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"No ducks, but I've seen some wild turkeys about. Either that or someone lost them, at least, but they don't look like domestic birds." Nyhali was riding ahead of "Lucas", at least Laura seemed to be playing the part now that they were out in public, so Nyhali was willing to play along.

They had to pass along the outskirts of an open-market area, and there were several hungry children lining one wall. They looked hungry anyway. Xuan being the large city it was, it had its share of poverty, and not all of the unfortunate impoverished souls stayed in the "rundown" part of the city. Like these children, getting as close to the "rich" part of town as they dared, hoping that maybe someone would part with a few coppers.

She slowed her horse and looked back. "Shall we treat the kids, Lucas?" Several young faces looked up, startled and hopeful.

Kedri fluffed up again, feeling both flattered and slightly annoyed. "I'm glad I could be safe and be here for you Leolin... but... did you ever stop last night to think about how I'd feel if I lost you? Or your human for that matter?" She settled and preened at his wing. "Ah... no use worrying over it now, it's over and we're all alive. Past is past and hopefully it won't repeat itself..."

Nyhali imitated Laura's actions. The children noticably relaxed when both of the woman had dismounted, but were still wary. "Don't worry, little ones... No one wants to hurt you. Would you all like something to eat, maybe?"

The older kids stood back, wary, but one of the littler ones; probably the youngest, actually; ran up and threw her grubby little arms around the kneeling Nyhali's neck. "Canny appa?"

Nyhali could only grin. "Sure... we can get you a candy apple." The little girl squeeled in delight and hugged her even harder. Nyhali disengaged the little one's arms and stood, offering a hand which was immediately cluched by a grubbly little child hand and walked her over to the newly opened stalls. She got the promised candy apple, and also some meat on a stick. It was exactly a balanced meal, but it was probably the best she'd eaten in a while.

She returned with the little one and dropped the child's hand to give her the candy apple since she'd almost devoured the meat already. The other children, upon seeing that she would indeed get them something and that she didn't seem to be trying to keep the child against her will slowly came around.

Most of them ended up getting just about the same thing, and Nyhali waited around until they'd all eaten before giving them each a couple of coppers to put away or spend as they saw fit. They might end up losing the coppers, but at least she'd seen to it that they actually got to eat their food without someone else trying to take it.

Kedri kept preening his wing. "Nyhali took her out. They were on horses. Nyhali had her bow, they probably went to hunt something for us." She still kept preening, cooing soothingly as she did so. "Don't worry. You saw before, Nyhali's a fighter, she'll be safe. She's never lost a fight. May not exactly have won them all, but she's never really lost." She nibbled at the tip of his ear. "And the horses are very fast."

A moment passed and then suddenly Kedri blurted out, nares turning slightly red, "Do you want to stay here with me? Until you're better, I mean..."

Nyhali raised an eyebrow. "Luke" was it? Judging by the resemblance these two were related, and judging by the age... Laura's sister. "He's with my Kedri, back at my home. We were going to go catch them something for lunch and thought perhaps the kids might like something to eat too. I think Lucas was just a bit startled to see you."

Nyhali gave a small bow and extended her hand, hoping perhaps that her short explanation had given Laura a moment to recover. "I am Nyhali Mrndraebon of House Heideshi. Lucas and I are recent acquaintances." Explanations could wait for a less public venue.

Kedri chirped and blushed again. "Laura and Nyhali both could probably use more human friends. And I'm sure Nyhali will make sure Laura can come visit you whenever... and after you're better we can visit any time! And maybe I can see what your training is all about." She knew he wouldn't like being separated from Laura but... well... he was her new friend, and he was still hurt. She just wasn't quite ready to let him go...

"Ah, well... I suppose we can spare a few minutes, but we really can't wait too long. If we're gone too long the griffons will get anxious, and anxious griffons aren't pleasant, generally speaking. Not that Kedri gets violent, but... well, the staff doesn't really like being knocked down and having to pick things up after she's gone looking for me. And she might preen herself and Leolin to baldness, and I don't think he'd like that much either." Hopefully Emily would be accomodating when she decided they needed to go. If not, she'd put her foot down, but hopefully she wouldn't be forced to offend Laura's sister. And this way she got to satisfy a bit of her curiosity about Laura's family, Emily got to know a bit about what Laura was up to so maybe she'd leave Laura be for a while, and Laura wouldn't have to put up with her sister for too long.

