Thanks, by the way. [Vyxenne]

[Hayl]

41st day of Spring. 511 AV


She punched him hard in the shoulder, “Ow!... That’s counter productive!”
“You better hope I don’t find you bleeding on the road again! Ill kill you myself!” the old healer said as she slammed the door in his face, so close he could feel the wind flash over his skin. “I could have sworn you said it was okay to take the extra gauze!” he yelled through the door. He shrugged when no response came and turned on his heel and began to walk down the road.

People shot him dirty looks as he passed by due to his appearance. He hadn’t shaven in almost two weeks. His shirt was missing since it got cut to shreds from the fight the day before, and his upper torso had three bandages wrapped all around him due to the terrible wounds from that fight. His boots were dangling on the outside of his satchel because one needed to dry after having all the blood from his foot injury, which was heavily wrapped as well, washed thoroughly out. Not only was he recovering from dagger wounds, but he had a poor run in with another individual who didn’t take too kindly to Hayl’s miscommunications about the man’s coin bag.

He sat down on a bench next to an attractive young lady who didn’t bother to look at him till he was sitting uncomfortably close to her. When she did bring her eyes to his own blood shot black and blue swollen ones, he smiled grimacingly at her with puffy lips and traces of blood in his teeth. She gasped in a snooty way and, as lady-like as she could, hustled from him with her nose in the air.

He pulled his satchel from his shoulder and placed it in-between his feet, then reached in to find a shirt. “Well at least that old healer didn’t catch me stealing her husband’s shirt.” He said throwing the dark blue linen over his stiff neck. He groaned slightly as he reached each arm through their sleeves, and then pulled the tail down enough to realize he could swim in the size of this shirt. He rolled his eyes up to the top of his head and decided he was too tired to take the shirt off.

[Vyxenne]

The chicken gave a startled cry when she pounced on it. 'Mmm...I haven't had chicken in weeks!' murmured Vyxenne, relishing the taste. When she was finished, she walked over to a puddle in the street, to make sure she didn't have blood on her face. Seeing the puddle, she was reminded of the past events of yesterday. She still didn't know who she rescued, and he didn't know who rescued him. She took a few sips of the water, shook her head, and ran into the alley where she hid her things. Shifting into her human form, she got dressed and walked into the street. People kept staring at her and giving her sideways glances, probably because they recognized her as the girl that rescued the human from drowning, or because she was dressed in all black as usual and that was never a very good sign.

She passed by the docks, and looked at the swirling colours of purple, green, and blue that made the water. It was different being in a place that didn't change every other minute, sleeping in an alleyway and waking up in one. It was also different knowing that things were in the same place as they were before. See, she grew up in Alvadas, where everything changed all the time.

She thought she could smell the human a few times, but she wasn't sure. The scents of yesterday were mixed up with the scents of today. She could smell the dockworkers, the horses, the rich people passing by in their fancy perfume and cologne. There was a trace of the human though, as if he just passed by. She was in front of the healer's shop by now, though, so it was probably because he recently left. She passed by all kinds of animals and all kinds of people, but she didn't see the human. It would be easier to track him as a Swift Fox, but she didn't want to grab the attention of the animals. She did find a stray dog though, and after feeding him some beef jerky and speaking to him in his own language (Canine, foxes are part of the dog family in case you didn't know), he ran off to find the human, promising to come back and take Vyxenne to him. Vyxenne sat on a bench and watched the people pass by.

[Hayl]

Hayl sat at the bench for an extended period of time. He let his eyes shut and give into the sway of the ebb and flow of consciousness. He let his mind wander about the day prior. The crazy brunette yelling her dark philosophies at him. He tried to make sense of them, but little came; he just assumed, for his piece of mind, that she was crazy and moved on with the events.

Now he was trying to remember how exactly he got into that old healer’s house. He remembered walking in the docks, so close to the water. His brain had slow reactions and he couldn’t recount the multiple times he near fell in. He could feel the blood, extensive and thick, leaving open wounds from his body. Then (he squinted as this became the hardest to recollect) water… either someone had pushed him in, or he had fallen, but he remembered the metallic taste filling his mouth, and his splaying arms sluggishly trying to force the liquid mass below them.

He couldn’t remember the following events, save the face of one girl. She was pretty, perhaps one of those things people say they see, when they die… but even still she looked childish or perhaps stupid. “What an odd person to die and meet.” His face squirmed when he allowed his eyes to open to the light.

He immediately heard panting and looked down to see a small domesticated dog looking up at him as if he had been missing him, as his master perhaps, for sometime.“What do you want?”

“Yip!”

