[Polaris]

Hitarena kicked his feet by the side of the road, his heels barely skimming the dust while he sat on the tall boulder next to the wheel-rutted dirt path. A large and rather bulky hiking pack fashioned out of leather and a hodge-podge of fabrics supported the small of his back as he leaned against it, the straps pulling on his shoulders. When he shifted, the pots, pans, and various cooking utensils nestled inside would squeak against each other, scaring off the animals in the forest. Hita smiled in the liquid heat that dove between the cracks in the green canopy, brushing a tick off his arm.

He was finally getting a chance to travel abroad, and to cook no less! Ugh, after that let down in the plains, he sure hoped that this little escapade would last longer. He'd hardly started dinner when the loose group had broken up to go their separate ways, leaving Hita a bit disappointed. Picking at his nails, cleaning the nonexistent dirt out from under them for the hundredth time, he wished the lady he was supposed to help would hurry up. Unconsciously, he brushed the wrinkles out of his a-couple-sizes-too-big, plain white tee shirt and jeans. His shoes were acceptable, malleable mesh and what was once suede sprinting shoes. Not entirely suited for  rough terrain but they dried out easily and the soles were sturdy enough.

Brushing his white-blonde bangs out of his eyes, Hita sighed and crossed his arms over his thin chest, sinking father back into his pack. It wasn't a bad day outside, if a little warm for his liking. He flicked the tip of his tail back and forth, while his furry ears followed the buzzing of the hundreds of bugs at work around him. He could see some St. John's Wort a couple steps away, but didn't bother picking some up- he wasn't nervous or depressed. Plus, he already had a tiny plastic jar tucked away in a special pocket full of the plant's powdered remains.

[6]

[Rin]

Heavy hoof beats resounded through the rainforest as a peculiar looking cart made its way between the trees. It looked as though the front seat and half of the cabin of a carriage had been grafted to the front of an extremely deep wardrobe. Painted in purple, yellow and blue on the outside was “Lily’s Fine Outfitters”. As if by some magic the rickety cart itself made no sound as it thumped and tumbled over rocks and roots, and nothing inside ever seemed to jostle about. The only thing that could be heard of this mysterious wagon was the Nytghmare at the lead, running without the guidance of a driver.

Inside the cabin, a young woman sat quietly, scanning the forest for any sign of life. She was going to pick up her new cook, but she’d neglected (or didn’t really care to, as the case may be) figure out what he looked like.
As the cart slung around trees and large rocks, she happened to spot a blond boy leaning against a tall palm. Judging by the pots and pans hanging from his pack, this was her man. “Diener, go to him. This is who we’re looking for,” she called to her Nyghtmare. The horse seemed to understand, and headed right toward the boy.

Pulling right up in front of him, the cart lurched to a complete stop. The door to the carriage cabin unlatched an out stepped the young woman. She was reasonably tall and slender, looking to be about 25 years of age.  Her auburn hair was pulled into a curly bun on the top of her head with bangs falling off to the side of her face. She wore a floor length gown with a waist cincher and a simple design. Her blue eyes spoke softly of mischief and secrets. “Are you Hitarena?” she asked gently, gesturing toward the bench in the cart.

{1:1}

[Polaris]

"Yes Ma'am, at your service" Hita popped up out of his seat cheerfully, cinching his pack up. "'You're Tanyer," he stated more than asked a question. Waddling over to the cart, listing as he walked because of the heavy pack, Hita stuck out a hand for her to shake. "What's your favorite food? Some sort of flowery cake?" Narrowing his eyes thoughtfully, he considered the woman in front of him. She was pretty, and probably appreciated pretty things too. Dismissing the thought, he dropped the bag from his back and started to put it in the cart, trying to shove it in unsuccessfully. "I hope you don't eat a lot of meat," he chattered on, turning to push on the bag with his back. "Well, I mean, that's fine if you do, but, like, I don't really like hunting, so you'd have to catch it yourself or something," he stopped abruptly as he realized he'd walked away without shaking her hand. "Uh, sorry," he mumbled.

Laughing nervously, he cracked a grin and walked back over, "I kinda got carried away. Can I put my bag in the carriage?" He offered his hand again, nodding his head politely. "I'm just a little bit of a spazz..." he added, making fun of himself.

[7]

[Rin]

The lucain's initial judgment of her new cook could be summed up in one word: excitable. This boy seemed to be going in every which direction all at the same time. But, if you were to take a positive spin on things, this would mean that her travels now would be much more interesting. Plus, she thought, having the company will be nice.
"Yes, I'm Tanyer Lilja," she answered, moving to shake Hitarena's hand, until it swiftly moved away. Before she knew it, he was going on about food, then meat, then hunting. Tanyer was nothing if not intelligent, but she highly doubted that even the quickest wits could keep up with the Slynx. Maybe it was her old age, she thought. Ah, but who knows. Once his hand was re-offerered, the lucain took it and shook. "You're alright," she assured. "Let me help you with that bag."

