Against the Grain (Amelia)

[Kalina]

It took a few moments to register what the woman was saying to her. After the reaction she had received from the men, the Kelvic was surprised momentarily that anyone would be nice to her. In point of fact, now that she had a moment to consider, and was less than her usual self, it occurred to her that the only person who was nice to her was Marcus. Kali had no idea why the man was nice, but it was one of the few things she wasn't going to question. Kalina still wasn't aware of the fact that monies had been exchanged for her, or that Marcus technically owned her. If she had been told, the girl had probably forgotten; not much remained in her infantile mind for long, scatty as she was. To her, every day was like a little holiday. Yes, she spent many days cooped up in Marcus' small home, but the place was still a great deal larger than the cage she had been kept in for the first nine months of her life. All the time there was something new to smell or taste, good food to eat, and things to play with. And she received daily attention from her owner. Get hurt? If Kalina had been older, she might have laughed in derision, but the girl didnt really pick up on the irony of the situation. "'ready was hurt." she says bluntly in confusion. Did people always talk about obvious things like this, she wondered. Any time she had headed out into the city, something had happened to cause the girl to regret it, though normally she was fine when with her owner, she thought. Shouldn't leave him. she firmly decides. "Don't know..." she mutters in response. And it was the truth; the whimsical little creature, for all of her wanderings, had no idea which direction she had even come from, or if she had crossed the bridge that was mere feet away from where they were standing. Nor did she have any idea what the building in which she was staying looked like. Most of the time she saw it from the outside, it was grey, just like all the other buildings. For once she regretted spending so much time in her ocelot form. The girl's eyes begin to water, and even brim with tears. The severity of her situation was finally dawning on her, and the little Kelvic, only three seasons old, was so far out of her depth. She had never really done anything on her own, never needed to, never wanted to. "Want to go home now." She forces out, a tremor in her voice, showcasing her obvious desperation right now. "Take me home, where's home?" Looking around once again, she takes a step back, and slightly to the right. Maybe if she wandered around for long enough, she would come across the building, and maybe recognise it. Or maybe she would bump into Marcus. She takes another step back, but freezes, wide, fearful eyes turning back to look at the woman. She didn't want her to go, didn't want to be alone. She desperately tries to think of any information that she could give to the woman so that she could help her find her way back home. "Home is next to some water..." she finally whispers.

[Amelia Cross]

The small girl didn’t know the direction to her home, well, to her owner’s home. She had little sense of what it looked like. Things weren’t looking that good for Amelia, as she didn’t have much to do with her, until she could give valid information about the location. Though, Amelia had a good guess that the house would be located amongst the inner circle of the merchants ring, probably up to the middle of the Noble district. Those were the locations most influential lived, and that was probably where her master lived. How did Amelia come to such a conclusion? People usually didn’t keep child slaves for work, so it must have been sentimental or amusement, bout characteristics are common for the wealthy of Ravok, not the rats that squander around the docks Amelia liked so much.

”no, no nonon! Don’t cry!” there was nothing worse than a crying child, well, maybe a screaming child was even worse? But Amelia had little need to socialize with little children. So at the moment, crying was topping the list, by far! And on top of everything, she was lost in her actions. She didn’t know how to calm the girl. She knew kids liked sweets and toys, but she only got pastries and they were at home, and she had no toys on her what so ever! ”just your luck Amelia, just your luck”

The girl seemed to be becoming more and more fearful and desperate with the chime. And Amelia’s guilt for not being able to help the creature, just grew and grew. The girl’s eyes were wide in fear, she was frozen in her steps. That remind Amelia of herself when she first got to Ravok. She was so scared of water that she always kept close to the houses and refused to walk when she was alone. She still is scared, but doesn’t show it. ”so her home is next to water…reeeeal helpful…” with all of the desperation of the situation, her mind still managed to complain, way to go Amelia!

Still, the Cross felt sorry for the girl, the kelvic…slave…call her whatever. She decided to let some of her more friendly sides show more, and so she came closer to the girl and hugged her, it was short, but sincere. The older girl managed to stroke the small kelvic’s head a bit protectively before pulling a bit back, to not scare her more than she was already. ”I’ll help you find home, promise” she smiled, not listening to the part of her mind that was screaming this was a bad idea, and quite the hard one at that. ”maybe you remember some specific things about the place?” she asked, hopping to clear out the location a bit more. ”maybe some spicy scent was common? Or flowers? Did people walk pass your home often? Were there a lot of male voices?” she asked, hopping to at least get some direction.

