Kiara jumped slightly, startled by the sudden noise. She turned to see Eihmo'tei on the floor and moved to help him, chuckling. "Well, that'll wake you up," she said jovially, kneeling next to him. "You alright though? That's a decent fall, for someone your size..."

Peering closer at his face, she thought he looked- upset. Rather, distressed seemed like a more appropriate word. "Hey, everything okay?" she asked, concerned. She waved a hand impatiently toward the balcony. "Help me out here, Kit, ask him what's up. I think something's wrong..."

She gave a small smile. "I'm fine," she assured him, rising to her feet. Hefting the strap of her quiver higher onto her shoulder she asked, "Shall we go?"

"That's...brave of you," Dusk said slowly, digesting the information. Then she smiled. "And awfully kind." She glanced down at her barely touched breakfast, sighed, and pushed it away. She was too nervous to eat.

Instead, she clasped her hands in her lap again and sat ramrod straight in her chair, her nerves making her jittery, waiting for Avalon to give some signal that they were ready to leave.

Dusk forced a smile in return, telling herself she believed him. "R-right," she said softly, busying herself at playing with her porridge but not actually eating it.

The serving girl shrugged. "If you say so, mister." She touched Dusk's shoulder lightly- she tried not to jump too badly- and added, "Sorry you had to deal with that, honey. Good thing you've got such a capable bodyguard," before sashaying away to her next table.

"So..." Dusk started, thinking that conversation over a meal is what most people did, wasn't it? "Wh-what exactly is it you do? You've said you travel, apparently b-beating up drunks and bandits- why?"

Kiara smiled at Eihmo'tei's choppy Common. "Ok, then," she said, patting his head lightly. Belatedly she realized he might be offended by the gesture and withdrew her hand sharply. "I'll be back soon," she told him, standing and stretching her arms over her head, then moving toward the door. she paused just before she left, glancing back to see her new friend already snoozing away.


She spent longer in the bath than was probably proper, but damn it felt good to just soak for a while. She returned to the room wrapped in a fluffy towel made of some fabric she didn't recognize and carrying her travel-worn clothes. Making sure to shut the door quietly behind her, Kiara craned her neck to see if Eihmo'tei was still sleeping.

He appeared to be, so she dug a fresh change of clothes out of her pack and moved onto the balcony so as not to disturb him. Kit rose from where he'd been sunbathing in the courtyard, stretching like a cat before padding over to pop his head over the rail again. "You seem happy," he commented.

She nodded agreement. "I don't think I've ever appreciated hot water or soap more in my life. I had sand in nooks I didn't even know I had!"

The dragon rumbled a laugh.

Kiara chuckled as she watched Eihmo'tei explore their temporary residence. As he climbed up onto the bed she stepped out onto the balcony, whistling for Kit. The dragon's head peeked over the rail and she went to meet him, noticing that he only had to lift his front legs off the ground a little to reach the second floor. She stroked his muzzle distractedly, looking out over the courtyard and then back into the room.

Eihmo'tei seemed to be quite content, lying on the bed with the covers fluffing up around him. She smiled, patting Kit's forehead. "I think maybe we could use a bit of a rest before we try to find our contact," she mused. The dragon rumbled agreement, dropping back to all fours and pacing to the center of the courtyard to lay down.

Kiara went back into the room, sitting herself on the edge of the bed. "Hey, Eihmo'tie," she touched his shoulder lightly. "I'm going to go use the bath." She mimed washing herself, walking her fingers across her palm to show she was leaving the room. "Why don't you take a nap?" she suggested, pointing to him and then clasping her hands together and pillowing them under her cheek, miming sleep. "Unless you want to wash up, too?" Again she pantomimed washing, then gestured between the two of them to indicate she would show him where to go.

She could have called Kit for translation help, but she thought she'd give teaching Common on her own a whirl first.

Zani and Farim smiled, evidently quite charmed by Eihmo'tei, and jabbered at each other in Essyrni for a few moments. Then Farim gestured for them to continue moving, and Kiara straightened up, following after them.

"Here," the innkeeper said, pushing open the second door they came to. "Your silver buys you dinner and breakfast in the courtyard, and there is a bathhouse on the first floor." Kiara's ears perked up at the word bathhouse. "Welcome to Essyrn." He ushered them into the room and shut the door.

