Chapter Two

If Asil had been confused before, he was utterly baffled now. The creature before him was a contradiction. The fur and shape of the head were like a wolf, but the singular, visible fangs and the narrow eyes were like a cat, the latter glinting with an intellect that no animal... not even those that had been cursed by amber (or by even more fell things) to walk like humans... ought to possess. And its clothes. A strange combination of black britches and something that was like a short robe... but robes weren't usually in a clashing assortment of red, blue, and yellow... And they were clean and well-maintained, not haphazardly pieced together from rags, which was the best a cursed animal could normally have managed.

There was no hostile action from the creature, only that disarming question. Did it really consider a bladed chakram as so little threat to itself? Unconsciously, Asil shifted, lowering his outstretched hand and lowering his weapon just slightly, although never taking his eyes off the thing standing before him. He was still ready to fight, but his confusion would've been plain to see now... and he could see how it was reflected back in equal measure...

"You..." he started, gauping. "You are a beast, yet, you speak as if you are a man... How can this be...?"

To Asil's further surprise, the creature looked... indignant...?

"Heeey," it replied, putting the backs of its hands on its hips. Sounded indignant, too. "I'm not a 'beast', I'm Kapi! What's the big idea, huh?"

What was happening? Why did Asil feel compelled to apologize to a beast? Its... his... voice was harsh and loud, yet flowed with a strange smoothness from one word to the next. There was both youthful petulance and a sort of underlying confidence. It could, he realized, have been a normal person if not for what Asil was looking at, albeit undisciplined, and clearly not hailing from any place Asil had ever heard of... a place even further away than the crusaders' homelands...?

"I, uhh, my apologies," he responded haltingly, still coming to terms with the fact that parley seemed to be very much on the table here. He slowly lowered his weapon further. " I fear I may be... quite... lost."

"Chayeah, I'll say!" Kapi agreed as his eyes briefly flicked down Asil's body and then back up again, amusement coming into his voice only to be rapidly replaced by what seemed like genuine concern. "Hey look, bro, you got anybody I can call, or is there somewhere you're supposed to be, or...?"

Asil took a pointed glance about. To the walls that were covered in a dizzying assortment of brightly coloured, overlapping lettering he couldn't quite read, to the enormous boxes that reeked of spoiling food. Back to the mysterious catwolf and his strange, but cogent, way of speaking. He could only shake his head.

"It's... likely I'm very, very far from home indeed..." he admitted, with a defeated sigh. "Far enough to be beyond help."

Kapi scratched his head, as if the idea of a journey being too long to be practical were a foreign concept.

"Well, I mean, planes are a thing," the catwolf tried, but his confusion and befuddling words only convinced Asil he was right. There could have been flat, open plains all the way from here to the Levant and it would still be all but impossible if the journey were long enough, especially as he had no money. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Ai, I've quite forgotten my manners!" came the wide-eyed response.

Startled by the question, Asil shifted all-too-suddenly from a defensive, side-ways on stance, to now facing the curiously friendly creature in a deep bow. He had shifted from standing on one leg to standing on the other as he had turned, but he wobbled slightly in the transition, which should've been smooth. Momentary gratitude that no one else from the Armada was around to see that turned quickly to shame at the prior thought. He did his best not to let any of that show, though.

"I am Asil," he announced himself. "Terpsichorean to Grand Vizier Sinan!"

As Asil slowly raised himself out of the bow, Kapi, at first, just blinked. Oh, that wasn't good...

"Grand Vi...?" Asil's... gracious...? host began to dumbly parrot, before cutting himself off. "Wow, okay, you really aren't from around here, are you?"

Asil could but look crestfallen, suddenly taking a very keen interest in the ground to either-side of himself. Kapi, meanwhile, allowed the silence to linger for an uncomfortably long time before eventually clucking his tongue and exhaling heavily, as if reaching a decision that went very much against his better judgement. Even through Kapi's decidedly alien features, Asil could tell it wasn't intentional, but the furry fellow none-the-less had quite the way of making a lost dancer feel guilty.

