Closed Strange Strays (Ildiko)

[Wanda Endust]

Nettle District
11 Winter, 513 AV
Around the 8th Bell

Wanda pulled her cloak tighter about her body. The cloth was thinner than was appropriate for the time of year and, considering the poor repair her trousers were in, she might've looked like some vagrant. But the soft jingle of mizas in her pocket let on otherwise. If all went according to plan, she'd be at the some clothing shop and back before the thirteenth bell.

At least there's no snow here, the teen considered as she trudged along. Of course, 'here' was referring to the alley she found herself trudging along (since she'd heard Traveler's Row and other such places were already beginning to get covered in the white mess). It wasn't crowded. Not at all. Really, the only other person she'd come across was some hobbled old man that had startled the girl witless before heading off down the road.

Wanda found it pretty strange that she hadn't run in to more people, since they'd probably seek alternative routes in lieu of the recent cold front and whatnot. Maybe they were just staying home.

So she trudged along, chastising herself for not investing in some actual winter clothes sooner. Was it just her or was the Winter air making her mind move a bit slower than normal?

What was that?

There was a scuffling nearby, but Wanda couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. The torchlight flickered dully, indifferent to her unspoken question. Then something landed with a thud between her shoulder blades.

"Ouh!"

She dropped to her knees. Whatever it was that had hit her, it wasn't heavy. But whatever it was was certainly alive -- she could feel its little paws pat-patting on her back as it thrashed about. "What?"

A furry black tail swung in front of her face. Oh. Wanda turned her head just enough to catch a glimpse of a black cat trapped in the hood of her cloak as she reached behind herself to grab at it. The rascal thrashed about a few more times before Wanda finally managed to get a good hold of the creature and let it loose, though it claws were still clasping at her hair.
"Ow. No, yeah. Ow. C'mon, let go!"

[Ildiko]

The air was a stinging cold, but Ildiko didn't feel it. Her clothes weren't any thicker than they had been, yet her full stomach made her feel warm and almost-comfortable. It had been eleven days since she arrived at Syrilas, though she reckoned time by the moon. Finding hunting partners was the best decision that she'd made in recent history. It guarenteed her a full stomach and a warm bed to sleep in, when the winter winds blew too harshly for her to sleep in her tent. Before, she had resorted to begging strangers for shelter. A few men had taken pity on her but assumed that she was a malnourished prostitute. Ildiko didn't miss those awkward situations one bit. She walked down a lonely side street thinking of how far she'd come, cloak wrapped tightly around her little body. Her hair was unkempt and starting to dreadlock, and there were layers of dirt underneath her fingernails. Just surviving day-to-day had obviously taken precedence over grooming. Still, it had paid off greatly; her cheeks looked less sunken in than they had a week prior. Syrilas frightened her. A city of mostly humans, and fair-skinned ones at that, Ildiko found herself hypersensitive to the way others percieved her. She wasn't prejudiced, but they seemed strange to her. She was used to the dark greys and blues and browns of the Zith. Did these humans see her as human, or a monster? Something weak, or something wild? She didn't know, but judging by the reactions of her new acquaintances, she was harsher-looking than she realized. It forced her to only come into the city when she needed something. Today, she needed new clothes. She carried a fourth of her small fortune with her always, yet she had no idea where to start. Being half-human hadn't guarenteed that she'd know how to relate to others...or that others would know how to relate to her. She turned down an alleyway, looking quickly for a store sign before turning away. She heard a woman's voice from nearby, but initially ignored it, not even looking in that direction. A woman? She got along easier with men than women. Women wrinkled their noses when she walked by. "Ow. C'mon, let go!" At this, she turned to see the situation, fearing the worst. To her relief (and confusion), a fair-haired woman seemed to be wrestling with a small creature. From the distance, she couldn't quite see what it was... but it looked edible, whatever it could be. She approached her slowly, though she walked a little ahead before turning to greet her, so she wouldn't sneak up on her from behind. "Would you like me to take care of it?" ldiko asked softly, seemingly appearing from nowhere at the woman's side. She touched her arm to get her attention, then shrunk back as if cautious of being harmed. Her cloak was hooded, but too big; her curly hair spilled out of the top, her wide, dark eyes seeming too large for her small face. "They all taste the same, anyway. It'd be no trouble for me, really..."

[Wanda Endust]

The cat hissed indignantly in Wanda's ear, covering up the approaching footsteps. Luckily enough, she didn't jump out of her bones at the unexpected voice -- the speaker had sense enough to know how to avoid startling a lone girl in an alley way. Worn boots, shrouded by an equally worn cloak, fell into view at a sidelong glance.

The girl peered up, one hand still grasping at fur while the other scrabbled on the ground for support. She couldn't quite crane her neck enough to glimpse the face that went with the boots, but she felt the fleeting touch at her arm.

Wanda (who figured the speaker was joking about eating the beast) was formulating a sheepish reply when the cat suddenly gave a final futile swipe and hiss at her golden locks, planted its paws on her face for leverage, and bounded off down the lonely street.

"Augh," she groaned, pushing her own self up from the ground. "Guess he must've thought I was a street rat," she chuckled. Her shoes scraped lightly on the stone as she stood, though her face was turned away from the stranger to fix her hair. "I look enough like one right now!"

She ran her fingers through her freshly-tangled hair. "I was gonna go get some new clothes. But now that I'm a wreck an' all, looks like I might as well just head back home."

An exasperated sigh built up, but died on her lips as her eyes shifted and caught a glimpse of the other person. She could've known from the voice that the stranger was a girl. And she supposed that she could tell by her looks as well, in a way. Wanda simply wasn't used to seeing women in the city look so... Feral, she decided. It was a word she'd heard often from hunters when they were describing their trips and their kills, but she hadn't had a visual to suit it. Til now.

Not that it tempered Wanda, of course. "Actually, you look like you could use a good ol' cleaning-up too," she mused lightly, withdrawing her busy hands from her busy mane.