The Northern Gate [POST HERE FIRST]

"Me? That's not fair, I asked you first."

Roxanne pouted once more, then crunched into her own piece of chocolate. It wasn't often that people asked her where she was from, and she generally preferred it that way. She didn't like talking about her past, or her immediate family in general. She enjoyed talking about her cousins and uncles and aunts, however.

"Well, I was born in Asgeir, and lived there until I was about 7 or so. Then I moved to the family estate, which is sorta near Medan."

She intentionally left out the part about her father leaving and her mother falling ill and dying. That would have to wait for a later date. Waving the chocolate enticingly, she nudged Aegon.

"Now you. Where are you from, Aegon?"

Roxanne nodded, somewhat surprised that Aegon didn't remember where he was from. It seemed as though he didn't want to talk about it, which was just fine. Talking of the past never turned out well. She handed Aegon the piece of chocolate, smiling encouragingly at him.

"That sounds lovely, Aegon. Just being able to see everything in the sea...I think there's some places in Carmela where you can do that."

She took another bite of her own chocolate, savoring the rich flavor and watching Aegon try his own.

"How is it? Do you like it? My uncle makes candy, so he gives chocolate to all of us."

Roxanne nodded, pleased that Aegon was enjoying the chocolate. Like her relatives, she always had loved watching people enjoy her uncle's creations.

"Carmela is more fun with company...and I'm glad you like it! My uncle has a shop in town, if you want to buy any. Also, I've got plenty of chocolate that we can have with lunch."

She smiled, watching him chew his first-ever piece of chocolate. It was so satisfying, giving people chocolate and watching them enjoy it.

"So...what is it you do? I'm a bounty hunter and mercenary."

Jayce looked slightly uncomfortable as he approached the northern gate of Isra. The source of his discomfort wasn't because he was visiting the city. Rather it was because he was wearing plain clothing. A simple white tunic, brown leggings, and black riding boots. The clothing was tight across his muscular physique, but fit well enough. So he wasn't uncomfortable because of the clothes exactly. His issue with it was that it was not armor. It had been a while since he'd been free of plate armor. Still today was to be a date between him and Naenia. The Seraphim Spero had arrived last night and offered to babysit. Telling the two to go into town for the day and have fun. Jayce had been teleported ahead. Naenia the Watcher would apparently catch up after she'd talked to Aechon. So Jayce stood around waiting nervously for her to appear.

Naenia's anxious babbling was slightly better than what Jayce did. Which was to work his jaw soundlessly for a few moment before snapping it shut. Then he clears his throat and cheeks coloring a faint pink he says.

"Well you look very nice in that dress. So uhm, let us get going."

Once she takes his arms he'd walk her into the city, towards the bazaar.

<Exit>

Surging towards the Northern Gate, Haru looked upon the vastness of the Free City that lay behind it. It was as big as Haru had heard! He could already imagine all the things to lay on and lick. Haru did love licking things. Turning his gaze down to the gate itself, he noticed the guards. He knew guards weren’t the friendliest of hoomans, but Haru would still give them the benefit of the doubt. After all, who wouldn’t want to be graced by a visit from Haru!?

Although the guards might have noticed him approaching, they would find Haru landing in front of them only seconds after seeing the creature, such was the speed he moved at. Two amber colored eyes looked at the guards curiously. Haru stood about five foot tall, making his eyes nearly level with the guards. Sniffing at the air, Haru quirked his head to the side as he looked at the guards, his extremely long tail moving back and forth rather lazily.

“Hmm. Interesting. … Alright, so noted. I’ll trust you to monitor the situation and take further action if you think it necessary.”

Then Lady Naoki’s carriage arrives at the Northern Gate, slowing to a halt a short way past the portcullis- which is shut. Stan: Carriage Attendant First Class and Animal Handler Extraordinaire hops down from his seat at the front of the carriage, and begins to putter about the horses, petting them or whatever else it is he does.

Jax: Carriage Attendant First Class & Master of Observation is in his usual place, with his torso protruding from the top of the carriage, spyglass in his hand. Though he can’t quite see the being that he was told of due to how there’s the large stone structure of the gate in the way, that doesn’t stop him from trying.

Naoki herself, for her part, simply opens the rear door of the carriage and seats herself on the ledge. When Takhana had contacted her, Naoki had been wearing an off-white sweater with gray trousers, as he often tends to, and hasn’t changed since then. Here, she intends to wait for Emahra to arrive. Which shouldn’t be long, she figures.

As Haru had come to expect from this type of hooman, they weren’t very interesting. Still, he had graced them with his visit. They would probably speak of it for the rest of the year, for such people didn’t experience much of anything interesting in Haru’s estimation.

Turning his gaze from the guards to the top of the wall, Haru gauged how tall it was. Maybe forty feet or so? This was no problem for Haru. Turning around so his back was facing the guards, the cat-like creature moved several paces away. Without any warning, he turned around and leaped towards the wall, landing directly on top of it. Haru surveyed the ground below, a perfect picture of a cat on its perch.

A gust of wind happened to blow some very bizarre scents into Haru’s nose. It smelled vaguely like a cat, but it wasn’t quite right. What was the cause of this smell!? Head swiveling back and forth, he searched for what was the source of this unusual scent. That’s when he notices the carriage. Although he didn’t yet see anything that explained the smell, it seemed to be coming from the carriage. Legs tensing up for a moment, Haru leaps from the wall, landing behind the carriage and turning around to get a better look at the inhabitants.

That’s when he saw Naoki, sitting there on the back of the carriage. What was that!? It looked like a hooman, it dressed like a hooman, it sat like a hooman, but it didn’t smell like a hooman! Haru was feeling significantly confused by whatever was in front of him. Therefore, he did the only logical thing he could do in such a situation! Roll around on the ground.

Naoki finds herself rather surprised as the creature abruptly lands before her. Hadn’t quite been expecting that. Still, there have been more surprising events she’s witnessed, and she maintains composure, only tensing slightly.

In response to Emahra, Naoki nods once, very deeply, “Mmmmmmhm. That’s one way to put it. Look, it’s got scales on its underside...” She gestures in the general direction of the creature with one hand, where the scales are immediately visible while Haru rolls.

Then, she slides down off the edge of the carriage to stand on the ground next to Emahra. Figuring the creature is cat-like enough to interpret cat body language, she makes a point of extending one ear straight upward, the other upward at a bit of an angle, and holding her tail more or less parallel to the ground, intending to express friendly interest.

“Hello,” she offers, unsure if the creature is of an intelligence enough to understand speech, or even speak itself.