"Well," Kiara said, putting her hands on her hips and looking around. "This is nice." The room was a sparkling clean as the rest of the inn, a plush looking bed draped in a gossamer canopy against one wall (probably to prevent bugs from getting at guests while they slept), another wall almost completely open as it changed into a balcony over the courtyard.

Kiara gave a soft whistle. The inside of the inn was rather lavish, everything cleaned to a sparkle with exotic plants dotting the main room and some sort of fountain against the wall.

"You will be on the second floor, overlooking the courtyard," the innkeeper told her with a toothy grin.

She nodded and smiled politely. "Thank you." He set off up a staircase and she followed, glancing down to make sure Eihmo'tei stayed with her.

"So," the innkeeper's brother said, catching the look. "What exactly is your small companion?"

Kiara chuffed a soft laugh. "That is an excellent question," she muttered, then shrugged. "His name is Eihmo'tei."

The trader paused at the top of the stairs as though suddenly remembering something and turned to face them, nodding respectfully. "Forgive me, my manners have been lax. I am Zani, and this is Farim," he indicated his brother with a wave of his hand.

Kiara nodded in return; kneeling next to Eihmo'tei, she pointed to each brother in turn and repeated their names, then laid a hand on his shoulder and said "Eihmo'tei," before touching her own chest with, "Kiara." Without Kit there, she wasn't sure how much was understood, but she hope the message got across.

Dusk nodded, determined, and clasped her hands in her lap to hide their shaking. "Alright," she said, hoping the forced confidence in her voice would somehow infect the rest of her.

Before she could say anything else, the serving girl bustled over to them with a smile and a toss of her hair. "Morning," she said brightly, sliding bowls of steaming porridge in front of them. "Surprised you're up so early, thought you might be sleeping off last night's excitement." She winked- mostly at Avalon- and Dusk gave it her best effort to disappear into her cloak.

Kiara took the flask back with smile. "You're alright now?" she asked, Kit translating. Listening to the dragon rumble out his strange words, she decided that teaching Eihmo'tei Common would be an interesting undertaking, and a very useful one. But they didn't have the time in that moment, because the two Essyrni men seemed to have decided on appropriate payment.

"Fifteen silvers for the night," the trader said. Either his brother didn't speak Common or he just didn't feel like talking to them.

It was expensive, but Kiara didn't feel like haggling. "Very well. Thank you." She fished some coins out of her purse and passed them over.

The innkeeper smiled. "I will show you to your room," he said with a heavy accent. So he could speak Common after all.

Kiara turned, planting a quick kiss on the tip of Kit's nose. "Be back in a minute," she told him. "Stay out of trouble." He gave a dragon chuckle and nuzzled her cheek. Smiling, she turned to Eihmo'tie and offered her hand, nodding toward the gleaming inn. "Alright, little friend, ready to see the inside?"

She gaped at him. "Kind of" a plan was being generous. Still...he obviously knew how to handle himself, and he seemed confident. Maybe she could trust his judgement.

As for drawing them out... "Well," she mused quietly. "They're most likely to attack an easy target, r-right? I could..." She swallowed uncomfortably, blanching at the mere thought, but forced out, "I could be b-b-b-bait..."

Dusk gulped. "O-ok," she mumbled, following him down the stairs. The serving girl who had been so kind to her the previous night caught her eye as they entered the tap room and threw her a smile. She smiled back shyly and sat at the table that was indicated with a slight tilt of her head.

"Do you have a p-plan?" she asked, looking up at Avalon.

Eihmo'tei said something and the dragon's eyes widened slightly. "Oh," he said, sounding a bit impressed.

"What?" Kiara asked, brow furrowing.

"He wants you to-" Kit started, but was interrupted by two Essyrni men fast approaching.

"Miss, miss." The happy trader again. Kiara rose and greeted him politely, whereupon he introduced his brother, the innkeeper, and held out a small water flask. "For your sick friend," he said.

She smiled and said with real gratitude, "Thank you," before turning to give Eihmo'tei the flask. "Water," she said slowly, miming drinking from it; no time for Kit to translate, she just had to hope he understood. She faced the trader and his brother again. Bowing at the waist she said, "Thank you for your help, sir. How much for a room for the night."

