Can't See the Forest [Blue]

[Lucca]

Sure enough, Eldy didn't notice the shiver. The movement was slight enough and silent enough to escape notice even from the Feline, who had spent her life learning to be observant. Her tail twitched a bit as she turned back towards the Badger. When had she ever met a Badger before? They must be rather rare. Felines, on the other hand, really were a dime a dozen. Not that it ever bothered her. Just as well that Eldy could blend into the background, just another Feline, just another Torque, just another shadow...

"That sounds fine to me." As long as he knew where he was going and they didn't end up getting lost, Eldy was up for more walking. And she trusted Kaleb to not intentionally steer her wrong on this. Though he had managed to escape her notice earlier with his little nap, she knew she could probably track him plenty well should they get separated, even in the deep woods.

She walked along easily, refreshed and interested, and content in their silence. Her ears perked forward at Kaleb's warning, and she was caught between being ashamed she was so easy to read, and being grateful he'd brought it up. "Oh, well, no worries...I just prefer travelling at night," she said by way of explanation for her earlier behavior. But she made sure to narrow her purple eyes and duck her head a bit as they emerged into the field, so as to not get the full brunt of the sun right away.

[Blue]

After stepping out into the sunlight again and letting his eyes adjust, Kaleb could see the sea of green before him and Eldy. A small breeze was playing through the grass, rippling it like waves in the sea. It felt great to get warmed up by the sun, since they had spent so much time in the shade. He turned to Eldy as she adjusted to the light.

"Well, what do you think? I know it's probably not the greatest sight you've ever seen, but it's what Avington has to offer."

The badger smiled sheepishly and ran one of his large paws through his fur. He looked around again and noticed a small patch of blanket flowers, which wasn't surprising since they needed full sun to thrive. Kaleb picked one up and showed it to the Torque feline.

"Here is what's called a blanket flower. Maybe you'd like to keep it in your records? I know I have one in my journal at home, since I like to collect interesting things on my travels around the Realm. Up to you, though."

[Lucca]

Eldy blinked, glancing around as soon as her eyes adjusted. Like any Feline, she enjoyed the warmth of the sun...in moderation, of course, since her black fur meant she got warm a lot faster than some other Cards. "No, it's...it's pretty, Kaleb, thank you," Eldy said softly, reluctant to disturb the quiet feeling of the forest around her and the field open to the blue sky. Not that it was entirely quiet, far from it: insects buzzed, birds sang, and somewhere in the distance she could hear the trickle of a stream.

It was...peaceful in a way most of the other Realms she'd been to had failed to reach. The flowers were not as extravegant as in the Yarrow, but that made them a lot easier on the eyes. She liked Avington, she decided, despite the set back of not really finding a town on her own.

Eldy's ears twitched, realizing a few seconds too late that the Badger had been speaking to her. "Oh...well, that is lovely." She smiled, looking at the little patch of flowers. "Are they native only to Avington?" She reached out a paw toward Kaleb before hesitating. If she took the flower from him directly, then it would be like he gave her a flower, which had connotations the Feline didn't really want to think about. She blushed bright beneath her lucky covering of dark fur.

The paw changed directions and picked its own flower, which she carefully put between the pages of her book. "It would be nice to have a souvenir of this place. It's...very...peaceful here."

[Blue]

Kaleb visibly perked up at Eldy's compliment about Avington. It gave him a sense of pride for his Realm. Not that he could compare his home land to any other, but that didn't matter to him. When he wanted to venture out to other places, he would. But for now, he was content to stay put.

The badger was also glad to see Eldy take it all in. Just being in the presence of nature was breathtaking, even though he'd been around it his whole life. So it was wonderful to see an outsider getting the same feeling.

When Eldy took another flower from the bunch, only then did he realize how one could misconstrue his intentions by offering a flower. He blushed slightly, but regained his composure so he could answer the feline's question.

"I honestly can't tell you if these grow in any other Realm, but I can definitely tell you that they're scattered all throughout Avington. As well as several other types of flora, of course. I'm glad you're able to take something away from your trip here."

