And Another Makes Four (Rhiannon, Lilandra, Beth)

[Kizzy]

Kizzy had left the castle in search of something to make Lita feel better. What exactly she was looking for Kizzy didn't know, but she was looking nonetheless.

Unfortunately, it looked like rain, and none of the stores in Rue Coupole seemed to sell anything for an upset stomach. She had just emerged from another store, again unsuccessful, when she spotted a woman struggling with a large box in her arms. Kizzy would have ignored her and turned away if she had not seen the kitten poke its head out over the top of the box.

Immediately enamored with the kitten, Kizzy weaved her way through the crowd to catch up with the woman. "Excuse me, but do you need any help?" she asked the woman. At that moment it began to rain; Kizzy caught the woman by the elbow and led her to a store for shelter.

She peeked into the box and saw it was full of squirming, cuddly kittens. "Aww, they're so cute!" Kizzy squealed. She smiled down at the kittens, then looked back up at the woman. "Seriously, do you need any help?"

[Lilandra Monaco]

Lilanadra had to admit that she had gotten quiet turned around. Aside from food runs and her apprenticeship at the blacksmiths and her... perosnal business outside town, she had not taken the time to explore Venus outside of Night's Doorstep. This was coming back to bite her in the rear now. And not in the fun way.

She had just walked in what she was sure was the third circle around the same four stores when she approached by another woman offering help. She tensed up at first, holding the box closer to her, not sure if the offer was genuine or some kind of ruse. Before she could react however, it stated to rain and Lilandra was most certainly not dressed for such an event. Her simple flesh-colored dress was already somewhat diaphanous, and even though her new companion was quick thinking and got then to shelter fast, what rain hand landed on her was more than enough to render the shoulders and the chest completely transparent.

The kittens mewed loudly in the box, annoyed at the getting wet, and Lia shifted the box's weight to hold in one hand, then reached into her own cleveage with the other hand. The hand-written note she produced and handed to Kizzy was slightly damp but still readable... kind of.

Was taking care of young felines and maternal parent. Now their maternal parent missing for too days. Effort in getting young felines to domesticated animal store. Owner will know how 2 care four them.

The syntax of the note was all over the place, but Lia didn't seem to notice and smiled hopefully at Kizzy.

[Bethany Mills]

Bethany sat quietly behind the counter, her chin rested on her fist in thought as she burnt out her cigeratte. A large overly-fed cat sat on the counter near her, curled up in a ball and sleeping to the sound of the rain while swishing it's tail every now and then.

Beth looked up and saw two people outside of her shop with a box, she got delivaries often but wasn't accustomed to the delivaries coming in such inconvienent weather,not that Bethany would complain. She was always happy to get a new package.

She rolled her chair from behind the counter and headed across the pet-shop. The pet shop was seperated into 4 sections. One section was on the far left, which contained toys and food. Next to that was the non-mammels such as fish and snakes, then the center of the store where the counter was located and what the customer would first see, and finally on the far end was where the mammels were. Dogs, bunnies...and ofcourse cats.

[Kizzy]

Kizzy took the note from the woman and read it, though she was confused as why the woman didn't just speak to her. As she finished reading the note it dawned on her: She must not be able to speak! Kizzy put the note in her pocket and smiled widely at the woman. "Don't worry-- I know where the pet store is! You're safe with me!" The last part was said more to the cats than to Lilandra.

Ignoring the rain, Kizzy set off in the direction of the pet store with the woman and kittens in tow. "My name's Kizzy, by the way," she tossed over her shoulder genially. "I know my way around the city pretty well by now. You see my master-- er, employer-- sends me on all kinds of errands. I always stop by the pet store to see the cute animals!"

Kizzy was so caught up in her one-sided conversation that she stepped out into the middle of the street without looking, and was completely oblivious to the oncoming carriage.

[Rhiannon Dragonet]

Rhiannon didn't often take a carriage, and when she did you knew the weather was bad. In fact, it was practically a deluge outside today, but Rhiannon felt that she absolutely must get out of the castle that day or she was going to go crazy.

