It was a little after sunrise when An'zu awoke from her restless slumber. Excitement for the day's activities coursed through her veins, filling every fiber of her being such boundless energy that it was a challenge to sleep the night before. It has only been five days since she was taken from her country, and there was still so much to see. She hasn't even begun to scratch the surface; the five days she spent in Ylisstol was hardly enough to see the whole of the town, much less the country. After that, there was still the militant nation of Regna Ferox to explore, and Plegia following that. She wanted to tick off as many items in her checklist as she could, before she was reeled back into her life of shams and propaganda. 

The day's gentle breeze was a welcome one, and as it tussled her hair and tickled her nose, An'zu thought it to be a premonition of a good day. She rounded the corner past the weapon shop with a spring in her step, tucking her considerably lighter coin purse within her obi. Her [i]betrothed[/i] was considerate enough to pack a little bit of money before he unceremoniously threw her in a ship to Ylisse, but she sort of wished he wasn't so stingy. She did another little hop to hear the clanging of her gold and grinned sheepishly when there was scarcely a sound. Perhaps she may have overdid it with the shopping after all. She ran her fingers along the fletching of two dozen new arrows, then shook the small bag of sweets she held. No, it was definitely worth it. She grabbed a small slice just to prove it.

As she walked along the street, she ripped a flyer plastered on a tavern's wall, before realizing belatedly that she probably wasn't supposed to do that. Oh, well. She skimmed its contents and took a bite of her cake slice (chocolate filled with even more chocolate!), looking around as she felt pairs of eyes on her. Seeing no one, she shrugged it off as overexcitement, and continued to peruse the flyer. It seemed there will be a joust later today. How fun! The Chonsinese didn't particularly care for jousting, at least not the version that involved horses (they preferred a sky battle with wyverns), and in festivals they put more importance in combat tournaments. An'zu put another bullet on her to-do list and continued following the… street.

"Ah, not again." 

In spite of her circumstance An'zu had to laugh. This was the ninth time she found herself going to the opposite direction of her destination. Last she looked, the castle was towering over her, just a few feet's walk. Now it was a good couple miles away. She shrugged; it was good to know her abysmal sense of direction didn't just apply to Chon'sin and Rosanne. With a scoff, she picked a direction at random and rounded the first corner she encountered. She expected the streets to be nearly empty at this time, but today there was a lone figure sitting at the corner, being ignored by the few busy people probably setting up for the joust.

"Here you go, mister," An'zu said as she approached him, putting five gold coins in his hand. Strands of his red hair stuck out from his hood, and though she couldn't get a good look at his face, she could tell he was around her age. She stared at her bag of sweets for a long while before grudgingly giving him the biggest slice of cake she had. "That one has fruits inside." 

An'zu waved goodbye, dejectedly muttering something along the lines of "that was the best one." She was just about to continue on what was turning out to be a too-long trip to Castle Ylisstol when she felt the pairs of eyes on her again. An'zu looked around, expecting to see nothing once again, but was greeted by a group of axe-toting ruffians instead. They leered at her as they closed in, spewing crass words she pointedly ignored.

In one swift movement, she managed to grab her bow and nock an arrow, but the ruffians only laughed. "One against six," one of them said. She aimed at him, but he didn't look the least perturbed. He licked his lips and beckoned for his men to move closer. "Not looking too good for you, missy."