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Even before the early birds began their songs, one woman had already begun her day. Not because she liked the peace and quiet of the time when everyone else was asleep, although that was certainly a bonus. No, she was up and about because she had work to do and lots of it. Her master had tasked her with an important assignment, and she wasn't going to fail.

But finding the kind of person she needed would be a challenge. Saul Yi wasn't the kind of woman who could simply walk up to someone and ask for them to brave uncertain peril as she played the helpless maiden. She could do it, but disposing of them afterwards would be a problem. I can't have anyone learn of my master's plans before we succeed. That would be... inconvenient. No, better to play the scholar in need of assistance; no one would look twice at a scholar looking for what she needed.

Striding into a little tavern along one of the main thoroughfares, she sat down at a centrally located table. Tucking a lock of silvery-black hair behind her ear, Saul looked at the still sleepy-eyed owner. "Some tea and toast, if you would," she said in a confident voice, putting a few coins down in front of her. Although she was looking for foolish adventurers, she didn't want to stand out too much. As if being there first thing in the morning wasn't odd enough.

Birds chirping right outside her hollow were the first indication to Kela that the new day had arrived. And she just rolled over and fell back asleep... for about three minutes before a woodpecker decided that her tree would be the perfect place to find its morning meal. "I'm up!" the foxy girl declared loudly as she picked up the nearest twig and hurled it in the direction of the bird. It gave a sharp chirp in defiance but left as soon as the twig passed over its head. Yeah, you fly off. Teach you to wake me up... dang it.

By that point, Kela was wide awake, and she knew she wasn't getting back to sleep. "Oh well," she yawned as she crawled out of her temporary shelter. A hollow tree wasn't much of a shelter, but it was infinitely cheaper than an inn. "Might as well get busy. Alli oop!" The foxy girl stretched all four limbs as far as they could go - and her tail - before pulling on her gloves and scarf and securing her bag to her belt. It was limp and light, but Kela aimed to change that by the end of the day.

The road wasn't always the best place to start, but that's where she found herself as she munched on some stale bread she "liberated" from a merchant the previous day. And that's when she saw him: a young man lying facedown in the dirt not too far from the city gates. Odd place for a nap. Are humans trying out the ground now? Oh well... not my place to judge.

Kela skipped up to the human man and looked him over. He looked like he was in good shape. Still didn't explain his location for a nap. "Hey, wake up." She began poking him in the side with one dull claw. "Hey, wake up. You're a sitting duck. Wake up!"

And sometime during the course of yelling at the unconscious human, Kela's hand found its way to his purse and had deftly liberated it from his belt. Hm... what's this? Don't care. In the bag it goes.

Despite some grumbling, the owner delivered Saul's tea and toast within a decent amount of time. Both required heat - and lots of it - so some delay between ordering and delivery was expected. And both were piping hot when set on the table before her. "Thank you, sir," she said gently. "Keep the change. Think of it as a tip for being so quick so early." A small smile passed over his lips after she said that, and he took the coins back behind the bar.

Oh, she could've cared less how the owner felt. The sorceress was there with a mission, one that she would carry out. She was just cultivating an opinion, one that would be useful if anyone asked about her. Sweet... but not too generous. Yes, that should get the job done. Perhaps a bit of time will be added, but it'll be worth it in the long run. Saul smiled inwardly at the rhyme she made in her head; she didn't even know she could do that.

As she sat observing the morning traffic - or lack thereof - a red haired man walked into the tavern. He seemed a bit... disoriented, and Saul couldn't help but watch as he found himself a chair. It's a miracle he can even walk, she thought, listening in on his order with passive interest. He doesn't look like the town drunkard. A warrior, perhaps, just come back from a night of carousing? I shall see...

With that thought in her head, Saul picked up her tea, which was still steaming a bit, and took a sip, looking at the man out of the corner of her eye.

Well... didn't see that one coming. The fox girl easily jumped out of the way of the poor man as he tried - and failed - to challenge her to... a duel? Did he actually expect her to give the purse back? It was in her hand now; as far as she was concerned, the bag and its contents were already hers. Giving a broad smile, Kela said, "No can do, mister. This here goes in the bag."

With that, she shoved the coin purse into her bag of stuff. There wasn't much in there yet, just a bit of dried meat as snacks, so it plopped in with a satisfying thunk... or whatever sound came from heavy cloth hitting bottom of cloth bag. It didn't matter to her; she loved it.

