[Freezair]

Lohe groaned. Kaimana was at it again, wasn't he? Kaimana slunk around spylike.

Of course, they were in Lambastia, home of the Furies, and technically, Kaimana considered himself a Sound. Well... maybe he might have enemies.

[121]

[Freezair]

Lohe was only somewhat sobered, though. He and Kaimana moved through the streets, bending down to ask, in both languages they spoke: "Do you speak this?" Mostly they got blank looks, shrugs, and a few very obvious apologies. They moved on, sad.

[122]

[Freezair]

"My nouth is getting dry," Lohe panted. "Let's rest for a while. Do they still take keystones here?"

"Affirmative," Kaimana nodded. "Let's see if we can purchase a meal with our limited grasp of their native language."

[123]

[Freezair]

Lohe pulled out some keystones. To find a stand, Kaimana simply followed his nose! A good scent lead them to a place where a woman was selling meat buns.

Lohe pulled out the KS. Kaimana looked all over for a sign.

[124]

[Freezair]

Dipping down low, Kaimana saw a sign listing several numbers. Kaimana assumed they were prices. He snatched up the KS from Lohe and dropped them in front of the seller. He pointed at a meat bun.

"Is this correct?" Lohe said, just in case.

[125]

[Freezair]

"If you want a drink, then yes," the woman said. "Otherwise, I need two more."

"You speak our language!" Kaimana said.

"Oh, thank goodness," Lohe offered.

[126]

[Freezair]

The merchant leaned on her stall. "Looking for a translator?" she asked teasingly.

"It's a long story," Lohe sighed.

"One best augmented by... meat buns," Kaimana said.

[127]

[Freezair]

She tossed them two of the dumplings. "Alright, now get talking."

Lohe and Kaimana explained about the strange teleporter incident between bites. Lohe did most of the explaining--Kaimana tried to stop him when he thought he might have said "too much."

[128]

[Freezair]

Kaimana swallowed off the last of his bun. "And that's what happened." Lohe cooled his mouth on a small fountain--the bun was quite spicy.

"Wow. Sounds like you two are in a lot of trouble, eh?"

[129]

[Freezair]

"Can you help?" Kaimana asked.

Lohe looked expectantly between gulps.

"I'll see what I can do..."

[130]

[Freezair]

"Do you know of a teleporter?" Lohe asked. "That would be most helpful, ma'am."

"Uh... yes and no," she answered.

"That doesn't sound good," Kaimana said.

[131]

[Freezair]

"Well, I know this wizard..."

"Oh dear," Lohe lamented. "I'm not so sure how I feel about raw magic like that..."

"Troublesome... but we haven't a choice," Kaimana said dramatically.

[132]

[Freezair]

"Don't worry. He's totally legit," the merchant said.

"I don't trust him already," Kaimana said sneakily. "Have you done a background check?" he accused.

"Didn't you just say we had no choice?" Lohe sighed.

[133]

[Freezair]

"Choice or no, we can't affiliate ourselves with the..." He inhaled deeply. "Wrong people."

The merchant gestured to Lohe. The big Paragon leaned over to let her whisper to him.

"Has he... had too much sun?"

[134]

[Freezair]

"Regrettably, this is his natural state," Lohe sighed back.

The merchant joined in and turned to Kai. "Don't worry, big guy. I can vouch for him."

"Can you? How can I trust you? Could be a honey trap."

[135]