While Eldy tucked the flower into her book, Kaleb tried to think of what to do next. Perhaps he could take her into town now? Maybe she could find something there that would be of use on her continuing journey.

"Why don't we head into town now? You can browse the shops there, and maybe you'll even find something that'll be of use to you on the rest of your trip. Does that sounds alright to you?"

[Lucca]

Eldy spared an extra thought for the flower, making sure it was left in an aesthetically pleasing position and hoping that she remembered how to press flowers correctly. It wouldn't do for the little flower to just wilt or lose its color or something instead of staying pretty. Kaleb seemed to love this place, so maybe he'd collected flowers before to press? In fact, surely he had, and would correct her if she...made a mistake. Purple eyes half glanced toward the Badger, and Eldy was relieved to see he wasn't frowning at her ignorance or anything like that.

She nodded. "Well, I've never seen them in any of the others I've traveled through." And that was good enough for her. Maybe they grew in Khamden or something, too, since it was a foresty-type place as well, but really, who cared about THAT boring Realm? Pfft. No thanks.

"Oh...oh, yeah, that sounds good," Eldy said, a bit distractedly (she was still thinking about wildflowers and the reasons she wouldn't bother going to that other Forest), but she turned to smile at Kaleb. She would honestly have been content to just lay in the sun for a little while and enjoy the odd peaceful feeling, but she -had- wanted to find a town, and now was as good a time as any. After all, Kaleb might actually have other things to get to today other than just showing her around his Realm. That thought gave her pause. Why was she so socially retarded as to not really think of these things sooner?

"I'm not...keeping you from anything, am I?" The question was hesitant, Eldy's paws pressing down the grass as she fidgeted.

[Blue]

Kaleb smiled at Eldy when she agreed to head into town with him. "Great! We can always come back and explore some more afterwards, if you'd like more time in the forests."

Just as he was about to turn around to move toward town, Eldy asked him what felt like an important question, especially since she was fidgeting. He mulled it over for a moment, but he couldn't think of anything that he had planned for the day. So really, the Torque wasn't hindering him. Besides, he was the one who offered to be her tour guide. And so far, it had been a pleasing experience.

"You picked a great day to bump into me, I promise. I had nothing planned, and being your tour guide has certainly been better than sleeping the day away in the shade." he said, with a little chuckle. "Let's head into town, shall we?"

Padding along, they eventually came upon a well traveled path that led into town. Following it, they eventually came upon some smaller shops on the outskirts, which turned into larger shops and cafés after another block or so down the road. There were a great many Avington natives out and about, which was different than when Kaleb had left home earlier that morning. It had certainly been much quieter then.

Turning back to the feline, he wondered where she would want to go first. "I know I asked you earlier, but are you hungry now? We can go to this little restaurant down the street that has great lunch and dinner fare. Or are there any shops you've seen that you would like to go into?"

[Lucca]

Eldy's ear and whiskers perked forward at the positive response. She felt relieved that her lack of thought toward the subject hadn't had a negative effect on the polite Club. He was quite the credit to his Suit, wasn't he? But then, she'd actually met very few Clubs before...really she'd only met the ones that were Seth and Heilyn's kids and the odd visiting dignitary from another Court. So all she had to go on was this innate...feeling...that they were inferior. That seemed a little odd to her now that she thought about it. Oh, she still thought Hearts had the better, more useful abilities...but perhaps not all Clubs were just big dumb brutes after all.

"I'm glad to hear it, Kaleb," she said sweetly, smiling at him and preparing to follow. The forest was quite beautiful, but it all started to blur together and look the same after a while, so Eldy took to watching Kaleb's powerful front legs, with large, unweildy looking claws, hitting the ground. She was curious more than anything else.

So it was entirely to her surprise when the thick forest suddenly gave way to reveal a path. She had to pause a moment, staring, wondering if she'd ever have been able to find this place by herself, but already knowing the answer to that. Good thing she'd run into Kaleb, then!

