[Indigo]

The Street with No Name, as it was often called, harbored very few Barakkans. Being one of the least interesting side streets, it was mainly lined with hostels and small boardinghouses, populated by a motley assortment of world travelers who lacked the funds for anything more hospitable. Several of them were too impoverished to leave Lamenolai, having spent all their money on shiny trinkets to bring home in the first few days of their journey; most, however, didn't mind too much, captivated by the wonders of the city.

Gattley, of course, knew nothing of this. He had visited Lamenolai while he was still with the circus, but his time had been spent either in his cage or performing, so he'd had little chance to see the city. All he knew at the moment was that he had been directed in the general direction of this place with the vague instruction to "see the world", and had judged the Street with No Name as a nicely unobtrusive alley for a large winged serpent to land in. He was not really sure what seeing the world entailed. Perhaps it was his new mistress's polite version of leaving him by the side of the road.

Whatever his purpose, he was unlikely to see very much in this side street. Ignoring the stares of three small children just outside one of the hostels--he was used to being stared at anyway--he slithered toward the source of the background noise he'd been hearing for the last few minutes. However, as soon as he poked his head out, he was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people in the streets. It didn't look as though there was much room for him to move on the ground, so he glanced at the sky to see if flight was acceptable. Once, in the joy of being released from his circus cage, he had taken wing and later been punished for flying without command, an experience he hoped not to repeat.

To his relief, Gattley spotted several creatures in flight, and therefore judged it reasonable to take to the air. Once above the crowd, he noticed several more people staring at him--maybe they were unused to Seraphents. Or--and this, he thought dismally, was more likely--there was some rule against flying in this strange city, and the privilege was reserved for such elite as those creatures of the air he had taken his cues from. As more eyes were turned on him, he became certain of the truth of these thoughts, and landed as far from the people as possible in his shame.

He flattened himself against the wall, trying not to be seen. Maybe he wouldn't be beaten this time...

[Freezair]

Swizzle's mind had a different way of going about things from most people.

She wore her Kuhna form, as she typically did, but she had a T-shirt on nonetheless. She didn't have wings like most Kuhnas, so it fit her nicely without her having to cut holes in the back. It was, as always, one of her own design. A pattern of purple, black, and orange blocks sprawled over one shoulder, creeping over her chest. Blocky letters, reading "MISSING," were being eaten up by those blocks. It was one of her favorite designs.

But she needed new ones. The best designs and the best inspiration were not to be found on the big streets of the major cities. They were found in the side streets, tucked away in the restaurants with nondescript names and the fading advertisements painted onto old red brick. Kuhna-small, she slipped between people's legs and wove under boxes and trash cans. She had no inhibitions about going through the dark alleyways.

When she reached the dingy, almost-deserted street, she knew she had found her Paradise.

She had a special camera around her neck. It responded to voice commands, making it ideal for Kuhna paws. Of course, it would work with her hands should she choose to go human. "Snap!" she commanded it. It took a picture of one of those old wall-side advertisements. She turned to look at an old window--the glass warped and distorted with time. "Snap!" Everything was a picture or design waiting to happen.

There was a Seraphant trying to hide against a wall.

Well, that'll never work, she thought nonchalantly. They're rather pale, and that wall is rather red. Not to mention, being a Seraphant, he's quite big. But an idea cropped up in her head, and she bubbled. Oh! Maybe this is Street Art in progress! With kittenlike speed, she pounced toward his spot.

"Pardon me," she said politely. "Are you a Street Artist? If so, I like your installment."

[1]

[Indigo]

Gattley had been doing his best to remain perfectly still, but when the Kuhna passed his ineffective hiding place he couldn't keep himself from cringing. Presumably whoever was in charge of flight regulation had sent her after him, to have him beaten or locked up or whatever they did to punish unauthorized fliers. He didn't pay much attention to the T-shirt; having seen little of the places he'd traveled to, he couldn't be certain that this was unusual. Perhaps it was a mark of flight-police status, or something.

He relaxed only a little when he noticed that the Kuhna wasn't paying him the least bit of attention. That camera was concerning. She was probably going to take a picture they could use to identify him later, if they saw him again, though he couldn't imagine why they would let him escape. This deserted side street seemed the best possible place for an arrest. Maybe it was just the way they did things in this city.

