New Girl In Town ((Open))

[Analisia Moonbright]

Analisia had just arrived to Avaleur City, and the first place she headed to was the tavern. Keeping her black velvet cloak wrapped tightly around her shoulders, though with her hood down, she walked stiffly towards the back of the tavern, taking an empty chair at the table furthest from the door. She waves over the barmaid, orders an ale, and sets herself up to watch the other pub goers. 

Sipping softly on her drink, she watches, her amber gaze guarded. Doing her best to keep most people away from her table, it wasn't as though she wasn't interested in company. She just didn't trust people in a place she didn't know. And considering her past, she kept from knowing most places for longer than a week. However, she hoped that this time it would be different, she was tired of running, tired of keeping on guard at all times, just plain tired. 

Pulling her braid's tip into her mouth, she chewed on it thoughtfully, allowing herself to get lost in memories of all the places that she had left, and all the excuses she gave to keep from staying too long. 

[Nate]

Nate towered above the commuters below him as he and his jet black mount made their way through the streets of Avaleur. He hadn't heard of any laws that prohibited him from riding inside of the city, nor had he ever heard of such a law before, so he simply went about his business of carving himself a path. He tugged the reigns lightly as his gaze settled upon a familiar sight.

“Aha! Just what we were lookin' for!” he exclaimed as he gave the reigns another tug. A pub! Precisely the kind of nourishment a weary traveler such as himself had absolutely no need, yet every desire for. A pint of ale to settle his stomach was well earned after just entering the city. He secured the reigns of his horse using whatever available as a hitching post, then gave the beast a thorough neck rub.

“I shouldn't be too long. I'll see if there's anythin' I can get in there for you too, bud.” Nate said as he gave the tied reigns a tug. The horse was trained to stay when it was hitched. Nate could have tied it to a chair for all the two cared.

Nate strolled into the tavern and hailed the nearest barmaid to fetch him a pint. He turned himself against the bar counter and glanced over the patrons. They seemed like decently normal folk, not the type he was used to. But something had caught his eye, or rather somebody that sat in the back, wearing a cloak. Being the social butterfly that he was, Nate approached them with his ale in hand.

“Evenin!'” he greeted as he approached, offering Analisia a cheerful grin. "You from 'round here?"

[Analisia Moonbright]

Analisia was pulled out of her reverie by the man approaching her. She turned her gaze to him, eyeing him for a moment. Well this is a cheery fellow, she thinks to herself. After sizing him up, Analisia waves to one of the open chairs by way of invitation for him to sit down. Taking the tip of her hair from her mouth, she shrugs her braid back, letting it fall to it's original place between her shoulder blades.

"No, I am not from around here. In fact, I just arrived in town. What about yourself? Are you one of those residents that likes to greet and introduce themselves to every newcomer in town? Quite honestly I would think such a job impossible in such a large, important city such as this, but there seems to be at least one of those people no matter the city or town." She quirks up an eyebrow, smirking softly. Then picked up her ale again and took another sip.

Waiting for a beat, she sighs,"My name is Analisia. Please, feel free to sit."

[Nate]

Nate rested a hand on his belt as he stopped in front of the table. He didn't sit immediately, even after he was gestured toward the chair, and instead waited to hear her response. He had missed the sweet taste of satire, he hadn't heard it in quite a while. He exhaled as she finished and introduced herself and then roughly seated himself with a thud.

"Oh, hm. Not from here either... Well, can't say that I am a resident myself, as this is my first time in the city. I was just hopin' to strike up a conversation with somebody who knew their way around." he said as he rested the glass of ale he'd been carrying on the table. He glanced over toward her as she smirked while he took a quick drink, and offered her a similar expression upon returning the glass to the table. "It sounds like you've been traveling quite a bit though, so it seems like we have that in common." he continued in an attempt to further the conversation.

"Nice to meet you Analisia. I'm Nate. What brings you to the city?"

