she is dancing away from you now

Growing up in a world like Spira Dona had to learn quickly how to get back on her feet after tragedy. At the drop of a hat Sin could make the decision to attack any of the major cities throughout the world, and in Dona's case, it often did. Even for a world with such a tragic past as Spira's Kilika had seen more loss and tragedy than most other places, at least through Dona's biased lens. So in the short time since she had arrived in this place Dona had managed to... blend, even if not overly well. She was at least able to find a place in the city to rest and get some meals, and the gil that she had on her person was enough to last her. Being a summoner back in Spira often meant generous donations, which were coming in handy now.

While Dona wouldn't typically have called herself one-track minded, she had been since arriving here. Dona was far from used to being by herself for more than a few hours working in Kilika Temple, but now she hadn't seen hide nor hair from Barthello. No letters sent her way - not that she expected the big lummox to know where she was - and no sign of him. Dona wasn't the best artist but she had drawn up the best crude imitation of him that she could muster, and had taken to scouring the city during the day in an effort to ask anyone else if they had seen anyone that may have looked like him. She suspected that the picture she had drawn didn't really help her case when she was pointed multiple times in the direction of the same man - a beggar in the port district - that was absolutely not her Barthello. She was becoming more and more convinced that she would have to leave the city, but that bridge would be crossed when she got there.

There were more pressing matters that needed attending first: namely, that she stuck out in the city like a sore thumb.

One of the first things that Dona had noticed was that the clothing that she was wearing was explicitly not like anything that anyone in this city, this Torensten, was wearing. While it was suited for the general weather and climate of the area, what she wore wasn't inherently rationalized here in the way that it was there. Torensten reminded her of what the cities of old may have been like in Spira, and it wasn't nearly as hot or as muggy as it was back home, on the islands. And Dona found herself... annoyed. Upset. Distraught. Irritable. And she needed a release, an escape, just as much as she needed a new look. So she found herself taking to the city and multitasking - she wagered that asking people if they had seen Barthello while she looked to reinvent herself wasn't too far from the pale.

The market street of Torensten was as abuzz as the rest of the city, but that didn't bother Dona. Though she stood out it helped her blend in a little better that there were so many other people there, and the strange looks that she got were mostly from the people that she interacted with. But a momentary glance from the summoner often got them to look the other way, just as the gil that lined her purse. "How much is that, there?" Dona asked the keeper of the clothing stall she stood in front of, motioning to a piece that caught her eye.

While they spoke, she took notice that the people around her were beginning to whisper and stare - just the same way that they'd done when she had first gotten here.