It wasn't what most would consider an ideal place to preform. A hub of lawlessness, rampant thievery, and populated by pirates? A court bard worth their salt wouldn't be caught dead gracing the streets with their pompous selves, and the populace probably wouldn't appreciate their taste in music, anyway. The folk here wanted something they could bellow along to while swigging ale - or so the slight, young woman thought. Perched upon an improvised platform, her hat placed before her on the path, Akori at least looked the part of a travelling minstrel. The young kitsune had travelled aimlessly for centuries, picking up a little of the local flavour of wherever she happened to be in at the time. Amongst those flavours, she found that music was one of her favourites, and thus was one that she tried to actually perfect into a skill. Nimble fingers played over the strings of her lute, teasing out a tune while she sung tales of daring sailors, noble thieves, and the dark mysteries of the sea. True, she could have picked a better place to set up shop, as it were, but this was where he legs had brought her, so this is where she could sing and play, until she felt like moving on.

Watching the people pass by as she sang, the kitsune admired some of the clothing of the folk. She'd never been much for swashbuckling - being stuck on a boat for weeks on end sounded like her idea of torture - but the gold some of the sailors was bedecked in caught her eye. Very flashy, if somewhat gaudy and tacky to the average person, Akori was rather the fan. She almost hit a sour note when a captain walked by, complete with the most amazing feathered hat you had ever seen. It put her measly feathered cap to shame, and she spared a sad glance for said cap, noting the scant few coppers within. The same coppers she had dropped in there to make it look like she was worth giving money to. It wasn't like she was bad at this - she'd practised for years, and was actually rather good. Maybe pirates were just tight-fisted…well, they did steal more than they worked. This was actually probably where her problem was. Oh well! Too late to up and leave now. She was almost determined to get money out of these people now. It was like a challenge she just had to beat.

Shrugging her shoulder, Akori jostled the small bird nestled there awake. So much for a dedicated backing singer! Giving the bird a narrowed look out of the corner of her eye, Akori made sure that Kikka resumed singing before focusing on her stingy audience once more. If she had to sing for their breakfast, so did Kikka. It was a team effort, after all.
Stifling a wince, Akori ignored the loud, rumbling growl of her stomach, and fixed a smile on her face as she launched into another song. Oh, if only she didn't need to eat, she could just adventure, explore, and sing all the time, but noooo, her body had to go and make these selfish demands…
Okay Akori, just keep singing about water, money, ships…seabirds? Just don't sing about food, she lectured herself, ignoring the rumbling of her stomach once more.

It was not exactly what one would call a tourist destination: a cove town hidden away from the public eye with many back-door dealings occurred. Still, if it meant getting across the sea swiftly at the price of getting her hands dirty, swabbing the deck, so be it. Though, seeing the captain smile at her ship being clean as a whistle after so many years of stomping around in muddy boots and cannon fire made it worth it to her. It gave the captains memories when the ship was brand new, and first to call her own and was certainly willing to share drink and tales of her early years at sea.

Still, that was then, and this was now. Her duty was done with that captain and it was up to them to have such upkeep. Now, it was time to wander the rogue-flooded roads that were tucked away in a port city coded with parley. After all, if one ship could rob another, they safe haven would be no more in mere moments. No, this was chance for ships to restock, bank up, and due business with one another, be it ships, sails, food, or other services from their off time.

Among them, which certainly stood out to the Draconian, was the performer down one of the roads. It was clear she was one that had no crew, as many pirates kept an eye for their own, and such "beggings" were most likely considered petty. Still, it did give some extra life to the street, with some others than her to take in a bit of ear to the performance before going her way. Especially with the slight break in the performance: a wince from her gut. More than likely it was hunger setting in. Now that would be no good.

But what could she get? She had no idea what the woman liked, but it had to be quick and nearly in case she left to perform elsewhere. Interrupting to be straight rube as well. No, she would have to make a rough guess here. At least her nose was on point on where some chefs were. All she had to do was distract herself long enough from the performance to get in the order. A quick peer through the menu, and there was an easy grab.

A mere moment later, Jesgil was back on the street, seeing the performer still where she was, making the Draconian smile before heading down with hands full of two plates of strong smelling food. One was set down next to the hat to signify payment while the other was kept with her as she took a seat nearly to keep listening. The meal itself was that of an orcish shrimp curry: Not exactly the most pleasant meal to look at, but it held a strong smell of spice to it with a couple blood sausage links resting on the other side of the dry rice. Taking spoon in hand, Jesgil collected herself a bite, blowing the steam off of it before quickly popping it into her mouth.