The dogs…sounds, seemed particularly annoying to Hayl, and he spoke to it like it could understand, “Listen mutt, I’m not above eating dogs, and I can’t remember the last time I ate.” His blood shot eyes loomed at the black beady ones of the dog under half-lifted eyes.

“Yip!”

Hayl continued the same exhausted glare at the beast for a long-while until he lunged at it barking ferociously like a crazed wolf. The little dog screamed pathetically and ran off down the street, scurrying on the slick wood as it rounded a corner.

Hayl sat back on his bench and smiled as he never had the intention of harming the beast, but was glad it finally left him alone. He then placed his head in propped hands on his knees, and closed his eyes. His thoughts returned to the face of that girl

[Vyxenne]

She was just sitting there when the dog came running back like it was being chased by a pack of rabid wolves. "Did you find him?" she said in Canine. "Yes, but he kept yelling and then he lunged at me and it was scary," said the dog. "Well, show me where he is!" she yelled, which was probably quite a sight considering she was speaking in the language of dogs. The dog scampered off, and she followed.

When she finally got to him, his eyes were closed, so he didn't see her. Vyxenne started talking without giving any warning. "Your name. What is it?" She had a tendency to startle people like that. He looked like better than he did yesterday, but he still looked terrible. He was wearing a shirt that was probably around 4 or 5 sizes too big for him, and she could tell people were trying to stay as far away from him as possible.

[Hayl]

He wanted to assume the inquiry was directed towards someone else, but was forced to accept that the shortness of the females shrilly (to him) voice was unmistakable. “I should know better to give my name to people who simply demand it.” He was gaining the energy to desire to look at her, but first assumed she was just another bimbo whose husband or father was powerful locak, and she grew tired of his rugged presence displacing the normal façade of Hayl’s surroundings.

He finally granted the speaker with his full attention, and looked up from his tired arms, with his aching neck and beamed bloodshot eyes at her. ‘The face… that’s her.’ His mind, the part that was lost in the blackness of the water from the night prior, would recognize her instantly. His back would straighten and he would sit up as he found himself in an interesting position. ‘She is beautiful… and seemingly slow as well’ his memories faded or not, portrayed her accurately to his current assumption of her.

He was faced with one more conundrum: why did she return to him. He feared the worst. She is after some form of payment. The memory of his desperate hand sticking out of the water with coinage to the first savior of his life; this haunted his mind now. He began to tactfully research the best response to her possible question of his offered ledger. This he displayed by swiftly securing his satchel tightly between his legs.

[Vyxenne]

"Fine then, I guess I'll just leave," she said sharply. She almost turned around when he looked up, and when he saw her a look of shock and realization washed over his face. He suddenly sat up straighter, and she could tell he was confused. She leaned against the bench. "Oh, so you recognize me now. So what's your name?" she demanded.

Then she started speaking to the stray dog, in Canine of course. "Good dog. You've done well. Here's a piece of beef jerky, I don't need it." She then took a piece of beef jerky out of her bag and gave it to the dog, who happily ran away. Then she started speaking common again. "I don't need your money, mind you. I have better things to do than demand money from beggars. I just want to know who the hell I saved yesterday." She looked around the street, and could see that people were hurrying away from the 'freakish girl talking to random beggar' situation. She got that a lot.

"Anyways, I'm Vyxenne. Call me Vyx. But how exactly did you get beat up so badly?" she said, sliding onto the bench next to the human.

[Hayl]

“Alright, Alright. Hayl. My friends know me as Hayl, and I suppose for saving my life this would qualify you worthy of the invitation.” He continued to roll his eyes over her. She seemed more and more less slow or stupid, but just… different. It wasn’t until she growled strangely to that yippy mutt he understood. ‘She’s not dumb, she’s Kelvic.’ He smirked at the irony. ‘I am indebted to a Kelvic… how ridiculous is that? Is this strange god of this dark city, playing a joke on me, bending the fates so I, a human, will be serving a Kelvic?’ He couldn’t contain the chuckle. ‘I just hope whatever she turns into, it isn’t fast enough to catch me.’ He allowed his eyes to look at her with his new understanding, ‘She’s pretty cute…in a ‘howl-at-the-moon’ sense.’

He sighed in relief when she noted that she didn’t track him down for his money. That was probably the most beautiful part of her, to him. “A woman wanting my attention, and not for my money, what a strange day.” He would say aloud as he genuinely looked like a fool and most women found him as such. That was his true defense, the power of being underestimated. Most rich and stupid people never assumed him to be a decent fighter and thief. However, when he dressed modestly and ‘cleaned up’, he caught a few favorable looks from some attractive women, from time to time.

The man who favored quick words and strategies that were steps ahead of his opponent, was now completely lost as to why this woman wanted his attention. He sat back and let her direct the course of conversation. His legs relaxing over his satchel while his arms were brought up to his head, so his fingers would cross and rest with both palms on top of his scalp, relishing the strangeness he portrayed so professionally.

