Completed Midnight Circus

[Rania]

Night had fallen on Elbion. The star-speckled sky beautifully highlighted the full moon and the streets were filled to the brim with pleasure-seeking mortals, each and every one of which sought to fulfill their deepest, darkest desires. And tonight Rania Dazeir was one of them.

The raven-haired beauty was far from home, but this was not an unusual sight: Rania occasionally visited the cities that lay within a few days of Maraan, mostly to do business, meet with clients and perhaps get her thieving hands on one or two priceless artifacts. Tonight’s occasion was inspired by similar demands and the young woman seemingly floated through the streets of the merchant republic, searching for just the right place to begin her schemes.

On her last visit a few moons ago the clever girl had been able to sweet-talk a brainlessly drunk wizard out of his magical amulet which had fetched her a nice price with the caravans. What sounded bad really wasn’t all that shameful. Surely he wouldn’t miss his item, as she’d made sure to check beforehand whether or not he was reliant on it: newsflash, he wasn’t. Rania never stole from the poor, that was one of her principles.

That aside, the human wasn’t just looking for trouble. Perhaps there was more for her tonight and she was eager to find out. Without much hesitation Rania entered one of the larger establishments that promised entertainment, fun and perhaps even pleasure, and happily made her way to the bar counter to order a drink.

 

[Maranae]

Nonononono...

The girl pelted through the street with at least one guard and one irate shopkeeper in hot pursuit. It was not really a fair competition for them, though; the redheaded youth, a mass of smudged flesh and dirty hair, stained clothes flapping on a scarecrow frame, was much, much quicker than they were. And more agile, ducking between people with a look somewhere between exhilaration and terror on her youthful features. Her prize, clutched firmly in her hands, left the occasional drip of blood behind her as she pelted, dropping and rolling beneath a wagon and popping back up with skinned knees and elbows.

They probably didn't understand what it was like. But then again, she didn't really understand the concept of money, still, despite being on her own for at least a year. The little bits of metal people gave one another in exchange for things had perplexed her; it was not edible, and did not even taste particularly good. And yet, people would carry a lot of it with them, if they could. It was mystifying to her.

They also got very, very angry when you took something without giving them bits of metal in exchange. The bloody roast in her hand had come from a butchers stall, and represented a day or two of food for the starving youth. It was the only source of food around, as far as she could tell; people got even more angry if she killed their horses or any livestock that she found. It was one reason why she didn't like coming into the city, but not the only one.

"Stop you wretched girl, stop!" Her head snapped up, and she saw a different uniformed man in front of her, eyes flashing from green to yellow and back again. She put the brakes on, after a fashion, scrabbling to change directions while already pelting headlong one way. The uniformed man darted one way and tried to catch hold of her, but she nimbly twisted away, claws sinking into her treasure even as she barreled through the door of a building full of people. The cursing behind her increased in vehemence even as she darted into a room that, while not crowded, was not likely to make things any easier on her pursuers.

Not especially when she jumped onto a table, spilling crockery and mugs everywhere, and then leapt from table to bar, sending glass flying and crunching some of the same under bare feet, splattering blood - hers - into the patrons faces as she darted along the counter and through the door at the far end into the back. The one uniformed man was struggling to get through the mess in her wake, shouting obscenities even as the other two finally caught up.

 

[Rania]

“Thank you.” Rania nodded at the bartender, offering a smile and a few coins to pay for her drink. Her emerald eyes fixated on the dark liquid. It was a popular beverage in these parts of the country, and the human enjoyed it for the sole fact that it did not cloud her mind or judgement, but simply tasted decent. It’s all that she needed, for Rania was a simple woman.

Once she took a look around it quickly became apparent that this establishment in particular was not only well-visited, but also accommodating all sorts of different beings, from people to creatures and everything else. There were certain places in the country that Rania avoided like the plague, such as Vel Anir, solely for its bad reputation, but Elbion was – as far as she was concerned – quite alright.

She hadn’t had much time to properly look around when the doors swung open and something dashed inside. Usually Rania wouldn’t have paid it any heed, for this place was, as she’d previously noted, well-visited and people were coming in and going out at all times, but this entrance was something else: she could hear cursing and her eyes caught a glimpse of someone – a girl – jumping from one table to the next, leaving havoc in her wake.

Rania rarely mingled with others and kept to herself instead; minding her own business, so to speak. But in that short span of a moment during which the raven-haired was able to look at the girl’s face she saw something that made her change her mind: despair. It was a feeling she was all too familiar with and it reminded her of what she’d been through herself in her younger years.

Regardless of the reason, Rania rose from her chair and swiftly stepped into the way of the men who’d come to chase her, accidentally spilling the drink she’d just paid for on one of them. “Oh my goodness, gracious me–,” she exclaimed and a distraught expression washed over her pretty face. Grabbing the nearest napkin or whatever she could find, Rania swiftly motioned to pat the man dry while she batted her eyelashes at the brute. He was put off at first, but quickly distracted by her beauty. “I, ugh! Where’s the girl–,” he demanded and Rania quickly took a dramatic spin around the room, only to point him into the wrong direction.

“There! Over there, she just fled through the window, quick! Quick!” With an excited shriek, Rania pushed the man into the wrong direction and watched with mild amusement as his partner followed him back out of the tavern. Before anyone else could interfere, the woman with the obsidian hair shot the bartender a deathly stare that silenced him right then and there. Once the men were out of sight she asked for a towel and headed into the backroom that the girl had fled into.

“Come out now, little thief. It’s safe now.”

