Two Years Past|Humontis

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"It's time to move on, Amano," Emeli was insisting. The two-sign horse-Beast was standing over her boss, fists on her hips, a hoof tapping impatiently on the floor of Amano's wagon. "Whatever happened to him, it's obvious he won't be back. Look, I know you miss him, because we all do. He was one of our best. I miss choreographing for him. But you know as well as I do that we have to move on. If we stay here, eventually people will get tired of paying for our plays and throw us out anyway. We will stagnate if you don't give us the order to move out. Or some of us might leave anyway. We'll hate to leave those who'll stay, but still!"

"One more week, Emeli," Amano wearily requested, running a hand through his graying hair. "Give me one more week before I give the order."

The Beast softened. "One week," she quietly agreed.

[Northen Light36]

Acqua grimaces as she and Da'cien step out into the city of Humontis. It was a long, exhusting trip through the beastlands and even though Da'cien windwalked them as much as possible, they had to spend some of the last week walking on the ground, their feet and legs cut and scratched from the rough landscape.

"Where to, Da'cien?" Acqua asks tiredly. Filthy, hungry and exhusted, clinging to her cat, Acqua looks even younger then ever. Her mind drifts longingly towards the guild, where she might be able to clean up a little.

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Da'cien looked around curiously; something about this area was twigging his memory, and he couldn't think why. "Well, I should think we would be finding civilization soon, and when we do, I'll entertain for baths, food and beds," he mentioned, reaching up to run a hand through his hair, then frowning at himself. He had hacked off the majority of his red mane once the filth had gotten to it, and sacrificed most of it for snares and kindling. The habit of fussing with his hair was still lingering, however.

He sighed, rubbing his eyes, and blinked to clear his vision-

And froze. "Oh Forces," Da'cien breathed, staggering. "Is that.... Acqua, tell me you can see a rainbow of wagons too!"

[Northen Light36]

Acqua follows Da'cien's gaze. Not understanding why he's so excited, she nods. "Yeah. Looks like something my brother would love to see," she replies softly, feeling a sudden pang of homesickness. "Why?"

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Da'cien voiced a scream of joy so loud it scared Faith half to death, and he bolted forward, sprinting through the grasses. "EVERYONE! EVERYONE, I'M BACK!" he bellowed, touching his signs for greater amplification. "IT'S ME! IT'S DA'CIEN LYRA!"

And suddenly, the wagons exploded with people running to greet him, shouting his name and embracing him, crying in out in joy.

The Flights Of Fancy Troupe was a close-knit bunch; to lose one of their own was like losing a vital organ. To suddenly regain a "brother" who was thought lost was like being being touched by Efil.

[Northen Light36]

Acqua takes a steps back, watching the reunion with mixed emotions. Gladness, jealousy and a longing for her own family all mix within her as she soothes Faith. Uncertain of her welcome in this group, Acqua sighes deeply, tightens her grip and turns to walk away.

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"Hey you!" someone shouted after her, and the someone followed their voice by galloping -literally- towards Acqua to grab her arm. "Wait a minute! Don't run off," Emeli said quickly, sizing the girl up. "Wow, you're lucky I saw you. You need help and we're the place to get it."

She grinned and started pulling the thief towards the wagons.

[Northen Light36]

Too tired and bemused to protest, Acqua follows Emeli as quickly as her torn up feet will allow.

~Relax kitten,~ Faith soothes. ~If nothing else, you might get a meal before we move on. With winter coming, hunting will be poor and we've a long way to go.~ Acqua gives a small nod in response.

[Deleted]

Emeli brought Acqua into the camp just in time to see Amano take Da'cien's face in his hands and give the younger man a very deep, full, lingering kiss. The horse-Beast rolled her eyes, but she also smiled. "Hey, Reix! Hey, Runen, Isol and Peir! C'mon, this girl needs a shower! Good and healing!"

Reluctantly, four young men pulled themselves from the crowd, jogging up to Emeli and looking Acqua. "Oh good Forces, you poor thing," one, a Water, said, and immediately picked Acqua up. "Emeli, you should have carried her! Just look at her legs!"

The horse-type shuffled her hooves. "Sorry, Isol. I was trying not to step on her feet."

The Water -Isol- rolled his eyes and went right for a wagon that was smaller than the rest, about the size of a room. "Here," he said, setting Acqua on the steps. "This is one of the shower wagons. You can find towels and robes, and hair-soap and body-soap inside. Runen, Peir, Reix and I will provide enough hot water to make you think you're at a spa."

[Northen Light36]

Acqua hesitates, her desire to be clean warring with the deep-seated fear of strangers Burak had left her with. Faith slips out of her arms and purrs soothingly.

~Clean up little one. It's all right, I'm here for you kitten.~ Comforted a little, Acqua gives Isol a nervous/shy smile.

"Thank you," she says quietly, standing and making her way into the wagon.

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When Acqua had finished luxuriating, and Faith had groomed herself thoroughly, both opened the door to find a female Ice waiting for them, holding clothing. "You're gonna need these," she said matter-of-factly, handing the purple tunic, gray pants and red boots to Acqua. "They should be your size. The clothing-costume wagons are full of spare stuff.

"When you're ready," she went on, her voice flat and impersonal, but not entirely alienating, "find someone to take you to the cookwagon and you'll get somethin' good to eat." She nodded to Faith. "You too, lovely."

[Northen Light36]

Acqua accepts the clothes with a quiet thank you and steps back inside to dress. Once that's taken care of, she and Faith quietly slip out of the wagon and follow the Ice type's advice, asking to be shown where the cookwagon. Although as they get closer to it, Acqua's fairly sure she could have just followed her nose.

Shyly, she steps into the wagon, looking around.

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What looked like the entire troupe was cooking and setting places at makeshift tables, though they were doing their best to keep quiet; Da'cien was sitting on a table, looking magnificent. Apparently he had taken a shower as well, and was clad in deep red pants that matched his choker, a loose white shirt, brown vest in boots. He was speaking loudly, expertly projecting his voice to tell everyone about the daring escape from Ekaitz.

He was painting Acqua in a particularly valiant, cunning way, and Faith was treated no less glowingly, but the actor toned down her intelligence, saying that fetching the knives was a task accomplished only by training by Acqua.

Several people saw the thief and smiled, motioning for her to sit down.

[Northen Light36]

Acqua blushes at Da'cien's praise as she takes a seat. "Da'cien, it wasn't such a big deal as all that," she murmurs, wishing she could melt into the woodwork. This much attention is a lot more then she's really comfortable with.

[Deleted]

Da'cien looked down at his partner in escaping. "I was there for two years, Acqua. It was a very big deal. I'm free now because of your plan," he said quietly.

"In return, you'll get whatever you need of us," Amano said from where he sat, a hand on his actor's boot. "Money, clothes, food, transport, whatever you need. We'll be moving out in the morning anyway, now that we have Da'cien back. We can move quickly if need be."