The ruins of the City of Hands, now magically hidden from the outside, are slowly beginning to become something like a community (albeit a small one) of sorts once more. Apparently Jezebel's followers were prepared for a prolonged stay, and she must have had some way of scouting out the area and figuring out what facilities were already present. In one stone house, a kiln has been rebuilt and some cheetahs are busily working clay, making pottery. Already, several vases, fruit of their work, are stacked outside, awaiting some additional decorative touches.

Other cheetahs are hard at work even though the sun hasn't yet come up, carrying supplies here and there, building roofs to put atop stone walls, putting together makeshift furniture, and so forth. Some cheetahs walk by with a ladder, then set it up against one of the buildings, and climb up to begin working on the roof there.

A couple of cheetah maids come up from the river, carrying buckets of water, suspended by poles across their backs. They smile and nod to some workers who are carrying a large mirror that is making its way to furnish the stone house that Jezebel has claimed as her own for her stay here.

Also, some cheetahs have gone about, collecting all the Naga statues that had been propped about here and there during the last expedition, for obscure purposes. They currently stand in a long line, ending at a wall where a cheetah diligently works at applying coats of a paint-like substance to treat a new wooden wall.

A cheetah walks up to an almost-black cat (one who has, oddly enough, golden highlights in his fur), and signs, "We have no way of signing to the young cat over there. We are quite pleased to fill his belly, but if he is to stay with us, he must pull his weight around here. Could you perhaps find some way to convey to him to at least LOOK busy?"

Janus looks at the indicated fur and smiles slightly. To the cheetah he signs, "To what task should I set him?"

Jynx idly wanders about, looking at the buildings of the city.

The cheetah looks about, then points to the girls struggling to carry the water pails up the steep path from the river. "Have him help them carry water. Surely a strong boy like him can do that."

Janus makes a vague gesture of acceptance and walks over toward Jynx.

Jynx notices the approaching jaguar, and smiles "Hello there! Janus, wasn't it?"

The older cheetah, confident that all has been taken care of, strides away to oversee clearing of some rubble.

Envoy wanders in from the direction of the tents, observing all of the various activities.

Janus nods, "Feli, wasn't it? These people are beginning to accept your presence, I think… they just assigned you some chores."

The wall-painter cheetah sees Envoy passing, and swivels around in his seat (on a wooden plank suspended from the roof overhang by some ropes) to wave at her.

Jynx looks curiously "They did? Well, I would never know, what with all that hand stuff. What do they want me to do?"

Envoy waves back and smiles to the painter.

Janus nods his head toward the girls carrying water. "For now, to help them."

Jynx looks at the girls, and his face lights up "Sure, I can do that! Never hurts to help out!" He pads over to the girls, smiling brightly.

The two girls are struggling to get up a steep part where part of the "road" has washed out, but it's harder to make it up that with full buckets of water than it was to go DOWN with empty ones. One notices Jynx and looks up, and then the other notices as well, and they both smile hopefully.

Janus follows along behind Jynx. When he get close enough to the girls to get their attention he signs, "This is Feli. He does not understand hand-sign, but has been asked to help you with your tasks."

One of the girls signs back, "Thank you!" Unfortunately, doing this puts her a bit off balance, and she gasps as she tries to recover her step without sending the buckets spilling.

Envoy pauses to watch Janus and the smaller black stranger.

Jynx ohs! and darts to try and catch the bucket before the contents go all over.

A cheetah in a black dress and cloak, with a black headband about her head, strolls down the street, looking this way and that, appraising the work being done.

Janus looks a little bemused. "She said 'thank you'."

It's a valiant effort, but as Jynx tries to help steady the girl, she ends up toppling over, knocking into the other girl, sending a bucket flinging off. And once the bucket is off one end of the pole, that tends to imbalance the weight and …

By some unlikely quirk of physics, in the resulting collision, one of the buckets of water, mostly emptied of its contents, is launched a short distance through the air, landing on the street going between the buildings, and rolling along.

Jynx oofs! as he crashes back to the ground, and looks up just in time to see the water spill all over him.

Janus's voice trails off as he sees a disaster in progress.

Jezebel turns in time to see Jynx getting doused, not noticing the bucket that has just rolled into her path.

Envoy blinks at the bucket, and goes after it before it can roll into some hole or ditch.

Janus shakes his head and sighs. He turns and starts off after the rolling bucket, hesitating as he sees Third-Eye.

