<p>After 3 years it was her first time returning to the grave. Three years and yet it felt like nothing had happened since then.</p> <p>Maeanu knelt down and place the sole <a href="wiki/Alneak">Alneak</a> bloom at the base of the headstone of her younger sister. Picking up the older dead plants while she was down there, it had been a while since anyone else had visited. It wasn’t surprising, her father was the only one who lived on Ajita for most of the year. She was still furious that the body hadn’t been brought back to Swaraj, but the world had been in crisis, there “wasn’t time for such symbolism” as her mother had said, regurgitating her father words.</p> <p>She didn’t really have anything to say, she didn’t even know why she had bothered to come out here. It had just felt like the right thing to do after getting two more rejection letters in the mail. She just needed to know that things could be worse, she could be dead. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out, she felt stupid being here. With a sharp frown she turned no her heels and walked the long path back to the cemetery entrance. There was a trash bin that she threw the dead flowers in before passing through the large cement gates, back onto the streets of the living.</p> <p>She pulled the hood of her sweater up and shoved her hands deep into her pockets. She headed towards the center of the city, deciding it would be best to disappear in the crowds for a while before leaving. She didn’t trust anyone here; to her they could all be spies. However, it was difficult to disappear in a city where you stood out like a sore thumb. Her rough and worn clothing made her look like a vagabond in this city of lights and fashion. And her head down, no-eye-contact gait made her look like a thug to be avoided. She felt a few glares directed at her and began to feel uncomfortable. When the first opportunity arose she ducked into the least appealing back ally she passed.</p> <p>Sadly, that was where she found her father.</p> <p>His face was plastered onto the brick wall, a promotion for his most recent political campaign. She shot a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure there was no one else around before sliding the small rucksack from her back. She pulled out a canister from the large pocket, the metallic bead inside it twanging whenever it hit the side. She started to shake the spray paint, only mildly concerned that the sound would catch someone’s attention. Dust was creeping in and everyone in this town had somewhere more important to be than lurking the streets looking for riff raft like her.</p> <p>Once she believed that enough pressure had been built up, she raised the can to the wall and began to paint over her father’s face.</p>
<p>The younger Yki stood in Ajita after the traveling. The time it had taken for hir to get from Dhruv to Ajita, and the unpleasantries, had rendered hir fur more thin now, better suited for the environment here rather than the tundralike eco-system of Dhruv. Shi looked around curiously; a brad new place to explore. This time, aside from wearing two cuffs on hir wrists, and additional two around hir ankles, shi wore more respectable clothes. This was no longer the matter of survival. No need to walk around almost nude here. Shi wore a pair of thin soft white pants with a black belt, and a longskirted white coat with purple edges. The coat itself was as thin as the pants, and the collar itself was loose. The coat however was closed, to show some decency and the sleeves were loose as well. There were holes for hir wings so shi wouldn't feel squeezed in, and hir backpack left at the room shi had rented for hir stay at Ajita.</p> <p> </p> <p>Shi had decided to walk out and look around now shi was here, and perhaps try and figure out why shi was bieng summoned to this place. Stretching out hir wings, shi took off for the shallow skies and slowly passed over rooftops and streets with a graceful gliding; wanting to conserve as much energy as possible. Shi slowly passed by an alley where shi saw something which made hir stop up and shi turned around, slowly landing on the ground. Shi walked over to the alley where shi saw the girl with the spraycan. Shi stopped at the end of the entrance as the spraycan was shaken and shi canted hir head. Shi was about 3.89 feet tall; very short considered hir age, but hir feather quills from the top of hir head and down hir back started rising slightly <strong>"Uuhm... Is ... that legal here?"</strong>shi asked with hir soft, almost halfwhispering voice and shi perked hir ears slightly</p>
<p>Mae moved and angled the canister to paint a new devious looking face over top of her fathers. She saw it as an improvement. She was so caught up in her art work that even her large ears didn’t catch the sound of the ‘dragon flying overhead. All she could hear was the constant spray of the can and the metal weight that hit the side of the container as she tilted the can.</p> <p>The voice caught her off guard and she nearly jumped. Her small wings that were concealed beneath her sweater pressed against the clothing as her body ached to flee, to take to the sky. Her hand froze, forcing her to drop the canister. It hit the cement loudly, making Mae jump back once again. She quickly looked towards the source of the voice, finding the white Yki at the entrance to the alley. Mae’s grey eyes narrowed as she quickly assessed the situation.</p> <p>The androgynous figure didn’t look like the police force and at first Mae thought that the Yki was actually a child due to hir height, but closer inspection pointed towards no. No longer feeling like she was in eminent danger Mae bent over and smoothly picked up her dropped goods. Raising her arm again she added a few finishing touches to her masterpiece.</p> <p><strong>“Legal? Certainly not. Do you plan on turning me in?”</strong> Maeanu continued to work on the project, watching the small Yki from the corner of her eye. Ready to make a break for it if things took a turn for the worse.</p>