Tanyer pulled out her wand and flicked it gently in the direction of the cart. The back doors flung open and out stepped a canary yellow dress. There was no one in the dress, of course. It was simply a gown. But the peculiar thing was that it was standing upright with no support and moving as if it was being worn. It was even filled out as though it was on any normal body, just without one.
The garment floated over toward Hitarena, "stepped" (though it had no feet) up onto the the bar under the door and "shoved", if you could call it that, the bag in. Once it's task had been completed, the made it's way back to the far end of the cart, went inside, and shut the doors. "There," the woman said with slight satisfaction. "Shall we be off?"

{2:1}

[Polaris]

Hitarena's gaze flashed back between the dress and Tanyer, his jaw hanging so far open that you might have expected to see some bats or something fly out. "WOAH," he said, head flopping to the side and his mouth closing. But now he had one of those what-the-heeeeeccck expressions plastered all over his face.

"That was fre-kay, Ms. Lilija, thanks!" Hita smiled, giving her a pat on the shoulder and helping himself to a seat in the carriage.  "So where're we going? You got any sort of kitchen in this place?" he asked popping his head out of the carriage door again. It was really nice inside with all the cushions and fabric and stuff, but he didn't want to have to holler out to her. That just didn't seem polite.  He hummed to himself and noticed he looked rather bland next to all of her high-quality witchery-made dresses. In a moment of self consciousness he squirmed under his skin, flexing the wings that folded neatly along his spine. Well, the wing. His other gimpy one kind of made a weird knobbly thing along one side of his back under his shirt and didn't fit seamlessly like the other. Tanyer fit right in to the fantasy forest setting with her pretty little casual-but-still-dressed-up-not-quite-a-ball-gown-more-like-a-fancy-day-dress.  He kinda stuck out like a back woods red-neck in a five-star restaurant around her.

[8]

[Rin]

Tanyer back into the carriage section and sat down next to Hitarena. She gave a small smile at his amazement with her trick."No, I'm sorry," she replied. "There's no kitchen, but there is always fire, right?" She knocked lightly on the wall toward the front of the cart and the Nyghtmare began to move.

Now that she was inside the cabin, Tanyer could take a good look at the boy. She noticed that, as he folded his wings, one was featherless. "Dear Hitarena, tell me about yourself," she inquired. "I must admit, I've met no one like you and I'm fascinated."

((Short. D; -shot-))

[Polaris]

So he was a Dear and she was fascinated by him. He'd never met a more polite person in his life. Turning towards Tanyer and cozying up against the wall, Hita smiled contentedly. "Uhm," he started out spectacularly, "I'm eighteen, like to cook, I uh, travel a lot. Gosh I feel like I'm the new kid in class," he laughed, his eyes crinkling merrily under his buttercup yellow bangs. "I was studying to be a doctor but that kinda fell through the roof- never called class in. So uh, no professional training but I'm pretty good with natural medicines and bone stuff. Can't do surgery though." He nodded, ticking items off his fingers as he went over them. "So you've got a tailor shop here? 's Pretty neat."

[9]

[Rin]

Tanyer couldn’t believe her luck. Not only had she found herself a cook, but a would-be doctor as well. All that, plus an absolutely darling personality, what more could a witch ask for? Kids these days were so interesting, with such enthusiasm for life. Ah, the lucain thought. To be young.

“I’m sorry your schooling didn’t quite work out,” she replied sympathetically. When Hitarena inquired about her shop, she continued with, “Yes. This cart is home to ‘Lily’s Fine Outfitters’. We specialize in the most extravagant and beautiful gowns you buy. Though,” she paused. “I ask you not to mention the gown I enchanted earlier. It has a tendency to scare the customers.” She smiled softly, knowing her secret would be safe with her companion.

{4: Diener has 2]

[Polaris]

"Gotcha," Hitarena winked. Tucking his legs under him, the curious sky slynx snatched a glance out of the window. Huh, they were going at a pretty fast pace. Must be some sort of Nightmare out there. He shivered and turned back into the carriage to face Tanyer. Hita didn't particularly like Nightmares, they frightened him. "Do people ever buy enchanted gowns?" he questioned.

[Whoooo shortness iD;; 10]

[Polaris]

"It sounds like a rather dangerous thing to do... Would you wear the gown or would the gown wear you?" He asked, grinning toothily. Hita fiddled with the edge of his shirt, watching Tanyer in a mild interest. Haha, if you taught a dress to dance, would it dance for the wearer? Oooh she could make a nice lump of cash off of something like that. Noting the idea in the back of his head, Hitarena returned his attention to the conversation.