Aziish bit into an apple as he sat down on a bench just beyond the central markets. King's Square was bustling with activity. Akim traders had recently arrived and business was clearly booming for them as people from all around arrived to peruse their wares. Aziish smiled. When business was good for the Akim, business was good for him - after all, it was his set of stalls they rented whenever they popped by and he could sit around with all his money already in the bank. He waved towards one of them and they nodded and came over. "Hey, Jahred. Great day for sitting back and earning money by doing nothing, don't you think?"

Jahred grinned. "Every sunny day is a good day." He looked back to ensure his colleagues were coping well enough and sat down next to Aziish. His business was not in selling wares, after all. "So, what's new in Lucrecia?"

"Oh, you know, a bit of this, a bit of that. Peaceful as ever, really. Festival tonight. You going?"

"Ah, yes. Of course. It's why we're here, after all. I wouldn't miss it for the world." Jahred was not a massive fan of festivals but he was a massive fan of money and information, and the festival was a great source of both. People would be traveling from far and wide to celebrate the 50th year since the Queen took the throne after the death of her father. More notably, everyone would be wanting to buy new clothes to show off, and his carriage and the stalls were packed with them.

"So, what about you?" Aziish raised his eyebrows at his friend. "Any news from outside the walls?"

"Nothing in particular, it was a quiet journey for the most part. Although there was a man just beyond the gates, near a farm - peculiar fellow, didn't look from around here. Very odd fashion. I'll have to take a note to see if it's going to become a new thing. I asked him where it was from and he looked at me like he'd seen a ghost and just... ran."

"Weirdo." Aziish snorted a laugh.

--//--

Daniel was walking down Princes Street, Edinburgh when he blinked and suddenly fell to the ground, dizzy. But it wasn't concrete - it was... dirt. And then he was seeing things. Not just dirt, but fences. He figured he was hallucinatin, that he was sick, but everything was so real. The dizziness faded and suddenly he was there, on the side of a road, but not in Edinburgh. It was some country area, and there was farmland around him. In the distance he could see the walls of a city. It looked strangely old. There was a fresh smell in the air. Birds chirped. No cars. But... in the distance, he saw something. They came nearer, and he could barely believe his eyes. Two large animals - no, birds - ostrich like birds were pulling a cart towards him.

Daniel was in a panic. He jumped to the other side of the fence, thinking it would somehow protect him. There were a couple of men at the front of the cart, the birds were larger than ostrich and clearly much stronger. They were like giant, yellow moa, with huge beaks. His heart was thumping, this was crazy. Where was he? He could only watch as the huge birds pulled the cart to a stop near him. One of the men turned towards him. "You there, sir. Such strange clothing - where do you come from? Have you journeyed far?"

It was then that Daniel saw the face. It was like a mask, but definitely not a mask. He stepped back once, twice, nearly falling as his feet hit a rock. And then he turned. Ran. Ran like he could find his home once more. He wasn't home. He was no longer in Edinburgh. There were giant chickens pulling carts of strange alien men. He was on another world. Eventually, he fell to the ground, tears flowing from his eyes. Minutes passed. His heart wouldn't stop pounding, this was too much. It was crazy. He got back up, tried to seek out something - anything - that would be familiar. He stepped a few paces forward and that was when he saw the bear.

Once again, he ran for his life. He didn't stop, he didn't look back. Eventually he tripped on a rock, fell, hit his head on another rock in a rather unfortunate way and promptly died.