<p>Serephe stood still whilst watching Mae closely and shi arched hir brows slightly. The sight of the spraycan, the addition to the face on the poster and the general setting of the surroundings weren't by any stretch familiar to hirself at all. Shi slowly clasped hir wings together behind hir, as if to fold them as much as possible. Shi closed hir eyes as the spraycan hit the ground and hir hands moved up to hir coat which had bustled up a bit from the wind and now fully revealed the tome at the Yki's right side, along with a box with something inside it, clasped onto the left hip at the belt.</p> <p> </p> <p>A couple of seconds passed before Serephe finally answered back with hir calm but somewhat withdrawn voice <strong>"I do not even know what enforcement unit operates here. I came just today because I was summoned... But if it's not legal, why do it then? I mean... It'll just get you in more trouble and I am quite sure that the person on the poster you tagged would gaukh it in a matter of taks..." </strong>shi smirked and let hir arms move down hir sides again while hir bladetipped tail started flailing behind hir and from time to time, the scythelike blade scraped over the ground, causing occasional sparks tto fly up. Not big wild sparks, but just the smaller ones one usually sees when pure metal is dragged over a rigit substance or when two flint rocks are smashed together. </p> <p> </p> <p>The Yki raised hir quills going from the top of hir head and down hir back again and shi let them flutter a bit, just to at last end up with shaking hir head and shi smirked <em>"This one really doesn't know that crime doesn't pay in the end... I just hope she will stop and not get herself in more trouble..." </em>shi thought to hirself. However, with hir level of telepathy, shi had almost no control of hir area broadcasting, and the possibility of these thoughts of hirs being picked up by others in hir vicinity was more than likely. </p> <p> </p> <p>Shi did however, despite of the situation and circumstances, seem very calm and collected, almost seeming more curious than actually afraid, and that last wag of hir tail would underline hir own mental struggle between right and wrong and shi let hir feathers slowly droop again to their normal position, almost flattened but definitely visible</p>
<p>It had been a long busy morning for Arvs. Many of his friends called him odd or a pain for being one for the 'personal touch'. But he counted it as a boon. Getting to know his suppliers personally gave good opportunities. Checking the materials, hand selecting the ones he wanted. Even a friendship or two. All helped in gaining better quaility or more trustworthy supplies. For all his darting around the city making orders and allies there was a price. His black suit jacket had to be removed, tie loosened and several buttons opened. This well to do Yki had been born a northerner. His thick fur refused to let out the heat from the city. "Far too warm in this city..." He muttered to himself. Ticking off the last of his orders on his wrist mounted MPD. He'd created the holster personally and it screamed quaility. With that he walked on towards the hotel. Wandering was in his blood. Taxi's were a no no and busses would be a deathwish with his fur.</p> <p>The arden sighed, pushing up his silver clip-on sunglasses. Activating the AR link to guide him along. Walking along the empty streets with the little blue arrow telling him where to go. A left, a right. On and on. Head bouncing lightly to what little music he'd uploaded to his MPD. Arvs wasn't entirely sure where he was going but it didn't matter. The narrow streets and alleys the GPS was making him go provided much needed shade. He slowly put back on the jacket, finishing his outfit once more. Black suit with a hint of silver. His bell jingling from his ear as his head bobbed, muttering lyrics haphazardly.</p> <p> </p> <p>Arvs came to a stop just round the corner from the two. His nose had caught the scent of the paint. Was a close match to some sprays he had back in the store in Aurius. Turning off the GPS arrow with a slight nod he poked his tattooed face round the corner. "What the..." The Yki murmured. Ears twitching without a thought. The bell once more tinkling. Its sound seeming to have grown to a deafening sound to him as he blushed. "Crap..." Walking out with a sigh knowing the sound probally had been heard.</p> <p> </p> <p>"Well well... not the usual people I see in this strange town." Smirking a little. His Electrofrill shoulderpads charged just incase, afterall who knows a 'dragons power. His suit still looked perfectly normal to anyone else. ~Might even be a good chance of a field test of my personal defence...~ Arvs thought to himself pushing up the shades once more.</p>
