Looking for Luisa Lanning

[Toyoll]

Qwynh was wheeling over the village now, she had almost missed the well-hidden settlement. She checked over her wing to see if Fahr was still tailing, then angled her wings down and made her descent.

The gambian pumped her sails heavily and made four backdrafts before slowing down enough to land. She landed (without elegance) just outside of Cordia.

[hisdivineshadow]

Fahr swept down from the sky and, using his Wind signs to steady himself, landed lightly on his feet, allowing his handcrafted wings to fold around him. "There's uncle Ridli's hut," he pointed out with a nod. "I'd like to visit a bit after we make the delivery, okay?"

[Toyoll]

Qwynh nodded, "Sure! This is my last delivery of the day, so there isn't any rush afterward." The russet bat poked her nose into her messenger bag and dug out a letter with her claws, handling the mail with surprising delicassy.

She then shifted her wings and furled them more comfortably before walking towards the village. Immediately, Qwynh's ears came forward, swiveling and alert, as they always did when she came to a strange settlement. "Um......." she looked to Fahr, "D-do you know your way around?"

[hisdivineshadow]

"Kinda," Fahr answered, "I mean, I've visited a few times, but never for very long. It's not really my kind of place." He grinned. "Too dull and quiet."

His grin turned to a frown as he glanced around at the nearly-motionless tableau. "Actually . . . it's even quieter than normal. Who did you say the delivery was for?" Slipping his wings off, he folded them up and left them to rest against a tree trunk, then slowly walked toward the nearest house.

Abruptly, the door opened and a young woman appeared, balancing a large basket on her head with the aid of one hand. "Oh, um, hi there," she called shyly, and glanced back and forth between Fahr and Qwynh. "Can I help you?"

[Toyoll]

Qwynh started, but managed not to crush the letter, "O-Oh! Sorry! Um...." the bat righted herself and put on her most charming smile, "I am Qwynh Damani of Damani delivery services! I'm looking for a Ms. Luisa Lanning?" she said, holding out the envelope, "I have a letter for her."

[hisdivineshadow]

The girl hesitated and made a furtive glance over her shoulder, then smiled nervously at the Beast and pointed past her toward the center of town. "The Lannings live over there. The house with the green double doors. Can't miss it." Then she gave a sort of awkward bow, using one hand to keep the basket on her head, and turned to head into the woods.

Fahr scratched his head, wondering what had made her so nervous. True, Cordia didn't get many visitors, but it at least got enough that the locals knew how to react to strangers. Keeping his thoughts to himself, he turned and led Qwynh toward the town's central square.

The place seemed to come alive a bit more as they proceeded, which helped to calm Fahr's nerves. They saw people going about their daily chores, tending to gardens and fences, heading out into the woods to forage. Maybe the strange stillness he'd sensed when they first arrived had just been his imagination.

"I think this is the place," he commented to Qwynh, coming to a stop in front of the Lanning house. The doors were closed, but there was a bit of noise coming from inside -- pots and pans clattering, a faint hiss of fire. It sounded like someone was preparing a meal. Reaching out, he rapped his knuckles against the door three times, then stepped back to wait.

After a few moments, Mother Lanning, her hands, face and apron lightly dusted in flour, opened the door and glanced at the two strangers curiously. "Yes? Can I help you?" There was a slight hint of annoyance in her demeanor, but she controlled it well.

[Toyoll]

Qwynh's ears twitched slightly and she glanced at Fahr, a little intimidated by this woman. She bowed, "Hello, I am Qwynh Damani of Damani Delivery services and this is my companion, Fahr." she motioned a wing in his direction, "We're looking for a Luisa Lanning, would you kindly direct us to her?"

[hisdivineshadow]

"Oh, you want my daughter. Well . . ." She glanced over her shoulder, shrugged, and stepped back to allow them in. "Please forgive the mess, we've had some . . . guests recently. And I haven't had time to clean up after them." Idly brushing off her apron, she walked further to the back of the house and called up the stairs, "Luisa! Someone to see you!"

Fahr nodded, murmured, "Thank you," and stepped through the door, looking around curiously. There was indeed a bit of a mess in the common room, though nothing too bad; just some furniture askew and rugs slightly wrinkled. A glance into the kitchen revealed enough food being prepared that it seemed the woman was feeding an army. He remembered that Mother Lanning often made the food for the town's celebrations -- maybe there was a feast tonight?

The Wind turned back to his companion. "Hey Qwynh, feel like staying for the evening? I'm sure Ridli wouldn't mind putting us up for the night."