[Analisia Moonbright]

Analisia smiled slightly at Nate, nodding when he mentioned her being a traveler. Undoing the ties on her cloak, she places it neatly upon her chair. She is wearing a soft velvet, purple dress. It is plain, unadorned. On the belt around her waist, there are two ornate sheaths, with daggers whose hilts are intricately designed. She casually places a hand upon one of the hilts, not thinking about her action. With her other hand, she taps her fingertips alongside the edge of the mug.

"Yes, it would seem as though we have traveling in common then. No, I don't know my way around the city, as a matter of fact, the only street i know so far is the one connecting this pub to the entrance. Other than finding an inn or somewhere to sleep, and some place to gather a few necessary supplies, I wasn't too interesting in finding my way around,"she takes a moment to think about her next answer, her face darkening momentarily. Then she looks Nate in the eyes. "I am trying to decide whether or not I like this area well enough to settle down here. It has been awhile since I have found a home, and I had heard of this city and the surrounding areas during my travels, so I decided to test it out. See if this feeling of longing would pass as it usually does, or not."

She speaks bluntly, voiced edged with barely concealed apathy. As though despite her words, she doesn't believe she will stay. Shrugging, she takes another deep swig of the ale.

"What about yourself? Why do you come to this... fair... city?"Her lip twitches up to one side in the semblance of a smile.

[Nate]

He had reclined onto the chair he sat in as he listened, his eyes following her movements as she stripped herself of her robe and revealed what she wore underneath. He paid special attention to the sheathed blades and the rather casual placement of her hand. Nate had moved his left hand to rest upon the pommel of his blade, which was hidden beneath the table due to its position on his belt. His movement was much more subtle, at least from his perspective. His expression had naturally shifted from smirking slightly to a placid look, more so to convey that he was paying attention than uninterested.

"Sounds like we have similar priorities as well, at least in the short term. I figured that I would give my horse a break since we'd been on our way for a few hours." he said while firmly grasping the handle of his pint of ale and lifting it back up to drink from. As he finished, he set it back down upon the table on the same spot as before. "I don't think it'll be too hard to navigate though. Chances are there'll be one of those chatty newcomer helper types you thought I was 'round here somewhere."

He fell silent as she mentioned settling down and glanced off with his ale held up to drink from while she spoke. He was still listening, even though it likely looked like he wasn't. Much like his father, Nate was too carefree to want to settle down. Not without a proper reason, however. Nate reasoned with himself that if he were to come across something that would make him settle down, he would do so, but until such a thing happened he would continue to travel.

"Hm? Oh, what brought me here was... Well, to be perfectly honest, I got lost and figured I'd take a look around the bigass city. Just happened by, more or less." he said as the nearly emptied pitcher of ale came to rest upon the table once more. "I'm not one to stay in a place for very long myself. I think it's just too exciting to travel... 'n speakin' of which, do you travel alone?"

[Analisia Moonbright]

Analisia smiled as he mentioned the 'chatty newcomer-helping type', her eyes alight with amusement. Then nodded. Her fingers resumed their silent tapping on the mug, her other hand coming up from her dagger hilt to cup the mug between her hands. She listened to Nate silently, nodding occasionally.

"I usually travel alone. In case you haven't noticed, I am not the best of company,"she leaned in to whisper conspiratorially. Then chuckles for a moment."Though I have traveled with others occasionally, it usually doesn't last long. And you, is it just you and your horse?"

Her head leans to the side. This stranger was awfully chatty, but she found it amusing.

[Nate]

"I hadn't noticed, actually. I've had my fair share of travel buddies, so I believe I'm rather qualified to say that you seem like a pleasant person to share in an adventure with." he said. Nate had been watching her body language rather closely and, to the best of his ability at least, subtly as well. It was likely that his own body language was displaying the sudden change in demeanor, presumably from how disconcerting the placement of her hand upon her blade was. Nate shifted his weight in the chair once to find a more comfortable position before reclining against it once more.

"Yeah, for now it's just the two of us. A while before coming here I was with some mercs, but we went on our way. I've just been lookin' for something to occupy my time since. I was actually headed a bit further east than here, 'cause I heard that there was a town or somethin' that could use a hand with some hunting, but I ended up here after all." He released a lengthy exhale after his monologue-esque response. Nate wasn't typically the type to talk about himself a lot, certainly not of his exploits and adventures, but it seemed that this time was different. "You said it'd been a while since 'ya found a home, huh? Where're you from?"

