Northern Winds [NC-17] (IC)

[Stygian]

In response to both Keaton's and Cog's statements, Stygian simply turned his apparently half-seeing eyes toward them and raised his eyebrows in an expression that oozed sarcasm already, but did not say anything. He then gave the door another couple of raps of his knuckles, harder this time, and spoke to the occupants.
   'Are you proper?' he asked, his voice sharp as he turned his face somewhat toward the door again. 'I won't pretend I would find it too uncomfortable to have to carry you out in your underwear...' Before anyone on the inside could respond, he gave Keaton a sideways glance as well, murmuring. 'I guess you're ready to go. Don't worry; we won't be here for long.'

[Aisha deCabre]

The door gave a brief shudder as something on the other side shoved a foot in it once.

"You want to shut your gods-damned mouth and stop that noise before I'm so deeply inclined to make you, first?"  A deep, cutting voice on the other side had responded to the inquiry of the bat pounding at the door.

Listening to the accent, one could easily tell it was Aisha...but her voice was never that harsh, for those who knew her well.  Given her nightmares it was rather an understandable thing; also due to the fact that she had lost several hours of sleep.  Normally she could survive on it.  But for those who knew her best of all, it was plain to see that she would have to be given a very wide berth.

The others had awakened before the panthress.  So tired she was, the voices would have nearly been taken for more dreams if the sunlight piercing her eyelids from the window wasn't so desperate to make sure she'd stay awake.  At least now the climate felt warmer than what it had been, and the chaos was left far behind them.  Her ears swiveled while her eyes readjusted, listening to the comings and goings.  One was leaving the room, and a couple of others were still inside when she pushed herself away from the back of the sofa.  "G'morning, Gareeku..." she muttered rather softly to the wolf.  Another half-hearted "g'morning" was given to whomever was left to hear it.

Contrary to the length of time that many other women would have taken to get themselves up, Aisha had her gear and cape back on in a manner of seconds.  She took her hood and pulled it over her face to obscure the sullen look in her eyes...that was about the time that the door had been rapped on.  Suppressing a growl after kicking it back, Aisha took her time mentally counting to ten before even considering stepping out.

Definitely gonna need a drink at one point.  "Right...let's get outta here."

[SpottedKitty]

Kerya noticed Aisha and Gareeku waking up, and gave them a cheerful "good morning" as she bounced out of bed and went through a few more full-body stretches and wriggles. She picked up the belt with all the pouches, fastened it round her waist, then turned and bent over the pile of grey cloth her spell had produced overnight. Picking up a short tunic after a short rummage, she was just slipping it on when Sebastian knocked on the cabin door. She laid her ears back for a moment at Aisha's grumpiness: hopefully the jaguar wouldn't wake up like that every morning.

"I shall be ready in just a moment, Sebastian," she called through the door. Turning back to the pile of clothes, she picked up a long-sleeved robe and wriggled into it. It was made of the same lightweight grey fabric as the tunic, with a pattern of interlocked circles picked out in silver thread around the hem. A sash went around her waist next, then a hooded cloak with the same silver trim as the robe went over her shoulders. She removed the brooch from the green dress she'd worn yesterday and pinned the cloak with it. Finally she fished the dagger from beneath her pillow and tucked it into her sash. Everything else, the sandals, the green dress, and the rest of the grey clothes, she quickly folded up and put into the bag. A quick brushing at her exposed fur with the grooming kit would be good enough for the moment, then she dropped the kit into the bag as well. The little stoat wriggled and shrugged once more to settle the cloak more comfortably about her shoulders, picked up the bag and her staff, and stepped out into the corridor.

[Boog]

Richard had spent much of the night in the dining car, getting as drunk as the staff would allow him. For an undead's metabolism, or lack thereof, this meant little. He finally made his way back to the rest of the group's cabins in the morning. The zombie meandered over to the others, raising an eyebrow at Sebastian banging on the door of the girls' room. Prudent, yeah, but I'm surprised he's got the energy to be a jerk.
"So, we already got someplace to stay or are we spending the night at the train station?" He finally asked, leaning against a nearby wall lazily. "We did the pick the place in kind of a rush, I'm hoping we know enough about it to hide out awhile."

