Open Summer Days

[Kylina]

5th of Summer, 514 AV

Kylina took a deep breath of Sylirian air. Such sweetness and warmness. In Wind Reach, the air had always held a tinge of cold frostiness. But not here, no, not at all. "I suppose I'll go for a walk. I might meet some new people, see new things. It'll be fun!" She reassured herself, pushing her mother's warnings of big city folk to the back of her young mind. It would be perfectly fine. This was what she wanted, yes? To travel, see the sights, and meet all the people.

With that, she set off down a random street with her horse by her side and her hair whipping across her face. Kylina had enjoyed wandering around Wind Reach, and couldn't see why it'd be different here. She secretly wanted to document her travels or make maps, but she was clueless. Maybe someone with experience could help her. After all, Kylina's dream was to travel all over Mizahar. She had to document it somehow. Getting familiar with Syliras would be a good start.

[Vertigo Greene]

Vertigo looked down at his map, feeling confused and irritable. He could never read maps, had no sense of real direction besides up, down, right, and left. He didn't know why he even sprung the 6 SM for it if he knew he couldn't read the damn thing! Leonis was no help either. When his one and only friend in Syliras tried to see the map, he ripped a huge portion of it off with his strong Isurian arm. "Oops," Leonis said, them both watching the piece of map flutter off in the timid summer breeze. "You idiot," Vertigo mumbled through clenched teeth. It was true what he thought most of the time; Leonis was all brawn and no brain. "C'mon. We'll see if we can get some directions here," said Vertigo. With one hand, he grabbed Leonis's wrist, the other ruffling his hair. People only gave directions to people who looked... good. He'd learned that the hard way. He led Leonis down the next street, and almost immediately collided with a girl walking the opposite way. He fell to the hard cobble, his cranium taking another blow to the stone. He looked up, orange-and-teal eyes watering. And he saw a girl leading a magnificent steed, hair red as a tomato. At least that made up for the thunders in his head.

[Kylina]

Kylina was almost knocked backwards as she collided with someone. She hadn't tried to or anything. She was just lost in her thoughts. Again. Kylina looked down at the boy she'd just run over and blushed. "Sorry about that," she spoke hastily, "I didn't mean to knock you over. I'm Kylina." Her horse stared uncertainly at the strong Isur accompanying him. Kylina patted the mare's mane in comfort. Please stay calm, the Inarta thought to her horse as if she could hear.

Kylina hesitated before offering her hand to the dazed boy. "Erm...do you need some help getting up?" She forced a smile on to her face, trying to conceal her embarrassment over knocking someone over in Syliras. A nice-looking boy that seemed a year or two older than herself, none the less. Not a good start to your stay in Syliras, Kylina. Not a good start at all, she chastened herself.

[Vertigo Greene]

"Yeah, thanks... Kyli-Kylina." Vertigo hid the fact he almost got her name wrong behind a fake cough. The headache was real, though. As he allowed the girl, obviously Inartan, to help him up, cannons bursted in his fragile, tender head. But, he did all he could to hide it. He couldn't help but admit to himself that she was pretty. VERY pretty. He got to his feet, and awkwardly tried to see if he'd gotten dirt on his butt. "Oh, Gnora, I didn't mean to knock you over, Miss Kylina. This here is my friend, Leonis." To Vertigo's dismay, Leonis did nothing to acknowledge Kylina, who was a good head shorter than him. He stood there, arms folded, nose slightly turned up. Oh, for Gnora's sake! Vertigo felt his face flush as bright as Kylina's hair. "S-so, what's your horse's name?" he asked, averting attention from the Isur. The throbbing was, in fact, getting worse. When he got to the Rearing Stallion, he'd have a few kelp-wrapped Jix to numb it.

[Kylina]

5, Summer, 514 AV

"It's fine. My horse? Oh, her name is Russet. She's a bloodbane, but actually pretty sweet." Kylina silently cursed herself for rambling. She stood there awkwardly. She looked at him and realized that she hadn't asked his name yet.

