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You watch as he goes before putting your attention on more important things, like preparing for the race. You wander to an empty box and begin to make sure the saddle is on properly. Once you've done all you can, you wander outside the box, now trying to figure out which way the sign-up area is.

Most of the people that pass you look as if they'd bite your head off at any moment. The ones you do approach, pay you no mind and send you off with nothing but a quick wave of their hand.

"Can you help me?" you ask a woman who's currently leaning on a table, looking something over, her back to you.

"Wid what?" she asks with a thick accent, turning to face you. Her eyes widen, and she appears startled, but she manages to calm herself. "Wid what?" she asks again.

If her accent didn't give her foreign-ness away, then her appearance definitely did. She has an athletic physique with thick, dark-brown, wavy, kinky hair, all resting against caramel-colored skin. Her eyes are a honey color with slight traces of teal, and underneath her left eye are three black dots. You wonder whether she was born with them or not.

Her clothing bears the symbols and color of the Red Marauders; she's either a racer for them or a trainer.

"I'm trying to find the sign-in desk," you tell her.

"Continue going down, and at de next intersection, take de right," she tells you. You focus on her accent, wracking your brain, trying to figure out if you've ever heard it before, but coming up with nothing. You've never spoken to or heard someone who pronounced their T's like D's, and though you understand what she says, her R's are pronounced more like W's.

"Thank you," you say, happy to finally get some real directions.

Next

A moment." You stop to see what she wants but find that she's more interested in Silvertwister. She circles him curiously, the look in her eye showing that she's taking in every detail. At first, you think she's just admiring your dragon, but when she gets closer, you see the calculating look in her eye. She's sizing him up.

She stops in front of him, and you look up at Silvertwister, not knowing exactly what he's thinking at the moment. She murmurs something, and in response, Silvertwister drops his head. You raise both of your eyebrows in shock as he allows her to check out his teeth, eyes, and head spikes.

"I must admit, you have yourself a pretty amazing dragon. De best so far," she compliments you, rubbing Silvertwister's head.

"I'm Kherik, by the way."

"Nyx de Azoulay, at your service," she snickers and performs a small curtsy.

"I couldn't help but notice the accent, where are you from?"

She looks you up and down, now sizing you up. "Why?" she asks.

"Just curious. I've never heard anyone speak with an accent like yours."

"You have a race to sign up for, correct?" she asks, ending the conversation there, though she doesn't look upset by your curiosity.

Next