(Eliza and Kavyle!) A Day in the City

Even when nothing is going on, Didienne is a rather
interesting city. So many people, so many sights! And while the weather is
still clinging to that last bit of chilly spring, the warmth is already
filtering through with the sun and wind. It’s a beautiful day, the sky only has
a few clouds, and the birds are chirping excitedly. Humans are intermingled
with dragons and other creatures, and most interactions are peaceful.

-------

All around the wolf-man, sunlight reflected off the clean,
white buildings and into his sensitive eyes, forcing them to half-shut in a
squeezed squint. He reached a hand up to his hood and pulled it down a bit
further to block out some of the blinding white. All around, he could see
white. White buildings, white clouds, and white mountains in the distance. Even
the water had a slight whitish look to it, which made him double-take before he
realized it was just reflecting the rest of the city.
Leaning heavily on his cane, Lykos slightly readjusted his
cape and hood to cover more of his fur, though he knew nothing could hide his
eyes.

With a short outward breath, he began walking forward again,
trying to be a bit surreptitious in his people-watching. It seemed someone was
always trying to sell something. Someone was always trying to get another’s
attention. Someone was always trying to hurry out of the area, supposedly late
for something. Though by the late morning sun, the young man was sure that even
the laggards should be at work now.

He glanced once at the group of children that were off to
the side playing some strange game he’d never before seen. It seemed to involve
three baskets, cloth, and a few balls scarcely larger than marbles. Lykos
almost moved over to see exactly what they were doing, but thought better of it
and abruptly turned to do something else.

The streets were crowded with people and other creatures of all sizes, shapes, and tempers alike, and for Hydra that meant hiding along walls and alleyways to avoid being trampled. She'd gotten out of the busiest part of town and finally wandered into the middle of the street. "What kind of idea was it to visit the capital. . .? A stupid one. . ." she muttered sourly. Suddenly a new scent pricked her interest and she set out to find it. "What are you. . .And where are you hiding. . . ?" The answer: in plain sight. Why? She ran into it.

Letting out a short hum of interest, Lykos looked down at the small dragon with his wolfish eyes. "Well, hello," he murmured humbly, just loud enough to be heard. "Are you lost?" He knelt down cautiously, stopping so that his face was just below hers. As he looked into her eyes, he became just a bit more self-conscious of his own. But he stayed as he was, if only for the sake of being polite.
While kneeling, he pushed back his hood just enough so that it wouldn't get in the way, exposing his doggish snout and dimming the glow of his eyes. His tail swayed a bit behind him, almost in a wag.

"Trying not to get stepped on is more like it. Some of the things that live here are huge!" She was thankful to meet something that wasn't scared of her, despite its odd human, yet non-human scent. "The city is no place for things that don't move very fast or are small enough to trample. Course I doubt you'll do anything of the sort so I've no cause to worry, right?" It was nice to find a friendly face and she made small humming sounds in her throat to show her appreciation. "I'm Hydra, what's your name?"

"Oh, I see..." Her diminutive size was rather remarkable, but he had seen much smaller dragons than her. And he really didn't want to come off as rude by saying anything about it, and surely she was already quite aware of her stature. Lykos agreed with her further statement as well, and assured her that he would not lay a single foot upon her back.
"My name is Lykos," he uttered with the same shy volume as he had spoken in before. "It is very nice to meet you. Would you like a an escort?"
Preparing himself to stand up, the wolf pulled his hood back down slightly and grasped the top of his cane once more.

"Sure, but where exactly are you headed? I'd hate to lead you in the opposite direction of where you need to be." she remarked thinking of Jackdaww's misguided sense of direction and snorted to herself. She then happened to notice the cane he held and paused. "Here I thought I was the only one with trouble walking." Her left back leg had been seriously injured by a bear trap and didn't heal properly, thus leaving her with a shortened and quite a bit of hassle to go with it. She preferred to fly on almost every occasion because of this, but most of the time the people she met had no wings so she had to deal with walking.

Pulling himself up, he responded, "I'm hoping to find a local alchemist or at least a library. But we don't need to go right now if you have somewhere else to be. I'd much rather get you home safe and without injury..." To her second question, he nodded and looked down at her legs. "Did you also get into an accident?" he inquired, speaking only a little more loudly now that he wasn't face-to-face with her. He switched the cane to his other hand to shift his weight to his right leg. Both his knees were equally weak, but not too weak to carry a little bit of weight at a time.

