A Change for the Better [Sil!]

[carcinoGeneticist]

Since they had arrived in the Capital, life had eased somewhat for Shoshanna and her brother. Things were still hard, for sure, but with the distance between them and the place of their birth, there was a certain comfort that the young skunk had never experienced before. She could sleep at night without fear that she'd awaken to angry red eyes, her father standing over her, ready to drag them back and subject them to more extreme treatment.

It was still a fear now. It would always be. If not her father, there was always the possibility that some other Corvistownian would stumble upon herself and her brother. They were orphans, after all, street urchins with no place to call home. Who would notice if one or both were to disappear?

They would have to keep vigilant if they wanted to avoid that fate, but here...

There were less Corvies here, and more restaurants. More restaurants meant more discarded food, filling trashcans to the brim with things that she could fill her belly with. The fear that they would mis-step on a bag and find it filled with needles or other medical waste was, so far, unheard of here, and from time to time she even found warm food. That was a rarity, though, and something to be treasured.

Another advantage to life here was that she could afford to wander farther from her brother's side, letting them cover a much larger distance in their search for food that was mostly-edible. She wasn't entirely sure where Geronimo was, at the moment, but she wasn't terribly concerned. They had settled on a place to meet up as soon as the sun went down, a broken-down hovel on the outskirts of the city. It wasn't the best, but it was a roof over their heads, some small protection against the elements and those that might seek to do them harm. She had a small bag of her own, held between her teeth when she wasn't digging through trash-heaps, ready to be filled with anything she found that looked tasty. Then she could bring it back, and she and Geronimo could split the findings up between them.

For the first time in ages, Shoshanna almost felt... Happy.

She was using her fangs to tear one black-plastic sack open when a sound caught her ears and she shrunk back, hiding in the pile of bags and staring out with terrified eyes. Who was there? The rubbish heap was out in front of a house, hardly protected as most alleys were. It could be anyone. "Who'th there?"

[Sil]

Josie was so, so happy that her friend’s birthday was right around the corner, as it gave her the excuse to travel to the Capital for a few days in search of a gift. Not only did she very much like the hustle and bustle of the big city, and overall she appreciated the change in scenery and people, at least for a little while. The Marsh would always be her home and she didn’t see herself moving anytime soon, but sometimes the familiarity felt like a heavy weight pressing down on her shoulders. Once in a blue moon it was nice to be anonymous, you know?

Of course, the lovely feeling of joy the Bat felt as she skipped down the street didn’t help answer the question of what exactly she was going to buy. Usually she liked to give homemade presents, like knitted scarves or cookies, but Henrietta was celebrating her twenty-third birthday, which struck the rather-younger Diamond as something that should be commemorated with something special. Never mind that the Owl didn’t wear jewelry, detested chocolate, and had far too many books to handle another one (even ignoring the fact that the two had very different tastes when it came to reading material anyway).

What was she going to do? Anxiously, Josie nipped her lower lip; she didn’t do well under pressure. Her light green eyes – her mom claimed they were the exact color of new grass, but the Marsh dweller wasn’t so sure – flicked over each and every storefront but wasn’t impressed. So far, it looked like she’d be going home empty handed… and oh, she’d be so disappointed if that was the case. With a tiny sigh of dissatisfaction the Bat wandered down a narrow street she hadn’t explored before – mostly because there were no shops, only apartments.

Even though she was on the complete opposite side of the alley, her large ears immediately picked up the sound of a quiet, lisping voice. Taken by surprise, the clumsy creature almost tripped over her own too-big feet, but managed to collect herself. Somewhat. At any rate, she was able to chirp, “No one, just me!"

Hopefully that was enough to calm the person on the other side of the street. Josie didn't like making other people nervous; it was unpleasant and it usually made her nervous as well.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Fear of the unknown and wariness of strangers wasn't just second nature to the girl. It was primary, and it was almost certainly the reason that she'd managed to survive so long in such a harsh world. She had her brother, why did she need anything else? It seemed as if the bigger her familial circle grew, the more risk there was of being discovered or otherwise caught.

Carefully, Shoshanna peered out, her orange eyes wide and wary. The first thing that she took in about the stranger was her coloration, an old habit that would never die. The creature standing there was clearly not Corvistowne, lacked any of the defining features of one from that realm. That relaxed her somewhat, but not entirely. After all, her admittedly-short lifetime had been spent cooped up first in a lab, then scrounging for scraps of food in back-alleys. She had never seen someone with colors like the girl's, wasn't sure if she was from a nice place or a bad place.

She'd also never seen a bat, so the unfamiliar body shape made her even more twitchy. She pushed her head free slightly so that she could get a better look at the bizarre creature standing there. What was wrong with her front paws? They looked like they were all caught up in a strange webbing quite like that which ran between the spikes her father had forced her body to grow. Was it possible that this greenish-grayish person had been similarly experimented on?