 

[Maranae]

The door led to a narrow hallway that was obviously for staff use and not the general public. It was narrow and cramped, with crates and barrels lining it as well as buckets and pails. A door led into the kitchen on way, another to the laundry for the linens from upstairs, and the last to a storeroom. The door to the last was ajar, casting a narrow beam of light into darkness where motes of dust danced in the light from the front room. Bloody footprints led to the storeroom.

Maranae had dove into this room, and found herself trapped. There was no secondary exit, at least not one that would not require her to tear the door from its frame, which was an action that was guaranteed to draw unwanted attention. She might be naive of a lot of things, but it was a bit much to be too stupid to realize that a great crash would draw every person in the establishment back here, not to mention the pursuers.

She ducked around a stack of barrels that might contain some kind of wine, or had perhaps. In the shadowed corner, she squatted down, pressing her back against the wall, and listened intently. Her hearing was particularly acute, as was her sense of smell; the latter was useless here, but the former very much so. She could hear a lot of commotion outside this dead end, but no one was approaching her. She looked down at the chunk of meat in her hands, blood dripping on the floor. There was more blood on the floor from that than from her feet, which were already well along the way to healing. Unfortunately, the healing made her even more hungry.

Feline eyes, yellow with vertical pupils, regarded the prize in her hands, clutched with claws sunk deep into the piece. Without any preamble or even a nod to table manners, she tore into it, tearing a great chunk of raw flesh free, shredding it in overlong incisors before hastily chewing and swallowing. Blood dripped from her chin, but she no longer cared about that, or anything else. Feeding was paramount. She was not human, and her physiology made certain demands of her.

Had it been a day or two more, she might have had to resort to killing something, and that always caused trouble.

She stopped cold when she heard the voice call out to her. She clutched the half eaten chunk of meat tighter, claws digging in deeper and scoring the floorboard beneath her feet (had her feet been clawed before?) as she tensed. Would she need to flee again? People were strange, and had strange notions. Many had tried to hurt her, but she had managed to escape them all.

So far.

After a few moments of silence, she edged forward, head popping up from behind the stack of barrels. Her eyes were once again green, human in appearance, and wide open. It could have been fear, or it could have been curiosity. Hard to tell. She stared at the brilliant light streaming through the door, but did not immediately move nor answer the call from outside.

 

[Rania]

“How unfortunate.” Her gaze fell on the bloody footprints. “There’s nothing in here for you, you know.” The woman’s voice was but a murmur, and Rania spoke more to herself than the person lying in wait for her. A sense of uncertainty washed over her when she stepped through the sparsely lit backroom of the tavern and she wondered whether she should have bought a second drink before coming here.

Still, it was too late to turn away now.

A faint tingle tickled the sole of her feet. It climbed up her calves, all the way to her thighs until she could feel it in the palms of her hands and in her neck. The vibrations pointed her into a singular direction, alerting her of the person hiding in the dark, but much to her relief there was no one else around: no one had followed them. No one was lying in wait, no one but her.

Rania’s seismic sense ability once again proved to be invaluable.

She nudged the door open without saying as much as another word and silently stared into the darkness. There, from behind a bunch of barrels and other rubbish, a pair of green eyes stared back at her. Rania’s lips turned upwards again and she moved to cross her arms in front of her chest and leaned against the door frame. “There you are.” Her voice held no evil intent, nor did Rania think she looked frightening at all. If anything, her pure appearance was her greatest disguise. But tonight the rogue meant no harm.

“You caused quite the ruckus out there,” she spoke while maintaining a faint smile. Rania kept her distance, but threw the linen towel across the room so the little one could clean herself up. She was filthy, wounded and something about the way in which she carried herself left her looking almost savage. More animal than human, really. “Don’t worry,” she raised a hand to calm her should she be alarmed. “There’s no one coming for you now, but that doesn’t mean you can stay here. This is not a place for rest, nor is it one for eating, but we will make an exception regarding the latter for now.”

Naturally Rania hadn’t missed out on the way the girl had been scavenging the chunk of bloody meat she now held on to so dearly and while the woman herself never had to act in such a desperate manner, she knew what it was like to starve: and she knew that this one had been starving.

“If you eat up quietly and quickly, clean up after yourself I’ll promise you some fruits for dessert. Pomelo if you’d like. And pineapple. But you have to tell me who you are first.”

Rania figured that the best way to get to this girl for now would be through her stomach. Besides, the rogue was in the mood for something juicy herself as she had grown tired of the tavern.

 

[Maranae]

Good or evil intent were completely lost on the youth, but then the woman in the doorway would not know that. She remained as still as, well, an animal, frozen in place by the stare of a predator. It was only when she threw the towel towards her that she did finally move, and that was only to duck back out of sight again silently. When the soft fabric hit the barrel where she had been, and no further abuse came, the top of her head slowly came back into view. When her eyes were clear of it, she stopped, not rising any further.

She cocked her head slowly to one side as the woman spoke. Her words were quick, She did not recognize a lot of them - many of them had not been part of the very specific training she'd been given the years prior to her freedom. She did not like to think of those times very much at all. It was enough that she could understand enough of the words being spoken.

"Mara was hungry," she said carefully. The teeth made it difficult to enunciate some syllables, but she was understandable enough if you were patient enough. "People get mad when she takes food. No matter how she takes food." Head cocked the other way, eyes shining in the light from the hallway, no less wide than before.