And she turned around and was about to walk away when she heard the man topple over. Hm... guess I know how he got in the middle of the road now. Kela, ever the helper, quickly bounced onto his back. Leaning down on his shoulders, she tilted her head. "Hey... I'm lea-ving. What? Knightly guy like you can't just... walk over and spear me to the wall? Huh? Huh?" She poked the side of his chest and, much to her surprise but no one else's probably, felt bone instead of lumps of muscle or fat. That just wasn't right. "Hey. Hey! You're skinny. Why? Do you even eat?"

Kela wasn't a very helpful thing... sitting on his back and poking him. But it just seemed so right to her.

"'That doesn't belong to you?' Well, duh, that's why I took it. Who are you? My mother?" Kela sighed and rocked back on her feet. "Nope, nope, nope. She's not here. She has to worry about my brothers and sisters. They're way worse than I am. Not that I'm bad or anything. I just have sticky fingers - Oop!" The fox girl squeaked as the man rolled over, throwing her to the side.

Kela rolled over, too, curling up into a ball until she stopped rolling a few feet away. She shook her tail to get all the dirt out of it, sending a spray of brown specks flying in all directions. Dirt didn't bother her one bit, but it was so fun to shake it everywhere. "Well? I'm off now. And I'm definitely, positively, absolutely not a bandit! For one, bandits don't wear skirts." She was avoiding the fact that he had to forcibly remove her from his back.

And then the reveal: he was tired and hungry. Well! Why didn't he just say so? Kela opened her bag, tossing the man's coin purse to the side, and pulled out a bit of jerky. Scurrying up to him, the fox girl put the jerky right up against his mouth. "Eeeeeat. Kela demands it!"

Kela grinned as soon as the man bit into the jerky, taking it out of her hand. "Yaya!" she squealed. With speed only a hyperactive child could muster, the fox girl sprang up and began bouncing around. "It lives. It lives!" She just kept giggling even when he began to cough; Kela was used to the dryness, so she thought it was hilarious. Heh heh heh... he's so silly. Silly human.

As he drank, Kela stopped bouncing; it was just a bit too tiring for her since she hadn't had a decent meal herself. Instead, she flopped onto her side and right into a hand-stand. It had been one of her favorite things to do back in her hometown, but it was a skill that really held no practical purpose other than to look silly. And there had been that one incident that had prompted her to start wearing shorts under her skirt, which was a good thing at that moment because her skirt inevitably fell down. "Yup! Kela. Kela McDermitt. And you're Knight Guy. Heh heh heh... 'Night' Guy.'"

Looking "down" at the sky, the fox girl pretended to catch passing crows with her feet. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep hold of them. Tricky birds. I'll get you one day. Mark my words. Kela rolled back down to the ground and into a sitting position. The coin purse had been forgotten in the drama of bringing a human back from the dead. "'Get to Atlas City?'" Kela's ears flicked up and down as she looked back and forth between the man and the city walls. "You mean the city right there? The city that's a quick walk from here? Yeah! I bet you are!"

Kela continued flopping about on the road as the man walked around. "Strange?" Her ears flicked in his direction. "What's strange?" No one had ever called her strange; it was just normal for a kid to act like that. And Kela was almost always hyper enough to act like she was high on sugar, so the thought that she might be unusual had never crossed her mind. But he gave her his name.

"Conan? Swiftly? Nice ta meetcha, Breezy." It was such an odd surname that the fox girl just had to make fun of it. Although, how "Swiftly" translated in "Breezy" was something only Kela could really know. But seriously, who was called "Swiftly" if they collapsed a short jog from the city? Silly name for a silly human... maybe it does make sense, she thought as he gathered his coin purse. The fox girl no longer cared about the coins; she had enough in her stash already. I should probably pick some of those up next time I hit the stash. Merchants seem to like when I throw them at them. She didn't seem to quite grasp that merchants only liked it because she was technically paying them for whatever she had just stolen. Like she would care if she knew.

As soon as Conan got up, Kela jumped to her feet, too. It had been a long time since anyone had actually talked to her with words that didn't include "I'll get you for this," and she was going to enjoy it. "I need to move, too. Staying in the road's a good way to get you tail run flat by a passing cart. It happened to my uncle once. Poor Uncle Stubby..." Well, that was enough reminiscing. Quickly - one might even say 'swiftly' - Kela ran to join Conan. "So! Where ya going? Whatcha doing? Can I come? Please. Please!" She tugged on his cloak and slightly leaned against the back of his legs, her tail swishing excited around. Hopefully, she wouldn't push him over like that.