"Got caught in a bear trap. It snapped the bone in my upper leg and when it properly healed my leg was a bit shorter than the rest of them. I guess you could call it an accident, but I call it pure bad luck." After listening to what he needed to find she perked up. "I can help you with a library it's an alchemist I'll have trouble locating. I'm more than willing to help, I really don't have any business here but to explore. Why do you need to find a library?" Books were of little concern to her, but she understood them easily enough.

"Oh, that's... that's terrible," he murmured, eyes trailing away in pity. Sometimes he needed to remind himself that tragedies did happen to other people.
Vaguely and quietly, he answered her question. "I'm looking for a cure, or anything, really. I just want some kind of reprieve."
Shifting his weight again, somewhat impatient, he suggested that they get going. They couldn't stand in the middle of a crowded road all day, after all. He was certain that would get a bit annoying for passerby.

She started walking and looked up at her temporary companion in curiosity. "Reprieve from what?" His appearance couldn't be a reason, could it? Were humans really that intolerant of anything that didn't look like them? "Leg pain? Some kind of illness?" Most kinds of muscle pain were usually relieved by rest and a bit of ice, but it didn't seem like that was what was wrong with Lykos. "I'll be glad to help in any way I can." she offered. Pain was something not many people liked to see, and "people" included her as well. With a gentle nudge to his hand she began sniffing around the area, thinking she could sniff out the library by knowing what books smelled like, at least to a point.

With a sigh, Lykos shook his head and looked down at the dragon when he felt her brush his hand. He followed her. "Well... yes, my knees are terrible, but that doesn't bother me as much anymore. Maybe it's a vain wish, but... I want to be human again, if only to have my old body back, to be able to wear normal clothes again and not have to hide a muzzle. I hate the way people look upon me with fear, as though I might attack them. I can't even keep a stable job; I scare off clients and collapse if I participate in physical labor. It isn't fair, and I know I might just be complaining, but..." He paused in his rant, taking a breath and pulling his hood further over his face. "You're the first one to ask."
The wolf-like man breathed in and out a little faster than normal. It seemed that he hadn't talked this much since he was a boy, a child, and human. It was strange, and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not. He swallowed down the saliva that had accumulated while he spoke.

"Heh. . .You've got more job opportunities than I do. Nobody will hire a dragon for much of anything y'know. Except maybe pest control and even that's a bit of a comedown from what most of us are capable of. It took ages to get used to walking again cause the pain was too much to bear." Moving through the streets now wasn't all that tough, but if it got crowded it WOULD get tough and fast. She hated busy streets with a passion. "Library should be this way if I'm not mistaken, which I hope I'm not."

Lykos nodded. "I know, I'm sorry. It's ironic though, isn't it?" He refrained from pointing out the pun in her sentence.
Looking around as they walked, he noticed that the buildings were getting closer together and as a result, so were the people. "This seems like an odd place to find a library, doesn't it?" There were no cafés or businesses here, really. Only houses and people - but almost too many people for the amount and sizes of houses in the area. But Lykos decided not to question this at first, as it didn't seem too important.
But the further in they went, the more concerned he became. “Are you… are you sure we’re going the right way, Hydra? This seems like an area that’s meant more for housing than for business… I wouldn’t imagine a library would even be near this area.”
By then, the chill from the mountains had picked up, cutting through his fur all the way to his bones. Lykos shivered and tried to pull his tighter around himself, having a bit of trouble with only one free hand. Keeping an eye on Hydra, he stopped and leaned heavily against his cane to adjust his clothes more easily.

"No, no there's something LIKE a library down this way I'm sure of it." she said brightening. "Someone own lots of books in this area of the residential district, an elf I think is what she is but I'm not quite certain." There was an old foreboding looking house at the edge of the city with a barn out beside it that most people did their best to avoid, but Hydra nosed open the gate and walked up the pathway. "Okay at this point I'm sure she's an elf! And she owns lots of books."

She paused and looked at Lykos. "Nobody really knows who she is, but I've seen her around before she doesn't look so dangerous." She couldn't understand why he was shivering, until she remembered he wasn't quite used to subzero weather the way she was. With a glance at the door, she looked at Lykos. "I can't exactly knock on the door like you can. Would you mind too terribly badly using the knocker?"

Nodding every so often, Lykos listened to her talk until they got to the door. As they walked, he took note of the path and yard. He was a bit surprised when she said she was sure an elf lived there when she had been uncertain before. Perhaps there was some kind of indicator within the gate or on the house. However, he had never been to an elf's home before, and he had never heard any elven stereotypes. Anything that could have seemed elven fell onto oblivious eyes.

"Really? I hope she has the kind that I'm looking for..."

