The inn wasn't hard to find; it was one of the few two-story buildings in town, and also one of the only brick buildings. Jon wondered why that was, but she didn't really know enough about historical architecture to make an educated guess; maybe it had been built before this was a logging town? She shrugged it off as not that important as she and Karyn reached the front door.
She was, for whatever reason, expecting something like a cross between the Prancing Pony and the Mos Eisley cantina as she stepped inside, but it was actually a cheery little establishment that looked like a more primitive version of an British pub. There was a fireplace down at one end of the room, with some unknown animal roasting on a spit. Taking a deep breath, Jon walked up to the counter. "How much for lunch?" she asked.
The man behind the counter smiled. "Two coppers, Miss, and one apiece for drinks after the first one."
Jon nodded and placed two copper coins on the counter. The man handed her a plate with half a loaf of bread on it and drew a mug of some kind of alcoholic-looking beverage for her, then nodded toward the roasting whatever-it-was. Karyn grabbed a tiny little mug from a stack on the counter and followed her over to the fireplace. Jon looked at the roasting carcass; chunks were missing from it and there was a fork stuck in its side, so it wasn't too difficult to figure out. She ripped off a strip of meat, and she and Karyn sat down at a nearby table.
"You think the booze is a good idea?" Karyn asked.
Jon shrugged. "We're not in Kansas any more, Karyn," she said. "Besides, if I remember right, they used to drink weak ale instead of water because the alcohol killed any bacteria. I dunno about you, but I think this trip is enough trouble without dysentery."
"Point taken," Karyn said, dipping her little mug into Jon's. Jon took a sip and made a face. "Also," she said, "I'd have to actually develop a taste for this stuff before I'd want to drink too much of it."
Karyn chuckled, tearing a chunk off of Jon's meat slab. "You all meet in an inn..." she began, in her best narrator voice. Jon laughed. "I doubt it," she said. "We don't even know what our goal is, much less why anyone would want to accompany us."
"Well, you know," Karyn said, "it's just the kind of thing that happens in a place like this. We'll just be sitting here minding our business, and someone will come up to us and say something like 'say, you look like the sort to be interested in...' and there you have it! Instant job interview."
Jon chuckled. "Well, I'll believe that when I see it. So do we want to stick around for a day and get those clothes, then?"
"I'm voting yes," Karyn said. "We could both use more than one set of clothes, and we should also check around and see if anyone knows anything about how we can get home."
"Yeah, good point," Jon replied. "I wonder if they have libraries around here?" She chewed on her meat for a while, then sighed. "Karyn...what do we do if we can't find a way back? Or what if it's too dangerous?"
Karyn thought for a bit. "I dunno," she said. "I guess we'd just have to make the best of it."
"I guess so," Jon murmured, but she wasn't really sure. "Make the best of it?" Could she accept such a huge change not just in her life, but in her own body? She didn't know, and she really hoped it wouldn't come to that.
"Excuse me," said a voice. Jon and Karyn looked up to see a young woman, about their age. She was tall and slender, with rich green hair that fell down past her buttocks and smooth, pale skin that also had a green tinge to it. She was clad only in leafy vines, which were wrapped artfully around her torso; Jon was a little disconcerted that this didn't seem to inspire any kind of reaction in her, but she tried not to think about what that might imply.
"I overheard you talking about libraries," the girl said, pulling up a chair by Jon and Karyn's table. "There's only one library in this part of the continent, but I can tell you where it is."
Karyn smiled. "Thanks!" she said. "How do we get there?"
"Ah, that's the problem," the girl replied. "It's up past the northern mountains, but the only passage across the mountains has been taken over by a band of goblins. I've been wanting to go there, but I can't take on a whole group of them by myself. But with a dragonkin to handle the fighting, we might be able to make it work!"
As lost as she was in trying not to figure out what she thought about the half-naked plant-girl sitting with them, it took a moment for Jon to realize that the girl was talking about her; she didn't catch on until she noticed Karyn mouthing "told you" across the table. "Huh?" she said, snapping back to reality. "Oh, yeah. Well, to be honest, I've never really had any combat experience..."
The dryad shrugged. "That's okay," she said. "It's not like they're all that skilled; they mostly just have strength in numbers. I know the terrain on the pass pretty well, so we can stay hidden and deal with them a few at a time. And your pixie friend is probably a mage, right?" Karyn nodded. "Right. So with her for fire support and me for healing, I think we might really have a chance. What do you say?"
"I..." Jon wasn't quite sure what to say. Why was she suddenly in charge? Karyn was usually the one to grab the reins. Did it have to do with dragonkin being adventurers? Did it matter? This might be her only chance for a long while to find out how to get home. "Uh, yeah," she stammered. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."
The dryad smiled. "Great!" she said. "You can call me Sylvia; that's what everybody around here calls me."
"Right," Jon said. "That's Karyn, and I'm..." She paused for a brief moment. "...Jen."
