<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline">Didion</span></div><br/><br/>He had just arrived the day before, and already he was unimpressed. Didion had never seen or visited a town like Gandara before, and had only come across a few smaller villages on his travels from the mountains. His nose was chronically crinkled up, the smell of the place was utterly horrendous for his dainty nose. There were so many people, and different<span style="font-style: italic">kinds</span>of people, walking around in the open and rudely shoving their ways past Didion. At first he paused every time someone bumped in to him, turning and waiting quite patiently for an apology. When  none followed, he felt his temper start to flare and at one point he burst out with expletives and immediately found himself sprawled on the ground. After that he did his best to hug the walls of the town, avoiding contact with people as much as possible as depression began to settle in. This was not what he had expected. Nobody cared who he was, nobody paid him attention, and everyone<span style="font-style: italic">smelled</span>. Did personal hygiene not exist in big towns? He found himself sniffing involuntarily, a particularly rancid smell filling his nostrils. As he inadvertently shifted his head about following the smell, he found that his head was slowly moving downwards…to the crook of his arm…He jolted as soon as he realized the source of the smell, stumbling backwards slightly and pressing himself up against the nearest wall.<br/><br/>Quickly he glanced from side to side to see if anybody was near him, could potentially smell his odor. Sticking his hands under his arms in a way that cupped his armpits seemed like the most logical solution until he could find himself a bath. Didion walked around as such, clearly uncomfortable with his present situation, and headed back to the room he found for an incredible price! It was a fairly big area, and covered in hay, and the horses were incredibly obnoxious and rude, but he found the room for so cheap that he just couldn’t refuse. They were even nice enough to put a wooden tub filled with water in the stall-like hotel room he was in. Immediately he dunked himself in and scrubbed away until the fleshy part of his body was red. He shook his head out, his little tail furiously working off the water, and then headed back out feeling alive and fresh again. Didion saw an apple outside one of the stalls one of the horses was in, picked it up gingerly and began to bring it up towards him. He took a bite, chewing thoughtfully, and then rubbed the apple underneath his armpits for safe measure before throwing it into the stall. The horse in there gave an angry whinny, but Didion paid no mind. They were just filthy animals, after all.<br/><br/>When he exited the stall he noticed a different sort of hustle and bustle from the crowd. He paused, hands on his hips, trying to place just what was different and then a scream pierced the air. Nearly jumping out of his skin, Didion instinctively crouched very low, his hands hovering over his head for protection. As he turned to head back into the stalls his eyes widened as a very large, terrifying shadow creature seemed to be racing towards him.  Didion froze, his legs refusing to move. Paralyzed with fear, his heart nearly pounding through his chest, he braced himself for imminent death.  Just as the creature was on him Didion closed his eyes.<span style="font-style: italic">This is it</span>he thought,<span style="font-style: italic"> and I didn’t even find myself a mate!</span>A rush of air made his hair fly back and send goose pimples across his skin, and then all was calm for a moment. He peeked an eye open slowly, until both opened and he straightened himself out. He was alive, and not only that, but unharmed!<br/><br/>“Gods be good!” he exclaimed as he turned to look behind him where the shadow figure went.  Why wasn’t he dead, though? And who is the shadow thing looking for? That familiar prickle on his skin, the familiar spark of energy and light feeling in his chest overcame him as his adrenaline spiked. He had to know. Didion turned and raced after the shadow thing, practically soundless on his hooves. As he ran he began to notice fire on the roofs of the buildings and in various locations. He tried not to get distracted as he continued onward.<br/>Following the shadow thing was harder than he anticipated, as people couldn’t help but get in his way. Not only that, but he found that it wasn’t just this one shadow creature in the city, but a whole hoard of them. He would see one, pause for a moment and then run after that one, then find another one heading a different way and follow that one, and then another one and round a corner and…..<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">SMACK!</span><br/><br/>Didion felt himself hit what felt like a wall, and then his hands were floundering around in the dirt trying to find something to hold on to. As he tried to get himself up he began to say heatedly, “You know you could watch where ya' going you dirty smut!”