Partners in Crime [Tao]

[Isette]

32nd Spring, 511 A.V.

It had been a boring day. Nothing happened out of the ordinary. Isette’s days were once more beginning to blur into each other. She needed something stimulating to happen. So, naturally, she banished herself to the plaza. Interesting things went on in the plaza. It was the perfect place for people watching, a great place to practice thieving, and a wonderful place to find food. For once, though, Isette wasn’t roaming about with an intent to scavenge. She was happy enough sitting cross legged on a low wall, watching locals interact with foreigners and animals interact with locals. Observing the world was a fascinating pastime. The Kelvic huddled inside her blue cloak, loving the soft warmth. It was the nicest item she owned with the exception of her crystal glass pendant, stolen from her scholar father. The cloak had only undergone minor damage so far. There was one hole and a fair amount of dirt, but her white dress was far worse. Isette didn’t care too much about such things. It was nice to feel clean and have pretty clothes, but it was not practical. Hair ribbons were practical, though. She remembered this as a particular strong gust of wind whipped her hair into her face, clouding the plaza from her view. Her last hair ribbon was lost. She lost clothes a lot. It was an unfortunate side effect of shapechanging and another reason why having nice clothes was not always practical. She made do. Isette had something else that worked; a thin piece of undyed fabric torn from her chemise. She reached a slender hand into her bag and pulled it out, using it to tie her hair back out of her face. The wind felt nice, but she didn’t like it when her flung her around. She was trying to watch people. She learned a lot on night like this. The weather was a bit chilly, but still nice. The stars were breathtaking. A lot of people were out going about their business, entirely unaware of being watched. Isette listened to them talk, observed their body language and the way they moved. She caught bits of languages she had never heard interspersed with languages she knew or partially knew. She was learning humans, slowly making judgments and realizations over the course of the entire last year. People never ceased to amaze her. They could be so cold one second and then so friendly the next.

[Tao]

OOCHey Isette, just something I didn't notice, but Tao didn't actually get Miruku until the 24th Spring. So if you could adjust the timestamp to fit that (about a week later would be nice), that would be great. “We're not getting anything to eat.” Meow! “No, really, I'm shopping for... clothing. That's the word. I don't know why you wanted to come along.” Meow! He knew that they were probably a strange sight; a young man with a black and white kitten draped over a shoulder, arguing fiercely in Lhavitian. He was never quite sure how much Miruku really understood, but it was nothing but practice for his language skills, and he had to admit that he secretly enjoyed her company. They had been together for about a week, despite his fear that she would run off as soon as he got boring or didn't feed her. But every morning, she was sleeping on his chest, or more likely taking up more space on the bed than he was. What he hadn't expected was the way that she would follow him, out on his walks, while he was shopping, to work, and then back home again. She never stuck around long when the Fleeting Comet came into view (Chef Yoren had dealt with the demanding fuzzball with a tub of dirty washing water, ensuring that she would avoid the restaurant for the rest of her life), but otherwise, she was nearly constantly by his side. Well, except when he was being boring. Then she would take off and entertain herself until dinnertime, usually heralding a few angry people at his door, demanding the return of stolen trinkets. He feared that tonight was probably going to result in another little 'incident', as no doubt once Miruku realised he really wasn't going to the magical meat store and instead just purchasing a new pair of shoes, she would likely be off, and no amount of barely competant Lhavitian would keep her whiskers out of shenanigans. Sure enough to his prediction, she leapt off his shoulder after a few minutes with a soft yowl, tail pointed straight up in the air as she darted off after something apparently more interesting than her owner. “Miruku!” He called after her, though it was more out of habit than actual concern. Tao had panicked the first time she had bolted, and spent hours searching for her, all sorts of dreadful thoughts running through his head. And when he had finally returned home, she had been sitting outside the door, waiting for him with what he swore was a smug smile on her face. I hope she doesn't do anything too stupid. He thought, scrunching up his nose and biting his lip. There wasn't much else he could do until she decided to return, hopefully without an angry mob. Meanwhile, the young, fluffy cat made her way through the crowds, approaching a nearby food stall, where the owners cooked little pastries out in the open as a novelty to attract more customers. The food smelled good to her twitching pink nose, and she was going to see about getting a hold of some of it. She had only been fed three times today, after all.