"What's your name? Have you been in Syliras for a while?" The second question was not planned, and Kylina hoped it didn't make her sound like a nosy freak.

[Vertigo Greene]

Vertigo looked from Russet, having been captivated by he glossy mane. It was obvious Kylina took good care of her bane.Kylina was looking at him with eyes, a hazel hue, that captivated him even more than Russet's mane. He wanted, for some strange reason, to touch her smooth face and... and.... Vertigo allowed himself to think the thought that had been bubbling in the back of his mind ever since he saw that tomato red hair. He wanted to kiss her. He began to say his name when Leonis, silent for the better part of 7 minutes, suddenly said, very loudly, "His name is Vertigo, and we're leaving." The Isur grabbed Vertigo by his right arm, surely hard enough to bruise, and started to lead him down the street. Vertigo managed to say "C'mon! We're going to the Rearing Stallion," before he disappeared round the bend.

[Kylina]

Kylina let a small smile rise to her lips as she watched the Isur pull Vertigo down the street. Vertigo had obviously not wanted to leave. "Maybe I will go. It'll be interesting." She spoke quietly to herself. After a second's hesitation, she raced down the road she had seen the duo take. Once or twice, she had to ask directions, but she finally reached the place.

"Well, here goes nothing, I suppose. Russet, stay here. Good girl." The Inarta ruffled the horse's mane before tying Russet's lead to a post. Kylina walked into the building uncertainly, looking for someone with blonde hair and an Isur friend.

[Vertigo Greene]

Kylina had walked in the same moment Vertigo downed 2 Jax with a shot of green alcohol. The alcohol concoction burned beautifully on the way down, and made sensationally good bubbles pop in his stomach. Now Jax. Jax was a mental stimulant, made by Vertigo and Leonis themselves. They were little amethyst pills, and came in a variety of stimulates. Plain ones help you sleep, ones dipped in ordinary corn flower and baking soda made you loopy, ones wrapped in seaweed dulled pain and gave the user a sense of calm, mellowness. Like all narcotics, these effects were tripled when consumed with alcohol. At 1st, Vertigo didn't see her walk in. He was to busy looking, concentrating on a housefly buzzing around Leonis's head. The wings of the fly, the din of the pub, it all seemed to blend in with each other and slow. He didn't realize how many drinks he'd had. Wasn't that the point, though? Wasn't that the reason they left the inn, to go get drunk? Vertigo then saw Kylina, just standing in the doorway. He called, a bit louder than he'd hoped to accomplish, "Hey, Ky! C-come over here!" Then, in an attempt to impress her, Vertigo attempted to say 'Hey, how's your evening?' in Nari. What he'd later be told is that his Nari translated roughly to "Hey, your eagle beef evening is great."

[Kylina]

She spotted them when Vertigo waved her over. He spoke in Nari, and Kylina stifled a giggle. Vertigo was probably trying to ask how her evening was, not say something random about eagles and beef. But she was impressed that he even knew a bit of Nari.

"Is your head any better?" Kylina inquired. She still felt bad about that, seeing as she got the better half of that incident.

[Vertigo Greene]

"Wh-what about my head?" Vertigo looked up from his 5th glass of alcohol. He was very drunk now, drunk enough so that he couldn't feel most of everything now. It was amazing he could still talk."I-I is... fiiinneee." He dragged out the last word, giggling and coughing. He felt something wet on the crotch of his pants. With a heavy head, he looked down. He'd spilled his drink onto himself. For some reason, this was extremely funny. Vertigo was lauging, no, cackling. His chest heaved with choking laughs. "I-I... I peed mehself! Ha!" What he didn't see was his Isurian friend leave and all eyes in the tavern. He started to feel the cannons again, and, before he could stop himself, he blacked out, falling backward off the stool.