Envoy comes up short when she sees Third-Eye with the bucket.

All the black Khatta can reply to this: "Oops… "

*klunk* Jezebel steps into the rolling bucket, and her eyes go wide (at least, the two that can be seen), as she topples sideways, grappling for something to grab onto so she doesn't spill over the steep slope to one side of the path. She manages to grab onto the rungs of a ladder.

Janus continues to walk toward the bucket, ignoring Third-Eye as best he can.

One of the girls is now rolling down the hill, letting out a squeal of distress.

Jynx, seeing the girl in peril, leaps up and after her (as best he can that is).

The ladder Jezebel clung to happens to have a cheetah at the top of it. He yowls in alarm as the ladder falls away, leaving him clinging onto the side of the roof. To hold onto the roof, though, he has to drop the mallet that was in one hand.

Janus glances up at the sound of alarm.

Envoy looks around. Surely, there must be a Chaos Mage practicing nearby…

Fortunately, with Jynx's fast reflexes and sure-footedness, he manages to reach the tumbling girl before she can smash into a pile of vases just outside a house down the way. Whew! That was CLOSE!

Jynx wipes his brow and lets out a sigh. "Are you alright? I-I'm terribly sorry… it's just… "

The mallet hits Jezebel on the head, who falls over, with the ladder, colliding with the first in a line of Naga statues, which now fall over like stacked dominoes.

Janus leans over to pick up the bucket and winces at the sound of falling statues. "Ooooh. That must have hurt."

Envoy goes over to pick up the mallet before it can get knocked over the slope.

*NaganaganaganagaBANG!* The last statue hits a wooden plank which was balanced on a stone block, serving as a bench … to hold the painter's extra bucket. It now serves instead as a catapult, sending the bucket sailing into the air.

Jynx listens to the sounds from down the slope, and cringes. "Hope they don't hold me to this… "

With this second example to observe, Envoy notes to herself that full buckets seem to be more stable in flight than empty ones.

Janus looks up just in time to see the bucket fly up into the air. He tracks it with his gaze as it shoots up.

Jezebel staggers to her feet, her headband having slipped down over her good eyes. She struggles to correct the problem. Just as she lifts the headband, though … a pail of paint intercepts her.

The force of the impact sends Jezebel reeling … right into the mirror which is, at this very moment, being carried by, even in the midst of the ongoing catastrophe, by her diligently-working lackeys. *CRASH*

Janus winces.

Envoy hmms, deciding this is not the result of Chaos magic. Just karma.

Envoy looks up to the cheetah dangling from the roof.

The cheetah clinging to the roof is still clawing to hold his place, but at least someone else on the roof has responded to his predicament, and is pulling him up.

Janus jumps forward to steady the broken-mirror-bearers.

Jynx looks at the girl cheetah. "Well, I hope you won't say anything… oh wait, you can't… ummm."

The girl cheetah on the ground just gives Jynx a sigh and this LOOK.

Envoy picks up the ladder and tries to get it back into place.

Jynx winces at the look, and heaves a sigh, another one of those days.

As soon as the ladder is back in place, the cheetah in the former predicament seems very eager to get back DOWN the ladder and to the relative (supposed) safety of the ground.

The mirror-bearers, in the meantime, are just standing there, looking aghast, unsure as to just WHAT should be done in a situation like this.

Envoy smiles to the shaken cheetah and offers him the mallet.

Janus shakes his head and tries not to chuckle. He signs to the mirror bearers, "Take it where you were supposed to. Let whoever is there figure out what to do."

Meanwhile, the old cheetah overseer rushes down the street, in response to the commotion, waving his hands. He finds Janus, looks around, then signs, "What is happening?"

The mirror-bearers look very eager to get out of here as soon as possible. They scramble.

Jynx stands and timidly offers a paw to the cheetah.

Janus looks at Jezebel curiously before glancing back up at the old cheetah. He smirks and signs, "I told the little cat to help the girls."

The old cheetah looks around, covering his muzzle with one hand, trying to sort out how all THIS was a result…

Janus shakes his head, patting the cheetah on his shoulder. "You would not believe it if you were told. Perhaps you have something else for him to do? On level ground?"

The old cheetah looks to the fallen Jezebel, then signs, "A healer! We must find a healer!"

Janus looks down at Jezebel and makes a face, "I suppose so. I'd probably get blamed if you didn't. Go on, you probably know where they are all at better than I."