She crept a little further up and out of her refuge, pathetic though it was. She eyed the woman before her up and down, sniffing at the air as if she could smell vile intentions. The chunk of roast in her hands remained clutched as tightly as before, albeit half eaten now. The blood was already drying on her chin; the other minor injuries she had taken getting this far had already healed entirely.

"Mara is Mara," she said suddenly, in a tone of voice that for all the world sounded as though she were telling the stranger that water was wet. She crept a little further out of her hole, coming halfway round the barrels, out into the light. Her ragged clothing looked as though she had rolled in mud, blood, and a bunch of other filth before being rinsed out but never really cleaned. It was amazing that the girl didn't reek, despite the appearance of being utterly filthy. She ignored the towel that had been thrown to her as though it were completely unimportant. Unconsciously, she tore a strip of raw meat from the roast, claws digging in deeper to keep it gripped, and stuffed it in her mouth. Fresh blood drooled down her chin.

She looked like she was ready to dart through the door at the first sign of trouble, but the light of curiosity shone in her eyes now. Why was this woman being nice to her? A part of her whispered not to trust the humans, but another part of her - distantly - remembered a time when it was not so.

The concepts of openness and friendliness were foreign to her. The curiosity she felt was entirely due to the fact that this one was not yelling at her, or trying to catch her. Yet.

 

[Rania]

A frown tore through Rania’s gentle features. In the light of concern, the woman looked the girl up and down and considered herself surprised, but not baffled, by her strange accent (if you could even call it that) and the way in which she referred to herself and the things surrounding her. “Mara.” Rania repeated quietly to memorize the name. Mara disregarded both the towel and her suggestion. Understanding that her initial approach had not worked, Rania attempted to do something different instead.

“If Mara is hungry, she must eat.” The woman concluded simply. Rania nodded at the meat in her hands, as if she were urging her to continue her meal. “That is because people are greedy. The truth is there’s enough food for everyone, but you can’t take something without asking for it or earning it.” Her eyes darted around the corner and she wondered when the tavern's staff would come looking for them. Surely they were running out of time.

She was filthy, but oddly enough Rania’s sensitive nose hadn’t filled with any type of stench yet. Maybe her nose wasn’t that good to begin with, or maybe there was something else masking it. Still, it didn’t matter much for the time being. Becoming visibly impatient, the raven haired maiden uttered a sigh and pointed outside from where they had come from. “I will show you what I mean. If you ask me for more of this,” her emerald gaze fixated on the food, “I will give you more food. But you have to earn it first by coming with me, to a safe place.” The tone of her voice never changed and remained calm throughout their whole interaction.

Rania really had nothing to bargain with, but she could easily wind up a quick meal if she had to. But then again, she didn’t have to – so why was she even in here to begin with? Deciding that now was not the time to reconsider her actions and question her intentions, the woman shook those thoughts off and took a step backwards. Mara had crawled from her spot as well, and she could see a hint of curiosity in those strange eyes.

“Is Mara accepting?”

 

[Maranae]

She blinked at the woman, and took another step forward. Unbidden, she stripped another chunk of the roast from with bloody fingers, and popped it in her mouth. It was hard to tell if she chewed it or just swallowed it whole. "Gree-eedy?" She mimed slowly, as though tasting the unfamiliar word. She tore another piece of flesh free, and chewed on in shortly before swallowing.

The raven-haired woman used a lot of words that Maranae was unfamiliar with. Or...should be unfamiliar with, but the ghostly shape of those words resided somewhere within her head, and she could almost feel what they meant. Almost, but not quite.

She slipped forward slowly, like a feral cat coming out of hiding to a hand held out for affection. The image almost held as she comically sniffed, head forward and neck stretching as she tried to catch some whiff of the scent the woman put off, as if it could giver some notion of her intent. And there was a scent there, something sly and deceitful. That was an undercurrent, though; the predominate scent was something soft and warm. It carried with it ancient memories that she could not pin down.

Slowly, Mara reached out and tentatively offered the strange woman with the green eyes the remnants of the chunk of meat clutched in her hands. Blood dripped from her hands as she held it out. She had seen the woman looking at it meaningfully, and mistook what it was she was trying to infer. "Acc-ept-ing?" she mimed again, again not understanding the word or what it meant.

 

[Rania]

“Ah, no.” Rania sighed. Her braid loosened when she shook her head, signalizing that she did not want any of Mara’s bloodied meat. The girl had come out of hiding eventually, but her behavior was cause for concern. Rania was a lone wolf, and even though she could be social, the raven haired had little experience with children and hardly any patience to work through to them. Still, the situation was dire and Rania decided to give this one – Mara – another chance.

“This,” she spoke, pointing at the half-eaten meal, “is Mara’s.” Then, Rania pointed at the girl. Her eyes scanned the young human (assuming that’s what Mara was) and began to wonder why she did not understand. Perhaps she spoke a different language, although her behavior suggested otherwise: in a way, she struggled to grasp the meaning of her intentions and Rania couldn’t help but think that she was wise to shy away from following her immediate orders.

Even if she meant no harm, someone else surely did. If Rania wanted to succeed, she would have to find a way to get her point across without talking much. The woman looked around for a moment, but there was nothing that could possibly assist her in this situation and it appeared she was on her own. To start off simple, she pointed at herself.

“Rania.” And then at the strange girl. “Mara.”

Good enough, she thought – hoped. Rania then gestured towards the door and mimed a walking motion with her index- and middle fingers. “Mara and Rania must go, now.” She explained further, and aimed at the door.

