"All right, fair." Adym responded.

"We would have still lost time, though. And that is a luxury we do NOT have." he reasoned. "So, it's still a massive relief we have the eyes of the forest looking out for us." he chuckled.

"Let's keep moving forward." he then said.

The rest of the journey was uneventful, with the occasional guidance from the guardian. But after some time, and a serious trek, they found themselves emerging from the forest, to see the sprawling ocean in the distance, and a city situated right at the shore.

"Well, we made it." Adym said.

"Let's get there ASAP and get our boat tickets as soon as we can."

The guards that were stationed there nodding towards them as they stepped through the archway that led to the city.

"Welcome to Dweldyn. Enjoy your stay, and do not cause unrest." he told them. They nodded in response, and Adym chuckled as Callie made her statement about being in a city.

"I have mixed feelings on it." he admitted. "But I can understand where you're coming from." he told her.

"Our first stop should be the port, itself." he then said.

"We need to see if we made it in time, and get our tickets if we did." he continued. "Then worry about everything else after." he went on.

"But at least we made it here safe and sound." he continued.

"Bless the Guardian." he finished.

He swore he knew them. They were striking SUCH a chord of familiarity in his mind, that he hadn't realised he had stopped walking. And Callie then noticed that he wasn't with her, before heading back to where he was.

"Hey." she said, trying to get his attention. "Everything all right?" she asked, snapping her fingers near his face.

This seemed to cause him to come back to his senses, and he blinked a few times.

"Huh? Wha?" he stammered, before looking at her.

"...oh, sorry, did I space out?" he asked her.

"Hard core." Callie replied. "Something wrong?" she asked.

"No, no..." Adym responded. "Just... thought I saw someone I knew? I think?" he answered her, though he still seemed quite confused. "I don't know how to explain it." he sighed.

Adym shook his head.

"No, no, it's fine." he said, looking around. "I don't see anyone that looks like that now. So... for all I knew, my eyes were playing tricks on me." he continued. "I'd rather not take time to search for something or someone that... very well could not have been there, and I was imagining it. It'd be a waste of time." he reasoned with a light chuckle.

"Besides, if it really was who I thought it was... then it's not even a worry." he assured her.

"Let's just deal with the tickets and be done with it." he said further, as they made their way to where the tickets were being sold.

"When is the next trip?" he asked the attendant, a larger man that looked capable of handling an unruly citizen or two.

"Tomorrow at sun-up." the man responded.

"Looks like we JUST made it in time." Adym told Callie, before looking at the man again.

"Two for the next trip, please." he told him, handing him the funds they'd been given by the Prefect. The man nodded in response, accepting the money and giving them their tickets.

However, Callie noticed that he seemed to be... looking at them a bit TOO intently. Almost like he was sizing them up for... some reason.

Adym hadn't noticed that the man had been staring at them until Callie had brought it up, and now he was wondering if trouble was about to come their way, as he started to take a step back, in case of trouble.

"Oh! My apologies." the man responded. "But... is one your named 'Adym'?" he asked.

"...I am..." Adym replied hesitantly. "Why...?" he asked.

"I was instructed to give this to a couple that consisted of a male elf and a woman, and the elf was named 'Adym'." the man responded, before handing Adym a small and unassuming scroll, tied with simple twine.

"Oh. Thank you, then." Adym said, accepting it. Then then stepped away, as some more people were lining up to get tickets, and walked so they were out of the way, before unfurling the scroll and reading it:

Travelers,

During your night's stay in Dweldyn, I highly recommend you stay at the Port and Alehouse. They're a very nice place, and I'm sure you'll find the cost of staying there most reasonable.

Signed, a friend.

Adym scratched his head as he read the note, and then looked at Callie as she asked her question.

"Hmmm." he mumbled, thinking about it.

"Good question." he said.

"I don't know the answer, but it can't hurt to check their prices at least." he reasoned. "I mean, we DO need a place to stay for the night." he sighed. "And the sooner we find accommodations, the better." he went on.

"The last thing we need is to hole up in some lowly tavern and risk getting caught up in unsavoury business or some kind of bar brawl." he told her further, though he was worried that might be all they could afford.

"I say we exercise caution, but we don't let it turn into outright paranoia."

"Yeah." Adym agreed.

The two then made their way to the inn mentioned in the note, and stepped through the doors. The first thing they noticed was that it was definitely a nicer place. It wasn't a palace, or nobility wouldn't be staying here, but it was certainly no bottom-tier hovel. It was probably as upper-middle class as this realm got. If Callie were to liken it to something from where she had been torn from, she'd say this was a nice hotel. Not the best, but certainly very comfortable.

"...this place CAN'T have reasonable rates..." Adym muttered.

"The heck?" he wondered, before sighing.

"Well, might as well ask." he reasoned, as they made their way to the front desk area, and he waited for the woman behind it to come over towards them. She did so after a moment, greeting them with a smile.

"Yes, how much is a basic room here?" Adym asked her, deciding to just go with the low-ball and hope it didn't shock them too much.

Adym was silent as she said this.

'Okay, what the hell.' he thought. 'First the attendant for the tickets, and now THIS?' he wondered. He then sighed silently, before gathering himself and remembering what he'd said to Callie. Caution, but not paranoia. Even though he had to admit that this was starting to get a little suspicious, to understate it.

"...yes." he said.

"Yes, that is me." he confirmed.

"Why?" he then asked.

As he spoke to her, he kept his ears open, and shifted his gaze every so often. This didn't seem like the kind of place where an ambush would happen, or some kind of attack, but he had to be ready. He also wanted to see if anyone was suspicious, or leering at them, or if anyone seemed... off.

Adym accepted the key and thanked the lady, before they stepped off to the side, and he sighed.

"That's... a fair assumption." he admitted. "I AM a bit of a loner and an oddity." he said. "I'm an elf that doesn't live among my people, so... it's only fair to be rather isolated." he went on. "Comes with the territory of my chosen lifestyle, I suppose." he went on.

He then paused for a moment, thinking about that word, though. 'Friend'.

"...here." he said, handing her the key.

"I want to look at the note again." he told her as she accepted it, and he unfurled the note once more.

"Let's head to the room." he said further, his eyes running over the words written on the paper.

"...wait a minute..." he then mumbled as they walked. "Hang on, I actually recognise this handwriting!" he realised and vocalised. "This WAS written by a friend of mine. And a very trustworthy one, at that." he told her further.

"So I think we can very safely cast all suspicions to the wayside for the night." he chuckled.

"It was weighing on my mind as well." Adym responded. "The letter from the ticket attendant was one thing, but coupling it with the free room? Yeah, things seemed TOO perfect." he went on.

"But this explains it." he continued, before pausing again. "Mostly..." he then mumbled. "I mean, it's not impossible that he'd have the money for a place like this, but... not highly likely." he told her. "Makes me wonder how he was able to afford it." he went on, shaking his head. "Well, however he got the money, I know it'd be legitimate." he assured her.

"He's definitely no thief or anything. He's a straight-up guy." the elf assured her, as they finally reached the door, several floors up.

When Callie unlocked the door and opened it, they were greeted with a VERY comfortable-looking room. Overall, the colours inside were pastel and a little muted, giving the area a calming look, and there were two queen-sized beds, as well as a pair of desks and chairs, 2 drawers for clothing and items, a window with a view that oversaw the ocean, a separate area for cooking if they wanted to, and another door that one would assume led to the washroom area.

"Wow..." Adym mumbled, emitting a low whistle.

"This should be a good night's rest, indeed." he commented.