Of Teeth and Hyenas [Arundhati]

[Neoma]

Timestap:8th of Summer 512AV Neoma had managed to find a place to stay in this city, a cheap place to stay actually. But she was not at the moment in this new home. No she was out looking around the city, staying near shadows and generally being lost. The small girl bit her lip, trying not to cry. Over the last few days she had found out about the prejudice against Kelvic's in this city so she only shifted in private, for it was how she liked to sleep. But it was hard, knowing that if anyone here knew you were a kelvic they'd treat you like a slave. She didn't really understand it, why some people treated other's badly. It was a lot for the small Hyena Kelvic to take in, along with the death of her parents. She was confused, lost, and lonely in a new city. She didn't know where she was and she was constantly afraid someone was going to try and attack her so she jumped at every little thing. She looked pitiful almost, with her tangled mess of black and white hair, her eyes brimming with tears and her obviously too big cloak and boots. Neoma fingered her necklace, huge on her at this age, it was her mothers. She found that whenever she got upset her hand went to it, as if by touching it she could feel the comfort her mother gave her. But it was of little use consoling her, it usually just brought on more sadness. The girl sniffled, a single tear running down a slightly dusty cheek. She looked around at all these people, every one of them much taller than her. These people that didn't care about her, it wouldn't matter to them if she died today. She sighed and stuck out a foot, almost without thinking. A man tripped and fell. Neoma found herself giggling behind her hands and the man turned towards her, his face alight with anger and Neoma was off, maneuvering through the crowds easily with her tiny body. The man soon lost her in the crowd and backstreets. She eventually stopped near a stall selling meat where she panted, just slightness out of breathe. She was giggling too, almost a full laugh. The whole time she'd been running she'd been laughing. It was almost hysterical, but it felt so good she hadn't laughed in so long. Her laugh echoed her hyena form in sound so she tried to keep it low, muffling it with her hand. The girl's dark eyes shone bright with mirth and her face was flushed from the run and he laughter. Her human form

[Arundhati]

This city was so watery. She'd lived here her whole life, and she still couldn't get over it. There were still cobbled streets and alleys, rife with whatever the city's crevices could muster up and pour forth. Most of the poor were in the Docks, but she still stumbled with the premise of danger. Anyone could look into her eyes and see the slight rectangular pupils, but they didn't. She supposed she was a citizen, not exactly remembering. She was born here, so wouldn't that mean she was? Sure. Not that it changed anything.

Then there was a girl, seemingly fearless as she tripped an anonymous man and sprinted away. The girl had interesting hair, perhaps she was Kelvic. Then again, she thought everyone with a different feature was Kelvic. She followed the girl through the crowds, spotting the girl even when the man she tripped lost her. How could you lose brown hair tipped with white? Must be hard, but she was small. A young girl, how interesting.

She bit her lip, hard enough to draw blood. She licked it, tasting the copper like she tasted when she'd out-run her stamina. It was delicious. Like running on a spring morning, wind in her mane as hooves stamped into soft dirt and grass. No, more delicious. Like biting off her father's ear. That was delicious.

The girl stopped at a meat stall, which the Kelvic found interesting. Was it by chance, or was it on purpose? It was intriguing. She was laughing, her face flushed red with laughter and running. She was a runner, she could tell. She strode over to the girl, attempting a friendly smile, but only really showing a glimpse of white teeth.

"Little girl," She acknowledged, before continuing. "Where are your parents?"

[Neoma]

She looked over at the woman who ran the meat stall, some meat was cooking and some was just raw. Carcasses of pigs and chickens hung form the top of the stall in the back where the blood could drain. Her stomach rumbled at the sight, her body could process just about all part of an animal and eating one raw wouldn't be a big deal for her. She was about to order a raw slice of meat when she thought of how that would look. A girl her age eating raw meat wouldn't exactly make others think she was human. So instead she just ordered a slice of cooked meat, not nearly as good as raw but she could deal. She was eating his meat, nearby the stall when a woman came up to her. She was tall, to Neoma at least, and had short strawberry blonde hair curling near her face. Her body looked muscular and yet lithe as well. Graceful almost. Looking up, up, into the woman's face she noticed something off about it. She couldn't pinpoint it until she looked into her eyes. The pupils were off, slightly rectangular. Things like that usually meant the person was a kelvic. The woman attempted a smile, perhaps Neoma should be glad for the attempt, but it didn't hold much mirth. At the mention of her parents Neoma looked away, her happiness leaving her and her free hand reached for her necklace. "Dead." she told her, her voice low and soft. A whisper almost. It was devoid of the happiness that it was usually filled with. Amazing how just one sentence could change the girls whole disposition. It didn't take much, just the mention of her parents. The reminder that she was alone in this world.

[Arundhati]

Dead.

She felt a tad of pity for the little girl, but nothing over the top. Not that she would purposely take the girl under her wing...she would be a horrible parental figure, and she knew it. This girl did smell a tad kelvic...like, some sort of dog. The meat she was eating looked good, but she wasn't hungry at the time. And she preferred her meat bloody, raw. Cooking seemed to ruin the flavour. Not that she would actively eat raw flesh in public. It was more of a private thing to do.

The girl's necklace was intriguing. It had many shiny, white teeth strung onto it, along with colourful feathers and shiny white bones and gold circles...like it was made for her. Incredible. She had to have it. The gold and white glinted with the sun, making it all the more irresistible.

