Post by The Jenn on Nov 9, 2008 18:07:03 GMT -5
Alright, so this is small and crappy, but I wanted to get it out and it was a little long to just post. xD Not the best quality, but at least now it's out of my head so I can move on with things. <3
Title: Ooh, Shiny
Characters: Jakodi, mentions of Amhal
Word Count: 953
City living had been... interesting for Jak. It had taken him and his brother a few weeks to get off the mountain and away from the ranges safely, and another week or so to get back to the city proper. Between them, they'd remembered enough of the route to retrace parts of it, especially the lake where they'd scared their father half to death with the fake drowning. As soon as he saw that landmark, he knew they were on the right track.
Once they actually got to the city, though, they were left with another puzzle. Where and how would they live? They were only six years old. They didn't know how to get back to the apartment where they'd spent their entire life up to the last few weeks, nor would they want to go back. Nothing remained for them there. No, they would have to make themselves a new home, and the dirty part of town with some abandoned shacks and condemned buildings seemed the best place to do it. The Outer Bazaar was where they set up 'residence'.
Predictably, Jak took it as a game. He'd been people-watching for enough years to have lots of identities to try out. Some got really great reactions from people. Others sent people running or chasing after him angrily. He learned pretty quick that he should never take one of the brown bodies with the pretty Highland-mimic swirls around the green people with stripes, and that had been a very painful lesson. He also learned that his parents hadn't been alone in being weirded out by the lack of a marking on his chest. He found himself a huge, tattered scarf in someone's garbage bin that he wrapped around his upper half whenever he went out in public.
It was a given that he didn't go out into public as 'himself'. That just wasn't part of the game. He couldn't be 'Jak' for anybody else. That was just for his brother. Instead, he came up with a collection of half a dozen biped and animal child 'bodies' that he regularly took on, and he had a name for each of them. One of the bodies he called 'Crispin' and modeled after the nice but weird cat lady who made pies. She always gave him two when he came in that form, one for him and one for his 'sick brother'. Something about seeing another Lowland-Sorgaire feline in a tattered scarf just made her give them food once a day. It was pretty great.
After some time spent skulking around and staying where they could, the two of them had come across a hovel of a building on the outskirts of a shanty town, far enough away from many of the shops and stalls that there wasn't constant foot traffic. They 'decorated' it in such a way that no one entered, with debris that looked far more daunting to obstruct any perceived entrances. It was kind of homey, in a weird, squalid sort of way. Jak liked it. He once laughingly told Amhal that it was like hiding in the garbage can, only without the stinky, rotting fruit and for a lot longer.
A surprise came one day, about a year into their stay, when he found a piece of candy abandoned on the ground after a celebration. He'd strayed near the Bazaar side of the Outer Bazaar, wearing a pretty green form with a blue tree-thing on his back and his scarf firmly wrapped around his neck and torso. People responded to this form, 'Bert', pretty well. Apparently the green ones with the trees were looked upon well, even as little street urchins. The bright green foil on the ground had been the first thing to catch his attention. Not one to pass up the chance at free food, he pounced on it and quickly opened it. The smell of sweet chocolate taunted him and he felt a little drool forming at the corners of his lips. He quickly popped the large piece into his mouth and crunched down on it, savoring the flavor of chocolate and nougat.
As soon as he swallowed, he was faced with the most immediate and intense physical pain he'd felt thus far in his young life. With a strangled noise in the back of his throat, he fell onto the sidewalk he'd swiped the treat up from and wondered hazily if this was what poison felt like. It felt really bad, but, in a weird way... kind of good. He didn't really know what to think. He just rode out the pain, whining and groaning until all at once...
Nothing. No more pain. He lay on the ground, panting and staring around him. It was late enough that there weren't many others in the street, and those who were just bustled on by some bizarre little urchin lying on the ground. Most of them were on their way home from work and just didn't have time for things. When he at last hazily got to his feet, he heard a weird sound and turned, trying to figure out where it was coming from. It was behind him again, so he turned once more. Again, behind him.
Hesitating, he held still and craned his head around until he was staring in bemusement at three split, bony appendages attached to his butt. Well, that was different. He hadn't made that happen on his own. Experimentally, he ducked off beside one of the nearest buildings and tried using his shape-change ability to get rid of them.
