Some Afternoon Shopping

Artemis had stuck her nose into a jewelry stand, taking in the gloriously glimmering effects of the precious stones and metals. The shop keeper, a woman, watched Artemis with careful eyes. Something about Artemis made the shop keeper uneasy. Maybe she was a thief?

The red-haired girl backed up and examined everything again and said. "Nope. Nothing I like." And started off away from the stand. The woman watched her with a mild annoyance, then turned back to her collection. Breath marks could be seen on her once spotless jewelry. With an exaggerated sigh, the shop keeper grabbed the bracelets, necklaces, and rings and began to polish them with the hem of her apron.

Artemis strolled along the streets innocently, keeping to herself and watching carefully as people passed her, worried they'd suddenly lash out at her. It was peaceful these years, she had no reason to believe that they would suddenly attack; though, she wouldn't put it past them.

Her ruby red armor gleamed in the radiant sun as she stepped out from the shadow of the marvelous wall that separated the marketplace from the castle. She gazed up at it, wondering what was beyond there, and how it would be like to live within them. The idea of a caged bird came to her mind, and she shuddered the thought away.

Unfortunately, Artemis was not watching the road. She accidentally bumped into a person in front of her and wabbled a bit, not quite falling over. "Oh," she said. "My apologies."

Moko turned in alarm at the voice apologizing. Though there had been little silence since he entered the capitol city, he had generally been given a wide berth. He was even more surprised to find the person to be much closer to his height than the general populus of the area. She was odd, her rhythym stilted as if formed rather than sang. Was she not human? Either way, the rhythym set his teeth on edge. He bowed, however, as one was supposed to do in these situations. Or at least that was what Karan had said...

"It is no worry of mine, young tree. It is not the words but the action that truly matter-I can feel and see that you are sincere in your mistake." He bowed again before turning and continuing his trek to the castle. After so many weeks his journey had almost ended. He could only hope the castle held better trees than most he had encountered thus far.

A curious expression crossed her face at this point. 'Little tree?' Artemis thought to herself. She straightened her clothes a bit and watched as the stranger walked off towards the castle. Her mismatched eyes examined him for a moment, noting that he was different from the other humans. Finding her curiosity too much to resist, she began following him, keeping close to the shadows. She stood out, sadly, but Artemis found much satisfaction and fascination with following the elven person around.

After a bit longer of stalking him, Artemis reached out and tapped his shoulder. "Excuse me," she said in a quiet tone. Suddenly she was at a loss of words and stood stiff. Eventually, the words flowed out of her mouth, as though a puppeteer were speaking for her. "You aren't from around here, are you? Is there something you're looking for?"

For the second time today Moko was surprised and a little alarmed. He bowed quickly before replying the strange one.

"No, young one, I am not 'from around here.' I am of the Karu clan of the elven peoples in the Fifth Territory. I have been chosen as the emissary to the human kingdom of Rynial. Currently I am attempting to find my way into the castle so I may present myself to their Majesties. Would you happen to know the best approach to entering the castle?"

The busy streets were fastpaced and filled with all manner of man and creature. The horses, with their heavy hooves and strong rhythms, terrified Moko. He would discreetly wander farther away every time one passed.

She scratched the back of her head and glanced around. She hadn't known of a place to go through in order to enter the castle walls. Red and blue eyes settled on the wall in front of her and she smiled a bit. "I know!" She said and jumped up with ease and her claw-like fingers dug into the sturdy exterior of the wall, her feet below kicked a bit as she tried to find some crevice to step on.

"I can climb you over! It's pretty easy. These stones aren't all that tough." Artemis explained while dislodging her fingers from the five holes she had created and patted the wall a bit. Several people had stopped and stared at them for a minute, quite concerned with the red-haired woman attempting to scale the walls into the castle.

"I dunno about all that amrisury stuff," she said, with a bit of difficulty. "But you seem nice enough and don't look like you're about to snap spines and drink their fluids." Artemis' natural morbidness came sputtering out like water from a broken faucet. Realizing what she had said, Artemis muttered a quick apology and hid her head in embarrassment.

This young tree is so strange! Moko's brows furrowed in distress. He wasn't sure what to do about this!

"Ah, young one...You might reconsider your actions. It seems that scaling walls is not among accepted behavior here. Are you not 'from around here' either? Perhaps..."He trailed off, searching for some kind of comfort or inspiration. It seemed guards had been called to interfere with the violence the wall had suffered. Her ensuing comment on spines...and fluids...Moko shuddered.

