An ignorant passersby might assume the shredded cavalcades of colourful posters, flyers, banners, buntings and party favours were the result of some rampage that hit the district like a hurricane, but no. It was just festival-goers and whatever else they brought with them. The aftermath of the Summer Festival went so far beyond horrifying it looped right back into a perverse awe for the sheer depths of revelry that much have taken place here to have caused such a irreplicable mess.

But Ambika wasn't here to cherish any of that. She was here to help clean up this nightmare of a scene, because she needed every bit of Solar she could get, and there is nothing quite like chores to train yourself to be able to pull off various little tricks. Even if they were horribly tedious and boring.

Every journey starts with a step, as they say. Any cleaner worth their salt knows you do not try to do everything at once, so Ambika's set her first priority on getting the banners and buntings down and disposing them. Those were the most likely to cause unexpected issues due to the height, size and tendency to fly in all sorts of directions when the wind blows if one side isn't secured.

Knocking at doors and asking permission to go to their rooftops was no more interesting, but thankfully the city council had preset dates for cleaning up the area so the citizens and establishment staff were expected to cooperate. The shops in the district were all closed for the cleaning, so there were comparatively fewer people passing by; rather, most people out on the streets were either cleaning up their own streets, or hired help like Ambika was.

A blissfully contented day, the breeze yet too gentle to exacerbate the ubiquitous mess. The courtyard was lined with various stalls, now emptied and unattended. Bale targets with blunted arrows still stuck in them, yet to be collected. A pool of wood shavings still remain behind what was a speed carver's setup. The stones of the walkway stunk of oils, booze, and the results of drinking too much of either. It would seem like the attendees lived like the world was ending the same day these some-few cleaners had arrived with pursed smiles.

From a path that curves out of sight emerges the lightly startling figure of Baird. If it were not for another Grem passerby of equal size and a woman more tiger than not, he'd feel uneasy at the disparity of his presence compared to the rest. He steadily eyed the scene. Taking in the sweep of the unswept litter, the spoiled food that had been tossed to the corners, and the stressed awnings among the overhangs. Certainly no small bit of toil is in order, and this was no stranger to Baird by any means. In each hand he held a bucket: one to hold the scraps, the other filled with a soapy water. Unfortunate that it would start off so poorly.

Yes, for a real comedy of errors would occur. Between all the stalls were several strings making serpentine crescents back and forth, vibrant triangles of fabric gently bobbing along their length with every step Baird took. Though the air was still, birds had returned in droves to 'help' the cleanup effort. At Baird's movement along the stalls, a gaggle of birds leapt off a string. The added nudging was just enough for a mug to tumble down from a precariously perched position. As a sort of instinct, Baird drops the heavier bucket to dart a hand for the glass. A dull series of cracks are heard all across the quiet public space. Followed by a powerful thud. Baird had slipped on the spilled water when reeling from the cuts now smattering his hand and caught his fall with his forehead first, then his other hand on the nearest booth counter.

A moment passes, one filled with silent worry. Many of those present looked toward the source of the noise, some ready to investigate. Then: a cacophony, heinous in the swell of hissing squeals, bellows back and forth from the echoing alleys surrounding the open space. A scene is breaking out. Some late-comers may likely grip their weapons seeing a bloodied beast at the edge of their city's plaza. What may oddly ease this sudden rise in tension is a recognizable pattern in the sounds that appears. It's... laughter?

At the sudden onslaught of noise, Mimi dropped the too long broom she was carrying. Startled, she glanced around trying to find the source of the cacophony of shattering and thumping sounds. There were a handful of other cleaners who, like her, were looking around in confusion.

But there at the other end of the road; Was that a large animal writhing in the clutter left behind from the festival? How had it had gotten here? Concerned, Mimi abandoned her cleaning supplies and rushed towards the possibly frightened and panicked animal, hoping she could intervene before it - or anyone else - would get hurt further.

As she was running down the road, the creature let out a series of grunting and squealing noises. Oh no, it must be hurt really badly, she thought as she picked up the speed.

Once she got there, she dropped to her knees next to the large beast, ready to try and soothe the panicked animal. And... did a double take as her eyes rowed over the creature in front of her. Two legs, two arms, hands tipped with claws - but still clearly hands, an animal-like face, yes, but eyes that were far too intelligent for an unthinking beast. No, this was no animal. It was... a person? She took in the coarse fur and green scales on his body. Strange, but not impossible. After all hadn't she already met someone similar once before? She really had to stop being shocked every time she discovered something new.

