So we Meet again (Drayton)

[Sophilia]

45th Day of Spring 51

She had just moved into her new home in Sunset Quarters and liked it. Though she didn't always return there at night she liked knowing that she had somewhere to return to when she was too tired to look for another place to stay. It wasn't as though the room was large or anything, in fact the room was small with only a bed in it and a small dresser, but it worked for her as she was on her own and merely wanted that bed so she wouldn't have to live on the streets any longer.

After Drayton had dropped her off she had received a tour of the establishment before she had chosen a single room and dropped her heavier things there. She had then looked out her window and when she didn't see any sign of the scrawny child she had walked back outside and begun her search for the market place with only her essentials in her satchel and her white cloak on and buttoned, the hood up and fully shadowing her face.

Sophilia stumbled upon the market place about 10 minutes after heading out to find it. She was amazed by the variety of merchandise being sold in what looked like, from where she stood, a relatively small amount of space. However, she quickly left that thought behind as her eyes were drawn to a stall with a merchant that was obviously naive as the day was long. For as he continued to sell fruit to customers he was being robbed by a girl that Sophi could swear was brand new at the sport.

[Drayton]

Castle Commons was busy today. In the square bodies jostled one another, reaching for goods and clutching at the hands of children who stood too long admiring what was on display. The sun was bright and the people who moved about in the crowd were sweating from the combined heat of the warm Spring air and the bodies that pressed in from all sides.

Against one of the walls was a large pile of crates with a pair of skinny legs hanging from the top of the rough wooden corners. The boots bumped against the boards as they dangled, sending little showers of dirt onto the heads that shuffled past a few feet below.

Eleanor sat on her perch, kicking her feet and watching the mob shift around below her. It’s too hot to spend the day sandwiched between sweaty shoppers, she thought as a small breeze ruffled through the baggy folds of her shirt.

The core of the apple she had been eating crunched as she bit into it. Sticky juice spread over her lips and a drop rolled through the dirt on her chin, tickling her as it left a small streak of clean skin in its wake. The hard fibers of the core shifted about in her mouth, separating from the seeds as she chewed. It wasn’t long before the apple had entirely disappeared and Eleanor had a collection of slippery black seeds rolling around on her tongue. She scanned the crowd below, looking for a proper target. There was a kid picking his nose as he clung to his mother’s skirt, waiting impatiently for her to finish appraising the bald carcass of a hen. Too far… she thought, resuming her search.

Several feet away and below a bald head shone with a layer of warm sweat. The owner was pushing his way through the crowds, which parted easily enough before his girth. Eleanor twisted her tongue around, tucking the seeds into her cheek until only one freely floated through her spit. She arched her back and gathered the ammunition in the back of her mouth.

The apple seed rocketed through the air, a trail of spittle flying behind it. The teenager clapped her hands with pride as she saw the black dot settle on the man’s shiny scalp. His jaw dropped and his lips twisted beneath a nose curling with disgust as his hand rubbed against the glob of spit. He twisted about in a confused sort of manner, a scowl drawn on his chubby face. As he moved Eleanor could see a white cloak behind his wide body. It was the same cloak she had seen on the Kelvic a couple days before.

The girl began to scramble down from her high seat, trying to remove herself from view before the woman spotted her. In her haste she swallowed the rest of her seeds. Gagging and coughing softly to herself Eleanor landed with a thump on the packed dirt of the marketplace floor and patted herself in the chest as the coughing from her surprise snack died down.

[Sophilia]

Sophilia walked through the market after watching the amateur get caught. It hadn't even been entertaining it was just more sad than anything. She had seen the girl drop something from her hands that had made a noise loud enough for the merchant to hear and she was taken off.

Sophi made her way through the crowds and sighed when a large man made his way infront of her. She saw the apple seed land on his head and looked just in time to see Drayton before she ducked away. Smirking lightly she continued to walk forward convinced that if they were meant to see each other again face to face that it would happen in it's own time.

Stopping at a jewelry counter she heard the last muffled coughs of the girl before she blended into the crowd again and made it so that the only way Sophi would have been able to find her would be to use her nose... and she wasn't that desperate to say hello.

[Drayton]

Done with Commons for today… she thought to herself, not wanting to risk bumping into the Kelvic. Stuffing her hands in her pockets Eleanor made for the nearest exit. It was late afternoon and outside the shade of Castle Commons the sun was boiling. Flies buzzed through the humid air, the noise of their wings only audible over the bustle of the streets when they collided with a person’s ear. The surprise of this made Eleanor smack the side of her head a little harder than she had intended.

