Destination, because journey is to frustrating

[Red_Tower]

"I'm thinking to get dried off first, and maybe after that pick up a few things that I'll need while we're here. But I'm always pretty open." The town looked nice. It was a decent size which made Bill happy, and not too big that he'd have trouble learning it in the first few days. The salty wind was pleasing to him, reminding him of time spent working in a port town a long time ago. The mage noticed the people glance towards them from time to time, and he would offer a big wave to whoever didn't seem to be judging them.

[Deleted]

Nodding Kano walked over to the inn walking inside and waving to the woman at the desk. Once she had gained her attention the shifter gave her the money for two rooms. Seeing as the inn had one bed per-room and one look at the key would tell you witch room to go to there wasn't much worry. Tossing one of the newly aquired keys in Bill's general direction the shifter rushed to her room and removed her bag, hoping to dry the two spare coats as quickly as possible.

Grabbing the empty wooden bucket in the corner of the room she wrung the coats out over it before placing them to the side and removing her cat-scarf-companion. Stepping out of the room Kano simply smiled at the woman and exiting the inn, hoping to find the tailor seeing as she only had spare coats and only one of everything else she wore.

[Red_Tower]

Bill fumbled with the key she tossed him for a moment before getting a good hold on it and heading to his room. He stripped off the wet cloths quickly, looking in his bag for a long time. He had another coat that was still dry inside, but he had only ever worn it once. Instead he found a brown powder inside his bag, and after wringing out what water from his coat that he could, he spread the powder around on it, watching as it dried out quickly. "I should really get some more clothes. But later, I have some shopping to do." He thought as he threw his coat back on and left the inn.

Out in the market, he found a woodworker and bought a small table, and brought it back to his room. He started pulling several small polls out of his bag, all about as long as his hand, and hollowed out. He also pulled out several small bundles of cloth. He put them on the table and set them aside for later. He was going to be just fine here. Still, his underclothes were still a bit damp, and though they weren't getting his coat wet again, they didn't feel great. And having a spare coat wasn't much help. So he debated going to the tailors, but decided he would just hang up his clothing for now and rest his foot for a little while, thinking about where Kano went off to.

[Deleted]

The tailor went about measuring her and questioning what kind of cloth would be best and so on, Kano herself looking and responding exactly like the miffed and reluctant apprentice she used to be. This was going to take a while..

Tuono on the other hand got up, glaring at the world because he was treated like a scarf and threw himself at the door handle a few times before kicking the door shut behind him. Ears back and tail waving he tracked Bill's scent to a room just a little ways away and began to scratch at the underside of the door. No one could sleep through that sound, and hopefully the man would understand. Being a cat he couldn't talk but he could communicate with his owner much better than most other people, some caught on enough to understand emotion though.

[Red_Tower]

Bill instantly heard something at the door, flying out of bed and ripping the door open with a knife in hand, before looking down and seeing the tom. "Oh, hello Tuono. Did Kano leave you behind? Well come in, just don't mess with the table in the corner." He said, letting the cat into the room and shutting the door. He went back to the bed, where he had been writing things down in his journal, and had a variety of plants and vials spread out. There was also a large stack of gold coins sitting on the dresser. Hanging up in front of the window was his shirt, and over the back of a chair his coat. And hanging over the edge of the bed was another coat, much like his normal one, but completely pitch black. The only other difference was that it had a hood as well. Bill started digging through his bag until he found another of the bars like he had given Tuono before, and tossed it towards the tom cat.

[Deleted]

Tuono was fluffed and for an instant he had been terrified, hence the previous reaction. His owner had indeed abandoned him. To the bed, in a warm room, for the sake of more clothing, and left him to dry. Giving a skilled leap the pet caught the grainy stick halfway. Landing smoothly the orange feline laid himself down in the corner opposite the table, still vaguely irritated with the world. Being the guard-cat he was the tom couldn't help but wonder what the cause of his irritation was out doing.

Now that was something most would find amusing, even Kano herself would if she knew what the feline was thinking and was capable of staring at her current situation. Still she couldn't, no the shifter was far to busy having a game of tug-of-war with an old motherly and heavy-set seamstress over the tail of her coat. While normally the tail of a coat such as hers would be a bit frustrating to hold onto and pull on with your hands while wearing it, and the purpose would most likely be to dislodge it from a stick this was not the case.

Not only was the purpose of holding it different so was the amount of irritation. Smooth heels screeched against the ground as the light clockmaker glared down the woman insistent on taking her precious coat simply because of some water. "Let go of my coat!" "You can do without it until you have some dry clothes!" The elderly man who actually owned the shop was uncertain who's wrath would be more terrifying so did nothing, merely watching the two pull on the black and white fabric.