Her gaze returned once more to the beady eyes of the man, that, she now realised, was laughing and not squeling in pain. Suddenly becoming very self-conscious, she started fidgeting with the hem of her threadbare tunic and fixed her eyes firmly on the gey cobblestone beneath her, no longer daring to meet the strangers eyes.

Her voice was shaky and she had to clear her throat several times before she managed to mumble: “Uhm... a-are you hurt? I might be able to help...”

Ambika was on the outer side of a second-floor window when discordant cacophony in the form of an accident happened, where she had a bird's eye view of the entire event. She was just going to ignore it since it didn't seem like something worth getting involved in, people falling to the ground by their own mishaps wasn't anything new... Then she heard the laughter. And saw a familiar figure rush to the fallen figure. Sigh. She could have just kept to what she was doing - these commotions rarely last long - but she couldn't quite trust the Gremling to not make the situation worse somehow.

Removing a sun-damaged banner from the moulding, Ambika then proceeded to jump down from it, landing gracefully onto the floor and tumbling to disperse her momentum. Most people were too occupied in either their laughter or wondering what the commotion was about, so few, if any, noticed a grandma casually jumping down a building like it's a perfectly normal thing.

Walking up to the crowd, Ambika clapped her hands together high in the air, generating a sound loud enough to snap her surroundings out of their shared reverie and draw their attention to her instead. Following that, she crossed her arms and wore a look that basically said "don't you have better things to do?" as she looked around the crowd, unflinching. Most people, for their part, wanted nothing to do with a grandma, much less a clearly unimpressed grandma who, for all they know, might actually be an annoyance if they didn't scram this instant, so the crowd quickly dispersed away. Sure, that probably earned her some disgruntlement among these people, but she's far too along in life to care about that.

Finally, Ambika leaned against one of the walls with her arms crossed, keeping an eye out for anyone who might decide this is a good time to perform daylight robbery.

    The halt to the noising crowd quickly snapped Baird out of his own laughing fit. His hysterics soon fading. He takes a long drag of clear air, before casting his eyes down out of mixed humor and embarrassment. The blur of color kneeling beside him was too much to take in for the moment. Though, it was hard for him to miss the blood that had now dotted and smeared the ground around him. Through it all, he had managed to keep his hand closed around the broken glass. Hearing the voice of a stranger struggle to offer help only deepened the shame, at first believing himself to be frightening another brave heart with this conniption. He could feel the fur of his face growing sticky from the trickle of vitae. Steadily Baird reached for the scrap bucket, placing it before him, then opened his bleeding paw just over it to the sound of clattering shards. He watched carefully to ensure no pieces made it to the ground.

    A pause, then his deep raspy voice eked out a breathy, "Yeah, I-- um... please." His undamaged left hand reached for a barely noticeable bundle tied behind his right side. In it was a medical kit, seemingly brand new, poking out. Of course, he couldn't manage the feat. In his inelegance, he resigned to being a real oaf today with a sigh. "I have my own supplies in there, if they may be of use." 

    Baird meekly raised his head to greet the source of the generous offer. Now that he accepted the sight, it struck him to find what seemed to be a gremling just about his age. This kindly stranger must be but a third his size tops, yet she didn't hesitate to reach him. Baird's eyes sprang to the stern elder not much further away. The memory of her stunning actions shot through his mind, having caught sight of them through the mental haze. Who knows in what way things may have grown uglier had she not deescalated.

    "My sincerest appreciation, both of you. Now I know it was a good choice to venture here from home. Patience, and I will prove useful, promise!" An eagerness emanated off from Baird, who bowed gently to each of his rescuers.

A familiar voice shouting nearby drew Mimi’s attention. Surely, it couldn’t be... Could it? She looked up and there she was, towering over the crowd of onlookers with a stern look and managing to disperse everyone with just a few words.

“Ambika?!”, Mimi couldn’t keep the surprise out of her voice. What was the chance to run into her again here, all the way across the sea? Presumably, the advertisements for the Sol City summer festival they had both been distributing a few months ago must have worked on her just as well as it had on Mimi in drawing her here. The old bard looked as good as Mimi remembered with her back straight and her shoulders set in a way that made her seem unmovable and ready to pounce all at once. The one visible eye fierce and trained on their immediate surroundings. Mimi shuddered at the memory of how callously the bard had shot down their pursuers back in Zeinav City. She really did not ever want to be on the bad side of this one and was very glad to see her ire directed towards the other cleaners, rather than Mimi herself.

