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RESPITE FALLS - EASTERN PATHS - MORNING
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Fiora jogs through the relatively safe eastern wilderness, keeping up her exercise routines whenever possible. As she approaches the eastern gate, she slows herself down, reaching into her backpack for some water and seeking a place to rest. After stretching a moment and letting her breathing cool down, she settles onto a large fallen log.
Narrator: The log creaks a bit as the large giraffe settles onto it before slowly sagging down just a bit. After it finishes settling, there's an audible grunt from the log.
Fiora blinks, swiftly standing back up and entering a fighting pose as she spins to face the log, "Eh? Someone or something in there? Come on out!"
Enver crawls groggily out of the end of the log, half rotted wood splinters stuck to his back where Fiora sat on him. "Ugh.. wasn't bothering nobody..."
Fiora relaxes her stance slightly as the mongoose emerges from the log. "Eh? Figured it was just a wild animal or something. The hell are you doing in a log outside the city?"
Enver gets a look at the imposing Giraffe and keeps his movements to a slow, deliberate pace. He pulls his slender body out of the log and gets to his feet, brushing the bits of wood off of himself. "Sleeping... can't afford a room at the Minnow... don't got a tent, and this log fits me pretty good..." He turns and looks at the now broken top of the log. "Well, it did anyway..."
Fiora raises an eyebrow. "A rotted out log was the best you could do? Guessing you don't know much about survival, eh?" She glances at the clothes. "You're out of Sarn, eh?"
Enver takes off his shirt to shake out the last few bits of wood. "Not that rotted, just old I think... not damp inside anyway..." He blinks at Fiora. "Uh, yeah... why?"
Fiora crosses her arms. "Cause you're a long way from home, aren't you? How'd you end up in the middle of nowhere?"
Enver puts his shirt back on and frowns a bit. "I am, but it's not really your business on the why. No offense meant, ma'am..." He lifts a tuft of long grass behind the log and extracts the pouch with his other few belongings from under it. He then looks over to the gate, squinting to get a look at which guards are manning it.
Fiora follows their eyes, then looks back at the Mongoose. "You don't know what my business is. Maybe it is, and maybe it's not." She shrugs, "Eh, but you're right. No one's paying me to take you back, so do what you want. Sorry I broke your log."
Enver shakes his head. "Sorry... just gotta be careful. No one looking out for me but me. I'm still figuring things out, but I'm going to be OK." He sits down on an unbroken side of the log. "And you didn't know... nothing to be sorry for. I'll find another place to sleep." He reaches into his pouch and pulls out the remains of a smoked fish, gnawing off what little flesh remains before tossing the bones aside. He gives the giraffe another look. "'m Enver..."
Fiora watches Enver curiously, then nods. "Fiora. And that's a hard life lesson to take to heart. Got no family, Enver?" She waves a hand, "I know, I know, none of my business."
Enver shakes his head. "If you really want to know, I can tell you, but it's not pretty..." He looks at Fiora and blinks a bit. "You got anything to drink?"
Fiora offers her canteen, "Water." And I can assure you no matter what you say, I've heard worse. Usually when I've got my boot on their head, though. So, I usually assume they're lying. Most folks will tell all kinds of stories in that situation."
Enver takes the canteen and takes a couple of gulps, but doesn't take more than half of what's in the canteen. He wipes a mouth on a frayed sleeve and offers the canteen back. "Thanks... so... yeah..." He looks up and down his body. "I'm really thin... and flexible and what have you... even for a mongoose..." He goes to continue but shakes his head as he tries to collect his thoughts.
Fiora nods, retaking her canteen and taking a short drink herself. "So what then, part of a thieves ring? Or on the run from one?"
Enver shakes her head. "No... nothing like that." He sighs a bit. "I was a curious kid, so I hung around the generators sometime, then one day they had me fish something out of a pipe for them... ended up doing stuff like that for them sometimes, was all good until a couple of months ago when my dad tells me that he found me an 'apprenticeship' to some pipefitter in Ondonga City, and
Enver I didn't have any say in the matter..." He looks up at Fiora again. "You ever been sold? Doesn't feel good."
Fiora shakes her head, "Haven't, no. I apprenticed with a blacksmith, but that was stuff I was already doing, just in a new city. That's rough, but they still put you up, fed you, I'm assuming? Worth trading for living in a log eating... well, that seemed like pretty good fish, actually."
