Out of the den!

Iris, since she had come to the Silver Wolf guild, had found herself doing one thing after the other, researching, cleaning, partying, being made to feel welcome, however, she still seemed to try and distance herself, and, today, it seemed like she was ready to set out to the world, but, was scared to? At the door, she reached for the handle a few times, only taking in a deep breath and focusing on the smell of the door to grab the handle, just to let go a moment later and step back, rubbing the back of her head in frustrated thought.

She wanted to go out in to the world again, see if she could meet other people that might help her, do some jobs that represent the guild, practice her magic, she really needed to do that, but, her mind kept circling back to one thing: she was a clumsy girl!

Every job she had from Here to Enca, she had gotten fired from due to her blindness and an overload to her synesthesia when push came to shove. And she needed the money for her own reasons. But, she was too worried to go out and make a mess of herself and a mess of the name of the guild again!

Pacing back in forth in the foyer, she stroked her chin, trying to think as she went deep in to thought, she needed to speak to someone,a senior member of the guild, but who? Who was it that she could seek out for solace? Hard to say, time to go meandering around the guild hall, hopefully someone's sound will attract her, or their smell.

-Leona's room-

Finally deciding to get up after staring at the ceiling on and off for an hour, Leona rolled off the left side of her bed and hit the wooden floor with a lack of grace that was at odds with her name. A real lioness would have made a graceful four-point landing with as much ease as breathing. Leona was a lioness in name only. She quickly stood up, fixed the sheets back, and put on the green, white, and gold outfit that was draped on the back of a wooden chair and smoothed it out the best she could. She then put on her socks and boots, then donned her Argent Gloves before straightening out her hair. It was not like Leona really needed them inside the safety of her own guild hall, but wearing them had become a habit and they had become an iconic item of hers.

Leona slipped her knife into her right boot and was ready to face whatever the day brought. Hopefully this day would be more mundane than that festival where an Asiago grilled cheese sandwich she had made came to life, merged with a refrigerator it had been thrown into, and captured Chef Ramsey and stuffed the chef in the refrigerator before running off into a maze near the Haunted Castle. Leona was still trying to get over the absurdity of that night because the whole scenario was something out of a bad Z-grade sci-fi movie.

Leona opened her room door and stepped out, shutting it carefully behind her. She was going to take a quick walk around the guild hall before going to her office to handle the paperwork that surely awaited her. She was glad that she had selected Theo and Alma as Aces because they helped lessen the burden of paperwork, which used to fall entirely on her. They helped make handling paperwork more bearable and filled in for her when Leona was off on a job for the guild, which was often.

-Inside Silver Wolf Guild Hall-

Leona started her walk through the guild hall and quietly made her way to the foyer, where someone was standing around deep in thought. That "someone" was Iris, one of the newer members of the guild and a mage looking for her place in the world. Iris was blind, but that did not stop her from doing her best to be a part of Silver Wolf and interact with its members, something Leona needed to do more of as Guild Mistress. Leona would do her best to help Iris find her place in both Silver Wolf and the world. Once upon a time the blonde had been a girl straight out of the desert with no real direction and no goal other than to try and make a living by her magic and weapons.

Silver Wolf had given her direction and a roof over her head when she was a no-name mage who had gotten in way over her head and was looking for a guild. Now as its Guild Mistress, it was time for Leona to pay it forward by helping other people find their way. Iris seemed like she wanted to talk to someone but did not quite know who. Maybe the blonde could help.

"Hi Iris! How's it going?" Leona cheerfully greeted the purple-haired mage.

"Oh, Boss, hey. I was just. Well, to put it bluntly, I was thinking of leaving for a bit. Not the guild, the hall. I haven't left since I came here, and since I came here, I seem to get up to antics that involve getting myself or others in trouble. It's a shameful thing to admit, but, I think my clumsiness is infectious." She started to explain while groping around the air for either Leona's shoulder, or a chair.

Sure she had her synesthesia, but, that was mostly with sounds. leona's voice was always wonderful to hear, like a pitter patter of rain trickling down the bark of a tree to her ears, at least that's what the sound felt like. It was calming for her.

Leona wordlessly and quietly hurried to Iris' side so that the violet-haired mage's hand could find her shoulder and use it for stability when she tried to get up. The Wizard Saint refrained from saying anything about clumsiness since her getting out of bed in the morning tended to result in her falling out of it and ending up on the floor in an inelegant heap. She also refrained from saying anything about hijinks since she, Samira Nassar, and Ruvel Mizune tended to end up in situations that got increasingly strange every time they got together for a festival.

When they went to the Midsummer festival Leona lost her stability and nearly drowned in a metal trough while bobbing for apples, an act which Samira mistook as part of the game. They then attended a bonfire that gave off strange vibes to Leona, who thought that it was a cover for insidious cult activity.

When they met for the Fall Equinox festival Leona got shanghaied into a cooking contest and traded verbal barbs with the irascible Chef Ramsey, who had insulted Leona's cooking and desert origins before the contest had even started. During the contest itself Leona had somehow managed to give an Asiago grilled cheese sandwich she had made unholy life; it proceeded to try and terrorize the judges before Ruvel walked up and casually tossed the animated sandwich into a refrigerator. Moments later it merged with the appliance to become the "Recheeserator" and captured Chef Ramsey before running off into the Haunted Maze attraction.

At the Pumpkin Picking event Leona fought denizens of the night near Royal Castle and received a lot of clothing damage that would have ruined her night had it not been for Ruvel and his ability to produce new outfits at a moment's notice. That was also the first time Leona encountered the wonder fabric from Celestia.

Her attention turned from her past odd adventures to Iris, who had stated the intent of leaving the guild hall to go explore the world.

"I've been in a few odd adventures myself, Iris. Most of them took place in The Cursed Lands. I'll have to tell you about them some time in the future." Leona stated to the purple-haired mage. She would tell Iris the details later, but right now the blonde's curiosity was overwhelming. She was interested in finding out where Iris planned to on on her first trip outside the guild hall since joining Silver Wolf.

"If I may ask, where are you going?" Leona politely asked Iris.

"You can answer if you want or you can choose not to. If you don't want to answer, I won't punish you because where you go in your free time is your business." Leona added, letting the purple-haired mage know that she would not be penalized if Iris did not tell where she was going. Iris was proud and did not want pity from anyone, not even the Guild Mistress. Maybe Iris wanted to travel alone to see if she had what it took. Leona could respect that motivation.