[Stygian]

From having leaned in just slightly to listen at the door and the sounds behind it, Stygian made a small backwards jerk when the door shook with Aisha's kick, and then snorted after her words. Snappy, was she? His face dropping into a boorish look, he listened to the sounds as Kerya moved around and then spoke behind the door in a far more pleasant demeanor. Giving both Cog and Keaton a look that could have meant anything, he paused a bit to lower his voice and settle his tone before responding.
   'We are going to have to leave in less than ten if you don't want the conductor to complain, just so you know', he said. Needlessly he straightened his shirt. Then, finally, Aisha and then Kerya emerged. And Richard was soon to follow, coming down the corridor. The bat looked between them, and then at Richard as he posed his question. It did annoy him a little because it was so early, and because it had an almost evident answer. But it was still valid, so he merely sighed and resigned himself to what he hoped was a constructive answer.
   'Well, as you have no doubt seen hitherto we have planned this little excursion far ahead and with the greatest care', he stated, in a not too stingy but pointed tone, and folded his arms neatly across his chest. 'There will be rooms and brunch waiting for us at the Executif Hotel. With fresh baguettes. And little mints on the pillows.' He made a little pinching gesture in the air with one hand as if illustrating said treat. His eyes, in all their polished blackness, held firmly onto that boorish dullness.

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog blinked at the bat, leaning against the wall just outside the hallway corridor. "Really? You work pretty quick. I didn't even see a phone on the tra-"
He paused as the bat indicated the small chocolates that would be present upon the pillows in the hotel. The wolf blinked again behind his glasses, a grin slowly spreading across his face.
"Mints? Well, I guess that clinches it, then." he said, a white fang bared in amusement at the bat. "We better get there quick."

A small chuckle escaped the wolf, the lupine shaking his head slowly.

[Sunblink]

...Keaton:

Keaton let out a relieved sigh in response to Stygian's comment about the group not needing to be on the train much longer. Only a day spent on the blasted vessel and Keaton was already feeling claustrophobic, confined to only those few cabins with very little freedom. "Finally!" Keaton crowed cheerfully, stretching her arms triumphantly in the air.

Unconsciously, she tilted her ear in the direction of Aisha's door in hopes of picking up some of her and Stygian's conversation, if only for her personal entertainment. Judging by her embittered, virulent response to his restless drumming, she didn't have a very good night's sleep. The amount of exhaustion issuing through the door was almost intoxicating, almost as much the irritability. Keaton would have found Aisha's retort comical if it wasn't for the fact she also found it slightly unnerving.

A moment later, the melanistic jaguar emerged from the doorway, clothed in her traditional garb and wholly prepared. Keaton arched an eyebrow at her and muttered a quick "Good morning," but didn't comment on her previous behavior. Shortly after this, Kerya entered the room. Keaton started rifling filing her nails using a long, thin slab of unknown obsidian substance which had most definitely not been there before, her grating movements practiced, but impatient. When Stygian started going on about mints and baguettes at some hotel, however, her attention was firmly grabbed, as indicated by the suddenly quizzical look on her face. For some reason she wasn't sure whether or not the chiropteran was actually being serious.

Oh well. If he was serious, at least she had mints to look forward to.

The final entry into the room was a surprisingly feminine-looking Deirdre. The Gryphon was denuded of her false facial hair and other cosmetics which provided her masculine appearance, that characteristic probably detracting any attention away from her otherwise bedraggled visage. Her sword was sheathed between her wings, kept there by its belt harness. Uncertainly, she looked to everyone, purposefully ignoring Keaton's gaze, and murmured a hesitant, "Good morning," before she walked over to a corner so she could wait.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

'Morning', Stygian replied without really looking at the gryphon in a perfunctory manner. He was still practically rolling his eyes at how his sarcasm had been received. He liked these people somewhat, yet some things just seemed a bit lost on them. Ah, well. Give them time, and they would surely learn.
   'Jann's cliff was a good choice because there's both the land and sea and air route out of here', the bat said seriously, stating facts he had hoped were obvious. 'We might have time to pack some supplies, or... well, I won't complain if someone has connections here that we could use... But we should move on as quickly as we can. We have to buy time. Losing our pursuers here might work for a while.' He crossed his arms over his chest and shifted his stance a bit, studying their packing and thinking about the planning of things while keeping on speaking. 'In short, we should stock up and work out as much as we can before we move on. And I don't care if you bring mints. So long as it gets us a solution, I'll buy you mints myself.'

