Sun, sand and....bulls? (Kits/striplings)

[spender]

Spender stood his ground. He was a proud creature, beneath all the chubbiness and fluff that accounted for his size. He wasn't smart, but he liked to think himself clever. A smart beast, after all, wouldn't pick a fight in the first place. A clever beast, however, knew when and where to strike. Just like Caden and Carrow—their time would come, all right. Just... not when they were together and could potentially beat him.

Sometimes pride worked both ways. After all, you didn't want to lose any.

So he stood there, face of stone, as Peskers smashed the tomato all down his chest. The impact barely shook the ferret from his footpaws, and Peskers was left with just two tomatoes left, and a very red, very angry Spender still standing.

And now he had a jill to prove himself to, well...

Spender's paws shot out, grabbing Pesker's shirt. What little muscle he had in his arms bulged under his fur. Peskers' footpaws left the ground, and Spender began to walk forward, until they hit a wall, which he pressed Peskers up against.

"What's yer problem, Ralph?" he snarled. "Ye've been houndin' me since day one! Wot've I done t'you, huh? Did Whitey put you up t'this? Well, you tell 'im I don't give a flyin' peach about his stupid mouse friend no more! I'm sick of 'em bein' so goofy-faced, an' I'm sick of you! Leave me alone! Pick on somebeast yer own size or smaller! You bother me again an' I'm draggin' you back t'th'docks an' throwin' you in, got that? I said, you got that?"

To accentuate this last outburst, Spender raised his knee, aiming for the part of Peskers that should have caused the other ferret's eyes to pop out. The effect was less than satisfactory. Geeze, Ralph was either tough as nails or drugged up on... what was that stuff his father meddled with time to time? Opium?

"Er, right," Spender said, letting go. He was more than a little shaken by Pesker's more-or-less changeless expression. Maybe it would sink in in a few seconds? Geeze...

Peskers, meanwhile, was probably thinking two things. One, she was glad she was not male, and two, she was glad she hadn't forgotten to use a very strategically placed pair of pawsocks.

[Ladorak]

Caden grinned at this. "You wanna see our ship? Well that at least I can do!" he exclaimed. Pushing off from the sea wall now, he started heading back along the road by the sea. "As for pulling strings." the marten caught on to Selvis's jest. "Nothing of the sort. Your Admiral Langara I believe it was, was kind enough to grant all Welkinite visitors access to the arena on our last day here. Sort of a bonus to the hospitality we're receiving." he said with a grin.

They walked down the crescent boulevard that had first led them in this direction in the first place. They were unable to see the ship from here due to the Santa Ana being in the way, so they would have to circle back around to where they had originated from, which of course would bring them closer to Spender, but Caden didn't realize this. The ferret hadn't left the ship before them, so all the marten knew was that he was somewhere behind them.

As they drew closer to the pier they had docked at, Caden froze in his tracks, noting Spender was in the vicinity. He was a good three blocks away from them, past the pier, and it looked as if he was currently in some sort of confrontation with Peskers. Good...hopefully it would keep him occupied.

At any rate, they were now within visual sight of the Agamemnon. "I know that being moored right next to that three decker Santa Ana doesn't make her look nearly as impressive as I was hoping, but she's the fastest line-of-battleship in the entire Welkin Navy, though you wouldn't know to look at her. She also has a reputation for being very hard hitting, which is typically unusual for faster ships. So what do you think? That's our home away from home. Our conveyance over the seas."

He stood aside to allow the long tail a better glimpse of their warship.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peskers was caught off guard by this sudden move of Spender, so much so that she dropped her last two tomatoes on the ground. Hey! Those cost good money! She was shoved against the wall and kneed in the groin, but fortunately for her, this area was by far not as sensitive as Spender's, and though it winded her a bit, that was the extent of what it did. She smirked down at him, causing him to drop her.

Her trick had worked it seemed...he now thought she was made of steel. Sighing, she reached down to pick up one of the loose tomatoes. Biting into it and placing her snout so close to his own that the juice splattered into his eyes, she shook her head. "You just don't get it do you? I can't stop you anymore it seems if you think this is the only way you'll ever be happy. But fine...you do this then..." say goodbye to ANY chance you'll ever have of kissing me she finished in her head. There was no way she'd touch that snout if he...polluted it.

But instead of completing her sentence, Peskers tossed the tomato upward, smacking Spender in the jaw as she drew back. The red fruit fell to the ground and lay in between them. "Go have fun fouling yourself you sick furo." she referred to him by the term of his species, and turned to walk away. Big jerk! See if she ever considered him dating worthy again!