”or we can walk, and see if anything looks familiar” the second offer, though she wasn’t sure how appealing it could be for a child, maybe a ravosal? ”we could take a ravosal, or…I could carry you?”

[Kalina]

Ravosal, Ravosal... the young Kelvic tries to think back to what she had learnt over the time she had been living in the main part of the city. Marcus had talked about them a few times,either to her, or she had been present when he had been talking to someone else. And nigh on every time... They had been near those floating things on the... on the water.... "No. No!" She shouts, her stomach churning at the idea. Ever since that first time on the floaty thing, that day she had left the Kelvic Research Institute, she had done her best to avoid ever having to go on one of them again. A few times she had not been so lucky, but for the most part, she had mercy on her side. And, though her situation was dire, in her mind at least, she wasn't getting on some of those things. "Walk. Walk is good." She says, assertively, though much more calmly now., glad to have been given the option. She shakes her head at the idea of being carried, though. The Kelvic had made no transformations today, and was therefore brimming with unspent energy. Much like her feline kin, she could go on forever. At least... That was how she felt. What's it look like? What's home got? She knew the answer to the woman's questions; in her mind she could picture the smells and the sounds perfectly. She didn't know what it looked like: everywhere looked the same, but she knew of distinguishing features. The problem was that the Kelvic had spent the first three seasons of her life living in the KRI. There she had spent the majority of her time in ocelot form, and not receiving much verbal attention when in human form. A result of that meant that her language skills were severely lacking, and were no where near on par with other children of the age she appeared to be. Descriptions were the area she fell shortest on, having had no reason to learn anything other than some verbs and nouns. The child's mouth opens and closes a few times, much like the creatures in the water that she had been watching so intently over the past few days. Finally, she manages to say something that she thought would be helpful in finding her home. "Is... is all... nice smelling. And nice looking" once said, she is disappointed in her own words, at how useless they were. Was that really the best she could do, when her mind was brimming with images and memories to describe where she had been living for the past twenty or so days? She thought of the colours - the buildings were all the same colours throughout the city, but they were a bit brighter where she lived, less grey, Kali had noticed today, when she had left as a human. When she was an ocelot, everything was grey. Next, the cleanliness - much cleaner than this place, no rubbish anywhere. Even the water looked nicer, which was crazy, because Kalina was pretty sure it was all connected. The smells, this place definitely had the best aromas; so many different kinds, spices, sweets, all assaulting her nose simultaneously, it was great. But home... Home smelled of freshness. Most of all though, she remembered the smells of the people, like her owner. All of them looked very crisp and neat in their clothes, unlike the rags - or close to- that she saw others wearing. And they smelled of soap. She knew this only because she had tried to eat some once, in her first few days with Marcus. It didn't taste very good, she decided, and the taste had remained in her mind for a long time after, no matter how much water she drank. The people there all smelled of this, something she knew she couldn't eat. That's the only was she could define it. And all of this was irrelevant. Because Kalina just could not express it in words. "Smells of... sorta clean." She tries again. Maybe this was enough, it made sense to Kali - they were distinguishable differences, both in human and ocelot form. Maybe that would help Amelia... But if not... "Walk is good." She repeats.

[Amelia Cross]

The girls shout seemed to echo though the city. She really wasn’t found of being on water, now was she? Amelia couldn’t really say she didn’t understand though, as she remembered the time she had come just to ravok. The whole idea of a city on water seemed frightening, and now, each day using a ravosal was like a little horror story of her own. Then again, the girl was little, at that age everyone really liked to use a ravosal…maybe something to do with the kelvic form of this girl? Well, at least they had made it clear that she wanted to walk. She was actually quite happy to know the little kelvic wanted to walk, despite her being small, she doubted that carrying her would be easy.

Now what she said about the place where she lived, it was quite common. Unlike Syliras, Ravok was not only well kept, it always was clean and the smell of others didn’t bother even Amelia’s nose. Just thinking of the sweaty men in armor, the constant bio of other people in the covered city…really, if she had eaten even just a bit more, the whole block would have seen what exactly she had eaten earlier. Still, the fact the whole city was nice smelling and clean, it didn’t help much. It just removed the option of having her house next to ‘The Spicy Lass’. Sure, the option of it being near the Pit or a tavern was also removed, as there you can often feel the scents of blood, alcohol and other even lesser appealing aromas…but even there, the scents were light enough to be practically unnoticeable.

