Stormy Weather Outside, Cold Greetings Inside

[KyrenFox]

As Kyren stood out in the rain, watching the crashing waves attack the boats that were rocking where they were tied, he wondered once again why he had decided to take a trip out to this harsh bit of land. The smell of salt in the air, his clothes soaked with water so that they weighed twice as much as when dry, and no sign of clear skies on the horizon.

It was getting late in the day, pretty sure it was late in the day at least, hard to tell when the sun was hidden by all the storm clouds. He had arrived on the island a few hours ago, travelling with a merchant vessel, paying his way by assisting in the care of some horses they were bringing to sell to the natives. A herd of horses trapped in a tiny confined space, that hadn’t been his most fun job so far. Oh well, he’d had worse...but with the smell on that ship it had been close.

Kyren sighed and decided to blame the rain for his sour mood. There were several good things about this land, one of which being he doubted his old master would ever find him out here. Heck, even if he learned Kyren had come to the island he doubted the man would come out here to bring him back. That thought was enough to put a smile back on his face. Turning around he walked away from the docks and headed back towards the stores nearby. It was more like a mixture of walking and jogging as the wind occasionally shoved him to move faster.

Where to go? Anywhere would work until this storm blew over, though he wasn’t sure a shop owner would care for him to walk in with no intention of buying anything but to simply hang out until the storm ended. Well, the ship voyage had earned him a bit of coin so maybe he’d actually buy himself a meal. Kyren noticed as he walked, that those that lived in the city seemed rather unconcerned about the weather, treating the strong winds, and pounding rain as if it was nothing more than a gentle drizzle. Well, at least that’s the impression he got from watching them.

The Drakelings were a race he had never seen before he had arrived here, and they fascinated him in a way he couldn’t begin to describe. It was obvious they didn’t think too much of him and it made him rather hesitant to try and make friends. Some of these people looked similar to him, at least more similar to him than humans. These guys were like what he should be probably...if the dragon blood in him had only shown itself more.

With a blast of lightning sounding from what seemed all to close so that he felt the ground shake beneath his feet Kyren reached a stone building that appeared to be a mixture of some sort of restaurant, bar, and hotel. That was his guess anyway, the sign up top was wrote in Dheath but the smells coming from inside was proof enough they had food. As Kyren stepped inside he knew that regardless of price he would be staying for a while, it felt so nice to not be hit by the rain and waves, and he hadn’t even realized until now how loud the wind had been, drowning out all other sounds that were suddenly once more audible.

The walls, floor, and ceiling were all made of what appeared to be solid stone. Wooden circular tables were spread out across the room, with about half of them filled with drakelings, and a few fae sitting at two of the front tables. A wooden bar off to the right side allowed a few other drakelings to sit at it, with two more standing behind it, apparently taking orders. To the back left wall was a set of stone stairs with a handrail that led up to a second floor, probably the hotel part Kyren was still assuming this place also kept up.

It seemed right now that no humans were in here, at least not in the downstairs section. That was fine; at least as long as these drakelings spoke tradespeach it was fine. Moving up to the drakeling at the bar he offered him his best polite smile and a nod. “Hello sir. Like a bit of food and some water please.”

The drakeling was of the scale caste, and so resembled a human in all ways except for the onyx black scales that covered about half his body, including his upper arms and neck. Still, his head was made of flesh and showed a number of scars that Kyren imagined came from claws of some of the other drakelings he had seen. The lizard-man was almost six foot tall and was running his eyes up and down Kyren in a rather critical fashion before he offered a sneer showing a few of his sharp pointy teeth. “A bit of food? What type of food do you want?” The drakeling didn’t seem to feel it was necessary to show his best skills of customer service on someone who wasn’t his own kind. He was probably trying to decide what exactly Kyren was. Looked human for the most part, except for his eyes with the gold irises and the clear nictitating membrane that was twitching across his vision to try and get the last of the water from dripping into his eyes. Overly skinny and young probably wasn’t very promising in the guy’s mind when it came to having money either.

