Shawn
Though Vhun didn't see herself as a particularly materialistic person, she never was one to pass up a stop at a market. If nothing else, there was the opportunity to purchase random household goods, and at best there was occasionally fabric, thread and even the occasional garment worth picking apart for its material for sale. That didn't appear to be the case here, however. The market was quieter than she'd hoped, and there wasn't much of anything she found interest in.

No matter, she thought, it was a nice place for a walk even if there wasn't much use for the trip.

Except it wasn't all that nice of a place. It was just sort of near the swamp, and the people seemed to stare a lot. She didn't like it here, she decided. She couldn't control how she looked.

Vhun's appearance was decidedly strange, though she'd made every effort to be as subtle as possible. After all, outside of her familiar city there was just a bit more danger in her typical style of dress. Aside from being identifiable, it may as well have been a banner announcing that she did in fact have money on her person. 

As such, today she was dressed simply. Her torso was covered by a plain shirt, andall four of her shoulders, along with part of her wings, were covered by a knitted gray shawl. Her long, rather spindly legs were covered by a pair of black slacks and heavy brown leather boots. Despite the plain clothing, it was rather impossible for Vhun to blend into such a crowd. She was mothfolk, after all. If she'd been capable of an expression of unease, it would have been written all over her face. 

 Her face remained as unreadable as ever, antennae twitching. She'd settled in front of a stand selling what she thought to be somewhat unimpressive baskets, pretending to examine one. In truth, her focus lay just about behind her, watching for anyone that might get too close as she began to hatch a plan for her departure.
Eva
Another face that stood out from the crowd was that of Aria, although the reasons why were much different. At eight feet tall, the woman towered over almost everyone there, her glowing eyes looking over the crowd. Her height, the heavy armor she wore, her massive claymore, her wings, folded on her back yet still large in size, her stern and serious expression, it all made for an intimidating sight, one few people dared to approach.

She stood away from most of the stalls, helmet held under her left arm. Her long, red hair was tied up in a tight bun on her head, and with her right hand, she held her claymore, the point on the ground. It was in its scabbard still, although Aria could remove it in a matter of seconds if necessary. The thing was huge, the pommel reaching her chest, with a long hilt that allowed her to swing it with both hands - it was slightly taller than the Mothfolk wandering around the market was, actually. A normal person would find it impossible to lift, let alone swing it, but anyone who had seen Aria in battle would know that she managed to swing it as easily as if it was a little stick.

The reason why the Aasimar was here today, watching over the market, was fairly simple; she had been slaying some monsters in the nearby swamp the past few days, and needed some time to rest and relax. Whereas most people might go do something fun, maybe hang out with some friends, go watch a play, do some shopping, or even just lay down and do nothing, Aria preferred to spend her free days watching over the common folk and protect them from danger if it popped up - and this was the perfect location for that. It was relatively peaceful, but some monsters occasionally popped up, preventing her from being able to get distracted. She had to stay focused, and yet, she could rest her aching muscles without having to feel useful.
_ _

All in all, Aria would be content to spend the rest of the day like this, looking almost like a particularly realistic statue to those that didn't pay too much attention to her. Occasionally, a citizen would strike up a conversation with her, and she would be friendly and polite, but distant enough so that they eventually lost interest and didn't continue talking to her. It was a peaceful day for her, and she was enjoying the few rays of sun that managed to hit her, keeping her warm, but not too warm.

Looking around, her gaze landed on one of the many people wandering around. What... Was that? Aria had never quite seen anything like it. A monster of some kind? No, those weren't usually dressed up. Pets were sometimes given clothing, but Aria sincerely doubted that this one was any kind of animal, they looked too much like a person for that. Somewhat resembling a large moth, the Aasimar had no clue what she was looking at. Yet, she decided not to approach for now, not wanting to disturb what could be an innocent citizen. Still, she decided to keep an eye on the strange, moth-like figure, just in case.
Shawn
It didn't take long for Vhun to notice the imposing figure looming just outside the main market area. It would be hard to not notice this individual anyway, given her height, the heavy and quite out of place armor she wore, and the weapon she carried. Vhun had always considered herself to be fairly tall, standing at five foot nine, but this woman —and her weapon for that matter— dwarfed her. She couldn't imagine anyone wielding such a thing, even one so tall as Aria. It seemed like something too flashy to be owned by any sort of city-guard. Perhaps this woman was some kind of mercenary?

