Of sleep drunks, pyromaniacs and iron giants.

The night had just settled like a cold blanket over the wide expanses of woodland around Cardin, shrouding everything in a dull darkness. The moon shone lightly between the clouds, barely enough to light the paths and reflect on the steel of the railway that crossed the continent from one end to the other. There wasn't much trafic on the roads at this time of night though, so the two figures travelling along the dirt path that followed the train tracks stood out against the otherwise unmoving decor.
The most obvious of both was the very big, very bulky monster like creature that left pawprints the size of two hands in the dirt, his weight making them really obvious even on roads that had been battered by many other travellers before. The Dosoi was masive, even for his species, towering at a good six and half feet or so, and his large built an steel mask did not help soften his looks. His breathing was a steady buzzing and wheezing, calm and quiet but still very audible over the small noises of the nighttime.
His traveling companion, in contrast, appeared even more skinny and small with his backpack over his scrawny shoulders. He was much less imposing, simple Cana trotting alongside him, barefooted despite the rocky road. He was also surprisingly more silent than the spirit next to him, his feet barely disrupting the gravel as they skipped along quietly.

He was, however, the first one to break the conftable silence that had settled between them. The lights of the city had just become visible in the distance, a steady glow next to the mountain range, when he let his bag slide off his shoulder and touch the ground with a loud *thump*. They would go into the city the next day, but camping outside of it was more conftable and definitely cheaper. Especially in the summer when there was no biting cold to gnash at your toes at night.

-"You really should let me ride you. We'd be a thousand times faster."

The Cana had said that with a slight mocking tone while he started to dig his bag for food. His voice was a bit scratchy, like that of a long time smoker, but none the less clear and cutting against the silence. He had a very heavy accent that made all his words sound rough around the consonants.
The reply he got was a chuckle from the Dosoi, much deeper and slightly distorted by the breather that obscured his face. He had sat down and stretched out on a mossy spot next to the road, somewhat more human sized once he was flattened down to the ground.

-"I don't think you deserve something as glorious as I, little man. You are, after all, nothing but a nameless traveller making a living from petty little tricks."

-"Yeah well, you still enjoy the petty little tricks, I should make you pay for them. By being a horse replacement."

-"Not a chance, tiny firejuggler. Too weak for me."

-"Well fuck you."

-"Anytime."


The Dosoi started them a small fire, on coals he had seemingly popped out of nowhere, and they ate in relative silence, not having much to talk about beside roughly planning their next day. Then, the Cana rummaged through his bag once more and picked out a relatively big bottle filled with an omious black, oily liquid and a few bundles of scrap fabric, knoted tighly into little balls.

-"Preparing for your performance tomorrow again? Don't you play with fire often enough as it is?"

-"There is never too much fire, Anti!"

The tone of his voice suddenly had a slightly maniac edge, and he was grinning from ear to ear. Anti - as the bigger creature had been called - just shook his head and settled in conftably to watch the show unfold. The little man had taken off his shirt and soaked his scraps with oil now, six of them, and set fire to each of them before throwing them swiftly into the air, catching them in his other hand before releasing them into the sky again, seemingly unbothered by the bite of fire in his bare hands.
It was a beautiful sight, those little fireballs against the nightsky, blindingly bright and intense, dancing into the darkness. The juggler was quick and dexterous, throwing them above his head, catching them, making them cross each other and streak firey light patterns above him. The jumped, danced, glided from one hand to the other, never held for more than a fraction of seconds before flying off again.

Anti just watched in content silence as the light danced against his companions skin and bones, casting shadows and reflections. Tracing the edges of his broad grin as he watched his own artwork.
Madman.

But he suddenly became aware of a presence, maybe because of the unusual rustle of leaves, the light tap of something that sounded a lot like a hoove against the mossy ground, the bristling of fur. Or maybe he just knew, because he might have lived with Cana for the best part of his life, but he still was a Dosoi and his own species' smell and sound was oddly familiar, much like smoke and dust and cities.

-"I think you have an audience."

-"Really? Where?"

Anti shrugged, his ears and head turning and searching, until they settled on a spot somewhere in the forest. He wasn't sure. But he could pinpoint a general direction.

It was an ordinary night, the air smelled sweet and syrupy around the Cardin forests. Erlil didn't know why she had wandered so far away from her usual spots deep in the Dagger mountains, it was much warmer and her thick fluff made her feel uncomfortable and clumsy in the heat.

Erlil was a Dosoi, one of the living embodiments of nature that inhabited Adonia. She was a little on the small side for her species, but that didn't bother her at all. She rarely interacted with others, her grey-blue coat blended with the steely stone Dagger mt. perfectly and coupled with her small stature, it made it a little difficult to find her in Erlil's home environment. Right now though, she was quite far from the snowy peaks, and her pale colored coat made her stick out like a sore thumb in the dark.

