Good days

Stopping dead, he stared in disbelief down at her. “My what now?”

“Your trial, silly! You know, those things that criminals get before they’re sentenced for breaking a law!” she dismissively explained, turning around and waving for him to follow.

Getting to his feet and walking after her, his thoughts raced. “I’m not sure I follow you - hell, I didn’t even know this land belonged to anyone!”

“It’s alright” she snickered, “then again, I guess it’s understandable that you wouldn’t know about it."

He was trying to compile everything in his mind, he had just arrived in a strange world, he was in a strange place, he was talking to a strange creature, he would be judged by strange laws and more strange beings, the only thing he could get out of it was "All this is strange"

The thought aloud was obviously picked up by autumn that says “Lucky for you,” she continued, shooting him a smile, “I might just have a way for you to weasel out of this situation scot-free.”

Walking to her side, he studied her face. There was a chance that he could book it, but that didn’t seem like a good or practical idea. He was in unfamiliar territory, had no idea where he was heading, and he had a sneaking suspicion that her gnarled horn wasn’t simply for show. Whether she was fully aware of it or not, in spite of his superior size, she had him in a corner.

“I’m listening,” he muttered, keeping an even tone.

"Our ruler, Rainshine, is a listener and for sure she will listen to you, we haven't judged anyone for several moons either," Autumn stated, leading him along an almost invisible path.

Shaking his head and rubbing his temples, having a sneaking feeling as to what was coming, Dylan’s smile faltered. “And…?”

“And that’s just where you come in, mister dragon slayer,” she giggled, slowing to elbow him in the calf.

"Okay, just hold on there," he huffed, stopping in his tracks. "Before me discuss any supposed argumentative plans, you're going to answer a few questions for me and let me take a shower somewhere."

“I don’t know about a shower, but I can show you where you can take a bath,” she countered.

“That’s better than nothing, I guess,” he sighed, waving for her to continue, “lead the way.”

As he followed along beside her, being taken to God knows where, she gave him the answers he'd been looking for—well, most of the time. Apparently his tribe was small and relatively isolated, having almost no dealings with creatures of any kind, so they didn't know who he was and the transgressions he had committed. According to Autumn, the kirin had lived alone for several moons and were happy enough to keep to themselves; it was all fascinating and a little disconcerting, though not nearly as interesting as his apparent devotion to nature.

Chatting with Autumn on the way to and into her lodge, he found himself steadily warming to her company. Her sunny disposition, chattiness, and willingness to help were a far departure from the he was abitued. She’d answered every question he presented, let him use her bath, and had even offered him a few refreshments while they talked.

Were it not for the bizarre circumstances of their encounter, he genuinely wouldn’t mind getting to know her better - that being said, things were far from perfect. She couldn’t explain how he was in that world, which was a bit disappointing, but that wasn’t his chief concern at the time.

Having washed up, dried off, and changed, he walked from her hut and towards the center of the village with her. “So - uh - do you have any tips for how to win this - what was her name again - Rainsomething over?”

"Rainshine,” Autumn corrected, smirking up at him. “And, yeah, I’ve got a few. She’s mute, for starters, so don’t take her silence for a bad thing."

He pursed his lips, noticing her shivering and wiping some drool from her chin. "And are you sure we'll be able to communicate?"

“Dylan, would I lie to you?” she scoffed, balking at her doubt.

"I mean, I don't think so," he admitted. "So just go out there and do what I think is right, okay?"

"Exactly,” she affirmed, opening the door of a particularly large hut. “Don’t worry, I’ll be right here to keep an eye on you.”

“Your majesty,” Autumn loudly says, stepping inside and bowing, “I bring an exotic visitor.”

Dylan’s eyes were drawn to the far end of the dimly lit cottage, where he spotted who could only be Rainshine. Laying atop a dias, garnet-like eyes twinkled in the soft light, she raised her head. Though she bore many similarities to the other kirin he’d seen in the village, she was much larger than her kin, similar in size to an alicorn, and her horn was positively massive.

“Psst -” Autumn hissed, catching the ear of Dylan, “that’s your moment to spoke.”

Dylan moves to the center of the room and fixes his eyes on the Kirin leader, their current judge. His face is serious and he begins with a firm tone, "It's an honor and a privilege to meet a real beauty like you." Autumn is mildly surprised to see the defendant's sudden change of character.

He continues in an even tone "I believe that you, as a representative of peace, responsibility, fraternity and consequently justice, will rationally look at my miserable situation." He checks the housekeeper and her posture says she's paying attention but can't make any other conclusions with her expressionless face.

Dylan quickly looks to the side to see if Autumn is approving what he says. She is sitting with her headdresses on, her gaze between the man and the leader, she also seems to be curious about how he arrived in the region.

