A Spider's Web (Shai)

[Aello]

Summer 66, 512 AV Nothing was level here, everything having rank. Even that which was born, cast on either shoulder, or strapped to a hip, a leg. It was the same with buildings. Some where drawn on a grand scale, simplistic on the outside, but ornate in furnishings, in sheets of paint, which shimmered ominously in the summer sunlight. Others were meek, decrepit, lost in shadow, and generally forgotten. It was atop one of these smaller buildings that Aello crouched, her right hand reaching towards the rafter of its neighbor. Small, slender fingers furling around boards, stretching her body out, keeping her in place. The silhouette of a gargoyle, perched on a ledge, peering out over the city she had been told to protect. Only, she had no intention of watching over the city. If anything, she intended to pull the rug out from under it. Whittle away at the wood until there was little left for carving; smash the stone foundations, until all that remained was rubble and dust under one's foot. But that didn't mean that Aello's muddied eyes weren't grazing- taking in the sight of every human being that bothered to pass this portion of the docks. The stony bridges which led from one side of the winding canals to the others. Didn't mean that she didn't take in the flutter of cloth as it folded around forms of every sort, that she missed the parting of lips, their reluctance to share the knowledge held within, or even, idle gossip. That she couldn't see the flash of metal against one's hips, or the passing of hands from time to time. Some things never do change, Aello thought, as she shifted her weight a little, forcing a few splinters to shiver away from the edge. To curl alongside the wooden planks, as though they were little more than a pig's tail. Her fingers sank into the soft furls at the edge of the building, digging into dirt and grime. Her brow furrowing as she felt the gritty mixture slip behind her nails. Fill her with unease, for even those simple details seemed to match the nature of the city, despite the display. She licked her lips unhappily as her gaze flicked across the stream, where a ravosala man could be seen dipping his oars into the lake, as he carried his boat along the dark path. Her fingers glided along the wood, sliding down to her side, where she wiped them off lazily beside her, before gripping the ground. She was like a cat, waiting to pounce on a mouse spotted far below. Her tail wiggling as her muscles coiled and bunched, waiting to spring. Dark eyes tore away from the lake as her bow jostled her ankles. Her teeth sank into her bottom lip. Stripping them of color as the colors came into play. Sending soft vapors of black and white into the air. Vapor which carried the stench of fish, and mud. It made her blood boil, her heart's pace quicken. Oh which mouse should she choose?