Despite her tall stature and best efforts, Kalani's experience with crowds leaned strongly towards the avoiding thereof rather than the searching for individuals therein, and it showed. Wherever the young fox who had bumped into her earlier had gone, it wasn't to a spot five paces away from the ambassador, and that appeared to be the limit of her ability to pick out faces from the confusing mess of moving bodies. She spent several futile minutes trying to look, move forwards, and avoid unwanted collisions all at once before the wind died down and reminded her that it was still uncomfortably hot on the festival grounds and she was still lingering around in the sun, accomplishing nothing. Her parasol, for all of the good that it was doing, proved insufficient to the task of convincing her to stay even longer than she already had.
She had made a choice; this, she understood well enough. Now she was being forced to accept it.
With a sigh of defeat, Kalani put the thought out of her mind and turned her attention towards the task of escaping somewhere indoors. Luckily, she did not have far to travel; many of the buildings that comprised the inner ring of Rydauge City were open to the public during such an occasion, and finding one even while lost was a trivial matter for someone concerned only with the shelter they offered. Therefore, and without paying much mind to the idea, she decided to enter a large structure under the assumption that more room would also lend itself to more privacy.
Of course, in Akamu, the largest non-residential buildings trended almost invariably towards being taverns, and they were all filled nearly to capacity on the day of the festival. No table was empty, most of the flat surfaces in the place had been repurposed to accommodate a series of arm-wrestling matches, and seats were being bartered over like precious gems by the time Kalani arrived. She searched for a spot where she could simply be alone for a while, but the place was clearly too busy, and her thoughts quickly turned towards departure until a familiar voice caught her ear.
"Oy! Kalani!"
A round of applause broke out as one of the arm wrestlers faced his defeat with a hearty "thud", and the cheering of countless spectators briefly drowned out all other sound in the establishment. Through a temporary gap in the crowd, Kalani could see an arm waving her over at about the height of most of the other residents' torsos. Curious, she shifted past a few of the rowdier groups to confirm her suspicions.
There, leaning against the back of his seat in the company of several natives of Akamu, the fox found a Nezumi that she had known since the beginning of her diplomatic career.
"Hello, Stiff-Whisker," she said, extending a hand in greeting towards the short-statured rat. He accepted it cheerfully, pulling her close to pat her on the back.
"Knew it was you," he answered back with a chuckle. "You stick out like a rose in a swamp even here, where they like their pretty colors. Still, it's been too long, girl! What brings you to Akamu? Don't tell me you've abandoned my country to preach tolerance to the close-minded idiots living here."
"Nothing of the sort," she assured him. "Indeed, I would question whether my efforts would even be necessary when the queen of Akamu herself is already advocating peace between our people. I merely came to learn something of their culture while the opportunity remains."
"Their culture, eh? Take a look around you," he offered with a quick sweeping gesture of the tavern. "Lizard-meat, ale, and fighting 'till your arms fall off; that's the Akamu way. Still, there's no need to take my word for it - let me introduce you to my 'friends'," he grinned.
The individuals in question were a large badger woman in a stiff leather jacket whose attention was fixed upon another table, a curious armadillo in a dark-green shawl who averted his eyes when Kalani glanced towards him, and a male boar who stared at her suspiciously from behind a massive but near-empty mug of ale. All three sat at the same table, though none seemed particularly close to Stiff-Whisker, or to each other for that matter.
"Hrmph. I'm no friend of yours, rat," the boar interrupted before Stiff-Whisker could truly begin. He pointed to another table where two bears sat opposite each other, grinning confidently with their hands locked together. "Make your bet. My drink's running low and you'll be fetching its replacement after you lose."
"Four and a half, right one wins," Stiff-Whisker stated with certainty, though he barely even glanced at the two contestants. "This mannerless brute is Bradan, by the way. Don't worry too much about making his acquaintance; my wager is that he surrender his seat to you now that he's run himself out of coin paying for my refreshments."
The boar snarled at him. "Damnable rodent... fine. Either way I will be rid of your company. Three seconds, also on the right."
"Likewise, the badger is Sitara," he continued, "whom I understand to be a mercenary and a traveler, and the armadillo is Vidahl, a trader like myself... if perhaps one less occupied by the affairs of his government. What say you two? Care to weigh in on this one?"
"Not over my place at the table," Vidahl laughed, while Sitara simply shook her head. Stiff-Whisker gave them both a knowing smirk and turned himself around to watch the wrestlers. Kalani followed his lead and did the same, more curious about her friend's intentions than the actual outcome. Neither contestant looked much stronger than the other, and if the two gamblers had made any sort of informed decision about which was more likely to win, she was oblivious as to how. Still, they both looked quite assured of their respective victories.