Enver shakes his head. "Didn't go. Got on a different ship at the last minute, wound up in that Bairnell place and then here. I'd rather live like this than belong to someone somewhere I've never been. My dad just wanted to get rid of me, I think... thought I was lazy... didn't like me doing 'stupid tricks'..."
Fiora nods, "Ahhh, that explains it. Heh. I can respect wanting to live on your own terms. Well, welcome to Aephix, Respite Falls in particular. You're about as far from Sarn or Ondonga as you could ever hope to be."
Enver laughs. "Yeah... Wish I'd decided to change ships BEFORE my bags got loaded, though." He sighs a bit. "Anyway, I do okay for myself, I guess... make enough coins performing in the market to feed myself, at least..."
Fiora chuckles, "From those 'stupid tricks', I'm assuming." She thinks a moment. "I admit, that's a good story, Enver. So, what now? Just gonna scrape by like that, or find a job, or what?"
Enver frowns, not having thought that far ahead. "Dunno. I need some new clothes, I think. Folks don't want to give much money to a dirty juggler..."
Fiora hums. "Well, I'm not much for charity, I'm afraid. And I doubt any of my clothes would fit you anyways," She laughs a moment, "But I figure your story is worth something, eh?"
Enver shrugs. "Not looking for charity either." He sighs a bit. "Not sure what I'm looking for. Honestly I was still worried about someone like you trying to track me down and drag me back onto a boat..."
Fiora shrugs, "You're not the kind of job I take on. I prefer to beat up on folks who deserve it. Couldn't stop another hunter from doing it if they came after you though, we've got codes and such about that kind of thing. Mostly all comes down to how rich your family is, really."
Enver shakes his head. "Nah. Wouldn't have sold me otherwise... I think the guy in Ondonga has at least some money, but he might still be expecting me." He shrugs. "I guess I'm pretty safe." He hugs his knees up against his chest as he looks at the Giraffe. "What would you do in my position?"
Fiora sighs, "Hard to say. I was raised to smith, so blacksmithing was always an option. I tried joining the guard in Westport, but we had... disagreements. Can't really point you to too many folks around town since I'm not from Respite either, but surely someone's looking to hire on an extra pair of hands. Just a matter of putting in the legwork."
Enver nods. "I'll look around more, I guess. I mean, no reason to hide in logs if no one is looking for me, right?"
Fiora nods, "If I hear anything about a bounty for a stowaway mongoose, I'll let you know. Best I can offer, I'm afraid."
Enver stands up and nods. "Yeah, thanks Fiora..." He turns and gives the log one last look before turning toward the gate. "No point in sitting around here, I guess... thanks for the advice."
Fiora smiles. "Eh, you said you can only count on yourself to watch for yourself, and that can certainly be true. But you'll never get anywhere if you don't reach out and give a little bit of trust to others too. If you want, stop by the Minnow and ask for me, and I'll make good on repaying you for the story."
Enver gives a little nod. "I will." He then strides off with a bit more confidence in his step than usual.
Fiora crosses her arms again and watches the kid head off into town. She chuckles to herself, then takes a moment to put her canteen away and stretch before continuing on her run.
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DAMINA'S "HOUSE" - AFTERNOON
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Damina has really, REALLY gotten into this whole cooking thing, so much so that it's gotten to her head. She's thinking about turning the lower floor of her house into a small restaurant, but that's a little too far-fetched even for her. Still that's not gonna stop her from practicing making something delicious.
Erika is walking down the street, having slowly gotten used to the idea that no one's going to attack her despite looking feral. Her talking to anyone questioning has probably helped. She pauses near the house, sniffing a bit. The okapi is not sure what the smell is, but it's at least getting her curiosity perked up as she steps closer towards the smell.
Damina: [It's some form of vegetable soup. Primary contents seem to be... tomatoes?]
Erika sniffs again, starting to feel a pang of hunger. She peeks at the currently-open window, curious.
Damina is busy doing kitchen stuff in the kitchen. She looks very enthusiastic and is... punching cabbage?
Erika blinks at the unorthodox method, then opens her mouth: "Err... hi? Sorry if I'm interrupting."