"Here puppy-puppy, leave the kids alone." She cooed at the dalmation and held her hand out, palm down, to try and coax it away from the children. It didn't seem inclined to hurt them, but they were obviously frightened to varying degrees. They probably got chased by dogs more often than not.

"There's a nice inn around the corner, I go eat breakfast there sometimes. It's a bit after, but still, I don't think the innkeep will mind. And it's better than standing around in the street."

Kedri fluffed and preened reflexifely at her scarlet feathers after the compliment. "I like your colors, too..." She fumbled for a moment and then put a wing over him again. "Hmm... red doesn't look too bad on you, either!" She chuckled and stretched, enjoying the mid-morning sun.

Nyhali watched the woman leave, got kissed by the dog, blinked, frowned slightly in confusion, got back on the mare, blinked again, then shook her head and chuckled, smiling. "Well... that's a bit of a load off, there, " she said quietly to Laura. "I didn't honestly think she'd let us get away that easily. It was probably what I said about Kedri."

She waved goodbye to the children and started off again, triple checking to make sure her coin-purse and other small valuables were intact. She wanted to trust the children, really she did, but on the streets of a bid city she just couldn't allow herself the luxury. Everything seemed intact though. They were usually less inclined to steal from those that gave willingly. That wasn't necessarily true with the adults, alas, but what could you do? "Shall we be off then, Lucas?"

Not her feathers? ...Oh. Ooooh my. Kedri blushed when she realized what he'd been talking about, and blushed further when he rested his head on her foreclaw. He looked comfortable though, and she... really didn't want him to move. So she preened the feathers on the back of his neck and then lay her own head down next to his. Not too close... but closer than she would have with anyone else but Nyhali. "You can come anytime, Leolin... even after you're better..." She folded her wings up and blew a contented sigh out through her nostrils. "I'd like that."

Nyhali smiled ruefully. "Ah... I'm used to dealing with gossips, Luke. Unfortunately they seem to abound in the social circles I'm expected to deal in here." She didn't realize she'd used the shorter name, so she added, "Can I call you Luke?"

They reached the edge of the city and she informed the guards of their business outside and that they were going to be back sometime later. This was one of the more heavily trafficked gates, so they actually made note of it and told them to be back before dark. Nyhali led the way to the spot where she usually went when she wanted to hunt something on her own. After a little while she spoke. "Do you usually train Leolin at Remiel's home or somewhere else?" If she wanted to try and get Kedri into some form of training it might do well to see the place it would happen if they had time enough.

Kedri, head still on the ground next to Leolin's, half-closed her eyes drowzily. "I like your colors, Leolin... they're subtle, they suit you." She seemed about ready to go back to sleep between her current relaxation, the large meal, and the lingering fatigue of the night before.

Nyhali chuckled. "Your method is probably more effective. You can literally train him under any conditions... and not really have to worry about your equipment. Though... if you wanted, we could get a leather harness fitted for him that you could tie the bags to. Rope tends to rub feathers ragged and snag on them, though I'm sure you're as careful as you can be to make sure it doesn't actually rub any skin raw or anything. Actually you take better care of Leolin than my brothers do of their griffons, from what I can tell." She paused to check their direction before continuing both with forward motion and with speaking. "Not that you have to, or anything, but the offer is on the table if you ever want to accept. So anyway... what sort of exercises do you have him do?"

Kedri fluffed slightly at the mention of Aeron in a manner of mild discomfort. "He was nice enough, but... I guess he's a bit too wild for me. You probably don't hear things like this often, but I like your build better, and well... your little white stripes are adorable." She was looking off into space, finding it difficult to actually look at Leolin while saying these things without stuttering. "And... you're honest. He may have had pretty words, but they were just flattery. I know his type, and he would have said them to any female who showed interest in him..."

~~~~~

Sometime that afternoon after hunting down some rabbits and a couple of lucky (or perhaps unlucky?) quail, Nyhali led the way back inside the gate to the Heideshi grounds. The griffons had apparently been sunning and gotten sleepy, for they were curled up in one large ball of feathers and fluff. "Now that... is just adorable," she murmured softly to Laura, tone more than a little bemused.