Angry Birds {Shiloh}

by **Looty** on February 10th, 2014, 12:05 am

Looty stomped her foot. Her lips grew tight. They made a thin compressed line. It was a look she copied from her mom. The Kelvic practiced it in the mirror until it was a decent imitation. "Those birds are..." Looty trailed off. "Five isn't a lot is it? We can scare them. It'll be fun."

The thing about children is they are usually marked by a short attention span. Looty was evidence of this. The temptation of food trumped her worries of Alvadas. The annoying birds. Even her urge to run. Move. Do. Instead she thundered over to Shiloh. The Kelvic leaned down and sniffed the bag. She almost, but not quite, tripped over the parcels. Looty gave a small hop and sank down to the floor. She rolled onto her stomach, her chin rested on her hands. "Are nuts meat?"

The Kelvic reached out to flicked a parcel. She rolled on her back. Her feet kicked aimlessly. "What are those? Are they yours? What's in them?" Looty seemed to have made a game of rolling. First one way. Then the other. The pressure took away the sting of her cuts. After a time she stopped. She sat up, her hands outstretched. They opened and closed in a 'gimme' motion. As she did her eyes travelled over Shiloh. "Your clothes helped your skin." Her own cuts began to itch. Looty wiggled in place. She absently picked a cheek with the hand that wasn't waiting for food to be delivered.

by **Shiloh Walker** on February 10th, 2014, 2:06 am

Shiloh wasn't sure about going back outside to scare the birds again. It hadn't gone over very well the first time, and he couldn't see it going well a second. Fortunately, Looty seemed to be easily distracted by the prospect of food. Something the two of them shared. Shiloh shook his head, wincing slightly as she almost barreled into the could-be delicate packages he'd set on the ground next to his pack. "I'm not really sure. I think they're the children of trees. So..." He looked down at the satchel, frowning in his pondering. Trees weren't really meat, but they were alive. His brow knit some as he considered what exactly defined "meat". He'd once heard someone describe nuts as "meaty", but it wasn't clear as to weather he was referring to the nut itself as "like meat" or something completely different.

His thoughts were interrupted by another question, this time he squatted down beside Looty, having to blink back a little water from his eyes as he was quickly reminded his neck and arms hadn't been the only regions of his body to sustain injuries as the nips and cuts on the backs of his calves pushed into his thighs. "They're packages." He stated it very factually, his head bobbing with Looty's motions as he tried to both focus on her revolving facial features and the questions she'd asked. "They're not mine, no-" He spoke quickly, addressing her as she passed by, rolling all the while. When she started back, he spoke again as her face tumbled by. ""And I'm not sure-" Again, he waited for a few beats until she rolled back again. "What's in them."

She finally stopped to stick out a hand, apprantly his inability to decided whether nuts were meat or not hadn't stopped her wanting them. Pulling the string to open up the leather, he dribbled a handful of the nuts into her hand. There were several different kinds, most of which Shiloh had never seen before. Unsure what they might taste like, he poured some into his own hand, popping what looked like a little brain into his mouth, crunching down. "I almost wish they hadn't..." Shiloh sighed, referring to his clothes, popping in a few more of the assorted crunchies. "These are the only pair I own."

by **Looty** on February 10th, 2014, 3:28 am

Looty sniffed the nut. There was an aroma of dirt. She wrinkled her nose. She ate one. It was smooth. It slipped down her throat, the Kelvic hacked once, twice, then spit out the nut in her hand. "Children of trees are dangerous." She rasped. Yet, she popped it back in her mouth. This time she snapped her teeth in exaggeration. It tasted of grain. Looty watched Shilohs face to see what he would think of them. He held the same contemplative look she was beginning to think was his normal expression. Not tasty. She thought but ate another. Looty thought the mind was wonderful. She pretended the rock looking nut was meat. Delicious meat. Not cooked.

The Kelvics attention span being what it was she very nearly missed Shilohs answer of her questions. They registered. Looty vibrated in place. Her palms slapped the floor. She leaned her face close to Shilohs, searching it as if it were the key to her home going. "You're a runner?! Where do you go? Do you go to Zeltiva? Let me go with you. We can go now!" She reached to rig his hand. She stood. She fell back down. "The birds." She moaned, disappointment covered her face. Looty looked at the parcels with renewed attention. She threw all the nuts in her mouth. She almost choked again. She picked up a parcel. She sniffed it. She shook it. Then handed it reverently to Shiloh. "It must be fun to go everywhere. Do you get lots of food? The runners in Zeltiva got food stuff all the time!" Looty's legs twitched. They burned to run. At a loss of what to do with her excitement Looty rolled again. She remembered her cuts. She sat up with a hiss.

