With that, we decided to keep that steam thing in mind for later, (in case that's useful for some reason, you never know), and we happened to remember Todd existed at around the same time he was leaving the church with a mostly fixed arm. Once he was outside, he basically just turned around and started walking aimlessly off into the distance behind the church, so I just threw a hole under him and scooped him up. He just fell through and hopped back up to the horse seat thing without a care in the world.
What a guy.
The rest of us hopped back in the carriage and... Rode on the carriage.
There was some mild shenanigans to be had with the holes and whatnot, but nothing particularly interesting. Mostly, we just rode in the cart. It was pretty boring.
By the time the concept of time had lost all meaning to me, we had arrived in town.
As far as I remember, it was a cute little place, a lot bigger than Basenholm, while also being a lot smaller than Starsford or the city/regional capital I still don't know the name of. The buildings, much like Basenholm, were very wood-y, made of logs stacked logs and stuff, probably because the town was built close to a dense forest.
I recall there being a lot of people commuting to and fro in the moonlight, and a number of rebellious children doing lighthearted rebellious children things in the streets lit by magical streetlights and whatnot.
What I don't remember was anyone talking about how cool we looked. Which was confusing, because we did look really cool, especially after I cleaned everyone up. That being said, I was very tired at the time, so there's a distinct possibility that I just missed it.
As sure as I am that this town was chock full of culture and quirky characters, rich with stories to tell and deeply personal individual goals and aspirations, I was basically asleep standing up. Didn't even bother to remember the name of the place. By the time we got to whatever inn and checked in to the rooms that were apparently already reserved for us somehow, I basically just flopped onto the bed and passed out. That is, after I changed out of the suit, of course.
Next thing I knew, it was morning and I was still tired.
"You're awake." Sis said, stating the obvious. Which is, itself, and obvious statement. Now that's some crazy stuff right there.
"Yeah." I said, electing not to voice my incredible revelations. The world just isn't ready yet.
We left the room and began making our way downstairs.
"Gah, my hair's all out of wack..." I said as we descended. It was compressed and messy, as if the top of my head had been rubbing up against something, which didn't make much sense.
"Seems perfectly fine." Sis said. "I wouldn't worry about it."
This conversation gave me the strangest sense of deja vu. But, I was too tired to think about it too hard, so I elected to take her advice.
I groggily followed Sis down the stairs as she lead me to the table closest to the door, at which point I think I ate breakfast. I'm not certain. The dark oak-y logs that the place was made out of made it still feel like it was night time, which made me even more tired than I already was, you could tell me I dreamt the whole thing and I'd have believed you.
The only things I remember about breakfast were the far-too-young-to-be-working waiter dude looking at Sis and me weirdly, (which is about when I realized that that me and Sis sharing a room with only one bed might've seemed just a bit weirder than I considered last night), and S laughing it up with a bunch of older dudes in the corner table over a game of cards.
"He went out on the town last night, didn't he?" I asked as I ate whatever it is I ate that morning.
"Yeah, think so." Sis said. "Don't think he slept much."
Yet he doesn't seem the least bit tired. Garbage.
"Did you go with him?" I asked, probably slurring my words a little.
"Nah. Seemed dumb."
"Then what did you do last night? Or what, did you just stand there over me the entire time?" I attempted to joke. Whether or not I succeeded is up to interpretation.
"Stuff." Was all she said.
And that was more than enough for my brain at the time.
Eventually, Todd came in and rounded us up, which included physically dragging S away from his game of cards.
"Right, great timing." S said as we left. "I was starting to get worried they weren't joking about paying me."
I was far too tired to question that. Before long, we were back in the cart.
I think I drifted in and out of sleep for a while. There might've been some light shenanigans and general whatnot along the way, maybe a meal and a snack or two, but by the time I was fully conscious, we were already in another town, and it was incredibly dark.
What the heck.
"Hooooooly pacing." Sis said as the carriage drew to a stop, pinching her forehead as if she had a headache. It seemed like a weird thing to say, yet, somehow, I found myself agreeing with her.
I have much less to comment on about this town we were in. Other than the fact that it was dark. Very, very dark. So dark that I told Sis we should probably hold hands or something to make sure nobody gets lost. At least, that's what I was gonna do, but Sis had already wrapped her hand around my wrist before I could say anything. Which seemed a little weird, but I guess the wrist is the thinnest part of the arm, and thus the easiest to grab. How efficient.
"I don't like this town." She declared. "Stupidly dark. Dangerous."
While I was, too, unnerved by the darkness, I figured that so long as we stuck to the main paths we'd be fine. Especially if we stuck close to Todd, who looked pretty intimidating as a silhouette.
I was gonna suggest we stick close to S as well, but he was already off wandering around looking at stuff. Didn't seem too concerned about navigation.
As we walked, I wondered if the people here are allergic to light, or somebody here just really likes looking at the stars. I'm sure they looked pretty nice, especially way out here in the countryside, but I wouldn't know because we couldn't see them. It's been crazy cloudy all day, and it was still cloudy well into the night. By the time we showed up, it was even starting to rain.
Wait, what was that thing S was saying yesterday? Didn't he mention that there might be a storm?
Well, that should be fun, at least. Actually the town being like this means that the atmosphere is even better! Yes! Thank you, weird-a*s townspeople!
Speaking of, Todd was surprisingly good at navigating in the dark. It kinda felt like he was seeking out the place, like a guided missile or a cleaning robot or something. That's not to say that he didn't bump into the occasional oddly placed wheelbarrow, but he didn't lead us down any dead ends or slam into any walls or anything like that.
We made it to the inn with relative ease, considering the darkness and the wetness. Between the three of us, we only tripped over things 6 and a half times. That's 5 trips and 3 slips.
I say 'the three of us' because S was already gabbing it up with the old lady behind the counter when we arrived. I got the feeling that he tripped 0 times on the way here.
The inn itself was lit, though very dimly. Still, it was very welcome change from the rest of the town. The inn was also built out of dark oak-y logs, just like the last one was, even down to the furniture. Which was confusing, (and pretty creepy in this light) because this town was built along a riverside, pretty far from a forest or anything like that. I think, anyways. I dunno, for all I know there's a lush and thick woods, like, 3 meters outside this building. I wouldn't be able to tell in the darkness.
This inn was a lot like the one back in Starsford, in that it was mostly a restaurant that happened to have a second floor with a few rooms to rent. 3, in this case. The restaurant bit was closed right now, but I imagine this place is probably pretty busy in the mornings and afternoons.
After a brief exchange where the lady mentioned that we'd have the place to ourselves tonight, as even she'd be heading home in a few minutes, (which seemed like a poor security decision) Sis, S, and I made our way up to our rooms.
I noticed that Todd didn't follow us. He just left. I asked S why, but all he said was,
"Right, I got no idea what he does at night."
Weird guy.
