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[hr][sub][color=60cf11]Time[/color]: 7:00am; [color=60cf11]Location[/color]: Travelling to Dawnhaven → Communal Hotspring[/sub]

The air was still and calm, save for the soft ticking of a pocket watch, the hands counting out each second as glassy eyes blinked to take in its information. It was morning alright, not that Céline could tell from the movement of the heavens. How long had she been wandering under this sunless sky since she heard of Dawnhaven? Weeks now it felt like, weeks of careful movement, of evading Lunarian forces and even those of her kind that went feral. The world was a dangerous place and the blight had only made it moreso. Danger like that never stopped the young doctor however, it never stopped her from diving headfirst into the belly of the beast if it meant she could save lives. It was for that very conviction that she found herself in Lunaris, despite hailing from Aurelia, despite being ‘re-born’, even if it meant she was to be run out of town for just existing. The concept wasn’t new though, just rehashed.

Closing the pocket watch and hoisting her travel pack up tighter, Céline crunched through the light snow making her way down the incline. From her vantage point she couldn’t see the town itself, but the thin plumes of smoke from fireplaces was present. Dawnhaven, she had first overheard some soldiers speaking of it, a town where humans and blight-born co-exist, where the prince and princess of both kingdoms preside. It sounded almost too good to be true, not many humans had shown her much kindness after her transformation. Céline had been fortunate enough to retain most of her human features, though the massive hairy ears protruding from the top of her skull placed her square in the realm of uncanny. To be entirely fair, even when she first awoke to her new form it was unsettling, even more-so when she discovered that the new protrusions had entirely replaced her ear. Adjusting to her new level of hearing was the most difficult, but once she got the hang of what to tune in on, she found them to be incredibly beneficial.

She stopped walking, she could hear something to the right of her. Her ear twitched and rotated around in its socket, picking up the minute sounds of flowing water, footsteps in the snow and something being brushed around…covered over? Whatever it was, curiosity had her coloured and stealthily Céline made her way through the trees, careful not to cause too much noise. As she approached the clearing, she sidled up to a tree and what she saw next filled her with shock, awe and a sense of hope. There he was, another man and yet not a man, some could say an angel or perhaps a demon, but he was just another result of the same cause; blight-born. Strangely pale, covered head and body in feathers, holding some sort of…sign post? He seemed thoughtful, happy, beautiful even in the moonlight silhouetting his frame. Had the winged man stayed any longer, Céline might have felt compelled to approach. Alas, the powerful wings launched the man upward, whatever trance she was under gone as she watched the form head towards a small town below. Was this Dawnhaven? Has she finally arrived? The other blight-born could have been a hunter on the prowl, but something about his demeanor told Céline that it couldn’t have been the case.

Emerging forth from the treeline Céline stepped to where the winged man had been, finding a small gathering of his feathers on the ground. Crouching down to inspect, she picked up one of the feathers, it was sleek, oiled, perhaps for water resistance? Though she was curious to inspect it more, Céline decided to collect it in a pouch for now and save it for future study when she had access to more equipment. Returning to an upright position she began to walk towards the town when a sudden realization hit her. Turning she saw what appeared to be a hot spring, she had been so enthralled in gazing at the winged man that she failed to notice the steaming pools of water nearby. At the very least she knew where the running water was coming from, and standing by them, she could feel the heat emanating from them. Weather and temperature hadn’t bothered her since the transformation, more than likely a side effect of it along with her other features. Even so, she could still feel cold and warmth and right now, Céline knew she was more than just a little frigid. Would it be considered uncouth? A stranger to this place, without even introducing themselves, happily taking advantage of what is more than likely a local commodity for the public to use. Taking another look at her watch only some fifteen or so minutes had gone by; was anyone even awake at this point? Céline gazed at the inviting warmth, weighing her options…screw it.

Céline approached the springs, careful to take off her traveler boots before unceremoniously chucking them to the ground and rolling up her pant legs. She’d been walking for weeks now, taking only a few hours at a time to rest at most. She stepped into the water, taking her time to adjust to the temperature before standing knee deep at the water's edge. Sighing the hare like woman sat on a flat rock by the edge, massaging her fingers into her calves and soles. People weren’t awake yet, as far as she was aware anyway, even if someone caught her at the spring, it wasn’t like she couldn’t outpace them. If the rumors behind this town were true though, would she really have any reason to need to run though?
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[sub][color=60cf11]Mentions[/color]: Pleiades [@The Savant][/sub]