[Rearing Stallion] Raise a Glass to Summer's Passing (Open)

[Kaolin]

1st day of Fall AV509, early evening.

Kaolin looked up at the sign of the Rearing Stallion and sighed with satisfaction. A tavern! Just like in all the stories. This was where journeys began and friends were made. Of course, this is also where bar brawls start but even that would be a new experience to savor. More to the point though, Kaolin needed to find a traveling companion among the Large. Even taking the secret ways and scampering on mouse paws for part of the journey it had taken most of the day to reach the lower ring of the stronghold from the Pyve. He would never get anywhere truly interesting at this rate. A traveling companion he must have.

First though, he must figure out how to get inside. The gleaming handle of the door might as well be the moon above his head for he would never reach either of them. The crack between door and jamb was a possibility but a painful and unpleasant one. Fortunately, the answer presented itself as a large pair of boots clopped by him followed by huge swath of brown cloak and the door swung open at the human's pull. Kaolin ran full tilt to keep on the man's heels and smiled as he made it within. The door closed with a bang and Kaolin was within until fate provided him a way out.

Kaolin just stared for a moment at the forest of chair and table legs about him. Strange smells assaulted his nose and his nostrils subconsciously shrank from the sensory overload. Everywhere was clopping feet and booming voices and the clink of metal and glass on wood. Kaolin pressed back to the wall to keep from getting underfoot and slowly made his way around the room to the bar at the far end. At least, Kaolin assumed it was the bar. All the beer was coming from it anyway.

Kaolin looked up where the humans sat and sighed. The thought of scaling the bar wearied him. Besides, he was here to make friends. No time like present. Cupping his hands to his mouth he called up to the nearest patron of the bar. "Excuse me! Down here! I would appreciate a lift to the top if you please!"

(OOC) Feel free to be the person in question or otherwise join in for a pint and conversation.

[Nya Winters]

Nya was in the Rearing Stallion again. She came there often, so often in fact that the people that worked within knew enough to leave her alone to find her own sort of entertainment. Nya's entertainment wasn't the sort of the flesh. It wasn't even the sort involving drink, though she didn't altogether forgo alcohol. Nya's entertainment was mostly people watching. The crowd at the Rearing Stallion mostly ignored her, knowing she was eccentric, different, and someone who had something slightly 'off' about them anyhow. Even the drunks left her alone. One or two had disappeared after harassing her, though no one ever exactly blamed her and she hadn't taken credit herself. Nya was just a stranger that came once every ten or so days, who stayed a stranger because she sat alone in a far corner, away from a hearth that was too uncomfortably warm for her tastes.

She came to experience the crowd - to grow used to it. Nya came to talk to other humans, when her cat side had denied her humanity too long and left the woman inside screaming for company. Nya the cat wanted to gain some semblance of immunity to the noise, the laughter, and above all the riot of smells that multiple humans in one place produced. Nya the woman wanted someone to talk too.

And it wasn't just the humans she came for. There were other sorts that frequented the Tavern. She had seen Kelvics there - she could smell them a mile away - and others. Some smelled hideous, as if their flesh were decaying. Those she avoided. Some of them, the ones called Ethaefals, changed their smells as time progressed and that scared Nya a little. Others, like the Pycons, smelled of pure sweet earth and near enough to her home that she always felt comfortable with them.

When the little one wandered into the Rearing Stallion alone, she watched it carefully, a smile playing across her lips. Male - she decided immediately - and talkative. He wasn't afraid to talk to strangers, or those far larger than him. And she felt instantly lucky the moment he wandered close enough to the bar to demand a lift up. No one paid him much heed, especially the patron he called up too. The human was drunk anyhow, far past noticing something as intriguing as a pycon.

Nya wasn't though. Not in the least. Her curiosity rose, and she grinned cat-like for a moment.

Then Nya did something she would have never anticipated. It was the human Nya that acted - not the cat. Nya rose from her seat in the corner, stalked across the bar, and scooped up the Pycon. Grinning at him, she kidnapped him back to her table with gentle considerate hands. As she retreated with the Pycon, she asked the bartender to bring him something to drink - anything he wanted. Then she sat the Pycon down on her table and reclaimed her seat.

"You do not want to be at the bar at this time of night anyhow. They fight. The two on the end, just there - see them?" She gestured at two men who were indeed starting to look angry at each other. "Stay here. You can drink and speak and be safe with me." She said gently. And then she smiled. "I'm Nya. Do you mind sitting with me for a while?" The kelvic said, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt the pycon had stories... multiple stories. And maybe if she offered one of her own, he'd trade her for one of his.

[Kaolin]

"I am no expert in these things madam," Kaolin sputtered, "but I believe the proper time to ask that question is before you scoop me up like a trout out of a stream." In the stories, frustrated people often straightened out their ruffled clothes and so Kaolin went through the motions. As his clothes were chiseled in place however, the effect was rather ruined. "Besides, I've never seen a barroom brawl up close. I might love them for all you know. Or all I know for that matter and that is very point I came in here. To find out." Kaolin shook his finger up at her. "So yes, I will talk to you. I might find out I like that too." He smiled up and sat cross legged on the table. "I have chosen the name Kaolin for my journey. I do not know if it is a good name, but the sound of it is pleasing to my ears."

"No need to get a whole drink for me though. I doubt they have Pycon sized cups here." Kaolin shifted his bag off his shoulder and fished around in it until he found a earthenware tumbler the size of his palm. "A little of what you are having will be fine if you would be so kind, Nya." He held up the cup for her to take. "Perhaps you will tell me why you of all here took an interest in a Pycon's plight?"

[Nya Winters]

If Nya had been in her cat form, she'd have flattened her ears and looked properly chastised by the Pycon's words. Humans had no such interesting range of body language though, so she instead blinked and dipped her head low so it was on Kaolin's level. "You are probably right. But I thought it was more of a rescue mission than fishing. I like fish though, and have not ever apologized for scooping them up out of the stream before eating them. Maybe it is because they are food and not company. So I apologize for my actions. I had hoped you would be company." As if to back her words, the man on the end pounded his ale and called out something at the bartender with a loud voice.

Nya shook her head. "Sometimes the people in here are angry. Sometimes they are wildly excited. Sometimes they are so quiet I am not sure what is wrong with them. Always they drink." She said, raising her hand and tossing a small coin at the bartender who wandered over with a drink anyhow. She poured a bit of the ale into Kaolin's tumbler and rested the mug back down on the table. Nya leaned forward and made quick work of the foam with her tongue, smiling slightly.

"I like Pycons. Your type talk and talk and talk and sometimes have the best stories. I came into town today because I was feeling alone and wanted someone to talk too. When you came in, I thought perhaps you might be someone interesting with a good story or two. I am willing to share one of my own with you." She offered, in exchange. "But if you want back down, I will give you a hand. I do not blame you if you want to go to the bar instead, especially if you are angry or sad, though you do not look either. I can never quite tell with your kind." She said. "If you will stay, will you tell me your name?" She asked hopefully.