"Grim? Grim, where are you?" Alyssa weaves through the crowd, her attention split between the ground and the milling passengers now filling the port. As she scans the area, she silently berates herself for letting herself be separated from her familiar... again. It seemed harmless enough to let Grimalkin roam the docks just an hour earlier, when the port was relatively empty. But as soon as the first whistle of the ferry had split the mists, the waiting area had suddenly become so full... Alyssa notices a mass of grey approaching from her right, and sidesteps an anthro lupine and his feral companion moments before being barreled over.<span style="font-style: italic">Goodness, that wolf must have been at least five feet tall!</span>The short tiefling's gaze follows the shaggy pair for a moment until they walk past a grassy patch, and her attention is drawn to a white shape outlined against the green.<br/><br/>"There you are!" Alyssa ducks through the crowd, taking advantage of the dire wolf's wake, and kneels next to Grim. Two slitted golden eyes regard her with disinterest as she unshoulders her pack and opens a side flap. "You had me very worried, wandering off in this crowd- what if you had run into a predator? Now, hurry and get into your pouch, we're about to miss the ferry!"<br/><br/>Grim doesn't budge an inch, glaring as only a cat can while her so-called "owner" gestures futilely to her open pack.<br/><br/>"Please? I've made sure to let it air, and there's a bed made from some of the softer things..." Alyssa glances over her shoulder to make sure the gangplank is still lowered, just in time to notice the ticketmouse making the last call. "Drat," she mutters, and scoops Grim up and into her backpack before she can protest.<br/><br/>"Coming!" she calls, fumbling for her ticket as she sprints to the gangplank.<br/><br/><br/>Alyssa is one of the last to board, and consequently finds herself... somewhat pressed for space, to state it charitably. Thankfully, she's just slender enough to squeeze into one of the few open spaces on the main deck, wedged between a rather large ursine and a mixed pair of lupines- the same pair she dodged a few minute earlier, she realizes. As she settles herself into her niche, she realizes to her delight that she has another traveling companion: a miniscule winged girl perched on the railing, singing and dancing to some sort of of percussive music! Some sort of fey magic? No... she realizes the pixie is wearing some sort of miniature device that must be producing the music.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">It must be some sort of rebuilt electronic device... but where did she find such a thing? The Academy will certainly want to hear about this!</span>Brimming with questions she hopes the pixie can answer, Alyssa leans forward to address the tiny girl, but the anthro wolf next to her pre-empts her question with one of his own.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Drat... well, better to wait than interrupt and make a poor first impression. Surely there'll be another opportunity before we reach our destination.</span>Alyssa takes advantage of the wolf's shift in position to reposition herself so she can catch some of the evening breeze, and opens Grim's pouch a bit to give her familiar some fresh air. Then, she settles in to wait, and to observe... perhaps the pixie will have some other surprises for them on this voyage.