 

[Maranae]

Memories. Memories of the Den, of the evil place she had escaped and all the horrors therein. This woman did not bring those memories, not directly, but it was those memories that gave her pause whenever she interacted with humans - and to Mara, everything that was not walking on four legs was a human.

And was it so hard to understand why? There were many memories of that place, but chief among them was the feeling of being torn apart, of everything that she was and everything that she would ever be being ripped to shreds while she yet lived. The sensation of otherness as what she had been was destroyed, and with all the other things, the pieces that did not fit, being jammed together, welded together by high sorcery. The entire ritual was burned into her memory, something that could never be forgotten.

She had died, and been reborn as something else.

Her eyes flashed from green to yellow, vertical pupils narrowing. The girl reached a decision, came forward with a little less apprehension and began to finish off the chunk of meat, oblivious to the bloody mess she made on her face. "Rania," she said. "Rania, Rania."

When the woman gestured toward the door, the girl cringed back for a moment, but when no blow came, she straightened and came forward much more willingly. "Where does Rania wish to go?"

 

[Rania]

What are you? Rania wondered in silence. Maranae was strange, perhaps even magical – but human? She certainly looks like one, the raven rogue thought, but something about her eyes said otherwise. Her lips parted slightly in surprise when their colour changed, but not a stranger to the weird laws of magic and the supernatural in this world, Rania hesitated and then pushed her concern aside.

She felt a little uneasy in her presence, but not threatened by any means. If anything, Mara’s unpredictability was a lot to handle, but Rania was flexible both physically and mentally – and whatever was going to happen, she would be able to adjust and adapt. “Yes, I'm Rania.” She gave a proud nod. Apparently using simple terms and gestures had gotten her far, and she would have continued down that path hadn’t Mara spoken again and caught her by surprise.

The girl’s sudden usage of more ‘eloquent’ language (if you could even call it that) was unexpected, and bewilderment tinted her features. Still, Rania wasn’t ready to take any risks just yet. “Home,” she replied and pointed towards the door that would lead them to the tavern’s back entrance. “Rania’s home. Mara can come too, if she wants to.” Now that Rania had clarified her intentions, she thought it best to simply start moving and hope that the little one would follow after her.

Once they were out of the tavern however, she was absolutely clueless as to what she wanted to do with that one.

 

[Maranae]

Mara mouthed the word 'home' like a strange piece of food. It didn't mean anything to her, either. Or...it did, but putting concepts like that to words when the memories associated with them were broken things, shattered ruins floating through her head...

She followed Rania more willingly now. She was still skeptical of her, but her distrust was fading with the rapidity that only a child could muster. She finished her stolen treat and wiped her greasy, bloody hands on the ragged clothing she wore, and followed Rania to the door, and outside when she finally managed to unlock the door leading into the alley out back.

***

Jerick was tired of the cat and mouse game. It was bad enough that they had allowed the chimera to escape, let alone slaughter so many accomplished artificers in the process, but then to have failed to actually track it down as soon as the few survivors that made it out of The Mine and recapture it was appalling. Worse, the creature had managed to make it to the city, and then melted away.

It wasn't smart enough to evade them, and yet it had.

Until now.

The city watch had been kind enough to give him the details of a particular incident that led him to this watering hole somewhere in the less...reputable parts of Elbion. The efforts to clean the mess in the front room were still underway. It was a miracle that he had been both close enough to observe the chase and to still be present when, presumably, the subject of interest could still be by.

Jerick adjusted his belt, straightened the coat of black and red that he wore, then stepped inside. He gave a disdainful glance around the room. He stood over six feet in height, and was easily able to look over the heads of most of the people here. One or two eyed him, and then quickly looked away; he was not necessarily well known, but he was known enough in certain circles.

He approached the bar, and those who did know moved out of his way without him having to say a word. those that didn't were pushed aside, and a shaken fist or two were directed at him. He ignored them and stepped up to the bench that served as a bar. "I am looking for the cause of all of...this," he said to the man behind it, and gestured behind him. His voice was smooth, accent cultured. "The watch said they could not find it?" His eyes caught the gleam of something dark red on the wood. A drop of blood, dried. There were more of them heading off to the back door of the place, the room at the end of the bar. He held up a hand to forestall the keeper, and started back that way following the scant evidence that there was.

Playing a hunch, as it were.

 

[Rania]

When Rania felt another presence approaching, a tingle slithered down her spine and the woman turned her head around. Maranae was following closely, much to Rania’s delight, and she gestured to the girl to hurry up. The door unlocked without further issues and once they were on the open streets of Elbion, the raven-haired maiden saw no choice but to take Maranae with her, to the little room she’d rented.

Rania wasn’t from Elbion, but the city served as a reliable source of income for the rogue/thief/spy and even though the people here were different – and their magic off-putting – Rania never felt a sense of dread or fear when she visited. Instead, she had familiarized herself with the area and now felt confident enough to wander the streets at night.

Still, the approaching steps never ceased and Rania quickly hushed the girl around a few corners, going as far as to take her by the wrist if she allowed in order to drag her along. When taking Rania’s line of work into consideration it made much sense that the woman didn’t do well with confrontation and although she carried a weapon around at all times, she preferred to stay out of sight entirely and avoided direct encounters.

“Over there,” she spoke and nudged Maranae towards a small, friendly looking inn. “That’s where Rania lives at the moment. Mara can stay too, just for a day or so.” Maybe until then she could figure out how to keep the girl from running into more trouble and being an inconvenience to those around her.

 

[Maranae]

Blood.

There was blood here on the floor, enough of it to be a problem for whoever it was that was bleeding, and yet there was no body, no person hobbled by some injury. Most telling, there was no alarm from anyone in the establishment.