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel strolled up from the direction of the shower room just as Ignatz was giving his performance regarding the amenities of some hotel. She had arrived too late to know what he was talking about but he went on that they needed to get information and supplies quickly and be on the move again. She could think of a couple things she wanted to pick up. She headed towards the exit.

[Cogidubnus]

Take Mel's cue, Cog pushed himself off the wall and began to follow the snowy feline off the train, still shaking his head at Stygian's words. He rested his hand across the hilt of his sword.
He shook his head, still smiling. "Mints." he said, the emphasis he put on the word somehow almost unnoticeable, and yet conveying depthless levels of meaning. A white fang gleamed in amusement.

[SpottedKitty]

Kerya followed Mel and Cog towards the end of the carriage, cocking an ear quizzically at Sebastian as she walked past him. "Mints...?" she murmured quietly, in a didn't-get-the-joke tone of voice. She shrugged and walked on.

[Stygian]

'Mints', Stygian simply stated in return, as if that would explain everything, and fell in beside Kerya. She was small enough that they could easily walk next to each other in the narrow corridor. Simultaneously, the bat turned his head over his shoulder and called back to both the cabins. 'We're leaving! Meet outside!' He then continued to walk down the corridor, following Mel.
   The moment they opened the car door and stepped down the wrought metal steps, they were greeted with a fresh, just slightly chilly breeze that stirred their hair and fur. The station was smaller than the one in Haszal, and very noticeably lacked that early Gothic and solemn look. Instead, it looked like something from a more modern, yet still artistically aware age. Ornate glass windows and smooth architecture combined with colorful decorations, carefully placed and well-made commercial boards, and elements of mostly brassy gold metal, polished and unpolished. Toward the far side of the station, an enormous cogged wheel turned together with a few smaller ones set beside it, and a huge piston could be seen past it. It was set against a large structure from which ran a number of thick steel cables away behind the station house. The platform they had stopped at was out in the open, just a supported roof with benches beneath it standing to cover the middle of it. And past that... was the bay.
   Now that they had the time to see, to hear the blowing wind and feel it on their skin, they could very easily understand why the city was called Jann's Cliff. Just past the last of the tracks, probably less than a dozen meters, was a sheer drop, beyond which was nothing. And then, hundreds of meters below, came the bay. Huge frigates and cargo ships mixed sails and smoke thatches and slender silhouettes with the wing-like sails of smaller boats, and the racing trails of even smaller motor craft. A slender offshot of the shore and a pier, and some more coastline could be seen when they looked to the right, past more tall cliffs and slopes where birds soared and called, riding on the updraft of the winds. And on the other side of the bay, miles into the south, was the other side of the sound, and a small terraced town called Jann's Edge. But the city, sprawled up and built on the height against the huge cliff, was lost beneath them from their angle. Then again, if they turned to look behind them and up over the train, they could still see more of it above them, almost as much as below. People ran and things moved. Figures even moved on the outside of the houses, over suspended bridges or on the walls. Some even flew, and an airship, long and sporting a series of ducted fans along its blue- and gold-painted form, lifted lazily to the sky. The place was bustling, a leaning city and a marvel of colors and extraordinary sights in comparison to the dull Haszal.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel walked to the edge of the cliff, or rather as far as the platform rails would let her, and enjoyed the view. She had no fear of heights, in other circumstances she might have jumped the barrier and flown a few loops around the bay buzzing the airship just for fun. Peering in the windows at the passengers was always good for a laugh.  Such a pretty, busy city. She'd have to visit again when she had some time.

