losthunter | The Doors of our Heart

Well, that was pretty unambiguous. Not to mention accurate. Jim throws a look over his shoulder at Hunter, one that says, This is the right place.

"It's all right, ma'am. I'm the one who distracted her." Not entirely true, but he doesn't want this little girl to get yelled at for a simple mistake, or a moment's lapse in attention.

Hunter has this strange feeling in the pit of his stomach that the little girl had seemed awfully familiar. He nods slightly at Jim's glance his way.

"The girls should know better to be distracted." The woman points out coldly. The little girl returns to her station, head down. Quiet.

"Now, what brings two travelers to my shop today?"

No reason not to be truthful, although obviously it's not the whole truth. "We're looking for the Temple of Apollo," Jim answers. "We were told we might find it here."

"Ah! Travelers who wish to speak with the Oracle... yes... yes... Please come inside." The old woman gestures for them to enter the hut.

The little girl watches them, while still keeping her head down to not alert the older woman of her attention.

The inside of the seamstress hut is decorated with many fine silks and delicate designs of all kinds. The old woman guides Jim and Hunter to a back room, where seated upon soft pillows is a beautiful young woman. Her hair is brunette, and very long. It is braid, and wraps around her body. She wears very suggestive clothing. And has a bright smile for both of them.

"The Oracle..." The old woman introduces them. Hunter frowns slightly to himself. Something feels off about this whole situation. It was almost too easy.

Yeah, Jim's getting a bit of that vibe too. Especially since, you know, the little girl knew from a single touch that he's waiting to go back out into space. "Is she?" he asks, not disrespectfully, but just skeptical enough.

"Please sit... speak with the Oracle."

The young woman flashes Jim a shy smile. But to Hunter it seems like she is putting on some kind of act.

"I see such great things for you." She speaks softly. "You have been traveling for such a long time. But opportunity awaits for you in a new town. Love. Marriage. A family."

Hunter starts coughing, to cover up the fact that he wants to laugh right now.

She glances at Hunter, her eyes narrowing a little. "But your friend. He will soon walk alone. Forgotten and unloved. For the rest of his life."

Even though Hunter knows that the woman is a fake, her words still hurt. He shakes his head, excusing himself out of the room. The young woman takes the opportunity to reach out to touch Jim's hands. "But you, are quite blessed today."

Yeeeeaaaaah, total bullshit. Jim looks over in concern when Hunter leaves the room, and the only reason he doesn't just get up and leave too is because the fake oracle is touching him.

Well, fine. If she wants to play games, he can play them right back.

"What about my parents?" he asks, pretending to play along, if only for a moment.

"They have been concerned about the drought, haven't they?" The fake oracle flashes him another smile. She twirls her hair slightly. "Have you come to ask me to speak to Lord Apollo, so that his Sun Chariot doesn't shine too brightly on their crops for the next year?"

Hunter meanwhile has slipped through the exterior room, without being noticed by the old woman. All that time on the streets, hiding himself, seems to work in his favor here. He moves until he is closer to where the girls are working. And just stands there, watching them to get an impression of their routine.

She's fishing, and Jim gives her nothing. "Shouldn't you already know why I'm here?" he asks. A quiet challenge, hardly subtle but not too belligerent.

With Hunter, Faris observes what he can from his position on the man's chest. He doesn't understand what strange masquerade this is, but the false oracle's words held no wisdom, no knowledge. And with the presence of the girls nearby, he cannot ask, so he stays still and silent, doing what he does best - listening.

"Not many men would have the chance you do," The fake oracle smiles again. She loosens her robes in a very seductive way. "To ask anything you wish of our Lord Apollo."

Hunter is only standing there for a few minutes, when he observes the youngest girl, the one who had given a much more accurate prediction, stand and head over to a rack of spools that is quite close to where he hides.

"There is no time to waste. You must flee with your friend. The guards have been called. They will place you in the labor camps." She whispers just under her breath, warning Hunter.

"We need to speak to you."

"By the river, where the cat tails flicker at midnight. The sycamore tree will unite us. Go quickly..." She rushes back to her station.

Jim would be lying if he said he didn't appreciate the view, but he is far too experienced with the art of seduction to fall for it. He leans back, away from her, and gets to his feet. "My father's been dead for years, and my mother's been out to sea almost as long. But nice try."

"Faris... can you go get Jim and lead him to the alleyway over there?" Hunter can see some movement from inside, and figures that it is the old woman. And doesn't think he can sneak past her again.