Janus kneels down, setting the bucket he is still holding flat on the ground, and looks over Jezebel, trying to see if she is hurt and to what extent.

The girl cheetah at the bottom of the hill slowly gets up, with Jynx's help.

Envoy finally makes her way over to Janus. "That was an interesting chain of events." She too looks at Jezebel, and also glances to the bottom of the slope where the water-bearers slid.

Jynx tries to be careful…

Jezebel is lying on the ground, a bucket over her head, and large amounts of paint on her and on the ground around her, mixed with some shards of broken glass.

Janus mms, without looking up. "Wasn't it, though?"

Roho wanders by, smiling and waving as he passes, "Hi, Envoy… "

Jynx begins to make his way back up the slope, being extra careful this time, and not wanting the wrath of another cheetah look.

Janus reaches over and tugs on the bucket that Jezebel has decided to use as a helmet.

The bucket comes off with a suctioning *SCHLORP*, leaving the sealant goop to glop onto the ground from Jezebel's head.

Envoy decides not to mention that in her current state Jezebel might even appear attractive to a Vartan.

Janus checks to make sure the Jezebel's nose and mouth are clear of the goop.

Jezebel slowly comes to, sputtering and hacking and spitting out the goop.

The old cheetah spots Roho, then ushers him over to Jezebel, hurriedly signing to him … well, it doesn't really matter WHAT he's signing, now does it?

Envoy turns to Roho, "Roho, how was your nap? Can you help revive a messy Savanite?"

Jynx has made it so far so good up the hill, but now his demeanor is somewhat depressed.

Janus chuckles softly. "My, my, Third-Eye. Don't you make an interesting sight."

Roho smiles, "It was relaxing, thanks… er, what?"

Jezebel growls, then coughs and sputters again, and sneezes.

The two girl cheetahs, meanwhile, retrieve their (now empty) buckets and poles, collectively sigh, and begin heading back down the slope, toward the river again.

Envoy briefly recounts the chain of events leading to Jezebel's being stuck to the ground by her own hair.

Janus shakes his head, "As much as I hate the thought of helping you, don't move, Third-Eye. You took a hard knock on the head."

Roho moves over to Jezebel, "Well, she's breathing… Third-Eye, do you feel tired?"

Jynx watches the girls pad off, and heaves another large sigh. He sits down at the top of the slope and puts his hands in his paws.

Since Janus is there to translate for Roho, Envoy watches Jynx for a bit.

Jezebel tries to sign something back … but her hands have lots of goop on them, and instead she hisses and tries vainly to wipe the stuff off, on the ground. She mostly just manages now to get a coating of gravel and dirt on top of the goop.

Janus looks up at Envoy. "Get us some water, please? We need to get this gunk off her."

Envoy suggests, "You could tie a rope around her foot and toss her into the river. That might wash off most of the goop."

Roho picks up one of Jezebel's paws, looking for a wrist, then ulfs and tries to let go, with limited success.

Janus turns back to Roho and touches his shoulder, "She's covered in glue. She can't answer you."

Jezebel's ears still work. She hisses angrily.

Janus chuckles. "Admittedly a tempting thought… but again, they would probably blame me for it."

Envoy decides the glue bucket isn't suitable for carrying water in, and heads down the slope after the bearers. She turns to Jynx along the way and asks, "Can you help me fetch a bucket of water? Your name wouldn't happen to be Jack, would it?"

Jynx looks up and forces a small smile, "Uh, no, my name's Feli. Are you sure you want my help?"

Jynx looks at the scene of destruction before him, "As you can see, things don't always… work out for me."

Envoy says, "It would have been pointless to ask if I didn't want your help. The other water bearers will be busy."

Roho rasps, "I, um, hate to be rude, but we really need to get this stuff off of her… "

Roho rasps, "We need her able to speak."

Jynx sighs and nods "Well, I guess." He perks up a bit and jumps to his feet. ""By the way, you can just call me Jynx, everybody else does."

Janus grins a bit, his hand still on Roho's shoulder. "I've asked Envoy to get some water. That may thin it down enough to get it off her face and hands."

Envoy heads down the slope, "I am Envoy."

Jynx smiles "A pleasure to meet you!" He offers a paw as they begin down the slope.

Envoy shakes Jynx's paw, and when they reach the bottom she signs to the girls, "Can we borrow two of your buckets?"

The girls look to each other, and then nod.