[Cogidubnus]

A few quick steps down metal stairs and onto the main platform greeted the silver wolf with a chilling, seaborne wind that instantly made the swordsman's hand dart for his hat. The smell of sea-salt in the air, and the cliff's view vista before made Cog pause a moment, taking in a deep breath of the ocean air, before walking slowly to the edge. His coat, driven by the winds, billowed out behind him.

He walked up next to the snow leopard as he gazed out at the city, enjoying the cool breezes blown up from the ocean. The city, built up along the cliffs themselves, seemed so much more colorful than the drab gothic architecture of Haszal - certainly not as restrained or grand as anything like that. It seemed more like a painting drawn on the side of the very cliffs themselves, vibrant and bustling over the sheer rock face. Suspended bridges helped to connect the cliffside buildings, and all around him Cog could see airships traversing through as well. Those who were gifted with flight also navigated the airy city - definitely a place where wings would come in handy.

For a moment, at least, the wolf simply stood in silence and watched all these things, keeping a hand on his hat. He still smiled, bu the edge of amusement seemed to be gone, replaced by something far softer.

[SpottedKitty]

Kerya climbed down from the train and followed Mel and Cog to the railing at the edge of the platform, where she drank in the panoramic view like any rubbernecking tourist. Her cloak fluttered back in the in the stiff breeze off the sea; combined with her unconsciously dramatic pose, with her staff tucked into the crook of her elbow like a sceptre, only the luridly printed shopping bag spoiled the impression she gave of a diminutive conqueror surveying her new domain.

She put the bag down for a moment and shaded her eyes with her hand, looking off into the distance around the curve of the cliff. "Mel," she said to the snow leopard standing nearby, "I see winged people down there, flying about. You had wings, I think, last night as we escaped the club. Could you or Dierdre fly like that?"

[Stygian]

Though it was early in the morning, and Stygian was feeling typically jaded by the circumstances and his own thoughts and experiences, he still couldn't help but enjoy the view. Strolling to the edge of the platform, he gazed over the mostly coppery, slanted roofs of Jann's Cliff. The sun got in his eyes, but he could still see the faintest image of the city, like a photograph where someone had made a slip-up with the chemical treatment afterwards, or a picture where someone had turned up the bloom immensely. With the smoke and steam that drifted thinly through the air in places, and the whiteness in his vision that resembled clouds, it made it look to him as if he were staring at some artist's rendition of Heaven. He chuckled.
   Turning back to see if everyone was out of the train car yet, something that under the circumstances he more or less had to hear instead to know reliably, Stygian caught a piece of Kerya's voice from his side where she was standing with Mel, not thirty paces away. He turned his head, and spoke, more loudly so that they would be able to hear.
   'A good few of us can fly, yes. But it's not really practical if we are all going to move around together, now is it?' he asked, and turned against the stoat, squinting.

[Boog]

Richard stepped, blinking, out into the sunshine. He stared over the quaint town, at it's picturesque natural beauty and imagined he could almost feel the wind in his fur. The water sparkled like only the ocean does, blue-green and marvelous, and above the airship was there almost to say And yes, we're successful too! It was a place where you wouldn't be surprised if it was summer year round, every year.
"'S too bright out. They got a hotel with cable?" the zombie groused, although his heart wasn't in it. This place was lovely. It was almost a shame that the group had shown up there, he gave them maybe a week before they'd taken care of every bar there.

[Stygian]

Richard's comment wasn't really in tune with Stygian's mood at the time. The bat cast a quick glance in the man's direction and flicked one ear against the wind. He'd have to lose the jacket and get a coat and a thinner shirt. He liked the north for a reason, and it wasn't the rain or the lack of beaches and girls in creative bathing dress.
   'O ye of little enthusiasm...' he chided the baboon, and then put his hand up to shield his eyes. 'We should get moving. Let's see if we can find somewhere to settle down and get our things together.' He started walking toward the exit off the platform.