Slowly, Amelia began regretting her wish to help the girl, after all, she had no little clue of what and where to start. But the girl was trying hard to remember the detail, it was clear in her face. Well, her words didn’t really do much help, but she just smiled and offered her hand to the girl ”well then, let us walk” she gave the girl a chance to think, would she like to hold her hand or not, and then they would walk deeper towards the cities center, the inner rings. ”if something seems to be familiar, let me know, okey?”

[Kalina]

The three season old Kelvic nods, one hand rising to her face to wipe her eyes and nose whilst she slips the other into the offered hand. So, yeah, she was a little useless at knowing where she was, or how to navigate the city, or even what the front of her home looked like. But it was relatively acceptable, due to the face that Kalina had only bee living there for about twenty days, give or take. And in that time she had only left it a handful of times. And never without her owner. She shouldn't have left,she knew that now, and she wished more than anything that she could take back leaving. Being bored was better than being lost and knowing you were going to get into trouble. Again. She whines. But he was out of the apartment too. Maybe she would stumble across him. Or he would at least go home and realise she wasn't there and go looking? Another whine. Please don't leave me... They walk for a little while, Kalina saying nothing to the woman. Her moss green eyes, barely changed from her animal form, were still staring, unblinking, out into the world in front of her. Even as a human, the girl had eyesight to rival other wild felines; ocelots notably having the keenest of all cats. Her hearing was also still unrivalled by normal humans and she uses the two senses constantly, her mind, always on the go, still moves at a league a minute. Down a few pathways, Kalina makes sure that she was always on the inside, closest to the buildings, if they were walking between buildings and the canals. It didn't bother her if she appeared stupid or crazy to the woman, Amelia, or anyone else around them. Every now and then she looks down. For the most part, the pathways they were walking on were not made of anything solid, like Kalina always wished they were. Instead, she was always greeted by the sound of sloshing water against the wood below her feet. If she looked carefully enough, she could see the water, tiny reflections of white from the sun above her shining through the cracks in the wood. It made her feel sick. Despite this, after a few chimes more of walking, when they were crossing over another bridge, Kalina looks over the edge again. She stops and drops the woman's hand, both hands now moving to grip onto the railing as she pulls herself up so that she can rest her feet on the bottom rungs of the railing. There we're the creatures in the water again! She didn't see them all the time, only occasionally when she looked into the water. But there they were now, and the young Kelvic was still desperate to know what they were. They were all wonder of colours. A bit like the people she saw walking around here, the Kelvic thought. These little creatures seemed to stay in the water all the time, never coming up for air. Kalina didn't think she would get air in there and knew that she couldn't hold her breath for very long before her head and insidey-bits started screaming at her. All they did was move in little circles. Kali spent a lot of time in circles, but not all the time, not like these creatures. "What is them?". She asks aloud. She wasn't even sure if the woman was still beside her, if she had waited for the little girl. But she asks anyway. "Why they in there? Can't come out here? What they eat? How they breathing?". Then she stops, glancing up to look at the woman, eyes wide, confused and desperate for trickles of knowledge to soak up. "Water is... Cold? Big? Deep? Water not for drinking, what is it for? What the big water called not in a bowl for drink? Why is it here? Is it bad? Can't see through it like bowl water. Can you touch it?". The Kelvic finally takes a breath, running out of air, but by no means out of questions to ask.

[Amelia Cross]

The girl followed Amelia, she kept away from the water as much as she could. It made Amelia wonder, perhaps the girl was a kelvic that didn’t like water much as a whole? Some kind of cat or maybe a bird? She had come to realize birds don’t like earth much, none the less something deeper. And since Amelia had failed to identify the girl as a potential cat kelvic, she had to stick to her two options.

She didn’t speak, and Amelia didn’t pull out words from the girl. She didn’t think that was needed. ”The poor thing might still be scared” the idea of her just not being educated enough to talk properly didn’t cross her mind. Amelia knew that kelvics weren’t as smart as other races, but she didn’t think it was also a question of speech. As all the kelvics she had met were actually quite vocal, speaking and asking questions more than she could handle.