Storming off, she started heading away from him, toward Caden and the group, though she didn't initially notice them at first. Her eyes were hazy, and her mind thought only of how she would never be able to wrap that frazzle furred ferret up in her arms and...and...it was infuriating! Maybe she should disable him and break a few of his bones...that way he'd be bedridden and unable to go ashore!

Hoisting herself up onto the seawall, she darkly kept her eye on Spender to see what he would do. If he vanished back into that chocolate shop, that was it. She kept her head very low, as her eyes were punctuated with tears, but she wouldn't dare let him see that. She yanked her hat down even further, making sure to completely hide her "mask" from his view.

[Carrow]

"Indeed, it is a bonus," Carrow continued, unable to resist throwing in his tuppence-worth, "and a considerable one at that. In fact, I'd say that getting free passes to the bullfighting is the best part of this little hospitality package we were offered - but then again I would say that, right?" The wood mouse smiled at his companions. He just couldn't wait to experience this in person, as he'd heard it was a cultural institution in Ferlusan. Hopefully it's all that it's cracked up to be, he thought.

Mouse and weasel tagged along behind Caden and Elliot as the four friends headed down the boulevard, the long-tailed mustelid bringing up the rear as they continued on their way towards the pier. His eyes shone as he spotted the Santa Ana. He wondered how the Agamemnon would compare.

Carrow had been impressed by the sight of that particular ship when he'd spotted it earlier on, and glimpsing it again caused the rodent's smile to widen. However, as they approached the pier, Caden wasn't the only one to stop in his tracks. Carrow pulled up hurriedly, going one better than his pine marten companion by letting out a concerted groan. He'd spotted the insufferable ferret too.

Selvis was by his rodent companion's side, looking ahead of him, wondering what it was that had the mouse so put out. "What is it, mates? Anything wrong?" His sharp eyes could see two ferrets involved in a bit of a tiff, but to Selvis it seemed there should be no reason his friends should react to such a sight in this way.

He was about to speak further when Caden stepped aside. His eyes fell upon the Agamemnon, and that sparkle returned to his blue eyes. He'd seen better ships, of course, but this particular one looked rather impressive all the same. He let out a soft whistle. "Your home away from home, eh? I was right! She's a nice ship, make no mistake about that. I'd love to serve aboard her... i-if I were a Welkinite, that is," he added hastily, realising he had come rather close indeed to giving himself away.

His curiosity had been piqued by the sight of the bickering ferrets, however, and Selvis felt as though there was something he had to bring up. "I'm wondering about what happened just there. Why the sighing and groaning, Carrow? Did you spot something you didn't like?"

"Hah, I should say I did!," the youngster replied darkly, whiskers drooping in a frustrated manner. "You saw that larger ferret, right? Well, he's on board the Agamemnon as well. Worse, he's one of our messmates. His name is Spender Cielciosk, and he's to be avoided.

"You're going to have to confront him at some point, as he's with us; he just decided to go off by himself as he can't stand to be seen with us. He hates Caden because he thinks of him as abnormal due to the colour of his fur. He hates me because of who I am; that is, a mouse. He thinks of me as a weakling, and, well, he's not completely off the mark...

"I'm going to give you some advice now: Do not, whatever you do, give him any reason to dislike you when you do meet him. Chances are he'll find some petty thing to pick on you about sooner or later, anyways, so you're out of luck regardless. You're lucky you only have to be anywhere near him for a few days - we're stuck with him for seasons-knows-how-many years! He doesn't have enough time to make your life a misery..."

The Dibbun trailed off, falling silent, his good mood having deflated now. Oh, couldn't he just have gotten lost or something? It would have been infinitely preferable to spending more time with the antagonistic creature. For what it was worth, they weren't too near him yet. The four companions had spotted the ferret bully, but that didn't mean he'd spotted them too, at least not yet. he looked preoccupied from here anyway. Good, Carrow thought, stay like that for a while so we don't have to deal with you!

[Ladorak]

"If you were a Welkinite is right!" Caden exclaimed heartily, catching the strange pause that Selvis had done. Hmm...odd.

"And I have to say...Captain Fugate is the single greatest officer I know. I mean...he's sort of like my adoptive father as well." the marten admitted, before realizing he'd said that out loud. Oooh...not exactly the thing he'd wanted to say at the moment. He'd be coming off as a softy, which wasn't how he wanted Selvis to see him but...too late now.