As he reached out to knock, he quickly swept his gaze on the door from top to bottom and back to the top. He did feel a bit awkward, though, rapping his furry knuckles against a stranger's doorway. What if it turned out that he wasn't welcome there? And even supposing he was, there was no guarantee that the elf would allow him to go through her collection. There were just too many variables, too many reasons for this to go absolutely wrong. And maybe he was just being paranoid. What of it? He had the right to be as far as he was concerned.

"Oh I'm sure she'll have something of use to you! She's had quite a few years to collect these books." Truth be told she'd heard some creepy things about the girl who lived here, but as it went human rumors were almost never to be trusted at face value. For all the rumors that floated around only one out of every fifty even had a factual base to it. "I just hope she's actually home." she muttered quietly.
---
Rose sighed at hearing someone knock on the door. "I'll be right there!" She got up from her chair and opened the door. "Oh, hello there." She looked at the dragon and then at the wolf-looking creature and blinked. "Is there something I can help you with?" It was rare to see a dragon so small as this one on her doorstep, much less one so happy and chipper. It was another few minutes before she ever decided to say something. That time was spent studying this interesting creature in front of her. He wasn't quite a wolf, yet he wasn't quite a human and he walked with a cane. In a manner of speaking something clicked in her brain and she went from totally guarded to semi-guarded/hostess. "Why don't you come in out of the cold and explain what you're here about?" she questioned stepping aside to allow both gentleman and dragon into her house.

Lykos was about to say something, backwards fist still raised, when the door swung open. Letting his arm fall to his side, he nodded at her question. He stayed just as silent as the woman, switching his cane to the opposite hand once. Before he could apologize for the intrusion, the elf invited them inside.

As he trudged in, he wagged his tail slightly and pushed back his hood. He was immediately enthralled by the massive amount of books she held in her home. Lykos didn’t think he had ever seen as many books except in a library – though, he had only ever made time to go to one.

Snapping himself out of the slight trance, he turned to look at Rose. He cleared his throat once and looked to the ceiling twice to gather up his words and sort out his thoughts. It occurred to the wolf-man that he had been talking quite a bit that day, but he tried not to dwell on it too much.

Finally, he looked back into her eyes. In the same soft voice that he had used with Hydra, he explained, “I was hoping that you would, perhaps, have a book to help me find a cure. Perhaps something on herbs, healing, or curses?”

"Well I have many books on magic of all sorts. Not much on the darker side of magic mind you, but as for healing and cures yes I have quite a few. Please follow me I'll get you settled in with a few books then put on some tea." She didn't get much in the way of company these days, and a dragon and what she guessed to be a man with a doggish problem. "My name is Rose. What might your name be kind sir?" She then posed the name question to the dragon and got the answer 'Hydra'. "Lovely name for a blue dragon I'd say." She then looked expectantly at Lykos and pulled a few books from a shelf, seemingly at random.

"A book on herbal and magical cures for muscle-related injuries and ailments, ah let's see. . ." she rattled off to herself. "Cures for ailments from poisonous plants and animals, curses and cures of the animal variety, curses and cures of the plant variety. Ah here's an excellent one, Toadstool's guide to curses, ailments and medicinal cures!" She hefted all the books to a rather large wooden table and set them down. "Not sure if your particular issue is in any of these books. Though judging from your use of a cane and your unnatural appearance, these are the likeliest to be of use to you."

Having been distracted by the books and the walls, Lykos was a bit surprised at the question. “My name is Lykos,” he breathed out, with just a hint of his own voice. “It’s nice to meet you.” He held her gaze for a moment before watching her practically rip the books from their shelves.

Lykos nodded. “Thank you” was all he could say, trying to keep the word, ‘unnatural appearance,’ out of his mind. Sitting at the table, he picked out the book at the very top, which happened to be the one that Rose had so enthusiastically exclaimed the name of. The wolf-man opened it to the first page, hoping that perhaps this book could have the answer, though deep down he knew it couldn’t possibly be exactly what he’d been looking for all these years. He knew by then that the first book opened wouldn’t contain the cure. But there was no harm in checking.

As his eyes darted swiftly from left to right across the pages, he told Rose that there was no need to get him anything.

"Nonsense you're my guest! I'll not take 'no' for an answer." She walked off for a few brief minutes to get the tea started and left the dragon and man to their searching. Hydra meanwhile nosed one of the books open and sifted through it. "So, how does she measure up as far as elves go?" she asked absently. "Or were you too dazzled by her vast collection of books to really notice 'her' in particular?" With a small teasing smile she flipped page after page and then shut the book entirely.

