Costuming
It turns out there's a bus running from here to Peacholt, the first real city you've seen in this world. As you ride out of the valley you spot billboards for restaurants, fur shampoo, new homes. "Not many cars," you say.
Bragho watches the other buses, a few things recognizable as cars, and various motorcycles and odd tricycle craft. "Our kind needs permission for motors, especially the heavy kind. You might be able to get a a scooter, or a motorcycle if you play up the famous actress role."
"What're all these restrictions about, anyway? Racism by the Fens?"
"Partly. There's only so much gas available too. There was one world --" He stops, noticing the other passengers.
"There are solutions," you say. "Though my people hadn't found a very good one yet, last I saw."
He leans back, smiling. "Ah, it's nice to find someone with a well-traveled background like mine."
Peacholt City dwarfs the town you arrived in. There's only one tower you could call a skyscraper, but plenty of white limestone buildings lining a harbor. Iron-grey warships lurk there, carefully avoided by the sailboats and some fishing craft heading out. All in all it's a pleasant-looking place. As the bus parks, you catch salty air with a hint of smoke.
"Got your money? There's the biggest bazaar in the city." Bragho points to a huge blue canopy that flutters in the wind. Beneath it, hundreds of people mill around shaded stalls of merchandise. Eagerly you follow Bragho in to see the place. It's wild -- part food market, part clothing store, part entertainment center with eerie woodwind bands and drummers. You didn't know there were this many variations on fox-musk, perfume and the scents of cloth. Bragho grins at how your nose is sniffing everywhere.
You notice there's a mix here, Fens and red foxes and even a slit-eyed white breed. Nice to see them getting along with... your kind.
Bragho leads you past vegetables and fine leather jackets to a booth of ribbons and dresses. The sight makes you blush. "You're not serious."
"Why not?" he says.
The high-tech bodysuit from work was one thing, and the skirt you've got on now brushes comfortably against your legs and tail, but you're not really eager to walk around in some frilly silk thing. "I guess I'm a tomboy," you say, sliding a paw through racks of outfits. Dress, low-cut blouse, dress, blah. Bikini (whoa, you could fit that?), dress, griffin costume...
You freeze. This does not belong here. The material of the soft white feathers is unlike anything else in the bazaar. You unconsciously run clawtips against the fur of your own arm, which used to be part of a very similar costume. "Bragho, look!"
He opens his muzzle to speak, stops, and shakes his head. His ears droop as he whispers, "Buy it. Explanation later."
You find the shopkeeper, a Fen woman with elaborate earrings and with a blue ribbon winding all around her. You remember haggling is expected in these shops. "I found something unworthy of your store, senora," you say. "This silly thing."
She looks surprised herself to see it. "Oh? It's quite unusual, isn't it? You have a keen nose for the unique. For you, how about a special price..."
#
Ooh, that was fun! You're grinning as you clutch a shopping bag to your chest. The shopkeeper threw in a blue bikini and a ribbon-scarf like hers, and you even have money left over. As you strut away you find Bragho biting his lip, no easy feat with a muzzle. "What, what?"
"She totally played you."
"Did not! I got her to throw in --"
"More than you planned to buy, yeah. But hey, great bargaining there, vix." He pats your ears, grinning.
"Hmmph." It was still fun. "So what about the costume? It's one of those, isn't it?"
He points to an open-air cafe on the bazaar's edge. Warm breeze flutters through your tail as you walk out to a terrace, admiring the shimmering harbor below. The two of you relax at a table under snapping flags.
Bragho's buried his muzzle in a menu. "Come on, tell me," you say. "How'd I just happen to find another one?"
He leans his head on the menu, giving you a strange look of curiosity. "Can I see it to make sure?"
You take out the griffin outfit. The thing feels soft and excellently made -- presumably by magic -- but looks out of place on the wooden table. Bragho sits up to feel the golden fur and peers into the expressionless beaked face. It occurs to you that the outfit has the first zipper you've seen in this world. Everything else has buttons.
Bragho's hand meets yours as you explore the wondrous thing you bought. "This is the real thing. If the rules of the game haven't changed since I last played, there'll be two other choices conveniently stashed somewhere near where you arrived."
"Why? I thought I could just wait for a 'standard week', which is two real weeks or so, and go back to the magic wardrobe place."
"That's not how it works. You have to find your next costume to reach another world."
"But I had that note in my pocket when I arrived, and you said --"
"Yup. I don't think either I or our wizard 'friend' explained everything clearly. Sorry. So you have this costume now if you want it. But you shouldn't use it."
"Then why'd you tell me to buy it?"
"I wanted you to have the choice." He grips your hand and speaks quietly. "It's a rare thing to meet someone who knows about the game, who's seen another world. It's selfish of me to want to keep you here. So you should have the choice to go. I just don't want you to."
Your heart's beating fast and you're not sure what to say. Bragho looks off to one side. "Sorry. I hardly know you, and I'm more comfortable wearing a different skin than you are. But over time, I think you could -- you could really like it here. I wanted to show you around a little today. We could take a boat out and see whales. You have whales where you're from? Big squeaky mammals? This one time I turned into..." He's babbling nervously now.
You break free and stand, wobbling as you go to the balcony's railing. When you first arrived, you'd had the idea of being caught up in adventure, only to be told you have a house and a job. But then, you've got a new life in a different world, and even magic powers of some kind. Doesn't that count? The armed grey ships in the harbor sit there, hinting at the culture clash happening around you. You could probably make a difference in this world.
You turn from the harbor, one hand on the warm railing and the other steadying your hair in the wind. The sun shines on your fur. You could take the costume back and go to the world of griffins right now, if you wanted. But there's sure to be more to find in this world. And at least one person who'd like to share it with you.
Written by Snow on 27 June 2010