But it seemed the conversation was switching to Spender now. Great...why did they have to talk about that ferret? Oh...well he was mentioned before the Agamemnon reveal, so it made sense. Abnormal...because of the color of his fur. Those words certainly stung like angry wasps, and reminded Caden just how...different he was from everyone else around him. Stupid circumstances he couldn't control! He felt sick to his stomach as the conversation went on, and Caden suddenly shook his head.

"No! He won't Carrow! Not if we get out of here and leave that ferret behind! I mean it's not like Selvis is aboard our ship. If fortune favors us he'll NEVER have to speak with Spender. So let's go! Further into town! Let's see if we can maybe check out some other stores, or even try and find Ladorak. I'm sure he'd like to meet our new friend." the marten started the procession off, making for the interior of the city. A thought occurred to him as well, and he decided to speak about it.

"How about we head to the tip of the peninsula? To the fortress. Can see the ocean and the harbor, so best of both worlds eh?" he said, a bit more cheerily now. Just forget about Spender...and your...fur color. It wasn't worth getting too depressed over right? It was just...every time he looked in a mirror he was reminded about it. He was white...the rest were golden or brown or even reddish like Ladorak. And he was...white. Not black and white like zorillas and skunks...but white. Pure white. He loved the winter, as it was when Ladorak's fur changed to become like his own, and for a good chunk of the beginning and end of the year, the two were the same. Aside from his pink eyes the two were the same. He loved the winter...and Ladorak's white fur. No differences...just a white ermine and a white marten. The same...

He was up a street now off the main seaside road, and hoped the others were up to this plan of his. Get away from Spender and talk more in private and about matters that were...lighter.

[bookity101]

“I think bullfighting will be interesting to watch, and yes I do love learning new languages.” Her eye’s widened as Selvis asked about her participation.

“No, not ever…” ‘He’ shook his head. “Life on the high seas is more than enough for me thank you.”

She fell in step with Caden as he walked alongside Caden, once again slipping into silence as Caden talked about the ship. As Caden stepped aside for Selvis to have a look, she cast a worried at Carrow. He seemed to be wearing down rather quickly, and the sight of Spender wasn’t helping, he apparently really didn’t like Spender. Not that she blamed him, after all Spender was a major jerk when it came to those around him. She leaned down to whisper in his ear;

“At least he seems to be getting his comeuppance from Pesky Ralphy over there.” She leaned back and winked at her small companion. Then she draped one arm over his shoulders and pulled him up beside Caden saying;

“Well, we’ll just have to see what happens in the future then won’t we.” Turning towards town, she kept her paw across Carrow’s shoulders for another moment, then dropped it. She didn’t know if that was typical behavior among males, but she did decide to stay close to the mouse on their way through town. He had seemed a little depressed at the sight of Spender, and with that in addition to his insomnia, she decided she didn’t want to risk it becoming to much for the her mouse friend. Turning to Selvis, he smiled and waved a paw for the newcomer to take the lead.

“Tour guide, if you would please lead the way… Maybe to someplace to eat?” She glanced around at her friends for affirmation. “I don’t know about you guy’s, but I’m getting hungry.”

[Carrow]

Selvis stepped forward, but Carrow did his best to hold the weasel back. The rodent had been feeling a little out of sorts, just then, and had merely nodded in response to Elliot's comment, though he had indeed been grateful for the comforting arm around his shoulder. He still seemed a little glum, but didn't want to see Caden dragged down because of the antagonistic ferret, too.

"Hang on just a moment, mate," he told the longtail gently, before calling to Elliot. "Give me a moment, would you? Poor Caden seems a little lost up there... I know all too well how that feels, so I'm going to try help him. I'll be back soon, alright?," he told the pair. His stomach rumbled a little, so Elliot's suggestion had certainly struck a chord with the peckish creature. We'll get to that in time, no doubt, he thought, but, well, first things first...

Carrow was stunned by the response his explanation got from Caden. He could feel the tension in the place shoot up, and knew that Spender's insults had hit a nerve. Then, the ghost of an idea formed in his mind. Motioning to Selvis to stay where he was, the mouse padded silently over to the pine marten. He clearly looked distressed. Of course, the rodent hadn't meant to cause such a reaction from the mustelid, but he'd known that that's how things had been set to go anyway. Caden hated being given a hard time about his fur colour, but his rodent friend didn't like to see him this way at all.

