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They all stepped inside the inn, closing the large oak door behind them. The moist air and the smell of alcohol was overwhelming. Hitan realized that the inn they had chosen doubled as a bar, and there were many people sitting at the scattered tables around the room. There was a space in the far corner reserved for musicians. A man playing a violin sat there, along with a dancing woman who accompanied him with a flute.
Hitan came in last, Samara in the middle of Toby and himself, and had to make sure he didn't hit his head on the low doorframe.
He looked around, recieving a variety of different expressions from the people in the room. A few looked at the new group with suspicion in their eyes, while others gave them each a polite smile to greet them. Most of the drunks in the place didn't even acknowledge their entrance.
Samara walked up to the bartender, and leaned over the bar so she could speak easily over the live music playing. Hitan stayed back and observed at first. He didn't want to do anything that could offend any of the people here. They couldn't afford the attention.
He noticed Toby watching the woman in the corner, and could barely see Toby's head bobbing up and down with the beat of the music. Hitan found it rather difficult not to do the same. The tunes they were playing were almost entrancing, though he also noticed that Samara didn't show the slightest signs of being affected by it.
She came back a few minutes later with a key in her hand. She pushed her hair over her ears, to keep the fact she was an elf as unnoticable as possible, and dangled the key in front of Toby. "Here you go, guys. The room's upstairs, I think I'm going to stay down here for a little while. Why don't you go up and get settled." she told them, and she walked away toward the two musicians.
Toby looked back at Hitan, a confused look on his face, and shrugged. Hitan was just as confused, and wondered what was on the elf's mind. He sighed, and decided to just ask her about it later.
He followed Toby up the stairs to emerge into a long corridor carpeted with the same color red as the streets outside. The walls also resembled the town in being almost the same white, except these walls didn't glow like the buidings did. The doors were each a different color, and there were three doors on each side. The number on the key Toby was given was 3, which opened the last door on the left side. It was a dark green color, with a golden number three hanging on it.
Toby unlocked the door and walked into their room. There were only two beds, and one window, but it had a seperate door that led to their own bathroom, so they didn't have to share the public one down the hall.
Hitan stayed in the doorway, examining the room. He saw Toby jump onto one of the beds, put his hands behind his head, sighing, and closed his eyes.
"So who's sharing with Samara?" he asked with a grin on his face, opening one eye to look at Hitan. Hitan could feel his face flush. "Hmph, nobody. I'll sleep on the floor." he said uncharacteristically humble. He decided to check out the bathroom, hoping that Toby didn't notice his behavior.
It was almost an hour before Hitan decided to head downstairs. Toby was asleep on his bed, but Hitan spent most of his time contemplating what they were going to do from now on. His plan to get rid of these two had disappeared, and Toby didn't have any intention of leaving, so they were stuck together.
Hitan shut the green door behind him and wandered down the steps. He was amazed that they couldn't hear any of the music from upstairs, considering it was pretty loud. He spotted Samara easily, since she was the palest one in the room, and her champaign colored hair stuck out amongst the black and brown around her. She was sitting at a table with the woman from before. Now that he looked at her, he noticed she was also an elf, along with the man who accompanied her. The man was now playing with two other men who must have come while Hitan was upstairs. There was no lack of entertainment in this bar.
Hitan walked over to Samara, and stood behind her chair. The woman she was with looked up at him and gave him a very pleasant smile, but she didn't speak. Samara turned around in her chair to look at who was behind her, and smiled as well. "Hitan! Have a seat." she said cheerfully, and he did as he was told. He pulled over a chair and sat down with them. The woman was still smiling at him, though he noticed something about her that didn't seem quite right.
"Hitan, this is my sister. Her name is Madora." Samara said happily, gesturing with her hand toward her sister. "She's 40 years my elder, and taught me everything I know about music." Hitan took the hand Madora extended out to him, and shook it gently.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hitan." Her voice was smooth, elegant. Samara and her sister sounded almost exactly alike, though Madora seemed more refined than her younger sister. She wore a gown made of fine silk and lace, her hair was covered in a pale green mesh, and her feet were bare. She only wore two colors, green and brown, and it made her look natural, yet very out of place.
"I asked her where I could find the elder of this town. She said that I had to ask the Mayor." Samara explained. Hitan nodded as she told him what they needed to do from here, but he couldn't help but get distracted by her sister, who hadn't taken her eyes from him. He also noticed that, unlike Samara's radiant blue eyes, her sister had very light grey, that gave her a very eerie look. They seemed distant, and unfocused, and that's when Hitan realized she was blind.
"...so the Mayor will know the whereabouts of th elder. We just have to figure out a way to get to him without the authorities finding us first." she concluded her explanation. Hitan nodded again, finally able to tear his gaze away from Madora, and back to Samara. "When will we leave?" he asked in his usual, expressionless tone.
"We should be out of town by the day after tomorrow. We'll go find the Mayor after we get some rest." She turned toward her sister. "I guess I'll be leaving you again, Madora. It was great to see you again." she said as she pushed her chair back to stand up. Madora did the same, and walked around the table to give her sister a loving hug. "We'll be seeing each other in the future, I'm sure."
They left the elegant Madora downstairs, as Hitan followed Samara up the steps and to their room. They had to knock for Toby to open the door, since it automatically locks from the inside. It took him a while to open the door, and Hitan figured he was still sleeping when they knocked. Samara took her phanny pack off her waist and opened the flap, reaching in to take out some extra clothes. Once again Hitan was amazed at how much that pack could hold, even though he was already told that it was due to magic.
Hitan took one of the pillows from Toby's bed, and used a spare blanket he found in the closet. He settled himself down on the floor, realizing that he was more fatigued than he thought, and was asleep before Samara even crawled into bed.
Temptation_bloodlust · Tue Aug 01, 2006 @ 11:06pm · 2 Comments |
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