As they were passing the next bridge, to get to a different block of buildings, she finally heard the girl speak. ”is she speaking about fish?” maybe, Amelia came closer to the railing and looked down, she saw small circles form on the surface, but she couldn’t see the fish. Her eyesight was good for a human, but not to compare with a kelvics. Still, she thought that fish was the only thing she could have been speaking of.

”they are fish, they are animals just like any other, they just like to live in water” she explained, well, began explaining at least ”They have gills, they need water to stay alive, for them, water is like air for us…and they eat…well..just like us they eat something else…some eat plants and some eat other fish…humans eat fish, especially here in Ravok” what made sense, as the city was on a lake. ”The Lake of Ravok, Is clean…you could drink from it…but you could fall in it…hmm…yes, this water is called a lake. Nobody is sure how deep it is, it has all sorts of fish in it!”

”then there are…seas….they have a path of water that leads to the bigger, never ending pools of water, the ocean, those waters you can’t drink, because they are salty…you could get sick” that was the most she could tell, without going into pointless and boring terms, and the most she could explain without confusing the girl more, or had she already done it?

[Kalina]

Kalina continues to stare over the edge of the canal, into the murky waters, remaining silent and unmoving as she listens to the woman answer the questions she had just asked. To an observer, the child was unnervingly still, a trait that children were not particularly known for. Nor was the Kelvic, for that matter; her energy seemed to know no bounds, for the most part. But, now, by the canal waters, the playful creature had transformed into a predator. Fish... She repeats the word in her mind, and it echoes, associating it with the images of the creatures swimming below her. Sea... Lake... Fish... Moss green eyes narrow slightly, the vertical slits that made up the pupil remain as such, her eyes still not used to the sunlight; being that, when back at the Kelvic Research Institute, she was rarely awake at such times, preferring the night. Regardless of this, her eyes remain trained on the creatures below her, unblinking, moving only to follow the movements of the fish. Kalina was also given names for the big body of water she had crossed with Marcus, back on the day he took her away from the KRI. She still wasn't sure how long she was staying with him for, before he took her back, but she was beginning to think this new home was going to remain her new home. She had begun to hope, too: she liked her new home, she liked it a lot. And she liked her owner... Wherever he was... The young Kelvic wasn't sure what was worse... Remembering that she had lost her home and the fear of not being able to find it ever again, or the thought of him being mad enough with her that he would take her back to the Institute... Whilst the feline predator stares at the fish, she is calm and centred - a complete contrast to how the creature generally behaved. It is in these moments that she begins to think rationally, about everything. It was a mere two days ago that she had wandered away from him when he had so kindly taken her out with him. And now she had wound up lost yet again, so soon. The girl tears her gaze away from her would be dinner (she had stashed away the knowledge that they were tasty, and would test this out soon) and drops down from the railing upon which she had been resting. "I need to find home now." She says softly, and much more calmly than she had said it before they had started walking. After a moment, she also says, "Thank." her second attempt at a 'Thank You' to the woman, this one was for the information Amelia had given her, though. Now that she was no longer focused on the fish, the Kelvic's temperament had returned to something akin to how she normally behaves, and she slips her hand back into the other's as they begin walking.

[Amelia Cross]

Amelia carefully observed the young girl, she had been so calm now. So concentrated, and not afraid. Amelia herself was terrified of big pools of water, every day in Ravok was an interesting form of challenge for her. But slowly, with patience and slowly growing dedication to the father of this city, she had become more and more used to it. It was actually so amusing, a girl who prayed to Laviku, the father of sea, the girl who was born in Zeltiva, a city so widely known for ship making, was afraid of water. Sometimes Amelia felt like a bad joke.

Once Kalina was done with her examining of the watery surface, she turned back to Amelia, and actually thanked her, what for was unclear and had she really meant a ‘thank you’ was also a blur. It seemed like the girl hadn’t been familiar with this word at all. ”your welcome” she answered, hopping the girl was aware of this small gesture and its purpose. ”you have really good eye sight, most who would look at the water wouldn’t see the fish, they would just see their own reflection” a small, but honest compliment to the young creature as she was trying to guess where should she take her.

Well, at least the small girl toke Amelia’s hand without any question, making the older girl feel a bit better about the situation. The two walked in silence for a bit, as Amelia tried to guess the location of her home. The city might not be huge, but it was fairly large and the mazes and complex paths that the canals and blocks of houses crated made it even harder to move around it.