It worked. Huh. Weird. Shrugging it off, he wandered back onto the sidewalk and picked up the green foil wrapper. His head was still a little foggy. Maybe Amhal would like it? Shiny.
Title: Ooh, Shiny
Characters: Jakodi, mentions of Amhal
Word Count: 953
City living had been... interesting for Jak. It had taken him and his brother a few weeks to get off the mountain and away from the ranges safely, and another week or so to get back to the city proper. Between them, they'd remembered enough of the route to retrace parts of it, especially the lake where they'd scared their father half to death with the fake drowning. As soon as he saw that landmark, he knew they were on the right track.
Once they actually got to the city, though, they were left with another puzzle. Where and how would they live? They were only six years old. They didn't know how to get back to the apartment where they'd spent their entire life up to the last few weeks, nor would they want to go back. Nothing remained for them there. No, they would have to make themselves a new home, and the dirty part of town with some abandoned shacks and condemned buildings seemed the best place to do it. The Outer Bazaar was where they set up 'residence'.
Predictably, Jak took it as a game. He'd been people-watching for enough years to have lots of identities to try out. Some got really great reactions from people. Others sent people running or chasing after him angrily. He learned pretty quick that he should never take one of the brown bodies with the pretty Highland-mimic swirls around the green people with stripes, and that had been a very painful lesson. He also learned that his parents hadn't been alone in being weirded out by the lack of a marking on his chest. He found himself a huge, tattered scarf in someone's garbage bin that he wrapped around his upper half whenever he went out in public.
It was a given that he didn't go out into public as 'himself'. That just wasn't part of the game. He couldn't be 'Jak' for anybody else. That was just for his brother. Instead, he came up with a collection of half a dozen biped and animal child 'bodies' that he regularly took on, and he had a name for each of them. One of the bodies he called 'Crispin' and modeled after the nice but weird cat lady who made pies. She always gave him two when he came in that form, one for him and one for his 'sick brother'. Something about seeing another Lowland-Sorgaire feline in a tattered scarf just made her give them food once a day. It was pretty great.
After some time spent skulking around and staying where they could, the two of them had come across a hovel of a building on the outskirts of a shanty town, far enough away from many of the shops and stalls that there wasn't constant foot traffic. They 'decorated' it in such a way that no one entered, with debris that looked far more daunting to obstruct any perceived entrances. It was kind of homey, in a weird, squalid sort of way. Jak liked it. He once laughingly told Amhal that it was like hiding in the garbage can, only without the stinky, rotting fruit and for a lot longer.
A surprise came one day, about a year into their stay, when he found a piece of candy abandoned on the ground after a celebration. He'd strayed near the Bazaar side of the Outer Bazaar, wearing a pretty green form with a blue tree-thing on his back and his scarf firmly wrapped around his neck and torso. People responded to this form, 'Bert', pretty well. Apparently the green ones with the trees were looked upon well, even as little street urchins. The bright green foil on the ground had been the first thing to catch his attention. Not one to pass up the chance at free food, he pounced on it and quickly opened it. The smell of sweet chocolate taunted him and he felt a little drool forming at the corners of his lips. He quickly popped the large piece into his mouth and crunched down on it, savoring the flavor of chocolate and nougat.
As soon as he swallowed, he was faced with the most immediate and intense physical pain he'd felt thus far in his young life. With a strangled noise in the back of his throat, he fell onto the sidewalk he'd swiped the treat up from and wondered hazily if this was what poison felt like. It felt really bad, but, in a weird way... kind of good. He didn't really know what to think. He just rode out the pain, whining and groaning until all at once...
Nothing. No more pain. He lay on the ground, panting and staring around him. It was late enough that there weren't many others in the street, and those who were just bustled on by some bizarre little urchin lying on the ground. Most of them were on their way home from work and just didn't have time for things. When he at last hazily got to his feet, he heard a weird sound and turned, trying to figure out where it was coming from. It was behind him again, so he turned once more. Again, behind him.
Hesitating, he held still and craned his head around until he was staring in bemusement at three split, bony appendages attached to his butt. Well, that was different. He hadn't made that happen on his own. Experimentally, he ducked off beside one of the nearest buildings and tried using his shape-change ability to get rid of them.
It worked. Huh. Weird. Shrugging it off, he wandered back onto the sidewalk and picked up the green foil wrapper. His head was still a little foggy. Maybe Amhal would like it? Shiny.
