wanted to tease him about losing her. Resisting her urges, Rain drained her cup and hopped off the stool. Now that she was close to the boy, she saw he was a foot taller than her. It was good that she hadn’t tried to capture him back then.

The boy led her around to an inn room. The number on the door marked it as room two. The boy knocked. When an older man asked who it was, the boy answered ‘Arlos’, and they were invited to come in.