A Bitter Sweet Arrival

[Kuroki]

"Roki, hurry it up already."

As Hirota shouted up the boat's crudely craft ramp, the girl couldn't help but blush at the attention. She scuttled faster to catch up, her head cast downward in case any of the other passengers had heard her brother's cries. When she set foot on the dock, the sister couldn't help but notice how it might have seen better days. The pillars that kept the unstable mass of wood up were encrusted with a thick combination of brine and barnacles; creating a sort of living skin that that gave doubt to the pier's future. Kuroki was thankful of her shyness for once. Large splinters and rusted nails jutting from the wood like pikes would pierce her sandals with ease. Carefully the girl jumped from safe spot to safe spot, though her erratic motions were the subject of ridicule for the other passengers. The red returned to her checks when she heard their muttering.

When Kuroki finally arrived at her brother's side, he had only cold looks to give her. "What took you so long?" he growled.

"I was just -" She stopped mid sentence when Hirota put his forefinger under her chin. Her brother always hated it when she didn't look him in the eye. "I just forgot a few things in our cabin."

"What could you forget? It was no bigger then a closet," he snapped. The girl looked at him speechless for a moment, turning her head towards the pale sky.

"Sorry," she replied humbly.

The man let out a irate sigh, he knew he needed to get rid of tension if he was going to talk to her. "It's fine. Let's just go." One last blunt look was all he gave her before setting off, the girl closely falling at his heels. He squeezed tightly at the bundle of animal fur in his arm, so tight that his knuckles turned a shade of white. Kuroki could tell it was her fault. The ship they came on had been terribly stressful. Relentless waves churned the boat just as hard it did the passenger's stomachs. Such a simple vessel, designed for escaping debtors and criminals, was never meant to sail water for so long.

As she brushed a few stray brown hairs from her forehead, the sister could only hope it wasn't the man that smiled at her that enraged Hirota so. "I shouldn't have looked at him," she though. "I made him think I was interested." She was so enthralled by her own guilt that she didn't see her brother stop in from of her. The small girl almost fell into wet earth beneath her feet.

"Will you be more careful?" scolded Hirota as he turned to catch her. It was simple enough to lift the lithe girl, though how she remained so boorish at such a small stature alluded the man. Before his sister could apologize, he nodded to the building beside them. It was similar to every building near it, but larger. A thatched roof made from carelessly thrown straw, masonry composed of mismatched bricks; it had all the charm of a cozy small town inn. "Glass seems sort in this tone," joked the man as he pointed towards a shattered window, hastily boarded up for incoming storms. "The place looks cheap enough, and we have enough money for a few days room and board." The brother clutched at Kuroki's hand, pulling her forward with him. "I just hope that the crowd's sober enough for us."

The girl was surprised when Hirota pulled open the heavy oak door. The inn had a dining hall set for a feast, with tables lined up in rows atop a dirt floor well worn with footprints. The heavy smell of smoke came from the dying chimney, coughing its lasts breaths as the heat inside it withered to a cinder. Though large and well lit, the place seemed all but empty; a few stray souls sat at the ample tables. Kuroki couldn't help but feel sorry for them, a deep awareness of how lonely they all seemed. Even as she was pulled towards the man working the bar, the sister couldn't take her eyes off them.

[Reiko]

Ok, now I really hate this place. Ki fumed as she looked at her legs, covered in brown mud up past the ankle from the occasional times her feet got sucked in, also here were a few spots on her kimono and face that looked a little dirty as well. All because it was summer and the tundra melted away. Summer was a time for frolicking barefoot and maybe in minimal dress too, that would be fun. But not in cold and muddy Salvar, the place reeked misery.

Doji came to this port town with the walkways being as much mire as road. Though through some careful walking and part dance, Ki was able to get around without getting much more dirty, though it hardly mattered. She probably looked a disgrace when she entered the inn.

“Um hi…” Ki greeted, though not very confident since she was rather self-conscious about being such a mess. Though she needed to get a room and maybe a bath, she had some coin and that hopefully was enough, and some dinner too.