Jerick stepped into the alley out back, and looked up and down the way. There was no one out here, and no blood trail to follow anymore. He sighed to himself, and then closed his eyes. "I need you here. Now," he said to himself in low tones. There was no answer to his statement; he simply opened his eyes and walked to the end of the alley, back to the main street. There, he waited patiently as the tide of blissfully ignorant people went by, none even pausing to give the well-dressed man a second glance. Just the way he preferred it; in his line of business, it was best to be known in certain circles but not in general.

It did not take long. The one he was waiting for was always prompt, which was why he was in Jerick's employ. There were too many things that could get out of hand in the very niche market that he existed in, and so it paid to have a hired hand that was equal parts tracker, killer, and negotiator. After all, it would not do for Jerick to get his own hands dirty unless he had to.

The man nodded to Jerick wordlessly as he came up to him, and Jerick turned to walk slowly along the way. "I think our pet might be nearby," he said simply.

The man nodded. He was tall and broad across the shoulders, with a scarred face and piercingly blue eyes. The mop of dark hair on top of his head looked as though it had never seen a brush before. He wore simple leathers, wore a pair of long hunting knives at his waist. All in all, rather unremarkable other than his striking eyes. "Give me a moment, Jerick. I will try to see if I can trace it," he said, finally. The voice was like gravel, but despite that he was well spoken.

He stopped, and closed his eyes. Jerick, quite familiar with magic, could sense the tingle of sorcery at work. His own talents lie in other directions that this, otherwise he would have done it himself. After long moments, the blue-eyed man opened his eyes and smiled. Perfect white teeth gleamed.

"I think...that we have it," he said gruffly. "It was here not too long ago."

Jerick smiled. "Go track it down, Charlie. Remember, if we can get it back alive that would be best. Its worth far too much money."

Charlie grinned. "You got it, boss. Shouldn't be too much trouble to find."

Jerick stopped and watched as Charlie faded into the crowd, as much as anyone as tall and broad as he could. It had been a year at least since the embarrassing affair at the Mine, but it looked like things would finally start to get back to normal again. He had other projects to worry about, yet, but this one had always been one of his favorites.

***

At first she just followed, but eventually, as her misgivings decreased, the girl began to dance around the raven-haired beauty very much like the child she should have been. Every now and again, she would say Rania's name for no apparent reason, before falling to silence again. What more could she really want? She had a full belly and she'd found a new friend. Friends were incredibly rare to the red-headed beast, and so it was like a child with a new toy, was Mara with Rania.

When Rania tried to get her to be quiet, she was obedient enough, if looking slightly puzzled and a little hurt by it. When Rania took her by the wrist, she did not resist (which was probably a good thing for Rania; Mara was strong and could easily keep from being dragged anywhere she did not want to go) and went along with it. The pace wasn't onerous, no matter what Rania thought; Mara routinely ran deer down to eat, and they were fairly quick creatures as things went.

The building that Rania pointed out looked much like any of the others. Mara did not live indoors, and had not since the day that she escaped the Den. She often wondered what it was like to be inside, sleeping out of the rain and other weather. "Mara can go there, too?" she asked as they drew up on the place. "Rania, Rania! Rania and staying inside," she chortled and danced around the woman, quick and lithe. She never even wondered what a keeper would think of a filthy child in rags coming along, but as had been stated before, money was not a concept with which she was familiar.

 

[Rania]

What have I gotten myself into?

It was night time and most of Elbion’s citizens were fast asleep. When Rania hushed through the streets, she gave a glance over her shoulder at the dancing girl; she was as happy as one could be. Maranae was in a delightful mood, chortling about and willingly following Rania through the endless alleyways of the mage’s town, never once resisting and over being just what one would expect by looking at her: a normal child.

“Yes, Mara can stay there too, if Mara agrees to shower. Because Mara is dirty.” Rania stated as a matter-of-fact. She could probably find a tunic or something for the girl to wear, but she wasn’t going to let her into the bed looking like that today or ever. When they entered the building, the inn’s keeper immediately protested.

“That’s going to cost you–,” But Rania cut him off. “I know,” the woman snarled and flipped a few coins over the counter while urging Maranae up the stairs. Once there, Rania opened the wooden doors to a small, but cozy looking abode and didn’t give the girl much time to inspect. Considering that Rania had no reason (yet) to suspect that anything bad was going to happen, she pointed the girl towards a bunch of buckets filled with water.

“Please tell me you know how to use that.”

 

[Maranae]

The little redhead hesitated as they approached the little inn, stopping on the threshold uncertainly. She had not been inside buildings, willingly, since she had left the Den behind her. At least, not unless she was being chased. There were not many good memories to be had, thinking of being indoors. And yet, though their acquaintance had been brief, she trusted the raven-haired woman. Some natural born instinct, either through her human side or the more animalistic avenues of her soul, trusted Rania to a degree that would frankly be shocking, were Rania to know.

Such child-like acceptance was a precious thing, in a world that did not reward it at all.

Mara crossed into the building, already cringing as the man that stood behind a counter within raised his objections - and his voice. People always did around Mara, though usually that was because she was either stealing something from them or getting in their way. Or just because, as far as anyone in Elbion was concerned, she was just a street urchin. One of the dregs of society, doomed to be little more than a thief or a whore or some other equally unsavory profession.

Mara kept close to Rania, shooting wide-eyed stares at the man that took the metal bits people were so fond of from Rania. They ascended to the second floor, and immediately upon entering the little room Rania called home, Rania tried to get her attention, pointing to some buckets of water.