This theory was quickly discarded, though, as he noticed her chosen subjects. They weren't of any particular interest to him, and he was uncertain of her motives, but he supposed he had no right to judge. He'd met plenty of strange characters during his life with the circus, due to the continuous turnover of employees, and had certainly seen stranger hobbies than this. That one fire-eater had collected mute canaries, of all things, and had had quite a bit of trouble finding them, no doubt...

He jumped back against the wall, to the extent a snake can jump, when the Kuhna approached him, automatically tensing for flight. Oh, he was aware that trying to escape would only make things worse for him, but there was a small chance that the apparent size added by his wings would at least delay his punishment. It didn't matter much, anyway, because she was now speaking to him very politely. His understanding of the Barakkan language had a few holes, but he thought he'd managed to get the gist of her meaning. Although...what on earth was a Street Artist?

Remembering the formation of the syllables took little effort, and he replied in a grating voice, "I do not know what a Street Artist is, or an installment either. Are you here for punishing me because I flew against the rules?"

[Freezair]

Swizzle sat down on her haunches and twisted her head. The unusual, spotted flames of her tails flicked in rhythm with her pondering. Twist, twist. He seemed frightened. But was he really, or was it part of his street act? She'd heard of some unusual acts. Most of them sounded quite fascinating--except for the one involving nursery rhymes and a Cuniflare, which she'd really rather forget.

His question--seemed a little stilted, as if he didn't quite understand the words coming out of his own mouth--was so odd, she thought for sure, it had to be an act. How could someone fly against the rules when there were no rules about flying? What a silly thing to have! If there were rules against flying, how on earth were birds supposed to get around? She imagined a police officer going around and adjusting pidgeons. She couldn't help herself--she laughed out loud.

She considered playing along, but wondered what would happen if she were mistaken. Well, maybe it wouldn't be such a good idea after all. Ultimately, Swizzle decided, the best thing would simply be: Be aboveboard. She chuckled again. Hopefully, she had the kind of laugh that made people feel at ease around her. "No, seriously. Are you a performer? That's all I want to know. Honestly. Because I'm a little confused by you right now."

[2]

[Indigo]

Gattley flinched when she laughed, startled. Well, that probably meant she wasdn't here for any sinister purpose, at least. Maybe she knew some of the rules about flying here; he had heard that humans got some kind of permit to drive, and this city might have something like that for flight. But if he asked, she might just laugh at him again for being so stupid...

Her second laugh and the following question broke him out of this train of thought, leaving him to blink in surprise. How would she know of his history in the circus? Was there something about performing that never quite left you? Or maybe it had something to do with all this "Street Artist" and "installment" business. Either way, he would only seem rude if he failed to answer her in his confusion. "A performer? I was one once, traveling with the circus...I do not remember the name of it. I still know the tricks they gave me to show, but I do not show them anymore." That, at least, might remove the confusion about the Street Artist thing; he could possibly claim that he had missed whatever fame that group might have gained in his work with the circus. In truth, since he had moved in with his new mistress he had paid little attention to the arts. They depressed him further. "I am sorry. I did not mean to confuse. I have little understanding myself right now; I never saw this city before."

That seemed, at least to him, to be the end of their conversation. Presumably he had cleared up any confusion between them; she would hopefully understand that he had no idea what a Street Artist was, and that he wasn't really a performer anymore. As for Gattley himself, there was nothing he could think of that he needed to know--wait! Yes there was, and he shouldn't have forgotten something so simple. "Do you know the rules they have here about flying? Do they have permits? I do not want to be stared at still, when I fly, and I have to do that even if I decide on leaving."

[Freezair]

Well! In a vagueish way, that cleared things up. But she should have temporally clarified! "A performer right now," not "a performer ever." But most people would've known that. When he mentioned not having seen the city before, the pieces almost-magically aligned. He was foreign. No wonder he didn't seem to know how to speak correctly.

But he seemed to be alone. Swizzle frowned. "No, of course not. They'd have to arrest all the birds if there were rules against flying, and as I'm sure you can guess, that would be hard!" Twist, twist, flick, flick. The bubbles roiled in her tails.