“It’s uh... nice to see you again. How are you? Thank you for the help here.”

She re-focused her attention on the stranger in front of her. He was holding his injured hand awkwardly as he tried to reach for his satchel. When he gave up and explained that he was in possession of his own medical supplies, Mimi smiled and gently took hold of his injured paw.

“That might not be necessary”, she explained soothingly, as she pulled out a mostly clean cloth from her bag and carefully started cleaning the wound. She picked out a couple pottery shards that were still stuck in the man’s flesh and gave his paw a thorough once over. As expected the cuts were mostly shallow and, while they bled heavily, weren’t very serious.

She began rummaging in her pack, producing a series of clinking noises as various objects inside got overturned by her search for something specific within the chaos.

“Aha, Here it is!”, Mimi produced a small bottle filled with an amber liquid from the depths of her bag. “This healing potion^[1] should fix you right up without you needing any stitches. It just... uhm... might not taste too good. I’m still trying to figure out how to make it be less vile...” She offered up the bottle for the stranger to take.

“You didn’t get hurt when you fell, right? If there’s any more serious injuries than these cuts you might need a stronger potion... Oh also, I’m Mimi, by the way.”

---

[1] Minor Healing Potion

"Well as I can be." Which isn't saying much for Ambika, since she isn't getting any younger, and her grief was probably never leaving her. "You're welcome," she then directed her attention from Mimi to the Lizard-Grem and gave an acknowledging nod.

Keeping guard for a few moments more as Mimi worked on patching up the odd fellow, Ambika began to consider what she should be doing next. The day was going to feel like an eternity with all the cleaning that needed to be done, after all, and keeping an organized mind would undoubtedly help with the tedium.

Well, there is this crime scene, I suppose. The vicinity was a veritable chaos of its own, not helped by the fact that it was a shopping district, making it all the more likely that it suffered the festival-goers' carelessness as a result.

Noticing that Mimi was just about done with the Lizard-Grem, Ambika paced briskly to the left of the two, pausing momentarily as she got close enough to say her piece. "I'll handle the decorations up there. You two decide what you want to do." She then pivoted and swiftly made her way to yet another building entrance once her words registered in the two's ears to get back into business. No point in wasting any more time when there's still so much ahead of them.

    The snout of the man-beast wrinkled as he gently snorted, "A blessing that my tongue enjoys just about anything." However, he did not simply reach for the bottle, instead palming something out of his left pouch. Without a word he took the nose of the potion between his fingers and rotated his wrist to push a small dish into Mimi's hand; the lid of the dish then being slid right back into the pouch. He sunk a fang into the cork of the bottle, pulled it out, and swirled the whole thing into his maw. A quiet moment passed, then his face held a contorted expression the next, "I've had worse, and a lot better." Sure enough, though, he looked back down to his right hand to see the fading remnants of the sharp sensations. Rubbing his face he could barely recognize where the pit was from the impact.

    From within the vessel in her hands, Mimi would see several nodules of a deep yellow with strips of pink on one side of each. The glistening items smelled of a pungent sweetness. "Pickled canary. It is what I call this food I make out of a sort of squash from my home." He pinches a piece out, licks it into his mouth, then quietly savors it.

    Ambika approached and gave the firm words. Baird remembers he came to fix a problem, not be one. The elder acted as a splint to straighten his broken composure. He steadily rights himself to a kneel. Calling out after the diligent woman, he bellows, "I'm Baird and I am in your debt!" Turning his determined gaze back to his tender caretaker, "The same goes to you, thank you. Baird, it is my honor to meet you."

    While cleaning up the mess he made, he elucidates his thoughts, "I think we are complimentary here. I can easily take down everything up top, but I may struggle with cleaning in or between the stalls. Let me know if you see anything heavy that needs moving while I scrub the stains off the outside. Deal?" From here, Baird offers his hand to Mimi. In whatever way the effort is decided, he is keen to leave the place as spotless as any kitchen he was responsible for.

Marvelling at the clever sleight of hand, Mimi gazed down at the plate that had been exchanged for the healing potion. It looked strange but delicious and she was never one to spurn free food. So she happily popped one of the morsels into her mouth and marvelled at the exotic flavour. It was both sweet and sour and oh so delicious.