"How sad. Uh, hmm...where did you get that necklace?" If she could somehow convince the small girl to give it to her, she would be very happy, despite her being Kelvic or not. She had to resist grabbing it from her neck and running, simply because she wasn't a thief. And taking things because they were shiny? She left that to the crows.

[Neoma]

Neoma looked up from her downward glance and saw the slight pity in her eyes. One would think that a being who would happily run away from a fight if it didn't suit her wouldn't have a lot of pride, but she did. Not too much but a healthy amount. And it flared a little at the pity, something she had not seen once since her parents had died, seeing as no one really cared to ask a raggedly little girl why her parents weren't around. So she hadn't gotten used to pity, a useless emotion seeing as the scavenger was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Although she didn't want, nor enjoyed doing it. Then the woman's eyes trailed down to her necklace and interest sparked in them. Instinctively Neoma hid the necklace under the collar of her shirt, protecting it. The girl quickly finished off the small bit of meat that was left so both her hands were now free, although her fighting abilities were awful. "It was my mothers, my father made it for her." she told her, her tone defensive and a bit wary. The girl glanced around for escape routes. Behind her was an alley and the road was behind the woman, plenty of room to get around her, she wasn't exactly space consuming.

[Arundhati]

She patted the girl's shoulder, maybe even reveling in her worried glances around. The way she hurriedly hid the necklace under her shirt was amusing, as was her defensive tone at the question.

"It's alright, dear. I won't hurt you." She leaned close to the girl after stating this, her face right next to her ear, and she continued in a hushed tone, as if wary of the people around them. "I know you're Kelvic, dear. I can smell it on you." She really doubted that the girl didn't know to be careful, but they way she almost eyed the raw meat could have given it away if she were scrutinized by the right eyes. She could tell how hard she was trying not to give herself away, but it must be new to her. She'd grown up in this situation, hadn't she? It was already known by the Black Sun that she was Kelvic, but it wasn't widely known by everyone. To most other people, she was just a human.

Of course, if the girl stayed here, she'd grow up a little street urchin, and it wouldn't help the rate at which she'd grow. It wouldn't be far as to guess how quickly the girl would become a slave, to be branded with a crescent moon on her hand. She would be bought and sold, traded hands, perhaps too many times. She could even be taken to the KRI to be prodded and examined by who and what knows. That was a sad fate, to be like that after losing parents.

Not that it would really effect her conscience very much.

"If you run, I'll tattle. Wouldn't really want that, would you?" She cupped the girl's face in her hand, smoothing out a strand of the girl's dark and light hair. She stepped back, offering a free chance for the girl to run. She was small, Arundhati would easily be able to overtake her. Perhaps it was only horse blood that gave her an ability to run so quickly, but the girl no doubt would be able to run as well.

She'd still be able to catch her.

[Neoma]

Neoma looked at the woman's hand on her shoulder and pulled away, uncomfortable by the touch. She looked back at the woman's face, she seemed amused, of all things. Neo thought of the things she had done, nothing was amusing. She wondered at this woman's sense of humor. Her next comment calmed the young girl some and her body relaxed a smidgen. But the close proximity of the woman unnerved her, few people had ever been this close to her. Her words sent a chill down her spine, as if she had just jumped into the ocean in the middle of winter. How could she smell Kelvic? Neo took a tentative smell of the woman herself, her extremely strong sense of smell was dampened in her human form but there was something there. The smell of coppery blood, of hay, of horse. She pulled back, a little startled by this, She had never thought to smell people to discern their race. It would be a good thing to learn though, she supposed. Neo let out a small, almost impossible to hear wine. It was high pitched and few, if any, humans would be able to hear it. Human's could make this sound, but they couldn't hear it so they couldn't make it. Neo could hear it, and thereby she could make it. It was a whine close to the one she would've made if she was in her hyena form. It was filled with displeasure. She didn't want people to know she was a kelvic, she didn't want to be a slave. Or go to that institute, she had heard bad things about it but could only understand about a third of what she heard. The woman's hands on her face, warm and calloused, were far from a comfort. The woman stepped back and Neoma fought every urge her body had, for every part of her wanted to run, and run far, far away. her body trembled with the effort. Then that trembling faded as the fight or flight instinct changed tactics and the slight adrenaline coursing in her veins urged her to attack. But that was easier to resist. She wasn't yet cornered.

[Arundhati]

The girls reaction was perfect, and reinforced the wild guess she took about her. She could only smell some sort of dog, not that she was Kelvic. Then again, anyone could. She reeked like a kennel. In fact, she could've been a poor girl that had to work with dogs. But she was Kelvic, and her slight deception worked.

She grabbed the girls hand despite any protests she might have had, and attempted to take her to an alley. She was trembling, and she must've been scared considering she towered over her. Perhaps she had used her advanced sense of smell and realized that she were Kelvic, too? A horse, no less. Meant to be almost docile sometimes, unless you found the rowdy ones that couldn't be tamed and broke the bones and spirits of everyone who came near. Like that, except much worse.

"I won't put you in the KRI, or give you up to slavers." Even she felt stupid saying this. She meant it, but suddenly changing morals and a way of speech felt awkward to her. The girl wouldn't believe that she was telling the truth, but then again, she was young. Her mood went from calm, to vicious, to...something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

But she didn't want to hurt her. That wouldn't do anything. She didn't even quite know why she took her hand and was dragging her into a random alley.