"Took ya long enough!" Lyric broke through the last thickets of the grove, the pair re-emerging at the pathway leading towards Altaire's gate.

Something must have changed about the demographic of visitors, though, as now the majority of approaching wagons were enormous. They looked reminiscent of parade floats, giant painted carvings, sculptures, and statues being toted atop the backs and behind the reins of equally colossal carrier mounts.

A notable few were a creature similar in make and model to a rhinoceros, but fifteen feet tall and almost thirty long, with an elephant's tusks and tough, bony plating covering its head, limbs, and back.

Another was a giant ground sloth, a ten foot tall, eighteen long lumbering beast whose immense physical strength wouldn't be assumed at first sight due to its somewhat sluggish disposition, and instead realized when onlookers witnessed it firsthand. It stood bipedally, but hunched forward so much so that it used its knuckles to dig into the ground, offering extra traction in pulling a massive cart of jewelry and similar wares.

One particularly unique wagon didn't actually carry much in terms of cargo, but instead had a creature reminiscent of an oversized snow leopard, towing with it a gigantic platform on which an equally large crowd of people stood, presumably used for transportation -- and judging by Lyric's sprinting to it's side, Kyoya had to either trust that this was her "contact," or get left in the dust.

He didn't waste a second in dodging between carts and sliding beneath his target, only to be met with an absence of any presence. It wasn't until he was grabbed by the scruff of his shirt and pulled onto the underside of the platform that the Miscreant got an idea of what was really going on.

After establishing a grip that would at least be moderately comfortable in which to suspend upside down for a while, Kyoya caught sight of Lyric once more, as well as a new face.

"You're new to this, huh?" His newfound accomplice grinned. She, too, was clinging onto the underside, though apparently much more comfortably and easily than himself. "You can thank her for spotting this joint, otherwise we'd still be swamped in the grove." Lyric gestured to her right, the aforementioned new face in attendance.

It was another girl, noticeably taller than Lyric, and tying out with Kyoya's height at six feet. Her skin was on the lighter side, a mellowed white tone that complemented maroon hair styled in a comb-over, with one side shortened and the other flowing freely to her mid-torso, becoming a dark mahogany at the ends.

She wore considerably more... imposing, clothing, with a dulled purple, turtle-necked long-sleeve resting under an open, motley black vest. It was adorned with spikes and claws from an unknown species of creature, socketed into slots in the shoulder-blade area that allowed them to point outward, warding off any would-be attackers with the threat of being impaled.

Her pants were tight, dark brown cargos that transitioned into metal greaves fashioned out of whatever materials comprised the spikes on her shoulders, ensuring that a kick could easily lead to a ruined day. She had similar pieces of armor on her hands, and a hairpin of the same claw item holding down the long side of her hair. She gave Kyoya a toothy smile, revealing two moderately sharp fangs in place of her canines, nearly making him flinch.

She mouthed something, but from both the roar of gargantuan footsteps all around them, and the rumble of hundreds of passengers above, he couldn't make out a thing.

He made some attempt to communicate that he couldn't hear her, to which she appeared to snicker.

"I SAID, THE NAME'S RYDER!" She exclaimed. Ryder's voice caught him on his heels, much sharper than he'd figured would be the case, a kind of tone that would seem astoundingly effective at intimidating a foe -- at least, if the fangs couldn't have gotten the job done already.

Lyric seemed too preoccupied with feeling around the framework of their little hideaway, the girl practically lighting up when her hand reached a particular spot between herself and Kyoya.

Now that the noise had died down, Ryder was able to speak normally. "You find it? My arms are goin' numb over here." An impatience came about her words, although more friendly than not.

"You know it." Lyric answered. The Seraph made short work of whatever was preventing her from pushing the wood, eventually making it give way to a sort of hidden compartment. She nimbly swung inside after giving them a hand gesture to follow, Kyoya and Rider close behind.

Inside, the boy took notice of the appearance of this conveniently placed nook. It was a cargo hold, crates of wares and large tied sacks covered the forty-by-forty foot expanse, the ceiling raising some twenty feet above them.

Lyric pulled the hatch to a creaky shut as Ryder climbed in. The three of them all seemed to have the same idea in mind: taking a breather.

The amber-eyed girl was the first to break the ice.

"Well, if you couldn't tell, that's our contact. Allison Ryder -- but she prefers her last name, for whatever reason..." A smirk crept on to Lyric's face. "Idn't that right, Alley?"

"You're pushin' it." Ryder snarked with crossed arms. She was leaning back against a stack of crates, Lyric sitting on the edge of another exotic looking box while Kyoya did the same parallel to her. "A little bird mentioned you're out of Teleo. That so?" Her question found its way to the Miscreant.

"Yepper. Why d'ya ask?" The Miscreant did his best to shed the thought, instead focusing on the conversation at hand.

"Well, it really ain't all that often you see anybody from there, as of late. Rumor has it the whole Kingdom's shut itself in; the place hasn't gone public with anything in months."

Lyric appeared to have something on her mind, soon following her friend's statement.

"I snuck in to finish a job when I got ahold of that flyer, too. The whole damn joint is stark red, now -- and whatever authority runs things has a serious grip on the population. I was never able to get any names, but it still bugs the hell 'outta me." She kicked back and stared into the ceiling.

"Can't say I'm the most educated on it, myself... I left there a long time before whatever happened. With what's been going on, I'll consider myself lucky that I did."

Kyoya lied just then.

He was fine with being open about his person, but that tidbit in particular felt a little too confidential to be shared.

Not just yet, at least.