The first partner Ardessia finds on her travel and my favorite so far. Desc goes to !!

*****

Bridget, "The Scarecrow." - A total ditz and an airhead, oblivious to the things going around her, always cheerful and spirited and impossible to bring down. She's not the brightest bulb in the box, but she seems to have a core of common sense that sees obvious solutions that other people often ignore: she may be a ditz, but she's not stupid. She eventually comes to grow a little more serious and becomes more mature, learning to take responsibility and not to treat everything as a joke.

Bridget was created by a necromancer in an attempt to build the perfect bride: however, the necromancer was not exactly the type of guy who falls in love with women based on their brains and personality, so he made her beautiful but didn't spend much time educating her. After the necromancer fell into a crypt while robbing graves and died, Bridget was left to aimlessly walk around looking for something to do. She eventually came across Ardessia, and decided to follow her just because she could and hey, why not?

*****

Ardessia found her sitting on a rain barrel with a scythe in her hand, just rocking back and forth and humming to herself. "Hello there," the witch said.

"Why hello there," the scarecrow said cheerfully. "Have you seen my shoes? I think they've gone and run off somewhere."

Ardessia paused. "Run off?"

"Yep! I lost one, so I sent the other one off to look for it." The scarecrow stared out into the wheat field. "They're not coming back, though. They must have run away together." The girl sighed and pouted. "I guess they didn't really like me. I don't blame them. I used to walk all over them."

Ardessia blink blinked and scratched her head. "Oh, well. . . ummm. . ." That's too bad."

"It's because I'm brainless, isn't it?" the scarecrow whimpered. She pouted, and tears welled up in her eyes. "I don't have a brain in my head, you know. . . it's all just stuffed with straw and blonde hair. . . I feel so stupid sometimes. Like the time when I decided to try planting popcorn so that we could pick popcorn right off the ears. . . or the time I tried to wash the dishes before eating so we wouldn't have to afterwards." She began to bawl. "I just. . . I'm so sorry!! I'm so sorry I don't have a brain!" she wailed.

Ardessia winced and covered her ears. "OW!" she sighed. "Do you have to do that? It hurts. . ."

"I'm sorry," the scarecrow sniffed. "But. . . I only wish that I could figure out how to get to the Warlock's castle. I hear he can do anything. . . maybe he could give a brainless bimbo like me a brain?"

Ardessia considered this. "If he can't," she said carefully, "Then I guess no one can."

"You really think so?" The scarecrow bounced up happily. "Ooh ooh ooh! Then that's where I'll go. . . to the East, right?"

"West," Ardessia said.

"Awww, shucks." The scarecrow sighed and stuck out her tongue, rubbing her head. "See what I mean? Words just fall right out again after they've been in there for a bit."

"Want to come with me?" Ardessia asked. "I mean, I'm already headed there to turn my boyfriend back into a real man." She gestured at the silent, pumpkin-headed ragamuffin hovering over her right shoulder.

"YAY!" The scarecrow laughed and extended her hand. "Then let's go together! You can call me Bridget, because that's my name, you know! Pleased to meet you, witchy!"

"The name is Ardessia," Ardessia sighed, "And you're standing on my bare foot."

"Oh dear!" the scarecrow jumped back and pressed her hands to her mouth. "Did your shoes run away from you too?"

"Not quite," Ardessia griped. "Some bitch dropped a house on me and stole them. But I'll tell you that story later. . ."