The Bridge Gate [Post here first.]

   Waving emphatically as the giant house-carrying turtle trundled off, Efrik stood in front of the open gate to Travére. He turned to look up at the city and the grand palace, perched atop the island hill. It was an awe-inspiring sight for the young man, having grown up in the slums of Bayonné.

   Just a fortnight ago, he had been a beggar, nearly drowned by ruffians on the side of a road. Now he wore new clothes, his hair and face were clean, and he was healthy. He looked at Sione, his savior, protector, and companion. It was all thanks to her that his life had changed so much. There had been some misunderstandings, and some violence since that day at the stone, but she was still there -- still with him.

   "It's huge," he said suddenly, his gaze swinging back to the city across the bridge. "Do you think we can meet the king?" The question was hung in the air of wonder he had created for himself. But his brow furrowed after a moment, betraying a sudden change in his attitude. "Do you think he even knows about the children in Bayonné
that don't have homes? Does he even care?" He was quiet for a time after that, sadness evident in his eyes.

   Brightening markedly at Sione's reassurance, Efrik nodded and smiled. "I hope so!"

   Looking back over the city, a sudden gurgling came from his stomach. It was a sound he had grown accustomed to ignoring in years past, but now he and Sione had no trouble finding food when it was necessary. Although Sione didn't eat, which was still a little weird to him, so the cost of it was fairly small for the frail youth. "Let's go see what kind of food Travére has, Sione!" He grabbed the wraith's hand innocently and took off through the gate towards the city.

On a rather pleasant sort of summer afternoon, where sunlight waxes and wanes with the slow movement of clouds in the wind, Madame Naoki approaches The Bridge Gate. On this afternoon of afternoons, she has chosen to wear one of her trademark white blouse, gray trouser combos, and carries no additional accessories beyond her hip pouch.

In her company are Skarlet , Elizabeth Finch , and the magnificent griffin, St. George. Additionally a handful of Sun Marshals are tactically dispersed around the area, providing discreet security. Leading her group, Madame Naoki stops at the same location where she did the last time she visited Travére: a small rise a little ways off the main road that overlooks the city. Not from a particularly spectacular angle, mind you, but overlooks the city nonetheless.

After spending a moment to appreciate the view and how it has changed since she last saw it, Naoki turns to her companions and extends an arm to gesture to the city behind her.

“The Capital of Gauldin, The City of Travére.”

Knowing that this is their visit time seeing it, Naoki watches closely for their reactions. It’s an impressive city, definitely, but perhaps there’s more to be recognized.

Liz also wore a white blouse, she had a collection of the things from her various officer's uniforms, but had ended up requisitioning some more before the trip, as the one's she had were sweat and...in a couple cases...blood stained. Not so appropriate for wearing while accompanying the High Lady of Isra. This time though, she wore black leather riding pants, in the same cut and style as her brown ones.

"The city is magnificent, Naoki. I only hope that it is better policed than Bayonne."

"Research? I'm... not sure how I feel. I mean, I enjoy my life with you, I wouldn't want to try to reunite with my birth parents. I feel they wouldn't be pleased anyway, finding out that their daughter didn't just die, she became a vampire." Skarlet looks down than back up to her adopted mother, maybe she thought it was a good idea for some reason. "But if you think it's a good idea. I could attempt it. What do you have to do at an Academy?"

Liz does her utmost to keep her eyes away from any inappropriate parts of Naoki's body in front of Skarlet, an effort which brings a flush of red to her cheeks.

"I am not entirely certain what one does at a club. My Riders talk about them in Osra but I never indulged. I am fairly certain that none of the clothes I brought are appropriate for such a venture....but if we remedy that I would love to go."

Turning away from the skyline, Naoki eyes Liz with incredulity. Honestly, she hadn’t expected her to be willing to consider the notion, much less ‘love’ to go. Perhaps there was some level of miscommunication. Or perhaps Liz is capable of maintaining a straighter face than Naoki realizes, and is simply playing along. Regardless, Naoki is quick to dispel the notion, waving her hands about as if to shoo away the thought as one might a fly.

“For goodness’ sake, Liz; I was kidding! They don’t even have any of those here! … At least. I think not. I would assume not, this is the Gauldish Capital for goodness’ sake. I sincerely doubt that the king would stand for such debauchery in his city. If we wanted any of that, we should have done it back in Bayonne.”

Naoki continues the thought to Liz silently, “I’ll check.”

“As for it, though,” continues Naoki brightly, “the term ‘club’ can really refer to all sorts of things. The Midnight Sun and Moonlight Eclipse could both be considered ‘clubs’, the latter more so than the former. It could also refer to strip clubs, or sex clubs, or any other number of other establishments that might not be ideal to refer to by function in polite company.”

After allowing a moment to pass, Naoki continues on, “Anyway. I’ve made us a reservation at The Hotel Auberge, which is essentially a very large and very fancy inn. Pending any changes, we’ll be using that as our base of operations for the duration of our stay here, so I elect that we head there first, drop off our things, and go from there. It’s about time for you to sleep, anyway,” Naoki says, nudging Skarlet. Seeing as how Skarlet is usually more or less nocturnal, managing their schedules to be awake at the same time is a bit troublesome.

The blushing continued as Liz realized her mistake, and at the mention of 'sex clubs'. She had always been under the impression that clubs were for dancing, but now it seemed far more likely her Riders were using a euphemism of sorts.

"That is...ummm....perfectly acceptable Lady Naoki. I wasn't really aware that such things existed. Other than strip clubs of course, I have heard of those, but really? Sex clubs? I have a whole new view of quite a few members of my command now..."