Who was still walking. She jogged a bit to catch up, which was slightly harder with her binding than just walking, but she managed it and looked around curiously as they walked into town. There were a lot more Cards here, but Eldy was more interested in the buildings themselves, some of which seemed to be almost growing out of the forest with how close to the trees they'd been built.

"Ah! Well..." Eldy tilted her head, considering. Actually, after all the walking they'd done... "I suppose I could do with a bite to eat, actually, if you don't mind."

[Blue]

As the Avington badger continued on, he heard Eldy respond positively to his question about food. He stopped to turn towards the feline once more, only then realizing he had probably been walking too quickly for her, with her binding and all. Kaleb immediately felt embarrassed, and began to apologize for it. "Ah! I'm so sorry, Eldy. I forget that you have a binding that hinders you from walking quickly, so please, forgive me. I'll be sure to walk at a slower pace for you. We can definitely take our time wandering around town. Now, follow me, and we'll get something to eat!"

Kaleb decided to walk side by side with the Torque so he could point out certain shops to her as they made their way to a place called The Winding Tree. Kaleb held the door open with his large claws to let Eldy in first, making his way in after her. An Avington bipedal finch seated them rather quickly, since the lunch rush was over, and it was long before dinnertime. Again, being the gentleman that he was, Kaleb made sure Eldy was seated comfortably before he sat in the wooden chair across from her.

Sitting down felt rather good after all the walking they had done. With a relaxed sigh, Kaleb thought he'd strike up conversation again as they looked over their menus. "I'd like to ask you more about your realm once you've chosen an entreé, if you don't mind." Looking around, he could see that there were only a few tables occupied. "It seems to be rather quiet around here. Seems we picked a good time to come!"

[Lucca]

Eldy's ear went back in a flash of annoyance at Kaleb's assumption. She'd been managing the pace just fine, binding or not! Of course, she controlled the reaction, knowing that the Badger was only trying to help. "Actually, Kaleb, after all these years I've learned to compensate for my binding pretty well. It only slows me down if I try to run," she said, a hint of pride in her voice and a smile on her face. Her Mother had taught her well.

Still, she appreciated the effort he made to be beside her instead of in front of her, and she nodded politely, only half listening as he pointed out the sights of the Avington town. Amazing that such a place as this could hide so well...then again, the forests of this Realm were notoriously hard to navigate for outsiders. Even those who had a map and a compass and all those other lovely things that Eldy didn't bother with, even though it may have been wiser by far to do so.

She nodded to Kaleb, appreciating that he was such a gentleman about things. It was a whole new experience for her, since she'd personally known so very few Cards growing up, and none of them men (except Seth, if you could count meeting someone once as knowing them). And most of the powerful men around the Palace were a little...off. Her Father had been chief among them, the craziest of them all...still. She would have liked to meet him, at least once, in person.

And this was where she cut off that depressing line of thought before she got caught up in it again. She sat comfortably on her chair, letting her tail hang down over the edge and her ear perk forward. She laughed, a little, at the polite question. "Ask away," she assured him. "Though, I do have to warn you, I didn't grow up in the Torquehelm and I've only been there once, so I may not have all the answers." She pawed through the menu, glad that it was in Common, despite this city obviously not serving outsiders very often.

[Blue]

The badger took his time looking through the menu. It had been awhile since he'd been to this particular restaurant, and it looked like they had changed the menu a bit. He finally found a pasta dish he liked, and found that Eldy was ready as well. The same Avington finch who seated them came over again to take their order and with a small bow of her head, politely left to fulfill it.

Kaleb was glad Eldy was open to answering his questions, even if she may not actually have an answer. He felt bad about what he'd said earlier about her binding and it hindering her, because even though she didn't come off entirely miffed about it, he could tell she had been. But she was also proud of having a binding too. Why was that? Why have a binding at all?

"So, if you don't mind me asking...why is it the people of Torquehelm have bindings? I only know of the custom, and to be honest, you're the first Torque I've ever met."