The "Tourist"

by Monochrome-1

Chapter One: Here be Dragons

Author's Note:

Hello! Thank you for clicking on this story! No really, thank you, I appreciate it a lot that you took the chance to click here.
Fair warning in advance I'm kind of doing my own thing with this story? With characters, concepts, and ideas being changed and tweaked to my personal preference. For example Discord is less the cheery draconequus everyone knows and more of an eldritch being. Someone that still loves playing jokes and pranks with their very best friend in the whole wide world, but clearly doesn't understand humanity and their concept of a joke can be...loose at best to outsiders that don't share their unique worldview.
> Moving on, I would like to say thanks to the writers for Steve Smith’s journey into Russia from the New World Order mod. I don't play the mod nor am I in contact with the community in any way shape or form, but I would like to extend a word of thanks and congratulations for the writers of Steve Smith's journey. You people have made something that inspired this poor foolish to take their own crack at writing a story, thank you.
And moving on from that hopefully you all enjoy this story. I worked on it for a very long time (a year and a half!) so with luck it's received well. Regardless, may you have a good day and thank you again for reading this story!

Flick, flick, scratch, snap! The smell of burnt phosphorus and ash came into the air. A sigh quickly followed.

Flick, flick, scratch, snap! The sigh became a grumble.

Flick, flick, scratch, fwoosh! Zephyr Breeze smiled in relief as he held the match in front of his face, granting him the gift of light in his new cramped quarters, currently the inner parts of a lifeboat that he had stuffed himself in. In this cramped, dark, and wet place that Zephyr suspected that perhaps the Daring Do books, especially the parts where she had smuggled herself into boxes for weeks at a time, had lied to him.

Great, just great, he thought to himself as he idly watched the slow burning match in his hands illuminate his damp surroundings. I managed to stowaway myself onto a ship headed out of Equestria, and of all the places in the world to hide in it’s in a lifeboat of all things! Agghh Zephyr…you're not exactly fit to be the next Daring Do, are you?

“Well at the very least all of my stuff is here,” he said to himself shimmying around and with a free arm touched his suitcase that he had shoved into the lower compartment of the lifeboat. “At least I have that going for me and uhh, this, well if I can find it that is.”

A minute or two of rummaging passed as Zephyr checked his coat pockets until he eventually pulled out a small brass compass.

“And I have this,” he said to himself proudly as he observed the compass in the match light. It was made almost entirely out of brass, had a sundial, and more interesting to anyone looking at it for the first time, on its back was the symbol of an ouroboros - one which wasn’t the ordinary depiction of a green serpent, but instead a strange chimera-like creature, twin fanged, with eyes burning bright as stars. It eagerly bit its tail as it flew around and around knowing that it would never stop nor want to.

“Strange thing really,” he said to himself as he looked it up and down.before he turned its attention to its needle, “but I can’t give it much fault as it’s helped me so far.” Looking at it he remembered the words or at least the meaning that he inferred from the creature that gave him this device before he left Equestria.

“May You See The World In All of Its Wondrous Colors and Shapes.”

Discord.

The mention or even the thought of the entity’s name or even recalling what it had said that night sent a chill down his spine. Known to much of the world as The Herald of Chaos, Discord was an enigmatic figure. Because unlike The Twin Monarchs, unlike Tirek, or Nightmare Moon, or so many other mythical figures in the world, Discord never showed their true form. Instead choosing to drape themselves in an ornate brown Saddle Arabian burka their figure beneath. To date nobody - not the Twin Monarch’s, not Twilight Sparkle, and not even his precious sister (who spent years with it as it’s companion) saw the figure that waited inside Discord’s outfit.

Instead what everyone saw was their outfit, decorated with the broken fragments of their prison, and hiding a vaguely humanoid form underneath that they could swear changed by the second. One moment to the viewer it could be a lanky creature with many arms, the next a twig-like form that could only be a puppet with gills, and yet a hulking monstrosity with vines spilling out from underneath its costume. Everyone saw something different and oftentimes it was either monstrous or weird. Or both.

It was unnerving, to say the least, being next to it or seeing Discord in a day to day life, much less living with it; Zephyr had been with Discord for a few months before his current situation. During which he had hidden himself away from the world’s affairs in his sister's home; all the while Discord played prank after prank on him. From turning his skin blue and pale, transforming the books into monsters so they would try to eat him when he would read them, and oftentimes having him wake up in pieces, forcing him to sew himself back together.

