Wordcount: 558
Rating/Warnings: PG
Summary: Word War! Blue and the gang enter the City of Hills.

NOTE: This is a very rough draft with no editing at all (per National Novel Wiriting Month rules) and is presented for amusement value only. Think of it as a periscope into my writing process rather than a coherent story!

There will most likely be spelling and grammatical errors afoot as well as flat out bad writing, info dumps, plot holes, contradictions/retcons, uneven characterization and pacing. These snippits are also posted out of order, so please refer to the Outline to figure out where it’s supposed to fit.

~*~*~*~*~

The Gilded Cage

Beyond the walls the city rose up like massive stone hills. Some of the massive stone pyramids even had rows of green where thin rows of crops lined the edges of the walkways. It was hard to tell the size of the larger ones, distance and scale was so massive that it tricked the brain.

The man in red led them through a series of tunnels and paths that ran between and through parts of the hills. It was a short walk, but they were so taken in with the sights and sounds of the strange city that they didn’t really notice.

“I hate to do this,” the man in red said, “but the people you will need to talk to will not be available for some hours yet. Would you mind relaxing in these rooms until that time? We can bring food and drink, there are baths and beds if you would prefer to sleep. We don’t expect the wait to be more than a handful of hours, but you know how governments are. We do apologize, but your arrival has caught us at a loss.”

“Not a problem,” said Nathan polietly, “you couldn’t have known when we would be coming through.”

“Although how you knew we were coming at all is something I’m interested in.” Mutter Horn, but quiet enough that only Blue heard him. “I don’t trust them.”

“If you don’t mind,” said Blue, “I could use with something to eat and a bit of a rest wouldn’t be bad. I haven’t had a proper bath in ages.”

“Since you got in the city, I’d expect.” Said Sara, “She doesn’t offer them, showers save water and she’s skimpy with her resources.”

“So a bath and food and maybe a nap,” said the man in blue, “sounds like a plan to me!”

The women in blue motioned for Sara to follow them and amused, she let herself be lead to the right coridor. The man in red led the boys to the left, although there was some hesitation by Blue to leave her alone.

“I give you my word we mean you no harm and that she will be fine.” Said the man in red. “I know you have no reason to trust us at this point, but I ask that you give us the chance.”

Blue nodded, annoyed but he couldn’t think of a poliet way to point out that they were basically hostages, no matter how polite the man in red was about it all.

The man in red lead them down the twisting hallways to a set of adjoining rooms. There was a large very comfortable looking bed in each and the two rooms shared a set of hot baths where water moved from level to level melding with cooler water as it flowed down the internal hill. It like the outside of the buildings.

Horn made a happy chirping noise and clibmed down Blue as fast as he could to get to the water. He might hate swimming, but the elf was inordinately fond of warm baths. Blue still wasn’t sure how to work that bit out in his head so that it made sense.

“I’ll send someone in with food and drink in a bit, for now enjoy yourselves! I will let you know as soon as the others are available.”