Meanwhile, back up the hill, the older supervisor frets and fidgets, pacing back and forth, trying to figure out just what he's going to sign to Jezebel about how all this could have happened…

Jynx hangs his head a bit, avoiding the gaze of the cheetah girls.

Roho takes the free moment to introduce himself to Janus, "Your scent seems familiar… "

Envoy hands one of the buckets to Jynx, and heads for the river.

Janus looks up at older cheetah and signs, "Don't flit around like an eep. I'm sure that when she is able to move and speak, she will hunt you down for an accounting."

Janus keeps an eye on the older cheetah as he answers Roho. "I was on the ship that brought you here. One of the less useful helping hands."

Jynx follows behind the Aeolun, trying to appear cheerful.

The older cheetah's ears flatten at this. He signs, "Well, a doctor has been summoned. It would not do well for me to stand here while there is work to be done… " He scoots off hastily toward the rubble clearing in progress.

Roho smiles, "Ah… that would explain it. Well, glad to meet you now, at least." His expression looks thoughtful, though…

Envoy dips her bucket into the river, and warns Jynx, "Be careful, the current is pretty strong."

Jynx nods and dips his bucket, while looking at Envoy curiously. "I haven't seen many of your kind before, I didn't know you had wings."

Envoy looks back at her fairly obvious wings. "I've always had wings. And I'm the only one of my kind." She hefts her full bucket.

Janus half-smiles at the cheetah and turns back to face Roho. "Not the best of circumstances."

Roho nods…

Jynx thinks, and then shrugs. He pulls his bucket up, which is a bit heavy for him.

Envoy heads back towards the slope. The bucket is too big and heavy for her to fly with it.

Janus looks back down to Jezebel. "Can you nod your head, Third-Eye?"

Jynx follows close behind, teetering this way and that due to the heavy bucket.

Jezebel nods her head, her expression largely obscured by caking goop.

The two cheetah girls, meanwhile, have headed on up the slope with just one bucket each. They make the climb this time with far less difficulty.

Janus nods slowly. "That's something, at least. The healer asked if you were feeling tired. Nod if you are."

Envoy lugs the water up the steep slope, using her wings as counterbalances. She can see how the digitigrade Savanites would have trouble with the slope.

Jynx hefts the full bucket up to the top of the slope sideways, pulling with all his might and fighting to keep from falling over.

Jezebel slowly nods.

Envoy carries her bucket over to Roho. Thinking of the hydraulic head-basher in the passage to the Map Chamber, she wonders if there is a more extensive plumbing system available.

Janus taps Roho's shoulder lightly. "That was a 'yes'."

Jynx, making it (amazingly) to the top of the slope, sets the bucket down to take a rest, tongue lolling.

Roho rasps, "Oh… thank you. Not what I wanted to hear, but good to know."

Janus looks up at Envoy. "Ah, good. The water is here." Strangely enough, he doesn't sound overjoyed.

Jezebel stubbornly slings some more goo on the ground, then fumbles her way around blindly, crawling.

Janus looks from Jezebel to Envoy, and back. "What do you think. Just dump it over her? Better than trying to dunk her, I think."

Jynx picks the bucket back up and makes his way to the others. As he gets close, he trips over the paint bucket, and sends the contents of his carried bucket flying towards Jezebel.

Envoy says, "Alcohol might work better than water. Do you know if the glue is toxic? Maybe scrubbing would be most effective, if we had stiff brushes."

Envoy looks to see if the dousing was effective…

Janus says something incomprehensible and jumps back reflexively as the answer to his question becomes moot.

Jynx says, "Uh-oh… "

Envoy says, "Of course, we could also just wait for it to harden and then break it off."

Envoy says, "Maybe it will burn?"

Jezebel just stays where she is. What's a little more water and a little clattering on the head with the bucket? She falls back and collapses on the ground, breathing heavily.

Janus shakes his head and mutters something under his breath, stepping forward again to try to loosen some of the now-wet goop.

Roho blinks, "What was that?"

Jynx tries to make himself small and unnoticeable…

The goop doesn't really seem to be water-soluable.

Janus sighs and continues to try to loosen the goop around Jezebel's face.

Envoy says, "Maybe it can be combed out. I'm sure Jezebel brought grooming combs with her."

Bits of the goo come off. Where Janus' hands are wet, the goop doesn't seem to stick as badly to him.

Roho rasps, "Envoy, you mentioned alcohol… that's not a bad idea. Think you could find any?"