She walked rather aimlessly about the trees, getting quite lost in the process. Erlil could see the jagged peaks of Dagger mt. but could not quite remember which mountain pass she had used to get down to where she was now. She was probably near Cardin... probably. All around her the small animals of Adonia were curling up in their burrows, and the nocturnal ones were out hunting. None of that bothered her, she had soothed the distressed and sent the small ones to sleep, her job was done for the night. Erlil decided it would probably be useless trying to hike back to her home in the dark, it would probably be more sensible to find a nice sheltered bit of bush or tree to doze the night away. She walked a bit more, not bothering to conceal herself as she usually would.

Quite suddenly, she felt a twinge of almost crazy happiness very close to where she was. About a hundred meters away, half a dozen fireballs shot up into the air, gracefully dancing against the darkness. A startlingly unnatural sight to see in the middle of the night.. in the Cardin forests?! How.. what. What. Travelers at this hour? Why weren't they in Cardin like the rest of the Cana-folk? How odd, but interesting! Any notions of sleep was abandoned and Erlil creeped towards maddening excitment that came off the camp in thick waves.

A thought dawned upon Erlil, what if these travelers were hostile? She had heard many stories of Cana who hated and hunted Dosoi, and even Dosoi who had turned twisted and used their gifts to maim and hurt others. Though she had no intention of interacting with these travelers, she felt a need to see what they were doing with those crazy little impish fireballs.

As she neared the small camp, she saw that there were only two travelers. One crazy looking Cana, who was the one giving off the peaks of excitement, and a very huge Dosoi. It was odd to see other Dosoi, Erlil hardly ever saw any of her kind, they don't usually come around the Dagger mountains, and Cardin was just too crammed full of busy Canas. This Dosoi, apart from being very tall, was dark in color and wore an odd metallic mask with large eye holes. Erlil watched behind her own traditional polished wood mask, certain they couldn't see her behind all this dense greenery.

Then the large, dark colored Dosoi turned to look in her direction. Erlil felt a spike of panic, she really had never been good with confrontation however small. Very nervously, she backed away from the camp, hoping they hadn't seen her. In her clumsy footed haste, Erlil managed to trip over her own hooves, falling flat on her butt and causing a loud 'flump' sound as she landed on some dry leaves. Oh.. dear. THAT probably didn't do any good to stop the pair from noticing her...

Antis' words had apparently not made their nightly visitor any more comfortable (but well, if you're spying on someone getting spotted isn't exactly the plan) and were followed by a short silence, then some quiet scrambling for cover that made the leaves rustle, and the Dosoi was about to let them go with a shrug when a loud 'thump' indicated a not so elegant fall. Which managed to draw a short wheezy laugh out of the taller one, because come on, that was so obviously the sound of someone tripping clumsily while trying to get under cover that it really deserved a laugh.

-"OW SHIT HOT HOT HOT AUGH!"

Sudden outburst that made the Dosoi snap his head back to his companion. Obviously, he had gotten too distracted by their nightly visitor to watch what he was doing, and one of the fireballs stayed in his hand long enough to leave a burn. Which would probably blister some time soon. The Cana just kept on cursing quietly while he put out the little balls and ordered them next to his backpack, probably planning on getting back to his act once this thing was taken care of. The Dosoi shrugged him off, like it was something so usual he wasn't even bothered by the other burning various parts of his body, and slowly stood up, taking careful steps in the direction of the noise before craning his neck to see behind the bushes to find...

A tiny white ball of fluff.
What?
It was a small Dosoi. Well, every Dosoi appeared small in comparison to him, really, but smaller even, which made him suddenly oddly aware of his height. Probably towering over her wasn't the best idea.
He crooked his head to the left and shifted his weight, hunching a bit so that he was still looking at her but not towering over her anymore, and offered the best smile he could muster. Smiles that went all the way up to his eyes, because his mouth wasn't exactly visible under the breather.

-"Hello, young lady. Please excuse my companion's language, he's never been good with manners."

-"What, lady? At this time of night in the fucking woods? Are you pulling my leg or wh- Oh. That kind of lady."

The Cana had hobbled toward them, licking and sucking at his hand like a wounded animal, which, in a lot of regards, he was. At least he interrupted his swearing, looking thoroughly surprised now, his eyes jumping back and forth between the little fluffy masked creature and the huge Dosoi next to him. Until something clicked, and he addressed his traveling companion with a frown, waving him off with a flicker of his burned wrist.

-"You terrorize her, you bully."

Anti was very tempted to throw something acidic in response, but he figured his evil streak, even if directed at his companion, wasn't exactly going to help their cause, so he just gave a short nod and backed back off toward the fire, leaving his madman of a friend to deal with the poor little terrified Dosoi. Hopefully that kid wouldn't get all too offensive.