[Isette]

Isette’s musings were interrupted quite suddenly when she heard the mew of a kitten. She was conversing with a human, though there was a clear language barrier between the two. Isette smiled. Watching a kitten interact with its human was always an interesting thing, though not one that was commonly seen. It showed affection when a human carried on a conversation with a cat. Especially because they had no idea what the feline was actually saying. More often than not, the human made the mistake of thinking that it was just a cat. A stupid animal with no real thoughts. Isette knew better. She was a cat. Feline was her first language. So she understood what the little cat was saying. And she understood when the little cat jumped off her human in search of that delicious smell that was coming from…Oh dear. Not that place! That place was known for its dislike of animals. Isette herself had been chased away from that very food stall, the cook flinging hot oil at her. She had the scar to prove it. She didn’t want to see the same thing happen to such a young cat. But she was too far away to stop it. Maybe. Or maybe she could get there just in time. Isette shifted, taking on the form of a long haired tuxedo cat. The transformation was quick, but she still feared she would take too long to help the poor child. The Kelvic jumped down from her perch, leaving her clothes in a dirty pile along with her bag and everything inside it. There was only a slight hesitation. Someone could easily steal her things. All of her money was in there. And that was her only cloak. No time. Isette had to trust in the honesty (or the taste—her things were pretty dirty) of the people there. She rushed through the crowd, dodging legs and jumping over small objects. Her plan? Scoop the kitten up by the scruff of her neck and run before anything bad happened. Then, depending on if they were being chased, either find a place to hide or take the kitten back to its human. Now she just had to hope time was on her side. Because one look at the kitten and those cooks would be at her throat. Isette was pretty sure the kitten has chosen the absolute worse place to steal food from.

[Tao]

Miruku was unaware of the coming danger of the place that she had approached, and nor was her owner, resigned to the fact that he could barely control the young animal. Tao did notice a strange, large black cat dart off down the street, but it wasn't unusual for animals to be roaming the Plaza, and he let it slip from his mind. The small kitchen approached the stall carefully, dodging the steps of the humans crowding around and attempting to wiggle her way to the front of the crowd, where the smell was coming from. It was an easy task for a cat of her small stature, and it wasn't long before she was in front of the stall, the source of the tantalizing smell sizzling only a short way away. She mewed happily at the thought, and to attract the attention of the chef, in the hopes he would hand over some scraps. Her meow was lost in the hustle and bustle of the people, and she was luckily hidden from sight as close to the front as she was. Her impatience caused her to move to the next, more drastic step of her plan for food domination. With a little wiggle, she leapt up onto the side of the open oven. Two things happened at once; she burnt her paws on the heated metal, causing her to yowl in fright and drop back to the ground, and the chef shouted in surprise and anger at her boldness, throwing some cooking utensil at her. It missed by a hair, making her puff her fur up and yowl in fright. The crowd scattered away from her like she carried the plague; it seemed like no one was going to get her out of this mess.

[Isette]

She made it, but barely. A lot of things seemed to be happening at once and Isette was certain the chaos worked to her advantage. There was a yowl, a shout, and the sound of something clattering to the floor with a surprising amount of force. Isette took that time to leap into the middle of everything, causing more shouts. She didn’t stay there long. Her mouth clamped down over the small cat’s neck scruff and she jumped, booking it as quickly as she was able. Something hit the ground next to her, close enough that she could feel the puff of air as it fell. But they were out. Her primary interest was in getting them to safety, so she held off on looking for the human. She wanted things to quiet down a bit first. It shouldn’t take too long. Nothing was stolen. No harm, no foul, right? The Kelvic slowed down to a trot, thinking that a sprinting cat would be more conspicuous. People looked at her strangely, but the main danger was gone. The cook had better things to do than chase two cats across the plaza. There were customers to deal with. And money to make. Isette reached the wall where her things had been kept. She didn’t feel like jumping that high with a babe in her mouth, so she let the small cat down at the base of the wall instead. “Are you okay?” she mewed to the kitten. It felt good to communicate in her native tongue. Isette sat and looked the kitten over, checking for any obvious injuries. She didn’t see any right away, but sometimes it was difficult to tell through fur. The poor thing was probably pretty shaken up. Isette just hoped that was the worst of her problems.

[Tao]

Miruku licked at her singed paws ruefully as soon as the larger cat set her down. Luck had certainly been on her side, it seemed, with Isette coming to her rescue. Her fur, frizzled out to make her look twice as large, began to settle back down as the loud, angry sounds from the cooking stall did not follow them further into the Plaza. It had certainly been a close call. “I'm okay.” She mewed in reply, gingerly putting down her burnt paws onto the cooler pavement. The contact both stung and gave her some measure of relief. Her ears flicked back up from their flattened, frightened positions as she looked up at the other cat with her large, grey eyes. “That human is not very nice.” She added with a huff, when it became apparent that Isette was not interested in batting her ears for her foolishness, or chasing her out of her territory. A quick glance around made her realise that she was not far from where Tao was; his scent was something she had been quick to identify among all the people, but she would lose it in a crowd if he was too far away. Turning back to her saviour, she began to purr deep in her throat to show that she was thankful for the rescue, saving her from worse injuries than hurt pads and pride. Only her tail, swishing back and forth agitatedly showed how much the experience had shaken her.