So although the carriage driver looked at her like she was insane, Rhiannon rented a carriage for the day. At one point when they were driving through Rue Coupole the carriage suddenly stopped short and the driver let loose a rather graphic string of curses.

Confused, Rhiannon stuck her head out of the window and saw two frightened, drenched women directly in front of the carriage. Gods, we almost hit them! She practically leapt out of the carriage, saying to the driver, "Thank the Gods you didn't hit them!"

She rushed to the shorter woman's side, "Are you alright?" It was then that she noticed the taller woman was practically naked, only covered by the box she held in her hands. Rhiannon put her arms around the taller woman's shoulders and led her to the open carriage door. "Where are you going? You can ride with me," she told them.

[Lilandra Monaco]

Lia saw the carriage coming, but couldn't reach out to grab Kizzy in time, her hands burdened as they were. Her inarticulate bark of warning came out sound like the chirp of a panicked songbird.

But the carriage stopped just in time, and the passenger in the back seemed relieved that no one was hurt. Lia blinked once at the sight of the woman. The crown of bone and wings were interesting enough, but it was her eyes she could not tear her gaze away from. They twinkled like living flame in her face, calling to light all the concern etched there. Though Lia did not seem the least bit self-conscious when it came to the rain rendering the top her outfit transparent, she did blush and look away slightly when the arm was draped over her shoulders.

When asked where they were going, Lia made to reach into her cleavage again, only to remember that she had given the note to Kizzy. She turned at the carriage door, and raised one hand, pointing at Kizzy, then at her pocket, then mimed writing in the air.

[Kizzy]

Kizzy blinked as Rhiannon came around the corner of the carriage. Was that a crown on her head? No, it's a crown of horns! And those are wings on her back! She tried not to stare in wonder as the fantastical-looking woman spoke. She noticed Lilandra and Rhiannon looked at her expectantly, and Kizzy blushed.

"We're going to the pet store," she said, motioning to the kittens in the box. "Oh, here's the note." She handed said note to the dragon lady, looking her in the eyes.

And what amazing eyes they were. Blood-red in color, they seemed to shine with kindness and concern for the Kizzy and Lilandra. Kizzy was mesmerized as she watched them flit back and forth while reading. Soon the eyes focused again on the pair.

"The pet store is not far from here, just a few blocks east," Kizzy said, not sure of what Rhiannon was thinking."We can be there in less than ten minutes."

[Lilandra Monaco]

Lia nodded enthusiastically at Kizzy words, and only once that was cleared up did she allow herself to be ushered into the waiting carriage.

It wasn't until she was out often rain that she realized how wet she had gotten in just a few minutes. Her silver hair was soaked, plastered to the sides of her face, her shoulders, and down her back. She looked into the box, worried, but the kittens were no where near that wet. Apparently she had shield then form the worst of the downpour with her own body. She breathed a sigh of relief. What luck!

She took a seat on the bench seat inside the carriage, setting the box down at her feet. Her hair and clothes were practical dripping with water, but she was all smiles as Rhiannon and Kizzy entered after her. She bowed her head at Rhiannon, then raised her finger to her lips then moved her hand forward and a bit down in the direction of both women, a simple sign for 'thank you'.

[Rhiannon Dragonet]

"I'll say you're going to be there in less than 10 minutes," Rhiannon said to the teenager, "because you'll be coming with me!" With that the dragonet handed the other woman up into the carriage and motioned for the younger girl to follow.

"I may look scary, but I promise I'm not going to eat you," Rhiannon said with a smile. She pulled a blanket out from under the seat and handed it to the silver haired woman. "Though I'm afraid I don't know where this pet store is. Would you be kind enough to tell the carriage driver the directions? I'm sorry you have to go out into the rain again, but there will be a blanket waiting for you, too."

Rhiannon leaned over the box with the kittens, and pulled one of the mewling creatures out. "There, there," she crooned, drying the kitty off with another blanket. "We're almost there, darling, and soon you will be nice and warm." The kitten looked confused for a moment, but eventually snuggled up in the dragonet's arms. Rhiannon smiled. She'd always had a soft spot for cats.