"Well then, where is your number? Or are you an Ordinary?” Deep voices from across the dark room rose above others, and Naomi knew they were directing the question to her. She held her steel mug in her tiny pale hands.
“I’m just a human so there’s no need to worry.” Naomi swallowed hard and tried to keep her voice from shaking, a playful smile on her face. Sweat began to form on her forehead.
Whispers bolted around the room and in less than a minute the voices seemed to be screeching and screaming.

They could all feel her lie. Maybe it was her straight orange hair; completely different from everyone else's dark colors. Or maybe her vibrant green eyes, also different than everyone else. More likely though it was her clothes; they were not the clothes of a beggar or peasant, but rather those of someone who came form a far away land. Her tunic was a completely different style than everyone elses. All of them had weapons too; this country was in a war, after all. She had only one sleeve, and now she felt foolish. She should have known no one else dressed like this. She knew they were completely on to her.
“How did an Ordinary get all the way out here?”
“...but I thought we took care of them all...”
“...shouldn’t have shown mercy..”
Naomi’s eyes widened in terror. And when she tried to object to the accusation, her voice was lost among the cacophony of bellowing voices; men all around the room seemed angry when they looked at her. She caught people staring at her with mouths half opened, eyes wide, lips trembling; but for some reason they acted like she wasn’t there, like she was some sort of mirage. They all looked at her but their eyes passed right through her.
“Look i just need...” Naomi’s breath came out sharp; she exhaled so deeply that she started coughing. An awkward half silence stuffed the air.
“I uhh.....” Naomi’s big green eyes searched the room for someone who wasn’t glaring at her with hatred in their eyes.
Chairs scratched against the floor as people began to stand, trying to get a look at Naomi-the Ordinary-'s face as their ruthless chatter started up once more. They searched her whole body, looking for some sign that she was not human. Her appearance was more suspicious than the actual evidence needed to prove she wasn't human.
It was now that the men finally took in Naomi’s strange appearance, one at a time. Her navy blue outfit seemed black in the poorly lit area, and her knee length hand-made leather boots were obviously made in a completely different region. Even her hair didn’t resemble any of the styles of the waitresses who were tending the bar; each of them had their hair tied up in some type of intricate fashion, and each matched, being a short, darker color. Naomi suddenly felt very self conscious as she dared a glance at herself.

Some of Naomi’s fiery orange hair stuck to her bare right shoulder, and the rest rode the length of her back, most of it still in its original braid. Her bangs hung softly down to her eyes, both a soft forest green color; they radiated with the hopeful eagerness of being accepted by these strange people.

Her eyes darted back to take a daring glance at the annoying faces obstructing her line of sight, and suddenly she felt very tiny under their watchful eyes.

‘You won’t find anything by staring at me...’ The voice in her head whispered, and Naomi felt absurd that she had to reassure herself that there was nothing to hide nor to be ashamed of. She found her voice and tried to speak louder.
“I need a guide to get me out of this town and that’s all I've come for.” The greasy dark faced men turned their attention away from her completely though, but still it seemed like every person within a mile radius was chattering about her being in this particular bar.
The more she stood there the more it seemed like people directed their words towards her; hateful, malicious words bounced off their lips and hit her ears like a sudden headache. She dropped her hands onto a nearby table to steady herself while she inhaled deep breaths. The chunky men sitting there yelled profanities at her for daring to come near them.

Naomi’s whole body tensed as she heard chairs scratching against the floor and saw people raising from their chairs. She turned her head around the room in an effort to find some type of escape root. There were several windows that she could jump out of, if things got too hectic..
A single voice snapped her out of her planning.

“Hey, can you all settle down over there?” Someone behind the rowdy crowd stood up. His voice sounded sore, as if it hadn’t been used in quite some time, but it had a somewhat demanding, dominant ring to it that let the men know he was there. All eyes turned to him, a strangeer sticking up for an accused Ordinary. Others ceased their mindless noise after another moment of turning heads again to see who was commanding such attention. But when the eyes landed on the man who was now walking forward, the bystanders who met his face started to sit down in their seats. With that, Naomi felt her ears burn while her cheeks flooded with a bright pink color as the stranger started to make his way over to her. The crowd dispersed as the room stole to an eerie silence as he took meaningful steps towards the front of the bar. All eyes were now on the man who was making his way through the bar towards the tiny, obviously scared, girl.

“All this young lady wanted was a guide to get out of Trenon, so there’s no reason to hassle her like this. Let me ask you, my dear,” a man wearing a blue tunic-like shirt stepped forward from the crowd, “Are you any threat to these people?”

He had a very handsome face, his chin holding just a stubble of hair, his eyes the shade of clouds before a storm. His hair seemed unusually clean and well kept, though brown straggles fell just above his eyes. One of his ears seemed slightly pointed, and his face wasn’t without scars. Naomi contemplated the possibility that he was an Ordinary too, as the rest of the room was surely thinking the same thoughts as her.

When his jovial blue eyes landed on Naomi they softened dramatically as if to say ‘you’re not alone’ and his lips went up slightly in a light smile. He tilted his head, an inclination for Naomi to speak.

“No, sir,” she blushed “I came here by accident, I don’t want to stay here long...” Her eyes roved over the crowd of shady characters around the dimly lit room, and she swallowed hard.

The man looked at her and openly smiled, his eyes tracing every line of her face, forcing Naomi to look away.

“Well then!” He slammed his hand down hard on the table, making Naomi jump, deriving laughter from the other side of the room. Without having a second to collect herself, the stranger took Naomi’s hand in his right, and gently laid his other hand on top of hers. “What is your name, my Lady?”
Naomi’s eyes widened at the formality and her lips parted slightly, trying to breathe. Her syllables came out shaky but she did the best she could to hide it.
“I’m Naomi, from the land of Bree.” The strange man smiled and Naomi couldn't help but feel the warmth from his touch reach all the way up her arm.

“Today is your lucky day”, he paused for a second as his eyes looked into hers “Naomi.” The men around the tables started getting distracted and bored, and the silence that had stuffed the room was now gone.

“My friends call me Shae, and I would be overjoyed to be your guide out of this town.” His eyes sparkled and his lip twitched at the corner of his mouth.



And that’s how Naomi slipped into the world of the Ordinaries.