Elongated shadows were cast everywhere as Destin made his way back to town, the quiet of the morning heavily contrasting the current booming activity. Streets were crowded and there was hustle and bustle everywhere as people went about their daily activities, from working to shopping to begging. It wasn't uncommon for a beggar or two to come up to Destin as he attempted to return to the tavern he originally started the day in, but one fierce look was enough to scare off everyone but the most desperate from his presence. While the man didn't look particularly wealthy, an adventurer needed a good stock of coin at all times to survive. Still, he fairly effortlessly waded through the crowd, finally reaching his destination after some mild inconveniences.
The tavern was about as lively as the outside, if not more. Now that all the drunkards had woken up and with the tournament tomorrow, some of the wealthier addicts decided to spend away the night drinking, only slightly more than they usually would. Some of the men and women tried to rope Destin into their drinking games, no doubt to scam him into buying them free drinks. Unfortunately for them, Destin had no time for alcohol as his mind needed to stay clear for a little while longer. After all, he needed to reconvene at the arena with lord Ignis. As for what he came to do in the tavern...
"Two meals."
Destin had walked up to the counter, leaned over and spoken without missing a beat. He even held up his two fingers briefly, looking the owner in the eyes. Said owner was a man as muscular as Destin, browned and cleaning out one of the tankards with a wet cloth. They nodded once, yelling the order into a nearby room with a deep and gruffy voice. Then the owner pointed to one of the tables where some drunkards just got up and left with the local help cleaning up their mess. Destin went over and took a seat, once again ignoring the laughter and cries of some of the other men in this tavern. Not too long after his order was placed, Destin received two plates filled with various fish as well as two loaves of stale bread. He tossed the coin to the local tavern wench as payment, then dug into his food. The fish were as salty as the waters they came from and the bread was unappetizing, but the man wasn't looking for a tasty meal. He simply needed some sustenance to feed himself with, with the tavern being the easiest way to get that.
Perhaps it was because of them being too busy causing a ruckus, but the local drunkards did not seem to be so interested in Destin now that he was eating. In fact, all the attention went to two blubbernaughts who decided to start arm wrestling, sweat pouring down from their reddened faces. Neither of them was willing to give an inch, but both of them looked like they couldn't even lift a sack of grains. It made for an amusing sight, but eventually one won out over the other, the crowd erupting into cheers and jeers for winner and loser. The man who won seemed to take notice of Destin's staring, a smug grin forming on their face. Destin remained unamused as the gravitationally challenged behemoth decided to sit at his own table, with his little squad of hecklers following suit.
"Ahn wha weh you lookin' at?"
Destin didn't bother to reply as he tossed the last piece of stale bread into his own mouth, getting up and ready to leave. Jeers came from the crowd and the gluttonus maximus that took a seat stood up alongside Destin, face even redder than what it was in the little pole measuring competition from earlier.
"Ah askd yu ah question!"
Once again Destin ignored this man as he turned and decided to walk through the door, only coming to a halt when he felt a chubby hand grab his shoulder.
"Ah yu lookin' fer a fight?!" the humongous tomato behind Destin asked.
"Yes. In the arena."
Destin's reply sent the crowd roaring with laughter, and the only reason he wasn't hit with a flabby punch is because one of the other drunks decided to sober up a little and urge their 'friend' to let it go, leaving the little arm-wrestling champion to go back to his table and chug down the rest of his ale, Destin leaving amidst the confusion. He wasn't going to get into a tavern brawl, he had better things to do with his time. He continued further into town towards the only part of it that people truly cared about that day, and the day after: The arena.
What awaited him, however, was not the sight he was expecting. His companion in arms was dancing among some Ashar dancer who was showing off a little too much skin for his taste. The dance itself did not interest Destin much as it was nearing conclusion anyway, but he had to wonder if it was a wise idea for the little mage to be freely showing off her magic like that. After all, this was the time that gladiators came to register for the tournament. She could be giving away her role before the fight even began. Then there was another familiar figure Destin noticed. The roguish lad from earlier, the one who's tongue contained so much silver you could sell it as jewelry. He looked to be enjoying the show, leaving the veteran warrior to wonder if these new companions of his were taking their new team less seriously than they should.