Reaching up, he took a gentle hold of the albino marten's paw. He was going to try something he had of course learned from Archie back home - he'd picked up more than a few different kinds of techniques from her, and he now saw a perfect opportunity to try and calm his best friend. There was no point in them going any further while the mustelid was like this, of course, as Carrow knew that while he was highly-strung like this, his mood could have other effects. It wasn't like his friend to get angry, but the wood mouse knew that was what very well could happen.

He shushed the pine marten gently before starting work on bringing him out of his agitated state. His voice was softer than usual, and carried a calming tone. "Oh, don't worry about it, Caden...," he murmured. "He might give you a bit of stick from time to time about all that... but you're better than him, and you know it. Just keep that in mind, mate. There's no use in giving him what he wants. That's how bullies like him operate. You're better than that... please, just calm down and forget about it..."

The long-tailed field mouse released his gentle grip on his companion's paw, jogging back over to Selvis and Elliot, wondering how his efforts would affect his friend. By his stance and ragged, heavy breathing, it had been indicated to Carrow that Caden wasn't quite all there, but he liked to think he'd done the best that he could under the circumstances in which they found themselves, and hoped that his reassuring pep talk could bring the marten back to himself, at least partially. Thank you, Archie, he thought, for teaching me how to do that... let's just hope it works.

Selvis bobbed up and down slightly, intensely curious about what had just taken place. "What was that?," he whispered in his mouse companion's ear, crouching a little, bright eyes fixing themselves upon the youngster's. That had been like nothing the weasel had ever seen before, and he was quite surprised by his friend's display.

"Oh, just a little something I learned in my younger years," Carrow responded proudly, smiling a little to himself, "you might know it as a form of hypnotism I suppose..." He coughed nervously, immediately falling silent. The mouse had a small amount of talent in that field, but he was quite often reluctant to admit he could even attempt to do such things. At the same time, though, he couldn't have just sidestepped his friend's question.

"Hah, hypnotism?," the weasel replied, smiling broadly, "well, that was an interesting display, certainly! D'you think it'll work on him?" The long-tailed mustelid was absolutely fascinated by this. Hypnotism? Well, it definitely hadn't been one of the stereotypical depictions of it. He would have expect the mouse to swing something back and forth in front of Caden's eyes and suggest to him that he was relaxing and getting sleepy. Little did he know that the Dibbun could indeed do this too.

"Let's hope so. All I know is we have to get Caden to calm down again before we go anywhere. I'm all for getting away from Spender, so his plan suits me down to the ground. I'm really not happy with letting him go anyhwere in that kind of state, though, so hopefully he'll come to his senses soon." The wood mouse's tail swished lazily back and forth as he stood with Elliot and Selvis, the trio of creatures looking ahead of them, eyes riveted on a noticeably dazed-looking albino pine marten. He was wondering what the beech marten thought of his efforts as well.

[spender]

The only way... he'd ever be... happy? What? What? Spender tried his best, but nothing made sense. Why would Peskers be angry at him for ... fouling himself? Was the chocolate poisoned? Was it some weird patriotic thing, that you didn't enjoy chocolate from another country when you were serving in the navy?

There was nothing he could do about it anymore. Peskers had stomped off, and he, Spender, was covered in tomato. The fight had been smacked out of him by that last blow. Normally, Spender would have fought back immediately, sending the two ferrets into a whirling maelstrom of clawing and biting. But he was too dazed by Peskers' comments, and too prideful—he was still showing off for Ixtapa.

Heaving a sigh, he turned back to the chocolate shop. He wiped his face off with a paw, flicking tomato juice away. His jaw hurt, but he'd had worse. Peskers even punched like a jill. Little twerp.

"Sorry about that," he began, as he came back into the shade of the chocolate shop. "Some stupid beast from th'ship—Ixtapa?"

He spun about, looking at each chocolate-devouring patron in turn. None of them were zorillas. None of them were Ixtapa. He searched frantically around for his box of chocolate as well, but all the boxes were claimed, all of them opened as their buyers sampled the insides, and none of them looked like his. (Spender had a good memory when it came to what rightfully belonged to him. Especially things as special as chocolate.)

"Hey! Ixtapa! Where'd you go?" he called, standing in the doorway of the shop and looking up and down the street. No passerby stopped. One or two glanced at him, frowned at his loudness, and went on. Spender turned back to look one last time at the chocolate shop. The beast behind the counter shook his head sadly. Spender felt numb.

The realization hit him in stages. At first, shock. He couldn't believe it! She was gone and taken his chocolate with her!