[Cogidubnus]

 Taking the bat's cue, Cog stepped away from the edge of the platform and brushed a bit of hair from his eyes. He turned sideways to follow the bat and stopped, bringing his hands up to his face and muttering - the wind, pleasantly chill as it was, was making it a little difficult for the silver-haired lupine to see. Fiddling with his hair and his hat a bit, he situated himself into a position where he could see, and with his coat blowing out to the side he followed the bat to the exit.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel made sure her long coat was securely fastened around her. She knew she would have to find a different outfit if she didn't want to stand out here in the balmy weather but for the moment she was happy for the outfit enchanted to keep her pleasantly cool.  Turning momentarily to Kerya she answered, "Yes, I can fly if I wish. You will need to ask Deirdre yourself. Having wings is not a guarantee of flight ability." Shen then followed Ignatz off the platform in search of a temporary hideout before Kerya could ask more questions.

[SpottedKitty]

Kerya nodded as she listened to Mel's reply, but she was only half hearing the feline; her attention was still captivated by the panorama of Jann's Cliff spread out before her. And above her as well, as she realised the railway station was not at the top of the cliff. The airship, some distance away across the bustling city, was particularly fascinating. So much so, in fact, the little stoat almost missed seeing the rest of the party heading for the exit. She grabbed her bag and trotted across the platform, her cloak streaming in the wind, to catch up.

[Sunblink]

...Keaton:

Fresh air was not something frequently afforded to Keaton when she was in the train, nor was open space, so she found herself both quite surprised and refreshed to feel the cool breeze whip about her hair as she stepped out of the train. Behind the loitering group, she heard Deirdre follow; her presence indicated by the rustling of iron against iron as she self-consciously adjusted her sword and scabbard. Brushing her hair over her shoulder, Keaton cast her gaze about the train station. Under normal circumstances Keaton hardly ever stopped, while traveling, to appreciate architecture. After spending two hundred years venturing around Furrae, she assumed she had seen everything there was to see.

In spite of her normally lackadaisical tendencies, Keaton couldn't help but admire the bronze-and-steel steampunk visage of the Jann's Cliff train station. If there was a single shred of architectural promise inside of her, it would be thriving off of the potential inspiration garnered from the whimsical mechanisms keeping the train station active. As the air stirred and played with her fur and hair, she felt a strange sense of elation inflate within her chest, perhaps the result of being liberated from within the suffocating confines of the train. Wind and oxygen were taken completely for granted, especially among Cubi who were past the mortal limitation of breathing.

Stygian got right down to business. He said they needed to get going, and walked toward the platform exit. Keaton continued looking around, burying her hands in her pockets, and walked behind him. Oddly enough, in her state of constantly-fluctuating boredom, she felt obligated to follow Stygian around for conversational purposes. "What, no souvenir shopping?" Keaton asked with a purposeful inflection of disappointment. "Come on, I can buy you a snowglobe, Styg."

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

The platform was actually crowded nearer to the station, especially now that their train had just arrived. It would probably become a whole deal more bustling when the people on escape from Haszal came rolling in. Still, it was a world quite used to disasters and Jann's Cliff's population was always shifting, so a break in routine would be something very extraordinary. As Stygian swung one of the heavy glass double-doors open and held it up a bit for the others to enter. He caught Keaton's eyes as he did.
   'I don't think they have snowglobes here, Keats', he said, a little critically. It was good that she was speaking to him since after what had happened, and more so because of how their relationship had been beforehand. Once, she had wanted mostly to bash his head in. That she was talking about something so smallish made him suspicious though. He flicked an ear. 'I don't care much what you stop to buy, so long as it goes quickly. We don't have time to haggle either. That's a warning, by the way', he added with a short glance to the others, walking on. 'It's a trade city, and only some things have a fixed price. They're usually not all too eager to tell the actual market price either.'
   The inside of the station was a polished stone floor in a decorate pattern made from deep blue and creamy yellow plates, lit by the streaming light coming in from the wall of windows that overlooked the bay to their right. The station had four floors, the lowest one being the storage and service area. All the other three were terraced and under the same roof. They were standing on the lowest one right then, before a café called O'Leane's with a mahogany look set against the wall of the building and with tables and blue-cushioned chairs and sofas around it, and a perfect view out over the bay. To their right there were stairs, even escalators of a carefully designed kind, and shops and boutiques of various kinds, selling mostly small travel items or confectionery or liquor. There was no toll booth, no check-in, telltale of the trade rules of the city, just a single security guard making a passing glance over them sitting by a desk next to the entry, and another one patrolling around near the stairs, with a cup of coffee he'd obviously just picked up from the café. A few brassy metal signs and plaques, some in foreign languages, some not, directed them to the location of the 'Customs' and the 'Post Office' and the 'Vertical Tram'.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel quickly scanned the nearby shops. Touristy sorts of shops full of useless items imprinted with the city's name were not where she, or she suspected anyone else, would find supplies. Instead she purchased some fruit juice from a vendor and sipped it as she waited for the others to make up their minds.