Jynx looks worried, and a bit guilty, "I-Is she alright?"

Envoy looks around for anyone carrying a lamp. "I'll try to find some."

Roho rasps, "I don't know, we'll find out as soon as we can."

Jynx sighs

The sun has risen, but since this IS in a canyon, there are still parts a bit dark yet. There are certainly lamps to be found. Plus one of the supply stores probably has some wood alcohol for cleaning purposes.

Envoy fetches a small container of the alcohol and brings it back. "Here is some, Roho, but be careful. It is not safe to ingest."

Janus dips his hands in the bucket of water the Envoy brought and goes back to dislodging goop. "Don't know, Feri."

Roho nods at Envoy, "I know, I'm not going to drink it." He sways for a second on his knees, "Ugh… "

Jynx says, "Uhm, its Feli, sir… "

Janus looks up, "Feli. What did I say? Whatever… Feli, then. Sorry."

Janus looks back down, "And don't call me sir."

Jynx nods "Yes sir."

Janus's ears twitch with amusement.

Roho starts drizzling alcohol on the goop, starting at an extremity just to test…

The alcohol seems to be having some effect at breaking up the goop, though it takes a bit of working to encourage it to actually let go.

Janus rocks back on his heels. "If that works, Roho, you might want to let one of us do it. We might get it done faster."

Roho nods, looking a little pale, "Yeah, that'd probably be best… " He hands the container to Janus.

Jynx's ears perk up "Anything I can do to help?"

Janus takes the container and continues what Roho started. "Mm… if she got cut by that mirror, this could sting a bit."

Jezebel sulks quietly. Most of the cheetahs in the area seem to have headed off elsewhere to find work to tend to.

Roho nods, "But, from the smell of that glue, it'll be better than leaving that on."

Janus chuckles. "Better for who?"

Jezebel lets out a low growl, then hisses when the alcohol hits a scrape.

Jynx watches the older furs curiously.

Roho rasps, "Better for her… I'm a little worried about that getting into a cut. Breathing it, for that matter."

Janus stops long enough to reach up and pat Jezebel's cheek gently. "There, there."

Janus goes back to removing goop, but is more careful around the more obvious scrapes and cuts.

Jezebel growls in her throat at the patronizing.

Roho moves a little ways away, and sits with his head between his knees…

Envoy leans over Janus' shoulder and smiles at Jezebel in her dolphin-like way.

Jynx backs away a bit at the cheetah's growl. o O(If she gets that mad over that, what'll she do to me?)

Jezebel can't see Envoy's smile, as her headband is still plastered over her two good eyes. Her third one is tightly shut, though, sparing anyone having to see the oddity.

Janus doesn't actively try to irritate Jezebel anymore as he works. After getting her hands and arms freed, he moves up to loosen the gunk around her face. "I'm afraid you're going to have to wash your hair in alcohol, Third-Eye. I'm not even going to try to get this gunk out right now."

Jezebel signs, "That is enough. I will get the rest myself."

Janus looks down to see the signing and shrugs. He rocks back on his heels. "Do you need someone to help you back to your room?"

Roho rasps, "Are you feeling light-headed? And is your vision focusing all right?"

Janus looks up at Roho, "Her eyes are still covered. She didn't wait long enough for me to un-goop them."

Roho rasps, "Oh… I want to know if she's concussed."

Jezebel signs, "I think I just need some fresh air." She staggers to her feet, reaching out and steadying herself against a wall. Her ears flick a bit at the sound of her "voice" being echoed by Envoy's running translation.

Jynx takes a moment to look around, and shudders as the realization of all that just happened sinks in.

Roho nods, "I think we all do… I want to know what was in the paste… "

Janus shakes his head as Jezebel stands. "You aren't going to get much fresh air. That goop all over you is the source of the smell."

Jezebel rrrrs in frustration, then signs, "I will find my way back to my room by myself. I am used to the dark."

Envoy says, "I imagine the glue is based on tree sap. Probably a type of rubber."

Janus stands up and shakes his head. "Third-Eye, you got hit in the head by a mallet. You'll be lucky to make it half-way there before falling on your face."

Jezebel signs angrily, "Don't patronize me! I'm not some weakling!"

Jynx figures that now is probably not the best time to apologize, and remains silent.

Janus snorts. "Fine. Go. And when you collapse, we'll scrape you off the street. Or you can let me help you."

Envoy's translation lacks the vehemence of Jezebel's signs.