Then, depression. She was gone. His only friend. A thief, and a quarter of his pay wasted.

Then, anger. Anger that he'd trusted her, anger that he'd let her have any of his chocolate, and most of all—

His face was flushed with red. The tomato juices were mere highlights compared to the fury and embarrassment flooding his cheeks from the inside. His paws shook and his eyes watered profusely. His chest burned with sobs.

Quivering and heaving with rage, he stalked past the group of kits and striplings. They stared at him. He stared back, for one fleeting moment, and then exploded.

"WHAT ARE YE LOOKIN' AT! HUH? Y'PANSY FREAKS! MIND YER OWN BUSINESS! YE LAUGHIN' AT ME, HUH? HUH? THINK IT'S FUNNY? I'LL BREAK YER STUPID FACES—"

By this point, Spender's eyes were so flooded he couldn't make out anything, and was in fact facing another group of creatures entirely. They backed off, unsure what to think about the foreign stripling shouting at them. Spender wiped his eyes, which only served to get tomato juice in them, making them sting more. Hissing, he rubbed until they were at least dry. Then he spotted Peskers sitting on the seawall...

Without another word to his messmates and their weasel companion, he charged at Peskers. His intention was clear: to push the bullying ferret* over backwards, into the water.


_{* Peskers, not Spender... this time.}

[Ladorak]

Caden suddenly sensed Carrow by his side. So the mouse was following him at least. Good. His paw was suddenly in Carrow's, and the mouse was speaking to him in lower tones. He stopped walking now, and sighed. Maybe Carrow was right. But just look at their two hides! Carrow was nice and brown and NORMAL...and Caden's was white and freakish and ABNORMAL.

The mouse didn't linger long, and was soon gone. Caden shook his head. That was odd. Some sort of foggy zone out had just occurred. His mind had strayed, and he quickly snapped back to his senses. Ugh...what was that? He watched Carrow head back to the group. Come on! What was taking them so long? Were they talking about him? Why would they do that?

His thoughts were interrupted by a screaming and yelling Spender. He appeared almost half blind, stumbling through the streets and partly yelling at them, but then moving past and turning his wrath upon other beasts. That was...strange. He seemed crazed, gripped by some sort of madness. Had he gone completely insane?

But then he turned away from them, and started running out of Caden's line of sight, due to a building being in the way. "OK..." he mumbled, unsure what that had been about. He waved his comrades over to him, hoping they could slip by Spender while the time was ripe and get out of there. That ferret was out of control. Maybe the police would show up and club him into submission. But at least if he were arrested...he'd be out of their fur.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peskers saw Spender starting to sob. Hah! So Ixtapa had gone off and left him behind had she? Good for her...but she didn't want to leave the ferret like that. He looked genuinely broken, and she had a sudden urge to stand up and go over and wrap that frazzy furred ferret up in her arms and tell him it would be OK.

But standing up was the furthest she got. Spender was charging at her now. She had barely enough time to get down onto the street and get her back to the seawall. Wanted to rassle eh? OK...but she had to make sure not to get thrown to her left...as that would mean no more seawall at her back and a real chance of falling into the...

Oooof! His head connected with her gut, and due to the angle he was running, her paws ground along the stones, trying to get traction but failing as she was pushed to the left. Her back was suddenly without support, and she could feel herself tottering close to the dock. Open air was behind her, and she about three seconds away from going over the edge.

Whacking him on his backside by bringing a clenched fist down hard, she had her arms about him and knew she had one chance. As it was, his momentum would throw them both over the side, mostly because she had her arms ensnaring him. She tried to push her hind paws up and thrust her stomach forward in an effort to push him back but...if he counterpushed in any way, even simply by taking a step forward...then they'd both go over...

((And up to you if you want them to go over or not Spendy. )

[Carrow]

Carrow had stayed where he was, just a short distance away from Caden, brown eyes fixed on the pine marten as he gradually came back to himself. The mustelid had pretty much been in a light sort of trance anyway, so Carrow hadn't had much work to do once he'd actually got through to them, and he smiled when the albino pine marten shook his head, coming to his senses, just as the wood mouse had hoped he would.

The youngster saw the albino start to head back to them, but he stopped just as abruptly, and it didn't take Carrow too long to work out why. He looked on, visibly stunned, as he saw Spender in a crazed and frustrated state. Caden had been much more the type to withdraw into himself when his feelings had been hurt. Carrow did this too, only on a much grander and more worrying scale.

