Arrivals Not Set in Stone (Open)

[Kirjava]

Winter 25th 511 AV, The Gaping Maw

This was the first time Kirjava had encountered something made of stone that spoke and for a really long minute she stared at it, yellow eyes guarded as they scoured the unnatractive grey face. She took a few moments to form a response in her tongue and then a few more to create the Common version of it for she didn't think it would understand the squeaks and trills she used for a language.

"I'm here to ... examine," she said slowly, her soprano voice rumbling in the last word abruptly. She cocked her head at the face, expecting some sort of reply and something she could go on, but instead it opened as though it expected her to waltz in unexpecting of sme form of attack. She had a mouth too and experience taught her that things that went into a mouth had the habit of being chewed and swallowed.

Still there was no other way in that she could see and flying over seemed a physical impossibility as the giant slab appeared wherever she landed with a wall spread out on either side. Even as she stepped in, she did so with the intent to keep herself tensed to jump right back out if something fishy happened. The head seemed to sense her discomfort for the mouth didn't close and Kirjava began to see a twinkling light as though from the end of a long tunnel. She hurried there and without warning, without even nearing the flashing light, she stepped into a street that still teemed with life even at such a late hour.

Immediately the Zith recoiled before abruptly relaxing, wariness and instinctive fear rising in her as man and woman alike walked by. Most of what she saw she had never seen before, like pale women with ruby eyes, green men with anger in their faces as they saw her, and people that seemed to be affected by natural ailments that weren't actually that natural at all, such as a man that seemed to have skin cracked like dry earth.

The experience was all very alarming and Kirjava sidled away from most of it as fast as she could, choosing to take to the air when it seemed the green men followed. She landed on a roof several streets down, yet when she looked it appeared as though the men had followed her as easily as if they were flying. It was then that she noticed the streets seemed to actually move as though alive themselves!

Kirjava snarled low in her throat at the realisation that the houses moved in odd patterns, retreating out of sight on the rooftop with the intent to get her bearings, her nose twitching as she tried to capture the scent of something familiar. She began to feel the need to gnaw on something, just to calm herself.

[Laute]

The food here was always changing, always different. Like the ever-changing seasons, each stall would change its menu on an almost daily basis. Or perhaps the prankster of a city would change the menu for it. It was hard to tell sometimes, whether the city actually had a personality or if someone else was pulling the strings.

Either way, the strange rabbit-birds, palm-sized and well-cooked, sitting on the edge of his wooden spit. Rabbit-birds, creatures that couldn't possibly exist outside of this city yet within were sold on a street stall. It smelled like herbs and nutmeg, hints of other spices within the marination that coated the charred skin. Aditi trailed behind him, carefully chewing her own stick, occasionally hissing when she sank her teeth on a particularly hot piece. As they were just cooked, he wasn't surprised to find the meat still steaming.

What surprised him was how used to the slave's presence he had become. The sound of her steps, her breathing patterns, the particular rustle of her cloak, each were imprinted in his mind. Her habits were as familiar as his own and no longer did he forget to take care of her.

Somewhere, he knew, his brother was laughing at him. Why did he leave him with this slave?

That question was one that wouldn't be answered for some time. Nimis hadn't told him, even while he was alive. The last breaths he gave, the ragged cough to the end, nothing explained the whys. Why did Laute have to take care of her? What was her relationship with his brother? He could ask, pry into that mind of hers until she answered each question. He could but something stopped him before the words could form.

(Fear? No, never that.)

Instead, she carried his things and cleaned his weapons and kept guard during the day when he snoozed under the shady trees that lined the streets.

Taking a bite, he rolled the meat over in his mouth, trying to guess the ingredients. The meat was unusual, still, a taste he knew but couldn't remember. The rest could be reproduced if he could just figure out the spices soaked in the cooked food. There was something spicy in there, small drops of heat bursting at the edges of his tongue. Chilis, probably, or some other hot pepper. Not very much, was fine with him.

Another bite--was that peppercorn? He mused over it as they moved. In the skies stars twinkled, reminding him of his destination. Tonight they would spend in the maze--he didn't feel like dealing with another for a room.