[Toyoll]

Qwynh smiled, "Sounds like a plan! I could use a good night's rest! And I wouldn't mind meeting some more of your relatives." The bat absently scratched her ears and looked around a little more carefully than before, the place, while outwardly warm and inviting, seemed tinged with tension.

Suddenly a huge shiver ran up the Beast's spine, making her fur stand on edge. Qwynh hurriedly began combing back her hair, "Oops, w-what was that about..?" she shook herself and half-heartedly tried to strike up a conversation, a little distracted, "M-maybe one day, you could visit Seere with me? I've been meaning to go back..."

[hisdivineshadow]

"Hey, sounds good," Fahr answered with a nod. "I've always wanted to spend some time in the Beastlands." He looked up at the sound of footsteps to see an attractive young woman approaching them.

"Um, hi, I'm Luisa," she said, doing a poor job at hiding her nervousness. She pulled her long straw-colored hair over her shoulder and began worrying at it with both hands. "Mum said . . . you wanted to see me?"

[Toyoll]

As a Beast, Qwynh could read her expression as easily as she read words and she found the girl's nervousness infectous, "Um, y-yes, here you are! A letter from Ilyamen." Qwynh made a bow and then reached out with her long arms and offered Luisa her envelope, "Th-the payment has already been taken care of."

[hisdivineshadow]

Her jitters disappeared for a moment when she saw the handwriting on the envelope. "Oh, it's Victor!" she exclaimed and seized the letter from Qwynh, twirling about and clutching it like a treasure.

When she spotted her mother's mild glare, Luisa's elation came to an abrupt halt. Deflating, she turned back to Qwynh and muttered morosely, "Um, thanks. Is there anything else?"

[Toyoll]

Qwynh blinked, "Um, no, I'll be staying the night at Mr.Ridli's house tonight, so if you wish to send a reply, uh, well, y-you know where to find me!" She giggled nervously. She quickly turned around, grabbed Fahr by the arm and almost dragged him out, she was that eager to be out of that house.

Once outside, however, the feeling disapated, but didn't leave her entirely. She breathed in the air and ran her claw through her hair, though her ears remained alert and swiveling, "That w-was horrible! It must be a p-pretty disfunctional family, I've never felt that much tension in one place before!" she said, still clutching Fahr's sleeve.

[hisdivineshadow]

Though already on edge, Fahr managed to maintain his calm demeanor as he led Qwynh across the square. "Nah, it's okay." He patted her on the arm. "The Lannings are good people. Whatever you were seeing must've just been your imagination."

Orienting on Ridli's house, he picked up his pace a little. If anyone could tell him what was going on here, it would be his uncle. As they approached the simple cabin, Fahr noted the empty bird cages outside. Well, that would explain why it was taking so long to get a reply to his last letter.

Knocking on the wall, he peered inside the open door. "Hey, Ridli? You home?"

The elder Holtseek peeked back out at him and laughed. "Oh, hello there, Fahr. I wasn't expecting you to visit." He stepped out the door, and Fahr backed away to give him room. Ridli's smile looked unforced, and unlike the others around town, he seemed completely relaxed.

"Um, yeah, I just happened to be passing through with my friend Qwynh here." Fahr indicated the gambian, and Ridli gave her a friendly smile and a slight bow of his head. Glancing back, he pointed a thumb at the empty cages and said, "Having trouble hanging onto your pigeons, uncle?"

Ridli shook his head and sighed sadly. "Actually, I lost them to a pack of wolves that came through recently. Like the ones that attacked your caravan in Naurorod."

Fahr blinked in confusion. "Um . . . but those weren't wolves, those were--"

"Wolves, jackals, what's the difference?" Ridli said dismissively, cutting him off. "So, I assume you two weren't planning to stay. You probably have other places to be, deliveries to make."

"Umm . . . I don't know, we were talking about staying the night . . ." Fahr glanced at Qwynh. His eyes showed that he was deeply troubled, but he was managing to mostly keep it out of his voice.

[Toyoll]

Aside from her ears pinned down against her head, Qwynh seemed calm enough, though confused. She sensed that there was a secondary conversation going on, but couldn't pick up on it. The bat tried with all her might to fight her nervous stutter, "W-well, if it's too m-much trouble," she said slowly, "We could a-always come back another t-time...Th-Though, I don't know when Fahr and I w-would be b-back up here again... and it would be a shame if we couldn't v-visit, I've heard lots of good things about you..."

Qwynh had to catch her breath, it was an enormous effort on her part, trying to enunciate while she was stressed.