There were hundreds of ways to wake up from a nap that were a great deal more jarring than a face full of concerned foxfire. Just because it wasn't the strangest thing Mmur could have opened his eyes to didn't mean it was welcome, however. He sat up like he had been fitted with springs, accidentally flinging the creature perched on his chest halfway across the tent.
"Oh... Jack, I'm sorry." The Halloween expletive seemed to get stuck in his teeth even as it slid from his throat without his permission. It was true he had been here for almost two years now, but he hadn't ever thought he would pick up the slang.
"Ew," he said, his features quickly softening in response to the foxfire's hurt expression. "No, I didn't mean you." He held out his hand, inviting the animal to come closer. When it did, he retrieved the envelope it held in its teeth, removing the letter inside and scanning its contents.
"Tombsday evening?" Mmur said to the foxfire. "That's tonight." He hesitated for a moment, and then he was off, hopping to his feet, grabbing the letter and coin, and stepping out of the tent into an opaque layer of fog. He took another step, narrowing his glowing eyes.
"Hello? What's going on with the air?" he asked no one in particular. This was very, very odd. Everything was still, even Mmur, at least until another voice wove through the mist.
"I don't know," it replied. "But it is very strange, is it not?" The voice was airy and melodic, perfect for singing, or at least he thought so. It came from off to his left, so he ventured that way, eventually crashing into another horseman, thought it was less of a crash and more of a soft smoosh. This close, he could see her quite well. Another famine, piled with soft, sandy fabrics that all somehow ended at her thighs, giving her the appearance of an upside-down flower. "I was going to prod some humans today, but this is far more interesting." She held out her hand. "Lura."
"Mmur." He held out his note. "I have something interesting too."
- - -
Upon reading what Kalmara had written, Lura quickly turned his something interesting into her own Mmur was dragged off to town quicker than he could say "Diagonal Alley," and when they finally stopped moving they were standing outside of Fairydust Costumers, his note in her hand and confusion on his face. The mist hadn't let up, and although he could see the costumes clearly enough in their windows and their name in the glass, Mmur still had no idea where they were.
"We should get the seeds out of the coin before we go inside. If they watch us doing it, they're just going to rob us."
Mmur nodded his agreement, following Lura further as she led him around the side of the shop into an empty alley.
He should have known something was fishy when he saw how deserted this place was, how quiet. Instead, Mmur handed the scavenger his coin, the coin that he'd rightfully liberated from Kalmara's letter, the coin that he was going to use to find out what had happened to her, maybe make it right. He handed it to her and he watched as she pressed her thumb to its center and was rewarded with a canvas bag about the size of his head that bulged with seeds.
"It worked!" he said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Now we can go help—"
Mmur saw his mistake before it struck him heavily in the face. Lura had no interest in helping Rodrigo and his lady love at all. She was only in it for the money. As she whacked him hard in the forehead and then to the back of his skull, Mmur fell, feeling even more betrayed by his current class than he had since he had taken the test. When he woke up again, he was definitely getting a new job.
