Smoke - That was all she could smell within the rickety inn. The thick clouds lingered around like an endless fog, her nostrils constricted at the stench of burning tobacco. The patrons inside took no notice of the three, clearly bewildered teens that had just entered the inn. Continuing their conversations with their backs toward them. The inside was much like the front, wooden floors and walls with tables dotting the area. The chairs looked weathered and worn as if they'd been in use for decades. It was a far cry from the rest of the town, despite old, looked far better maintained than the barely standing place they found themselves. The patrons were a mix of all races - Elves and Dwarves amongst them but there was another that caught not only her eye but Mahiro's too.

Sitting alone in a booth by a dusty window was a young woman. She gazed lazily out the window as she tapped her finger on the empty glass that sat on the table in front of her. Her light brown hair fell down her shoulders and over her breasts. She wore a simple outfit - A loose white shirt, the neck fell low enough to expose her cleavage with a black vest over the top. Her short brown-panted legs were crossed on the seat she sat on, looking almost childlike but there was something odd about her. She had ears on the top of her head; Catlike and the same color as her hair. They seemed to move and twitch with her expressions, they were laid out flat as if she were feeling glum.

Kaya's surprise was unmatched by Mahiro, who was jaw-dropped and fawning at the sight of her. Kaya saw her violet eyes glance their way and quickly return back to the window. Emika seemed to notice Mahiro and promptly pinched his ear.

"Not again," She muttered and shook her head.

Mahiro squinted with the pain and let out a cry, "Okay, okay."

They quickly made their way through the clouds of smoke and to the bar where a frowning human man stood cleaning a mug with a cloth. He shot a look towards the three as they approached, his frown turning to what Kaya could tell was the most forced smile she'd ever witnessed. Mahiro leaned into Kaya's ear.

"Let me do the talking."

"Be my guest, just don't get us into any trouble."

"Welcome friends," The man at the bar waved, "What can I get you? A drink perhaps? Or three rooms," He leaned forward and placed his elbows on the counter and winked, "Or one room?"

"Just one room, please," Mahiro answered, clearly oblivious.

"One!?" The two girls cried.

Mahiro turned back to them and hushed, "It'll be cheaper."

Emika opened her mouth as if she were about to argue but stopped herself with a sigh.

"That'll be fifty silver," The man said.

Mahiro raised an eyebrow, "Silver? We only have gold."

"Don't say that," Emika hissed.

"In that case, one gold."

Kaya snorted, "Don't try and extort us."

"It's my final offer."

Kaya weighed her options. This was the only inn around and possibly the only place to stay for a long while. That, and she'd rather not be out in the street upon nightfall. She sighed and reached into the pouch grabbing the coin in a fist and slamming it on the counter. In the corner of her eye she saw the girl with the cat ears glance their way at the sudden sound.

"Here."

"Thank you," The man smiled and reached under the counter then placed a small key on the counter, "Heres the key. Your room is number four."

"Thanks," Kaya said as she grabbed the key.

"Asshole," Emika muttered under her breath.

Returning into the smoke they searched around for a vacant table to sit at. After a few moments, she realized there weren't any and her gaze returned to the cat woman who sat at the window. They locked eyes for a moment and the woman tilted her head and then patted the chair by her side.

"I think the lady over there wants us to join her," Kaya said and the two glanced her way.

Mahiro shrugged, "Might as well make some friends while we're here."

"You just want to flirt with her don't you," Emika sighed.

"Possibly."

Emika shook her head and began walking towards the cat lady, both Kaya and Mahiro followed. She began to think about Mahiro and his flirtatious tendencies. It wasn't something she'd seen before, he was usually shy around most girls excluding her and Emika. Perhaps it was the change of environment, maybe he didn't take this world as seriously as he did back home. She found it both charming and slightly alarming.

The cat lady closed her eyes and gave them a wide smile as they approached, her ears perking up with her mouth. When she finally opened them, the three had already taken their seats beside and in front of her. She smelt nice, like honey; smooth and sweet. The aroma was so thick Kaya swore she could almost taste it, that didn't matter though, she liked every moment sitting beside her.