She was happy at least, that her own anatomy didn't require her to fully turn her head to watch Aria. By now she'd realized that this tall woman was staring at her. Dread began to pit in her stomach, an unfamiliar and certainly unwelcome feeling. She knew many weren't familiar with her species, and as such some had a tendency to make unfair or untrue assumptions as to what she was. Typically Vhun was able to simply ignore these people, or extricate herself from the situation. Her wings were a gift in that case, but this woman also seemed to be winged. That was a problem.

Her antennae flicked, wings trembling once in tandem as she thought. It might look suspicious if she suddenly turned and ran, she thought. She didn't want to be followed, or at least not followed by someone swinging a sword. The woman stood statue-still for a long moment, uneven antennae slowly flicking back toward the woman.

Another moment passed, a moment of contemplation for the moth, and then she slowly spun on her heel, turning to face Aria. For a moment, Vhun wished she'd dressed just a bit nicer. There was something to be said for at least looking like she had somewhere to be. Her lower set of hands moved to fold behind her back, upper set moving to fold at her waist. Her head slowly tilted up as she looked to Aria, keeping distance for now, but making it very clear that she had noticed her interest. There was, after all, no better option.
Eva
Of course, the woman occasionally turned her attention to the rest of the market, although she didn't move her head at all, and the glowing of her eyes made it impossible to fully tell in what direction she was looking - she could have been staring off into space, for all anyone knew. Yet, she wasn't. Her gaze was focused on the strange creature, and apparently her staring hadn't gone unnoticed.

She watched as the moth-like humanoid turned to face her, staring straight at her. Not entirely unexpected. Yet, Aria didn't move, giving off the impression that she was a statue of some kind. She continued watching every movement carefully, looking at the person fold their arms in a specific way. She really wished she could read facial expressions of some kind, but it seemed the person didn't have any. How strange... Her clothing looked somewhat plain, and Aria found it difficult to get an impression of what this person was like from them as well. Perhaps she should just go over and strike up a conversation... That would be wise, wouldn't it?

And then, she noticed it. A slight twitch in one of the shadows near the stranger, one that wasn't supposed to be there. Aria's eyes narrowed. She knew immediately what it was, and her wings spread open slightly as she unsheathed her claymore from its scabbard, the steel sharp, polished and clearly well taken care of. The scabbard, she simply let fall to the ground, along with her helmet - she doubted people would be stupid enough to steal them from someone like her. She spread her wings, and without hesitation, jumped forward, the point of her claymore pointed straight ahead of her.
_ _

She was fast, much faster than she had any right to be in that heavy armor of hers. Her wings flapped once to give her more speed, a faster start, leaving behind several white feathers. Surprisingly, she wasn't as loud as one might expect her to be, her feet barely touching the ground as she sprinted, seemingly straight at the strange person, her claymore beginning to glow a pure white light as she whispered a prayer to herself, the words impossible to hear from this distance.

But she wasn't going straight at her. No, within moments, Aria had reached the stranger, and plunged the point of her weapon straight into a shadowy creature that had emerged from the ground next to her. Or, well, tried to emerge, it was killed by the Aasimar before it had a chance to properly get out of the ground. The thing let out a screech that sounded like someone was pulling a horse in two, and then vanished, black clouds sinking back into the ground. Aria let out a sigh of relief, kind of forgetting what a fright she must have given the poor woman by charging straight at her after staring at her for so long.
Shawn
A moment passed, and Vhun found herself making direct eye contact with this strange woman. Now this was awkward. The woman wasn't approaching, and she most certainly wasn't going to be the one to initiate contact. Mercenaries certainly weren't people to be trifled with. Her lower set of hands, previously hidden behind her frame, slowly moved out and in front of her body, folding just below her upper set of hands. She didn't want it to seem like she was hiding anything.

Of course, by Vhun's own perception, this gesture of harmlessness was apparently for nothing. Before she could even fully register what was going on, the tall woman was suddenly barreling toward her with her weapon drawn. She was fast. Faster than anything that large and encumbered should have been. It was a terrifying sight to behold, and for a millisecond, Vhun was frozen in place.

This, luckily, did not last, and the mothfolk's instinct toward survival kicked in. Her spindly legs bent, then extended, the mothfolk propelling herself upward in a mighty leap. As her legs moved, so did those massive wings of hers, snapping out with no small amount of force as they beat the air. Though these wings looked just about as sturdy as thin paper, it was abundantly clear they were not so delicate. Vhun certainly didn't seem to be very worried about injury, given that the opening of her wings had knocked over just about half of the items on the table nearest to her.

