becgnet

It was a normal day at a totally normal inn, and Leodiya was drinking a completely ordinary beer. See! Nothing interesting here! Or at least, that's what she kept trying to tell herself as she tried not to ogle too long at the gold coin the stranger gave her. They wore an inconspicuous tattered black travel cloak that only barely hid their alabaster fur. Their face, legs, and tail were all wrapped up beneath a similarly dark cloth and stained with a dark-colored dye. But although they tried to keep their head low, a golden horn glimmered within the dark folds of their cloak, and Leodiya instantly knew who she was speaking to, even as she failed to come up with a name. "Will this suffice?" the stranger asked, glancing sideways as a large pink vayron shouldered past. "S-suffice?" Leodiya tried not to choke on her beer. That would be so unbecoming of a lady. "Um, honestly, I don't know if I could accompany you out of Warrenfall, but yeah -- I-I don't mind helping. I could at least

The Yuletide festivities were well under way, and despite her dark moods, Leodiya couldn't help but be drawn into them. The market was lined with numerous brightly decorated booths selling trinkets or offering pastries, and the cold air held the sweet smell of fresh cookies. She paused in front of a booth offering candles and sniffed at each of them, pausing only to offer respectful small talk with the booth's owners. She was debating whether she should buy one when a shout rose up. "Stop! Thief!" "Ow! They tripped me!" Leodiya turned around just as a dark bundle of black and purple fur came rushing past. She accidentally made eye contact with the fluffy blur, whose pale eyes narrowed as they swept out with their long fluffy tail and wrapped the end around her neck like a furry lasso. Their momentum yanked on her neck, making her stumble forward. "Come on, lady! We don't have all day!" Shook, Leodiya mindlessly felt her paws moving after them as the yelling

"Come on, Liufr. Why must you be so serious all of the time?" Machrior complained. The two vayrons could be seen picking their way down a rocky slope, as the sun set rapidly beyond the horizon. The windless air offered a great respite from the cold that normally plagued the mountainsides during this part of the year, but the frozen ground still stung their paw pads. "Well, someone has to be. And this will be the last time I'm trusting you to do any navigating, cousin," Liufr snarled, her claws digging into the earth to keep her balance. And perhaps to release some tension into the unyielding ground instead of slapping her cousin. "Chin up, Liufr. You know, I've heard a story at the taverns--" "Not now, Machrior!" "No, listen! Sometimes the travelers speak of a faerie moth who guides lost reoseans back to safety. I mean, that's probably wishful thinking, haha, faeries aren't real! But what if--" "Ahh… You mean like that thing?" "Huh?" Distracted, Machrior stumbled just then and

Leodiya tugged anxiously on her thick cloak and glanced at the book bags slung over her back. Her cloak was able to keep out most of the chill, but her exposed paws still felt the sting of frost. The sooner she got off the trail and into an inn, the better. Except she should've arrived at a town a long time ago. She stopped and glanced back along the wooded trail. Had she taken a wrong turn after all? If there had finally been some signposts recently set up, she hadn't seen any. But her memory wasn't the greatest… Her imagination ran wild with stories of mischievous faeries leading travelers astray for fun, but she had been alone this whole journey. Plus, fae aren't real. Right? Leodiya started walking again, but it wasn't long before the golden sky darkened to a deep purple twilight. And yet, she didn't see or smell any hints of civilization in the gathering dusk. No lights, no fires, no food -- the air was simply so cold it was almost sweet. She considered getting off the path to

Some things were perhaps better left to others. Like cleaning up this mess, for one. Leodiya wasn't the strongest swimmer by far, but after half a day of helping the volunteers pull floaters around the oil spill, she was soaked up to her chin in dirty seawater. She felt tired and sticky, but the mess dishearteningly didn't seem to be any more contained than before. Nearly everyone else had already left for the day, but she was still here, staring off into the distance. Leodiya sighed at the mess. She dragged herself tiredly from the shiny water and picked up a discarded towel someone left behind, twisting her head around to toss it over her back. As she did, she noticed something bubbling out of the dark, slimy water. Bubbles? No. Those were eyes. Wait a minute. Eyes? The blond vayron whirled around, the towel forgotten. Yes, indeed, there were eyes in the sludge, staring back at her. Bright green in the dim gray world of winter. And they blinked. Leodiya really wasn't sure what