[Analisia Moonbright]

Laughing momentarily, Analisia shook her head. She noticed his relaxing, and started easing up herself. For the time being he wasn't a threat, and it seemed unlikely that she would have any issues with her temper in his company, he was too light-hearted. Finishing off her drink, she placed the mug off to the side. It was a good enough drink, but it barely left a buzz. Even still, she never drank more than one mug at a time, until she got to know her exit strategy well enough from any town.

"A hunting party, eh? I hadn't heard those rumors, but what were they hunting?" She grabs her braid and brings it back to her mouth to chew on it thoughtfully. After a moment of this, she leans back and shrugs at Nate in response to his question. "I don't know it's name. Never found out exactly where it was other than a general region, a forest far to the east of here. I was only there for 3 years. But it was the only home that I can remember."

Analisia's eyes mist up slightly and she frowns. Looking away sharply, she blinks away the memories, then looks back at Nate, all traces gone from her face.

"I can't remember at least half of my life, a childhood accident." She says in way of explanation, shrugging with ease.

[Nate]

Nate shrugged as he raised his empty glass up for a moment before realizing that it was indeed empty. He released a sharp exhale through his nose as he set it down and glanced around the pub for an unoccupied barmaid, but his search was in vain for the time being. He would have to go without the ale for a while.

"Ayeh, huntin' party. I've heard there was some grand hunt goin' on for all types of crazy things. Lions made of stone, giant bugs that could tear a man in two, even demons 'n the like. The one I was lookin' into was some kinda bug with a thousand legs. Figured it'd be an adventure!" he said, his voice perking up toward the end. Had he not made it evident thus far in the conversation, it would quickly become clear that any mention of adventure would enliven him.

He silenced himself as she continued on to answer his question. He raised his arms to fold over his chest while doing his best to appear attentive. He had a poor habit of glancing around the room when being talked to, even if he was listening. "Ah... Well, must make it easier to keep walking forwards then. Sorry if I uh... brought up any bad memories, or something."

[Analisia Moonbright]

Amber eyes bright at the thought of such a wild hunt, Analisia smiles.

"That sounds like it would be very interesting. Why stop in this city, versus continuing on to where the hunts are being held? After you are done resupplying, of course." Her lips twitch at the corners, just the semblance of a smile. Finding Nate and his buoyant attitude interesting.

Suddenly, her eyes flicker towards the door as it opens, a nondescript man walking through it. Her gaze follows the man until he seems to find a friend and joins him. Nose twitching slightly, she returns her gaze to Nate, smile still holding on her face. "As for the memories, they were from a good couple years ago, time has faded the pain on them well enough. But yes, it does make it easier to continue my journey. I have no anchor to pull me back to shore when I stray, just a breeze pushing me on my way."

She rolls her eyes light-heartedly.

[Nate]

Nate glanced over to Analisia as her expression changed upon mentioning the idea of a hunt. He unfolded his arms and rested one upon the table while the other fell back onto the pommel of his sheathed blade.

"Well, uh... The short story is I got lost!" he said. It was rather embarassing from his perspective. He was somebody who had spent a large portion of his post-adolescent years learning how to track and hunt, yet he got lost so easily. "I saw the gigantic city and thought I might as well stop there. I mean, if a giant insect is rampaging around somewhere, it shouldn't be too hard to find a person who knows about it, right?" he said, as if to reason with himself why he was still there. "I didn't want to rush into anything either, so I figured I'd give Tarian 'n me a chance to rest up."

Nate didn't pay much mind as her eyes wandered elsewhere, as his own gaze was shifting constantly. If he had noticed the door open, he wouldn't have paid it any mind. While observant, he was also quite careless. Wanting to digress from the topic of her past, Nate turned his head toward Analisia. "Well, you seem interested in huntin' that thing down. I wouldn't mind the company, if you're not too scared of it that is!" he said, his tone shifting back toward the cheerful one that had diminished slightly over the course of the conversation.

