He rarely went this way, really- he'd come to visit Erebos, a little, and to gather a few herbs that didn't normally grow in Eridanus, and...
Well, he looked to the ticket in his hand, then back to Carja. They'd both come this way (and, Attikias thought it was nice to have flying practice, even if it was something Carja did every day), and they'd both gotten a ticket (sold it for magicka? what was magicka?). Maybe he should've been more wary, but he was curious, and, well.
Here they were.
Sucking in a breath as she ran away, Attikias startled forward, raising his hands and calling out a loud "Wait!!"- but she was too far gone, her tail disappearing into the brush far away into the tunnel.
Oh dear. "Wait, what're these--" He held up the ticket, running to look for any gap, squeezing through the expanding trees as he glanced around. What was he supposed to do with this? Sell it to the Collector?! No, he called out another, "hey! Come back!!" before slapping his palms into the trees, trying to look for some kind of opening. There was nothing- and, for a brief moment, he'd slapped against rock and pulled his hand back, hissing under his breath.
Briefly, he looked to Carja, and offered the most confused face of his life. What had they gotten themselves into?
Carja held the ticket in one hand, her arms lifted up so she could walk on her wing claws instead. It might be useful to have her hands free should something happen.
Initially she'd assumed the fox had meant 'magic', a fair assumption due to her ignorance. She'd been handed the ticket and had fumbled for a moment, struggling to hold the thing in her massive hands, only to look up to return it and find the fox gone.
”Oh dear,” she said worriedly, coming up from behind Attikias, ”What are these things? They're very shiny...”
She almost drooled as she stared at it, enraptured by the small thing. She turned it this way and that, distracted momentarily. Maybe she'd keep it... but no, Attikias needed help.
Spotting something through a gap in the foliage, Carja managed to shove some heavier branches aside with a strained grunt, using her strength to open up a strange path into the side of the tunnel that she swore wasn't there the last few times she'd been this way. And was that music?
”Here, come through,” she said, ”I think this is where that person went. I hope this doesn't lead to something dangerous... again.”
One giant sea monster nearly killing her was enough, then the Black City decided, nope! You'll get another! So she wasn't too keen on rushing into danger anytime soon. At least the strange melodies sounded somewhat comforting, in a teeth-grinding way.
@Attikias
"I don't know," Attikias huffed, letting himself calm down and nursing his palm. He shook his head- calm. They needed to be calm, whatever this was- breath in, breath out. Okay. Holding up his own ticket, Attikias continued to search, before-
He turned his head when Carja found the way. "What..." What was that music? Coming up to her side, Attikias laid a hand on her wing before ducking in, walking backwards for a moment as he talked. "We... Sold something? for these, so it shouldn't be that bad?"
He hesitated, looking to the ticket, before turning on his heel again and going back down the path. "It should be fine."
They'd made it to the carnival proper and overstimulation galore surrounded them. The scents of fried foods, the sounds of music and carnies jeering, machinery going (and Attikias took a good, hard look at a distance at some merry-go-round), but most importantly? Everyone here was just like that other fox.
Okay. Maybe a little bit different, but- "This is going to be a long night, if we look for that fox," Attikias sighed, stopping for a moment. There's food here, at least, but the elf was determined. He shuffled on through, staying warily close to Carja (and he was tempted to play a game or two, maybe), on and on thoguth the winding maze. A map would surely help, wouldn't it?
Eventually, eventually, they came to more squiggly lines, and Attikias frowned down to their tickets. It was similar...
Well, it didn't hurt to try. "Over here?" He pointed to the booth, then looked back to Carja, uncertain. Was this their culprit?
Carja ducked and followed Attikias, brows raising as she walked out into the Carnival. She gaped at everything around her, staring at the food, the rides (were those carousel animals actual people??) in wonder, eyes sparkling.
”Oh wow... pretty!”, she said, sniffing at a stall with what seemed to be some sort of crunchy food. She didn't know it but it was deep-fried cheeseburgers with donut buns. Bleh.