Mara stared at them, and then at Rania with blank incomprehension. "Mara is not thirsty," she said. The concept of a shower was foreign to her, but she knew what bath meant. And didn't like it in the slightest, as had been mentioned before. "But Mara knows how to drink," she added in a guileless tone.

 

[Rania]

“Ah, okay. That’s good, that’s something.” Rania uttered a sigh. Of course she didn’t know how to shower, or else she wouldn’t look the way she did. Maranae had disregarded the linen towel Rania had tried to hand her earlier completely, and even now the girl felt nothing towards the buckets of water clearly meant to clean oneself.

But patience was a virtue, and even a thief knew this.

Rania took a towel from the shelf next to the bucket and sat down on the small, wooden stool that was placed in between them. Her hands weren’t dirty by any means, but it appeared that a little bit of grease and blood had smudged off on her when she had taken ahold of the girl to lead her into the directions of this inn.

“I’ll show you,” she said slowly and dipped the towel into water. Then, she used it to clean her hands and arms before offering Maranae to do the same. “At least a little bit,” the woman begged and put on a smile. “If Rania can do it, Mara can do it too.” In the meantime she wondered what clothes she could possibly put on the girl to make her look a bit more civil.

Nothing Rania wore came close to the size of a child or a style appropriate for one, but she could probably make something out of a tunic and a hooded cloak. There was also the temptation to brush out that long and unruly red hair, but baby steps.

 

[Maranae]

The girl cocked her head to one side, plainly confused by the actions the other woman was taking. She took the offered towel, damp as it was, and cocked her head the other way. "Why?" It was a simple question from a seemingly simple girl, but there was quite a bit more behind her guileless eyes than an idiot.

She ran the wet, cold cloth across her arms and then looked back at Rania with a question in her eyes. Where the towel had gone, it left a streak of starkly pale flesh, not necessarily clean but orders of magnitude cleaner than it had been before. The towel did not come away from this process without enduring the horror of however long it had been since she last went for a swim and at least rinsed some of the dirt off.

It suddenly dawned on her what it was that Rania wanted her to do. And she did not like it in the slightest; it was a thing that was done to her while she was a 'guest' of the Den. Using a towel was definitely a different method; they had usually just sluiced her down with water and called it good. Not wanting to spend any length of time drenched in cold water, clothes sticking to skin, she hastily stripped the tattered remnants of her shirt off.

Thus exposed, it was easier to see many of the other things that were inhuman about the child. Her undeveloped chest was covered in tiny scales that gleamed, and they extended below her breastbone a short ways before shifting to smooth (dirty) skin. The scales climbed her shoulders and ran along her spine to the tailbone, and covered the outside portions of her arms.

She stood, naked, and waited there with her luminous eyes wide, and then closed them quickly. Waiting for the expected bucket of water to come.

 

[Rania]

“It’s not pretty.” With a heavy heart, Rania grabbed a bar of perfumed soap. It was an expensive, albeit stolen, piece of wellness and as an endorser of all things luxury and beauty, the thief had planned on using this to spoil herself. But Maranae needed it more. “You’re a girl, not livestock, and while you mustn’t always look like one, it can’t hurt to smell like one every once in a while,” the woman explained and stood up so Maranae could take her spot.

The girl reluctantly took a seat and undressed herself, revealing a number of physical oddities to her human companion. Her body was covered in scars, although that did not surprise Rania – the world was merciless, especially towards children. Still, there was something else and it made Rania hesitate for a moment.

Are those...scales?

She poured a cup of cold water over the girl’s body and ran her thumb up and down one of those scales. It felt real, but it made no sense. There were more of them, down her back and tailbone and on the sides of her arms and while Rania inspected the odd child, she also scrubbed her clean using both the soap and loads of water mercilessly, until Maranae was clean as one could be. Then, Rania wrapped her up in a towel, placed a second one around the girl’s long hair and went back inside her room to search for something for her to wear.

“As far as I’m concerned Mara has two choices.” Rania would lay out two tunics, each of which could be worn as a dress in some type of way. One was green, the other one was blue. “Which one does Mara want,” Rania asked and pointed at each one. “Green or blue?”

 

[Maranae]

The bucket did not come. She waited for a moment, and then opened one eye, green-then-yellow-then-green so quick it might have been an optical illusion. Rania got up from her seat, and gestured towards where she had been seated. Mara cocked a head to one side, her other eyes opening, and hesitantly went to the seat and took it.

Mara was not the least self conscious in her nakedness, which was unsurprising since it literally meant nothing to her. When the water poured over her, she shuddered, gooseflesh rising, and at the first touch she cringed, expecting something worse than what she got. The ministrations of the other woman were certainly not gentle, but they were neither unnecessarily rough. More water followed, and the chimera bore it silently. There was nothing to do but bear it; it was neither pleasant nor unpleasant.

Although a part of her did like the scent of the bar of animal fat and lye, the two other most prominent scents of that thing under the smell of flowers. She liked the smell of flowers.

When the dark haired woman had finished pouring water and scrubbing on her scrawny frame, she wrapped Mara in a towel. Mara was busy examining arms that were far, far whiter than she had ever remembered seeing them. The scales gleamed now, pale silver-blue. They were hard to the touch, but still gave under her fingers, so whatever Rania had done had not changed that. She was looking at her hair when Rania came back, marveling at how red it was and at the lustrous nature of it in the light. She looked up at the clothes.