”ugh…I’m hungry” Amelia said as she felt her stomach let out a small growl. The scent of local bakeries was really getting to her, sometimes she regretted eating little portions. It just didn’t get her going for long enough! she would end up being hungry too fast. ”tell me, are you hungry?” she wouldn’t let herself eat and have the small girl stare. So she was praying that the girl was also hungry, or at least would want something sweet…fish! ”we can go get some fish to eat, if you want”

[Kalina]

The little Kelvic glances up at the older woman says they continue to walk along the canal. Her eyebrows furrow as she tries to decipher what the woman meant in response to her 'thank you'... did she say it wrong? I tried... and she really did; someone who had nothing to do with Kalina had made an effort to look after her well being. So the young girl wanted to make a good impression and please Amelia. And the older girl had taught her to say something, so she was tryng to try her damnest to use it. The girl was particularly glad that she had received a compliment from her saviour; Kalina didn't understand why she was receiving said compliment, but she liked it anyway, and her eyes grow brighter in delight. Compliments meant someone liked her, and she wanted Amelia to like her. Maybe one day Amelia would even want to play with her. She had wonders if even Marcus, the man who fed her, clothed her, put a roof over her head, even owned her, would have protected her from such mean, horrible boys. I have to find my Master! She thinks desperately, and she speeds up her pace, forgetting to ask what the woman beside her had meant by "Welcome". And then Amelia mentions fish and the younger girl suddenly slows again, her eyes darting around, particularly to the canals beside her. She says nothing as her brain works furiously to link to two things that she knew she should link. Fish. Fish... Fish... She continues to walk, through at a slower pace, apparently oblivious to the woman beside her, to whom Kalina much have appeared very odd. Fish in the water, but you can eat fish... and... "OH!" The Kelvic practically shouts the word in excitement as she realises. Since Marcus had taken her back to the main part of Ravok city, she had eaten plenty of fish, practically gorging on the succulent meats as if nothing could be better. She had tried it raw and cooked and loved it all, but she had assumed, up until now, that they came straight from the cooking person. "The fish! The fish in the water! That swim around!" She was herself again, not necessarily loud, but excitable and talkative, bordering on boisterous. "That's food! Yes! I want some." Again there was no politeness, no asking, just a straight statement nigh on ordering Amelia to get her some. "My Master bought me fish on my first day here, and it was raw, it was really yummy but I've also aphid cooked fish, I think it's called trout or something, but I like it both ways, cooked or not cooked. But I don't like watching it be cooked because I don't like the fire, fire is bad." She takes a breath, "And anyway, if you want it cooked you have to wait to get it and and I don't like waiting for it so I get it not cooked so I can have it now." She grins up at the older girl, thinking her now apparently vast knowledge of fish had somehow impressed her.

[Amelia Cross]

Amelia’s brows rose as she listened and looked at looked at the girl and just how energetic she was. It clearly wasn’t the little girl that she saved from bullies. And if she had to be honest, she wasn’t quite sure that she liked the energetic version more, it came off a bit ruder than the silent and confused one. But Amelia herself could be a pain, so she decided to shake it off and give the little girl some pointers. ”you should never talk, like you are demanding something” she explained, kneeling down so she would be in the same eye level as the girl ”if you want something, you should always say ‘please’, and if a person did good to you, don’t forget to say ‘thank you’, and for good measure, if someone is thanking you…say ‘you are welcome’ ” Amelia had a good guess it would be confusing to a girl who barely could mutter out a ‘thank you’, but she thought it could be better than scolding. Teaching always paid off better.

She stroked the girl’s hair and smiled at her, for a change of the days, it was actually a polite and kind smile. ”anyway, let’s get going” with that she straightened back up and toke the little girl’s hand, guiding her along the paths and little bridges, patiently waiting if the kelvic would decide to stop and observe something or someone. Eventually, she led the girl into a small but cozy dining place. This was not upscale and was more common for middle class merchants than anything. It wasn’t long before she found a place where to sit,since the place seemed to be quite empty during the day.

A young girl came up and asked Amelia what the girls would want, assuming that the younger girl was her daughter. It was a matter of a chime before Amelia clearly said she would have some green salad with fish and two glassed of sweet strawberry water for herself and the little companion. Now food was a different thing, she knew the girl was a kelvic, but she was unsure if the girl in her human form would really want to eat raw fish. ”So, are you sure you want raw fish?” she questioned, before giving the waitress the further instructions.