The Cana just dropped to the ground with an undignified sound of his own, at a little more of an arm length of their visitor, and smiled at her. Sitting like that, he only seemed even more meek and skinny, and really, really non threatening. Also, he was non fluffy, unlike the Dosoi, who at least could pretend to have some more bulk with all that fur. So, yeah. Not dangerous looking in any shape or form, which was sort of the point.

-"Hey, stop panicking. I really don't eat Dosoi. Doesn't look tastly. And Anti looks like a bully but I swear he's really nice with anyone but me."

His voice was deep and steady, still laced heavily with that rumbling accent, contrasting somewhat with his skinny frame but fitting his angular, foreign face. It was soft and controlled, polar opposite of his sharp cursing only moments before. Then his smile widened a little, and with a tinge of excitement, he offered something that, he figured, had lead her here the first time and wouldn't require too much talking on her end, since obviously that was not her strong point. At least not quite yet.

-"Came to see the fireflies?"

A small gesture toward his now unlit fireballs made what he was babbling about somewhat more clear.

Erlil shuffled very nervously, why why why did she trip. That was just so stupid of her, she figured her nerves issue was getting quite out of control if she couldn't even make a quiet getaway properly. Her eyes darted left and right, wondering how she could get out once she put these two huge creatures to sleep. Even though the large Dosoi didn't seem threatening, and his companion who had a er--rather colorful vocabulary seemed quite harmless too, Erlil was not the type to befriend anybody very easily. It had been a while since she actually talked to anybody either, so being sociable and cheery were not hugely dominant traits in her personality.

"The.... the.. fireballs ar-are called fireflies? Um, you two really don't look like you're from around here.. uh. ni-nice to meet you. sort of uhm. um. Pr-probably should get some rest already. Have a good night! urm.. erm...you two should really get to Cardin soon." The words came out jittery and all over the place, and all that was said so fast it was practically impossible to differentiate them.

Burning with embarrassment, she put as heavy a dose of sleep into their minds as she could with her nerves jingling about her head like a bunch of mad flies. "Sleep well! You two seem really nice.. very interesting! Though I don't think we'll see each other again! It's nice seeing another Dosoi after so long!" she squeaked before turning tail and fleeing.
Hoping that would slow down the pair a little, she headed towards the trails that snaked up towards her home. Erlil planned to head straight back to Dagger Mountains, and leave this all behind. All the embarrassment and awkwardness, at least she probably won't be seeing the Dosoi and Cana pair face-to-face in future, they looked like they were headed towards center Cardin, not somewhere she frequented but maybe she'll see the fireflies the Cana played with from the safe distance of her home.

Arie just sat frozen for a second when the fluffy dosoi started her rambling, a little overwhelmed by all the jittered words and sentences. Damn this lady was not used to interaction. For a short moment he just sat there, trying to process whatever information had just been thrown at him, an eyebrow raising skeptically at her words. Really, if you dislike company so much, you're doing a pretty poor job at avoiding it.

But before he could express his opinion on the matter, she had scrambled up and was already starting to back out of the ring of light their fire cast around them. He'd have tried to stop her, or at least told her something because wow, awkward, but before he could formulate a coherent thought his head clouded up with the urge to sleep, now, and the only thing he managed was a surprised half-yelp before his eyes rolled back into his head and closed, his body slumping backward and hitting the dirt with a bit more force than necessary.
The cana was out like a light while the panicked dosoi made her escape.

Anti, on the other half, did not quite fall over like his friend did. Maybe because he was bigger, or maybe because he was a dosoi too and that lessened the impact of others powers on him, but whatever the cause, he just swallowed back a yawn and shook his head, trying to dissipate the clouds on his mind.
Not to much avail.

He could care less about tiny dosoi that did not want to talk to them.
He appreciated getting forcefully knocked out a little less, tho. Whatever the reason, they probably didn't deserve to get put to sleep forcefully just to avoid a little social interaction. But he didn't really have much time to consider this because one, the fluffy dosoi had fled and he really had no reason to bother with her anymore and two, his companion just faceplanted into the dirt, he ought to make sure he was okay.

It took every last fiber of his strength to just get up and check that Arie was still in once piece, which he seemed to be if the quiet snoring was anything to go by, and once he had made sure of that, he settled down again, pulling the Cana toward himself to rest against his arm. He didn't even stir. Well, whatever powers she had, they were pretty potent. He vaguely wondered if they'd even wake up in the morning, hoped they did, and then his head hit the ground too as he finally caved into the sleep heavy on his mind.

Well, that had be a short encounter.

They'd hit Cardin tomorrow.