She followed behind her companion, drooling slightly at all the smells, stomach rumbling. She was definitely hungry enough to try some of these diabetes-inducing meals, but they had a mystery to solve and this place was just slightly strange enough for her to resist the urge to demolish a whole stand and turn away.
Carja couldn't smell anything with the stench of frying oil in the air, but her eyes worked plenty well and she was able to gather the same clues Attikias did. She lowered her head closer to the ground and walked forward, trying her best not to knock some poor soul over with her tail. She was pretty large...
Ahh... these two. She recognized them. These were the two fools she just swindled in the tunnel, right? The fox pulled her hands together and steepled her fingers, yellow eyes narrowing as they approached. A single eyebrow lifted to greet them. So, did they have what she was looking for?
@Attikias
Attikias really didn't know what to make of this, now. What was she looking for..? She wasn't saying anything...
Breathing in sharply, the elf held up his ticket and approached the booth, once she'd made eye contact. Yep, this would be their culprit. It had yellow, it had squigglies- what more could you ask for? Without knowing the warning signs, (literal and figurative), Attikias gently waved the ticket in place. "Whu- can you- what are these for? And- how did we give you fifty magicka..? Isn't that-- magic?" Was this an Emuh situation?
He hoped nobody else had to die for something like this.
Huffing, Attikias could feel his face blushing as he got slowly flustered, stepping aside so Carja could come close, too.
@Carja
Carja trotted after Attikias and sat down, scooching closer and tilting her head to one side like a curious puppy. She looked between Attikias and the fox before clearing her throat, raising a hand.
”Um... why did you pick us? Was it just random or...”, she trailed off, gesturing vaguely.
She put her hand back down and whuffed softly, digging her claws into the dirt just for something to do. Her tail snaked towards her and curled over her paws so that it didn't get stepped on, and she picked it up to hold it instead, anxious.
The man-one spoke first, waving his ticket around with reckless abandon. He did not know what it was, but he was so free with its movement. What if it exploded the more it moved? Her lips cracked a grin. Maybe she'd use that idea next time. Oh, and the fifty magicka...?
"What? What's that?" she crowed, waving her hand to dismiss what he said. There was no such thing. Pah.
The dragon, however, asked a better question.
"'Pick' you? Merely fate! You were fool enough to follow me. Now," she yapped, leaning forward to tap the sign in front of her booth. "Will you make a trade?" She grinned again, the corners of her lips nearly reaching her ears. All they had to say was yes.
@Attikias
Attikias opened his mouth, then closed it, his hand stilling for a moment. He didn't... hallucinate, some transaction, then?
His hand lowered and he squinted, briefly, holding the ticket a little tighter. Had other creatures been given these tickets for... Fifty.. Magicka (whatever it was, and he was CERTAIN the fox asked for it)? And trade the ticket it just sold to them?
He glanced down to the sign, then back up to the fox. Did the squiggles mean something? Did the squiggles mean what they'd get in return? Tilting his head, Attikias clenched his jaw briefly before folding his arms. "What'll we get in return for-- what do you want, these things?" He held it up between two fingers, shimmering in the dull, multi-colored lights as he waved it gently.
His expression lessened after a moment, though. It's not like he needed to keep the... paper.. thing, and he put it on the table with his finger down on top. As much as he was wary... She seemed fine enough? And he was curious as to what she had- especially with all the stuff around her. Besides, he was riled up- this wasn't how he should be. This seemed to be a group of Gembounds getting along fine, to him, as they went about some sort of business.
Slowly, he lifted his finger. Leaning into Carja, he spoke low (though, to reach her ears, the fox would surely be able to hear him say): "she seems fine enough?" There was a wary glance to Carja, then back to the fox, and he said a very simple, very uneasy, but back to speaking volume... "Sure?" He'd looked back up to Carja, again, and shrugged uselessly.
Might as well find out.
@Carja
