[Fin] Chasing the Dragon [Kari]

[Vyn]

Imre smiled at Xiven's well wishes, thanking her once again before he made his way out of the coffee shop. He immediately took to wing once outside, darting through the air toward Vren's tower like a homing pigeon. He knew the way inside-out and backwards, and even with the obstruction of his mask he could find his way there.

The trouble wouldn't be getting home, it'd be explaining it all of this to Vren and Parzi. Oi!


Poe, oblivious to the struggle her brother would be having, sat happily and sipped at her drink with Xiven. Everything was pleasantly fuzzy still and Poe was enjoying herself. She hadn't had a day this good in a long time.

Nor had Imre ever allowed her to stay high for this long either.

"Alright," she chirped. Leaving was a good thing, too, because just as she downed the rest of her drink another poet found themselves climbing onto the stage to talk about life's miseries. She blinked and smiled. "I think I can go now, miss Xiven."

[Kiki]

Kari and Vyn receive 1 token each, to be redeemed in Ashwin's Shoppe. This will automatically be added to your recorded totals in the shoppe. Congratulations, and keep up the good RP!

[Kari Muffin]

Xiven was thankful for Poe's words. If she had to hear another sod bitch about how their life sucked she was going to punch them in the face so hard they wouldn't be able to breath through a straw. The feline rose. "Then we'll be off."

She paid the tab and made her way out the door. The inn wasn't that far away and her precious Fluffy was waiting. Xiven watched as Poe walked. It was a horrible thing to watch--with every movement the feline expected the bird to fall over and squirt blood. The quicker these bindings were off the better.

The inn was the same one her mother had frequented on her once a year trips. The Queen still had no idea why her mother visited once a year around the time of her birthday, but she found that asking questions was a dumb thing to do when her mother was concerned. The female innkeeper looked up, her eyes lighting up as Xiven walked in. Apparently being related to Peaches was sometimes a good thing.

"Is it all right if I have another guest with me tonight?" She asked the woman.

"Of course!" The lynx said clapping her hands together. "Make yourselves comfortable. I'll take some cider up to your room as well as an extra cot."

Xiven nodded before making her way to the stairs. No point in lingering.

[Vyn]

Poe shuffled her way along, steps slow and awkward but the finch had obviously found a rhythm to her movements. Or, at very least, she was so intoxicated that she simply could tell that her longer strides hurt.

When they arrived at the Inn, Poe watched the lynx at the desk with a hint of curiosity before flashing a half-there smile and following after Xiven once more. She was becoming rather sleepy, the opium and the walk combining to make her more than a little exhausted. The stairs would very much do the job to tucker her the rest of the way out.

Without bothering to hop up the long flight, she activated her levitating ability and lifted herself into the air. Once to the top of the stairs, or to the flight that Xiven stopped on, Poe lowered herself back to the floor with a little noise of discomfort. Landing was always the worse, though the usual ache was dull right now.

She would be sore come morning though...

[Kari Muffin]

Xiven wondered if she would have to keep the poor girl drugged the entire time. Taking her to the courts was the shortest route, but taking her to a different Corvie might be better. After all, the court doctor couldn't do everything.

The feline decided that in the morning she would figure something out. Hadn't her mother mentioned something about a decent doctor in Capital City? She shrugged it off again, offering the bird the cot that came up shortly after them. It was low to the ground thankfully, and looked rather plush for a cot.

After bathing Fluffy with attention Xiven went to bed. It would be a long road ahead of them. And the morning was going to be... interesting to say the least.

---

The sun rose and Xiven made no move to get out of bed. She simply pulled the covers over her head protesting the concept of morning. There was no real sun here, so it was really just her body telling her it was six am and she should get ready for court matters.

.... wait. The girl.

Xiven bolt upright, looking around for Poe. They probably should get going before she uh... backed out of getting her horrible bindings taken off.

[Vyn]

After some mumured thanks, Poe managed to climb up into her little cot and fall quickly to sleep. The opium stressed her lungs, making her breathing shallow and only amplifying the desire for sleep, for oblivion.

Her dreams were wild and vivid that night, full of abstract chaos and talking Cats. Her dreams, which were usually black and white, were suddenly filled with color and she found herself cast in arrays of gold.

When sunlight at last invaded the room, pressing against her eyelids and filtering through into her dreams, Poe awoke but did not open her eyes for a long time. Hungover from her opium binge the night before, the disoriented finch did not want to move yet and risk a deadly chance of tripping. Something, however, was terribly wrong.

