Wolf and Crow (Kaa)

[Dreamwolf]

Luna flickered through the people like a shadow, in most towns and villages a wolf was a dangerous thing to find on the streets, but, here in Serendipity, a place filled with mages and witches, Wolves as familiars were common enough that she didn't standout. Shifting to human form caused a slight stir but only because she forgot clothes. Sighing with frustration at human ideals and morals she made clothes appear. Now dressed in a pink one piece knee length dress, that fluttered loosely about her, she pranced and skipped through the streets admiring the sights, smells and sounds of the port city.

Spotting a particularly shiny object she secreted it away into a pocket she formed on the inside of her dress. When the merchant who owned the item made a fuss she turned about, as if curious about the noise before continuing on her way, rounding a corner without looking she tripped on something, landing flat on her face.

((Feel free to just watch her fall or be the thing she trips on xp shes a bit of a klutz anyway))

[Nefres]

Kaa didn't make a sound as the girl fell in front of him. Sure, it hurt a bit, but she was the one who'd fallen, and it looked like it would leave a mark. His fault for sitting in the way, really.
"You alright?" He asked the girl. He would have laughed, but if she was really hurt...
The girl must belong to a rich family, he thought, at first. The dress she was wearing was made of a fine material, and didn't look hand-stitched to him. Out of habit, he wondered what valuables he'd be able to take before she got up. But, no, maybe he was wrong about her being rich. She looked quite tan. Most of the noble families around Serendipity were pale, since they didn't exactly spend a lot of time in the sun working.

The demon dismissed that little thought and pinched himself. He knew better than most that appearances really shouldn't matter. Instead, he opted for an approach that felt a little better, namely, helping her up. "Sorry about that!"  He held out a hand, hoping it wasn't too grubby for her tastes.

[Dreamwolf]

Luna ignored the hand and floated into the air, setting herself down on her feet and brushing the dirt off the dress she scowled at herself.

"Stupid Wolf, where are your senses?" He looked at Kaa and stopped, she took in his grubby appearance , and the bumps she could tell were wings. "Are you a Crow demon? Luna has met a crow demon once before. He was strange for a crow...didn't like the shinies. Ah the Shiny!"

Digging about in her dress she pulled out the necklace made of crystals and pearls, it caught the light and made rainbows on her skin. Looking it over Luna realized it was the boy in front of her she'd tripped on. "Are you okay? Luna did not mean to, there are so many people Luna cannot tell where everyone is." She had completely missed his apologies and question before. The whimsical and slightly oblivious Forest Spirit tilted her head, waiting for a reply.

[Nefres]

"Uh, no, I'm fine..." Kaa found himself unable to reply. He certainly hadn't expected that. She was definitely not a normal human like he'd first assumed, from her odd manner of speaking to her magic. But it was really her demeanor that caught him off guard. Magic couldn't even be called rare here.

He retracted the hand, finding himself a little disappointed that she hadn't taken it. Now that she was standing up, he could see the girl was a fair bit taller than himself. A teenager then, was it? Kaa tried to remember. There was something about the concept of age that always got him confused. He started to answer her question. "How did you-"

But wait, what was that thing she'd just pulled out?! Kaa found himself staring at the necklace, transfixed. "Beautiful..." He breathed, impulsively reaching a hand out to touch it. It was then that the other thing she'd said finally occurred to him. "But.. hey, wait, we're not crows, you know! Not all of us like the shinies.. erm.. shiny things."
His eyes were on the necklace again. "Though I do. A lot, actually. Can I have that?"

[Dreamwolf]

Luna looked at the boy. He defended the Crow demon by saying crow demons don't like Shiny? but he does? This was very confusing to Luna who understood straight forward things. Then the boy asked for her Shiny?! She was about to refuse but then remembered Fen telling her to repay people for both kindness and for being rude. Grudgingly she handed the necklace over.

"Fen says Luna should repay when she does does things to other people like bump into them. Luna will give you this. Luna will find another, prettier shiny to replace it." She nodded as if to confirm this to herself. "You should hide the Shiny. The Shiny Seller is looking for it." She snorted. "Humans are so confusing, Shinie's are only shiny. Why would you put a price on shiny? Why are the yellow circles worth more than the moon colored circles? Humans make no sense at all. This Wolf knows."

