Lost in the Crowd [Esfiel/Lucca]

[Harpsdesire]

Dania sighed. She had figured as much. Still, this sort of minor injury was not terribly unexpected, not for someone as heavily beneath the Curse as she was. There was no use being too upset about something so... inevitable. "Alright. That makes sense." The doctor's advice was reasonable, and the last thing she wanted was to make the paw worse when she knew there was more traveling ahead.

"Maybe." The rat shrugged and tried to smile, although her level of confidence in the helpfulness of strangers clearly was not up to the standards of the cheerful Corvie. "Th-thanks again for helping me. I don't know what I'd have done otherwise."

Being hurt and unable to walk in the strange and overwhelming environs of the market was frightening enough-- Dania was glad she didn't have to face it alone. "Sorry I'm so... pathetic, Amia." She tried, and failed, to make it sound like a joke. Another weak smile projected her pain and fear as she watched the busy crowd stream by, heedless of her distress.

[Lucca]

((y'know what, screw it. XD Have an Eldy. <3))



Worn out, but satisfied from her long journey to visit many Realms, the purple and black Torquhelm was making one last pit stop in the Capital before heading back home, to the Court of Hearts. Her remaining ear was tilted back, to show her unease at being in the crowded, brightly lit street, and her whiskers drooped, but she was friendly enough to smile at whoever passed by...well, except the rude individuals who were in such a rush that they didn't care if they bowled someone over on their way.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" she snarled as someone bumped heavily into her side and didn't look back. Whirling angrily to try and get a good look at the offender, Eldryia suddenly paused as she saw a very familiar face...

Blinking in surprise, she made her way out of the crowd and over towards the Rat and...some sort of Corvie mustelid. "Dania?" she queried, though there could be little doubt that this was the friend she'd made in Torquehelm, for all that the shy little Rat was the last person she'd have expected to meet here. Noticing then that she was holding one of her front paws oddly, Eldy gave a cry of distress. "Your paw! What happened? Do you need any help?" She looked from one to the other of the two Cards, purple eyes worried.

[Esfiel]

((Yay! Eldy!))

Aima stopped trying to make eye contact with random civilians for a moment as she turned to Dania in confusion. "Pitiful? But.. it wasn't your fault you were hurt, and it's certainly not pitiful to need hel--" The sudden voice and appearance of the feline caused her to jump.

So much for eye contact, but who cares when someone comes rushing over to help even without that? What an interesting looking feline! She couldn't decide what was more curious: the missing ear or the large metal ball chained to her foot. Aima was quite grateful for a split second that she was from Corvistowne and not Torquehelm. It was already inconvenient enough living with blood, let alone some strange form of handicapping oneself. It only lasted a split second because apparently they were friends and the poor creature looked distressed for her friend.

"Ah, some rude bipedal horse stepped on it. It's not broken, but she still shouldn't be walking on it. Could you help me get her back to the inn she's staying at?" She wasn't exactly sure where Dania was staying, but surely it couldn't be that far!

[Harpsdesire]

"Eldy!" Dania squeaked happily in response. All the misery momentarily left Dania's face as she felt astonished happiness wash over her. "I- well, obviously- I didn't expect to see you here!"

In fact, it would be accurate to say that Dania didn't entirely expect to see Eldy ever again. The fact that the cat remembered her, and seemed to care so much about her situation, did wonders for the rat's mental state, if not her swollen paw. She merely nodded as Amia summed up the injury concisely, and assured her friend, "I'm alright."

"I got a room at The Golden Hen for the week while I'm doing some shopping and such. It only took me about ten minutes to walk here from the inn this morning, with all three feet intact, heh." Her whiskers twitched as she smiled hesitantly. Hopefully the other cards would know of the inn which was above the pub of the same name. It was a smallish, slightly shabby place, decorated in a long-outdated style, but cheap and clean, and the bar below was rarely loud enough to interfere with a traveler's sleep.

Realizing her breach of manners, Dania hurried to introduce the Corvie at her side. "Dania, this is Amia. She's a doctor." She explained, turning to the pine martin as she continued, "I met Eldryia when she was travel through my hometown in Torquehelm." There! That was a pretty good introduction! Dania grinned as she realized that she had accomplished a social interaction with no major pitfalls. Perhaps the city was good for her, after all.

Maybe it was her excitement at Eldy's appearance, but suddenly the scene seemed less overwhelming, and just a bit friendlier. "How have you been, Eldy?" She questioned the feline eagerly, "Still traveling?"

[Lucca]

Eldy's eyes turned finally to take in the Pine Martin. With the strange things she'd seen, she just took the Corvie's odd appearance in stride, especially since she seemed nice enough to help Dania out. Her eyes narrowed at the explanation. "Well geez! What is it today that's got all the rude ones coming out of the woodwork? And I bet that ^!@#$%^& didn't even stop to help, either!" Her whiskers twitched in annoyance, taking in the paw and quickly realizing the problem...the poor Rat was already short one foot! "Of course, I'd be happy to help," the Cat said with a smile, moving to the other side of Dania and offering her body for support.

She nodded at the introductions. "Nice to meet ya, Doctor Aima." Her ears twitched. The Golden Hen...it sounded vaguely familiar, and after a moment, she managed to place it. "Ah, yes, I believe I know where your inn is. Now if you don't mind, we should get back there, perhaps get some ice for that foot." Waiting for Dania to wrap her good paw around her, she could begin slowly walking towards the place. She actually was feeling rather cheery, too, at this point. "Oh, well actually I'm about done. Seen most of the regions I really care to by this point, and it's really about time I checked on things back home." Her ear went back in contemplation. Things were just in a constant state of turmoil in the Palace of Hearts, and she felt so out of the loop it wasn't even funny. To think that Apocalypse was the last contact she had with anyone from the Court. Ha!