[Isette]

She seems to have hurt her paw, Isette thought. She said nothing of it, however. It was feline etiquette. One should only remark on injuries the cat was willing to admit to unless you were family. “No,” Isette agreed, “That human is not. In fact, that human is probably one of the meanest humans in the plaza.” She tilted her head to one side and studied the small cat thoughtfully. “If you’d like to scavenge for food here, I’d suggest sticking close to children and staying away from food stalls. The cooks here are very protective of their edibles.” Of course, now that she’d made a big scene…Scavenging would be harder. “For now you may want to return to your human. It would be safer. The cook will remember you now. Would you like me to walk you back?” Isette would never behave this kindly to a full grown cat, but this one was so young. She had a soft spot for little ones and now that she had involved herself, she wanted to see the cat home safe. Even if the cay refused her offer of help, Isette would probably watch over her anyway—at least until the cat was gone from the plaza.

[Tao]

Miruku mewed a little in protest at Isette's lecture; she was a master scavenger, even at her young age. However, the kitten recognised that the elder cat's words were true, and that it wasn't safe to remain out in the open on her own any longer. That angry cook could easily still be lying in wait somewhere, and he'd think twice if she was with Tao! “I'll return to him.” She agreed, her tail still swishing back and forth rapidly. After a pause and a twitch of her whiskers, she continued to speak. “You can come too, if you would like some food.” In reality, Miruku knew that there was some safety in numbers, and until she returned to Tao's side, it couldn't hurt to have a bigger and stronger cat with her. Just for a little while, anyway. Getting to her feet, she carefully tested her weight on her front paws with a small hop, and was pleased that the pain wasn't too great. “Tao is very nice, and he'll give you some food to eat if you look cute.” Miruku explained to the elder cat, knowing that the offer of a free meal would compensate Isette saving her. Sniffing the air, she began to totter off in the direction of where she had last seen him. Everything had happened very quickly; she expected that he would still be there.

[Isette]

Food? That was the magic word. Isette never turned her nose up at free food. She glanced upwards, noting the position of her things, and then looked back at the small cat before her. She was still a little hesitant about leaving her things out in the open, but she had a feeling the free food was only an offer to stray cats. Ah well. “Thank you!” she purred to the feline. Hopefully everything would still be there when she returned. Her most important item dangled around her neck. The sky glass pendant almost scraped against the floor, but she was just tall enough. The rest of her things were hardly important. It was all replaceable. Besides, she would only be gone for a little bit. Surely that wasn’t enough time for her things to be stolen. Her things weren’t very nice anyway. Who would want to steal them? And just like that, her hesitation vanished. Isette was never one to worry much about material things. Free food, on the other hand, was a wonderful and fantastic thing. Isette always seemed to be hungry. Shifting took a lot out of her and gave her a massive appetite. Anyway, she should probably get some food in her stomach if she wanted to be energized enough to shift back.

[Tao]

It seemed that luck was still on Miruku's side that evening, as Tao had not moved far from the stall where she had left him in search of food. Glancing back over her shoulder a few times to make sure that Isette was following, she limped through the crowds carefully, avoiding the stomp of busy feet as she made a beeline for her human. “I'm back!” She mewed, rubbing up against his leg. Startled from book he had been thumbing through, Tao looked down at the little kitten in surprise, who responded by purring nice and loud. “Oh, there you are.” He replied, closing the book and crouching down to pick her up, putting her in her more usual vantage point of his shoulder. “Couldn't find any scrap to steal, you glutton?” “I'm not a glutton! I'm a growing cat!” Miruku responded balefully, adjusting herself so that the pressure was off her front paws. “Now, feed me and my friend!” “Well, at least you're not causing trouble tonight.” Tao said with a wry smile, completely unaware of what had happened. Putting the book down on the table, he turned to go, very nearly tripping over Isette. “Oh gods.” He cursed, stepping back so he wouldn't accidentally hurt the cat that seemed to have materialised out of nowhere. She was a large, black cat, much larger than Miruku. The kitten on his shoulder mewed at her cheerfully, as opposed to how she tended to hiss at other strays, like she was warning them off. “... You made a friend, I see.” He commented, crouching down to see if the other cat was as friendly as his own, holding out a hand for her to sniff. It was then that he noticed the strange pendant dangling off her neck. “Hello there. Are you a stray little hellion like Miruku too?”