Shadow’s group approached the gate. This one sported a pair of guards, which hadn’t been the case in Lorvale. The armored people she’d seen with the caravan were also guards, as Jonas had explained. This gate was a lot more impressive than the village's had been. It was half again as tall and built into walls that seemed really thick, because she could see people walking around on top of them. It also seemed to be constructed almost entirely out of stone.

It had clearly been built in pieces, but the rock had been sealed together by some substance. She’d really need to check that out later, but for now, she was sticking with the group.

Shadow’s eyes were as wide as saucers as they entered Leeside’s main thoroughfare.

There were so many people. Most of them were human, but she did spot a good number of beastkin, and… weird humans? She’d seen enough humans at this point to figure out some trends in how they were supposed to look. Pointy ears were not a human trait, as far as she knew, and neither was being as short as she was, but muscled and wider than a full-grown adult.

She’d definitely have to ask about that when there was less... everything going on.

Currently, she was feeling a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of bodies rushing about around her. She’d thought there were a lot of people in Lorvale, but Leeside was on a whole different level. It was hard to believe there were so many people!

She kept close to Annie, keeping her tablets clutched to her chest with both arms to keep them safe and available in case she needed them. She held off with waving for now. Everyone seemed so busy!

She was also having a little trouble with the smell. She’d switched over to breathing through her mouth in an effort to find some relief. It was… overwhelming would be an understatement. It felt like it was burning her sinuses. Again, it was similar to how it had been with Lorvale, but just more intense. Even actively trying not to breathe through her nose, she was still picking out plenty of scents she’d never smelled before, in the village or elsewhere.

The buildings were also more impressive. It seemed like all of them had at least two stories, with plenty having three. She wouldn’t be surprised if she saw even taller ones at some point.

She noticed that most of them appeared to be shops of some sort. They almost universally had some sort of sign out in front of them, most with pictures, but she saw some with words as well. It was hard to believe there were so many of them. Did they all sell different things?

So much stuff. So many people rushing around. She could hear any number of conversations happening all around her. There was so much going on.

Shadow broke out of the spell she’d fallen into when Annie started rubbing her head.

She looked up at her mom.

“Are you alright?” Annie asked.

Surprise flashed across Shadow’s face.

Of course she was okay! They were in a new town!

She nodded to her mom.

“Just making sure. You’ve been huddling up a bit.” Annie said kindly.

Shadow blinked.

Oh… I guess I have.

She was basically pressed up against her mom, and she hadn’t even noticed. Shadow took a deep breath and forced herself to walk more normally. She was feeling pretty nervous.

Shadow set up her tablets and started writing.

‘There are so many people all around. I guess I’m a little nervous. I’ll be okay though.’ she wrote, handing it to Annie to read. If she could handle a tatzelwurm, she could certainly handle being in a big crowd of people.

Annie smiled down at her and ruffled her ears a bit.

“You’re doing great, my brave little girl.”

Shadow gave her mom a confused look. Brave? She hardly felt brave. Fighting the tatzelwurm had been brave. This just felt… like something that should be normal. None of the other people seemed scared at all. The fact that she felt nervous seemed… the opposite of brave. Anti-brave.

She wasn’t even surrounded by people trying to touch her like last time! Shouldn’t she be trying to talk to everyone? They just all seemed so busy…

Shadow took back her tablets.

‘I don’t feel brave, though. I feel anti-brave! No one else seems nervous!’ she wrote.

Annie laughed when she read it.

“I think the word you’re looking for there is coward, or cowardly. And don’t worry; you’re no coward. Bravery is all about finding things scary and doing them anyway. Sometimes I wish you’d have a little less of it.” Annie explained.

“I’ll second that. You suffer from too much bravery, not the opposite.” Jonas piped up.

Kirrik was just smirking at her.

Well… Shadow supposed, going by that definition, she was pretty brave. That had been a word she’d picked up by context. She guessed she didn’t have it quite right.

Having everyone call her brave (she was counting Kirrik’s smirk as tacit agreement) did make her feel better though.

She still didn’t want to bother any of the busy people, but she resolved herself to talk to the next non-busy person she saw.

Shadow’s plan fell through pretty quickly, with Annie stopping her when she started marching off toward a rather unkempt beastkin (some sort of dog or wolf kind? He’d had interesting grey and white fur) leaning against the wall of an alley. He didn’t seem busy, so Shadow had thought he was a good person to start with.

That was apparently not the case.

She was trying to integrate the half-panicked crash course on the types of people she shouldn’t talk to and things she had to be careful about doing in the big town. ‘Don’t talk to people hanging around in alleyways’ being the first thing she was taught.