"I haven't seen your faces around here before, are you passing through?" She asked, placing her elbows on the table.

"More or less," Kaya replied, "We're really just looking around - exploring."

"So you are new here," She noticed Mahiro fawning over her and cleared her throat, "Uh, is something wrong with your friend?"

"I'm just wondering what you are," Mahiro said, resting his face on his hand and brandishing a coy smile as he studied her.

"You've never seen someone like me before? A Nyokin?"

Mahiro raised an eyebrow, "Well technically I have, just not one in the flesh."

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"How else would you see one?"

"Don't mind him," Emika cut in suddenly, "He's had a little bit to drink."

"No, I haven-"

Emika hushed him, "See? He's clearly out of it."

The cat lady simply nodded slowly and turned her attention back to Kaya beside her.

"So if you're passing through, where do you intend to go next?"

"I don't know. I haven't really thought that far ahead."

She scratched her chin, "Well, Helin is not too far from here, I'm heading there next and then Taliorma after that."

"So you're not from here either?" Emika said.

The lady shook her head, "Nope I'm actually here on business."

Her gaze shifted over to the door the three had come through moments before. Kaya followed her gaze to lock eyes with a broad man dressed in the armor of the guards who was quickly approaching their table.

"Speaking of business," She muttered.

"Forgive me miss," The man started, "I was told to inform you of a new bounty being posted right now."

"Let me guess, it's on Calem again isn't it?"

The man nodded, "Right you are, miss."

The cat lady sighed, "How many times am I going to bring him in. Maybe I should kill him this time."

"You won't lose any reward whether you bring him in dead or alive, frankly the guards are sick of it too and his antics have caused a rather large hole in the town treasury. I'd prefer that we make this the last time we have to put a bounty on him."

"Okay, I'll get started tomorrow."

The man bowed and left without another word. The lady seemed rather confident and returned to tapping her finger on the glass in front of her. The four sat in silence for a long moment, taking in the scrambled noise of a hundred conversations around them. At the very least it mended the awkwardness of the silence that befell them.

Suddenly, the lady spoke, "Wanna join me on the bounty? Could use the extra hands and I'll split the reward."

Emika looked rather excited at the proposition, Mahiro, however, was still fawning over her and Kaya felt her gut tighten up. Was she afraid? All the training would be useless if she were but the feeling had suddenly shown itself. Trying her best to hide the reaction, she remained silent and let Emika answer for them.

"Sure," Emika said, "What's the reward?"

"I don't know, I'm about to go and check," She said as she suddenly rose from the table and scooched past Kaya.

The lady paused for a moment and then spoke again, "Also, the names Meira. I look forward to working with you three. Just try not to die."

Both Emika and Mahiro nodded.

With that she spun on her heel and walked towards the door, Kaya listened to her boots tap the decaying floor and watched as she left. Kaya shot Emika a scowl and she shrugged in return.

"Why did you agree?" Kaya asked.

"Well, I figured we could use the combat experience and besides, there's four of us so it should be a sinch."

She was partially right, but Kaya couldn't shake the fear that seemingly consumed her. She held her breath and let her heart slow before breathing out again. Maybe it was for the best to fight for real and besides, it was clear that Meira had captured the guy before so maybe she was just overthinking it. Regardless, it would be disappointing for Toma if he learned that two days after he set them loose, they died to some criminal.

She was determined not to let that happen, no matter the cost and no matter how afraid she was.

----------------------------------------

Room four, the room they were set to stay in. They stood outside the open door, peering into the dimly lit and tiny room. The only source of light coming from the faint candle that sat on the splintered bedside table. Kaya didn't know exactly what she expected but the room was certainly far from it. It contained nothing but one bed, a bedside table and a coarse rug on the floor that smelt as if it hadn't been washed in some time. She looked at Mahiro who was frowning at the sight, knowing full well that he would be the one to sleep on the floor. Though she doubted that both her and Emika would fit on the bed anyway, it was so small.