He continues "I found myself in a place that I suppose was far from here, however, by an apparent magical force with which I have no involvement, it brought me to this world. Finally, I ended up - without purpose and for not knowing the borders - to violate the territorial space of your lordship. As you can see from my form, I don't have any accessories that give me any power, which reinforces my non-involvement with magic, I am completely fragile and slow. I firmly believe that your final evaluation will be totally without prejudice. "

Dylan feels a little nervous as he sees Rainshine get up, she's looking straight at him, as if she wants to spot any signs of lying. The leader nods to Autumn who seems to agree. "She asked you to leave for now," he tells Kirin. Dylan on the outside is solemn, commanding a certain level of respect, on the inside he's burning up in flames. Autumn had said that he wasn't supposed to take offense at the fact that kirin were mute, but this silence was killing him.

He formally withdraws. Outside he surveys the region, the kirin look at him curiously but then go back to their usual routine, forgetting about their semi-prisoner. Dylan realizes he could easily get away. He could make a run for it and easily manage to slip into invisibility in the bush. He tried to see how the Kirin would go about capturing and holding him but it was hard to imagine these short beings using any kind of violence.

He chases that idea out of his mind, he prefers to do the right thing. There are benefits in following the steps established by the creatures that denoniman kirins, he gets, for the time, some shelter and food. If it weren't for Autumn's hospitality, he would be in a catastrophic situation as he wouldn't be able to find food and in fact, when he arrived at his captor's tent, he was already in extreme nutritional deficiency.

Dylan walks and soon arrives Autumn's tent, it was on a small elevation of the land and was next to some other houses, all of wood. Both externally and internally it was primitive, but somehow warm and cozy, even more so than in her apartment. On the modest hill it was possible to look at the small village that was surrounded by trees and a few meters away there was a stream, from which the inhabitants got water which made it constantly visited.

A question runs through Dylan's mind, what if he was convicted? Even though it wasn't his control that he was in the world, he didn't fall directly into kirin territory, he had to walk a long way before he was found. Autumn said that Rainshine hadn't judged anyone for countless moons, which the man assumed was a long time. If the representative of that village strictly follows its constitution, taking to the letter what was written by perhaps his ancestors, it is likely that he will end up being sentenced indeed.

But what kind of sentence would it be? Would he be detained somewhere? Would they use magic and turn him into some animal for the purpose of slave labor? If Dylan had to choose either option, he would choose banishment. This is most likely because the judgment certainly serves to determine whether the intruders are harmful to their population, as they live isolated in a remote region, they rarely need to use legal means to remedy the situation regarding the invasion of territory.

They also did not seem to have a legislative system of their own based on written laws. It could just be a prejudice but they seemed to live commutatively and problems would be easily resolved centrally in acts of good faith as they are mute and the fine art and paintings that are easily seen seem to strengthen this idea.

Dylan notices the door of the big tent open and leaves Autumn looking both ways as if trying to find someone, she looks in his direction and then starts walking towards him. A small amount of anxiety creeps into the body but luckily his earlier mental exercise has kept him a little more stable.

Autumn arrives with her natural joy and sweetly says "I looked for you all over the village, I even thought you ran out with your arms up while screaming!"

Dylan starts to fold his arms, not that he didn't like what Autumn was saying, in fact her presence calmed him down, but he's tense, he wants to find out what that voiceless mouth says so much.

"I'd be lying if I said I hadn't considered that possibility," says the man. "Why don't we go into your house first of all?"

Autumn nods and adds in a wry tone "Yeah, when you pass out you won't fall and hit your head on the floor" When they enter she asks "Do you want to know the bad news or the good news?"

"The bad one," Dylan pronounced as he sat in a chair, trying to avoid the captivating eyes of the Kirin in front of him.

Autumn also sits down. "Well, unfortunately, sadly and horribly we will have a hiuman still eating my food" says Kirin happily.

Both the news and Autumn herself caused any negative feelings to be defused in Dylan. Even expecting this result, he cannot let a little satisfaction flow.

Dylan looks out the window and notices that the sun has already set and its glow is dim. He was so focused that he lost track of time. Tonight will be your first night in a more natural way, it will be good to be rested so you know what to do next.

"I'm sorry for going to bed early Autumn, but I really need to rest, things have been really hard for me" says the man who at the end of the sentence lets out a mouthwash.

Autumn looks at the room where there is a bed for guests, "Of course, the region where princes sleep is right there"
she says with her empathetic smile.

Dylan says getting up from his chair and going "Thanks Autumn, I really don't know what it would be like without you"

The kirin gets her white face a little flushed but she quickly reverts to her cheerful posture and says "Maybe dead"

The man, with the door half open, looks at the mare "Don't be too hard on me, you know how sensitive my heart is"

The white mare giggles, this being the man's permission to sleep.

The bed was a comfortable mattress and had a window from which the wind constantly blew. A very pleasant room by the way. Dylan closes his tired eyes and waits to fall asleep, banishing any random thoughts.