Sadly, that wasn’t even the worst part about him.

It was the way that it talked that was the worst part. Because when they did, Zephyr knew that Discord spoke to him; he understood what they were talking about, but he could never make out exactly what they had said, nor could he ever give an explanation as to why. The herald of chaos never actually spoke; in fact going through his memories Zephyr could only remember Discord either gesturing at him or standing still, and him somehow through strange convenience understanding what it meant. It was as if he had been given the script of a play saying that something had happened, what it meant, but never what those things actually were. Something to which confused Zephyr to end.

“Pfft, honestly, who even talks like that?” Zephyr muttered to himself as he recollected himself. “Was that last part they said a way for them to say good luck?” He shrugged, not wanting to dwell on it too much. Dwelling on things led him to staying in his sister's home for months, so better not to do that now while he still could. “Well, no matter, at least it was something ” he continued as he took another moment to shimmy around in the lifeboat for room. All the while his mind wandered to the night that he decided to abandon Equestria’ to its fate to run away while he still could.

Why? Because the alternatives were: either to be dragged into the army to die a quick and painful death in the meatgrinder of war that was the Equestrian front against the changelings, or work in the mines to suffer a slow but equally painful death. One that followed the unofficial motto of Equestria at the time, a motto to which they had adapted in the time of crisis they had found themselves within due to the changeling war, serve the state or be punished. It didn’t matter if you were young, old, childish, or barely past the age of fifteen you still had to serve in the military . And if you didn’t you were punished before being forced to, something to which his sister had eventually agreed with, and the effects of which Zephyr knew all too well.

“Hehm, yeah, join up or get beaten down and broken,” he said to himself as he took a moment to rub his back and inspect his wings for a moment. They were still broken, still misshapen, and the muscles coupled with the few feathers on them made ordinary flight near-impossible. “Hehm, yeah.”

Well moving on from that at the very least I'm here I guess, that has to mean something, he idly thought to himself as he concluded his thoughts and put away the compass that he had Managed to find a boat headed to The Isles and stuffed myself into a lifeboat like in the books I read. Shame there wasn’t a hiding spot or anything, but this’ll do. Only thing to worry about is…what am I gonna do now?

He searched for something to do in there, but there wasn’t much in the lifeboat. Some tins of chocolate, food, water, blankets, and more stuffed into the sides and in little compartments. Grabbing one of the blankets Zephyr carefully spread it out underneath him before he began waiting. He got into the lifeboat in the dead of night when everything was nice and quiet so it would probably be good manners to wait until they were at sea before doing anything more.

Lying on his back Zephyr waited, and waited….and waited some more. There was nothing to do other than to simply look through the heavy cloth that covered the lifeboat so he did just that. Eventually at some point he could feel his thoughts begin to strangely become slippery and hard to process before they fell through his grasp altogether. When it did a numbing sensation overcame him for a few moments during which he could see nothing but black before everything refocused again and with it the feeling of being alive. It was like he was left stranded alone in a pitch black room for a few hours to rest before someone turned on the lights to wake up him up.

Recovering from the sensation he couldn't help but blink his eyes in confusion before rubbing them in mixed relief. Did he just sleep? That sure didn’t feel like sleeping. Instead it felt like his off switch was flipped and then left to stay there for a while before eventually it was flipped the other way around. It was a strange feeling and one that only felt weirder when he went through his mind of what just happened.

Because when he did everything felt hazy. The feeling that he had felt before was barely there, only recallable through intense focus. Instead he could remember still doing the same routine that he did before: idly drumming his fingers on his lap, occasionally peeking through the cover, and waiting for the passage of time to slip by, but it felt off. He could remember doing those things, faintly, but just as if he was talking to Discord it felt like he was given a script on what he had just done without even doing them. It was odd, very odd.

Well better not to think of it, Zephyr thought to himself, taking a moment to stretch he listened to the melody of cracks that his body began to make as it worked its way back to life before he made his way out. Let’s see what’s on deck.

I uhh expected something fancier to say the least, was the first thoughts that entered Zephyr’s mind when he climbed out of the lifeboat and onto the deck. Looking from one end to another he could spot that the deck of the cargo ship he was in was big no doubt, big enough that it could ferry several hundred tons worth of cargo without worry, but it felt strangely cramped? At least in comparison to the big blue around him with its waves and its sheer expanse. Because the ocean stretched on and on and on as far as the eye could see. While the boat, the boat that he was in was just what he could see in front of him. The vent to his side, the electrical light that barely worked giving off a dull glow, and the machinery that he could see that allowed the ship to move cargo, and nothing more.