She somehow managed to always make Wolf sound like it was a proper noun and deserved a capitol at the beginning. Losing herself to her thoughts a tail and pair of ear popped into existence. She hardly noticed however, her tail sweeping from side to side as she thought over human currency.

[Nefres]

The little demon stared at the necklace in his hand. He'd been half-joking, he could have grabbed something himself. For some reason, taking the necklace the girl obviously liked felt worse than grabbing it off some rich person.
But Kaa didn't feel bad enough to give it back. Tucking it inside his 'shirt' for now, he nodded along as the girl continued to speak about humans as if she weren't one. It wasn't too much of a surprise for him when two wolf ears and a bushy tail appeared.

"Humans really don't make sense, you're right." Especially the ones that lock you up in a damn book. He grinned at her. He already felt more comfortable, knowing this girl wasn't human. He wasn't sure what she was exactly, but it didn't really matter to him.

"You must have been pretty quick to grab this," he said, looking at the almost-undetectable lump in his shirt where the necklace was. "It's a nice one, thanks.:
"What's your name, Wolf-girl? I'm Kaa." He would have leaned against the wall behind him, but his large, cumbersome wings made that impossible. He contented himself with shifting his weight to his other foot, the movement initiating the metallic jingle of chains.

[Dreamwolf]

"Luna is always quick and Luna is Luna. Luna is a Forest Spirit, but, Luna doesn't have a forest right now so she just wanders because Mother said to learn about humans. Luna did find one human who makes some sense though. Fen is Luna's Mate, or will be if she wins. Fen is stubborn and only chases human females who end up hating him. Luna thinks he may be stupid, but mostly he is smart, just stupid with females. But Fen is strong too, so Fen would make a good mate. Luna first decided Fen would be a good mate when he killed fifty bad humans by himself Fen came and he was all Growl! and his sword was all Swoosh! and the bad humans died. Plus Fen didn't die even when a sword cut his belly open the wound healed. Luna thinks Fen is human, but he might not be, sometimes he seems like a spirit to Luna."

The wolf girl didn't know the meaning of Filter, and spoke as her thoughts came to her, to most it was annoying.

[Nefres]

Kaa listened this Luna went on about her future 'mate'. He didn't stop to wonder why Luna was telling him all this, as he'd gotten the impression that was just how he was.

"He sounds.." Kaa looked for the right word. "Suitable, I guess. Glad you've found a good human for yourself. They're few and far between, aren't they?" The boy couldn't help but let some bitterness creep into his voice then. He'd liked humans, enjoyed their company before he met Claerth. There was something about the word 'demon' that scared some humans. He'd taken to introducing himself as a shifter or something similar to avoid it.

"Nice to meet you, Luna. What do you mean by 'if you win'?" Kaa normally enjoyed having conversations with random people, but since his time spent away from Claerth was quite limited, he felt a sense of urgency that he hated. Nevertheless, he was curious.

[Dreamwolf]

She paused at his question and the bitterness in the boy's tone. "Fen is not like a human. Even other humans don't think he's human. When he was a pup his parent's were killed by other humans because he has a weird eye and his power is so strong. He said they called him a demon. When he talks about it...Luna is the only one who has seen Fen cry. He visited his parents. Luna saw, even though he said not to go she went and saw. Fen is sad because everyone is afraid of him. So Luna has to win against that sadness. But it is hard because humans don't change. When they think of something as not human they fear it and want to hurt it. Sometimes Luna want's to just eat the humans who hurt Fen but he says Luna can't or she will be hated too." The tone the wolf girl took was softer, gentler than her normal tone. Talking about Fen normally got her excited, but when she thought of how small Fen looked when people called him a monster it made her hurt inside her heart.

[Nefres]

"That's..." Kaa couldn't find the words. Even before Claerth, before his wings were chained, he'd known demons were feared, yet many of the humans he'd met had been accepting. Or.. had they? Kaa tried to remember, and all he could come up with was the fact that he'd never actually told any of these humans he was a real demon. And yet they would still accuse one of their own of being a monster. The boy's brow furrowed in an expression that shouldn't be seen on a child's face.

"I understand what you mean, Luna. Humans don't like what they don't understand." He stretched his wings as far as the chains would allow, which wasn't much. "One of them did this to me. It sounds like your Fen is of a better sort." Kaa realized he'd like to meet this Fen person. If he was really that strong, maybe he could help him...