“Mhhhh that’s so yummy! Now I feel doubly bad about how awful that potion was. Did you make this? Maybe you’ll have to teach me a thing or two about flavouring.” She couldn’t quite say why, but for some reason she felt strangely at ease in Baird’s presence. He might look a bit scary but she felt as if, at his core, he might be very similar to herself. Plus, Ambika seemed a lot less scary in his presence, even if her scowl could still turn ice into a puddle.

Mimi picked the plate clean with gusto and stuck the last piece into her messy hair, where she could feel a lazy Zeke grab it out of her hand eagerly and then handed the dish back to Baird.

She watched Ambika in disbelief as the elderly bard didn’t even give them time to reply before stalking off again. She seemed even less approachable than the last time they had encountered each other. Maybe she just really disliked cleaning duty? But then why did she sign up for this? . Maybe she really needed the money? Mimi resolved to try and talk with her later. Ambika had helped her back in Zeinav, even if Mimi hadn’t approved of her methods, and she was determined to return the favour if possible.


When Baird laid out his plan for dividing up the work, Mimi nodded up at him with a smile. “Sounds like a good plan! I just uh... left my broom all the way back there,” she pointed her thumb towards where she had dropped her stuff when she had seen Baird’s fall. “I’ll just go grab that real quick and then we can get to work.”

She scurried off to retrieve her broom and bucket and returned a few minutes later. The broom handle was much too long for her, clearly meant for someone of more average height. But still, she got to work by Baird’s side without complaint, sweeping rubbish into piles and cleaning any nooks and crannies and other tight spaces that would be too small for the large Lizard-Grem to fit into, often resorting to using her hands instead of trying to fit the large broom into those spots.

As they worked she began to hum happily.

Working from high areas meant that Ambika could keep a sharp eye out for prospective trouble should any more unwanted incidents happen. Taking stock of Baird and Mimi's rough positions as the three slowly inched their way to the other side of the street, it was good to see that they weren't causing any more trouble and that progress was being made. Even if Ambika felt sorely tempted to break Mimi's broom handle to make it easier for the latter to use, which she ultimately decided otherwise since that would warrant the usage of a sword and whetstone to avoid stray splinters and sharp, cutting edges.

Eventually, the clock struck five, signalling that the end of their cleaning duties was soon upon them. One more hour to go. Unfortunately, tragedy rarely struck only once as another disaster was fast approaching in the form of an out-of control horse trampling along the pavement, running along winding curves and striking down anything in it's way. Which, given its current trajectory, would likely result in Mimi joining its increasing list of victims. 

Ambika wasn't about to have any of that, of course. She might not be getting paid enough to be engaged in the continued welfare of her fellow cleaners, but she absolutely wasn't about to allow the equine generator of new trash to render all the work they've done moot and cause unnecessary headaches. Swiftly, she undid the banner hanging next to an establishment signboard, in the process removing the stones that helped weigh down the banner in place and she performed quick and precise throws aimed near the feet of both Baird and Mimi to draw their attention. Following that, she rushed down the building she was on to prevent the horse from catching on to her presence, and wound one end of the rope looped along the aforementioned banner onto a customized crossbow bolt, and fired it just before the horse would pass by. This successfully slowed the horse's momentum as the banner rope lashed against its torso, but needless to say, Ambika did not have the strength to keep it in place for long, and she could not tie the other end elsewhere for fear of property damage. It was a war of endurance.

    The sun was nestled like a seagull on the rooftops, peering a half-shielded glow across the open area. Baird acquired his rare state of zen. A wet rag in one hand and a countertop in need of a scrub in the other. His scales caught the light and shimmered as he worked. Mimi's humming and stature helped a lot, reminding him of the many gremlings he worked with at home. [Truly no cadre of clutter or party paraphernalia could withstand the might of the Cleaner Corsairs!] The thought had Baird chuckling to himself for a moment. For those few hours, all was well. Whenever they moved between tasks, Baird would chime in a snippet.

    "Have you been to the Marsh Flats? I admit that I am more used to seeing our people with fleshy tails and large teeth."
    "Cooking is a powerful thing. No matter how different a people can be, old or young, we are animals that must eat."
    "That pickled canary was taught to me by my neighbors when I was tiny, like you. Honestly, I think I'd like not being big. Oh well."
    "The gourd I used, swampkins, is a staple. Wherever it grows, it helps us stay safe from treacherous air."
    "Where are you from, if I may ask? I'd love to learn how they work and eat together."