It didn't seem fair to these people who were cursed to live like Lykos. Ostracized from society in the most complete sense of the word. About 20 or so minutes later Rose returned but was walking a bit awkwardly. "Sorry had some bandages to change, I broke some ribs recently and I still have to keep them wrapped." She set two hot cups of tea in front of her guests and scaled a ladder to bring down a large dusty old book. "Forgot I had this one." she murmured. "Perhaps this one also may be of use. Another book on curses."

Letting out a short sigh, Lykos went back to reading until Hydra began talking again. “Honestly, she was the first elf I’ve met,” he mumbled. And though it was true that he been distracted by the books, he kept that to himself. He didn’t want to come off as rude to their host. Instead, he flipped the page and carefully skimmed through the book. He had gotten rather good at speed-reading.

Lykos looked up from the page when Rose walked in, placing a clawed finger over the line he was on. “Do you need any help?” he asked, reaching for his cane. But when she seemed to be okay, he let go of it and sank back down in his seat. He wouldn’t be much use on a ladder anyway. He thanked her for her troubles.

As he neared the end of the book, he put his hand on the next one in the stack, gripping it along the spine. He flipped one more page then pushed the book in front of him, closer to Hydra, and began to read the newer one. Right off the first few lines, he could tell that this one was not the book he was looking for. He put that one atop the last book he read and grabbed the old and dusty volume. Hoping to find the title, he brushed some dust off with his thumb near the top of the cover.

"The title to that book is unknown." she stated simply. "I picked it up in a small bookshop during my travels. The shopkeeper was glad to be rid of it for some reason. Superstitious lunatic is what he turned out to be." With an utterance of some foreign phrase she returned a few books to their places on the shelf and pulled out a few more, this time books specifically on now to repel dark magic and other things related to said topic. "I'm drifting a bit further from your particular kind of predicament, but I would look through one of those books on physical ailments if I were you. You might find something that can fix whatever forces you to use a cane."

Then she perked up, like she had an idea. "Lykos, I have an idea. I'm not sure if you will like it, but here it is: how would you like to have full access to my entire collection of books? All I require in return is that you do a couple of small cleaning chores for me and return the books to their places when you're done. Layman's terms: I'll give you a small salary to keep the books clean and you may read them as you please provided you return then to their places when you're done. Do we have a deal?" She then held out her slender, fragile-looking right hand with a bit of a smile. "We can draw up a contract if you choose to agree."

Lykos looked up at Rose while she spoke. Was the book itself cursed, or was there some kind of blasphemy associated with it? Somehow, that didn’t settle well with his subconscious mind, and all sorts of terrible things flitted through his brain before he could banish them to nothingness. Suppressing a shudder, he let out a miniscule sigh, just to release the tense feeling in his shoulders and spine. Having been a victim of a curse himself, he took superstition very seriously.

When she mentioned his cane, he brought himself back to the real world. He couldn’t quite remember what she had said, but he was fairly certain that taking a look at the books would give him a good idea. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too confused.
He tilted his head at her sudden animation. A job? Well, of course he wanted a job. He needed a job, really. And if it came with added perks like this, then who was he to say no?

The wolf man stood then, supporting himself with one furry hand on the table. He reached out his free hand and grabbed hers. Nodding once, he gave her a firm handshake. “Yes. Please.”

She beamed, no words could describe it. "Excellent! Now there are a few things you should know about my lifestyle: one, I'm a bounty hunter so there will be many times where you will likely just have the house to yourself when you're here for a week or more. Two, when I am here generally there's not a whole lot going on, and three, you have full run of this place any time I am not here. The reason for that being that I seriously doubt you'll do anything to purposefully compromise this situation. You are the first and hopefully the only person I will have to trust with my house and miniature library."

She glanced down at the book with no title and shrugged. "That book was written quite a while ago, and the author died before they could title it so it remained untitled. Do you plan to stay for dinner?" she asked. "It's not every day I get company, much less someone who loves books as much as me."

This girl must really love to hear the sound of her own voice, Lykos thought, knowing he was being judgmental but not exactly caring. He just sat down, nodding every so often and listening but not saying anything for a while. Really, this was how he normally was, unlike his talkative demeanor he had held with Hydra. Maybe it was just easier to talk with the dragon. And maybe it was easiest when he just didn’t dwell on his own inner workings and reactions to different people.

When he was addressed with the question, however, he said clearly, “Only if you wish me to.” If he still had a human face, he would have smiled to complete the friendly tone he’d used. Unfortunately, he could only look up at her and hope she caught the inflection.

Careful not to move his knees too much, he bent over to pick up his cane, which had fallen to the floor a little while ago. He wasn’t sure why, and could only assume it had slipped from where it had been propped up against the edge of the table. That wasn’t the first time it had slipped before, of course, but it was still a bit of a pain to pick it up again.