Paradox was surprised at the beauty of Egjora, it was cleaner than any human city she had ever seen. There were no scraps or bits of paper and such in the street, they almost seemed to have been cleaned themselves. She was grateful that her hooves weren't dirty, she'd have hated to have left tracks on such a clean surface. The people themselves seemed always happy, they greeted her with several waves and smiles. She returned them of course, the minor staring stopped bothering her a long time ago. She didn't blame them, they'd probably never seen a Centaur come this far south, nevermind actually in their city. She'd make sure to give them a good impression.

She had heard from other travelers that there was a brilliant guesthouse further along in the city. She was told that she must visit it, if she ever came here. She walked along the streets, relatively uncrowded, which she found slightly surprising. She was also relatively pleased as well, she wouldn't really have to worry about bumping or stepping on anyone on the streets. She read the signs on the buildings as she went, almost missing the guesthouse because it didn't stand out like most inns. It looked like a relatively normal building, and like the other buildings, it was incredibly clean for an inn. She took a small brush out of her back and quickly brushed off the undersides of her hooves before entering. 

She had to duck under the doorway, yet another thing she was getting used to in human dwellings, and walked inside, careful not to let her hooves scratch the finish on the floor. She flicked her tail, holding it close to her, so as the hair wouldn't get in someone's food or beverage. There were a lot of men in this tavern, more so than normal, and almost all of them larger than most men. Several looked affectionately at some of the barmaids and waitresses. She saw that most of these women wore rings of marriage and figured that the men were their husbands in turn. She smiled thoughtfully to herself. 

She found and empty area at the end of the bar and made herself as comfortable as she could. She tried her best to stay out of everyone's way. She ordered a glass of water and a fish dish that she thought sounded interesting. She drank her water slowly looking around the inside of the tavern and eyeing the patrons. It was much quieter than she was used to. She casually flicked an ear and slowly spun her glass on the bar. It wasn't long before her food arrived. It was still hot and smelled delicious. She took a fork and began eating, trying to be as polite as possible. It wasn't often she worried about her eating etiquette but this was one of those times.

She finished eating and paid for her meal, giving the server a good tip for the excellent service. She stretched herself and readied herself to leave. She felt a slight pressure on a back foot and a yelp. She looked behind her to see a waitress trip on her back leg and fall headlong into a table of patrons. She turned around quickly to help and accidentally shifted the bar back with her hindquarters. A hot platter of food fell on her back and she jumped forward, screaming both in shock and pain from the hot food. She collided with a table, pinning two of the men sitting at it against a wall. She quickly wiped the hot food off her flank and saw that the other men had stood up. She recalled hearing someone call for the guards. They closed in on her, pinning her in the back corner of the inn. Oh, no. Not again. 

She pushed through them, bowling them over with her massive bulk. She ducked quickly outside and saw several large men running at her, she assumed they were the guards. "Stop right there!" They yelled at her.  She pinned her ears, turned on her hindquarters and bolted straight for the exit of the city. Her hair flapped wildly as she called to the people in front of her, "Excuse me! I beg your pardon! I'm sorry! Get out of the way!" Her hooves pounded like thunder on the road, several people diving to get out of her way. She jumped a small stand where an older lady was selling her wares to the public, missing both the table and the woman by several inches. 

The guards chased her through the city and she was relieved when she found the city gates. She poured on the speed, her muscles straining with fatigue and her breathing becoming labored. They were starting to close the doors and she ducked through them, feeling the pressure of them closing just behind her tail. She turned behind her to see if they were following her still. They didn't appear to be and she was relieved. She turned back to the road in time to see the young man in front of her appear out of nowhere. She let out a noise and fell back hard on her haunches. Even though she was sliding frantically to a stop, the collision was inevitable. She hit him soldily with her chest muscles and saw him fall back. She stopped shortly thereafter, and saw him lying beneath her. She bent down to him, apologizing profusely. "I am so so sorry," she said quickly. She hoped she hadn't killed him. "I didn't see you there at all. Are you alright?"
 

Cedric was originally on his way towards the city to get some nice warmth in his legs and their braces, which were worn from travel. The chilly cold air caused him to have some pains and discomfort. It even stiffened up the braces at times making it kinda hard to walk as he could with them on. If he took them off it was even worse for some reason, maybe it was a bone and muscle positioning thing? Whatever the reason it was never fun being this far up north going on foot or even with a horse, if he could get to one. He missed the south, it was warmer and more comfortable. He’d sigh lonely longing for the warm sun and not having to wear as many layers. 

