Between My Ribs [Finished]

[Dark]

It beats hard under her breast; under skin, muscle, and bone. Her heart, throbbing with an unsteady pulse. She can taste blood in her mouth, bright and copper; some of her teeth are loose. Grinning, she stretches languidly as she eyes her prey. She doesn't pay attention to the crowd that pulses around them, intent on the pull of muscle and the sting of her scraped palms.

"Is that all you've got?" she challenges, seeing the rage in the older man's eyes. He's embarrassed and desperate; he doesn't want to loose to a child.

She wasn't sure at what point she'd fallen into the underground world of cage fighting; she'd stumbled into it just like everything else in her life. It was exhilarating, maybe not so much as music, but it filled the hours. And there wasn't really much of anything else she could do until she achieved her bipedal form; music was rather dependent on having fingers.

[Vyn]

Kaden wasn't entirely sure what had brought him here. One moment he was talking with a friend and the next they were dragging him down into the underground world. It was loud and dirty, full of strangers that reeked of sweat and beer and a good deal of other things that Kaden was thankful to not recognize.

At once he'd lost his friend in the crowd, but nevertheless he'd managed to muscle his way through the jaunting, cheering crowd to the very edge of the fighting cages with Quicksand tight at his side and nipping anyone that dared to step on his little tawny form.

The young teenager's feathers were fluffed up with excitement, a wide grin sprawled across his beak and his eyes sat transfixed upon the Corvi girl in the cage. She was young, nothing but a child to her opponent, and yet she seemed to be winning.

It was easy enough to simply sink into the background and disappear, to become just another face in the crowd. Just another screaming, whooping, jeering voice in a torrent of other such noises.

[Dark]

The fight was overly ridiculously soon; her opponent had fallen, hadn’t gotten back up. Even now, the medics were rushing into the cage to drag him away. The announcer and crowd had mingled into one voice, distinct and hushed. The sound and feel of the blood pumping in her ears, her throat, drown out everything else. Victory was the only thing that mattered—not the prize money, or the screaming fans; just the sting and pull of her bruises and cuts.

Languid, she slips out from her metal cage and into the pulsing crowd. They’ve already forgotten her, focused on the next pair thrust into combat. She likes it better that way; there’s something private about these moments that she doesn’t like to share.

She’s not sure what makes her stop—a flash of colour in the corner of her eye, some innate awareness—but she turns, and stares. He's rather pretty, and she wonders absently what such a bright creature is doing in such a dank place. Deciding she'd like to find out, she begins her twisting way through the crowd.

[Vyn]

There was just something about the way she carried herself. So languid and cool, and yet it was obvious by the speed with which she took out her opponent that she was no 'delicate flower'. Oh no, this was a force of nature to be reckoned with.

He wanted a closer look.

When she slipped out of the cage, he began to move; following her. Her movements were just as fluid in the cage, however, as out and before long he'd lost her in the surge of excitement that blossomed in response to the new fighters. He wasn't interested, he...

He turned around and found himself beak-to-muzzle with his quarry.

Well, wasn't that just a case of beautiful irony.

"Hey." In the eloquent nature of young teens, Kaden greeted the female he'd been curiously pursuing. "I saw your fight just now, congrats."


Quicksand shuffled around at his feet, sneezing at a stranger that had attempted to squeeze past to get a better look at the fighters. He did not like this stuffy little room full of idiots that tried to trample him, and his sneering disdain of everyone within a three-foot radius made that blindly obvious.

[Dark]

Senka bobbed her head in greeting, muttering her thanks. Social interaction had never been one of her fortes, and now that she had confronted him she wasn't at all sure what to do with him. For lack of anything witty to say, her eyes drifted briefly to his bander—the little creature was starting to look more than a little restless—and back to the boy, not particularly happy with feeling so awkward all of a sudden.

“Do you want to get out of here?” She didn’t wait for his reply, turning and heading for the door with unerring intent; her skin was starting to itch, restless and uneasy from close proximity to so many people, and regardless of her unexplainable fascination with a complete stranger, (and maybe because of it,) she needed to get out.

She didn’t slow down until she pushed through the heavy metal doors, inhaling the scent of cigarette smoke and cold night air with a certain level of relief. She could think out here, finally, and she glanced towards her stranger with returning confidence.