"Alright, look," he said. "I guess I can't just leave you here, and somehow I don't think you'd do very well with cops, so... how 'bout you come back to my place, and we can figure out where you're supposed to be going from there, okay...?"

"Oh! N-no, I couldn't possibly impose upon you like that!" Asil protested.

Kapi lowered his gaze a little, quirking an unconvinced eyebrow.

"Uh-huh... So what'll you do if I do just walk away, huh?"

More awkward glancing about ensued. Asil had spoken instinctively. He was but a servant, his station entirely beneath such hospitality. And yet, with each moment his eyes were filled with reminders; he was alone in a foreign land... a very foreign land indeed, he mentally corrected, as his eyes settled back onto Kapi... He had an increasing, horrible feeling that if he didn't accept, he wasn't going to last very long in this place. And yet, for all that, Asil remained quiet.

Kapi must've noticed the shame heating the dancer's cheeks and how he started clutching one of his arms and avoiding Kapi's gaze, because the odd-if-not-unpleasant character proceeded to roll his eyes.

"Yeaaah, that's what I thought..."

With that, Kapi began to step forward. Asil tensed, but the catwolf walked right past him, seemingly ignoring him and walking away, just as he had suggested he would. Though it was only to be expected... Asil was by rights beneath notice, after all... the dancer none-the-less felt the shame well up hotter. He closed his eyes and lowered his head, shuddering slightly. Trying not to cry.

"Well? C'mon, before I change my mind!"

Asil's eyes snapped open in shock. Kapi had stopped just a short way away and turned back, arms folded and tapping his foot impatiently. Despite the irritation on his feline features and Asil's own misgivings, in the moment this revelation felt like waking from a nightmare, or finally breaking surface after having almost drowned.

"Trust me, you don't wanna still be in these alleys at night!"

Asil didn't need to be told a third time. He scampered after Kapi, feeling in that moment less like a soldier and more like a lost puppy intent on never the leaving the side of the one person to show it even the most fleeting kindness. Kapi didn't wait for him, turning again and striding down the alley with purpose, apparently trusting him now to follow. Which he did.

"T-thankyou!" Asil stammered haltingly as he followed along. "From the bottom of my heart... _thankyou!_ I-I swear I will find a way to make this up to you...!"

"It's just a couch to sleep on for a night, geeze," Kapi winced. "Don't make this weirder than it already is."

Asil knew from extensive experience when to shut his mouth. Best to be seen and not heard, more often than not. And so they walked in silence, leaving the dancer to ponder his situation more. One thing he immediately noticed was that metal stairs and ladders and some manner of unidentified metal boxes clung to each stone building. And the big refuse boxes were metal too. This city, or at least this part of it, must be quite wealthy to expend precious iron so needlessly.

As he followed his apparent savoir, the distant roaring of wind he'd been hearing ever since he'd arrived in this strange place quickly grew louder. They must be approaching a more open space, through which wind could freely blow. Winds as strong as these sounded would've carried with them a severe threat of sandstorm back home, but the sky directly above them seemed clear, so this city must be among the more northern places... like the ones the crusaders came from...

Lost in his musing as he was, it took Asil a moment to process that they had rounded a corner. And a moment longer to process what lay beyond it.

That roaring of wind wasn't from wind at all.

They reminded him of chariots, moreso than anything else. But... there were so many... in so many clashing colours, all of which gleamed brilliantly in the late sun. And then there was the roaring. All of them were roaring, and moving so fast, but with not so much as a single horse anywhere to be seen. The dancer's eyes flitted back-and-forth, trying to keep track of all of them. So fast. He thought he could see people inside them, but it was as if he were looking through cloudy water. So many...

"Hey, Asil! C'mon!"

He just couldn't make sense of what he was seeing. It was too much. After the day he'd already had... this was too much...

"Hey!"

The voice finally managed to cut through and catch Asil's attention, but it was too late. The last thing he perceived was Kapi running towards him, even as his universe faded to white...