As he walked down down the trail towards the city, carrying the bags he needed with the things he needed for the journey he would hear the sound of a horses hooves. Tock lockt, tock lockt. It grew nearer and nearer then when he blinding looking up from the map and compass in his hand he’d just see the beasts chest being crashed to the ground with a yelp. He’d look around for a second and sees that is was a centaur that ran into him as he laid underneath it. The being asked a question, he’d feel a bit of hismlegs and move them a bit, the fall knocking lose so,e of the straps and screws that were already not as strong from the traveling.

Cedri groans for a second regaining some of the ability to speak, “Yeah I’ll be fine, if you can please get off of me.” He’d ask chuckling. “Don’t worry about this also. Why were you running like a bat out of hell?” He’d ask if the person would get off of him so he can get up and start checking on them. If she didn’t who cares, he was still gonna check his legs. “Particularly if my own life flashed before these old eyeballs.” Hed say jokingly smiling. “Names Cedric Terryn by the way.” He’d say offering her his hand. “Nice to meet you so abruptly.”

Paradox was so relieved that the man wasn't dead. She had worried that she had killed him, and she didn't want his death on her hands if she could help it. He spoke to her and she nodded. Carefully she stood up and stepped off of him so that she was no longer pinning him to the ground. He was smiling, almost laughing, he seemed to have gotten quite a bit of amusement out of this close call. His warmness helped her calm down and she gave him a small smile of her own. Her ears relaxed and she flicked her tail casually. This man seemed kinder than most.

"I was running because I was being chased by the city guards," she told him. "Not the first time it's happened to me, and I doubt it will be the last. I just hear that the guards here are very brutal and barbaric compared to other ones I've met. I didn't intend to cause any trouble, but I will say the bar in the guesthouse is looking a little worse for wear right now. It's hard to find a human dwelling fit to accommodate me appropriately.  It's sometimes difficult being larger than most with an extra set of legs to watch out for." She smirked at him.

The young man seemed about her age. Not overly tall, but taller than the majority. He had short dark hair and bright brown eyes. His clothing was dark and she briefly recalled him wearing a hood before she knocked him over. She thought he must be some sort of rogue. He wore the armor of sorts, but none of it really matched. She didn't really mind or care. She didn't wear armor herself. The closest thing she had was her saddlebags and her bardiche sheath. His legs, however, had equipment on him that she didn't recognize, beyond the regular pants and boots. They appeared reinforced with bits of metal and screws. She was intrigued but said nothing.

He introduced himself. She shook his hand in response. "Paradox, it's nice to meet you, Cedric," she told him. "Abruptly or otherwise." When she let go of his hand, she noticed he started checking his body over for injuries, giving particular focus to his legs. Her concern returned and she pinned her ears back to her head. "Are you alright?" She asked, her voice slightly higher than normal. A back hoof taped lightly at the ground in anxiety and her tail swatted at it. She noticed some screws and some other material had fallen on the road. They seemed to come from the reinforcements on his legs. She quickly bent down and picked up as many as she could find and gave them to him when he was ready. "Are you injured? What's wrong with your legs?"

"Yeah yeah I'm fine." He'd say smiling as he bent over to screw the nuts and bolt as well as screws back into his gear. He moved his shaky legs a bit to be able to do it. But once they were screwed back in they stabilized for the most part. Avoiding her last question for a moment, "I'm not injured at all I'm actually completely healed save for a few minor issues." He'd comment not looking pleased about being asked about his legs, it wasn't a good subject for him. Once he got everything screwed back into place and more stable he'd stand up in his own way and would test the braces out doing a few swats and jumps before picking up the rest of his stuff. They were still a bit wobbly but it was manageable. "I might have a bit of bruising but that's okay. I completely agree with you though. Some of the humans in this city are not the kindest people in the world. Just like anywhere else."

Cedric wasn't bothered being knocked over, it hurt like hell in his legs from the sudden jolt but it wasn't that bad. He would manage with them. "What brings you this far down south Paradox? Usually your kin don't get this far down here unless its something important." He'd ask going to pick up his bag and his map looking at it again and marking a few land marks off before turning to Paradox after he picked up another screw and screwed it into his bracers. "And do you know of any blacksmiths around? I sort of need more screws now that the other missing ones have gone to gods know where." He'd ask looking around the ground before shrugging, giving up on his search for the small parts of his bracers.
"Don't mean to interject but isn't there other places to spend the night at? Taverns and inns aren't really equipped for people like us. You're a centaur and I'm a clumsy cripple, so we both sort of get the same issues in different ways." He'd smile, "It's getting a bit late how about we find somewhere to crash and a better place to fix up my bracers?" He'd suggest, "I might need a bit of help since still missing a few parts." He'd shrug putting back on his pack before walking off the path looking at the map. "Another town should be close by, they hopefully don't know of your incident at all either and might have a smithy I can borrow." He'd say pointing at a small star on the map, "Someone showed it to me along the way. He was nice about it." Cedric would yawn a bit stretching his arms, "What brings you this far south anyways?" He'd ask turning around as he walked.