Moving across the deck for a moment to stretch his legs, Zephyr idly watched the heavy, yet peaceful waves as the ship sailed towards its destination in The Isles. It was quiet, strangely quiet, apart from his breath, the squeak of his leather boots on the floor and the waves Zephyr couldn't hear anything else. The deck was clean, squeaky clean. The paint markings on the deck that he could see were freshly painted without a single sign of being worn away. All the while the few tools that hung on the outside were as new as thought they were bought yesterday. It was just him and him alone with nobody else to notice or to even watch him.

Eventually he grew bored and made his way back to the lifeboat, cleaning it of any evidence that he could find, and resting back in it as he could see the first glints of the sun come up.

The second day and night at sea was much like the first. Wait until he suspected that night had come, come out, and idly walk around the ship looking at things. There wasn’t much to look at, but there was a lot to fantasize about. What were the crew doing? What were they hauling? Were they hauling guns, food, tools, money? If not, then what business did they have in Equestria before moving to The Isles?

Sadly there was no evidence or any clues that would help him solve the mystery. There were no vehicles leashed to the deck via sturdy cables, no errant machinery that he could see to make a clue, nothing. Nothing except a log book that was set next to the door in a script that he couldn't read due to it not being Equestrian.

Well now I know the crew for this boat is draconic at least, he thought to himself as he put the clipboard away after taking a moment to flip through it. Without much else to do he reached into his pocket to pull out his compass and watched it as it spun. In his hands east became west, west became east, north became south one moment, in the next moment west became south, north became east, and so and so forth until he steadied it in hands. Whereupon it then steadied itself providing an accurate, if somewhat shaky due to him being at sea, reading of the magnetic directions of the world.

Still heading east so that’s good I guess, he thought to himself with a smile as he put it away. Good to know that I didn’t catch a ride to nowhere.

Idly walking around the deck some more, Zephyr noted the slow and lethargic rocking of the waves before he made his way back into the lifeboat to pass the time and wait. Just like before the feeling of numbness overcame him and he could feel himself zoning out, hours passing by as if they were seconds to him before he eventually woke up.

However, rather than suddenly focusing back into reality with nothing but the beige cover of the lifeboat to greet him, instead he heard the ruffle of the sheet being uncovered and a beam of light shining in his face moments after.

“What in the world?” said a voice in Equestrian behind the light as it quickly shone across him, noting his suitcase and the blanket that he was lying on. Behind her it was clearly dark and still night.

“Oh hi,” Zephyr said casually raising up a hand as he lay down on it. “How are you?”

“I’m fine,” said the voice somewhat awkwardly as it moved for a second and revealed the face of a female gryphon. “Mind if I ask what you're doing here?”

“Oh just relaxing for a bit, seeing the sights, you know how it is” Zephyr brushed off the question. “I’m doing fine, if you're wondering, how about you?”

“I’m doing alright?” the woman hesitantly answered as she unfurled the oil cloth fully. “Mind if you stop out for a bit?”

Zephyr compiled and as he did he watched the woman's face grimace in a mixture

“Something wrong?” he asked her as he took a moment to pat himself down. He was wearing a simple suit jacket, a white dress shirt, slacks, and shoes. “I’m not carrying any weapons if you're wondering, it’s just me, my suitcase, and that’s about it,” he emphasized by taking out the suitcase that he brought with him and giving it a quick shake. “See?”

“It’s uh,” the woman said as she continued to stare at him before gesturing with a thumb at her back, “you okay?”

“Hmm?” he said looking back noticing his misshapen and still crippled wings. “Oh, right that.”

Giving his wings a quick flap Zephyr could feel the sheer inertia that they had within their damaged muscles. It felt like he was moving them as if they were wet with pitch and oil. They didn’t hurt or anything, thankfully, but they were certainly unpleasant to look at due to their clearly misshapen and crooked nature. The noises that they made while they moved didn’t help things either.

Well guess I won’t be flying any time soon, he thought to himself as he reached back and pulled on his left wing like an elaborate kite. During which he failed to notice the woman's face in front of him quickly growing pale and green in response. Could probably still glide with this if I really needed to, but flying, no, probably not for a while that’s for sure. In the back of his mind a part of him was wondering why he was acting so casually towards the injury that he had but he ignored it.

