People stopped walking in the street and instead paused to watch the three figures make there way through the city. A few people took photographs on their phone. At least one child bounced exited and tried to get their parents to see what was going on.
"Dudes! Where's the re-enactment?" Someone called over to them.
The men ignored it and kept walking. All three of them were dressed in medieval armour, weapons in tow, helmets carried under their arms.
One walked ahead on the pavement. He was the tallest and broadest of them, and he regarded the world around him warily, flinching as cars and bicycles passed him on the street. The other two were not much better, the shortest one of them actually squeaked in fear as a traffic light bleeped to signal that they could cross the road. The last one, fair haired but greying at the temples kept his eyes to the floor as much as possible, his hands gripping a small prayer book as well as a sword.
Up ahead was somebody in a mascot costume, a large squirrel. They were handing out flyers for a rock-climbing wall. The knights stopped dead, causing several people to walk into them.
"What do you think it is?" Reynard asked. "Some kind of demon?"
"No," John said. "People do not seem to be concerned. I believe it may be trapped, like we were, in the form of an animal."
"It seems happy," Gouen said. "Look at its smile."
"No," John said. "I fear that grin is a rictus of despair. There may be no helping the poor creature now. We ought to continue our quest."
As they passed Reynard took a leaflet. "I hope you get well soon," he said, to the mascot's confusion.
Suddenly, Gouen caught something out of the corner of his eye. "My good fellows, look! An Apothecary!" And sure enough, there it stood. It had crystals and salt lamps glinting in the windows, and incense drifting up lazily by the door. It was an apothecary styled to the new age rather than the medieval, but an apothecary it was. "Perhaps they can give us some information about where we are."
"Thank the Lord," John said. "I knew this place couldn't be totally alien to us."
Immediately they headed across the road, almost getting hit by a car in the process. After dodging around the car and saying their apologies to the irate driver, they got to the other side of the road and headed inside.
"My good lady," John said to the girl on the counter, who was flipping through a magazine about aromatherapy. "My companions and I are looking for information. We wondered if you might help us, as you must be knowledgeable in many arts."
"Uhh..." she said, looking the knights up and down. "Well, I'm not actually, like, qualified to give medical advice. You've got to go see a doctor or maybe a herbalist? We do have some aromatherapy courses on offer."
"You misunderstand me. My companions and I have some here from another world, or another time. We do not belong here. Perhaps your master may be able to help us, I assume you're an apprentice of some kind?"
The girl at the counter sighed. "Look, I get wanting to have fun in your spare time. But please go LARP somewhere else. You're scaring the customers."
"But-"
"Out!"
The knights filed out gloomily, and sat dejected on the sidewalk.
"What are we doing to do now?" Reynard asked.