    Suddenly a clatter is heard just at his side. Rocks, from behind. Turning towards the source, Baird witnesses more feats of great skill. A horse clops as if from nowhere around a street corner, barreling towards the courtyard. They'd have already rampaged through the stalls if not for the expertise of Ambika's rope-trick, tugging the beast away and slowing it down. Unfortunately it came at a price, the horse seemed to only grow more panicked at the sensation. [Time to prove thyself!]

    Baird has certainly seen horses, but rarely from up-close, being that the Marsh wasn't friendly to them. Not knowing how to handle such an animal, he would only know to restrain it as best he could.
    
    Taking Ambika's lead, Baird lunged at the rope flailing across the back of the equine. It reared and turned back to get away. Baird was initially glad to get a good grip, until the terrified animal charged the other direction, ripping the rope through his hand. He grunts loud at the searing pain from the burn. A swift kick meets his chest. Nevertheless, he holds strong, but Baird can hardly move from the strain. The bolt acts as a good anchor to keep the rope from totally pulling out from his balled fists. Creaking can be heard from the piton from which the rope is tied to on the building. The mad animal thrashes about, Baird calling for aid, "Agh! I need help, I don't want to hurt the poor bastard!"

It took several seconds for Mimi’s mind to catch up to the chaos unfolding in front of her. The already panicked horse was spurred into a frenzy by being caught in the long piece of cloth. This wasn’t good. At this rate someone would get seriously hurt. Making a snap decision, Mimi scrambled up onto the awning of the nearest stall and leapt for the back of the horse while yelling “Let go!” to Ambika and Baird. Just as her butt hit the horse’s back, the anchor holding one end of the rope in place released to the sound of splintering wood.

The horse shook off the remains of the banner holding it back and lurched forwards. Mimi clamped her legs around the animal’s back and fisted her hands into its mane trying to hold on with all her might. She began whispering soothingly into its ear, trying to supress the panic in her own voice. Or, she tried to whisper. In truth she had to raise her voice to almost a yell for it to be heard over the wind rushing into her face.

The horse didn’t have any reigns and while Mimi tried to pull its head back with its mane this did little to slow the animal down. They barrelled through the street at breakneck speed, clashing through wooden stalls and crates and undoing a lot of today’s cleaning effort. Luckily the road was mostly empty and the few pedestrians out and about managed to jump out of the way of the rampaging animal.

They burst into an open plaza and Mimi decided to use the space to her advantage. She yanked on one side of the horse’s mane, forcing it to veer left suddenly. Keeping its head pulled to the side, Mimi hoped to force it into an ever tighter spiral until it would come to a stop. What she had missed was the small fountain in the centre of the plaza that they were now heading for.

The animal came to an abrupt stop at the fountain’s edge, almost throwing Mimi off, who only barely managed to hold on. But just as she was about to relax the horse shied, rearing up unto it’s hindlegs and shaking Mimi off its back.

She hit the cobblestones hard, all the air whooshing out of her and her sight going blurry.

“Ouch” she groaned softly.

Ambika let go of the rope just in time to avoid careening into the building wall she was performing her impromptu tug-of-war on, though it did not stop her from falling to the floor from the sudden shift in momentum. Her old bag of bones was definitely going to feel this for the next few days, but now was not the time to be soothing her aches. She raised herself back up as quickly as she could, tidied up the place and storing her crossbow back in her instrument case, and set off to check on her fellow cleaners, being careful to avoid showing any signs of injury. She first laid her eyes on Baird to inspect his condition, before quickly deciding that Mimi was probably of higher immediate concern. She did stop by one of the buildings with an occupant to inform them to call for medical assistance before following the unpleasant aftermath of the horse's rampage to find that darned Gremling.

The troublemaker horse was now preoccupied with drinking water from the fountain, leaving Ambika free to check on Mimi -now lying face up on the floor - without worry. Approaching Mimi, Ambika noted that she has suffered a concussion and was currently bleeding on the back of her head. Seeing a glimpse of a potion poking out from Mimi's bag, and being that she was no medical expert, Ambika proceeded to liberally open up the former's bag and grabbed the Major Healing Potion without bothering to ask for permission. She then uncorked the potion, slowly and carefully raised Mimi on her neck, deftly sliding Mimi's bag under her back to serve as additional support, and force-fed Mimi the potion, careful to make sure the latter manages to breathe throughout.

The potion now emptied, Ambika gently lowered Mimi while moving the latter's bag to where her head would be to act as a pillow of sorts. In the distance she could hear the sounds of frantic apologies and urgent footsteps closing in on them.