[Analisia Moonbright]

"Getting lost is no big thing, it happens to everyone sometime or another,"she chuckles. Analisia runs a fingertip over her bottom lip.

"Me? Afraid of a bug? Ha! If you don't mind, then I wouldn't mind a good hunt. But, I haven't heard anyone talk about the monster, but that doesn't mean that there isn't some gossip or another that can lead us to someone who knows something." Analisia starts to get excited, her eyes gleaming sharply. "Of course I would need to go buy some supplies first, then we could go to the town nearest the monster and get some sort of information about it. Walking in blind to a situation like that isn't recommended."

She stops talking quickly, and chuckles. Shaking her head, she rolls her eyes. "I apologize for my... outburst, I guess is the best way to put it. But it has been awhile since I have had a real challenge, or something to do other than travel and drink."

[Nate]

Nate removed his arm from the table and rose from the chair. Her response had brought a smile to his face, one that displayed genuine joy. "Well," he said as he stood.

"Haha, There's no need to apologize!" he exclaimed. "I'm just as excited for a proper hunt as you are. ...But from the rumours I've heard, it won't be easy. I planned on going to the castle's Library to see if there was any books on it. They were spoutin' all kinds of nonsense, like how it bleeds fire and moves so fast you can see it in different places at one time."

Nate glanced around the pub and examined the patrons before his gaze settled on Analisia once again. The castle's library would be the place to locate a bestiary, especially one that would have information on such a... unique beast. He didn't know much about the royalty though, so he couldn't assume that it would be easy to just walk in and locate such information. "I think some time to prepare ourselves will be good."

(Sorry bout any spelling mistakes, I wrote this up on my mobile.)

[Analisia Moonbright]

Taking cue from Nate, Analisia stands up, gathering her cloak and shrugging it on. Clasping it in place, Analisia nods to Nate.

"The library is a good place to start... but... Do you know where it is? Because I don't. And do you have anyplace else in specific you want to go before we head out? I need to hit a general supply store, get some trail rations and a few other things." She takes a step towards the door, then looks back quirking an eyebrow. "This trip is bound to be fairly interesting. Of that I have no doubt."

((Dont think there were any misspellings. And sorry for the short post, wasn't sure there was anything that really needed to be said after that.))

[Nate]

He had pushed his way out of the pub as he listened to Analisia. It had started to get a bit too crowded for Nate's liking anyways, but the crowded streets didn't offer much solace.

"No idea, actually! I just figure a big ol' city like this that has a big ol' castle is bound to have a big ol' library. Makes sense, right?" he asked, almost as if he was asking for verification on his own logic. His left hand came to rest upon his sword's hilt as he approached the large black horse that was hitched to the outside of the pub. He gave it a pat on the neck as he approached it. "Sorry bud, couldn't get you anything good in there. I'll get'cha somethin' soon, don't worry." he said, his tone somewhat affectionate toward the beast of a horse and his words spoken as if to somebody who could comprehend them.

"I don't think they'd just let a couple random people into the library though, so we might just be left to counting on rumours... I mean, if it's a bug, fire should work well against it." he said while untying the reigns. "...Might need a lot of fire though." he mumbled as he finally freed the horse from the hitching post.

Nate placed his left foot on the stirrup and vaulted himself up onto the back of the horse. "Fancy a ride? The people's faces are priceless when you ride through the streets." he said, holding his hand out to help her up if she took him up on the offer.

[Analisia Moonbright]

Following Nate's lead, Analisia made her way through the ever growing crowd at the pub. As soon as she stepped outside she took a deep breath, relaxing monumentally. While the crowd was just as bad, it was always better being able to see the sky above. She turned around to glance at Nate, but only grimaced as she saw his horse. Taking a slight step back.

"It does make sense for a city this size to have a library somewhere. I am not sure who they would let in or not, but usually libraries allow just about anyone in. Or at least they did at the last town I was in."She chuckles nervously. Eyeing the horse up and down. When Nate offers her a hand to help her up onto the horse, she looks at him dubiously. "I have never ridden a horse before, as a matter of fact, I avoid getting too close to them. Most horses don't like me... for some reason or another. I can only guess as to why..."