Another performer. Kyra listened quietly to the music as she rested on the top of a roof. Beggars, thieves, and criminals covered the city. She didn't mind that fact much. Most people here knew how to party and celebrate. Either that or they were just another murderer. She was hanging out in the city for a little bit. It was the best place to lay low for a while. After the incident with the paintings and Adeluna's church for the goddess, well it was better to not be there right now. Here she was just another unknown criminal. Her attitude and behavior would seem like nothing compared to the others who were here. Mercenaries might be here. But she was not the largest prize. There were thousands of other bigger fish than her who had done much worse. The only thing Kyra did was mock Angela with paintings. 

A memory of Vilpamolan appeared in her mind, despite the fact that this was her first time visiting the city. Must have been one of the memories from the curse. Kyra attempted to follow the memory but didn't find anything else. Of course. Her attention was redirected to the bard playing music. Somebody had given the bard some food. That was why the bard played. To eat. Kyra had to admit, it was sweet to have given the food away for free. It wasn't a sight that Kyra expected in this town. A little goblin like thief held a dagger in his hand and was hiding in the alley. The goblin thief started trying to creep over to Akori to try to steal her food. 

"Oh no you don't." Kyra said out loud quietly. 

She held up her left hand. Light blue magic swirled around her hand. A light blue portal opened up underneath the goblin thief and he fell through. She closed the portal. It was an easy way to get rid of somebody without causing any bloodshed. Just sending them to another location. Gravity was so useful in those situations. But Kyra would not be able to open a portal underneath every single person who came after Akori's or Jesgil's food. The roof of the building that she had been laying on was close enough to the ground. Kyra stood up on the roof and backflipped off of it. Landing on her feet, she walked over to Akori and Jesgil. 

"Hi." She said with a friendly wave. 

It was starting to look like she was out of luck here. Akori was usually able to read a mood well enough to pick music suitable, but maybe her people-sense had led her astray this time. Could it be time to hang up her feathered cap, and take up a more mundane means of life? She almost shuddered to think of such a thing. Her parents had been shrine guardians, a stuffy role full of pomp and tradition Akori had happily ceded to her older sister. Maybe she could try her hand at fishing? Not with line or net, oh no, but with magic. She knew a few lightning spells, and she was sure they would be useful in catching fish. Water conducted electricity, right? Imagine the size of the things she could catch, just with one zap! And how many! Enough to feed a village!

Hm, actually, that would be bad for business. If she fed everyone at once, there'd be no more demand for fish. Probably some upset fishermen, too. Okay, maybe not fishing then.

At the vague thought of eating, Akori's stomach did a flip, growled, and tried to crawl out of her mouth so it could go hunting for food itself. Obviously, the kitsune it was stuck within was too inept to keep it properly fed, so it had to take matters into its own, eh, hands? It could even smell food, so why was it not being delivered into its hungry void right now?! The song came to a sudden, discordant stop, Akori's fingers fouling the strings as she blinked, almost dumbly, at the plate that had appeared beside her hat. Food? Oh, so there was! She wasn't sure where it had come from, so intent on not singing about fairy cakes and peppermint twirls, she hadn't noticed much of what was going on past her growling tummy and the battle to keep it silent. At the strong, spicy smell, Akori's mouth started to water, and she absently rubbed at it with the back of a hand. When had she last eaten? Was it yesterday? Or the day before that? It was kind of hard to keep track…definitely before she'd been chased out of that inn over a poor choice of song. How was she supposed to know the innkeeper was a bit touchy when it came to chickens?

Hopping down from her improvised platform, Akori swept up her cap and placed it back upon her head, coins and all, before slinging the lute over her shoulder by the strap. Finally, she noticed the woman sitting, eating a plate of the same food set before the bard. It didn't take long for Akori to connect the dots, and she offered the woman a bow, adding an extra flourish. In the same movement, she plucked up the plate, fishing a spoon out of a pocket.
"You're too kind! I'll be sure to resume the show after a quick bite to eat," Akori said, before she plopped herself on her makeshift stage.
The food wasn't much to look at, but long as it tasted good and filled a hole, it could be ugly as sin and she'd still eat it. The sausage was at least recognisable, though they smelled strongly of blood. While a carnivore, Akori actually preferred sweet foods - but hey, she wasn't going to be picky. Not when this person had so kindly gotten her food, and hadn't even gotten a proper performance in payment for it.