Whether by luck or some subtle insight, both predictions proved accurate nearly as soon as the fight began. The bear on the right seized a considerable advantage within the very first second, and it looked for a moment as though the match would end before his opponent could even put up a fair resistance. To the rat's glee and the boar's dismay, however, the bear on the left made an impressive show of force and was able to nearly threaten a comeback; he ultimately ran himself out of strength, but not before delaying his defeat by six whole seconds. Another round of applause echoed throughout the tavern, and Stiff-Whisker happily added his own voice to it.
Bradan, on the other hand, was not pleased. He gave Kalani a defiant glare when her attention returned to the table, but finished his drink in one long gulp and stood up without voicing any complaints. She hesitated to take his seat.
"There's no need for you to do this," she offered apologetically. "I did not intend for my arrival to inconvenience you, and I would be more than comfortable enough standing. My friend-"
"No," the boar interrupted. "I agreed to this, and I'm not backing out of a wager just because I lost... I've got more honor than that," he grumbled to himself, pushing his way past her. The Nezumi snickered quietly to himself, and earned a disapproving look from Kalani for it, but she had little choice other than to leave or join the table before a stranger claimed the open seat.
"That was foolish," she said to Stiff-Whisker once she had settled in. "You've made both of us an enemy for the sake of something as trivial as my comfort. I hope you weren't expecting gratitude for it."
"Oh, don't be so upset," he assured her. "I told you not to worry; you and I will never see that drunken lout again."
"Was he not an acquaintance of yours?"
"Ha! Only as of this morning!" the Nezumi laughed. "Him and these other two were simply the only ones I could coax into taking bets with me. You're the first friendly face I've seen since I came out here, so don't spoil it with such a miserable frown, eh?"
In spite of herself, Kalani couldn't help but give him a tiny smile. It truly was good to see someone familiar in foreign territory, particularly when she had so few acquaintances that she thought of as friends. She had not expected to discover that any of them had attended the festival, let alone to have met one there in person.
"Why did you come out here?" she asked him. "I would be one of the first to hear if the Nezumi were making amends to their foreign trade policies, and I've never known you to be one to travel for pleasure..."
"Ask the armadillo," was all that he had to say in response. Her attention moved accordingly, and she found that Vidahl had once again been scrutinizing her.
"Are you also a trader, miss...?"
"Kalani," she answered, slightly ashamed of the fact that she had not introduced herself sooner, "And no, I am a diplomat. I often negotiate exportation limits and their like, so news of such changes reaches my ears very quickly."
Stiff-Whisker scoffed. "She's being modest. You're speaking to an ambassador, Vidahl."
"O-oh. Oh my. But, that means... you are certainly a foreigner, and neither the rats nor humans would ever appoint another race to such a position... pardon me, but are you from the island kingdom, miss Kalani?"
Sitara's head turned, and for a moment, the whole tavern grew just slightly quieter. It seemed that Kalani's appearance had drawn her some attention from the surrounding tables in spite of the activity elsewhere, and a few conversations had paused in anticipation of her answer. The feeling was unwelcome, and it hinted quite strongly that she was, too.
"Yes, I am."
"I knew it," the badger muttered. "Everything strange comes from the islands." A few approving grunts from other patrons punctuated the statement, but Vidahl paid them no mind. Surprisingly, he seemed more curious than anything.
"Ah! You confused me for quite a while, there. I have met visitors from your kingdom before, you see, but they would never choose to enter a place like this," he said, gesturing around the tavern, "nor do so wearing such... deep colors. I thought you might have come from the Mirelands if your friend was a rat."
"...It's lovely, by the way," he added afterwards. "The dress, I mean. Did you wear it purely for our sake, or are you mages hiding a new fashion on that inner island of yours?"
"This is actually a Nezumi design," Kalani said, lifting up one of her arms to better show the sleeves covering it. "And if anything, it is quite the opposite; residents of the inner island cling more strongly to tradition than any 'visitors' you are likely to have met. I am pleased that you like it, but I wear it for my own sake... even though my people do not approve."
"A Nezumi design!" he remarked, incredulous at the very idea. "By the gods, how did you get such a thing? And... where? I've never seen anything like it before, and I deal with the rats nearly every other week! Please, you must tell me."
"Of course," she nodded, " of course. But first... won't you tell me the story of why one of their trade commissioners has seen fit to visit your country on the day of a festival, if not for his own enjoyment?"
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