XIOBAN EFIALTIS
She was on her knees, seated somewhat helplessly on the ground as she looked around her current position. Her eyebrows were furrowed, lower lip jutting out and trembling slightly as she fought back some tears. She was alone. In a city. Alone--city. These were two words that did not belong in the same thought pattern. Being in a large city such as Barberry was troubling enough and took much courage from the summoner to even bear to walk its streets for a single day of the week. But at least then, she had Xerxes by her side. Even if he was a snarky piece of work, her familiar was her familiar and brought the comfort of home with him. Now that he had left his usual place upon her shoulders, she felt almost abandoned and most certainly lost. She was doing her best to keep herself together but her composure was slipping.
She had spent an hour or so fruitlessly searching around to try and locate Xerxes after he had scampered off. The destruction left behind by the large metal creature was far too disorderly for her to make heads or tails out of and there was no scent for her to follow. And unfortunately, the pandemonium and disjointed movement by the city-goers had marred the scent she perhaps could've hoped to pick up on. All of this compounded with the fact that she had, just until recently, been carried by that... thing... had stacked up and now here she was, on the ground and mewling like a small kitten.
"Murr..." She sniffled, wiping her nose and sighing deeply. A few pattering footsteps from over her shoulder made her tense and she fought the urge to straighten her ears upright in fright. Who was approaching her now? Somewhere in her mind, she could almost see Xerxes having that smug look on his face, reprimanding her for her lack of courage. It was not that she was scared, just... social situations really weren't her thing! And after the invasive looks she had been receiving as she had searched, she couldn't say she was all that eager to try conversing with another.
She saw the edges of the approaching figure's shadow overlap her own, contorting a bit as the person seemed to lean down. "...I believe this belongs to you..." The voice that greeted her ears was low, a bit hardened but definitely a woman's. There was a light clink as she saw a flask being put on the ground out of the corner of her eye. The color of the potion was instantly familiar to her--this was one of hers.
Instantly, she swiveled her eyes to meet the stranger's to see who was going about returning her merchandise. Had she not sold it effectively enough? No one had ever returned anything before...
Yet the woman that fell into her line of vision was most certainly not one of her regulars. She frowned a little as she gazed at the other, trying to place them. Her eyes flickered over the red robes and the long blond hair--yet it was the pointed ears that brought it all together. This was the elf! A bit of color returned to her cheeks as she processed this, chest feeling a bit less constricted. She was alright with elves, elves were kindred spirits. And the posture this woman had wasn't threatening so it would be alright to relax... a little bit.
She looked between her potion bottle and the woman, trying her best to get on her feet. She was proud of her wares and was a bit embarrassed to be caught in the position she was in. Even if she was feeling desolate, she had to do her best to be polite.
"Mew, I'm sorry--I didn't mean to be so rude earlier." She said slowly, raising her eyes to match the gaze of the elf. Judging by the condition of the woman's sleeve, it was evident that her money had gone to good use for repairs. She decided not to bring that up--best to leave that in the past. Xerxes was always causing so much trouble.
She went to take another breath, about to apologize again and take her potion back from off the ground when she was interrupted by... clanking metal. But it was not like the clunks from earlier made by the large metal creature--it sounded different... Yet still off-putting. She looked a bit past the elf with narrowed eyes, pupils dilating into slits once more for more efficient eyesight. She caught sight of guards, still a safe distance from them but they were wandering into the area. She tensed up--why wouldn't they leave her alone? She had done her best to avoid them and they still followed after her!
She slid her eyes back to the elf, unsure of how to proceed without seeming too panicked. "E-Erm..." She stumbled. There wasn't a lot of time and now that she thought on it, staying in one area wasn't that smart either. She still had a fox to find. Mustering up her strength the best she could, she tried to speak to the woman again. There would be no point in trying to think of a lie and besides, those felt tart on her tongue. The elf seemed to be a little flustered herself; perhaps they had something in common--at least for the time being.
The elf noticed the panicked look in the girl's eyes--stranger still how the dilated like a cat's, but she thought better than to bring it up at this time. The clanking grew louder and louder behind her, and she turned her head behind for a brief second to catch a glance of half a dozen armor-clad guardsmen heading in their direction. Her face paled--this day was getting more and more exciting, which was the exact opposite of what she wanted. Had someone alerted the guard about her condition? Did they think she was dangerous? If the vere did notice something... She let out a hurried breath, looking back toward the girl with the cat-eared hat atop her head... although... she shook the thought from her mind; there were more important things that were happening around her, whether or not she wanted them to directly involve her.
"Purrhaps we have a common point of interest?" She suggested the best she could, gesturing towards one of the alleyways. "I do not normally mewr... travel in the streets directly." She didn't want to be too presumptuous, but lingering wouldn't be good for either of them, it seemed. She bent down quickly, depositing her potion into her pouch and taking a few steps forward. She looked over her shoulder to signal to the other woman but again tried her best not to specifically direct. Elves were an independent race, much like her own, and one of the only reasons they had been able live side by side for so long was mutual respect. She squeezed into the alley carefully, working her way around a sharper turn and into a back area of the city.
Still, ducking around behind the scenes... She already knew her weakness for getting lost, especially when she was stressed. She looked behind her again to make sure the elf was still following her and stopped gradually, regarding the woman.
"You don't... happen to mind fur, do you?" She asked shyly, trying not to scare the woman off too much with the question. With as touchy as things were, the wrong combination of words would be enough to make either of them feel distinctly uncomfortable. She closed her eyes, focusing on the feel of her familiar and reaching out towards Xerxes.
Hopefully he would be able to sense her plea for assistance. She really didn't want to be here any longer.