“Urgh… I hate days like this,” she muttered, wiping the black remains of the bug on her pants. The girl was shuffling along aimlessly, without a real idea of where she wanted to go. It wasn’t long before she found herself near Sunset Quarters, walking along a street she had once lived on. In fact her father and brother still lived there to the best of her knowledge. Eleanor was quick to duck into a side alley to avoid running into her relatives. Probably still living in the same shack, eating the same things, staring at one another with the same stupid stare and not saying a word, as usual. I’d rather not deal with that reunion.

Sunset Quarters was one of the safest neighborhoods in Sunberth, simply because there was absolutely nothing to steal here. Walking down any of the rundown roads it was unlikely you would be jumped for the few copper mizas you probably didn’t have. That is, if all they wanted was your money. Unfortunately for Eleanor she had not only made friends in her childhood here, but enemies, one of whom was standing in the center of the alleyway she had just entered.

Great, he’ll want a fight. I don’t think he’s forgiven me for that dare. I mean, the scar makes a great story but somehow I never got the feeling he cared much for it… Turning to leave the girl almost ran into his friend who had moved up behind her silently.

“Glad to see you’re in the neighborhood, Drayton,” the youth said, quickly twisting her arms behind her back before the girl could register what and who she had bumped into. The force with which he spun her around made her shoulders shriek in pain, and she could see the boy she had dared, Thom, approaching from the other end of the alley.

“Great to see you too Max. Now why, don’t you scram and let Thom do his own dirty work?” She twisted against his grip but Max was strong, slow, but strong. I could handle this if it was just Max, or just Thom, or if the oaf didn’t have my hands I could hold them off until I could run… She saw the wicked grin on Thom’s face as he approached, and with a pang of discomfort felt Max tightening his grip on her, stretching her tendons to their limits.

This is going to hurt… she thought, watching his clenched fist accelerate into her stomach. The force of the blow made the tall girl jump involuntarily. Heaving and gasping to catch her breath Eleanor clenched her stomach for the next punch.

[Sophilia]

She was done shopping for the day and yet she had bought nothing. No need to waste money when i can get some human boy to buy me something. She sighed as she turned onto her usual alley that she took going home. As she began walking in the shadows she heard a boy speak, “Glad to see you’re in the neighborhood, Drayton” She sighed lightly as she took off her robe and satchel and placed them in a crate. As she did this she heard Drayton reply “Great to see you too Max. Now why, don’t you scram and let Thom do his own dirty work?” Smirking lightly she transformed into her foxself and trotted toward them. Quietly she approached the boy she guessed was Max and bit his leg, hard enough to leave a good almost gash in his leg. She then growled and jumped the boy who she knew had delivered the blow and growled in his face making sure to show her canines and making sure that the little bit of Max's blood that was on her teeth was visible.

[Drayton]

Thom was winding up for another punch and Eleanor was busy watching a bloody chain of spit as it stretched an pulled away from her chin, succumbing to the apparently irresistible allure of the Sunberth street. Neither noticed the small furry creature that had joined them, moving toward Max’s ankle on dainty paws. At least, they didn’t notice until he howled as the sharp teeth of the fox drove into his calf.

With the shock of the bite Max loosened his grip on Eleanor’s arms. With the extra slack in her shoulders the girl could straighten herself completely, and did so quickly, smashing the back of her skull into Max’s nose. It wasn’t enough pressure to break the cartilage but the young man swore and released her arms, clutching instinctively at the throbbing feature.

His eyes were tearing up, blurring his vision. Using his shock the girl spun around as quickly as she could, and it was her turn to make a fist. The padded gloves would protect her hand but Max’s cheek split open when her studded knuckles crashed into his face. He staggered back, not yet able to gather himself after the surprise attack and Eleanor took the opportunity to glance back at Thom.

Apparently he was surprised too. The boy was tall, and wiry but the fox had proven it could jump high. He nearly stumbled over his own feet, swatting at the furry creature that was flying at his face, unable to think of a better retaliation in his shock.

Eleanor had waited too long to watch to two though, and Max had recovered himself enough to strike back. She turned her face into his punch, and felt another fresh gush of warm liquid wash over her tongue as her teeth sank into her cheek.

[Sophilia]

Sophilia whimpered lightly as she fell to the ground, crashing a crate as she landed. Ignoring the pain of her side that now had a small gash in it she ran at Thom again this time grabbing onto his calf with her teeth and clawing at his already damaged feet.

