Where are my people? (EA, D7)

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

Ryoko, after finding that the Nezumi hadn't immediately attacked the expedition, had cautiously entered the nezumi city among a band of other humans, head hidden beneath a straw hat. Tago had wanted to come, but she had forbidden it.

Now, trying her best, admittedly poor, normal person impression, she was furtively walking the streets, afraid at any moment that ratmen would spring from the nearby doors and carry her away in chains... but also growing increasingly concerned that she didn't see any of her mother's kin here, either.

What was going on?

[Koun]

"Interesting place, ne?" said the wanderer. "Impressive in it own way but a little scary too."

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

Ryoko twitched in surprise, not sure how the man had snuck up on her, but she cast him a sideways glance.

"Yes. It's both of those things."

She wondered how much of it had been built by slave labor.

[Koun]

"I do not know much about the rat-people who live here. Do you?" he asked, still looking around.

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"Not enough. Nothing good."

Ryoko felt exposed, and found herself unconsciously pulling her back to the wall of the passage.

"I haven't met you before. Are you with the expedition?"

Surely he must be, to be here, but she still felt ill at ease.

[Koun]

"Yes, I am Koun, perhaps you have heard of me," he said hopefully.

"It is a time for heroes, where else would one want to be?"

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"I have not."

She tilted her head, examining the man. "Perhaps you will have to tell me of your deeds, some day."

Glancing left and right, she added, carefully, "Do you know much about these Nezumi... have you seen any large horned people?"

[Koun]

He shrugs. "Unfortunately not. Should there be?" He looks around more, stretching up to try and see more.

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"I don't know."

She frowned. "I thought... well... it seems I was wrong."

Resting against the wall, she added, "So what are you looking for?"

[Koun]

"In the city?" he paused and looked around. "I am not sure. It is so . . . different from what I expected."

He glanced around and lowered his voice. "Rats, you know, normal rats usually livei n holes and burrows. So, maybe, I expected more of that on a bigger scale," he gestures around, "but not this. It amazes and confuses me, all at the same time."

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"Nezumi are not simply rats - they are clever and strong. They overthrew those that came before them, enslaving them and using them to help build these cities."

Ryoko grasped the edge of the hat, unconsciously, pulling it down slightly so the brim better hid her horns.

"Still, they seem to have... seen better days."

[Koun]

"It is almost like walking through a tomb," says Koun.

"Perhaps we should rejoin the others?"

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"Perhaps... I have a few things to look into further in."

She sighed. "But you should not feel compelled to join me. It is a personal curiosity, nothing more."

[Koun]

"It would not be wise to wander alone in these strange regions," he says. "And it would be a poor hero who abandoned one in need."

"So, what are we looking for?"

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"Well... I was going to visit the knowledge room they have, but I can do it another time. For now, I should get back for lunch, I guess."

She glanced at the nezumi citizens.

"I'm not sure I want to know what they eat for lunch."

[Koun]

Koun nods. "Let us be careful, we would not want to be lunch, yes?"

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"I will be careful, yes."

She laughed, dryly, beginning to walk deeper into the city.

(Have a later thread I'm part of in the library, so once we finish conversation, i'll exit to there)