[Cogidubnus]

Cog simply smiled at the bat's comments - and not particularly needing anything himself, leaned against a nearby pillar that afforded him a bit of protection from the wind. He was about to go for a bit of a rest, when the wind carried to him something neither salt nor sea-spray - the delicious aroma of freshly made coffee, heady and strong. Mixed in with the rest of the refreshingly light smells of the place, it simply smelled divine.
Cog remembered he hadn't had any before he stepped off the train. As if on cue, a slight headache began to build in the back of his mind.

"Ah, well, if only for just a moment then." he said, pushing himself up and walking towards the mahogany-decorated café built into the lowest terrace, just across from him. His hand went into his jacket, fingering the coins in there, and making sure that he had enough change to cover it he made his way to the small cleared space on the mahogany counter beneath the 'Order Here' sign.

[Aisha deCabre]

As she secured her new vest as the last of things she brought, Aisha had been quite aware when she had heard several times over that the train was going to be emptying...she and Gareeku would more than likely be the last to leave.  She didn't mind staying in the back, and in fact didn't mind if it was alongside him.  Still trying to banish what little was left of her irritation, and once everyone was made sure to be accounted for, the panthress took in a long breath through her nose.

As they emptied, the scent was found to be immediately calming...like the water of the nearby bay, and whatever else lay before them.  Still, as was customary for her upon entering any other place, she had pulled the hood of her cape up to obscure her eyes in shadow.

But even though she was hidden to the rest of the world, the world certainly wasn't hidden to her.  The station itself was a most welcoming example of what they would see upon arrival.  Over the heads of several passengers she observed the vibrant colors and patterns, and found herself basking her view in the brilliance of a new-yet-familiar area; much different from the disaster of Haszal.  From the cool air that passed to the wind as it whistled down over the sheer picturesque drop of the cliff nearby, it was almost as if right now the view was saying, "forget your nightmares."

So she decided to try, stepping forth behind the others and among the crowd until they entered through the glass doors of the inside.  She had caught the bat's warnings about stopping if they needed to, to buy things.  Aisha wasn't worried about that at the moment...she had all the things that was useful to her, such as weapons and a new piece of armor.  The huntress didn't want to spend what coins she had left on more than what was necessary.

Aisha just looked around for a moment in thought, wondering how far ahead things were planned.  For now they had a good place to hide, and even a hotel to stay at, it was heard.  With mints? the panther had chuckled inwardly...that was nothing to complain about after all, even if perhaps they were hiding out.

"A little luxury after a night like that never hurt anyone..." the panther hummed, a small smile tugging the corner of her jaw.

[SpottedKitty]

Kerya's nose twitched as she walked with Sebastian and the others across the station's main hall. The scent she'd caught, among the others drifting about, was unfamiliar, but something about it almost made her mouth water. Besides, she hadn't had breakfast yet. Her curiosity piqued, she watched Cogidubnus walk off to a stall at the side of the hall where the delicious scent seemed to come from. Tossing a quick "I shall be back in a moment" over her shoulder, she trotted after the wolf.

By the time the little stoat returned a couple of minutes later, lapping quickly at a steaming paper cup of coffee, her ears were fully erect, and her whiskers were vibrating so fast they could barely be seen. It was hard to tell now that her cloak wasn't being blown aside by the wind, but every hair on her tail appeared to be sticking straight out.