However, even the emotionally fragile mouse was taken aback at the sheer vehemence of the ferret's outburst. He seemed to be roaring at nobeast in particular, and the rodent's large ears easily caught the irate mustelid's words, but he couldn't tell exactly what had inspired them. He had an inkling, though, and was of the opinion that the... argument or whatever that had been was the root of the ferret's irritation. It shocked him to see Spender like this.

Instantly, he started fearing the worst. Oh no... if he turns around and spots me, he is going to rip me to shreds. Right, think I need to get away from here, and soon. Oh, look, here comes Caden - and he seems to be feeling better! This was just what he needed to calm his nerves, though his ghost-white appearance was clearly visible. He tried to set his train of thought on a different track, but the idea of Spender taking his anger out on a creature like him (and the Dibbun knew full well that he was the bully's preferred target) was absolutely terrifying...

He was shaken out of this nightmare in broad daylight by Selvis. he'd watched all these developments in silence, but had noticed that his companion was looking more than a trifle ruffled. "Carrow... Carrow...," the weasel called, shaking his friend, who was pretty much frozen to the spot. "Carrow, what's wrong?," he murmured into the nervous-looking wood mouse's ear. he looked visibly frightened about something, and just as Carrow had had an idea about the reasons for Spender's wrathful demeanour, the long-tailed weasel had his suspicions about why the long-tailed field mouse was shaking like a leaf.

"Oh... e-e-er... i-it's nothing," Carrow stammered in response, finding he had been granted the power of movement again. He really didn't want to indicate to his new friend that he was easily frightened. Caden and Elliot already knew that the mouse was as timid as they came, but the idea of Selvis discovering this too was more than he could deal with. He knew it probably wouldn't happen, but he really did not want his three companions to start seeing him as a liability.

Selvis shrugged, unwilling and unable to go into things any further. "Right, if you say so..." He was still a little concerned about the Dibbun, though. He'd taken a liking to the mouse, right enough, but it seemed to him that Apodemus was an alarmingly fragile creature... one you could knock over with a feather and then watch as they shattered on the ground...

He saw Caden waving to them now, and urged Carrow to start moving again. "Caden wants us up with him, and something tells me we had best get going." He chuckled nervously as he helped the rodent along, smiling at him in a ressuring manner. Things were going to be alright for him sometime, that was for sure - but he was going to give him a helping paw or two while they were here... and possibly even aboard the Agamemnon too - that is, if he succeeded in joining up...

Carrow shrugged the weasel's paw from his shoulder, murmuring, "It's alright, I'm pretty sure I can walk now." When the mustelid released his gentle hold, Carrow fell in step alongside him, and soon the young creatures' pace quickened to a jog as they quickly caught up with Caden. Carrow was still looking a little shaken, but the colour was returning to his cheeks as time went on.

Even so, he didn't want to be seen hanging around, just in case he should be spotted by Spender, who he watched from afar for a moment. He was relieved to see that the large ferret was now involved in combat with another, who appeared to be Peskers. He whistled softly; apparently this had been one heated argument. He showed no signs of calming down any time soon, and something told Carrow that there would be no better time to disappear... just in case this flash of temper was something that lingered. "L-let's get shot of here, sh-sharpish," the mouse told his pine marten friend, a tremble still audible in his voice. He would not be subjected to violence again... not after all these years...

[Ladorak]

I'm with you on that, let's scram!" Caden said, taking a few turns here and there and walking down roads he was totally unfamiliar with. He kept his sense of direction though, and always kept in mind where the sea was in relation to them. Besides, they had Selvis with them too, so getting lost was a remote possibility. Selvis should know this place quite well after all.

They were on some broad street now with plenty of shopping on either side of them, though most of it looked to be clothing shops. This heat was really something else. Oppressive and almost unbearable. But Caden supposed he would have to get used to it. He came from the colder climes after all and if he didn't adapt now, he'd be roasting in the Cobalt.

Of course, having a nice fluffy coat didn't help things either. Made him just want to walk around without many clothes on...but of course he knew he wouldn't get far pulling that off.

"Well...looks like we're in the clear for now. You uh...OK?" he asked, looking slightly at Carrow, but not directly. He didn't want to tip Selvis off too much on Carrow's conditions, so instead he figured a simple question would suffice without cluing the long tail in too much. It seemed Carrow had been trying to hide it at least, so why not help him in so far as that was concerned? He wanted to really ask more than was he OK, but didn't want to embarrass the mouse either.