[Esfiel]

Eldryia, eh? Aima liked the name, and somehow it seemed fitting. It would probably take knowing the feline longer than a few moments to place it, though. That was alright, there were other things to end to! Like Dania introducing her as a doctor. Oh, how she loved the city.

Well she did until Eldy surprised her with her reaction to what had happened. A laugh started to make its way out, but Aima turned it into a half cough, half laugh sort of sound. It was just so direct and open! "A pleasure to meat you, Eldyria." She meant it, too. Was she allowed to call her Eldy?

Aima didn't know where the Golden Hen was. She never stayed at inns because she actually had a place to stay in the city when she was there, and that was exactly the reason she tried to spend as much time as possible outside of it. Maybe it would be better to start staying at inns. Lucky for her, Eldy knew the way. She took the apples from Dania to carry as to make it easier for the both of them, and was ready to assist them in any further way.

As she followed she listened. When Eldy finished Aima laughed, her curiosity getting the better of her. "And which regions didn't make the list?"

[Harpsdesire]

Dania shrugged in response to the cat's words, smiling a little at her language and Amia's resulting snort-cough-laugh. It didn't seem to her that people were any ruder today than other days, this was just the first time she had been a victim of someone's thoughtlessness. In a way, she was lucky she had gone this long without any misfortune.

She supposed her father had been right when he said that no good would come of her spreading her curse to the capital, but she had insisted on making the trip, yearning to taste freedom and stand in the sun, if only for a few days. If only she had known just how bright that sun would be, and how isolating freedom was.

"Sounds like a nice trip." Eldy's cheerful tone was enough to cut through the rat's dark thoughts, and she gratefully slung a paw over the feline's shoulders. It was surprising how much the comfort of a familiar face could do to make everything so much more bearable. "Thanks." She said again, surrendering the satchel of apples and other assorted food items to Amia.

It was a bit laborious walking with one foot tied behind her, one lame, and one on Eldy's back, so Dania was glad of the chatter to distract her from her discomfort. Soon, she told herself, this will all be over, and I'll be back at home. Things will go back to the way they've always been. The thought was both soothing and surprisingly sad.

[Lucca]

Eldy had either been really lucky in all her time in the Capital, or she avoided crowds like the plague. Or both, actually it was more likely to be both. Maybe the streets were just a ltitle more crowded today than when she was normally out. Oh for wings to fly above all of them! She nearly snorted at the thought. Imagine, her with wings! She'd be far too heavy to fly properly. She wasn't sure her half brother Lior had ever properly managed it.

She wasted no time, of course, in answering Aima's question in her usual blunt way. "Tulgey Wood, for one. Too dangerous. Same with the Bog. And Esterberry, since dealing with a bunch of annoying snobs would not be my idea of fun. Then there's Solandria Glacier, since I had no desire to freeze my tail off whatsoever..." She thought for another moment. "The Lowlands of course, because that place is just nasty. And I skipped Josiggy and Golfram too. Not only are they filled with water, but it's dirty water, as well. Ick! Forest of Khamden, because come on, that place is probably boring. Hisstor Wastes, because...just...no. I have black fur." She nodded decisively after giving this list, and then pointed with her paw ahead. "Hey, there's your Inn, Dania."

[Esfiel]

Aima was amazed as Eldy went on to name almost half the realm there were. She couldn't blame her with wanting to stay away from Tulgey Wood. She wouldn't visit that place if she had someone offering themselves for her experiments. That's how much she hated that place. Hisstor Wastes, well, she was actually rather curious about that place but understood why others avoided it.

The Bog was next to Tulgey Wood, and she may not visit just for that, but she'd heard about how toxic that place was. She'd imagine freezing in Solandria Glacier wasn't pleasant, but that's what mass amounts of layers were for, right? She would have personally liked to see the feline put up with the annoying snobs in Esterberry. While Eldy may not have thought it fun, she was quite sure it would have been hilarious for anyone watching...

Corvistowne was often thought dirty, and she was perfectly used it, so she didn't think she'd have much of a problem with the dirtiness of Lowlands, Josiggy, and Golfram. She had other reasons for not wanting to visit them, though, such as a love of living. As for Forest of Khamden.. yes, she imagined it would be quite boring. Even she wouldn't put that on her list of places to stop at. If she did it would only be for the sake of saying she'd been there and complaining about the experience.

She blinked as Eldy said they were at the Inn and looked up. Sure enough she saw it, and gave Dania a light smile. "Let's get you to your room."

[Harpsdesire]

Dania listened patiently as Eldy spoke of her experiences-- or rather, of the experiences she avoided. The rat was rather surprised as at the number of realms her friend vetoed, since several of them sounded worth a trip to her (especially Esterberry-- all those books!), but she was too busy concentrating on keeping her balance to comment beyond a small sound of approval.

It was a relief when they reached the inn and entered the cheerfully cluttered pub. She chose a seat at a smallish round table, glad to get off her paws for a bit. "Thank you so much.", Dania said, for probably the 20th time that morning. "Can I get you two a snack, or something to drink?"

Although it was clear from the sort of inn she choose to stay in that the Torquehelm was not rich, her job at the bookstore provided more than enough pocket money for an occasional treat, and it seemed only proper to make some sort of gesture to the pair who had taken the time to help her.

Besides, she was hoping she could entice Eldy to stay and talk for a little while without being too obvious about it. She hoped her excitement at seeing someone she considered a friend-- one of her few friends-- was not unbecoming and childish to the more experienced feline's eyes. As for Amia, well, Dania was pretty sure the good-natured pine marten would just be pleased that her help was so much appreciated. Doctors tended to be altruistic like that, or so she thought.