"...Hey, look, fella, are you OK?" She pounced after the trailing of his long, fuzzy tail. "You seem, like... really lost. Like, really, really lost. Especially if you flew here thinkin' there were laws against flying. Are you OK, buddy? Do you need somebody to show you, like, to where you're gonna meet your friends?" She swallowed, hoping that he did have friends. The prospect of him--now very obviously frightened, and certainly confused--wandering here alone put chills in her ribcage. "Because I can help you. I'm just an Artist myself. But I do know my way around, and I don't want you bein' out here alone."

[3]

[Indigo]

Well, yes, arresting the birds would be difficult; wasn't that rather obvious? Perhaps, Gattley mused, it was some attempt to make a joke. He had never gotten the hang of them, considering his shaky grip on the spoken languages. Seraphent speech didn't have quite the same conventions. Anyway, the Kuhna was frowning at him, which was worrying. He didn't want to upset anyone, and so attempted to explain: "I am sorry. In the circus, we had rules for when to fly and when to sit, and bad things happened when you broke the rules. Maybe cities do not have rules, or they are different. I am not used to them." He paused. "That is why I thought you were here for punishing me," he clarified.

He listened in silence as she continued to speak, relaxing considerably as it became clear that she was not going to hurt him. He was still unsure about the people staring at him, but maybe Seraphents were uncommon in cities, or just in this one. Cities were something else he wasn't sure he'd be able to get the hang of. When she came to the part about meeting friends, though, he realized that it was probably unusual to travel to a foreign city alone. Yet another explanation to worry about. "You would say that I am lost, but not exactly the way that you are thinking. I do not know what city this is, or where I should be going. I have never been in any city. With the circus, I stayed always in my..." Best not to say cage; that hadn't gone over well with his new mistress. "...lodging. I am only here because I am told that I do not know enough about the world. There is no one here to meet me. I do not know anyone."

This statement, about not having any friends to meet him, didn't seem strange to him. There had been no time for friends in the circus, or anything like socializing, and none of the other animals had spoken a language he knew anyway. He had only recently met his new mistress's household, and barely knew any of them. To him, being alone seemed perfectly natural.

[Freezair]

Swizzle's eyes drooped nervously. Her frown went deeper than a Sulkuhna's, and her forehead followed after it. "Wow. You... really don't get out much, do ya, pal? Can't say I've ever been to a circus, but yours sounds a touch on the mean side, don't you think?"

Her eyes really popped, though, when the Seraphant got to the kicker: Never any city? Ever? That was like having never seen the sky before! Or never having touched the grass, or watched the clouds, or seeing the stars! "Not even a dinky little village?" she asked for clarification. "But you've gotta!"

She stood with determination and thought. "Well, no more, fella! You know somebody now. Name's Swizzle! What do they call you, big guy? And if you're gonna learn about the world, then I'm gonna teach it to ya! ...I mean, if you don't mind." She softened into a smile. She tried her best to look motherly, but privately thought she looked about as warming and caregiving as a scorpion. The etymologist in her replied, But scorpions take very good care of their young! ...Well, something slightly less matronly than that, then.

[4]

[Indigo]

Gattley tilted his head. Mean? He'd never really thought about it before. Admittedly, his new mistress had uttered a string of expletives when she'd heard about his treatment, but she seemed to overreact a lot. And anyway, he had made mistakes, all those times he'd been locked in his cage. Minor ones, but if his masters demanded perfection, he would do everything he could to give it to them. He searched for a way to explain this to the Kuhna, and settled for, "No. I do not get out much," which was at least a response.

The surprise about his never having seen a city was easier to understand. Even the human circus employees, and that one strange woman with the Fellox ears, had gone out into the streets at night. He wasn't sure what "dinky" meant, but it didn't seem too relevant, so he ignored it. "I do not think the circus ever stopped in a place that was not very large. We may have been to this place once, but I would not be able to tell. I never saw the streets of a real city before today."

He himself couldn't help being surprised, though, when the Kuhna--Swizzle, an interesting name--offered to teach him about the world. Certainly he wouldn't mind, being hopelessly confused by even the little he had experienced already, and maybe she would know why people kept staring at him. He just hoped he didn't make a mistake and lose this opportunity. "I am called..." Not Beakface, not anymore. He had to remember that. "...Gattley. I do not know why I would mind having better understanding of this place. Maybe you would start by explaining to me why every person who sees me stares? I am used to it, but I thought my kind--" He didn't know the Barakkan word for "Seraphent". "--would be not so hard to find outside of the circus."