"Well," Mahiro said, "I guess the rug would make a good blanket."

"Define good," Emika replied.

"Moderately adequate," He retorted sarcastically and Emika simply rolled her eyes in reply.

"Bastard really extorted us," Kaya said quietly.

Emika nodded furiously, "You can say that again, I should go down there and kick his ass."

"Probably not the wisest choice."

"While you two decide if Emika is going to kick that guys ass, I'm heading into town to look around," Mahiro declared.

"Oh no you're not, at least not alone," Emika replied, "You wanna come too, Kaya?"

She shook her head, "No thanks, I think I'll stay here for a while."

She wanted to be alone for a while to collect her thoughts, it had been a month since she had some sense of solace and she greatly craved it. Like the old days, back home when she would hide in her room under the covers and just fester alone. Even if it was painful, at the same time it was bliss, the only time she really felt safe.

"Okay, be good, Kaya," Emika said. She saw Mahiro shoot her a worried glance but he quickly turned away and soon they disappeared from the room, leaving her on her own.

The quiet set in quickly and she heard her own voice in her head, contemplating fears and worries, trying to calculate if what they were going to do was the right thing. It was an internal battle of different points of logic, she preferred it to the battle of self-deprecation versus self-love. Those battles were the hardest for her. It was like being sucked into a void, a courtroom consisting of all different states of her mind, fighting one another in an endless cycle. That was what it was for her and now that she was in this world, it was the closest she'd felt at home for a while, maybe for all the wrong reasons.

Maybe the place brought a positive change for her, if it did, she couldn't tell. She still found herself longing for those moments of self-hatred, like an addiction she couldn't break, the love of being alone, yet, longing for company. Her mind was full of contradictions that repeated an argument that could never be solved and at the end of it all, sometimes she didn't even know who she was outside the shadow that followed. The regret of being left alone was begging to grow in the back of her mind but thankfully a knock at the door pulled her from her spiraling thoughts.

She opened the door to see Meira waiting behind it. She leaned her head to the side, peering inside then frowned.

"Where are your friends?"

"They decided to hit the town."

She shook her head, "And here I was about to discuss payments and the job. I guess we'll have to wait. Do you mind if I join you?"

"Of course," Kaya stepped aside and let Meira pass through, the scent of honey wafting from her yet again.

"So what's your name?" Meira asked as she sat on the bed.

"Kaya Yusha."

She cocked her head, "Odd name, where does it come from?"

"Somewhere far away."

"Ah, I see. No need for specifics, I'll take your word for it." She sat back and gazed at the roof, "You're a quiet one, y'know that?"

Kaya nodded, "I get that a lot."

Meira's pointy ears flattened and she frowned, "I can feel an energy coming from you. Something dark, yet not evil. A tortured soul," She paused and closed her eyes, "I feel and ember beginning to grow within you, a flame waiting to burst alight, a light bright enough to burn the shadow away."

Kaya was admittedly surprised, "How do you know that? Is it some kind of magic?"

"An inborn gift that all Nyokin possess. It's a way to read emotional energy, it's not really useful outside of bonding. It's usually how our kind finds a mate."

"Whoa, okay, too much information."

"How else can one learn about a world they don't come from."

Kaya's heart dropped. Were they really that obvious? If so, they weren't going to last long at all. She slowly raised her hand from her side and let her fingers wrap around the hilt of her sword.

"Relax, I'm not one of the Lord's lackeys. If anything it was a wild guess, I've heard stories about unknown warriors appearing from nowhere, though they're chalked down to myth. But I could feel your yearning, the desire to return somewhere that could not be found here so I simply put two and two together and it seems I was right."

Kaya lightened her grip but still let her hand hover just in case she tried something funny.

"Is that why you asked us to join you?" Kaya said sharply.

"Partially," She admitted, "I was curious about you three, but I could actually use the help."

"We may need your help someday too."

Meira looked confused, "What for?"

"And maybe someday I'll tell you. If we trust you."

She shrugged, her ears pointed up to reflect her mood, "Fine by me. For now, we should wait for your friends to return."