Red Herring - First Draft

Chapter 1- First Draft

Solitaire stood up top of the hill, glaring down into the valley with a cold expression on her face. "There, we're almost there." She said. The girl turned her head to the side, her messy black hair cascading down her desaturated purple jacket. The boy she happened to be giving the stink eye was Zagreus, a young man covered head to toe in peaches and browns. He let out a few exasperated huffs as he struggled up the steep mounds of grass and filth. Solitaire simply looked him up and down and let out a small giggle upon looking at his shoes. At this he went flushed in the face and began telling her off. He had heels on. Quite a stupid choice when youre going climbing. When she'd gotten her entertainment out of that, she simply continued towards the town, humming gently as she walked. The city wasn't dreadfully far, though the sun was beginning to set and they didn't have much time to wait.
Zagreus looked exhausted. "Soli, can I please ride on your back?" He whined, giving her a puppy pout accompanied with a pathetic little whimper. Solitaire rolled her eyes in response and pulled her hands out of her pocket.
"You want that piggy-back or not, huh?" She arched her eyebrow, speaking entirely deadpan. The slightly shorter boy happily ran over and scaled her back, getting his head comfortable between her neck and shoulder.

They weren't walking for an astounding amount of time, though when they got into town the bitter wind of an Elusian night licked at them, chilling their sweat-covered faces. They were both exhausted, and the activity of the town wasn't livening them up at all. They were in a less lively area of the Elusia state, a small town named Rubicon. There were no boisterous lights or cocky salesmen spitting no-good deals at them as they walked. A much, much welcomed difference to the likes of Elusia's very own Voizo. The capital of the region. Zagreus looked around, trying to gauge where he was, and a good place to stay. He quickly clocked onto a cosy looking building. Made of cobble and a darker oak with ivy gripping to its walls. The large mushrooms clinging to the eaves of the homely building. The two headed up to the door and entered, seeing a quiet looking scene of some sort of bar or alternative carvery.

Few people sat quietly drinking, and a handful of men played a loud, drunken game of darts in the corner of the warm and surprisingly busy place. At the forefront sat a man, clearly one of those druidic slime people. Solitaire walked to him, dragging the now flustered Zagreus behind her. "So uh, how much for a room if there's any free?"
The man she was talking to simply tapped the board to the side of him, trying to keep his eyes on the people playing darts. "We've only got one room left for the night, if that's fine by you?" He offered, taking the clean and cleanly coloured black key off the wall. "Is that feller alright there?" The relatively burly man asked, gesturing gently to Zagreus. "I mean no offence, but he looks a lil' starstruck." He added.
Solitaire looked back at Zagreus and let out a sigh. "He's fine. Just a sore jaw from dropping it every time he sees a person he finds the slightest bit attractive. Come on, hand the man your money." Zagreus was clearly offended by what Solitaire said, furrowing his brows and holding his mouth open to feign shock. "Excuse you, I am not that bad." He grumbled, handing the money over to the man at the counter.
"Uhuh?" He exhaled shortly, amused. "Well whatever your affliction is, hope you recover soon little feller. Enjoy the room you two." He said, turning back to the men causing commotion again, walking over to quiet them.

Solitaire quickly pulled Zagreus up the stairs of the building, giggling at him as she went. "Heavens you couldn't have been any more plainly obvious." She ridiculed lightheartedly. "Get your ass to bed, you're so tired you're going sloppy at checkin' people out." She unlocked the door and pushed it open, looking into the nicely decorated room with a single queen sized bed. They were used to sharing a bed, it wasn't too much of an issue. Zagreus ran in and immediately claimed the right side of the bed, jumping into the soft mound of hides upon the mattress and sighing. He was not used to roughing it in the wild like he had been, though that was clear through his attire. Gold-capped heels, extravagant flare jeans that faded into a corset, sitting overtop the lighter fuschia shirt with a window on the chest. Not to mention the fluffy jacket with a large fur neck, something that so clearly cost an arm, leg, and heavenly dowry.