[Freezair]

"Gattley, huh?" Amusement flittered across her face. "Maybe I should call you Gun! Gattley Gun! ...Sorry, that was probably bad." She gave him a fanged grin. "Well, Gattley, how 'bout you just slither behind me and we talk? Not that I don't love the shade, but the eaves of that building are gettin' a little ripe from the dumpster. We'll talk and walk!"

Swizzle set out encouragingly. Her brown-and-white, coffee-colored tails bobbed as incentive for him to follow. She looked after her shoulder, making sure he was following. Truthfully, he put her in mind of Morceau, one of the Kuhnas back home--he was a nice fellow, sure, but his animal side could be troubling. Sometimes you had to treat him more like an animal than a person, because that was all his mind could handle. Don't look straight at him; that kind of thing.

"So, you're wonderin' about the stares, huh? Well, could be 'cuz you're a Seraphant. Maybe. Big guys like yourself come and go here all the time, really, though a lot of 'em take human form for street-browsin' or have a friend with 'em. But I'd probably say it's more 'cuz you're acting real skittish. You seem scared of everything, and you look like you're trying to hide! Scared people always make other people suspicious. Should they be scared too? Should they be curious? Is that person gonna be OK? Same kinda thing that made me go up to you--I thought you were puttin' on an act! Fear's one of those emotions that everybody reacts to--mostly because whatever it is they're afraid of could come get them too, if it's the wrong kind of thing. Does that answer your question?"

[5]

[Indigo]

He decided to ignore the mysterious "Gattley Gun" thing, much as with the word "dinky"; until an unfamiliar word or phrase seemed important, he wouldn't pursue it. Swizzle's suggestion of moving seemed reasonable to him, since it would be hard to see the world without...actually...seeing it. He followed the Kuhna's bobbing tails and did his best to ignore the expressions of the people he accidentally bumped, listening patiently to the explanation of the stares. He nodded when she suggested that it was simply his species; that had been his first thought, and he was rather large, after all. But as for the discussion of his behavior...

"You have answered my question, yes, but I still do not quite understand. Every person that I knew, when I was with the circus--" He wondered vaguely if he was basing his opinions too much on what he'd seen as a circus performer, but that was all he'd ever really known, so he plunged on. "--when they hid themselves from fear, people did not bother them. Many times they were able to make it so that they were not even noticed. Is this another thing that is only confined in the circus? It looks like most things that I saw there were that way, to me. Is anything from there true here also?"

He struggled with the language, having difficulty finding the words to convey his thoughts. How was he to explain that his whole life had been carefully outlined by rules? Everything he had ever done had been on somebody else's command, or within the bounds of certain concrete rules he had been taught. He couldn't very well learn about the world if there were no rules--surely some of them were the same?

(Ehh, inadequate post. Sorry...)

[Freezair]

Swizzle shrugged. She walked with her head over her shoulder, frowning. "Well... I dunno about your circus family. But I imagine they were... uh... smaller. No offense, but you're not the size for hidin'. Were the other members of your family big? Did they tend to strut around out in the open when scared? 'Cuz if those are true, the confusion? I get. But if not... You're just big and you're in a place where everybody can see you."

She turned back just in time to swerve out of the way of a fire hydrant. She wasn't certain, but she felt unsettled. Something about this fellow's cagey attitude made her worry. He seemed to be out here with a purpose, and in his current mood, she didn't think he'd lie about wanting to see the world. She didn't know if he'd lie about anything. He seemed frightened in a way that went deeper than agoraphobia. He seemed like someone who had been living much of his life in fear in general.

Should she pry? Was it polite? Was it necessary? She'd think about it, she decided. "So! When it comes to learnin', there's really only three places to go: School, the library, and the museum. Unfortunately, most schools are out now, and I dunno if they'd take a new student outta the blue like this. Libraries are a bit hard to visit with just your buddies. But museums! All kindsa knowledge at your fingertips! And I know this one, and it's big enough for a big guy like you to wander around in! They got paintin's and fossils and relics and scientifical equipment and gemstones and everything that's pretty and makes you smarter! Oooh, and if we go at the right time, we can go to that dark dome room and watch an astronomy show!"

