Matt's smile turned into a frown as he saw how drenched I was.
"You can't go out like that!" he said as he pulled me out into the hall.
"Come on, let's get you some new clothes. If you impress the people, it's more likely one of them will take you in!"
We walked down the hallway towards the room that I had snuck into before. Opening the door, Matt walked over to the big wooden box and pulled out a new set of dry, clean clothes.
"Put these on and meet me outside." He told me as he left the room, closing the door behind him.
Looking at the clothes that I had grown so accustomed to, I frowned. Slowly, my hands went to the base of the linen pieces, grasping their wet seams. Pulling the shirt up, a cold sensation washed over me as the piece of linen stuck to my skin slightly. Lifting my arms, I pulled the top piece off with a final tug, dropping it to the ground. The ground was wet where the top lay. Looking down, my eyes examined my body.
I never really had time to look at myself before, always too busy trying to survive. I was quite beautiful compared to the other females I had seen. My skin was flawless and smooth; my hands traced against it as if they were rubbing against a perfect, pure surface with no impurities. The curves on my body were graceful, a perfect, soft, feminine frame. Feeling along them, my hands reached my flat stomach; they ran along the part before moving up. My chest was completely different: it was fairly voluptuous.
My hands moved up to my face, feeling its features. I could not see myself, but I could feel how symmetrical and perfect each part of me was. It was as if my face had nothing but perfectly elegant, refined features. My bone shapes were amazing, my skin texture was outstanding, and the size of each was just perfect. Moving up, my hands grabbed my hair; it was soft and lush. It feels between my eyes, allowing me to examine its colour and texture even more. pearl white that flowed with elegance and beauty.
Moving my hands from my head, I found the edges of the lower piece I wore; it was not as wet as the top piece, but it still contained a little water. Holding the sides firmly, I tugged them down, sending them to the ground. Pulling my legs out of them, I tossed them atop the other piece of the set. Looking down at my lower half, I was amazed.
Something that I had not noticed before stood out to me: other than my head, there was no other speck of hair on my body, which is why my skin was so smooth and luxurious. Feeling my lower half was like feeling glass, cold yet calming. My legs were athletic and my muscles were defined and strong. I had nice, rounded hips that enhanced my figure. Crouching down, I looked at my feet; they were as smooth as the rest of me, but my toes were perfect—all the perfect length, with nails that were all symmetrical and well polished.
Taking my time to look over my figure, I heard a knock echo from outside the room.
"Are you ok in there?" Matt asked through the door.
Looking around in surprise, I shouted out.
"Yes! I'm fine!"
The answer seemed to satisfy him as the room went silent once again. Quickly grabbing the clothes he picked out, I put them on, starting with the top and then the bottom. Figuring out how to put them on was not that hard, as all I did was do the opposite of what it was to take them off. The two pieces were quite nice; the top was much more comfortable than the last one I wore, and this time it covered the entire length of my arm instead of just a little way down. The bottom was also much better, being a full-length piece that draped down to my ankles.
Wearing these two pieces made me feel much warmer now that less of my skin was showing, only my face, hands, and feet! Breathing out, I walked towards the door. Pulling on it, the door opened. On the other side awaited Matt, with a big smile on his face.
"Look at you, looking great!"
"Thank you," I replied shyly.
As he started walking down the hall, the man signalled for me to follow him. With a quick skip, my legs exploded forward, allowing me to catch up quickly. After a minute of walking behind him, we had reached the staircase that I had not made it to last night.
Walking down the stairs, I was amazed by the sight. Down there was a massive room with people bustling around. There were chairs set up in neat, orderly lines, filled with people of all ages. There was a desk with three people sitting behind it, seeming to direct everyone where they were supposed to go. They either pointed towards the hallways or back at the chairs, depending on where they were pointing. The people who spoke to them followed. Some took seats while some disappeared into their own unique rooms within those hallways.
As we reached the bottom, a woman walked up to us. She pulled Matt aside for a moment and began to whisper into his ear. All I could make out of the conversation was "Is that her?" and "Poor girl..." She was pitying me! I am not some defenceless girl who needs pitying! Sighing, I looked away, examining some of the people in the room.