Destin decided to watch the dance through to the end anyway, just so he could keep an eye on Harper and Kailea. They approached lord Ignis as soon as the dance was over, with the boy clearly trying his best not to blush. The older man was about to approach the trio as well when something seemed to catch Endar's eye, enough to make him recoil and step back. Destin decided to follow their gaze and found out that it was because of a Beast, a naga to be precise, which did not look amused at all. Then again, the man who stood behind the naga looked even less amused- they stared at this creature as if it had insulted their mother. Considering the comment echoing in the silence afterwards, that guess might not be so far off.
This looked to be another amusing sight.
After her encounter with Endar, Yasu was allowed to rest up a little. She'd been advised to stay in the hall as the lord was about to depart soon anyway, so she did. She didn't put on her cloak again while she was there- she didn't have anything left to hide after all. She wandered around and observed the decorations- in particular, the tapestry. It was wonderfully woven and looked incredibly soft, even if it was only meant to hang from a wall. They each tried to depict one scene of something- the people's legends most likely. However, none of these tales seemed familiar to the harpy girl. They all showed creatures she'd never seen before- scaly like a lizard but larger than an ancient tree. They spewed fire and were coloured everything from green to black. These creatures fought against humans, or at least it looked like they were fighting. Knights wearing helmets that covered their faces rushed at them with all sorts of armaments, but the next tapestry over showed that they all failed to slay the creature. A mountain of bodies piled up, with only a single unhelmed knight rising from the dirt.
This knight was shown again in the next tapestry, drinking from a golden cup which was located on some kind of altar. The walls around it looked like what Yasu imagined to be the interior of a building in Ashar. As he drank, the altar had moved revealing a staircase downwards, leading into a room with a glowing sword stuck into a rock. On the final tapestry, this man was now wielding the sword and stood on a hill facing three of the beasts from earlier, an army rallied behind him with their banners held high. The unhelmed knight was pointing his sword towards the creatures and had an open mouth, looking like he was rallying for battle. Unfortunately, since this was the final piece, Yasu could not see the outcome of this encounter. She wondered if this was how the story ended, or if lord Endar had simply forgotten to commission the final piece...
Not that Yasu was given the chance to think for much longer. Endar had called to her soon after she finished looking at the story, asking her if she was ready to head out. The girl quickly covered herself in her cloak again before heading out, making sure to stick close to Endar as they were on the way to town. At some point, however, she'd lost track of him and gotten separated, leaving the frail girl to wander town on her own. She hadn't actually entered town yet, the streets being unfamiliar to her. She was too afraid to ask anyone for directions, but a bit of common sense helped deduce that the crowd would get larger when she got closer. So, deciding to follow the people, Yasu made her way to the arena.
When she did arrive, she was met with a rather... ugly sight. The crowd that had parted for the passing beast contained the harpy girl, her eyes trailing the naga who passed her by. Because Yasu was hidden inside of her cloak, she'd hoped that they wouldn't have noticed her. Yasu had never seen a naga before, but she had heard tales about them. Tales of their venom, tales of how they liked to hunt harpies. How they were more monster than people. That not only their appearance was that of a snake's- their personalities were too. It scared the girl- it scared her to think that if she revealed herself to this creature that it would gobble her up. So, she shrank inside the crowd, moreso than anyone else. Her heart sank when a man walked outside of the crowd and decided to toss a bone at the creature's head. Yasu quickly pulled her hood on tighter, getting her some odd looks from the people around her. Nobody dared to speak a word though.
She didn't want a fight to break out here, not now. She just wanted to be able to run to Endar, hide behind him. He was the only person she knew, but the naga was between her and him. Not only that, but if she accidentally gave away her heritage, this man might try to attack her too. He was a scary person- he probably wouldn't think twice to beat up a frail harpy like herself...
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