Roho sighs, "Well, you seem awake enough… "

Jezebel signs, "Why this change of heart, Speaker? Do you pity me now? Very well then, come along. When we get to my room, you can drop this brief facade and strangle me to your heart's content."

Janus sighs and pads over to Jezebel, giving her some support. "I have no intention of strangling you, Third-Eye."

Jynx pads nervously over to the fennec, "Um, will she be okay? I d-didn't mean all of that, honest!"

Roho shrugs at Jynx, "I don't know… if she's okay now, then I'd say yes, though sore for a few days. As long as there wasn't anything unhealthy in that paste."

Jynx nods and sighs.

Jezebel bristles, but she staggers a bit, and at last lets Janus pull her along, her tail twitching in agitation.

Janus shakes his head, "You'll have to give me directions. It's not like I was scoping out where you lived for some sort of midnight raid. And if you don't calm down, this is going to take twice as long."

Envoy whispers to Roho, "I think humility hurts Jezebel more than the glue and cuts."

Roho whispers back to Envoy, "It often does… "

Jezebel signs, "Someone should have come to lead me back. The ingrates." She pauses, then begins signing out directions that would take Janus in the same direction those two cheetahs with the (now-broken) mirror scampered off to.

Janus watches Jezebel's hands and smiles a bit. He starts off in the indicated direction, "I imagine they were too scared. You have a less than sterling reputation."

Jezebel's ears flatten for a bit, but she leaves out the obligatory hiss or growl.

Janus hmms and looks around, ignoring the various industrious Savan in eyeshot. He alters direction slightly and continues. "Not that I can talk. My own reputation isn't so bright lately."

A couple of cheetahs give Janus odd looks … as some more gold shows through the black on his forearms, toward his hands…

Janus works his way through the directions Jezebel gave, asking for confirmation once or twice. When they finally reach her rooms, he guides her in and leaves without giving her another chance to growl at him.

Jezebel flails with her grasp, reaching out to try to grab Janus' arm. (Considering she can't see, he's fast, and he's agile, he certainly has the advantage there.)

Janus stops just out of arm's reach and looks at Jezebel curiously. "What?"

Janus sounds a little surprised not to have been growled out of the room.

Jezebel pauses, realizing that Janus is keeping clear, then signs, "Are bygones bygones, then?"

Janus stands quietly for a long time. Finally he says, "Whatever happened is done. I don't know why you did it, and right now I'm not sure I want to. Do I trust you? No. Not really. But I don't hate you, either. And, no… I have no intention of trying to kill you, either."

Jezebel frowns. "That is all," she signs, with a wave of her hand, as if she were dismissing a servant, and then she turns around, fumbling her way over to the window.

Janus half-smiles and turns to leave. "And you wonder why nobody came running to your aid."

Janus walks out the door and calls out, "The window is a little to the left."

There's a sound of a growl and a vase shattering against the wall and a table being forcibly knocked over as Janus leaves.

Janus shakes his head and laughs, "I hope that wasn't too expensive."

Meanwhile, back in the street, Jynx and Envoy converse.

Jynx sighs "Well, looks like another exciting day for me."

Envoy asks Jynx, "How did you end up here, anyway?"

Jynx sighs "Well, it's sort of a long story… "

Jynx says, "Are you sure you want to hear it?"

Envoy blinks, "Why do you keep asking me if I'm sure of what I ask?"

Jynx thinks "Uh, I was… just making sure. It's not that interesting, really… "

"Well," begins the cat, "it all started back at the Bazaar, in Rephidim. My father is a merchant there, and as you can see," he gestures to the scene of chaos, "I don't exactly have the best of fortune."

Envoy hmms…

Jynx says, "It was the same way back at the family shop, stuff would fall over, buyers meet with misfortune, and we'd lose profits, all when I was around. My father thought that I should 'see the world,' as he put it."

Jynx says, "But really it was just to get me out of the way. Not that I'm mad, I understand fully. We would have went under if I had stayed."

Jynx says, "So, I saved up some shekels, and booked a ride on an airship bound for Safar. I figured I may as well have some fun while I was gone. That's how I ended up here."

Jynx continues, "On my way to Safar, things, naturally, went wrong on the ship, and then finally, while I guess no one was looking (on purpose possibly), I slipped and fell over the edge of the ship."

Janus pads away from Jezebel's rooms on a general course back toward the accident site.

