Beauty & The Beast

[Brian]

N'dovu grins, and pulls some cash from his shirt -- from the envelopes that Angela had given him.  "Do we have a deal?" he asks quietly.

[Carthrat]

"Uh, sure," replies the vagrant, looking around a bit, then taking the cash. "Uh, what bus?"

[Brian]

"Okay," N'dovu says, giving the bum some of the money -- enough for a ticket, and probably another 40$ or so extra.  "I need you to buy a ticket to Tuscon, Arizona.  Meet me back here in 10 minutes, I'll give you some more cash, and we'll swap tickets."

[Carthrat]

"Right, then," mutters the vargant, turning away and heading for the ticket booth.

[Brian]

N'dovu then heads in, and arranges the purchase of another ticket directly, this one to Canada.  Once it's purchased, N'dovu loiters around the crummy 'cafe' that's attached to the place for a bit before heading back to meet up with the bum.

[Carthrat]

The vagrant is there, looking around shiftily.

"Uh, you wanted the tickets, right?" he asked, shrugging. "Guess I can't ask why, huh?"

[Brian]

"No," N'dovu says.  "Not yet."  He swaps tickets with the bum, and gives him about 400$ more.  "In time, though," he says, once the bum's pocketed the money.  "Good luck."  With that, N'dovu smiles, and heads to his bus.

[Carthrat]

N'Dovu was lucky; the bum managed to get a bus that was leaving in only an hour. It's a good bus, too- a rarity for it to have seats that he can comfortably sit in. Ain't many other people on the bus, though.

The bus claims it'll pull in at Phoenix around 11:00am tomorrow morning.

[Brian]

N'dovu is quickly bored of the bus once seated, and attempts to sleep through as much of the trip as possible.

[Carthrat]

N'Dovus dreams are filled with fire. Hardly a dream, more aptly a nightmare. Constant, smoke-filled haze... the press of branding metal against his back, the feel of the flame licking across his arms, and his legs as if they were immersed in boiling water. When he awakes, he is covered in sweat- and he realises that the bus has stopped.

"Last stop, Phoenix," announces a voiceover. "Collect your suitcases and bags outside the bus, please.."

[Brian]

N'dovu staggers off of the bus and looks at the sky, surprised he managed to sleep through the trip.  "I feel as though I've been reborn from flames," he mumbles under his breath, before finding a payphone and calling up Rick.

[Carthrat]

"Rick Thompson speaking," announces a calm, careful voice through the phone.

[Brian]

"Greetings, Rick," N'dovu answers, thinking Rick probably hasn't yet recieved the letter.  "This is N'dovu."

[Carthrat]

"N'Dovu? Speak of the devil. We were just talking about you," says Rick, sounding surprised. "I was about to try and get in touch with you myself. Why have you called?"

[Brian]

N'dovu doesn't say anything for a moment, and when he does, it's somewhat strained.  "Things in my life seem to be changing ... things I would like to speak with you about in person, Rick.  I am in Phoenix now.  Am I still welcome at the reservation?"