World Tree MUSH

A lone figure stalks along the desert sand, dragging behind them is a long wooden club, held loosely in one hand as it carves a narrow path through the soil along side them. From far away, they are indestinct... a shadow, really. It might as well even be a ghost. As they get closer, however... not many ghosts have long blonde hair and are wearing what look like a sabrecat bikini! Just who could it be?!

"Awww... Ayla spend so much time in desert, when will it end??"

The cavwoman blinks as she gets to the gates of Kaipo, having spotted the walled oasis city from far off and headed towards it--having spied the glistening pools some distance away. She wiped sweat from her brow and hiked the club over her shoulder, strolling right into town, dust and sand flaking from her gray furry boots and the long feline tail scarf hanging down behind her, like she actually had one herself.

While Ayla would have announced herself back in her homeland, she knew not to do this here--it would just attract attention, usually the unwanted kind. But damn--who could tell her where the food and booze was here?!

Within the walls of Kaipo are numerous travelers intermixed with the locals. It is often easy to tell the difference, as those living in the desert tend to dress in lighter clothes and have sun-bronzed skin. They look nothing at all like the Great Sage of Mysidia, who happens to walking the streets of Kaipo with his cane. He has taken his scarf and wrapped it mostly about his forehead and neck to protect his skin from the bright sun, though it does nothing for the heat.

His attention is briefly turned to the entrance of the town when Ayla makes her appearance, causing him to do a double-take. A traveler, to be sure. But how many travelers carry a club and are scarcely clothed to begin with?

He adjusts the dark shades over his eyes. Curiosity gets the better of him, and he starts to make his way over to a point that is equidistant between himself and Ayla: the community fountain. He waves his cane in an attempt to get her attention while getting to the cool water where out-of-town caravans first visit to hydrate.

     From one desert to another, Krystal leaves Fox's desert home planet of Papetoon and a few vines later finds herself in yet another. "Yay, another desert, at least I'm still dressed for it..." She comments, as she's wearing a white loincloth with a golden colored line and a row of upward facing triangles along the bottom, a pair of white sandals, and a golden brown bikini top with a row of downward triangles. Also of note, her staff, collapsed down, is held at her back. 

     Looking around a moment, she is relieved as she spots a city a short distance away, and begins walking toward it. As she nears the gates, she notices Ayla, and before long her gaze is drawn by movement to Tellah, as the sage waves his staff around. Not knowing either of them however, she stays quiet and just moves closer to the gate for the moment.

"Ah! Old man, you are elder here? where trading post at--Ayla hungry!" the gray-bikini'd woman was soon to notice Tellah's staring and approach him. She sounds a bit to the point and demandy-sandy, but she does offer him a friendly grin with ivory teeth. Plus the long blonde curly hair looks like something from a shampoo commercial--somehow it remained shiny and lovely even in the harsh desert sun. Yeah, Ayla is very much not normal, but that's kind of the point with her. As she approaches she does notice the water source beside Tellah soon enough, taking a moment to splash some water over her face--which of course also winds up splashing over her chest, as well. Whoops.

"Bwuh, I Ayla, of Ioka! Who you be?" she sounds like she's definitely ESL, at that. Not dimwitted, just she grew up speaking something that is quite different than English.

As Krystal approaches however, she blinks and jumps up. Blue fox woman out of freaking nowhere!

"Watch out, giant fox on two legs!" Ayla raised her large club up, as if to defend Tellah from Krystal.

There is a lot to process in a short amount of time. First is the language barrier between Ayla and Tellah that he'll have to carefully navigate. Next is the questions that he has been tasked to answer on her behalf. Following is that Ayla already took advantage of the fountain before Tellah could explain that she could use it to quench thirst and feel less burned by the sun.

And finally, there is the situation that must be de-escalated as she puts herself between him and the newest arrival: a bipedal animal.

"I am Tellah. Do not attack," he says simply, planting his cane into the sand-gapped stone at his side. He lifts one set of thin and gnarled fingers to adjust his glasses as he looks at Krystal, as well as her cane. He makes some appreciative noise before returning his attention to Ayla.

     Krystal blinks as Ayla suddenly turns on her and defensively raises her club while stating that she was something to watch out for. Krystal does not reach for her power staff, at least not yet. She acts quickly however, attempting to exude a calm, soothing emotion to Ayla's mind through her telepathy powers, while speaking to her in a calm, gentle tone. "I am Krystal, and I'm not here to hurt anyone, please lower the club." She offers with a nod and a smile toward Tellah as the sage moves to get between herself and Ayla.

Ayla's eyes slowly roved to the old man behind her, as he simply stated do not attack. She might have been thinking, yeesh, what was old man thinking?? Really big fox woman with poofy tail--

Of course, then Krystal reaches out to her with her telepathy. Hnnngh. That was an... interesting feeling that she just got, to be sure--wincing as she bit her lower lip and one of her eyes half-shut.