Envoy blinks. "An airship brought you here? Does that mean the quarantine fleet is gone?"

Jynx shakes his head. "Not that I know of, we just flew overhead."

Jynx shrugs. "But then again, I was somewhat, uh, 'airborne' for a while."

Envoy nods. "If you leave with us, I will make sure a safety line is attached to you at all times."

Jynx says, "When I fell, I luckily landed on a sky garden. Unluckily, it was a garden of bubble berries."

Jynx sighs a bit at the comment.

Janus remembers something and detours to the edge of the river to see if the girls are still struggling with water.

It looks like the girls must have finished their chores. They and their buckets are nowhere to be seen.

Jynx says, "I clung to the berries for quite some time, I'm not sure how long. But when I drifted over this way, it looked like some weird storm was going to hit me, and then all the berries started popping."

Jynx shrugs "So, once again I fell."

Janus hmms and looks around. With a little shrug, he heads off in a semi-random direction.

Envoy says, "And then Zoltan caught you?"

Jynx says, "But this time, my luck seemed to change, a Vartan saved me. Then my luck changed yet again, and some Savanites, not quite like these ones, were going to roast me!"

Jynx nods "I guess that was his name, I never really have gotten a chance to thank him yet."

Jynx says, "Did he tell you the rest of the story?"

Envoy says, "Some of it was told to me by Azhtar."

Envoy says, "Your luck does seem to run in extremes that balance each other, though."

Envoy says, "Perhaps you are a latent Chaos Mage, and merely need training."

Jynx says, "Azhtar? Guess I don't know her, since I have no idea what these strange hand signs mean."

Jynx says, "Chaos mage?"

Jynx shakes his head "I'm afraid I'm not much into magic."

Jynx looks curiously at the fennec, then whispers to Envoy, "Who's that? And why does he constantly stare like that?"

Roho's ears pick up the whisper, but he stays quiet, fighting a grin.

Jynx pads closer to Roho, and waves his paw in front of the fennec's eyes.

Envoy says, "Oh! Feli, this is Roho. He's a healer from afar. Roho, this is Feli, from Rephidim."

Jynx shakes the fennec's paw. "You can just call me Jynx." He still looks at the fox curiously.

Roho smiles, "Hi, Fel – Jynx. Glad to meet you."

Jynx thinks, and experimentally makes a face at the fox, only to receive no reaction. "Hmmm… "

Envoy blinks at Jynx. "Are you okay, Jynx? Are you having stomach pains?"

Jynx jolts back at the voice. "Oh! Uhh, n-no. Just, er, testing something."

Roho chuckles and pats Jynx on the shoulder, "Yes, I'm blind. And I can tell when you're waving your paw there, it blows my whiskers."

Jynx's ears turn bright red, "Oh, sorry… "

Roho laughs, "Don't be, why should I mind?"

Envoy hmms. "Maybe you should let Roho examine you anyway, Jynx. You look feverish."

Jynx shuffles his feet embarrassedly.

Envoy looks at the fallen paper-mache' Naga statues. "Maybe we can right the statues."

Jynx sighs, and looks around, "Well, now I have only one question: where are we? I haven't been able to talk to many people since I got here, wherever here is."

Roho rasps, "Best I can say, in one of the Savan jungles. I'm somewhat in the dark, I was just brought along as a healer for a voyage. All I know is the people here communicate by signs, and it's very frustrating!"

Jynx nods "I know what you mean, I can't make anything from it."

Envoy says, "We are in an ancient city that does not exist."

Jynx looks to the statues. "Oh yeah, those." Now he does look sick.

Jynx scratches his head, "Doesn't exist?" Now his head hurts too.

Roho laughs at Jynx, "I'd say it gets less confusing, but it doesn't."

Jynx sighs, and puts a paw to his forehead. "Well, if you are a healer, you may have a patient. My brain hurts."

Roho chuckles, "Well, I don't have anything for a pained brain, though a sore head I can give you something for… "

Envoy says, "Well… Do you believe that Savanites can work magic and build cities, Jynx?"

Jynx says, "Savanites? Magic?" If possible, he looks even more confused. "Since when did they learn to do that?""

Envoy says, "Now, wouldn't it be easier to accept that this city simply does not exist?"

Jynx sits down and tries to sort all of this out. "I think it'd be easier to accept that all sanity seems to have fallen over the side of the ship with me, only it didn't survive."

Envoy smiles, "That is another possibility."

Jynx sighs.