Pollyora Sallow has never been late to anything a day in her life. Not in her three years of training, or her 6 months at the Mountain. That is perhaps why she's disgruntled when the 7:10 train does not arrive in the station until 7:12. Two minutes behind schedule were the exact two minutes she needed to walk back to the automobile. Now their entire day would be thrown into a two minute delay.
Polly looks down at her knuckles, bruised and scratched from punching the vampire last night. One of the many that would come in the next month.
Aisla was situated at the top of the globe. Once a year, the whole country was consumed by darkness. For 30 days, Aisla would not see the sun. There would be little protection from the Vampires and other Fae creatures.
Polly herself stands out among the humans. She's a whole head taller than human women, and her green skin is covered in white patches. Being a Half-Orc, Polly could hide her tusks better than her Orc ancestors. It gave her a square jaw that matched the rest of her frame.
While watching the train pull into the station, Polly is fighting to ignore the humans slightly diverting their paths to give her space.
For that reason, Polly is surprised when a small hand tugs on her skirt.
"M'scuse me, Miss?" The little girl has thick brown hair in two braids, "I can't find my mommy."
Polly glances back at the train. Passengers were just now stepping off, it would take at least another two minutes. She could aid the small human and still be back here in time to find Harrow's guests. "Okay," Polly offers her hand to the little girl.
They walk to the ticket counter and there is a woman in a pink dress yelling at the ticket seller.
"Mommy!" the girl releases Polly's hand and races up to the woman, "Here I am!"
The woman puts her hand on top of her daughter's head and continues her verbal assault on the innocent ticket man.
"Ma'am?" Polly steps forward, "Is there an issue?"
The woman looks Polly up and down and pointedly turns to the ticket seller, "See? Now the Mountain is involved and you're going to be in trouble for withholding my belongings."
The ticket seller casts Polly a nervous look and turns back to the woman, "Ma'am, I'm just in charge of selling tickets. I don't know where your bags are."
"Well we aren't staying in the city for the Night." the woman grumbles. "I know there was a Vampire attack at the Mountain. The Heads are doing nothing about it."
Polly moves up to the window, "Ma'am, is it possible your bags are already on the train?"
The girl tugs on Polly's skirt again and motions her closer.
When Polly leans to her level, the woman reacts immediately for the first time, tearing her daughter away from the Half-Orc.
"Don't touch my child!"
Polly recoils and looks up at the human. She can easily see it in her expression. The Claw who returned her daughter hadn't been properly observed and now there was confusion. Polly straightens and faces the woman, "Ma'am? I'm going to walk with you over to the baggage line and you can see if your belongings are there."
"I'm not going anywhere with you," she sneers, "You are just here to kill us."
Polly holds her ground, "I am a Lion Claw, I work in the Mountain. I can have you arrested for making-"
"Whoa, whoa," A tall man worms his way between the two of them. "There's no need to arrest anyone, Miss…." he glances to his left, where a second man is standing.
"Pollyora Sallow," he recites after a brief study of her.
"Pollyora," the first man smiles, "Now, I thought you were supposed to wait for us over there."
Polly glares between the two new men. The first one, taller, more muscular and darker complected keeps his confident smile. The second one is the opposite, light skin and almost white hair with striking blue eyes.
The first man turns back to the woman, "Are your bags red with gold by any chance? We just saw them being loaded onto the train."
The woman narrows her eyes at the ticket seller and then at Polly, "Thank you for your assistance." She laces her fingers through her daughter's and drags her away.
The smaller man straightens his tattered scarf before offering his hand to Polly, "I'm Gunn Spearod. This is my brother, Agnes."
Polly holds her expression, watching the two brothers. According to the information she had been given, one of the brothers was Fae. The other was just a human. Looking at them, she's not sure which is which. "Which one of you is the Fae?"
They point at one another. Polly runs her tongue over her tusks, she had a feeling about these two. Nothing was serious.
Gunn sighs and picks up his bag, "Harrow is expecting us, we shouldn't keep him waiting."
The smaller of the two twins is wearing an old waistcoat and ratty scarf. She thought Harrow wasn't serious about the twins strolling out of the forest. Apparently, he was.
Agnes isn't in any better shape than his brother. The same worn shirt and trousers, except this brother wears a knife on his leg.
They follow Polly back to the automobile and squish into the seat beside her. Gunn pulls out a leather notebook and begins scribbling things down.
"What was that human saying about the Mountain being attacked?" Agnes asks. He's fidgety and it makes driving difficult.
Polly keeps her attention on the road. She's not purposely ignoring him, but he should have already been told these things.
"Fine," Agnes leans back in the seat, "Don't tell me. But I thought since we are here to help you-"
"Last night five Vampires breached security into the Mountain. Fortunately, they were stopped at the second gate. We captured one, but the others were killed in the dispute." Polly states the facts, nothing more.
Gunn finally seems interested, "Is it a Turned Vampire or a Born one? Were they from the same Coven?"
"He's…" Polly stops herself. Despite being the one to take out the captured Vampire, she didn't know anything about him. "Complicated."
Gunn and Agnes share a confused look between themselves before falling into silence.
Polly is relieved when the Mountain comes into view ahead of them. "Spearod Twins, Welcome to the Mountain."