Perhaps she should have known better.
Especially after receiving Mildew's prophecy -- she should have been more careful, she should have expected danger, she shouldn't have gone out after dark ...
Isn't that what they always say?
None of these thoughts were in Arialla's mind as she bid the family who'd hosted her for seasons now, who were almost her family now, farewell for the last time. She simply closed the door with a cheery goodbye as she headed out to try to grab a last-minute missing item before all the stores closed. In the future, she wouldn't even remember what she had been looking for.
Smiling, carrying a basket with a covered bowl of the fresh stew she planned to use as payment -- courtesy of her hosts -- Arialla made her way through the now-familiar Haulani streets, thinking nothing of it when she decided to use a deserted alley as a shortcut.
She was from a small town. She'd never really had to think about the possibility of being randomly attacked by a stranger. At home, there were no strangers.
Bad things only happened to other people.
please don't take my sunshine away