[Vyxenne]

She was confused by the odd, random laughter. But from her previously asked question, there was no answer. This annoyed her, but she didn't have time to dwell on it. She could find out later, after she found some food. Her already malnurished self was starving, that chicken didn't fill her up very much, and she could hear rats scurrying around in a nearby alleyway. They didn't taste that bad, and in her eyes they were actually quite tasty. He could even have some of her beef jerky, if he didn't want a rat.

"Do you like rats? Like, to eat?" she asked, already knowing the answer. He would almost certainly say no. She doubted he would want to eat a rat, but it was worth a shot. He probably already knew that she was a Kelvic. Should she shift into a fox to catch the rats? It would be easier. She could just stay as a fox, but not talk. That would work, seeing as he didn't want to talk himself.

"And I'm going to go get some food while you sit there not doing anything." With that, she shifted into a Swift Fox and ran down the street and into the alley. She was prett fast, considering that was her main way of escape if a wolf or something else was chasing her down. She was definitely faster than a human, both as a human and as a fox.

She could hear the rats scurrying away from her prescence. She jumped on top of a few barrels and waited for one to come close. It took patience, but eventually she would be rewarded. Today was her lucky day, though, as a few went to investigte the barrel she was standing on. She jumped off the barrel and swiftly caught one under her paw, and then snatching it with her jaws, she bit down enough to kill it. She decided she would eat it back on the bench.

Running out of the alley and back to Hayl, she jumped onto the bench and started eating the rat. It was delicious in her sense, but Hayl was probably disgusted by the rat. She quickly ate the majority of the flesh from the rat, avoiding bones and such. Then she picked up the remains of the rat and carried them back to the alley and left them there.

Running back to the bench again she jumped onto it and sat down, curling her tail over her feet. She looked at Hayl and waited for him to explain how he had gotten beat up so badly.

[Hayl]

He tilted his head at her question, “Rats? I think I’ll hold out for something a little more nutritious.” His stomach growled a complaint, but he ignored it due to the menu. He was begging to assume she was just a simple Kelvic who happened upon him in a time of need, and reacted instinctively. She recognized his scent, just now, and went to him. He tried not to look too amazed at her when she transformed but the ability was pretty envious. He began to ponder what he would do with such a trick.
When she left to go fetch her meal, he wished his body wasn’t so tired, so he may try and get away from her, as she obviously took some weird interest in him. When she returned with her rat and began to devour it, he grimaced a look at her and decided he wasn’t hungry anymore.

Then it hit him, a girl with such a remarkable feat who is interested in him, for some reason. Perhaps he could use this to his advantage. This would mean, however, he would have to play friendly. “Uhh… can you uh, understand me?” he said to the fox sitting next to him. He looked around and actually caught himself concerned with other people’s concerns on whether or not he was crazy. When the confirmation came to him from the beast, he decided against asking her to transform back into human form as the pile of clothes by them was evidence enough that she would indeed be naked if she did such a thing. As remotely tempting that would be, his better thoughts weighed against that notion

When she finished with her meal, and sat looking at him he finally felt obligated to explain to her what had happened. “A monster…” he lied pathetically, but chose better than revealing the true nature of what happened. “She was this giant ravenous beast.” She was really a short dagger-skilled girl about 3/4ths his mass. “It had jagged teeth and sharp claws… I barely defeated it.” He didn’t defeat the crazy woman who simply cut him to shreds in a dark alleyway, but again he had terrible pride. He quickly changed the subject, “Why are you so interested in my well-being, might I ask?”

[Vyxenne]

She didn't believe him about the 'monster' that he 'barely defeated'. He kept shifting uncomfortably in his seat though, probably from him thinking that people thought he was crazy. Figures. And its not very smart to ask a question to a kelvic in animal form. She couldn't speak common like this! She decided she would remind him of her difficulties speaking. "Yap!"

He showed obvious distaste when she was eating the rat, so his appetite was probably gone now. She would offer him some beef jerky, anyways. Hopping down from the bench, she started digging in her bag for the beef jerky. She finally found a piece and, carrying it in her mouth, hopped onto the bench and set it on the bench next to him. Hopefully he wouldn't mind the fact that she had to carry it in her mouth, but if he did, too bad. She would just eat it herself.

He kept shifting uncomfortably in his seat, and looking around as if he was scared people thought he was crazy. Vyxenne didn't understand why he cared what other people thought about him. She didn't. But it annoyed her that he thought he was crazy. Kelvics are people too! She expressed her distaste by biting his arm, and then yapping a bit more. Then she lied down and looked at the people. It was hard to communicate as a fox.