Normally Kyren would go for the cheapest thing on the menu and think that a first class meal but he had actually just earned some money today, which was a rare thing indeed. Besides, he might find he shared a common interest in food with these creatures, might as well give it a chance. “I’d like whatever you feel is the best tasting item that you sell.” He was being a big spender today! The thought had a grin form on his face and seemed to help him forget about the wet clothes that had been upsetting him a few minutes ago.

The man stared at him for a handful of seconds then with a nod and soft grunt sound turned around and spoke to another similar looking drakeling in a language that Kyren couldn’t begin to follow. It was more than just telling him what to prepare, they talked too long for it to just be that, but after a couple of seconds the other drakeling walked into a small room that Kyren hadn’t noticed before. From the steam that came from in the room as the door swung open and closed he was guessing it to be a kitchen.

With the order placed, Kyren turned his eyes about the room looking at the others in it. Trying to listen to a few of the conversations, working to make the ones he couldn’t understand background and focus in on those speaking in tradespeach so that he could understand. More than one face he saw glance his way and then off, most of those then commenced talking in Dheath, and he imagined it was quite possibly about him. Of course, he could be paranoid. As the front door opened and another drakeling entered he could hear the ran continue to pour outside, and then it was once more silenced as the door shut.

[Zack Blaze]

Zack Blaze smiled as he tossed his sack full of coins up and down. How long had it been since he had a job that didn’t consist of constantly fighting? The teen could hardly remember. Sure, Misery Business was a very cryptic organization, often only giving the boy information on a need-to-know basis, but at least the money was good in it. The worst part of Zack’s new career choice was in the fact that he had to come all the way out to Dheathian in order to collect his payments. It was for this reason that Zack always waited several weeks before collecting his money. Now, he was practically rich.

“I don’t understand why you humans even need money,” the rough, deep voice rumbled from behind him. The source of the ponderings came in the form of the Makai, an ogre that Zack had acquired in one of his adventures into Underwood. After locating a book that would control the giant, Zack typically kept the beast hidden from eyes. After all, a panic would normally break out at the sight of Makai’s blackened skin, and eight foot body. His arms, large as smaller tree trunks, also contributed to drawing too much attention to the boy.

However, in Dheathian, beneath the cover of rain and the crowd of Drakes, Makai could casually stroll with his ‘Master’. It was the only reason Zack brought the ogre along for his payment pick ups. The youth shifted his eyes behind him, his peripheral vision barely making out Makai’s form in the downpour. “That’s why you’re the muscle, and I’m the brains of our little alliance. There’s a lot about Althanas that you wouldn’t understand unless it involved beating it to a pulp.”

A chuckle that sounded more like a dog’s growl. “I’m very good at that.”

“My point exactly,” Zack said, his form stopping ahead at the sound of voices seemingly having a good time. Amidst all the darkness of the storm, the teen could easily make out the well lit windows of a tavern, though he could not easily identify the name (both the storm and the fact that it was written in Draconian made such things difficult). “We can stop here for a little while, until the weather clears up.

“Thank Thaynes,” Makai said, watching as Zack entered the bar before finally using his chubby fingers to close the umbrella he had been ordered to hold over the street fighter the entire time. Zack Blaze had spared the ogres life in Underwood, but the fact that the youth could control the beast via the tome at his side was starting to become a bit of an annoyance. The ogre sighed as he shook what rain he could off of his form, and followed his ‘master’ into the building.

As they entered, they were greeted with awkward stares. Ogres weren’t anything amazing to the drakes, but one that stood by the side of a human was at least a little interesting to say the least. Zack slowly made his way to the bar, acting as if the staring eyes were directed moreso at him than his mystically bound servant. He sat at one of the bar stools, Makai close behind him. He could smell something fresh being cooked just beyond into the kitchen, and it made the boy’s stomach growl ever so slightly.

“Barkeep,” Zack said, his eyes darting towards the door as a Drake’s head peeked out from the kitchen, “since you’re in there, I’ll have some Dheathian Vodka, a small plate of beef, and whatever the largest entrée you have for my friend here,” Zack pointed behind him towards Makai’s large form. “Thank you!”

The barkeep grumbled as he ducked his head back into the kitchen, Zack setting his large pouch of coins upon the counter. “If the night ends well, Makai,” Zack spoke with a certain regal air to his words, though his blood belonged to no royal family, “Drinks will be on us.”