[6]

[Indigo]

Gattley nodded; he hadn't considered his size. Large or small, no one had been spotted when they had evaded the ringmaster's assistant, although that might have been because drunks aren't particularly observant. And there were so many more places for a Seraphent to hide in the scattering of large tents that made up the circus. Here, of course, things were very different--which, as far as rules went, might not be such a bad thing.

He listened with growing confusion to the Kuhna's speech. The only "school" he knew was the training he'd received for his performances, and libraries and museums were completely unknown to him. Nor did he recognize the terms "paintings", "fossils", "relics", or "gemstones", and unlike other words he had ignored, these seemed to be important. Astronomy he was somewhat familiar with, but he was under the impression it had something to do with fortune-telling. It seemed that Swizzle expected him to know what she was talking about, however, and he thought it would be best to ask for clarification; after all, he was here to learn. "I am sorry, but I am not sure what you mean. I have never heard about these things, these museums and fossils and gemstones, because we did not have things from outside in the circus. That is another rule the city does not have. But I would like to see things that are pretty, and I need to be smarter to know how this place is. But you will have to explain things."

He was suddenly ashamed of his lack of knowledge. After all, he had done a lot of traveling, hadn't he? Shouldn't he have seen a few of...whatever it was museums were? And anyway, who in their right mind would want to be dragging around a useless, brainless Seraphent all the time? Maybe she would leave him at the museum. But at least he might be able to learn a few things there, and maybe he wouldn't be so terrible then...

[Freezair]

Swizzle froze this time. Perhaps, with someone as... sadly undereducated as this poor Seraphant, not knowing about fossils was alright. But not knowing paintings? Or jewels? Paintings especially! She looked up at the big fellow, with an unsettled face. "You mean... you've never seen a painting? Really? Haven't you ever seen just a picture of someone? And it's not just like them--not like, a picture taken with a camera or anything." She presented her own in emphasis. "But drawn. With pencil or pen or paint. Like that!"

She frowned. "Or gemstones! You mean you've never seen something clear, and sometimes colorful--something that sparkles when the light hits in, like a star! But it's not a star; it's a rock, and you can hold it in your hands! Or... wings, I guess, in your case. And people put them on rings and necklaces!"

She bustled him forward, almost at a run now. "I guess this is really important! C'mon--we gotta get to the museum post-haste! It should still be open; let's go!" She dashed toward the end of the street, where the foot traffic was thicker and the populace gathered more robustly. Ah--but her companion seemed worried. Maybe he would turn a bit claustrophobic, surrounded by all those people. She clicked her tongue, and swung her tails around to her front to consider them. With the reassuring cadence of a babysitter, she said to him, "Don't worry. Nobody here's going to hurt you."

[7]

[Indigo]

"Paint..." Gattley was puzzled. The only paint he remembered seeing was the gaudy coloring of the various wood structures that held the performers when they were on the move. As for gemstones, there had been a few objects of the same description at the circus, but they had been plastic rather than rocks, and most had been lost or thrown away after a few shows' wear; when the circus had started to run out of funds, the replacements stopped showing up. It was around this time that any performer who couldn't earn his or her keep, even for temporary reasons, was thrown out. Performers who just weren't good enough.

Performers like him.

He was jerked out of this train of thought when Swizzle started to run. He followed as quickly as he could manage without knocking anyone over, his tail being difficult to control at times. In his haste to keep up with the suddenly urgent Kuhna, he didn't notice the growing crowd until he nearly plowed into an irritable-looking Hollowheart. He would have skidded to a halt had there been any room to do so, but failing that, he still managed to stop abruptly. The crowd ahead was too dense for him to move easily, and somehow asking everyone he approached to move aside didn't appeal to him; if his seeing the museum was as important as Swizzle said, it would be terrible if the place closed before they reached it.

Gattley barely heard Swizzle's reassurances, instead trying to figure out a way to get past the crowd. There was clearly no going through, and buildings prevented him from making his way around. But...this was the city...

And in the city, there were no rules about flying. He might be stared at, but if that was really only a function of his fear or size...and Swizzle certainly seemed to know a lot about this place, so presumably he could trust her judgment...

Which is approximately how a Star Seraphent came to be flying over Lamenolai in the direction of the nearest museum.