When the pair reached the gate, They noticed the large entrance they had come through when they arrived at the town had a large wooden door slid in front of it. To the right of the gate was a very small wooden hut, a faint grunting noise floated towards them from the hut, growing louder as they approached. A gruff looking Orakin with dark black circles under his eyes was sitting on a wooden stool. He leaned against the side of the hut with his head lolling on his shoulder, his mouth was wide open and loud snores floated past his tusks every few moments. “Uhh, Hey Mister” Silvenya squeaked rather loudly as she prodded the pain in the side. He woke with a start, his hand reached for his battle ax but instead grasped a shabby looking umbrella which he brandished in the air as she shouted “Oi, Bandits!!!” before Blinking and looking at two women standing in front of him. “ Oh.. ye ain’t bandits” he said sleepily “are ye?” he added suspiciously, eyeing Zuula up and down. “No! we arnt bandits, im a Kejeek and my friend Zuuly is a Equillre, and we want to go out side so we can sleep, because Zuuly doesn’t like inside places and I don’t mind sleeping on the ground could you open the gate for us so we can get out so we can sleep out side?” Silvenya smiled innocently up at the man as she stared rather perplexed down at her. He Grunted and shook his head “I aint to be openin’ this door at night missy. Bandits could get in, ya see? Sorry ‘bout tha’. It’s the inn or an alley for ye two.” He waved his hand in Silvenyas face dismissively “Now be on ye way.”
Zuula sighed and turned back toward the town. “Don’t worry I can handle sleeping in an inn if we have to,” she reassured her friend. “Lets just get one with a window so we have fresh air.”
Silvenya led the way back to the bar they had met the desert kejeek in, next store they found a small inn. The innkeep was a Rakaphit with slate grey fur. She was missing her left ear, and her right eye, and her breasts were far too large to seem possible. They spilled out over the top of a dirty bodice and had a very old tattoo of a jolly roger half hidden in the fur above them. She smiled at the pair as they walked in, and it became obvious she was also missing several teeth. Silvenya plodded up to the counter, which was build for a much taller patron, she stood on toes to look over it and spoke. “Good Evening miss. We are looking for a place to sleep tonight. We wanted to sleep out side but the sleeping orakin said that we could because he thought we were bandits and he didn’t want to open the gate cause bandits could get in. so we want to sleep here. Can we have one of your rooms please. With a window. It has to have a window please, cause Zuuly doesn’t like inside places.”
The rough looking woman stared down at the newt girl for a few moments in shock and then scratched the spot where her ear used to be “Yeah, what ever you want doll face” she said in a hoarse voice. She reached under the counter and grabbed a large tarnished key. “2 Silver” she demanded holding the key up. Silvenya rummaged through a pouch and dropped the money in front of the rakaphit. The Woman picked up the coins and eyed them for a moment before plunging her hand into her cleavage. When she pulled her paw back out the money had disappeared. She tossed the key at Silvenya “up the stairs, to the left, room 5.” She smiled at them again, and turned around to a roll of parchment, where she began scribbling, seemingly forgetting about the two people behind her.
Zuula followed the little newt girl a little reluctantly into the inn and stood behind her the whole time fidgeting slightly. She kept shooting glances around her at the walls that closed her off from the world she loved. When Silvenya got the key to their room Zuula followed meekly until her friend pulled the door open. She ignored the room all together and ran straight to the window throwing it open and thrust her head out sucking in the sweet fresh air. “This should be fine,” Zuula called over her shoulder. “Just give me a minute and I’ll be okay.”
The room wasn’t as dirty as the inn keep but it was close. There was a water basin in the corner, full of water that Silvenya very much did not want to bath in, next to that was a Chair and a three legged table, though one of the legs was considerably shorter than its mates. There was only one bed in the room it was large enough for one very big person, or two very small ones. It stood against the far wall, in the center of the room, and had an old rusted chest at the foot. Silvenya went over to the bed and leaned against it. It slid slightly across the floor. The newt girl, using the sticky pads on the bottom of her feet, pushed the bed as hard as she could. ‘Zuuly, move!” She shouted, and when the Equillre cleared the way, Silvenya pushed the light bed right up against the window. She stood and panted for a few moments before clambering onto the mattress and shoving One of the Pillows right up against the window. She then turned and plopped down on her tail, grinning up at her companion.
Zuula yawned and lay down besides Silvenya. She was so tall her legs stuck out over the edge of the bed but she didn’t mind. She had always had an easy time getting comfortable in whatever position she was in. Her head was under the open window and she could see the night sky through it just by laying on her back. “Thank you,” she mumbled to Silvenya. “You’re so sweet.”