The girl felt a strange desire to creep out a little further, to get a better look at those seeming mutations. She pushed her shoulders free from the garbage heaps, fur matted and dull-looking even in the dim light of the alley. "Who are you?" She asked, voice still carrying that withdrawn tone.

[Sil]

Oh, of course! Silly, stupid Josie. ‘It’s me’ wasn’t a proper introduction at all, but who could blame her? She could barely make out the form she was talking to, partly obscured by a large pile of rubbish. From what her eyes could make out, the other person was tiny – a child, maybe? No, couldn’t be… who would let their baby play in the trash? The Bat wasn’t a mother herself, but the mere idea made her skin crawl, her maternal instinct was that strong.

Although the small part of her brain that was devoted to common sense told her that perhaps wandering deeper into the alleyway wasn’t the smartest of plans, but no matter what the creature was, she was bigger. That counted for something, right? She hoped so, although she knew herself well enough to know that she wasn’t a fighter; the mere sight of blood made her head spin, actually.

But before she made fool of herself any more than she already had, maybe an answer to the stranger’s question? “I’m Josie,” she said as kindly and unthreateningly as she could, hoping not to scare the other off, or heaven forbid, start some sort of conflict.

She walked hesitantly forward, and as she approached the much smaller form her smile faltered. How old was this feline… thing? Her eyes glanced over the bright fur, the fin, the odd horn sprouting from her face, but she did her absolute best to hide any surprise and instead just gave off a strong aura of concern.

Even though she knew it wasn’t her place, the Bat couldn’t help adding, “Are you all right? You’re not lost, are you? Are your parents around?” She swung her head around, but it looked like they were the only people here.

Great, here she was babbling when all she wanted to do was be helpful.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Even if the view wasn't fantastic from where she was crouched, Shoshanna could tell that the woman was closing the distance between them one step at a time. Old habits died hard, and the hybrid girl glanced around briefly, making sure that there was an available escape route and that no one was sneaking up on her from the other side of the alley. Being cornered like that was a terrifying thought - it had only ever happened once before, but it had been one of the worst things to happen since they'd escaped their father's lab. Only a quick appearance by her brother had been enough to distract the kidnappers to the point that she could vanish down a nearby alley.

But for now, the coast seemed to be clear, and Shoshanna did not back further into her little trash-pile. She just watched the big-eared person come closer, her eyes wary. The woman wasn't doing anything scary. That seemed like a good sign.

Oh, and she was introducing herself! The skunk knew she should do or say something in response, so she gave a quick bob of her head in response. Usually, Geronimo was the one to talk to other people. She wasn't entirely sure what to say or do in response, licking nervously at her oversized canines. "I'm.. uh.. My name'th Thothanna."

Inwardly, she cringed at the sound of her own lisping speech. She'd been able to speak normally once before, but that felt like a long time ago, a memory older even than the scars that covered her face. It was a pain of a life that she'd escaped, however, and so she'd do her best to clear the memory from her mind and focus on the new. Like this. A stranger who seemed worried about her? It almost seemed too good to be true, and for a moment, she was actually glad that her brother was foraging elsewhere. "My mom'th dead," she replied in a very matter of fact tone, leaning in to get a better view at the bat's wings. "...an' He'th very far away, we hope. Did... did he do that to your pawth?" She nodded, indicating the bat's webbed wings with the horn on her nose, a strange spark entering her eyes.

[Sil]

Josie’s mouth twitched into its customary sunny grin. The little girl wasn’t scampering away, that was probably a good thing, right? And she didn’t look like she was going to attack her, which was even better because as the Bat got closer she noticed that the strange Mustelid had two large fangs curving out of her mouth. What were these girl’s parents?

She stopped a few feet away from the skunk, still attempting to appear as friendly as possible without getting creepy. Absentmindedly she blew a strand of dark green hair from her eyes, listening to the girl introduce herself. She was a little hard to understand, her lisp was really pronounced, but after a moment Josie felt somewhat confident that she had understood her correctly. “Shoshanna?” She asked, beaming to cover up any confusion. Hopefully she hadn’t gotten that wrong. “Nice to meet you,” the Bat added warmly.

The smile was wiped from her face in an instant. Death was still a foreign concept to her, her life was generally pleasant and untroubled, and she had been lucky enough not to lose anyone close to her yet. “I’m so sorry,” she exclaimed earnestly, feeling sick to her stomach just thinking of a life without her own mother. In fact, she was so caught up in the horror of losing a parent so young in life that she almost missed Shoshanna’s comments concerning her father. Almost.

…What had this poor child gone through? Josie wouldn’t dream of asking, she had no desire to know. She was taken aback, too, by the comment about her paw. What did that mean? Was her father a monster? The girl had Corvistowne markings, actually, had she been experimented on herself? The Bat’s stomach twisted painfully at the idea.

“Oh, no,” she said weakly, struggling to maintain composure. “I’m, um, I’m a Bat. I was born this way,” she added, smiling ever so slightly and rustling her wings.

There was an uncomfortable silence as Josie struggled to keep herself from hugging the girl. That probably wouldn't be the right thing to do, would it?