This was the point at witch Kano did something stupid.

[Red_Tower]

Bill continued writing for a few more minutes, but his thoughts were distracting him. "Well I'm bored, I think I'm going to look for our companion. You're welcome to come, of course." He said to the Tuono as he hopped out of bed and threw on his shirt. The mage paused for a long moment as he looked between his two coats. "The choice should be obvious, right? One coat is wet, the other isn't. But we can't shake the memory, can we? No, I'll wear it for a couple of hours, I'll be fine..." Without another thought he grabbed the black coat off his bed and swung it on, buttoning it up quickly and tossing the hood over his head quickly as he headed out the door, staff in hand.

Bill began searching up and down the main circle and first two rings of the town, popping into shops here and there, buying a couple things as he went. It was important to make a good impression early. He stopped for a long chat with a young couple running a florist store. They brought back a lot of good memories, and he knew he'd see them again. One thing he did notice was that he was getting a few werry looks at his appearance. Still, it never really bothered him, but he knew it wouldn't give him the best image. As he was walking around, he began to hear a commotion coming from inside a nearby shop. He noted the sign telling it was a tailor shop, and poked his head into the door, spotting Kano and the odd situation she was in.

[Deleted]

Seeing as Bill had entered just a moment after Kano had smashed into the wall and pried herself off it, now might just be time for a bit of a rewind. The something stupid would have been quite clever if the clockmaker had a far better relationship with the ground, and a less so charming one with gravity. The shifter, locked legs and all had spun around as she so often does. This never ends well when your legs are locked, she would know. Considering the many other things that made it not work it's a good thing she got off that easy.

Holding in a whining noise she pried herself off the wall just as Bill entered. The woman who had landed on her but stood up to continue the fight for possetion of the still wet coat the girl wore. hanging upside down from a curtain rod having been deemed the safest defense measure through the skewed childish logic that worked within the younger combatant was what occurred. "It's my coat and I'm going to wear it!" Kano's cry of defiance only served to enrage the feral beast that was a woman with intense motherly instincts. "It's also soaking wet so remove it now so you don't catch a cold! You stupid child!" Yanking fruitlessly at what fabric she could the seamstress attempted to remove the freakishly feline teenager from her curtain rod.

[Red_Tower]

Bill stared in bewilderment for a long couple of seconds, before a massive grin spread across his face. He watched the struggle for a few more minutes, debating if he should take action, and if so, what. Finally he fully walked into the shop, holding up his hands. "I come in peace!" The mage said as he approached. "I might have a solution. How about I lend the girl my coat until hers dries?" He posed to them, hoping he wouldn't get dragged into this. "A bit late for that Billy boy, we just shoved our neck in there." Shaking himself he drew his attention back to the scuffle, awaiting an answer.

[Deleted]

Bill's reward for this action was Kano clinging even tighter to the pole and a glare flickering between red and gold. "Does your coat have over twenty uniquely shaped pockets and almost all of my stuff? Nooooo. It does not. That bag of mine only holds spare coats, the pair of witch are soaked." The shifter had secured herself to the pole in such a fashion that it would come down before anyone here could pull her off it. Besides by the point they got anywhere near doing so she would be clinging unsteadily to the warped plank of wood a few feet away in the ceiling, also by then Tuono would probably decided to come and find them leaving her with a partner.

"Listen to the man you stubborn little freak!" Her head turned away from them in what would most likely be read as defiance. Truthfully the girl was now debating attaching herself to the ceiling before that point was reached. Twisting so that her glare met the woman, holding considerably more fire than previously, enough so the seamstress let go of the coat in shock, Kano did just that. One arm hooked through the warp and the other clung to her wrist, her knees shakily pressed to either side of the plank. It was a feat designed to look easy, and things like this had taken years to learn and train to do.

Thanks to the fact that the coat she wore was incapable of closing, and the woman having yanked on it so it no longer clung to the shifters back her hoodie hung straight down from her shoulders. The pristine white was not made transparent by the water and the many pockets, big and small were now visible along with the one weapon she carried. Most would expect it to be attached to her belt, but instead the placement of where it attached on her coat was near the shoulder, resting clearly where the black bag normally would. The other pockets didn't stray past the waistline and appeared extremely durable. The old man spoke up, "What sort of miracle tailor made that coat for you, girl?"