Damina gets super startled and slips onto the floor, with the cabbage rolling off and landing on her head
Erika eeps! She fidgets at the window, and were she severely unable to climb anything at the moment (much less a small window), she'd be heading over. "Ack! Y-you okay? Sorry!"
Damina: "Ah! yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine... seeing a lotta green, though." She sits up and there's cabbage leaves covering her eyes, which she promptly shakes off.
Erika blinks, then lets out a bit of a snort-giggle at the sight.
Damina gets up eventually, and comes over to the window. "So, uh, you wouldn't happen to be hungry, would you?"
Erika nods a bit: "I uh... yeah, I think I am. Smelled nice, so I came to look!"
Damina: "You can have some! Wait, question, you eat meat, right?"
Erika blinks, then quickly shakes her head: "N-no. I don't."
Damina: "Good, this is entirely veggie-based soup. Come on in, come on." She opens the front door to let Erika in.
Erika walks in, looking about the small house. The okapi certainly looks and feels slightly out of place inside, but she manages to ignore her instincts telling her to get back into the open for the most part.
Damina: [It looks a bit different than what it used to, and Damina's taken to hanging up some greenery inside just to liven it up because otherwise it's ugly.]
Erika turns to the cat: "So um. Hi. I'm Erika. Usually uh more... two legs."
Damina: *blinks. "Oh! I, uh, I heard about something weird happening to you but I never thought it'd be... this!" She takes a more hushed tone. "...are you alright?"
Erika looks aside, then sighs a bit: "Well. No. Yes. No in the sense that... well, this. Yes, in the sense that I'm... f-fine, just... well. This." She sighs again. "It's what my life is now."
Damina 's ears flatten. "Do you know if you can... fix it?"
Erika frowns: "Hopefully. Maybe." She attempts to perk up: "...um. Soup?"
Damina nods. "Yes! Soup! It's hot! Do you like hot?"
Erika blinks, tilting her head as she stands a bit awkwardly in the middle of the room: "Er... I don't know. Kind of haven't had any since..." She sways her head from side to side, frustrated again at the lack of hands to gesture. "Well, this."
Damina shrugs and heads to the kitchen to fix up a bowl, coming over, making extra sure to not slip or spill, and successfully puts it on a table.
Erika looks at the bowl, then stares at it for a bit more as though expecting a hoof-tool spoon or something to manifest - not that she could even bend her legs that well - before giving a mental sigh and starting to lap up the soup. She stops at the heat for a second before managing to steel herself for the odd experience. Soon enough she's happily slopping up the soup, making a bit of a mess as she does because of her long tongue and jaw now exactly suited for this sort of action. "Mm's good" is the verdict, though.
Damina 's got stars in her eyes. "Is there anything that needs to be done to it? I could use any help!"
Erika pauses, hesitating: "Um..." She sticks her tongue out and looks at it, before slipping it back in and looking aside: "I... I actually lost most of my sense of taste on the change..."
Narrator: You can just hear the glass shatter in Damina's soul.
Damina: "...okay!"
Erika winces a bit: "Sorry. I... guess I just said it to make you feel... better... I'm not helping, am I?"
Damina shakes her head but then stops herself. "Well, you can still smell it, right?"
Erika nods: "Yup! It smells good. It's odd but... y-yeah, there you go I guess. Sorry."
Damina: "No no, don't get upset. It's alright! Just kinda unexpected, is all."
Erika nod, pauses, then nods again: "Uh. Yeah. You need to get another taste tester 'til I'm back to myself." She leaves the 'IF I am back to myself' she thinks of unsaid.
Damina: "Still, I appreciate you coming over. It means something that I was able to like. Bring you in with just... the smell?" She mutters under her breath something about the sun. "If you want to finish it, you can go ahead...."
Erika looks at the almost-finished soup, then gives a mental shrug and licks what's left of it, making just that bit more of a mess. She then looks up at Damina: "Thanks, anyway. And, uh... good luck."
Damina nods, clearly not minding the mess. "I'm gonna get better, I just know it. Thanks for coming over!"
Erika lets out a bit of a giggle: "Let's hope you find someone better for the testing." She turns to go, almost slipping her hooves on the floor: "Oop!" She manages to balance herself: "Be seeing you, I guess."
Damina: "Don't slip!" She has a bit of a giggle.
Erika shakes her head, bemused at her own klutziness and somewhat silently concerned at her lack of taste being even worse for hot stuff, heading out.