There was an older man who seemed even older than the commander. He had black hair, a rather large, round body, and a limp as he walked. He moved from the desk back into one of the many chairs. When he got there, he seemed out of breath, and after a moment, he began to cough violently, spitting up some mucus.
Looking away from the sight, my eyes looked upon a younger woman, who seemed to be around the late lieutenant's age. Her eyes were red, and her face seemed slightly puffy. The woman held her arm, hiding what seemed to be some injury beneath a cover. As she sat patiently, a person tripped in front of her, bumping her slightly and causing her arm to move. During contact, the woman winced, closing her eyes as a small trickle rolled down her face.
My eyes were about to move to the next person before someone tapped on my shoulder.
"Are you ready?" My head turned, revealing Matt's smiling face.
Nodding, he took me towards the exit of the building. We reached the door, where he looked at my feet. Quickly, he opened a small wooden box and pulled out something that seemed to fit around my feet.
"Put these shoes on; they should fit."
I grabbed the pain in my shoes and brought them to my feet. Why in the world would people wear these? Sighing, I balanced on one foot as I held the left one open before sliding my foot in. The shoe's feeling wasn't pleasant; it felt like my foot was rubbing against small rocks, but I guess it's better than actually walking on them. Taking a breath, I put on the second one, causing both my feet to feel cramped.
Matt looked at me as I finished putting on the shoes.
"Are you going to tie them up or not?" he asked.
"Tie?" I replied.
The man's eyes opened in surprise, and his mouth was agape. He looked at me, then at the shoes, before finally calming down. Giving me a look of pity, he crouched down. He took my elegant foot into his hands for a moment before doing some fancy loops with the strings the shoe had. With a final twist and pull, the shoe tightened. With it tightened, my foot felt even more restricted, yet more stable.
Putting my foot back down on the ground, he took my other one, begging to tie that one as well. He did a loop, a throw, a pull, and a twist before it was the same as the last one. The surprising thing about tying was that it seemed so difficult, but Matt finished them both in under thirty seconds!
With both of mine down, he moved on to his own, tying them faster than I could comprehend the steps he was doing. He gave up as he walked through the wooden front door, allowing me to see the town at eye level. My eyes scanned the area, and the massive trees stood behind the house, making them seem almost puny. Looking down, it was the first time walking on this hard material that did not hurt my feet. The path was solid grey rock, with pebbles of differing sizes littered across it.
The path was lined with evenly spaced light posts, and right below them seemed to be the driest part, as the rain from the previous night had created massive puddles on the path. A big smile appeared on my face as a man carrying a bucket of some delicious food walked by. He spotted me and gave me a soft smile before stopping.
"Care for a Sylberry, young lady?" He said, grabbing one of the Sylberries from the bucket.
The Sylberry was orange in colour; it was slightly translucent, showing a purple inside. On top of it was a small stem that looked like it was attached to a few other Sylberries. Looking at the scrumptious-looking food, my head nodded quickly.
"Yes, please," I said with a small bow.
The man looked shocked for a moment.
"You have very good etiquette, young lady. I would have found it hard to tell you apart from a noble if it weren't for your clothes!" The man said, chuckling for a moment before handing me the Sylberry.
Not really understanding what he meant, I thanked him and put the entire berry that was the size of my thumb into my mouth. Biting down, an explosion of flavour blasted through my mouth. It was extremely sweet, but as the purple core melted in my acidic saliva, a slight sourness numbed the sweetness. My mouth puckered for a moment before swallowing the Sylberry.
"How was it?" The man asked.
Looking at him, drool almost falling from my mouth.
"Delicious!" I said enthusiastically.
The man laughed.
"Good to hear! Hopefully they will sell well today, then!" The man said, then turned away and walked down the path. He waved at me before turning a corner and disappearing deeper into the town.
Frowning, my heart ached.
"I wanted one more!" I cried, sighing deeply as Matt told me to follow him.