Scooping some of the curry and rice onto her spoon, Akori cheerfully popped it into her mouth. Curry was fine, and she liked shrimp well enough. What could possibly go wrong?

It took all of her willpower not to gag, spit, or choke on the mouthful, though she felt tears spring to her eyes. The taste! It was like daggers of fire slashed her tongue open, and then poured lemon juice and chilli powder into the cuts - and then stomped all over it.
She chewed it as quickly as she could, before swallowing, feeling it burn all the way down. Sweat sprang up on her face, and Akori exhaled, hoping it would ease the burning in her mouth somewhat. It didn't.
"Whew, that'll put hairs on your chest," she panted, thumping her chest with a fist as if to chase the mouthful down into her stomach, "What is this?"

Still gasping from the spicy food, Akori blinked blearily at the approaching figure. Had they just…back-flipped off of a building? Well, that was one way to make an entrance!"Hi yourself!" she croaked, before covering her mouth and clearing her throat. So preoccupied with eating - and recovering from that one mouthful - she hadn't even noticed the goblin thief, and his adventures with gravity. "I'd wave, but I don't want to fling curry everywhere. I'm Akori - pleased to meet you both," the bard said, pleased that her voice was only a little wobbly. Warily, she eyed the plate of food. Hunger warred with her previous experience. Maybe she'd chat, just for a second, and see if letting it cool down would help.

Oh dear… it was a bad choice after all. She had seen that face many times, as if trying to hold back a sudden ability to breathe fire from the overwhelming spice of it all. But the only place that was really selling food nearby was the Orc's shop, and she'd dare not travel further in case the performer moved elsewhere, meaning by the time she tried to hunt her down, both meals would have gotten cold. Well, at least she had another solution for that.

"Groosketh," Jesgil stated, "an orc dish with shrimp and veggies in a rich, spicy sauce that covers rice… Though because they are orcs, they tend to go a it wild with the heat. Its almost like everything they do they need to prove their strength, right?" Jesgil chuckled before digging into her bad, pulling out a slice of cheese fresh from a wheel. "If its too much, then I suggest small bites, and if the heat becomes overwhelming, take a bite out of this. You would be surprised how well it soothes the mouth." The next thing Jesgil pulled out was a canteen and handed it over to her, hoping there had to be no explanation to how a drink would also be beneficial.

"A pleasure to meet you both," she stated when the other girl made her appearance and the first performer, Akori, introduced herself. "The name is Jesgil Yamar. It is a pleasure to meet you both," she told the pair before using her spoon to break off a piece of the sausage, scooping it with more of the curry and rice from before and popping it into her mouth just like before, just without the waterfall effects Akori displayed.

Although she enjoyed the entertainment of watching Akori eat the spicy food, their presence was drawing attention. The goblin thief had not been the only one who had noticed them. Her eyes scanned the area searching for any sign of a threat. No doubt there were thieves hiding in every corner, waiting for the chance to steal anything they left out in the open. She plopped down on a barrel and stretched her arms. Debating whether or not to tell these two about the fact that many eyes were on them at the moment. Perhaps she would mention it subtly. 

"It's good to meet you too." She responded to the both of them, "My name is Kyra."

Her gaze turned to the teary eyed bard and her food. 

"Do you want some water? Here." Kyra said with a smirk. 

Unlatching her canteen from her belt, she tossed it over at Akori. The canteen was filled to the brim with cool water.

"Perhaps you two ought to find a tavern or something to eat in. Seeing as it's kind of rude to be teasing these folk." She said gesturing to some of the thieves looking at their food greedily, "I'll come with you. So were you both from pirate ships or something? Or are you both just thieves? Oh! Are you guys runaway outlaws that are being hunted for some terrible crime?"

It would be good to know their backstory. Partially because it might provide for a good song. Partially because the half elf was actually interested. Although, she doubted that they were any sort of serious criminals. Seeing as they didn't really notice or had the good sense to not eat in the middle of a street. At least in a tavern there were waiters and cooks to keep stranger's greedy hands away from your stuff. 