For only a breath more she was silent. "Oh. Can't you get more? Mom always got me more clothes when I wrecked mine. I did that a lot." Looty waved to herself, "That's why I just don't wear none. We can get clothes then go running!" The excitement was back.

by **Shiloh Walker** on February 10th, 2014, 10:34 am

Looty didn't seem particularly pleased with the snack, but she ate it none-the-less. They weren't nearly as exciting as Alvad food, as they tasted about as plain as they looked, but the flavor wasn't terrible. In fact, some of the nuts were sweeter while others were almost spicy. They stuck in his teeth, bunching up as he tossed a couple more in, crunching down on them, careful not to bite through his tongue. They required quite a bit of chewing, which meant his jaw was completely occupied when Looty started on about "runners". Not only that, she seemed to associate the packages with something called Zeltiva.

As he chewed, Shiloh thought. From the way she referred to it, Zeltiva was a place. Either that, or it was a business that dealt in packages, though Shiloh had never heard of anything like that in Alvadas. He'd leaned back some to put some distance between the Kelvic's questioning gaze and his own face, but his mind was elsewhere. He had never been outside of Alvadas, and he figured he never would. There wasn't really a need for him to ever leave, which meant most of his curiosity revolved around things within and about the city he resided in. Of course, Looty had already stated she didn't want to live there, which, paired with the prospect of Zeltiva must have meant she preferred it there. Perhaps she even came from there.

Looty had started on about the birds again, but before Shiloh could make any sort of response to it, she switched to the packages again. He was having a difficult time keeping up. Finally swallowing his mouthful of food, Shiloh was able to respond to the next slew of questions. "Food?" He frowned for a moment, thinking back to the many different forms of payment he'd received over the years. "Sometimes I get food." She'd started rolling again. "But I don't really do much running. It's mostly walking."

Once she'd stood up again, Shiloh's curious eyes followed her. Nodding in response to her next question about clothes, Shiloh winced, the sting on his neck reminding him smaller motions were better, though the pain in his legs had faded some with the pressure. "I think I'll have to. They're just a bit expensive, is all." Looty had referred to her mother on several occasions, and she seemed to be a fairly young child, even for a Kelvic. Pushing the packages back into his rucksack, Shiloh pulled the drawstring tight on the now half-empty satchel and tossed it in with the parcels, gingerly rising up with the strap of the pack in hand. "Does your mother know where you are?" His eyes were slightly wider as he asked the question, choosing to ignore the prospect of more running.

by **Looty** on February 10th, 2014, 11:08 pm

The loss of all the nuts made Looty hungry again. Rather than make her full it made her stomach recognize it’s full potential. It groaned and gurgled. The Kelvic placed a had on her stomach. Maybe he’ll give me hit nuts, too she thought and looked at her cohort considering. But Shiloh was agreeing to leave. Looty peeked out the window. She couldn’t see the birds but the city was funny. She was as strange as the birds. Hindering or helping. Looty couldn’t get a hold on it so she ignored it.

The Kelvic was not used to the changing but she pretended it made sense for the street to be paved with coin. Paved with fire. Looty grinned at Shiloh. She made to the door while she spoke. “My clothes were old clothes. Other people wore them cause new clothes got broken fast. Dad says they didn’t make Mom pay lots.”

Lootys eyes grew wide at the mention of her mom. Obviously, she hadn’t realized what she had been doing. Mentioning her parents so often. I want my mom.

The bird that had been trapped in the door dropped at her feet. It cawed and flapped around helplessly. She empathized. Her teeth bared unconsciously as if to dispute such a pathetic display. The door opened to a new street. Or maybe it wasn’t and the birds had ultimately left. Looty hadn’t had a lot of time to look around when they ran in. She looked up, then to the side. Mom is gonna be mad when I go home. She thought, it hadn’t occurred to her before now. If that stupid sailor-stealer…, Lootys settled a glare on Shiloh. The glare was not actually meant for him. “No! No! Mom doesn’t know I’m here. She’s gonna kill me! That stupid sailor-stealer wouldn’t take me back! He said nobody sails in winter but I wanna sail in winter. But everybody wants my money, I don’t have no money like that!”

The Kelvics eyes gleamed, she grit her teeth. She panted. She whispered. “I wanna go home. Runners goes to other places, I’ve met them. You take me home. Being lost is annoying.”