“I can’t believe we didn’t teach her any of this! I was too focused on—” Annie panicked quietly to Jonas.

“She’ll be fine. She’s going to stick with us, and we’ll catch her if she makes a mistake. She’ll learn with time, just like any kid. I don’t think we should—”

“If someone bumps into you, make sure to check that your coin purse is still there! That’s a common tactic pickpockets use!” Annie interrupted, ambushing Shadow with more information.

Shadow dutifully nodded, wide-eyed at her mom’s frantic state.

She didn’t even have a coin purse, though she had been practicing with coins a bit.

‘I’ll be okay. I’ll stay close. Please don’t worry. You’re kind of scaring me.’ Shadow wrote nervously, before showing her mom.

The woman jolted, looking at Shadow and noticing for the first time how uneasy she seemed.

Annie took a deep breath and shook herself.

“Right… right. I’m sorry. This shouldn’t… isn’t a big deal. I just… I should have been teaching you this the whole trip over.” Annie admonished herself.

Jonas put a hand on Annie's shoulder.

“She's going to be fine. The best teacher is experience. She’ll learn.” Jonas looked over to Shadow. “The big rule is just to stick with us, and ask before you do anything. You’ll come to know the rest, and it’ll be second nature in no time.” Jonas explained.

Shadow nodded to him, then held her tablets in her mouth so she could give her mom a hug.

Shadow supposed she wasn’t the only one that was nervous.

The hug broke up a few seconds later, and Shadow transferred her tablets back to her paws.

‘Are you okay?’ She asked Annie.

Annie started chuckling and put a hand to her face.

“And here I was worried about how you were doing. Seems like I'm a bit on edge myself.” Annie lamented.

“I’ll be fine, Shadow. Thanks for asking. Sorry for scaring you.” She said.

Shadow smiled up at Annie.

'It's okay. I'll stay safe.' she wrote back.

“There’s an inn.” Kirrik pointed out, gesturing toward a building a little way up the road.

Shadow looked up and squinted as best she could, trying to make out the sign, but frustratingly couldn’t.

She sighed. It was too far and too bright out. The sun was still high, it being only a little past noon.

She turned a scowl on Kirrik when she noticed him smirking at her.

He raised his hands and put on an innocent expression

“I didn’t say a thing!” Kirrik defended.

‘You were thinking something mean! I could tell!’ she accused him.

“Me? Think something mean? I would never.” He mocked, looking away while putting a hand over his heart.

Shadow started giggling in little huffs.

‘Your mood got better.’ Shadow stated, smiling at him.

He raised an eye ridge at her and shrugged.

“Lookin’ forward to a little relaxation. Few pints of ale. It’ll be a good night. Uhh, assuming…?” He asked, looking over at Annie.

“We’ll be fine without you, just have some errands to run. Be ready to go by midmorning tomorrow.” Annie confirmed.

Kirrik grinned and gave her a nod, before heading into the inn. They’d closed the distance during the conversation.

The sign had a picture of food, a mug, and a bed on it, with ‘The Plum Pie Inn’ written underneath.

Shadow noticed she was running low on space on her tablets. Annie was headed to join Kirrik by the counter, so Shadow went over and patted Jonas.

“Hmm?” He hummed, looking down at her.

She made a rubbing motion with her paw overtop the wax surface.

“Ahh. No problem. Hand them here,” he said, reaching out. Shadow almost fumbled the handoff, but Jonas snagged them with a quick movement.

Shadow made a frustrated noise, glaring at her paws. She still had some room to improve.

Jonas had fished a small metal tool out of one of his pouches and smoothed out her tablets in no time. She could clear them herself with her scales, but she’d have to sit on the floor to do so, and it’d take longer, so she was ok with asking her human family to help out when it was convenient.

Shadow looked up at Annie after Jonas handed her tablets back. The puzzled note in her mom’s voice drew Shadow’s attention.

“For me? You’re sure?” Annie asked the innkeeper, clearly confused.

“Yup. Letter for Annabelle Clark. If that’s you, then that’s your letter.” The man said matter-of-factly.

“But… how did you—” She started, but the innkeeper cut her off.

“Messenger gave me both of your descriptions.” He explained, motioning between her and Jonas. “Didn’t mention the beastkin, but you fit the bill. Must say I’m surprised to see you picking it up after so long.”

Annie looked incredulous.

“Well, message delivered! Have a nice stay ma’am!” the man with a friendly wave.

Annie wandered back to the group.

“Now what's all this about?” she asked, staring down at the sealed missive in her hands.