Silvenya climbed down from the bed, and unstrapped her harness, she laid all her belongings down on the chest, that had been at the foot of the bed, and know stood alone in the center of the room. After pulling out a cloth and canteen of water from the creek, she rubbed her entire body down until she was comfortable moist, and she climbed back into the bed careful to stay on the edge and not invade her friends space. The newt girl yawned wide, and licked both of here eyeballs before letting her lids droop closed sleepily. “It was cut off” Silvenya said in an almost dazed tone. “When I was young, back home, after school, a group of kids cornered me in the school yard and they held me down while two boys used a knife and cut off the end of my tail. They told me they were going to feed it to the monster that lives in the swamp so that he would have a taste for my blood and the next month he came to feed instead of eating the sacrifice he would find me and eat me instead…” Silvenya shivered slightly at the memory, she pulled her knees up to her chest, and hugged herself into a ball as she settled down to sleep.
Zuula had a restless night filled with strange dreams of elephants and lizards swimming in a black ocean. Zabin was there and she was saying something important to her. They strolled through the black ocean and Zabin seemed to talk for days and days. In the end her friend gave her a hug and Zuula woke up with no memory of what had been said. Morning had come and she was still in the inns bed with Silvenya curled up beside her. She sat up and set her totems up on the windowsill calling her spirits and giving her thanks all the time keeping her eyes on the bright beautiful day. When she had finished her ritual Zuula packed her totems away again and leaned down to wake the slumbering kejeek. “Good morning Sil,” she nudged her shoulder gently. “Time to wake up.”
One large Blue eye slowly opened, Silvenya peered up Curiously, wonder who would be waking her up, when she saw Zuulas white fur nearly glowing in the morning sun light that was pouring in through the window, the newt girls other eye shot right open and she sat up excitedly. ‘Good Morning Zuuly!” Silvenya chittered, not a single not of sleepiness in her voice. She sprang out of bed and began her morning routine. “How did you sleep? Was the window okay? I moved the bed over near the window cause you don’t like inside places. I tried to stay on my side of the bed, I hope I didn’t bother you too much. What do you want for breakfast? I wonder if they sell bugs here, all I have had in days is berries and roots and leave. Some bugs would be really good. Do you eat bugs. I like Caterpillars. Are we going to help those desert kejeek we met in the bar last night? I wonder what they want us to do. Do you think they liked me?”
Zuula scrunched up her face. “Bugs,” she said disgustedly before breaking into a giggle. “I don’t know. I only eat fruits and vegetables and don’t worry about sides of the bed. I don’t mind if you cross over to my side and thanks for the window.” Zuula stood up and stretched luxuriating in the feel of the sun on her fur and trying to block out the walls pressing in around her. “We can go help those kejeek but that isn’t till tonight and if you still want to go into the desert we need supplies. We’ll go shopping for a few hours and then go meet the kejeek.”
“Yeah, Bugs! I like caterpillars.” Silvenya nodded as Zuula spoke, after her soft skin was suffisently damp, the kejeek slipped her leather harness on made sure everything was in order. “Should we leave the bed there or should we push it back to the center of the room. Are we going to sleep here again tonight? Do you think the nice Rakaphit woman will be upset with us if we leave the bed against the window?” Silvenya made her way towards the door, smiling up at her friend as she spoke.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Zuula mumbled to Silvenya as they walked back into the narrow hallway. She rushed through the narrow wooden coffin and out into the entrance room managing to wave at the rakaphit woman behind the front desk on her way out. She came to a halt just outside the door basking in the clear sunny day and waiting for Silvenya to catch up.
Silvenyas head tilted to the side in confusion as she watched Zuulas short tail disappear down the stairs. She followed after her, and hopped down the stairs. She dropped the room key on the counter and smiled up at the innkeep. “Thanks for the room. I don’t know if we will need a room tonight. Maybe not, Zuuly doesn’t like sleeping inside, so tonight we will go outside and sleep tonight. Thanks for the room last night though. Have a good day!” The woman looked down at Silvenya, nonplussed and just nodded. The newt girl made her way outside and stood next to the much taller woman, accidently bumping into Zuulas hip as she came to a halt. “What do we need to go into the desert? How are we going to carry a lot of water. You said you wont be able to get a lot of ground water in the desert. Do you think the desert kejeek are going to want us to go into the desert? I wonder what they want us to do.”