“I’m Senka.”

[Vyn]

Kaden followed her gaze with hawk-eyed curiosity, fascinated. She didn't seem...all there?...but this was not at all dissuading to his interest. Her sudden question brought a quirk of a smile to his mouth and, without bothering to reply as she was already on her way, he bobbed his head and followed cheerfully out of the room.

While the open air did wonders for both Quicksand and Senka, Kaden appeared unaffected by the change. He was at home in both situations, surrounded by people or not. Nevertheless, the muttbird shook out his feathers and stretched his limbs now that he had room to move without bumping or shoving anyone.

"Senka, 'eh? I'm Kaden, and it's a pleasure." Quicksand gave his heel a brief nip, almost as if to announce that he'd been forgotten. The bird gave him a brief shove before chuckling. Quicksand had an attitude but Kaden loved him nonetheless. "Heh, and this lil anklebiter is Quicksand."

[Dark]

"A pleasure, I'm sure." She bobbed her head to each of them in turn, knowing that the likelihood of her remembering either of their names five minutes from now was remote. She had a talent for remembering history, ballads, and the like, but anything recent--unless it had anything to do with music--was a complete waste on her; she had issues with staying focused long enough to care. It might become a problem later in life.

"Do you want to go somewhere? Maybe get some coffee, tea?"

The promise of a longer engagement might have been a mistake--what did they have in common, besides an apparent fondness for cage fighting--but Senka tried not to worry about it. She wasn't much of a chatterbox and if he didn't care for the little she had to say they would part ways amble enough and she would move on with her life. It couldn't hurt to try being social, would it?

[Vyn]

Kaden himself didn't care much for names. Like his father, Kaden valued the names of those who captured his interest but thought little of those who came and went, drinking in and out of memory. Senka, he hoped, wouldn't just be another drifter from his wondersome afternoons.

The thought of Tea instantly brought to mind images of his father and the strange Hatter's erratic tea parties. The bird smirked.

"Yeah, tea sounds great." Quicksand growled a little, nipping at a passerby before Kaden could stop him with a brief kick. The irritable little bander then proceeded to make an array of indignant noises which Kaden ignored cheerfully. Instead he merely tilted his head and grinned more firmly. "I know a pretty good place nearby, unless you have a preference of cafes?"

His father had been a 'beneficiary' of a nearby cafe and, Kaden had heard, that the tea there was among the best. Not to mention a good selection of coffees and pop, for those who didn't appreciate teas.

[Dark]

Senka shook her head, "No. That's fine." It would be interesting to see where Kaden took her; she wasn't much of a cafe person herself, but her Uncle Ezra occasionally dragged her along--he claimed to enjoy the atmosphere--and she'd always enjoyed those brief excursions well enough.

She glanced at Quicksand curiously, finding it more than mildly amusing as he went to attack a passerby. Uncle Ezra wasn't particularly keen on the idea of a pet running rampant in the apartment, but Senka had always toyed with the idea of getting a bander anyway. Uncle Ezra would let her get away with murder, so he wasn't much of a consideration. Watching Kaden and Quicksand interact brought the desire back to the surface; she thought it might be fun.

"Have you had Quicksand long?" She had heard several people mention a shoppe in the bazaar that was rather good, and wondered if maybe she should pay it a visit.

[Vyn]

The little beast at Kaden's heels continued to make rather disturbing little noises, halfway between anger and...purring? It was hard to tell, but regardless of that he seemed to peer up at Senka when mentioned as if recognizing his name.

Of course, he did recognize it. He was a smart little thing, as Kaden reassured many people, and that was exactly why he was a ferocious brat. Kaden loved him for it. Thoughtless of his ankle-biting noisy beast for the time being, Kaden waved a wing to encourage the female to follow him as he spoke.

"I've had him for a couple of years now. He's great and a lot of fun, keeps me on my toes." He laughed slightly and tilted his head back toward her, grinning. "Do you like Banders? Or have one of your own? I think Quicksand needs to meet more of 'em, he likes other Banders even less than he likes most people."

It didn't take very much walking to find the building he was looking for and, once they arrived, he pulled the door open and used a long leg to hold it aside for her. The cafe wasn't quite typical of most shops, a little off the wall but charmingly zany nonetheless.