75th of Spring - 517 AV
Stupid stones, stupid houses, stupid streets and stupid people. It wasn’t like Aenisa was in a good mood as her feet carried her almost limping down the street, the injury was reminding her of why she was doing this. Although the arrow had missed the bone in her leg it had still hurt like nothing that Aenisa had ever experienced before, a searing pain that grew with each moment, a pulsating spear that someone twisted. She had been humiliated in front of the hidden eyes that had watched her getting beaten up and had watched her as she was almost killed in the street. Aenisa felt no joy for the city, no love had been lost for the people and thoughts of revenge had grown within her mind ever since. When she had been down and out she had seen the foxmasked man, foxface come to her aid and through his help and his help alone she had managed to survive. Aenisa knew that his help was irreplaceable and that he was pretty much the only friend that she had in the city.
Whatever the reason had been for her sudden change in reaction when she had been on her knees, it didn’t matter to Aenisa, she was going to hunt the men that had struck her down so badly. At first, she had wanted to hurt them just as badly as they had but something had been sparked within her own soul, deep within her djed that spoke of her true inner self. There was something out there that had pushed her mind onto the right tracks and she had found herself focused during the time of her stay at the Ionu’s Mercy. Thankfully during that stay, Yuri had taken care of Ignacio who had grown quite a bit since before the incident. The few people that she had in the city, thankfully they had turned out to be alright people, unlike the rest of the city. A glare of despise was directed at a passer-by who caught it, staggered a bit and then carried on, glancing over at Aenisa with a slightly frightened look on their face. That was the way that it was supposed to be, they were supposed to be afraid and avert their eyes, they were animals, all of them, animals.
It wouldn’t take too long for Aenisa to reach the nearby town square and so she would continue her search for the foxmask clad man, the one who she knew to be her friend. For a moment Aenisa wondered how she knew that he was a friend but she told herself that they had been friends for a long time, he was the only friend. Shaking her head as she came out onto the nearby town square, she searched around for the closest tavern or inn, somewhere she might try to find some information on her foxy friend. She wanted to find him, she needed to find him. It wasn’t a big square that the city had organised for the day but it was enough to house a few obnoxiously loud merchants. At least they seemed to be merchants, Aenisa wasn't listening to them as they all stood and shouted out words, seemingly into the thin air. To Aenisa’s ears it didn’t sound like any of them were in direct competition and so she failed to understand what the screaming was all about.
Although the houses were colourful they had somehow lost their colour to Aenisa, the vibrant city was slowly fading and it was not adding to her current mood. There were a few establishments around the square and Aenisa decided that she would try them, see if anyone had seen foxmask. It would no doubt be a fruitless search but the way Aenisa figured, she might as well try to find her friend than walk around aimlessly and hope to stumble into the figures. The first place offered no help to Aenisa and neither did the second, at the third place she got herself threatened and almost thrown out. More stupid people in the city. There was one further place at the small square that she hadn’t visited yet, an old building with a cracked green door guarding its entrance, it seemed hidden away somehow. Aenisa headed for the door.
The feeling of the handle in her hand was ages of use, worn down by the many hands that had ripped at the cracked door. Was this even a place that should be here? That was something that Aenisa was asking herself as she was pulling at the handle. The opening of the door caused something of a draft as the drug-filled air was swept out of the door and exchanged with the air from the world outside. It hit Aenisa like a wall, the smell of the sweet, scented and yet bitter air as it travelled past her and out into the streets, she chose to step inside, into the dark, lightly lit room. The inside was much as she had expected upon having a look inside, it was more colourful though. The colourful pillows that were distributed all over the floor were dotted in small gatherings as people seemingly came and went. The strong scent of bitterness and sweet at the same time was mixed with the smoke, it was almost too much for Aenisa, she had never had to breathe such thick air. Beyond the pillows on the floor there were a few plants as well that seemed to get life from the sole window in the establishment. The place wasn’t too crowded and as her eyes scanned the interior and the people that were enjoying whatever it was that they were doing, she spotted a few frames that seemed familiar. The other places had offered roughly the same number of similar looking body types and Aenisa started her slow and careful approach of each person.
The first few that she sneakily checked out didn’t have any masks on and didn’t seem like they were the foxmask that she was looking for. Upon approaching the third man however, he had a mask on, this could be it. Immediately she took a strong step forwards and placed her hand onto the man’s shoulder, leaning forwards a bit as she looked at him. Horrified. It wasn’t the mask that she had seen before, others had their masks on as well. “I is sorry.” Aenisa mumbled as she removed her hand from the man’s shoulder. “Thought you was some people I know.”
SPACER