“I’m fine if you're wondering,” Zephyr said eventually, folding the wing back before he began to scrounge around the lifeboat for his hat. It was a straw boater hat that had a sea green ribbon tied around it. He bought it once on a whim from some funny salesman that promised that it would make his life a lot easier. It didn’t give him magic powers or anything, but it did at least make his life easier by keeping the sun out his eyes and his hair from getting sweaty. Something that he had taken to tying in a loose pony tail for the sake of ease in the past few months because it was easier to manage that than the complicated hair bun he had before.

There was a significant pause as Zephyr stared at the woman and the woman stared at Zephyr, the beam of her flashlight focused on him.

“So, what now?” Zephyr asked hesitantly after another moment of awkward waiting. “Are you gonna arrest me or something?”

Startled by the question the woman only shook her head in response. “No, no, I’m just gonna,” she said, fumbling at her words before she pointed back to the bridge before sighing. “I’m just gonna head back to my position and before you ask me your fine, but do you mind if I ask you a few questions on uhhh,” she gestured towards Zephyr’s wings in a general manner. “Well that.”

“Sure,” he said with a shrug as he got out of the lifeboat and gestured for the bridge. “Lead away.”

Making their inside the woman settled into a padded swivel chair in the bridge, and of which was entirely abandoned save for her at the moment. The only evidence of anyone else inhabiting it at the moment was the odd clipboard scattered about at a nearby desk.

“Okay so first things first,” the woman began as she leveled an interrogative finger towards Zephyr, “ who are you?”

“Well I can tell you the truth or I can lie,” Zephyr rescinded with a shrug as he also took a seat in the chair facing her. Now getting a better look at her thanks to the light Zephyr was able to make out her features. She was a tall woman, somewhat muscled with gray feathers on her arms, and she wore a standard set of clothes that someone on the sea might wear accented only by oilskin trousers and rubber boots.

“The truth please,” she said as she massaged her forehead.

“Alright, so I'm not a spy, I'm not a soldier, I don’t work for the government, and I'm just looking to get out of Equestria while I still can,” Zephyr lackadaisically narrated off. “There's nothing special about me.”

“But I do know a bit about how to cut hair,” he added after a moment of thought with a smile. “So i’ve got that going for me. Does that answer your question?”

“I guess?” the woman accepted with a bit of hesitation before sighing again. “And the wings, what happened to them?”

“Oh, I got assaulted by a bunch of soldiers before I got here,” he answered with a nonchalant shrug and a dim smile. “I tried dodging the draft and it didn’t work out great.”

“Yeah I guess that would explain that,” the woman said, taking another look at Zephyr’s wings and noting the damage. “You're not feeling that by the way? Looks like it hurts”

“Not really if i’m being honest,” he replied with a shrug as he looked at his wings. The first night was painful, terribly painful, but ever since he got the compass from Discord they stopped strangely. He still couldn't really move them, but not feeling like he had permanently pulled a muscle and broken both of his limbs was a plus in his book. One whose origin’s he didn’t really need to think about or try to solve now as he suspected it had something to do with the compass.

“Huh,” the woman hummed as she processed the information that Zephyr had told him. “So you're leaving because of that?”

“More or less,” Zephyr answered with a gesture of his hand in a so-so motion. “There are other things, but being forced into the draft and getting my wings broken was one of the big ones.”

“Good to know, good to know” the woman repeated looking at the floor and sighing.

“Something wrong?” Zephyr asked, noting a bit of hesitation from her.

“Oh, it’s uh…it's nothing,” the woman mumbled out tiredly before she rubbed her eyes for a moment. “It’s just I didn’t expect to see myself on the other side so soon.”

“On the other side?” Zephyr said, raising an eyebrow. “Something happened with you back home like me?” he said taking a guess that she had left hers from the way she talked being on the other side.

“Sort of?” she answered, spinning in her chair for a moment. “Just a lot of things back home were happening, most unpleasant, and I needed a way out to make sure I didn’t get caught in it. I’m sure you know how it is.”

Zephyr nodded in understanding. He certainly did know.

“So you hitched a ride on a boat to get to The Isles?” he guessed, gesturing back in the direction of his hiding place.

“Yeah pretty much,” she answered, taking a moment to stretch her right arm.. “But Instead of being hidden in a lifeboat, I found myself stuck in a shipping container for about a week. It wasn’t pleasant, let me tell you that.”

“It certainly doesn't,” he said with a light smile. “How did you get in there?”