"Wait! Don't go..." The girl makes her voice whine just enough, so it might seem to someone that she might be in a difficult situation herself.

Jim hesitates, uncertain if this is part of the ploy, unsure what her endgame here is. But he's always relied on his instincts to guide him, and right now, something is very wrong. "Why?" he asks.

Faris is glad that Hunter's clothing is so loose, giving him plenty of space to leap off the man's skin without damaging it or harming his host, and the K'da's scales are already battle-black as he drops to all four paws, slinking in the direction of the false oracle's back room.

"She will whip me, if I don't do as she asks." The young woman explains.

Something more sinister indeed is being plotted. While the young woman tries to distract Jim, the older woman is arming herself with a large candlestick. Faris can see her move quietly, trying to get into position behind Jim.

Jim's not sure he believes it, but even if it's true, it doesn't seem like she's disobeyed. "And you did. And now I'm leaving."

Faris sees the woman preparing for her strike, and reacts with a warrior's grace and speed. He swiftly pads forth on all four paws, and silently pounces at the old woman's back, aiming to pin her to the ground long enough to make their escape.

The old woman cries out as she is pinned to the ground. The young woman, who had been about to make one last attempt to force Jim to stay... scrambles to the wall when she sees the strange creature pinning her accomplice.

When Jim gets outside, he won't see the youngest girl at the sewing station anymore. Hunter is waiting in an alleyway nearby, trying his best to stay unobserved until Jim and Faris reconnect with him.

"Captain, we must go," Faris says, holding down the old woman.

Jim is startled to see the K'da, having not expected the change in color of his scales, but this is hardly the time to ask. And the fact that Faris is in here without Hunter can't be a good sign, either. The captain gives one last look towards the false oracle before he heads for the exit, and there's an odd momentary weight against his exposed arm as Faris leaps aboard Jim's skin as he passes, concealing the K'da from sight beneath the fabric of his robe.

"What happened?" he asks Hunter, but he doesn't stop moving to hear the answer. If that old lady is coming after them, he doesn't plan to sit around and let her get the jump on them.

As soon as Jim is at his side, and he figures that Faris must be traveling with the captain, Hunter too starts moving so they can get some distance between them and the seamstress hut.

"The little girl told me to run. She said that they had called the guards to come and get us."

Hunter glances back for a moment. "She must have made her escape too. I didn't see her there, when you had left."

Jim frowns deeply. "Why would they do that? We haven't done anything weird, right?"

Faris shifts position slightly, just enough that he can peek out of the back of Jim's collar, keeping a watchful eye on their backs. "The elder human was going to harm the captain," he adds to Hunter, the K'da's voice originating somewhere between Jim's shoulders. "I was unable to avoid being seen, regretfully."

"She said something about sending us to the labor camps." Hunter answers.

There doesn't seem to be anyone chasing after them, right now. There is some commotion that can be heard from the seamstress hut. Likely, the guards have arrived and are being given details of the encounter by the Fake Oracle and the older woman.

"I am glad you prevented that..." Hunter frowns deeply.

"Perhaps we can spread the rumor that you were a sign from Apollo. They were obviously lying about being his Oracle."

"Labor camps?" Jim repeats, concerned and a little puzzled. "For what, I wonder."

Faris is not going to object to Hunter's suggestion. As unfamiliar as he is with human cultures, this one seems somewhat stranger than the twenty-first century Western society he's been most exposed to thus far. "The child spoke truths that the false oracle did not. I had wondered if perhaps the scenario was a test, but it appears it was not."

"The laborer had one of the hardest jobs in these times. The beautiful architecture that people marvel about... it was all built on the blood and sweat of the laborer." Hunter frowns. "And some were worked to exhaustion. Or death."

"I told the child that we wanted to meet with her. She gave me a riddle." Hunter takes a moment to remember her words. "By the river, where the cat tails flicker at midnight. The sycamore tree will unite us."

"What is a cat?" Faris asks.

"It's a small mammal. People keep them as pets," Jim explains. "But cattails are water plants, the kind you find at a river's edge."

"So, my guess is that we have to find the river, and the sycamore tree, and arrive around midnight to see her again."

It is roughly just reaching suppertime right now in the village. They have about six hours before midnight.

"That's our priority, then." Under normal circumstances, Jim might suggest they split up. But in unfamiliar territory, where travelers are apparently prone to being enslaved, he doesn't want to risk it. "I hope you know what sycamore looks like," he adds, glancing over at Hunter. "Because I don't."

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