Akori looked down at the curry in her lap with new - albeit watery - eyes. She hadn't sampled much in the way of orcish cuisine, hadn't really experienced much of orcs themselves, truth be told. The kitsune had, by no real conscious decision, gravitated towards humans, elves, and other kitsune. Folk she could easily pass herself off as belonging to, if not outright doing so. There was plenty of variety amongst those races so that she had found plenty to keep herself amused for centuries, and hadn't really felt the need to insert herself into any orcish community. Scooping up a smaller portion of the dish, Akori decided to heed Jesgil's advice, and sampled it in a more manageable mouthful. She liked to learn about other cultures, their customs, beliefs, stuff like that. Maybe it was a kitsune thing, but she liked to understand the folk she was around, even a little. A wanderer by nature and necessity, Akori often found she was a fleeting presence in the lives of those she met, and if they didn't remember her, she at least wanted to remember them.

You could often get a glimpse of a culture by sampling their food, Akori had found, though Jesgil's words went some way to paint a picture, too.
"Do you know a lot about orcs?" she asked, taking the offered cheese and drink with a nod of thanks, "I've heard tales, but not really got to chat with one myself."
She found that, taking small bites, the food was actually manageable. Mostly. Her eyes still watered, and she was still red in the face, but hey, she would eat it. It had been a gift from Jesgil, and she wasn't going to be ungrateful and refuse it. The kitsune may be lacking in manners or respect in some places, but on the topic of giving and receiving gifts, she was of the firm opinion you were always grateful about it. Who knew what ends the giver had to go to, in procuring that present? Jesgil had spent time and money getting her this meal, and Akori was going to eat every. last. bit. Even if it put her mouth on fire, and she ended up unable to taste anything for the rest of her life.

At Kyra's mention of teasing, Akori looked around, noting the assorted eyes fixed on their meals. The bard tightened her grip on the plate, loathe to have it snatched away by a thief when she was so determined to finish it. She did, however, manage the catch the tossed canteen, and took a swig of the cool water, without a concern for poison or the like. Distrust just wasn't in her nature, and things like wariness and caution were things that just got in the way of adventures. Once she was done, Akori capped the canteen, and tossed it back.
"Thanks! We probably should move, you're right. Know any good taverns about?" she asked, before breaking off a piece of the sausage and giving it a cautious sniff. Oh, er, well, it smelled rather…pungent. Getting some rice on the spoon, Akori decided to just chew it as quick as possible and swallow it - she was not a fan of blood in the slightest.
She managed to eat it without pulling a face, though she debated just powering through the rest, or having some every other bite or so. She was mid conundrum when Kyra asked her questions. Aha, she could ignore the blood sausage while she talked!
"Nah, nothing that interesting. I'm a kitsune bard, wandering the lands in search of inspiration. How about you two?" she asked, cocking her head even as she got to her feet, balancing plate in hand so she was ready to find a tavern.

A smile come to her face as Akori took her words to mind, slowing down her pace and being able to enjoy the meal at a better footing. Sure, she could still see the struggle from bite to bite, but at the very least it did mean she could actually enjoy the prepared meal instead of trying to power through it to be courteous to the gifter, despite the pain. Still, being familiar with their culture did bring up the question on how. Finishing her current bite, she smiled and replied back, "Well, in my profession, you deal with many different people who walk many paths of life. Their cultural backgrounds will always follow them in some matter of form because that is how they grew up, no?"

With Kyra's offer, though, the Draconian and Kitsune were a bit split. "I don't see what the problem is," was Jesgil's point of view. "If they want to know where to get it, we can always point them to where the shop is," she added using her spoon to point south to where she got the meals. "If anything, we just look like easy targets because we are not a banded groups, unlike the other sailors who walk these roads." That meant all they would be doing, in her book, was changing one area of  hostility to another. Besides, it would be wrong to assume the maid was "defenseless."

"Well, I may have arrived here via ship, but that does not exactly make me a bit of a pirate. Pillaging and plundering is not exactly what I would say is on my skill set." Resting her spoon back into the rice, she dug her hand into her outfit to pull out a sewing kit and bandages. "I am more of a wandering maid, helping tend to whoever is in need at the time. I just make sure that whoever I work with knows that I will leave when I feel like my time there is up or if they are being too lazy to actually do a thing for themselves."

The half elf seemed glad that the canteen of water was helping Akori manage the food a little better. Taking small bites of the spicy food also helped the kitsune eat her gift.

“An interesting thing about the inns and taverns that sell food here, is the fact that the cooks who make the food get very angry when the customer doesn’t eat it. So, if somebody stole your food than that person would get beat up. It’s happened before.” Kyra said, not mentioning how she knew this. Past experiences were not always pretty.