“I had some help along the way to get there unlike you,” she said with a shrug. “They paid off some workers, got me into one of the shipping crates filled with gems, and stuffed me into a dark place for a week. When I eventually got out, I was in The Isles.”

“Huh,” Zephyr mumbled to himself. There was already someone helping people like him getting out of countries that were plagued by war? Why hadn’t he heard about it before? Probably because he never displayed an interest in it or really left his sister’s home following the incident, but still, it would have been something nice to know about if he could.

“Do you know this person?” He asked her, shifting in his seat to adjust his position all the while.

“A little?” the woman hazily answered with a so-so motion from a hand. “Heard about her when I was talking to a few friends about getting out of town and she came up. They said that she could help if I sent in a few letters. I was dubious at first, but I decided to take the risk and here I am now,” she finished waving around the bridge she was in. “I’m a sailor on a cargo ship named The Talon ferrying goods between The Isles and here.’

“It’s good paying work,” the sailor continued with a half-smile that quickly deflated as she flicked one of her fingernails on the metal counter. “It just wasn’t what I was expecting to do when I got here.”

“What do you mean?” Zephyr said, raising an eyebrow. “Sounds like you’ve got it pretty good from what I just heard. You have a good paying job and you're not a soldier right now stuck huddling in a trench in some terrible war. What’s so bad about that?”

“Well not really?” the sailor said with some hesitation in her voice and the expression on her face accenting it. “Honestly apart from that it just feels like I swapped the problems I had back home for new ones here. With problems like the lack of infrastructure, the feeling of being an ant compared to the giants that are around here, modern appliances being rare unless you're in one of the few towns that have it, and the fact that I’m a nursing student who is apparently working as a sailor now.”

“Really?” Zephyr said somewhat surprised by the last fact. “Isn’t it easy to find a job if you're a nurse?”

“Oh, easy as pie once you finish the schooling. With the way the world is right now you’ll find easy employment in the medical field,” she confirmed. “But that’s the thing, you’ll need to finish your schooling first.”

“And let me guess,” Zephyr said, waving a hand in the air. “No schools around to help you with that and you left mid-way into your degree with little to no cash to spare?”
‘ “Yep,” she answered him before shaking her head in dismay. “Turns out when you're in a backwater country right between two continents you tend to have a hospital or two so anyone sick mid-flight or on a boat trip can take a stop to ship you in, but for anything else like a functioning education system? Yeah no, apart from the one in the capital and the small one in the port that’s all they've got, and those just do basic stuff like math and learning Equestrian. Anything else and you have to pay a high premium in fee’s so you can do it from here.”

“And like everywhere else in the world without a job you can’t make cash,” she continued lounging in her chair now and breathing a sigh. “And without cash you can’t live, unless you want to live in the countryside hunting beasts, drinking spring water, and living like a hobo until you die from some weird berries you’ve eaten.”

“My guess that's not an option for you?” Zephyr inquired with a mirthful look on his face. “Sounds like you’ve got the muscle for it at least.”

“Hehm well thank you for the compliment,” she thanked him with a half-hearted smile as she took a moment to flex one of her arms revealing a well-toned physique. “You tend to have this when you have nothing to do with your spare time except lift weights.”

“Heh, I guess,” he said looking around the room, noticing that it was quite barren apart from the instruments around that supported the bridge’s function and the few items that he saw from before. “Yeah, it doesn't look like there's much to do around here for fun.”

“Pretty much,” she agreed with him. “When you're stuck in a place like this you're either writing letters, doodling, reading books, sleeping, or exercising. Give it enough time and you’ll find that you’ll be doing work for fun or just to pass the time.”

“Mhmh,” Zephyr hummed in acknowledgement as he idly looked at the machine and noted the dials and buttons for a minute. “So you took a job as a sailor on a ship to make the bills?”

“More or less,” she confirmed with a nod, rolling up her sleeves and taking a quick glance at the window and watching the heavy waves assault the boat. “It pays the bills, I have something to do to pass the time, and when I have enough cash from this job I can go back to school. Sure I’ll have to start from square one again but hopefully this time it’ll be easier and I’ll have a chance to finish it this time.”

“So what about you?” she asked Zephyr, shifting her head back towards him. “Are you planning on staying once you get there?”

Zephyr was about to answer the question but his face slowly morphed into one of doubt as he thought it over. Would he? Equestria was right next to The Isles so if it fell there was a chance the war would spill over to The Isles. But everything could be fine in the end if he did stay. Equestria could rally, they could beat back the changelings, and everything would be fine. Sure things might be different from the effects the war would have on it but things would more or less be the same.