She didn't, however, make any move to fly away, and instead hung just about twenty feet in the air, staring down at Aria. Though this perhaps didn't seem like it was the smartest of decisions, it was a tactical move. There was no doubt that this woman was faster than she, at least flying in a straight line, but she was heavy. Vhun was light and she was fast. She didn't want to get this woman behind her and chasing her. No, the best strategy would be to force her to take an acrobatic path and tire herself out...

These thoughts of strategy quickly faded as she caught sight of Aria's true target. Something had been behind her? How had she not seen? The mothfolk didn't speak up, instead she elected once more to wait, hanging above Aria's head with both sets of arms folded. Her legs were held curled beneath her, mostly to make certain they were out of grabbing distance, and her head was tilted down. She was waiting for an explanation, the only sound the soft sound of her wings beating air.
Eva
With the creature being so low to the ground, Aria had to crouch down low to be able to strike it, and she remained in that position for a few seconds, eyes focused on where the shadow had been. It seemed there was only one, luckily. She exhaled a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding and got back to her feet, straightening her back as she turned her attention to the strange person - only to realize they were gone. Actually... That made sense. Aria must have scared the life out of her, and frankly, the Aasimar should be glad that there hadn't been a counter attack.

Pointing her greatsword's point down and once more only taking it in her right hand, Aria was about to head back to her spot, when she noticed an odd sound above her. That sounded like... Wings. Alarmed, her gaze shot up, glowing eyes scanning the sky for where it was coming from, instinctively lifting her weapon once more. Then, she realized the sound wasn't from anything threatening, but the moth-like person that she'd been staring at just now. So she could fly as well, then? That, too, made sense. If there was one thing moths were known for, beside being attracted to lights, it was their ability to fly.

Aria stared for a moment, then lowered her head in somewhat of an apologetic gesture. She figured she owed this person an explanation of some kind, or at least an apology. "I am sorry for charging at you so suddenly," She announced, her voice clear and stern, the one of a woman who was used to being listened to. "It was not my intention to scare you." She really should have shouted out a warning of some kind, now that she was thinking about it. "All I meant to do was slay that creature that was threatening you."
_ _

The Aasimar fell quiet, then, her head still low, exposing the neck. From above, Vhun might notice the start of a scar on the back of her neck, most of it hidden beneath her armor. The point of her claymore was resting on the ground, the grip held loosely in her right hand. Aria didn't dare look up at the moth, although she would look at her if she decided to land once more. Despite the fact that she didn't sound particularly apologetic, Aria hoped that the other would accept her apology, because it was a sincere one, she genuinely hadn't meant to scare an innocent civilian that badly.
Shawn
The woman hung in the air for another long moment, her wings rhythmically beating as she stared down at Aria. She held herself in a rather strange sort of posture, arms still held crossed and legs still curled up. It almost looked like she was kneeling in midair, her head bent and antennae twitching in annoyance. She really had given her quite the scare, and Vhun wasn't certain if she should be angry about it or not. The aasamir below had without a doubt saved her from the creature on the ground, but she could have given her more warning.

However, there was no point in holding a grudge... The mothfolk hummed, her wings slowly angled down, the creature beginning to descend in a small spiral. It was a leisurely sort of descent, intentionally so. Vhun wanted her upset to be incredibly clear, especially since her face was almost certainly impossible for Aria to read. 

The mothfolk didn't speak for a long moment, instead she took her time in dusting herself off, using all four of her hands to dust herself off. This was thoroughly unnecessary, it was something that she could use to take up time. She was thinking as to what she wanted to do, or if she wanted to communicate at all. The petty side of her said to simply ignore her, but her conscience said that there was something to be said for diplomacy. Her lower set of hands slowly reached for the pouch at her hip. As was typical of her, the mothfolk did not attempt to speak Common, but rather began to shuffle through a deck of cut-parchment cards. 

She barely seemed to need to look down as she searched through, instead feeling for which corner was cut and counting from there. The selected card was missing its upper right corner, and was the second to last of this kind. It was turned to face Aria without any further ado, Vhun holding a finger in the cards place to mark it. She didn't want to re-sort her cards.

*I understand.*

The card was returned, and she set back to looking for her next phrase. There was no point in attempting to be subtle now, Vhun thought, and she'd adjusted her posture to reflect this. Her wings were held half-open now, creating what could best to described as a sort of bubble of personal space. Most wouldn't dare touch her wings, given just how delicate they appeared.

*My name is Vhun.*

This card was missing the upper left corner, and was quickly followed by one missing its bottom right corner.

*What's your name?*

A basic question, she knew, but she was quite certain any writing of a more complex question would show off the fact that her hands were still shaking.