As I heard pawed footsteps move against the pavers and grass, my senses which are always piqued from the anxiety and all…picked up on other sounds: dragging fabric, claws on stone and the slow and deep breathing of a figure…the scent of the forest and the others shifted as I picked up the scent of the approaching figure, Fisloan’s grandson, Calico, I’m guessing. The scent of old books; that herbal, grassy vanilla like scent that is way too good for what it is…mixed with the soft, crisp, sweet scent of fresh pears and the pungent spicy element of caraway that made this almost heady scent that wouldn’t make a bad candle to be honest.

              “Oh, Coco, there you are” Fisloan said ushering Calico over.

              “I guess it’s my turn this time?” Calico asked walking up, because of how tucked into the couch I was, I couldn’t see him, but I could feel my horns were atop the back of the couch because of their size.

              “We thought you were best” his grandfather said, “Calico, meet Quinten…Quinten, this is my grandson, Calico.”

              I shifted before standing, feeling…more than uncomfortable for this whole ordeal and for being such a burden. I kept my eyes downwards as I shifted uncomfortably on the patio area of the neighborhood. I looked up eventually as I took in the figure ahead of me; my eyes had to go a lot higher than I was expecting, he was a good handful inches taller than me; broader than I was expecting for a feline based figure as well: broad shoulders and a broader chest, but tapered through to his waist and flared out to his hips giving him that Dorito ratio, his hands and feet were clawed and he had cat paws in place of feet, quite warm tanned skin, but his arms faded to mottled black, white and ginger at his elbows, a long matching mottled bottlebrush tail coiled out behind him that seemed quite appropriate for him to be named calico and was at least as long as he was tall if not longer, the fur making it at least a foot or so around, large matching cat ears were atop his head and he had jaw length sleek ginger hair and these bright amber eyes with slitted pupils, as he smiled softly, I saw long delicate fangs and he had rather feline features with the fact his eyes turn up at the outer corner of his eyes, the over-defined brow to his upper lip, high and angular cheekbones and even the shape of his nose was a bit cat-like. A triangular flop of fringe fell over his forehead with some slightly longer pieces on either side of his face and there was some dark makeup about his face, large gold rings went up his cat like ears and he was dressed in a very wide and flamboyant sleeved tucked in shirt of white/black houndstooth, tucked into high waisted dark purple trousers that ended at his ankles showing off his cat feet, a wide gold belt was wrapped around his mid-section that verged on almost corset-like, a dark red robe like piece was fastened atop his shoulders with gold adornments and edges with a metallic gold interior, covered in gold and all sorts of jewels and jewel-toned fabrics, rings and pieces littered his hands and trailed up his arms and littered his entire figure, but over the gold belt on his waist was a heavy leather strap that fastened a large book to his left hip with large crystals adorning it along with gold against the maroon colored leather and a pair of perfectly circular black glasses rested low on his nose, no arms to them and just held pinched to the bridge of his nose with a long chain fastened to the outer corners sense the cat ears make it very difficult for glasses to have arms.

              “Well, I hope you find yourself at home here in Glimmerstand” he said with a soft smile, I tightened my grip on my own hands, I could feel my knuckles pop in my own grip and only worried if they could hear it. “I’m sure you would like to rest, get something to eat and…well, learn about where you are too” he said with that same movie “high fantasy” accent that the others had. I nodded softly, the mention of food alone almost making my stomach growl. He motioned towards the forest in the direction of that impossibly colorful city. I looked back towards Fisloan and the others, my own apprehension and nervousness making me all, but forget how to move my legs, but the enticement of food and good sleep was enough to override that. Fisloan just gave a soft nod towards Calico, the expression on his face one that told me that…despite every fiber of my being telling me no, I could trust Calico. “This way.” He added as he gestured towards the stone ramp pathway.

              I gathered my things up as I picked up my heavy camping bag, wincing softly as I softly rubbed my sternum, I had stopped coughing and my lungs stopped feeling like they had been forced through a strainer, but there was still some lingering pain I’m guessing was because of all of the aforementioned coughing.

              “Thank you…for…all of this, I still have no idea why all of you chose to help someone like me.” I said, Apricot sighed softly as she walked over, gripping my hand tightly.

              “It’s the least we could do; someone here needs help and help will be given, even if its not wanted” she said, “So…so many people have ran here to escape whatever was behind them and all we can do is make sure that they’ve chosen a better place to go to” she explained, softly wrapping both her hands around my own, giving my hand a short, but tight squeeze before letting go as the others were behind her, making various gestures of agreement to what she said.

              I looked back towards Calico before taking my first step down that pathway. He smiled softly as with a sweep of one of those huge sleeves, gave me a quick and supportive grip on my shoulder before he folded his hands in front of him as we walked down the path towards Hallowed Mire.