Though there was a rather odd surprise that Ki last expected, a shy human girl wearing a yukata, something no one in Salvar would wear, it was the kind of dress from home. At least there was something nice in this mud hole. That simple fact made Ki’s tails dance with happiness, maybe she wouldn’t be alone here, some company that would understand would make life a bit easier until she could get to a better place.

Ki dusted off her kimono and cleaned her face in a feline manner, having a little bit of cat blood in her made it feel natural, then went to the girl in the yukata. “Hey, I didn’t expect someone from home!” Ki greeted happily, having much of her ire lifting away. “I’m Doji Ki, Ronin and nine tails.” The vixen bowed and smiled as she noticed the man next to the girl.

He had an angry feel to him, he smelled rather irritated with something, though Ki should have realized that he was feeling that way already. Was he a boyfriend or something like that, and how would he react to the fox girl. Well Ki rather wondered about the younger girl, she had a nervous smell and maybe having another girl to share time with would help her out. The man would probably just flirt in hopes of some quick fun since furries were often viewed as sluts.

[Kuroki]

Their table was simple and worn, carvings from past customers its only decoration. Kuroki was glad her brother couldn't read, some of the words in Tradespeak caused her to turn beat red. Some other language the girl had never before seen was scrawled out in strange markings. A pale draft drifted in from the poorly worked window they sat near. The streaming clouds of the sky began to say farewell to a red sun as it drifted into the sea, a breathtaking scene the girl watched with interest. The fields of Raiaera seemed so far away in that moment, a distant dream forgotten with time.

"I don't like it here," growled a shifty-eyed Hirota.

"Why?"

"The owner gave us a discount." The girl gave her brother the most curious look before he continued. "He gave it to us while looking down your robe. You should tighten it, you never know who's watching you here. Or why."

Kuroki felt unnerved at Hirota's statement. On their farm she never had much contact outside the family. Most visitors were met with the cold glare of her brother before traveling further down the road. The thought of men interested in her was new, a strange experience that brought both curiosity and anxiety.

The pair was caught off guard by Ki's intrusion. They hadn't experienced such a warm welcome since they'd left Raiaera. As the girl looked over, her eyes grew wide when she saw the ears and tails of the woman. Hirota had seen furries before, but never on a pleasant basis. Stories of their beast-like nature seemed common among the villages, any superstitious man would take the tales at face value.

Kuroki shyed away, her eyes turned towards the floor. But the girl did manage to throw a cute smile before hiding. Her brother seemed, however, felt differently.

"Home. Not sure what you're talking about," sighed Hirota. "People just don't walk up to say high in a tavern, not unless they're drunk. What do you want?"

[Reiko]

Ki couldn’t help but to be shocked. The male of the pair that she greeted spat venom at the first sign at being open and the girl gave a shy smile and looked at the floor, probably embarrassed and rightfully so. The man was a barbarian with no sense of manners or even the most common of decency, a barbarian among barbarians.

Doji sat and fumed for a moment, even growled slightly as her hand brushed over the Onitachi, the blade seemed to throb with Doji’s heart, quickened with anger. But the vixen samurai kept control and moved her arms to cross over her chest in a sign of disapproval. A lesser samurai would have killed the man by now and at least in this case Ki wasn’t the lesser samurai.

“The girl you’re with had a yukata, a dress that’s unique to my home…” Ki answered with an edge to her voice in hopes to calm down, but only set up the explosion. “I just thought it would be nice to say hi since I didn’t think to run into someone from my birthplace! And you Insult me and degrade me just for trying to be friendly!” Ki finished with a violent flick of her tails, she was still in dangerous territory with her temper.

What wasn’t helping was that this man seemed to not have much respect for his female companion; he was probably her boyfriend or husband but could have been his slave. It was sickening to the fox girl to see someone of the same gender treated as such, but of coarse that was a common thing in Salvar.