"Kuh--Krystal? How do I know your name?" she shook her head a bit, lowering her weapon and letting the weight of it rest against the stone pavement, more leaning on it than hefting it now.

"You speak without words? A shaman?" she looked back to Tellah, gaze darting between the two.

"You two know eachother?"

"We do not know eachother," says Tellah as he takes a few more steps to put himself alongside Ayla. "But I can tell the difference between an immediate threat and someone who is trying to get out of the desert." His tone is not condescending, but it is terse. He is probably sick of the desert himself.

Clutching his cane, he gestures to Krystal and then continues to speak, "She came through the entrance as you did, without stealth or cunning. An enemy would not pass through in broad daylight." And since he didn't get the opportunity to explain before to Ayla, it would seem possible that he gets to share the pertinent information with Krystal.

"The fountain is for everyone. If you need water, drink from it. If you have a waterskin, you should fill it." He looks back over to Ayla, "Do you feel better?"

     "I'm not a shaman, I'm a telepath, a mind speaker, I was trying to calm you down, because I really don't want to fight you." Krystal explains, trying to speak as simply and clearly as possible as she could tell the woman's English wasn't stellar. Nodding as Tellah says they didn't know each other. 

     "I've only met a few people since I discovered the vines, and since I've never been here before, I doubt I know anyone here. I'm happy to meet you both, and as for the fountain, that is good to know. I should probably buy myself a canteen or water-skin if I'm going to be running into deserts this much." She offers with a chuckle, before making her way over to the fountain, washing her face as Ayla did, and drinking a moment from her cupped hands.

"How it can survive with fur like that?" Ayla still wasn't entirely convinced that there wasn't something abnormal about a blue fox woman that speak with her mind, apparently--if that's what was happening. "Huh? Ayla feel fine--no drying up in the desert like a lizard for Ayla!" she jerked a thumb back towards herself, then turned her attention back to Krystal.

"Tele...? Oh," she seemed to sort of get it once Krystal explained, nodding her head slowly with a solemn expression.

"You take portal too? oh! Like Ayla! That's how she get to big desert, yeah," what a nice fox and old man, and she'd almost turned the former into a blue smear on the sidewalk, jeez--she has to cool it, she must think to herself.

As Krystal moved over to the fountain, Ayla watched the fox drink with her hands and elongated muzzle, pondering. Slowly she moved over too and repeated the same action. Neither lady has any idea if Tellah is still staring, likely!

"So what Tellah do? he live here?" she looks back at the old man and his dark spectacles.

Tellah is not staring. Such would be impolite. Really, now.

Tellah would drink from the fountain himself, but having access to indoor quarters in Kaipo means that he has been kept cool and well-watered. Except for the frequent visits to the chamberpot, he has been fine.

"Telepathy," he repeats out loud. That explains the sudden change in Ayla's disposition when facing Krystal. He shifts his weight, planting his cane back into the ground once more. He waits for the cave girl to resurface from the fountain before he says, "You wanted the trading post? There are trades in that direction," he says, gesturing with his free hand in one direction. "There is an inn that way as well if you want to rest."

     "How can I survive?" Krystal repeats Ayla's question incredulously. "Are you wondering how I don't overheat with fur, or if having blue fur is somehow something that should be dangerous to my health?" She requests clarification from Ayla after she's done drinking from the fountain. She then recalls that Ayla had asked about a trading post, and that she was hungry. 

     "Didn't you say you were hungry Ayla? I could go for a bite myself actually..." She states as she turns toward Tellah, wondering if the man knew the area well enough that he would know where one could get some food around here, only for the man to list off a few places. "Is this the kind of inn where you can order food as well, or are we better off finding a different place for that?"

"Oh? you know where they are, Tellah-old man?" she seemed to have conjoined his name with what she was calling him before, a grin as she looked over at him. She might have been giving him the business just a bit, too, if one can believe it.

"Ayla would like to eat, soon--but can wait before then--yeah! How do you not get too hot!" she looks back at Krystal.

"Where Ayla come from--big animals with fur, like tiger--sleep all day in cave, then come out at night to hunt! They don't like the hot sun!" she nods a little, a hand on her hip.

"Sure, maybe Tellah come with us and show us?" she smiled a little, putting on a little charm so the old man may feel compelled to come with them to where the food was at--likely, this would be at the inn, really--if anything. 'Trading post' was just the closest thing Ayla knew to a shop. The big market in Eden had been similar, after all.

"The inn can provide food as well as a place to stay," explains Tellah as he lifts the cane back out from the dirt. He gestures again in the direction where all good things seem to await.