"I will inquire with these guards once they arrive as to the best action. May I suggest you meditate on your...tendencies? Meditation can be indcredibly beneficial." With that, the elf turned to face the approaching guards and attempted to lean casually against the wounded wall.

Her cheeks burned. Blood circulated and focused on her face, causing her pale features to light up with a red tone. She slid off the wall, thoughts of self-condescending flooding her mind. 'What is wrong with me? Why am I so interested in helping this guy?' She glanced to him through the side of her eye. Artemis came to conclusion that it was because he was different, such as she, and others stared at them like they were without feelings themselves. Her gaze settled to her metal fingers as she lifted her hand to examine them. They wiggled at her will and created a clanking chime as they rubbed against each other.

The guards stood before them both, staring between the holes in the wall and Artemis, then to Moko. The younger looking of the pair opened his mouth to speak, but Artemis quickly interjected. "I'm sorry. That was me. I wanted to help him get through to the castle. He's a good guy." Her head lowered as she spoke to avoid meeting the eyes of the judgmental guards. The younger one spoke at that point. "Artemis," he said. "You seem to get into trouble wherever you go." He spoke with such familiarity towards her, it was evident their paths had crossed before. More than twice.

"We are headed to the gate. We can escort you there." The older guard said to Moko, bowing slightly. Not much space was given for flexibility in the town guard's armor. Artemis side-stepped to get away, but the other guard grabbed her arm and said. "You are under arrest for damaging public property, Artemis. You will come with us to the throne room to find a suitable punishment."

Her eyes fell to the ground and she nodded, remaining entirely silent at this point, not wanting to risk opening her mouth and frightening anyone. Again.

Seeing the young one's obvious discomfort prompted Moko to action.

"I would prefer that this tree not be harmed. She has acted with good and simple reasoning, and her eagerness is easily explained by her youth. Would my status as emissary to the elves help sway your decision? It was understood that status has an important role in your governing style. Or perhaps I may ask the king and queen their opinions on the matter. Surely, as rulers of this kingdom, they would know the best solution for this situation." The elf's golden green eyes were filled with sincerity and worry. Surely, though this tree had punched holes in the wall, she could not be harmed in return. Surely!

Her eyes flickered to Moko a moment with a glimmer of hope hidden within the colors. The two guards glanced to each other and the younger one shrugged. "The King and Queen are fair with their judgments. If anything, she would be put to work to repair the wall. It should not be too difficult for her." Artemis scowled up at the younger guard and her lips pursed together. The guard caught her expression and chuckled a bit. "We have been over this before. You cannot expect to go free of your crimes anymore. I'm a guard now, you are a citizen."

She shook her head and sighed a bit. "At least give me my arm." The soldier obliged and let go, knowing she wouldn't attempt to flee. The older guard patted the younger one's back and said. "You go ahead, Jove. I'll walk around the other way and keep guard."

The younger one, named Jove, nodded and smiled. "If you will, Sir, we shouldn't keep Milord and Milady waiting." He did another quick bow and started off, Artemis falling behind and whispered "Thank you." to Moko.

Moko paused to bow to the young one and the guards before following. He would certainly meditate on this interaction when evening came. For now, he followed guard and girl into the castle grounds. There he was fascinated and slightly horrified-everything had been cut and shaped so torturously! The elf wanted to stay and coax the plants of this place into a sense of peace, but alas there were other matters to attend to. It seemed they were nearing the entrance to the throne room. Moko found himself adjusting his tunic and wrap. Proper clothing was something some of the others had emphasized in his lessons, and Moko could only hope he had the right such clothing.

Jove opened the large doorways once they reached them. Behind the large, dark wood doors was another set of doors made of metal and slightly elevated from the greystone ground. Two door keepers stood before them. Upon seeing Jove and his two companions, they pushed the doors open at the same time and allowed them entrance. A group of five could pass through the doors horizontally, though Artemis stood behind Jove in a linear fashion.

They passed through two more doors like that before the last doorway revealed a long and spacious corridor lined with marvelous pillars and various banners. The windows were high and larger than any human alive. The ceiling was tall enough to fit a dragon. At the en of the long hallway were two thrones.

Artemis peaked from behind Jove's large armor and frowned a bit. The thrones were empty. Jove spoke quietly. "They're usually here at this time..."