<p>The small ivory one was talking again. Shi had a soft voice that Maeanu almost found comforting. Hir young nativity was almost sickening to Mae, but hearing hir talk made her realize that the young Yki was new to this area, possibly new to large cities in general.</p> <p><strong>“Why? Because I love trouble and I hate this arden. Because to commit a crime in the most uptight city in the world has a beautiful sense of… justice, to it.” </strong></p> <p>The sound of the tale blade caught Mae’s attention, her eyes quickly flew to the small sparks on the ground. She was reminded of the three prongs at the end of her own tale which now swished behind her in nervous anticipation. Her prongs however, were not metal.</p> <p><em>“...crime doesn't pay...”</em></p> <p>The way the thought moved through her head almost made it feel like her own, but the content of the thought definitely wasn’t her own. Was it from this stranger, or was there someone else? Was it a brainwash attempt? No, there was no conviction behind it, a young telepath perhaps who did not know her own strength. That was almost more worrying for her, the idea of the stranger reading her mind was more terrifying then the scythe at the end of hir tail.</p> <p>One ‘dragon she could handle. Two ‘dragons was a sign that things were getting out of control. And two Yki on top of it. What was this, some sort of Yki gang? She had met very few Yki in her life, to suddenly run into two of them felt suspicious. The small one had a box, and anything could be kept in a box.</p> <p>She picked up her bag, moving rather slowly. She didn’t want to draw more attention to herself then she already had. This was all starting to feel like a terrible idea. She clutched her bag close to her and quickly glanced over her shoulder. No way out behind her, she was going to have to make it past the new arden who had just shown up. She looked down at the canister in her hands. When she had dropped it it had fallen into a puddle of her own paint. This red paint was now all over her hands, looking like they were stained with blood.</p> <p>She broke into a run towards the entrance way, hoping to catch them off guard.</p> <p><strong>“Hold this for a while will you.”</strong> She gently tossed the spray can at the male Yki. He would either let it fall or catch it. Spreading the red paint to his hands as well. She breezed by him and quickly went around the corner, where she bumped into a real security officer.</p> <p><strong>“Officer! Some Yki have been vandalizing a poster down in that alley!” </strong>He didn’t seem to be completely convinced, noticing the red paint on her own hands. It was at this point that she pulled a 180 and started running.</p>
<p>Serephe couldn't help but staring at Mae while shi continued the slow flailing of hir tail. It wasnt in hir intentions of upholding any sort of justice, let alone hir job, but still, shi couldn't help but at least try and and give a helping hand to the girl. Hir attention got drawn towards the other yki and hir eyes widened slightly. Another yki? Here...? As Mae started making a break for it, shi reached down for the box on the left hip from which shi picked up a card. </p> <p> </p> <p>Shi slowly walked towards the other yki while shi looked at the card in hir left hand while shi halflidded hir eyes, and gradually, the card grew white glowy and glasslike transparent while shi mumbled something to hirself about people being rude in general. This course of action definitely had hir level of comfort about this place lowered by a pinch and shi stopped as shi reached the corner. Hir head had raised to look at the Yki again and shi was about to say something as shi heard the exclamation from Mae towards the officer, making hir eyes widen. Shi immediately looked towards the other Yki again and shi whispered shakingly <strong>"Run or they'll maybe catch you and think you did it..."</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>It was by then shi stepped further out to see if there really was another officer and shi held the card down by hir side in hir left hand and shi looked briefly at the officer and Mae as the conversation took place, just to see her turn around and make a break for it. Shi thought to hirself, clearly broadcasting this <em>"I'm not going to let her run into me and get paint over me..."</em> so shi tossed the card to the ground, about three meters ahead of hir and as the card landed on the ground, a slight glare grew from the card and a couple of second was all it took before a faintly glowing glass barrier was in between the Ykii and Mae, and now, blocking off the alley from any further passing, at least, for a couple of minutes, or till the barrier would be breached by some mean.</p> <p> </p> <p>Thus still an apprentice, hir focus had been practicing mostly on shields and minor healing, having left most other things hir master had intended to train hir for, abundant or without meaning, but still, even with the barrier in between them, shi couldn't help but feeling scared at the outcome of the situation and shi started questioning hirself if shi really had done the right thing or not</p>