"I will make sure that you get to where it is, but I cannot join you. There is too much to do, simply too much." Whatever it is a wizened Sage like himself has to do, he isn't forthcoming with whatever it is.

He starts to move in the direction of the inn, his gait surprisingly fluid for someone his age. The cane is not even used to help him walk.

     Krystal laughs a bit as Ayla does clarify the question. "Well, yes I am hot, probably hotter than you are, but I'm not in danger of dying. This is not my first time in the desert, in fact I just came from a planet which is mostly desert. As long as I drink enough I'll be fine." She offers as if to reassure Ayla. 

     As Tellah confirms that the inn does indeed have food, and then even starts heading that way, she moves to follow. "Well then, let's go get some food, and we can check in for a room at the same time, how efficient." She comments with a chuckle.

"Ahh... Old Man busy, huh?" Ayla sighs a little and shrugs, popping the joints in her neck as she props her club back over her shoulder and begins to walk with them. "It's okay, Ayla will see you again soon likely," she blows the old man a kiss as they arrive at their destination, apparently to signal 'goodbye' to him. Ayla has a bit of a coy way of saying goodbye, it would seem, but at least it's friendly!

"Sorry about before, Ayla thought you were... monster? fiend? In Ayla's world we have dino-men--they're always trying to hurt Ayla's tribe," she sighed again. Her eyes travel downwards to Krystal's long and poofy tail, however, again. She seemed fascinated by it, at first--though she might have been wondering if she fanned herself with it, or something.

"You're not... cat, you're something else? dog? wolf?" she began to ask. They apparently did not have vulpine creatures where she came from!

     Krystal waves to Tellah. "Thanks for giving us directions, it was nice meeting you too." She expresses gratefully, while hoping she might see the man around another time. For now she listens to Ayla, smiling softly as she apologizes and then asks what she is. 

    "It's alright, I guess if you haven't seen anything like me before, I might be scary, though I think you were just trying to protect Tellah, which is noble of you. Anyway, I'm a fox, sort of like a wolf, but generally a little smaller, and as you can see, with a fluffier tail. I believe most foxes, in my universe or otherwise, are reddish brown, but on the planet I come from, they are blue, or they were, my planet is gone, and as far as I know, I'm the only survivor."

"You not scary--not once I hear you talk. Was just strange--hearing you speak without words, in Ayla's mind," the cavewoman peered over at Krystal again, looking down at the tail again. Experimentally, she reached out and pat along it--like she was carressing the fur of a large dog. It had to be said that Some social norms were different where Ayla came from. Personal space was one of them. She might not even realize she was doing something that was considered impolite until Krystal looked back at her!

"Hmm? Oh--sorry!" she pulled her hand away, though she tried to distract with listening to the story.

"So they not just blue? Ah, so like wolf," she nodded with a grin of affirmation.

     Krystal smiles as Ayla states how she has accepted her as nice, just strange. She was about to say something when Ayla reached over to pat her tail. For a brief moment she had an instinctual thought that the woman was about to grab her tail, and she tensed up, but as Ayla was pretty gentle, she relaxed, though she was a little embarrassed by it all. She chuckles as Ayla apologizes. "It's alright I guess. I know you must be curious. But yes, not blue." She says as she looks up at Ayla a bit. "I like your hair, the curls are pretty."

Ayla would never just grab a tail like that! She knows better than that--grabbing something by the tail is only for when it's trying to scramble away and you're trying to drag it back--but it's still a great opportunity for whatever it is to turn and bite. She'd seen a man lose his whole forearm that way.

"Oh! It's okay--thanks. Ayla also like your hair--it blue too," she nodded, stepping a little closer.

"Krystal hunt with spear? I see it on your back," she nodded, gesturing to Krystal as she got into the inn. From here she'd likely fork over a large gold piece for something of a ploughman's lunch--tankard of beer, bread, piece of cheese--a pickle or maybe some boiled eggs along with it.

     "Thanks." Krystal responds with a smile as Ayla compliments her hair also. When Ayla asks about her spear, she shakes her head a bit. "Well, I don't really hunt like that, usually buy my food, but it serves me well for when I need to defend myself. It can extend to be a little bit longer than my height, and do a lot of other things, like shoot energy blasts to hit something from a distance." After Ayla orders, she follows, ordering a beef stew along with some bread, and decides to have a beer as well.

"Oh, you're not from a tribe then, like me--family, right?" Ayla nodded a little, taking a break to drink more or less half the tankard of beer right down as she was listening to Krystal. After that stuff hit her system, it seemed like high time for a pleasant nap.

"Yawwwwn~ Ayla kinda tired after walking all day through the desert, she'll be here for a while if you want to talk more," she hopped down from the counter and would bow her head to Krystal befor eheading to flop down in one of the beds.