She takes another step back, turning down his offer. "I can keep up well enough on foot, so long as you don't go galloping off at full speed."

Analisia moves to stand just off to the side of Nate's horse. A way to keep near enough to hear him without actually having to ride, at all. And hopefully staying downwind of said horse, if the horse caught on that she was a werewolf, there would be no telling what might happen. Like she said, horses didn't like her, in the least.

"As for what might hurt the bug... maybe an overlarge boot could do the trick," she says blandly. "But fire sounds like a good idea as well. Or maybe a few of those arrows you have there."

[Nate]

Nate pulled his hand back after she had denied his offer, but he hadn't moved the horse forward. He glanced down at Tarian, an sight he was sure not many had the chance to see. The horse, jet black through and though, stood taller than Nate did if they were to stand side by side. He noticed the discomfort in the horse from it's shifting stance and how he seemed to be moving back and forth without Nate's input.

"..Hm? That's weird, he's usually good with people..." Nate said. He shrugged and tossed the reigns over the side opposite to Analisia, then swung his leg over and hopped down beside her. "Oh well, I don't mind walking. Looks like you get a break after all buddy." he said as he gave the horse a pat. Nate grasped the reigns and lead the horse along down the street, only shooting a glance back toward Analisia to see if she was still following him.

"There's probably a public library somewhere, but I can't imagine their pick of bestiaries would be that.. diverse. I've never seen many giant bugs crawlin' around after all so I don't really have any idea how much information we'd find on it... if any at all." he said, a shrug following after. It was a wonder his neck and shoulders didn't get sore from all the shrugging. Nate glanced slightly toward her as the suggestion to squash it with a boot came and chuckled heartily. "Hah! You find me a boot that big 'n I'll pay for it."

His eyes narrowed as she mentioned the use of his arrows, and his gaze settled upon the quiver that sat on the saddle of his horse. "Huh..." he said while rubbing his chin. "..Could always light the arrows on fire too. Bet that'd be enough fire!"

(Seein as how we're moving away from the pub, do you wanna move to a new thread in the plaza? I can start it after my next post.)

[Analisia Moonbright]

Starting forward as soon as Nate had his horse in tow, she listened quietly to Nate's input. Her eyes occasionally scanning across the crowd, and shifting back to the horse every few seconds.

"Well we could always stop and ask a guardsman, or someone... official looking. But it might just be a waste of time, especially if they don't have any books on the subject. Hmm...." Analisia's hands twitch toward her daggers, a nervous habit almost as bad as chewing on her hair. "Then again, if we don't take some time to do some sort of research, we will probably end up dying. So... We could keep arguing the points of trying to find a library or just going to the town nearest that area all day and come up with nothing. I would rather be on the road as soon as possible than stay in a library reading books."

She stops and points to a general store a few blocks down the way. "Looks like resupplying isn't going to be a problem. Let's just hope they carry everything we are gonna need to kill a bug."

((yeah we can do that.))

[Nate]

Nate gave an idle tug at Tarian's reins every time the large horse started to wander. The thin stands of leather hardly looked sturdy enough to keep the large horse from running off if he chose to do such, and Nate hardly looked capable of stopping him. But they were symbolic if nothing else. The horse had not only been trained, but also been along with Nate for long enough to follow him even without the straps.

"Yeah, we could..." he said as he glanced through the crowd. Not many had given him the impression of professionalism, so he looked about with a rather unimpressed expression with furrowed brows and pout. "Oh well, I'm sure that somebody 'round the area where the thing is meant to be knows something about it. Maybe some old lore or legends. I mean, they have to know something about it, right? They know it exists after all, so that means they'd have to of seen it at least once."

Nate's glance followed Analisia's gesture toward the general store a short distance away. He furrowed his eyebrows once more and squinted slightly as he rested his foot upon the stirrup of Tarian's saddle, then hoisted himself up to get a vantage point over the crowd. "Oh, yeah, there it is!" he said as he dropped back down. "There's no way a big city like this doesn't have everything we need." Nate said as he started off in the direction of the desired shoppe.

Continued here!