The usual sounds and sensations of the tower were gone. Where was Imre and Parzi? The warmth of their company beside her, or the sounds of them rousing for chores... Where was Vren, trudging about with those heavy footfalls? Slowly her purple eyes fluttered open and...

...and nothing was right.

She was in a strange place and with no knowledge of how she'd arrived or whome she'd arrived with. The finch managed to keep from bolting upright, long trained in how to avoid her terrible bindings, and looked slowly around the room as she began to quake desperately.

"H-Hello???"

[Kari Muffin]

"Hello," Xiven said in the clearest tone she could muster first thing in the morning. Now what? The girl would probably back out of the promise now that she wasn't high and off her head. But...those bindings were absolutely awful. Xiven couldn't let her go like that.

"I'll go and get you some morning tea, don't worry, everything's fine!" Xiven said cheerfully.

She wasn't good at this morning improvising. Things normally didn't start terribly quickly for her in the palace. She slipped out of bed and hurried to the door, trying her best to hide the mark on her chest without looking suspicious.

She paused at the door, looking down at her chest. Her necklace was still on the dresser. Even with her confidence she didn't want to leave that laying around. She hurried back to the dresser, put the necklace on, and left the room as quickly as she could.

It didn't take long for her to come back with tea that was drugged thanks to the lovely innkeeper. Xiven wasn't going to ask questions in this place, that was for sure.

"Here you go!" she said, leaning forward with the tray. She made very sure to cover the "Q" as best as she possibly could without looking like an idiot.

[Vyn]

Poe was positively perplexed, and it showed blatantly in her wide purple eyes.

At... At least she wasn't alone.

But why wasn't Imre and Parzi there? Had Vren allowed this? Poe's head was still spinning even as she nodded delicately to Xiven and watched the feline move quickly out of the room.

While Xiven was gone, Poe nursed her aching dully throbbing head and tried to find a little clarity through the still-lingering haze of the night before. She'd obviously been chasing the dragon again, she could still feel the weight of it on her fluttering lungs, but how had she ended up here? Slowly but surely it came back to her, Imre had come and gone and had seemed just fine with it all... and the woman, Xiven? She had been nice.

She had been planning to do Poe a favor, hadn't she? A trip... somewhere...

And then she was back with tea, and Poe was happily drinking it down. Seeking clarity in the brew... and finding a familiar taint instead. Poe shuddered, not unhappily, and drank more deeply. She could run from reality for a little longer, especially if she was going on a trip.

"Thank you." She drank for a few moments longer, fighting confusion. "We're going on a trip right? I'm sorry, but everything seems a little... unreal." Poe laughed a little, the sound more awkward than cheerful. She really wasn't accustomed to the gesture. "I hope I haven't been a burden?"

[Kari Muffin]

"Yes, we're going on a little trip. Your brother said he was going to tell someone about it, I didn't catch who," She said as she glanced the girl up and down. She prayed that tea would take effect soon. Of course she wasn't particularly fond of the idea of drugging people to get them to do what they wanted.

Really she could just poison the girl so she sleeps for a month. That would cause a lot less problems.

But she wasn't that mean was she?

"You haven't been a burden at all my dear. You're quite a pleasure to have around. You have such a lovely voice." Xiven smiled. She really wished she had gotten something for herself. "I think you'll like the trip I have planned."

She just had to figure out what other bindings to get the girl and which doctor they were going to. Thrilling.

[Vyn]

"Hmm... Vren, I would assume." The finch managed to clear the haze a bit, the tea both helped and hindered... but it was a good, comforting sort of hinder. "We work for him." If 'work' was even the proper term.

Poe felt useless half of the time, and disappearing would not bring her any closer to earning her freedom.

A little thought in the back of her mind suggested that perhaps whatever this trip was for was about some sort of freedom, but that made very little sense. Unless she was running and errand for Vren, she was merely going the wrong way.

The dark thoughts were suppressed with another sip of tea.

And Xiven's lovely compliments. Poe was instantly blushing, and struggling to hide it without making a mess of herself. She couldn't even remember singing for Xiven, but she was certain she probably had. Oh dear... The bird dipped her head down, sipping her drink in embarrassment. "Thank you..." It seemed like that was all she could say sometimes, even to Poe herself. "I.. I'm very glad you enjoyed it." After a moment she managed to uncoil herself. "Where will we be going?"