“I guess we could stay here, but people are eyeing your food. People who probably don’t want to spend money on getting it themselves.” She explained.

It was possible that these two could handle any situation that popped up. But if they did, they’d be wasting their energy on unnecessary fights. The half elf listened to the two strangers as they explained what they were. Akori was a bard, obviously, travelling around to get inspiration. Jesgil was a maid wandering around the land tending to whomever needed it.

“That’s amazing!” Kyra said with a genuine smile, “I’ve never met a traveling bard or a maid before.”

Technically she’d met a bard but he was more of a murderous bard who wanted to stab her. She didn’t really count that one. Bards didn't murder people for money. They played music. After the music they might murder but it was important to have the music come first. Otherwise they were just assassins. 

“You guys sound like you could have come from a story.” She commented, “I’m a traveler. Mostly a dancer and performer, although I do like to play instruments as well. But I don’t really take up music as my passion. I just like having fun!”

Irresponsible. That is what she meant by having fun. Being irresponsible and going wherever she liked. It wouldn’t last forever. That was guaranteed. But for now, she was determined to live in the moment while she still had the chance to live at all.

“I do know a tavern nearby. But if you guys would rather stay here, that’s fine. It was only a suggestion.” She said.

Odd, to meet such interesting strangers here. Vilpamolan was known for having interesting strangers but even this city had a pattern. The pattern normally included murderers, pirates, thieves, necromancers, and many more. But they usually aligned themselves towards “the darkness” of the world. Or they were just selfish jerks. Here were two people who were nice but still odd. Kyra fit in well. 

Nodding, Akori took another mouthful of the sausage, using a good deal of the spicy shrimp to offset the taste of blood somewhat. It worked, if only because her mouth was too full of fire to taste the blood any more. She had to take a bite of the cheese, but she liked dairy goods well enough, so it wasn't a big loss.
"That make sense. Old habits die hard, I've heard some people say," she said, looking a touch confused at the saying. Personally, she hadn't fallen into many habits herself. Well, that she could think of, but she supposed that was the whole point of a habit, right? It was something you just did without thinking about it. Like…putting extra honey in your tea, or something like that. Alright, so maybe she did have some habits. Just so ingrained now that she hadn't realised they were there. Huh. It was odd to think she talked about herself so little, she had assumed she had little to nothing in the way of personal rituals.

Looking between Kyra and Jesgil, Akori simply opted to remain standing while she ate. Both had valid points, and both probably knew the area better than her.
"I don't know, I've never been robbed for food before," she admitted around a mouthful, before shrugging, "Been robbed for my instruments and what few coins I have, though. Never lost the instruments, and the bandits laughed me off the road when they saw the void of my coin-purse."
That was the thing about being a lightning kitsune. You had a few surprises up your sleeve when push came to shove. Sure, that guy might forever smell a bit charred from now on, but he really should have known better than to try and steal a bard's harp.
"Suppose those were 'attempted robberies' then, huh?"

Jesgil was a maid, and a wandering one at that. Well, that was unique! Akori nodded, as if she knew what being a maid entailed, past following after people too self important to do stuff for themself. Still, it sounded like Jesgil wasn't that kind of maid. In fact, it seemed like, as soon as people relied on her too much, she moved on. Akori could appreciate that. Help people out, get them steady, and let them walk on their own. Kyra was someone kind of like her, and the Kitsune grinned at the other performer. They could have come out of a story?
"I don't know about my being story-worthy. Some of my relatives would call you mad for thinking so," Akori rolled her eyes, drolly, to express her opinion on those of her kind, "But some of 'em are thousands of years old, so they get a little grumpy."
"We should do a duet sometime. We could make a killing," she said, wondering what kind of dancing and music Kyra specialised in.
"Nothing wrong with having fun. What's life without it, right?" the kitsune smiled, shrugged, and continued eating.

"Well, we could always hit a tavern, see if they need an intrepid bard, dancer, and maid trio? I don't know about you two, but I didn't have any other plans for the day past finding some food," Akori admitted, nodding in Jesgil's direction, "And Jesgil was kind enough to sort that out for me, so I feel like I should at least put my bardly talents on show in payment. What better place than a tavern?" It was a pairing as old as time, like biscuits and cheese, mint and chocolate, and, uh, well, you get the idea. Taverns were good lurking places for bards to work.