"Seriously?" He stepped off the bus at a stop on the outskirts of town. The bus driver popped her gum and then rolled her full shoulders at him, unimpressed with his reaction. Her whole uniform seemed to shrug with her when her shoulders moved.

"Honey, this is some kinda mistake," Slane looked from his leather notebook back to the bus driver. He still had one foot on the bottom step so she couldn't just shut the accordion door in his face.

"Honey?" She laughed at him, teeth gleaming. Her hand grabbed the metal hand crank as she leaned down in his direction, "You said Rhy'Din, didn't you? Can't you read" The sign's right there." She nodded to a place somewhere over his shoulder.

His foot dropped away when he twisted around to look at it. The bus driver slapped the doors of the bus shut, the overburdened engine growling as she put on the gas. He frowned at the sign and breathed, "Crap." Life was better when he thought it had all been a mistake. He was hoping for a bigger city, one with buildings that climbed higher than ten stories and the sort of sidewalks that were decorated with plants that were useless except for looking pretty. Still, he'd seen worse and been in worse, so it should have all been expected.

What he needed was a place to stay. What he needed was a map to every seedy little spot and every run down alleyway where the unmentionable deals were forged. Too bad for him that bookstores didn't sell tourists maps for the worst spots in town. One step at a time. First. Find a place that wasn't heinous. A place where he was reasonably sure his wallet wouldn't go missing while he took a shower. A place with a wrought iron bed in a semi-private location. Next, it would be time to sink his teeth into the worst the city had to offer.

He sighed and shouldered the strap of his leather messenger bag, shoving his notebook into it. With a reasonable walk ahead of him, he shoved his earbuds in deep, turned up the volume, and walked.