But it also couldn't, Equestria could fall, hard, hard enough that maybe the conflict would spill across the world. The queen, leader, or whatever ruled the changelings ambitions not seeing one continent to be enough.

It was better not to take a chance. Just keep going, see the sights while he still could in this place, enjoy a bit of time here, and the moment he could leave, take it. Better to play it safe than not when his life was on the line.

“I’m not sure. I might just keep going and see if I can get out of here while I still can. A part of me thinks that I could stay if everything here was alright, but I'm pretty sure that a hair cutter like me can’t find much work around here,” he said diplomatically to the sailor before making a cutting motion with his fingers. “Not like dragons grow a lot of hair, you know?”

“Well, if you do stay, that friend I mentioned might help with that,” the sailor said, taking a moment to stand up and stretch. “Would you be interested in learning more?”

Zephyr answered yes and the sailor shared with him the information. The sailors' benefactor was someone by the name of Ms. Coffin, she was a dragon, and she ran a private bed and breakfast at the port. One that in earlier times mostly serviced rich clients, but now had taken to giving smuggled refugees a place to stay. At least enough for her and whatever group she worked with to help them get back on their feet.

Zephyr thanked her for the information and was going to make his way out and to his hiding place before a question hit him.

“Mind if I ask your name just in case she asks me how I heard about her?” he asked, looking back from the door.

“Oh right,” the sailor said, rolling her eyes and giving her forehead a light slap. “The names Grayfeather, what’s yours?”

“Zephyr,” he answered, refusing to give the last part of his name just in case. “I’ll see you around.”

“See you,” she said with a smile and waving him goodbye as he moved away from her line of sight.

From there Zephyr made his way across the rust covered deck before he navigated his way across the rolling deck of the ship back to his hiding place to wait out the rest of his trip.

The next and the last day from there was easy. The ship had arrived at port in the morning and from there it was just a matter of waiting for the ship to dock, the workers to unload the cargo that they had, and from there to slip out. He was able to easily sneak out of his lifeboat with his suitcase in tow and slip away into the town during the night. There were a few guards around keeping watch, but with how sleep deprived they looked, all he had to do was just try not to make too much noise.

From there it was just a matter of following the directions that he was given to find Ms. Coffin. He couldn't see much of the space around him or make out many details due to how dark it was, nor could he read the street signs that were around to help him navigate, but he could follow directions if they were given.

A few blocks down this way, a few blocks down that way, pass by a large house, and it’ll be the second one with a wire fence on it, Zephyr repeated the instruction in his head as he arrived at his destination with a smile. True to Grayfeather’s words it definitely looked like a bed and breakfast, a modern one as well. With it being two stories high, made from heavy and thick lumber that was painted navy blue, and featuring a manicured lawn, it was a sign of modern convenience and luxury even in today's age.

With a smile he walked past the gate, knocked on the door, and waited for a bit. Soon after there was the sound of a knock before a voice on the other side said, “who is it?” a voice said. It was in a language that Zephyr didn't know, draconian, but one whose meaning he could certainly clue out to based on the information that he was given by Grey Feather. Remembering a phrase and what it meant was a lot easier than knowing an entire language.

“Nobody,” he said in Equestrian, remembering the phrase that Gray feather told him. “Just someone looking for some help that came on a violet wind.”

A moment later, a woman in her mid 20’s dressed in a terry cloth long sleeve shirt with a pair of ordinary jeans answered the door. Pinned to her breast was a simple metal symbol of a violet colored gust of wind accented with petals against a silver background. Her outfit was neat, orderly, and made for an office worker starting their day. The prime of perfection that any supervisor would approve of in the modern workplace today.

However their eyes and their demeanor spoke differently. Their hair was greasy, their eyes were sunken with sleep deprivation barely able to see more than a few feet ahead of them clearly, the dark scales that they had for skin were dull and stained slightly with ink, and her thin frame bobbed back and forth from the clear effects of coffee.

“A little late for someone like you to come around,” she blearily yawned out before rubbing her eyes in an attempt to work some energy into herself. ”Luckily for you I was working on a few things during the night. Come on in and make yourself comfortable so we can get the paperwork sorted out later.”
With a wordless nod Zephyr entered the house with his suitcase in hand as Ms. Coffin unceremoniously stumbled her way back inside. Hopefully this goes well, he thought to himself. Would hate to hit a setback this early in my trip already.