“I’m not sure,” Zuula shrugged. “They’ll tell us tonight. But until then we have things to do.” She led Silvenya to the main drag where all the stalls where situated. There were merchants everywhere hocking their goods from attractive looking stalls. “So we’re going to need canteens, lots of them. The advantage of being so big is I’m pretty strong, I can carry a lot of water though if we can find them enchanted to carry more or be lighter that’d be good. Waters the most important thing so we might as well get the best we can for it. Next we’ll need loose clothes that’ll cover us completely and protect us from the sun. We also need food and normal travel supplies.”
Silvenya nodded determinately “Water.” She said, and looked up at Zuula “Right. Let’s see.. “She wandered away from the equillre towards a stand with Potions bottles lined up all along the table. At that moment, a Fancy looking stall towards the center of the market, started shouting about an amazing deal on enchanted jewelry. People streamed towards the noise, and in the shuffle, Silvenya was hidden from Zuulas sight, by the time the crowd has died down again, the newt girl seemed to have vanished.
Zuula waited till the crowd parted patiently not expecting anything to happen till it dissipated and the newt girl was nowhere to be seen. Her height was to her advantage allowing her a bird’s eye view of the surrounding area. Sadly her friend was nowhere to be seen on the street and after a few minutes of searching Zuula decided that she was big and white, only topped by a few bal’alkerii, if Silvenya wanted to she’d find her. In the meantime Zuula had things to do and set out to find canteens.
A couple hours after the two friends parted ways in the market square, Silvenya came up quietly behind Zuula. She tugged on the equillres tail to get her attention. “Zuuly Zuuly look” in Silvenyas hand was the leather handle of a leash, which was attached to a large humped creature who stood behind the newt girl, looking rather bored. “Zuuly, I bought this camel, it cost almost all my money, but they kejeek that sold him to be said that camels could hold enough water to cross the desert. So I bought this camel, hes furry like you, but not as soft. And hes got that cool hump on his back. Since he can hold so much water, we will have all the water we need while we are in the desert right?” Silvenya looked up hopefully at her companion, and gave a small tug on the leash, urging the Camel to take a step towards Zuula.
“That’s a really good idea,” Zuula smiled at the beast and patted his snout. “Hello friend. I got more than enough canteens for us both, I was worried we wouldn’t be able to carry them all but you’re friend changes that. I also got food and this.” She held up a small glass cylinder with a compass like needle in the center pointed to the southeast. A small plaque at the base read Caratuk. “This is called a log-post it’s enchanted to always point to a town so you don’t get lost in the desert. I didn’t get clothes cause I don’t know your size. So what do you want to name your camel?”
“Name him? Doesn’t he always have a name? Do you speak his language? How do you get the water out of him? I don’t wear cloths, I like my harness, cloths always dry out my skin and I don’t like being dry I like being damp.” The camel spit in the dirt between the two women, and then started to sniff Zuulas hair. “What do camels eat? Do you think he likes caterpillars? Do they have caterpillars in the desert? What time is it? Should we go see those Kejeek soon?”
“You don’t get water out of him,” Zuula giggled. “He carries water and other supplies on his back. I can’t speak to camels you’ll have to figure out a name. And I think he eats grass.” She led the way to a vender selling the loose fitting robes that would completely cover the two women’s body in the desert. Zuula looked at them with trepidation but was at least pleased to see there was a wide selection and the clothes were quite pretty. “You know I feel the same way about clothes you do. I hate wearing them. But you’re skin will dry out even faster in the sun. If you go out in the sun unprotected you’re skin will dry out until it cracks and starts falling off of you.”
“But the nice Kejeek man said he would hold lots and lots of water when we went into the desert” Silvenya looked downhearted at the news. “Do they have grass in the desert? I really don’t like cloths, but I don’t want my skin to fall off.” Her voice sounded horrified. She looked over the cloths laid out on the stall counter. She wrinkled her nose and poked at a few of the fabrics, then looked up at Zuula for advice.
Zuula and Silvenya each tried on a set of desert robes. Their inexperience with clothing lead to problems as Silvenya tried hers on backwards and Zuula’s big butt ripped through a robe that was too small for her. After getting their outfits right and paying for damages they left with their purchases in their bags. After discussing what to name the camel a bit more Zuula suggested the name Jug since Silvenya believed he would be full of water.
Silvenya sat bolt upright, her head snapped to the left adn then to right, her bug eyes peering at her surroundings. they her stare turned towards Zuula dn the small newt girl sprang to her feet/ "morning Zuuly, How did you sleep? you like sleeping outside. The ground was pretty comfortable. Good morning, What do you want for breakfast?!
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