Paradox took a step back and watch Cedric adjust the bracers on his legs. He put the screws back in and tested them out. "I'm glad you're okay," she said quietly. She didn't mean to offend him if she had. "I'm sorry it was rude to ask so bluntly." She bent over and helped pick up some of his things after he stood up. He wasn't as stable as a normal person, but he seemed to be able to hold his own. Once he got his stuff together, they started walking down the road. She kept a steady on him, he mentioned that his bracers weren't as steady as they used to be and she didn't want him to fall.

She cocked an ear at him as he started asking her questions. "I travel a lot," she told him. "I'm an informal scholar in a way, or at least I want to be. I don't like being with other Centaurs. As I've grown older, I've realized how sheltered and animalistic they are, to go about each and every day like the ones before. I needed a change, so that's why I've been exploring all over Revaliir. I love to learn new things, I was in a library once. It was beautiful. Books are so fascinating." She stopped and looked over his shoulder at the map he was holding. She'd been to a few of the places she saw written on the piece of paper. 

"I'm sorry, but I don't know of any blacksmiths around. I don't really have a need for them, so I don't really seek them out. I'll help find one for you if that helps. As for a place to sleep, I don't really know of any other places. I normally just sleep under the stars or in barns or caves if I can find them. It's the same with the smithy, I don't really have a need, so I never saw of a point to look for them. I know there are a few caves up here that may be big enough, I passed them on the way into the city. We could try there if you'd like. I'm not really picky."

She gave him a small smile, she understood the difficulty of finding something convenient when you weren't the norm. She felt bad that him falling had broken his bracers more. He needed them to move around and she was partially responsible for taking away some of his mobility. She wondered if it hurt him to walk, he seemed to be struggling more the looser his bracers got. He seemed tired, after all the traveling he did, with his legs the way they were, she didn't blame him. "If you need help with anything, just ask." She had strong legs, enough for both of them if he needed a break. She straightened up taller and looked ahead. "There's a cave a little ways off the road, we can camp there. We can head to the town on your map at first light tomorrow."

“Ahhh so you must have a good few stories then, if I don’t crash immediately after we set up a fire then maybe we’ll can share a few stories of our adventures. I am sure your stories are far more interesting with you being a scholar and everything.” Cedric comments quietly looking at the sun having started it’s very slow decent down the sky. “Books are pretty neat, sort of fell out of practice lately sadly.” “Thanks for the offer. I might just actually take you up on that.” Cedric says looking at the sky, “I suppose we can bunk down in a cave. “Just don’t ask me much about my legs, to keep it sweet and simple it was an accident that happened to them.” He’d say chuckling, “Sorry but eventually if we stick together long enough someone might ask eventually and I’d rather not have much attention.” It sort of bugged him a bit that she was walking a bit slower then shenanigans could be fore him but he let it slide. She was being nice after all. The grass fel nice under his feet. It was soft and felt good. The thicker patches were his favorite. Though he could not wait for the chance to curl up under his bed roll and to take off these bracers, “Yeah you might need to help me out tomorrow until we get the new parts hopefully otherwise it’ll be a long travel back north.” They were following the way that Paradox has been showing him towards the cave. 

Paradox walked along with Cedric and kept with his pace. She turned her head and looked at him as he started talking. She saw him look to the sky and she followed. The sun was had set faster here than she was used to, perhaps it was from being so far south. She'd heard about things like that happening near the poles and wondered if it was the same. She heard him mentioned his legs and she dropped her ears sadly. "I'm sorry to hear that," she said quietly. They had reached the cave and she stopped to let him enter first. She followed him, ducking her head underneath the ceiling. Her eyes adjusted to the dark and she walked slowly over to the far wall of the cave. 

She found a relatively even spot, took her horse blanket out of her saddlebag, and laid it on the stone. She carefully folded up her front legs, bringing her hindquarters up under hear, and then neatly laid down on the blanket. She tucked her back legs up under her and flicked her tail across them. Afterward, she turned around and started undoing her saddlebags from her side. She set both of them down next to her and slipped off her bardiche and its respective sheath. She stretched and sighed. The cave was nice, quiet and secluded. It would for tonight. She took out some lumps of coal and some sticks she kept in her bag. She didn't need a fire, but she knew Cedric would appreciate it, at least that's what the reactions of the past several humans she'd encountered had been. Humans generally liked fire.