Still sniffing at her hair - it had that delightful scent to it, same as her skin, she eyed the two outfits with bright eyes. Dropping hair, towel, and everything else, she bounced off the seat and danced around Rania, as quick as a cat. "Green! Blue! Green-blue," she said quickly around her teeth. How could she make a decision like that? Who would have even asked her what she thought, a year ago?

No one, that was who. She stopped dancing and chortling long enough to stand in front of the bed where the clothes were laid out, staring at them with the unfettered adoration of any small child with a new thing to admire. She looked back at the dingy, nasty pile of rags she had been wearing before, and then turned and snatched the green tunic off the bed, dancing around Rania a couple more time before stopping to don the overlarge clothes. It came down to her ankles, and the sleeves were too long, but otherwise it was adequate with a belt or a string to draw it tighter to her waist, anyway.

 

[Rania]

“Green it is,” said Rania. If it were up to her, the woman would have chosen green as well. It suited Maranae’s bright, red hair and complimented the interesting colour of her eyes. The girl looked happy all the same and she finally felt a bit more at ease. At that moment, Rania’s seismic sense did not pick up on anyone walking up the stairwell to her room, her keen ears only caught the girl’s giggle and there was no reason for her to be on guard – but she was anyways.

Under these strange and unforeseeable circumstances, she saw no other choice.

“Can you tell me anything about yourself at all, Mara?” Her eyes fixated on the scales and since the girl didn’t feel shy about her nakedness, the woman decided to inspect further. Rania had seen half-animal, half-human kind of species before and although the idea of humanoid creatures wasn’t foreign in the world they lived in, she still couldn’t quite place it. From one of the many boxes around the room, she pulled out a leather belt and wrapped it around Maranae’s waist.

The tunic was a tad bit too long for her, but if she could manage to avoid stepping on it she should be just fine. Then, Rania pulled out a few pins and rolled up the sleeves of the dress until they were at a reasonable length. “How old is Mara?” She asked and nudged the girl to sit down at the chair by the table. She poured her a glass of water and grabbed a comb, starting to dig through the red mane immediately.

Her hair was pretty and wonderfully long, but quite unruly. Luckily for Maranae, Rania was an expert and after some time she had finally straightened it out and braided properly. “And where does Mara come from?” Her questions continued throughout the whole ordeal and once it was all done she took a seat as well and locked eyes with the little one.

“You can’t stay here forever, so I need to find somewhere to drop you off where you’ll be safe.”

But did a place like that even exist?

 

[Maranae]

This was his bread and butter, or at least one aspect of his bread and butter. In every field, there were those that were experts, and above even those experts there were prodigies. His unique skill set was definitely that: unique. He was an exceptional tracker, level-headed negotiator and, when it came down to it, a ruthless and mighty opponent in any sphere one might choose to contest him in.

In short, he was the kind of person that got paid handsomely for his services. He worked for many people on the regular, and Jerick was definitely one of his better clients.

The 'scent', if that was what it could be called, was strong. Charlie was not entirely familiar with the methods that Jerick and his cabal used in the fabrication of their creations, but he was certainly familiar with the results of their meddling. He did not express his opinions openly about the work that his clients did, for themselves and for others, but he personally found meddling with such things as they did...distasteful. Each of their creations was different, but each had more or less the same central component. A sapient life was required for their rituals, preferably a young one. The younger, the better. He had only been involved in recovering three of them, but each of them was more or less the same in one regard.

He did not like to think of it. There was only the work, and the money. Morality was for people that could afford it; he could not.

A mix of sorcery of varying disciplines, the taste of this particular monster was very specific. Each was unique from the others; it was the process that the cabal was trying to perfect, not any individual template. Charlie wondered if the remnants of that ritual would ever fade, or if these chimera would always be easy enough to find by those that knew what they were doing.

He rounded a street. It was awful close here, a spectral scent that was jagged like a broken tooth would have been. He surveyed the thinning crowds on the dark street - it was night, after all - and saw that, among various shops and a blacksmith's forge, there was an inn on this street. The spectral scent seemed to come from there, and so he made his way calmly that direction.

"There are no vacancies," the keeper said from behind his counter in an irritable tone of voice as he stepped through the door. The plump man turned and faced his (to him) would be customer, but whatever belligerence he was going to show faded as he took in the size of the fellow approaching his counter.

"Please forgive me," Charlie said as he stopped in front of the man. "I am looking for a young lady that has gone missing. I am willing to pay coin for information on her whereabouts," he began. The gentleman on the other side of the counter frowned, but gestured for him to continue.

"Her parents are rather worried about her," he continued, feeling only the slightest of misgivings at the half-truth. It was possible you could consider the cabal the creatures' parents; they had created her, after all. "She is really little more than a girl, with wild red hair..."

***

She was still examining the new tunic as if it were something out of myth, the thick rope of braided hair thrown over her shoulder so she could play with it as if she'd never seen the like before.

She cast a curious glance at Rania, liquid eyes gleaming in lamp light. "About Mara?" she asked, perplexed. "Mara is strong and fast," she said without any hesitation, and without any real understanding of what it was that the human was after. No one had ever asked about her, before; the ones that had primarily dealt with her knew more about her than she herself did, and most of them were incapable of answering questions at the moment, or ever again for that matter.

"She wants to find her parents," she said after a moment, going back to playing with her hair. She acted much younger than she really was. Or maybe not; it was difficult to tell considering the process she had gone through. How would she age? Would she become more mentally sharp, maturing as a human might, or would she be forever trapped in the mind of a small child? "What does 'old' mean?"

