"Welcome!" a young man greeted me as I looked around. There looked to be two large rooms, one full of tables and another with counters.

Walking towards the counter where the young man stood, I seized up the many coats hanging on a nearby rack. There had to be dozens, of varying sizes and colors. It was winter, but it wasn't that cold yet, was it? Most people weren't wearing such heavy clothing yet... at least, not that I had noticed.

"Welcome, here for a room or just a meal?" the young man asked on my approach.

"A room, and a meal later if I can get one?" I pulled around my bag, to get to the coins within. I knew now that they were still accepted, thanks to having to pay for the boat... but a part of me worried over how much I had left. The boat had been five coins, which was far more than I had expected.

"It's five per night, which includes breakfast and dinner," the young man said, noticing as I pulled out the little pouch of my coins.

I hesitated for a moment as I did the math. Five a day. It was good that it included two meals, but...

Opening the little pouch, I didn't need to count the contents to know I'd not be able to afford more than a week here.

"Five days please," I said, digging out the coins. I was going to have to solve this issue, and quickly. But right now it was not something I could really panic over. If it got too bad I could always just go live in the forest for a short while.

"Twenty five renk. Your name, M'am?" the young man accepted the coins as I counted enough out.

"Renn."

The eleven coins left made the small pouch feel ridiculously light. I chose to worry about it later, and put the pouch bag into my bag.

"Dinner is an hour before sundown, so not too long from now. Breakfast is when the church bell rings," the young man put the coins behind the counter, and walked over to the wall nearby. I counted the keys hanging on the plaque, and wondered if ten meant most of the inn was empty. The building was large, three floors, but hadn't seemed so big that there were more than twenty rooms inside.

"Second floor. Last room on the right," the young man said, handing me the key. He pointed to our left, where a large stairwell was.

Checking the key, I was surprised to find how heavy it was. The heavy metal piece was freshly painted. It was blue. "Thank you," I said.

"If you checkout early, you'll get half your money back for every day early," he said before I could leave.

Although a little odd, I nodded. "Thank you," I said again, and hurried to the stairwell he had pointed at.

Climbing to the second floor, I found a single hallway. There was an unmarked door to the left, and the hallway to the right. Heading down it, I reached the last door on the right and stuck the key in.

There was no number on the door, nor the key, but I did notice the window next to my door. There was a small table beneath it, with a small... almost withered flower in a tiny vase upon it. The only decoration in the hallway. The window revealed an alley, and another building next to it. I recognized the wood and color as the building to the right of this one, what had looked to be a bar.

Opening the door, I quickly looked around the room. It was small, as the young girl earlier had hinted at, but the bed was big and there was a large chest on the wall next to it. Acting as both a place to store items, and somewhere to sit. Other than the bed, and the chest, the only other thing in the room was a small painting. It hung over the chest, out of place. There was nothing else in the room. Other than the small window on the opposite side of the room.

"Which means the bathroom is probably..." I peeked my head out into the hallway, to the door at the end of the hall. There was nothing on the door, but from here I could see that it had no keyhole like the rest did. Most definitely the bathroom.

With a sigh, I wondered if this place was really considered the best as the young lady had said. I had expected a little more... especially for five coins a night.

This looked like any other inn I had stayed in throughout the years. Even decades ago.

Closing the door behind me, I was glad to find there was not only a lock on the handle, but a large bar that I could place along the door. Last thing I needed was to be half asleep and for whoever cleaned the rooms to enter accidentally.

Checking the bed, I found it wasn't bad. Not full of straw, but something soft. Maybe feathers of some kind. The bed stunk a little, but I was used to such things. Most humans stank, so it was not surprising their stuff did too.

With a sigh, I took the bag off and my hat. For a small moment, I was free. Didn't have to be careful. Didn't have to worry. Laying back, I took a deep breath. The place did stink, but not so bad I wanted to leave. It was noisy, I could hear voices in a room near me. Footsteps not right above me, but nearby. Someone was banging something in a building nearby. Metal upon metal. Ironwork maybe?

Although noisy, not just because it was a city but thanks to my animal-like ears, I felt relieved. It had been a long... long time since the world had been so alive. The forest had always been noisy, especially during the day, but...

There was a certain joy in the noise of a human city. A certain likable quality, that I knew would eventually grow annoying to me... but right now I found comforting.

Maybe because it reminded me of Nory.

I knew soon I'd have to go downstairs, for my meal. I planned to eat both every day, especially since I was paying so much for them.

Hopefully it wouldn't always be fish.

Glancing to the wall nearby, I remembered there was a painting. Such a thing was neat. Even if small and...

Sitting up, I studied the little thing. The frame was small, and looked unpolished. And the painting was a little dirty, as if it hadn't been cleaned or dusted in a long time.

The scene was a shore somewhere. A beach, with yellow sand and...

Frowning, I stood from the bed and studied the painting closer.

Why did it look familiar?

It was obviously just a painted scene. Maybe not even a real one. The way the waves had been painted even told me that whoever had made it, had either rushed or had not been that good of a painter. Not that I could do much better... but comparing it to Nory's work, it was...

Touching the paint gently, I felt a layer of dirt upon it. And beneath that layer of dirt, old long dried paint.

Why did it seem so familiar? Was I just being emotional, or did this very scene exist in my memories somewhere?

"Hm..."

I found myself studying the painting for longer than I should have, and only stopped when my stomach complained. Leaving the room, to head downstairs to eat my dinner... I decided to ask about the painting. It was silly, but I couldn't get it out of my head.

After all, I very well could have seen such a place before. I've traveled the beaches around here, although not for many years.

And once I was curious, I couldn't help myself anymore.

Before I reached the stairwell, I cursed and hurried back to my room.

Glad that no one else had been in the hallway, I hurriedly put my hat back on.

"Pay attention, Renn," I warned myself.

Taking one last glance at the painting, I glared at it. It had almost gotten me in trouble. How scary it was. How dangerous it were.