The innkeeper eyed Kit and said something to his brother in Essyrni, who replied in kind. Kiara waited while they bickered back and forth- about prices she assumed- and asked out of the corner of her mouth, "What was he saying before Kit?"

"I believe," the dragon responded, "he wants you to teach him Common."

Dusk gave a small smile in return, though inside she was panicking: ready to face a group of murderous bandits? No way in hell!

But what she said was, "S-sure," slipping out into the hall.

"Jack?" Fiona repeated, starting to worry when she got no response. She forced herself to her feet, biting back a grunt of pain, and looked around. He seemed to have roll some distance away from her and was huddled into a ball. "Oh no," she muttered, hurrying over. "Are you hurt? Did you break something? Damnit, I'm so sorry, I've never actually flown before, I didn't expect-"

She babbled when she was nervous...

Kiara nodded slowly at Kit's halting translation. Exact phrasing was lost, but she understood the message. "Hey, I get it. I'm just glad you're okay," she said with a smile. "I guess you didn't really get out much before, huh?" A thought that had been nagging her ever since they'd met Eihmo'tei. "Say, where are you from exactly anyway? Just- the Moraki? How many of your people are there?"

Kit shot her a look that said she was overloading his translation abilities and- probably- the poor fox-boy's already dazzled senses. She snapped her mouth shut and smiled sheepishly. 

"I- I can't!" Fiona panted. "Oh shi- Tuck and roll!" She hopped she'd gotten the warning out fast enough, because a few short moments later her feet struck the ground- much harder than she would have liked- and her knees buckled, breaking her grip on her companion and sending her rolling across the ground.

She lay on her side, wings sore and aching, the wind knocked solidly out of her, for a long moment. When her breath began to return, she pushed herself up onto her elbows, groaning. "Jack? Jack, you alright?"

"Whoa boy!" Kiara felt Eihmo'tei start to slip in front of her and reached out, just barely managing to grab him around the middle before he fell off the dragon's back. "Hey, hey you alright? Eihmo'tei?" She shook him lightly, but he was unresponsive, though at least breathing.

Kit halted, twisting his head around to see what was going on. He acted sour, but despite himself the dragon had come to care about their little companion, at least a bit. Their guide saw the problem and backtracked, asking, "What is the problem?"

"I think he's fainted," Kiara said, shaking her little friend again, trying to be gentle but panicking a little. She looked up to their guide, eyes wide. "Let's get him out of the sun, and water, I think we need water, maybe?"

The man nodded, setting off at a brisker pace with Kit trotting behind him. Kiara cradled Eihmo'tei in one arm, using her other to steady herself against the dragon's uneven gate. That strange thing happened to time, where it seemed both impossible slow and impossibly fast, but soon enough they approached a whitewashed building that glinted in the sun.

"I will get my brother," the trader told her as the entered the courtyard, then took off. Kiara slid down Kit's flank, sheltering herself and the fox-boy under the shade of his wing.

"C'mon, c'mon," she muttered, sitting cross-legged and propping Eihmo'tei up with one arm. "You okay? Please be okay."

Fiona laughed, bright and high and clear, and with a powerful beat of her wings they were soaring away. The guards' dumbstruck faces would be forever etched into her memory, and the thought made her grin.

Two wing beats and they were over the walls of the castle. One more sent them zipping away to a safer distance. Which was a very good thing because it was at that moment that her body decided to remind her that she'd never actually done this before (not to mention the fact that she was carrying someone else's weight in addition to her own); the underused muscles in her back seized up and they started approaching the ground at an alarmingly fast rate.

"Oh gods," she squeaked, fanning her wings as wide as they would go despite the soreness in an effort to slow down their return to earth. 

"Oh, I'm sure you are." Jynx curled her lip at him. "But I'm good, actually, thanks." As much as she hated to admit it, he had a point. A few moments of embarrassment were better than whatever the authorities might have in store for her.

"I hate you," she informed him coolly, reaching behind her back and letting her last scraps of clothing drop to the floor.

The voice in her head howled with laughter and she could feel her face burn. "Are we good now? You done?"