"Mara came from the Den, but that is not Mara's home," she said. She was not at all confident sounding about that answer, though. She was about to continue speaking when there came a polite knock at the door. Mara cut off, and stared at the door for a moment before fixing Rania with questioning eyes.

"Excuse me, miss, but if you have a moment I need to speak to you about your charge," came a man's voice from without. It was rough, but extremely polite.

 

[Rania]

Her eyes sized up Maranae and a flicker of curiosity sparked in those emerald orbs when the girl spoke of strength and speed. The thief was strong and fast too, but her gut feeling told her that the redhead meant something else, something that’s much more different from Rania herself – and everything she stood for.

“That’s right,” she replied and gave the girl a gentle pat on the head. Of course she wanted to find her parents, what else could a child like her possibly be doing? A wave of relief washed over Rania upon hearing that and she thought that maybe there was nothing suspicious about this one after all. She was just a lost child, hoping to be returned to her parents very soon and naturally, Rania would assist her in every way possible.

If Maranae still had parents, who was she to stand between her and them.

Naturally, Rania’s eyelid and fingers twitched subtly when she mentioned a ‘den’ and suddenly a sinking feeling swept through her guts and forced her to reconsider. Right, she’s hardly fully human. The woman concluded and gave Maranae another, serious look – one of concern and worry. Wherever she’d come from, she hadn’t learned proper manners there, nor language. And with how greedy she had been with food Rania doubted that her treatment had been decent. If anything, she recognized those behavior signs as something she had once gone through herself: the desperate fight for survival.

“Old means I’m asking for your age.” Rania explained calmly and placed a hand on Maranae’s shoulder. She turned the girl towards the mirror and pointed out her height. “Look, Mara is short. Rania is tall. Mara is going to grow in a few years, to be maybe as tall as Rania is now.” Her hand moved from atop of the girl’s head to her own forehead to compare their difference in height – something that was achieved over the course of a few years of growing older. Perhaps that would clear things up?

“Oh, you must be my evening appointment! You’re so early!” The woman then called out in a much lighter, feminine tone and hurried towards the door. Her voice had an accent now, and Rania pretended to misinterpret his question. “My charges are well worth my services, oh esteemed customer – but you must give me enough time to prepare! I haven’t even oiled myself yet!” Rania shot a glance over her shoulder and signaled Maranae that now was the time to run.

There was nothing wrong with her charge, she had paid that insolent innkeeper plenty. Rania was many things throughout her young life, but she sure as hell wasn’t stupid – and she wouldn’t be falling for this. She audibly plopped a small bottle open and poured its contents – poison – onto her dagger.

 

[Maranae]

"Mara does not understand," she said of the question, even with the limited explanation. She did not, and could not, understand the question. She had been kept in an abandoned mine for years, but there was no way for her to know that. Time was relatively meaningless to the chimera, and with only one wheel of the seasons to judge by, the concept of years was as meaningless as the concept of age.

Her head snapped to the door when the knock came, and she cocked a head to one side as the nameless fellow on the other side of it spoke. There was a soft snort on the other side of the door. "Madame, I believe you have mistaken me for someone else. Alas, I have not mistaken who you have inside your room with you," he said in a calm voice. There was no aggression there, no threat. Only amiable conversation. "That, by the way, was what I meant when I said your charge - your companion, friend, or such."

Mara saw that Rania was making motions, but she either didn't understand them or - more likely - refused to be moved from where she was. And why should she? She had been treated better in the last hours than she had been in...well, ever. It did not occur to her that she could be a danger to those around her simply for being there, if she was valued highly enough to warrant that kind of attention.

"You can stay inside or not, it matters not to me. I only ask that you listen. You have no idea what it is you are sharing a room with. I mean no harm to either of you, I only wish to speak."

Charlie was making no preparation for any kind of violence himself, and could have no way of knowing what it was the woman on the other side of the door was doing. He was, however, supremely confident in his own abilities. He was not, in truth, arrogant for being so confident. Fools did not live long in his trade.

Maranae, sensing some of the tension in Rania at last, sat a bit straighter. She gave every impression of a predator with its ears up and eyes bright and alert, every muscle tensed.

 

[Rania]

The world’s a twisted place. Unsurprising really, if one couldn’t even trust a child anymore. But then again, the redhead had given her no reason to be afraid, only suspicious – and bringing her along was her own choice, one that only Rania was responsible for. The woman found her second dagger and audibly sharpened her blade. The poison dripped from one edge to the other and visibly bored, she watched as the dark droplets rolled around on the surface of the weapons.

“Speak then.” The rogue demanded. He could do so from the other side of the door and when in doubt, their room was on the first floor – Rania was positive that both her and Maranae could make it through the window without further problems, but she was intrigued by what the stranger had to say. Rania’s bare feet stood solid on the ground and with her rare ability she would notice his every move, even if it were soundless.

Maranae showed no intentions of leaving and Rania decided that she was alright with that. This was her business after all, and whatever the girl was, and the things she was capable of, Rania wanted to see it so she could properly judge her and make a decision for herself.

“Don’t mince words, stranger.” Rania flicked her dagger over and caught it again just a second later. “From what I see, you’re asking to be let into a room with a woman and a child, in the middle of the night. If I were to take a guess, I’d say you’re a criminal – the rotten one.” A big accusation, but not a groundless one. Rania, not knowing what Maranae was, could only draw a conclusion by considering her own experiences and whenever a man chased after an underaged child, a girl no less, it meant nothing good.