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[Ayosel]

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spring 1 521 av

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Her companions had been looking at her with disgust for a while now, furtive glances thrown over their shoulders and hushed whispers and fleeting eye contact included. Ayosel might think she was walking around in the skin Siku had blessed her with if she wasn't constantly reminded of how constrictive cloth felt around her neck and waist. They had just arrived at the foot of the city-mountains--was that what they were called?--and had been greeted by some of Lhavit's fine fishing men and they were already regarding her as if she were about to take a bite out of someone. She wrinkled her nose, thinking about telling them that she'd have to strangle them first, before letting the uncertainty and dismay float into the back of her mind where it could linger like fat cave lizards on slimy rock walls.

"Up the mountain," said one of the fishing men who'd collected them, one of the ones who'd seemed most put off by her. She couldn't, for the life of her, understand the strange reception but she smiled nonetheless, tightened her cloak around her shoulders against a strange salty breeze and got in line with the others who'd arrived with her, the ones who'd become a little more comfortable with her during the long journey. "Thank you," she responded to one of the fishing men and he frowned at her, nodded, and went back down to supervise his catch.

The hostility that Ayosel was familiar with came in the form of cruel games with constrictor cousins or the fury of Myrian hunting parties. She was a Dhani not familiar with the general distrust of her breed beyond the jungle but it hardly hurt her to receive it, simply perplexed the already bemused mind of someone who'd never seen anything taller than the shallow mountains of her home. There was hardly any space in her to wonder for long over the bitterness her accent inflicted in the people around her and didn't really realize that was the cause of the disgust in the first place. The Dhani must have hurt these people somehow and she was walking into their city ignorant of the reception she may receive.

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[Luminescence]

As Ayosel trekked up the incline towards which she was directed, a strange, glittering shack came into view, made of a crystalline substance that she had never seen before. It glinted in the light, throwing reflections across the ground, and as she took it in, a strange creature came plodding out from behind the shack.

The creature raised its head to look at her, ears half-flattening, pausing in chewing a mouthful of grass. It looked almost like a goat, but not quite; its proportions were all off and it was too large, its fur too long and shaded in multi-hued pinks and purples. Most noticeably, it had huge, twisting horns that appeared to be made of the same crystalline material that the shack it stood by was.

Seeming to deem her a non-threat, the creature snorted and went back to chewing its mouthful of grass, ears relaxing. "What's the matter there, hmm?" A man's voice, weathered and creaking, reached Ayosel's ears, and a moment later an elderly man came shuffling out from behind the shack to follow the beast.

He patted its flank amicably. "Ah, I see. You were just greeting our newest guest," the old man chuckled heartily, still speaking to the goat-like creature before he turned his wizened face to Ayosel, greeting her with a smile full of wrinkles, barely visible behind his white beard, but the crinkles around his squinting eyes were genuine.

"Welcome. You must have traveled a long way to get here, your kind are rare in these parts. My name is Hachia. I guide people up the trail to the city. Well, sometimes," the old man chuckled. "My joints are getting a bit stiff these days to walk all that way. But if you want a ride, you are welcome to one." He motioned to the pastel goat-like creature behind him, which reached its neck out to snuffle at his hand.

"It is rather faster, and no matter how fit you are, definitely saves you some sore legs. But the choice is yours, of course." He smiled at Ayosel again, seeming the first person not put-off by her or otherwise disturbed by her presence. "I can fill you in on a few things you should be aware of on the ride, as well."

If Ayosel accepted the offer for a ride, the man would duck into his shack and come back out with a thick, beautifully embroidered blanket, tossing it over the creature's back where it stood. It snorted, shaking its head, but stood still. With a grunt, Hachia clambered up onto its back, huffing and out of breath by the time he had settled onto its back comfortably, and offered a hand to Ayosel to help her up behind him.

[Ayosel]

The shack was beautiful in an indescribable way; it glittered and refracted into sparkling pools of light in colours that had no name for the dhani, no identity other than scarlet-silver and blue-blue and other such bizarre features. She paused at the sight before looking at the goat-like creature, just as beautifully glimmering at the horns.

Ayosel cocked her head at the animal once it had seemed to deem her a non-threat, similarly loosening her tense stance in fear of having to run were it to charge at her. She approached it carefully; unfamiliar with Kalean wildlife, the closest similarity that Ayosel could draw were the smaller goats sometimes kept by travelers with little curved horns and an interest in headbutting.

The man who rounded on them and greeted Ayosel with a smile was rewarded by one of her own, dazzling bright and genuine. "Oh, please," she said when offered the ride off the back of the animal. The notion of scaling the path was daunting enough when she'd stood at the base of the mountain and realized her limitations as a person accustomed moreso to the bowels of the earth rather than the stony surface. "Ayosel, by the way. Well met, Hachia."

She accepted the hand up and, as gracefully as she could, awkwardly settled in behind him. The position felt uncomfortable; the mass of the goat between her legs, long though they were, was a foreign sensation and her thighs cramped until she shifted in a way that better accommodated it. She also looped an arm around the old man without questioning it, afraid perhaps of falling off of an animal that, while on it, seemed incomprehensibly tall.

People did this for fun? a hysterical thought in Ayosel's mind as the beast began to move. She'd have corrected her posture, her placement, her limbs as advised by Hachia should he have feedback without question and only a teeny tiny bit of hesitation.

"My kind?" She asked then once they were on the way; had he pegged her as dhani or had the word carried so far that one was coming to Lhavit from boat.

[Luminescence]

Hachia let out a small grunt as he helped pull Ayosel up onto the okomo, giving her a moment to settle in. He didn't seem to bat an eye as she clung to him, instead chuckling. "Good idea to hang on tight, especially if you're not used to riding them. They move a bit differently from most other riding animals, and it's a steep path."

With Ayosel settled, he clicked his tongue gently and gave a slight squeeze of his heels to the okomo's sides. "C'mon girl, time to head up." The okomo snorted, flicking its ears, and began a slow, steady plod up the mountainous path. "Use your thighs to hold onto her back, but try not to dig your heels in," he advised, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Ayosel was faring alright.

He smiled at her question, chuckling. "I've been greeting visitors to Lhavit for a long, long time, my dear. I've seen all sorts of people and all sorts of races, some rarer than others. Over time, you learn to pick up on the small details that give certain things away."

As the okomo continued plodding uphill, Hachia continued. "Certain races carry reputations with them, as I'm sure you're well aware, and the city is cautious. When we get to the top, there will be Shinya there, the city guard. They'll ask you why you're here, and they'll likely want to escort you into the city and to get you permission to stay. You may be granted it..." Hachia shrugged slightly. "Or you may not. That depends on you. But you will be given the chance, at least, to earn your approval."

The winding, steep path was quiet and empty for the time being, and distantly, the city gates gleamed in the sunlight. "Ah, but I'm sure there is much you would like to know about the city, if you're here to stay for any length of time. One thing you must know is that these beautiful creatures," Hachia pat the goat-like beast's neck fondly, "Are called okomo. They're deeply sacred here, and somewhat spoiled."

The okomo bleated as if protesting Hachia's words, snorting as the trek continued. Hachia chuckled. "They're allowed to roam as they please in the city. You can ride them if they're in the mood for it, but they're to be treated with respect, and no harm is to come to them. It's a severe punishment if one is found to have mistreated them."

"But please, if you have any questions, do ask. I'll do my best to answer before we reach the top; we have a bit of a ride left, as it is." Hachia settled slightly more comfortably onto the okomo's back, listening intently for anything that Ayosel had to say.