"Jacinth! So this is where you were!" A muscular Sylvan Elf gasped in relief that the horse had finally stopped and they could catch up to their treasured companion.

Noticing a crouched Ambika treating a faintly-conscious Mimi, the Sylvan Elf wore a fatigued, apologetic expression and prostrated towards the two. "I am so terribly sorry for all the trouble my precious Jacinth has caused you! I will provide due compensation, I promise!"

"Very well. I accept your apology." Ambika sighed. At least they had someone to pin for their lack of progress today.

It was then that the clock struck six. The cleaning hours were officially over, and the city officials were out in droves to inspect the streets. Ambika stood up, staggering for a short instant as the pain on her back redoubled before balancing herself, and headed off to explain the turn of events, beckoning the Sylvan Elf to join her.

    What was supposed to be the simplest of days, the most tedious of work, and the most blithe of interactions turned into a cavalcade of struggles. In them, however, were a couple moments that surely will stick with Baird forever. A good story was always worth the scars, in his eyes.

    The doubled-over beastman clambered to his hooves as if a fortress being built brick-by-brick. When he finally arose, his meaty hand holding onto his seething chest pain, he tried to piece together the conclusion he couldn't track. Looking around with eyes much less bleary, he saw the mortified culprit marching like he already had manacles. In his direction was the stoic Ambika already itemizing the "is" and "isn't" of their cleaning to-do list. Most important were the "was" on that list. Something bothered Baird as he stared that way for a moment. Ambika had scuffs across her side. Although she might not want them, the boar had worries for his aged savior.

    Suddenly Baird's ears darted upward. Mimi! He sees the horse by the fountain, but no sign of the merciful kin. He hobbled around the courtyard to see her lying with her head resting upon her bag. The empty bottle beside her might as well be filled with pure steel for the weight it relieved off Baird's shoulders. "I bet that one isn't any easier going down than what you gave me. Looks like everything is alright now. I hope we can meet again, I'd like to hear about your way of life. I'll cook up something delicious for your time." his cheeks plump with a brief smile. It softens as they bid farewells and part ways.

    Baird lastly moves to accept whatever terms are finalized between the employers and the negligent handler. Coin was being counted, an official just finishing the transaction with Ambika once Baird arrives. "Your an exceptional guardian. Don't forget my debt to you when we meet again." A pouch placed in Baird's open palm concludes his part as he trades goodbyes once more. Onward to learning more from this place so that he can continue his cultural duty.

Mimi blinked, her blurry vision slowly clearing. The rancid taste of one of her healing potions still lingered in her mouth and she spotted one of her flasks, now empty, by her side. It was a relief to learn that the stronger potions she’d been trying to concoct actually worked, but she would have preferred to test their effectiveness in a different way. Slowly, she raised her head and glanced around, trying to make sense of her current situation. Her head was still swirling and her thoughts sluggish. 

She spotted Ambika ambling away with a nervously fidgeting elven man in tow. Was that the horse that caused all this mess he was leading? Baird crouched on the ground by her other side talking animatedly, but Mimi couldn't make out any of his words through the ringing in her ears. She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile and he did end up leaving soon after. As he got up she did notice him wince. Was he hurt too? Concerned she began rummaging in her satchel for her last potion, wanting to offer it to him, but by the time she managed to locate and pull it out of her bag he was already far away, heading in the same direction Ambika had left.

Maybe she should drink it herself instead. There did seem to be some lingering after effects from her fall causing her thoughts to be fuzzy and slow. When remembering the foul taste of the liquid, however, Mimi grimaced and decided to just take a break here for a little longer and hope her head would clear up on its own.

She leaned her back against the edge of the fountain and tried to get comfortable. Her eyes drifted closed slowly and a few minutes later she had dozed off.

*~*~*~*

When she awoke later, twilight had settled over the plaza. A few people were milling around. Some of them eying her, most pointedly ignoring her. Her head felt a lot clearer now and with a start she realised she hadn't even checked on Zeke after their little tumble earlier. Before she could panic, she found him sitting on top of her bag, chomping down on a huge black beetle he'd caught.

Relieved she checked him over and found him to be perfectly fine, though a little disgruntled.

"Alright let's go an hope ever competent Ambika sorted out us still getting paid even with all the mess that horse caused" she murmured to her gecko as she double checked she had all her things and started heading back towards the city cleaner’s gathering point, hoping to collect a payment.