To the south of Corone was a quaint town. Normally, it was a quiet place, with nary a sound but the occasional squeak of a mouse or muttered “good morning”. But today, this town was not quiet.

This was the Dewsbury Harvest Festival, the celebration of a year’s fruitful agriculture. Literally, fruitful; Dewsbury was a settlement built on orchards, on the products of its trees and bees. All around were temporary stands selling honey, apples, pears, and goods baked out of those three things. There were games on every street corner. Decorations of faded green, white, and yellow ornamented the town. There were streamers and banners, but most striking were the glass baubles hung overhead. They were tied to tree branches, looped around street lanterns, and sold expensively on street corners. Local lore held that whispering a secret into one would keep the secret safe until the day the bauble broke.

In the midst of it all was a blindfolded woman, a white-cloaked drakari, and the little brown sparrow that perched on his head.

They walked hand in hand through the crowd, as Aynur had insisted. It was a reasonable request. Neither she nor Varin had any wish to lose each other in the crowd. That was, the Drakari often asserted himself, the main reason for this touching. There wasn’t any other reason for it. Her skin was warm and soft against his scales, as it always was. He was used to it by now.

Traveling with Aynur was a pleasant experience. It had been more than a month since the two had met, and they had begun to get along rather well as they skipped from place to place. He found himself almost -- dare he say -- relaxing around her. Aynur never pressed him for anything, and he was hoping he was doing the same for her.

“It smells good here,” she murmured above the chattering, laughing crowd. “I smell spices, and sweet foods, and… smoke?”

Varin’s snout wrinkled. He smelled it too. “There is a bonfire a few streets down,” the drakari explained. “That, and there is a good deal of cooking going on today.”

A relieved smile lit up Aynur’s soft berry-pink mouth. “I see. Thank you.”

Over time, Varin had become used to acting as a spare pair of eyes for his new friend. Her ability to see the auras of living things seemed to be more of a hassle than it was worth in crowded venues. “It is no issue. Ahh… Where would you like to visit first?”

“Oh, I’m not at all sure,” Aynur said, adjusting the blindfold wrapped snugly around her head. “What is there for us to to do?”

The pair ducked out of the way of an oncoming cart and floundered their way onto an empty bench. Varin took the opportunity to catch his breath. Navigating crowds was not his forte. Among all these throngs of people, he became a clumsy oaf. His tail and wings were often in the way of someone else, causing a stumble that he would have to mumble an apology for before scooting onward.

The way Aynur’s hand always went to her mouth to hide a petite smile seemed to suggest that she found it… cute? No, amusing. That was the word.

“What is there for us to do?” he pondered for her, rubbing a wing against his arm. “Quite a bit. I see some games lining this block. There is one, with a bell rigged to it, that I think is a test of strength? Another has bottles, and I believe one is supposed to knock them over. A game of ring-tossing exists too. There is also a stand filled with those lovely glass-bubble ornaments I described to you earlier. They seem to be for sale, if you want one. It would be nice if we visited one of the food stands as well.” Involuntarily, his forked tongue flicked out to run along the outside of his lips. “I do not know about you, but I would appreciate one of those powdered apple fritters if I have the money for it left.”

Arie bent over to chirp something into his ear.

“Yes,” he confirmed with a snort, “and seedcake for you.”

Aynur’s smile was dreamy. “Ahh…baked fruit, that sounds lovely. I also want to play that strength game with the little bell.” She turned to his general direction. “I quite like the sound of bells, it’s like a song, let’s do that.“

“Good! Then we shal-” Varin began, only to choke on his sentence.

For a moment, there was a gaze among the crowd that struck him as all-too-familiar. Glittering blue eyes winked at him, slitted, from under a deep hood. Something about the set of them was not quite right -- not quite human. He wondered...

“Varin?” Aynur gently shook him by the arm. “Is something amiss?”

Seconds trickled through Varin’s claws as he froze, staring out at the familiar face. Arie was stomping up and down on his head, her unusual way of showing him concern. He rubbed his eyes and peered back into the crowd. The phantasm was gone. “Nothing,” he told his ladyfriend and his bird with a shake of his head. She probably felt his hand quiver. Shaking it off, her stood up, Aynur following after. “I thought I saw… nevermind. Let us visit the strength game and enjoy our day, hrmm?”