Esmeralda had left -that- town and hadn't looked back. She didn't let herself think about it, she didn't even acknowledge its name. If she did things would feel real again. Real and poignant and sharp. Nope!<br/><br/>All her belongings sat in a satchel strung across her shoulder. She had been walking for so long the weight no longer gave her stiff necks. Her muscles had hardened, new callouss had formed. The weeks, or were they months, of walking had stripped away the last of her lingering baby fat and transformed her into an angular woman with a hardened glare and a squared-off jaw. Usually she was on the road, but on the rare nights spent in towns, in inns stocked with luxurious mirrors, she hardly recognized her reflection. Admittedly, the dark magic staining her irises black did not help.<br/><br/>As she walked into town she avoided the road along the lake. Her were feet sore and stomach growling. She had debated walking right on through without stopping, but the smell of the bakery had hit her infamous sweet tooth. She found herself following her nose without even deciding to. Her money purse was dwindling, but so was her energy. The town blurred around her, just another set of walls and doors and faces and she thumped her feet forward in time with her heart, until the cold touch of the shop's door handle pulled her from her meditative reserve. She pushed in, a child-like woman barely in her adult years. Her wild-blond curls were wrangled into braid that disappeared under a cloak. An unusual gust of warmth flooded into the shop front as she let the door clunk shut behind her. The air had an odd, neutral charge to it. And the warmth seemed to be focused around her, as if she was causing it. Her cheeks had the glow of exercise about them. She looked between the two men, those black irises gauging them for a moment before promptly dismissing them.<br/><br/>She pushed her way to the display and placed her hand against the glass. Her stomach made audible churnings. The shop keeper smiled wide, gesturing towards the  case. "Pick anything ya want. My, my, I'll say, two  today, you fellas together then?"<br/><br/>Esmeralda's head snapped up and, with fervency that was almost rude, shook her head no. The man raised his hands in a helpless apology, taken aback but laughing it off.<br/><br/>"Very well, can't blame me for asking, we don't see many around here. Whatcha both hungry for?"<br/><br/>Esmeralda pointed to a cake, a whole cake, and the level look on her face promised she wasn't kidding.