She put the pile of coal and wood in the center of the cave. She folded one front leg over the other and scraped her front hooves off each other, creating a small stream of sparks. The wood and coal caught shortly and she was content with her little blaze. She could add to it later if she felt the need to. Surely it would get colder by the time darkness fell. She took a small portion of food out of her bag and chewed it thoughtfully as she watched him, she tried hard not to stare. She was tempted to ask more questions about his legs, like if they hurt when he walked, or if there was anything she could do to help make his going a little easier. 

She watched him when he took his braces off and decided to compliment his handiwork instead of pry into his personal business. "Did you make those," she asked him. She looked over the equipment from her side of the cave. She didn't want to invade his privacy. "They are very well done. You definitely have talent in craftsmanship." She perked her ears forward. She refrained from asking more and decided to focus on other tasks. She took her blade out of its sheath and started filing the end with a whetstone. 

Cedric looks around the cave setting down his sleeping bag, un buttoning it amd laying out the wool blankets and the fluffy cotton blanket and normalmente blanket as well. He’d sit down on it looking around watching the fire flicker off the walls and listening to the sounds of the cave. A few sounds of water trickling and dripping down the stones and other areas. The sound of a few bags as well but how else was that expected, the air had a bit of a nip though as well but it wasn’t as bad with the fir. It was nice and warm. Once he got his braces off he’d hear what Paradox asked him and her compliment, “Yeah my mother helped me as well when we were making these. Thank goodness for a resourceful mother, I’d probably still be working on them now if it wasn’t for her.” He’d chuckle smiling at the memories as he rubbed his legs a bit.”It was quite frustrating at time but with trial and error we got a pair of bracers that suited me and my….. issues. It was nice to be able to work ome something with mother also and when I was finally abke to walk better it was like heaven to be honest.” He’d sigh lost in thought for a minute.slowly Cedric would look over the braces taking note on what he needed to replace and what needed to be repaired some or just cleaned up. So he would take out a few cleaning things and would dust off a few things before putting them down next to him and taking out his a put it under his bed roll curling up under the covers watching the fire nibbling at a few bits of foods. He was quite tired so eventually he would curl up some and relax, “What are you eating over there? Never mind…. Wake me if you need me….” He’d ask her sounding like a slightly giddy tired person as he was drifting to sleep rapidly before falling asleep completely covered up by his blankets. Exhausted from the day he would enter a rather deep sleep like normal.

Paradox listened to him speak, continuing to work on her bladed weapon before putting it aside. He seemed to take great pride in his mother. From his voice, it sounded like he missed her dearly. She didn't know what it was like to only have a single mother. All the mare Centaurs took care of the foals when they were born. The Herd Mothers. Biology and bloodlines made no difference to them, they treated all the foals the same. The same with the Herd Fathers. They were very good about not showing favoritism amongst the foals. She didn't feel a particular attachment to just one Father or Mother. They were all the same to her.

She grabbed her bedroll and tucked it underneath of her. She stretched out a final time before folding her arms under her head and resting on the roll of bedding. She stared out the entrance of the cave, making out vague shapes in the darkness. She flipped an ear as she heard some of the night noises begin. Common things, but quieter since it was cooler here than normal. She kind of liked it, the cold kept the bugs away, which was something she was grateful for. Like horses, Centaurs were not the biggest fans of bugs, flies, and other things. She sighed and closed her eyes. She soon fell away into a contented sleep.

After a few hours past, the amount of which Cedric didn’t know but judging by the smoke smoldering from what was once the fire it was a while. He’d toss and turn for a moment grumbling a few choice words about his sore legs trying to go back to sleep before sitting up defeated. He’d toss off the blankets and would take his braces and fiddle with hem using what light he has. But after years of the same thing he’d be able to put them on after a bit of tweaking, once he was done the nip was still there so he’d snuggle up under a few of his layers while sitting. Lstening to the sounds of the cave and the sound of Paradox sleeping quietly. All the while he was rubbing his legs trying to warm them up and their muscles. Eventually he’d get some breakfast and quietly pack up his stuff before heading out of the cave to sit outside in the morning sun warming up as much as he could still in a few of his blankets. The He wine was stirring but a few little bird were tweeting. All of a sudden he’d feel a small pair of talon prick into his head and would preen itself. Laughing some he’d pick up the creature. Looking at the barn owls heart shaped face and it’s beautiful eyes he’d hug it gently. The barn owl was a beautiful darker color with lighter flecks and it carried a bit of food for them as well. Taking the food he’d split to meat evenly between them, mostly it was halfway cooked but it was food which he ate while he was waiting for Paradox to get up. “Long night and day for you little one. Get some sleep.” He’d tell the owl as it snuggled into his hood puffing up as he scratched it. Even in the sun his legs were still killing him, “We’re gonna be out of this pole as soon as we get those parts buddy don’t worry. Then we’ll be warm and we can do our stuff again.”