[Red_Tower]

Horrified for a moment by the wraith of his companion, Bill rushed into the corner, hiding behind a crate, popping his head up when he heard the old man's comment. He studied the shapes, sizes, and placements of the pockets, grinning to himself. "Yes, Kano, how did you come by that incredible coat?" His mind had already wandered off the question, replaying the events that just occurred in his mind. He was thinking about how she maneuvered herself and how she hung from the ceiling. It took a lot of acrobatic and athletic skill to accomplish what she had done. "She's got a quick mind, and the skills to use it. As well as things are going, we need to keep an eye on her. Expecting trouble? No, but if anyone around here is capable of giving us an issue, it's her. Fair enough..."

Bill slowly made his way out from the corner, pulling his hood up. He kept his head down a little, causing the rim of the cowl to block direct eye contact. His thoughts flipped on a whim, and right now his mind was clouded. The mage decided just to wait while Kano found some way to dodge her current spotlight. Then he would focus.

[Deleted]

"I did let you know of Seto's existence didn't I? A few weeks after I became an apprentice he did the same, only in a very different trade." Sighing and dropping to the floor, remaining there for just a few seconds to long, Kano gave a sheepish look to Bill. She had not expected anyone to react so strongly to some sharp words and a glare that held only irritation, the one directed to the woman held true anger but most likely not for the expected reasons.

"As I prepared to leave and figure out what I was going to do next after making my metal bird, Seto decided that with all the things I stuffed into the flimsy pockets I had already maybe a coat for me would get him out of apprenticeship as well." Laughing a bit she turned more directly to the old man, "So now you know, it wasn't a mericale it was a very determined friend who knew exactly what I would be putting in those pockets." Having inferred now that Kano's anger was the one he wanted away from him he gave a pointed look to the woman who was going to try tackling the shifter. "Well you go do what you like, we should be done in an hour or two"

She was out side and a block down by the time the man finished, her trotting pace weaved through warehouses in the hope of avoiding as many people as possible. As soon as they knew she was a clockmaker there would be no breaks. Hitting the final ring that usualy meant she was going to start working, the girl continued out onto the sand. Most of it was dry due to the tide being low for quite a while by now. Laying on her front at about the midway point between the town and ocean the clockmaker busied herself with ignoring the world.

[Red_Tower]

After Kano finished her story and left the shop, Bill stayed a bit longer, getting something started for himself. He told them he'd be back the next morning to pick it up, and swiftly departed. He wandered about for a bit, thinking about everything that just occurred. Before long he realized he was trying to think about where Kano was. "What am I, a lost puppy? Why do I continue to follow her around everywhere? Still..." Muttering to himself, Bill walked aimlessly about the town. Or so he thought, until he found himself standing at the edge of the town, overlooking the beach. "How long has it been, since you've stepped on a beach, seen the ocean, heard the solitary waves crash upon the shore."

Bill slowly made his way out onto the beach, with each step thinking about the past. Memories, the waves of his past pouring onto the shore of his mind. He was about halfway to the ocean when he nearly stepped on Kano. "The sea is always considered a calming thing. But it's so empty, and it's so violent, why would it be calming? But it is a good place to think. So what's going on with you, because a rare coat is one thing, but there was a fire there that went past that, Kano..." The mage said, standing over her, looking out over the beach. His hood was drawn, but the light of the sun still bounced off his eyes.

[Deleted]

"It's not calming it's something to focus on instead of whatever may have stirred up emotions," Ignoring the fact she had been close to being stepped on she buried her head in her arms. Everything inside her was telling her to lie and run away as fast as possible, but she refused. Instead the girl did nothing and remained still.

"So what's going on with you, because a rare coat is one thing, but there was a fire there that went past that, Kano..." Fire, that's what he called it... Fire is not the correct response to pain, is it? Now there were many responses that could have been placed in front of Bill by Kano, but this was as honest as she could be. "I-... I'm not sure how to explain." 'I sound like I'm lieing don't I..' There was a mrrring sound that was clearly a ways a way. Tuono had finally come looking. It was far to late to set the cat on the man and run, no, that was something that would have happened when they first met if he was deemed and enemy.

[Red_Tower]

"You don't have to believe me, but you can trust me when I say that I know what you mean. Life doesn't always make sense, and the rough parts are harder to understand. I'm here though, if you need." Bill said, falling to his knees, placing a hand on Kano's shoulder, never taking his eyes off the horizon. It wasn't until a drop fell from the alchemist's face that you could tell he was silently crying.

"Stop it idiot, since when do you cry in like this in front of people you've just met? Hello, you in here? Oh, I see..." He wasn't sure what he was thinking, but he knew what was going on. He knew the torment of time caught up again.