The siren was blown closer and closer to the coast. She took her time, it was as calm as the sea and wind. It was a small pretty ship, painted yellow and green, with "Agus-Freitier siren" written in gold letters over a black board on its side. What little crew it had was all on board, clustered in little groups that talked softly among each other.
"I have never visited Vulpinsula", a mouse girl said in Alkamarian to two smartly dressed beasts, a red fox with strange looking ears which seemed to wiggle every once in a while, and a lynx who always had a grin on his snout and was slowly drinking from his mug.
"Oh, you will love it, I went here two times before. What about you monsieur?"
"I was on Vulpinsula before", the red fox said, which seemed to satisfy his two interlocutors.
"I want to see Big Val, and the harbor square", the mouse continued.
"Big Val is a clocktower", the fox noted, with something vaguely disapproving in his voice. The mademoiselle rolled her eyes.
"It's not a clock tower, it's the clock tower, it was named after a beautiful vixen".
Archibald Rightsbeast didn't feel like responding, and the lynx was more than happy to take his place. The fox instead looked over at the approaching coastline. The rows of buildings were getting bigger. They were going a little faster perhaps. The docks didn't seem to have changed much after 10 years.
"Oh, Valora Ryalor, what a tragedy", the lynx continued the discussion. Archibald wasn't listening. He asked for another mug of orange juice when the bartender past their table, and kept his stare focused on the approaching Bully harbor. Ten years, how much can a place change in ten years?
About 15 or so minutes later, the ship stopped, and the red fox stepped off the ship and onto hard stone ground. "Au revoir monsieur, au revoir belle madame", he heard the lynx say. He went straight for the port authority. He thought that his turn would come quickly, but an otter was having some difficulties. Or maybe it was the ferret's fault.
"I just want them to be done with"
The argument about the port of origin continued.
"Do they have to keep me waiting? On today of all days?"
They were now discussing prices. They wanted to test Archibald's patience. He looked around, curiously examining other beasts. More woodlanders, he noticed that right away. What were they doing here? Not something he needed to find out now. His attention shifted from the raccoon talking with another fox, to yet another vulpine stepping off a ship and going straight towards him. There was something familiar about his golden fur, he saw it before and had to memorize it. but why would he have to memorize him? He couldn't have been one of his targets, he would have been dead. Everybody important he knows is in Alkamar. He couldn't remember any golden foxes when he trained in the stoatorian guard. And then he remembered it. The whiny voice of his history professor: "Anithias Freedom, captain of the golden hide from...".
He remembered the painting he was pointing to. He had to memorize it for a test probably. he still remembered it. This fox just happened to look like him. He turned around just in time to see the otter join the raccoon and the ferret smiling warmly at him, clearly eager to be working with somebeast else.
"Port of origin: Cote blanche, beautiful place!",
Archibald was getting tired of useless comments like that.
"What's your name?"
"Anithias Reedom", he said. It was going to do. No use thinking hard about a name he was going to use for, what, a few days at most?
(Private thread between @Archibald Rightsbeast and @Aramaeus Lemon, for any comments send in direct messages or on discord)
"I have never visited Vulpinsula", a mouse girl said in Alkamarian to two smartly dressed beasts, a red fox with strange looking ears which seemed to wiggle every once in a while, and a lynx who always had a grin on his snout and was slowly drinking from his mug.
"Oh, you will love it, I went here two times before. What about you monsieur?"
"I was on Vulpinsula before", the red fox said, which seemed to satisfy his two interlocutors.
"I want to see Big Val, and the harbor square", the mouse continued.
"Big Val is a clocktower", the fox noted, with something vaguely disapproving in his voice. The mademoiselle rolled her eyes.
"It's not a clock tower, it's the clock tower, it was named after a beautiful vixen".
Archibald Rightsbeast didn't feel like responding, and the lynx was more than happy to take his place. The fox instead looked over at the approaching coastline. The rows of buildings were getting bigger. They were going a little faster perhaps. The docks didn't seem to have changed much after 10 years.
"Oh, Valora Ryalor, what a tragedy", the lynx continued the discussion. Archibald wasn't listening. He asked for another mug of orange juice when the bartender past their table, and kept his stare focused on the approaching Bully harbor. Ten years, how much can a place change in ten years?
About 15 or so minutes later, the ship stopped, and the red fox stepped off the ship and onto hard stone ground. "Au revoir monsieur, au revoir belle madame", he heard the lynx say. He went straight for the port authority. He thought that his turn would come quickly, but an otter was having some difficulties. Or maybe it was the ferret's fault.
"I just want them to be done with"
The argument about the port of origin continued.
"Do they have to keep me waiting? On today of all days?"
They were now discussing prices. They wanted to test Archibald's patience. He looked around, curiously examining other beasts. More woodlanders, he noticed that right away. What were they doing here? Not something he needed to find out now. His attention shifted from the raccoon talking with another fox, to yet another vulpine stepping off a ship and going straight towards him. There was something familiar about his golden fur, he saw it before and had to memorize it. but why would he have to memorize him? He couldn't have been one of his targets, he would have been dead. Everybody important he knows is in Alkamar. He couldn't remember any golden foxes when he trained in the stoatorian guard. And then he remembered it. The whiny voice of his history professor: "Anithias Freedom, captain of the golden hide from...".
He remembered the painting he was pointing to. He had to memorize it for a test probably. he still remembered it. This fox just happened to look like him. He turned around just in time to see the otter join the raccoon and the ferret smiling warmly at him, clearly eager to be working with somebeast else.
"Port of origin: Cote blanche, beautiful place!",
Archibald was getting tired of useless comments like that.
"What's your name?"
"Anithias Reedom", he said. It was going to do. No use thinking hard about a name he was going to use for, what, a few days at most?
(Private thread between @Archibald Rightsbeast and @Aramaeus Lemon, for any comments send in direct messages or on discord)