"Are you on your own, then?" The Marsh dweller asked worriedly. Please let her have an aunt, or an older sibling, or anyone to take care of her, she thought fervently.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Some small, timid part of the little skunk wanted to shy away from that bright smile. The only smiles she was so quick to give were to her brother, and it was uncommon for a stranger to smile at them, especially if said stranger was not harboring dark thoughts. But this... This was a new environment, very different from the place she'd grown up in. Was it really possible for things to change so much from one place to another, for the cheerful smile on the face of this woman to mean something radically different than it did if she had seen it on the face of her own father?

With a start, Shoshanna realized that she wasn't sure what the answer to her question was. All that she knew was that she wanted to believe that for once - just for this one time - someone wasn't out to hurt her. She wanted to see the friendliness in the expression.

Those thoughts kept the girl from backing up and racing out of the alley as fast as she could. A small nod was given as the Bat - Josie - repeated her name, confirming. The lisp was just another black mark on the list of gifts from Him. "Yeah," she replied, tone still wary but quickly losing its iciness. The reaction to what had happened to her mother was certainly new, and the hybrid gave the stranger a slight shrug, not really sure what she should have said in response. It was a hopeful thought, though. She never would have told a Corvie she was an orphan, and here was this woman, offering her sympathy for it!

A closer investigation of the wings along with Josie's statement made Shoshanna's heart fall somewhat. "O-oh. I... I thee." Of course the strange features were natural. She'd never heard of a Bat, never seen one before, but now that she took a closer glance she could tell that the woman had been born with them. They were too flawlessly integrated, something that she doubted even the best of Corvies could accomplish. Her ears flipped back at the next question, some lingering wariness making her hesitate now that she no longer felt the hopeful pang of meeting a kindred spirit. "My brother. My brother'th around here thomewhere. He'th got teeth that can thlithe through anythin'. I've theen it."

She figured it wouldn't hurt to throw that note in.

((Sorry if this is awkward - I'm getting back on the horse after a week of brain-vacation. XD))

[Sil]

Josie couldn’t quite comprehend how completely damaged the child probably was, both psychologically and psychically, nor could she imagine how dark Shoshanna’s life had been and still was. Josie’s own twenty years so far had been pleasant, the only completely miserable event being her parents’ separation, which had taken place when she was old enough to understand it anyway. Other than that, and the difficulty of finding a job that would allow her to be self-sufficient, life was golden. She had friends, a little apartment in the Marsh that had a wonderful tiny kitchen, and a mother and father that loved her even if they no longer loved each other. Since Josie’s life was basically devoid of horror and long-lasting sadness, it was hard for her to wrap her head around the amount of suffering that Shoshanna had had to survive.

The unfairness of the situation bothered her beyond words. Why did she deserve to enjoy so much comfort when someone else was going through so much? It just wasn’t fair!

“Oh!” Thank goodness she had someone to depend on. “Is he your age?” It would probably be better if he were older, but at least she wasn’t totally alone, right? That would’ve been just been awful, and most likely more than the bat would have been able to handle. The statement about his teeth piqued her curiosity, but she was afraid to ask, fearing that she might learn more than she wanted to know (it was too late for that, unfortunately).

There had to something else she could do, wasn’t there? Josie bit her lower lip with one of her sharp teeth, pondering her options. If she were homeless and living off the streets and she already had some sort of family, what would she want?

...Ah, perfect! “Are you hungry?” Josie asked kindly. “Can I buy you some food?”

ooc. Oh, no worries! ^^; Thank you so much for doing this with me, by the way. <3 I feel like I'm getting the hand of this, ahaha.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Where was Geronimo? The girl realized abruptly that she felt rather alone in the alley, alone with someone she still wasn't sure if she could trust. She wanted to trust the Bat-thing, really, but years of danger made her overly wary.

Some part of her wanted, desperately, to trust. So she tried to calm herself, forcing her tail not to curl too severely over her back in a sign of fear. "Yeth. A little older." Belatedly, the girl realized that she should have lied and said he was much older, maybe even an adult. That was the only advantage to the fact that the boy wasn't around. It was hard to lie about his age when he was standing beside her, but then - Shoshanna recognized that if he had been there, she certainly wouldn't have been speaking to the seemingly-kind woman. That had always been Geronimo's job. He didn't have an embarassing lisp, if nothing else, and he was better at being mean.

Which, time was quickly coming to tell, the skunk was not very skilled at all with. Especially not when food was being offered and her stomach was feeling rather angry. All of their money had gone towards getting them here in the first place, and she hadn't had much luck thus far with finding food today. "I - uh..." she stuttered for a moment, her ears pinning themselves back against her head as she gave her surroundings another quick look over. They were still totally alone, unless Josie had some invisible, silent ally. Her stomach growled at the thought of food.

"...Okay I gueth." She finally replied, trying not to sound too eager. She'd bring leftovers to her brother. That would keep him happy, right?