Knowing that she would soon be kicked off anyways she jumped up and grabbed onto his arm making sure that her canines pierced his flesh as she swung and released just in time to bite on Max's arm when it swung for Drayton a second time. She refused to let go and growled at his attempts to shake her off knowing that she couldn't keep this up for too long.

[Drayton]

Eleanor saw the furry body of the fox latch onto Max’s arm as he took another swing at her. Must be on my side… she thought, realizing the small creature couldn’t hang on much longer with the violent way he was shaking his beefy arm. She dove into his chest, driving her bony shoulder up and into his gut as hard as she could. The two tumbled to the ground together; Eleanor was unable to see what happened to the fox as she collided with the very solid wall of Max.

She untangled herself as best she could, pulling back to better see the boy who had been restraining her. This time she had a good angle, and sitting on top of him Eleanor release a wave of punches into his face. Max’s skin began to split and blood trickled down over his cheeks, around his crumpled nose. One eye began to swell shut, the purple and black pressure of the bruise squeezing his lids closed. His head was starting to snap back and forth limply and Eleanor could tell he was dazed if not nearly unconscious.

It was then that Thom heaved her off of the body of his friend. His bony fingers had worked their way under her hair and with a grunt the young man hauled her away, spinning. His momentum lifted her body and when Thom released Eleanor smacked against the rough wooden boards of a rundown home. She felt the small shards of wood drive into her exposed skin as she slumped into the ground. Ow… The girl wheezed, but was unable to draw a complete breath. The tip of Thom’s boot crashed into her stomach, squeezing the breath from her lungs and bruising her belly. The blood from the open wound on his calf fell on her, seeping into the weave of her shirt.

“Look what you’ve done to him?! Imma beat you ‘til you’re nothing more than rat fodder you skinny, lying little-“

His threats broke off. Whether it was because the small amount of light dirt Eleanor had scrapped into her palm and tossed had actually reached his eyes or something else, maybe the fox again, she didn’t care. The girl pushed herself to her feet as quickly as she could, still bent double by the protests of her pulverized abdomen. She grabbed the nearest thing, a discarded plank and swung it at him. Thom had turned around for some reason and the wood make a splintering sound as it cracked against the back of his skull. He staggered and looked as if he might fall.

Eleanor glanced about for the small creature that had saved her, intending to grab the fox and run out of the alley before the two men managed to stagger to their feet or call for help.

OOCAdd whatever you’d like to this. Or if you’d like me to change something lemme know. If you want you can say Eleanor grabbed Sophilia, and they left the alleyway.

[Sophilia]

Sophilia had just let go when Drayton had made Max hit the ground. Fortunately she was far enough away that her left hind leg took the damage but she felt like the impact must have broken it. Standing up she whined under the pressure and was relieved when Drayton swooped her up and ran off. At his point Sophilia couldn't have cared less where they went, as long as it was somewhere far from alley.. the only exception to that distance would have been her room in the quarters.

Her eyes lightly closing she began to black out slowly from blood-loss due to gashes in her sides and from the pain her broken leg was causing her.

[Drayton]

The little body was shaking against her chest as Eleanor ran away from the two crumpled boys. She could feel the warmth of sticky blood oozing through her shirt, making her sweaty skin slicker as she trotted down the street. Come on fox. It’d be really stupid if you died right now. Maybe it was the fact that if the fox hadn’t bit Max Eleanor would be slumped in the dirt of the alley, drooling and spitting blood over her chest, but she felt concerned for the creature. A strange thing, Eleanor had never cared for animals.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw something white in a crate. No way… Her hazel eyes widened in disbelief as she looked down at the fox in her care. “Sophilia?” Eleanor scooped up the bag and cloak, tossing them over her shoulder and continued running. There was an open window at street over, or rather, the glass had been smashed in leaving a wide hole in the crumbly wall. With a quick glance Eleanor made sure the one room shack was empty, and tossed Sophilia’s affairs through the dark opening before bouncing through herself.

As her feet thumped against the packed dirt floor the teenager’s ribs let out a rebellious scream. She doubled up moaning with the pain that burst in her sides, courtesy of Thom’s boot. Still wheezing a little Eleanor set the fox gently on the ground, wounded side up. “Uh... Great, I don’t know how to fix… Anything.” She couldn’t tell if this was the only injury the animal had, but it looked serious enough. The fox’s tawny fur was clumped and shiny with dark blood around the wound. Eleanor did the only thing she could remember and pulled off a dirty handkerchief from her sleeve and pressed it firmly against the cut. It wasn’t long before the blood stopped flowing beneath her fingers, but she didn’t lift the cloth up right away. What do I do now?