"Thisstuffisquitenice," she said, her voice noticeably faster and higher-pitched than it had been last night. She raised the cup to her muzzle and lapped up some more as she looked up at the bat. "Oddflavour, butIambeginningtolikeit. IwonderifIcan getitbackhome? NowSebastian, yousaidsomethinglastnight aboutplanningour nextmovesinmoredetail, shallwedothatnow or getsomesuppliesfirst? Itismuchwarmerhere thaninHaszal, isn'tit? Whatprettycolours onthatinsect thatjustflewpast!"

[Stygian]

That Cog was going to go straight for the coffee shop as soon as he saw it was not unexpected. That Kerya would follow was, though not really significant. They were both welcomed, as was their money, and treated to steaming hot and strong Java. Stygian followed along, though he didn't order anything, only stood on the corner as a silent reminder that the rest of them were, or at least should have been waiting to move on. But people had dispersed, it seemed, and so after a couple of minutes it was only the bat who seemed impatient, and soon not even that, as he looked out of the massive windows at the bright and clear bay, and the activity of the harbor. Or, well, at least he tried to look out. For all the light and the polarized reflection through the windows and the way he had to squint, he might as well have been looking at a bleached photography out of the corner of his eye.
   Again, as expected, the wolf did not stop at his first cup of coffee. Nor probably at his second. When Kerya addressed Stygian though, the bat raised an eyebrow, and looked down at her with a bit of incredulity, clearly thinking that she should stop at one cup. Expecting Cog to say something about how a place without coffee must be terribly uncivilized, the bat took the stoat aside a bit, looking almost half his height down at her.
   'You should be careful what you do around here. Unless you've forgotten, you were the one who admitted she would need guidance yesterday, no?' he asked, rhetorically. Even if that were not really how things were, it was the case. 'Why don't you and Mel see if you can find a city map or at least a street guide?' he suggested, and put his hand behind her back, almost ushering her toward the dragon while taking her cup between two fingers. Then he paused, and snapped the free fingers of his other hand behind her back. 'Oh! And some sunglasses. Preferably polarized ones. Please. Just tell me where and I'll pay.'

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel looked at her hyperactive charge as Ignatz passed her along. This ought to be an entertaining expedition into the world of tacky tourist items. "Let us start our scavenger hunt over there. It looks sufficiently touristy to contain city guides." The insides proved it to be exactly that, containing everything a new arrival might have forgotten or could possibly desire for a memento. Racks of tee-shirts and hats and sweatshirts dominated the center while around the edges shelves held every sort of bright novelty a child might want or glittering trinket that might catch a vacation addled adult's eye. Mel spotted a rack of books wedged in at the back. Unsure if Kerya could read the local language she pointed to a cluster of racks on the opposite side. "Why don't you see if there are any sunglasses while I find the maps."

[SpottedKitty]

Kerya's ears, whiskers and tail drooped as Sebastian cleverly manoeuvred things so that he lifted her half-empty cup of "co-fay" right out of her hand. He must want it all for himself, she thought with a brief annoyed snarl. His words of caution buzzed around in her head without really making any connection. She brightened up, though, when Mel led her across the hall to a shop. It was a wonderful shop, even better than the one back in the railway station in Haszal. Mel mentioned something about sunglasses and pointed out a shelf at the other end of the shop. She hurried off to investigate, but there was so much interesting stuff on the way. Colourful things. Shiny things. Colourful shiny things that made noises. It was great!

Standing at the book rack, it took a great effort for Mel to avoid looking over her shoulder. She didn't dare. The snow leopard could follow Kerya around the shop, though, by the progress of the little stoat's shrill squeals, chitters and squeaks of delight. Before too long, though, the shop was quiet again and Mel heard Kerya trotting back towards her. Her shopping bag bulged a bit more.

"Thatwasfun!" she said, "Thisisawonderfulshop, ithaslotsofprettythings! HereIgotsomethingforSebastian, Ihopeitiswhathewanted."

The item Kerya held up was a pair of sunglasses, and they were polarised: so far so good. They also had lenses nearly six inches across, arranged in a star shape, with a hideously garish pink plastic frame.