[Dreamwolf]

Luna looked at the chains holding the poor boys wings and snarled. "That is truly monstrous! Luna finds this very wrong! A bird should be free, not caged or chained!" The violence that flashed into the Spirit's eyes was hot like fire yet her tone was colder than an arctic wind. In response to her emotions the wind in the city picked up and a distant rumble of thunder was heard. To top it off every dog in the city set to howling at once. Even a human could tell the dogs were afraid.

[Nefres]

The display reminded Kaa quite clearly that this girl was no human. She was undoubtedly closer to the wolf's side.

"Luna, please calm down! Everyone'll panic!" He wasn't sure what to do, merely putting his hands up in a gesture to stop. "It's really not that big a deal, it doesn't hurt or anything..." He tried to smile, but the girl's expression was scaring him a bit as well. "Like this I'm sort of like a human, it's not so bad..." What Kaa was saying now was an outright lie, but he figured it was better than riling her up.

[Dreamwolf]

Luna did not calm, but she controlled her powers, understanding at least enough to know she was causing a panic.

"Luna is sorry." She looked down, ashamed at the loss of control. "This wolf has a bad habit of losing control of her powers when she gets mad. Luna hates slavery and wishes it on no one. She would kill all slave-keepers if she thought it would work to stop it. But Luna can not defeat the maker of this chain. This spell is powerful, more than a pup like this one can manage. Mother might be able to break them, but she would not, as she cannot interfere anymore. Mother has become the forest." It was an odd thing to say for sure, but it was the only way to describe the ascension of a Forest Spirit to a Forest Deity. Once a Spirit became Deity they lost their consciousness and became a part of the forest. For Luna it made her feel a strange emptiness as she remembered the giant silver wolf she played played with only a few years before.

[Nefres]

"No, um, it's alright." He didn't say that he thought Luna might be able to kill that bastard, because whenever he thought of Claerth, Jakal was there with him. And Jakal, she would probably not be able to defeat. There was no escape, really.
Kaa noticed the girl seemed sad. There was a wistful look about her. Kaa guessed that 'becoming the forest' meant she could no longer see her Mother. He didn't understand, never having a mother or father of his own, but he felt bad making her think of it.

"Um.." He tried to make his voice cheerful. "I should have some time before I'm called back. I was thinking I could give you something in exchange for the necklace. I have a cache near here," he looked down the street at the people walking by, noting the curious glances both of them were receiving, but grateful that it was nothing more. "Well, if it's still there. It's been years."

[Dreamwolf]

Luna smiled at Kaa. "Luna thinks part of the fun of Shinies is to find them yourself, but Luna will look at your collection. Luna sometimes misses Mother but Mother is happy as The Forest. Sometimes people think Mother is gone, but Mother just isn't Mother anymore, she is still there. That is why Luna is not sad." Luna was not completely blind, she knew how to read tones and expressions, she was just so full of energy sometimes that she missed the cues.

Looking at Kaa again Luna smiled again. "Luna is Sorry she cannot help you. Maybe someday Fen can help you in Luna's place. Luna will remember you and ask when she sees Fen again."

[Nefres]

The demon agreed. Half the fun was taking the things, though there was a lot to be said for a huge cash of coins, jewelry, and silverware winking at you from a well-hidden nest of treasure.
"No really, it's alright." Kaa's mouth was set in a thin line, though when he spoke again, his tone was brighter, even hopeful. "But.. I guess, if you could.." He knew he shouldn't do this, get his hopes up only for them to be dashed, but..

"I mean.. I'd appreciate it. Like a lot. Oh, what am I saying..." He turned and began walking purposefully onto the street. His talons clacked on the stone, but the noise was barely audible through the din of the passing crowds. He waved an arm at Luna, signalling her to follow him. He felt like he wanted to impress her with what he'd collected, though he had no idea why.

[Dreamwolf]

Luna followed, beaming that she had gotten a good reaction from the demon boy. She knew enough about demons to realize he was far older than her, but she matured faster. From the point of view of a spirit who wanted to learn everything, this was an educational experience she was unlikely to get again. And she honestly hoped that Fen would help Kaa, or try to anyway. Fen also hated slavery, so he probably would help, but he wouldn't go out of his way to seek out the human responsible. Fen let things happen naturally without interfering with fate as he called it.

[Nefres]

Kaa weaved between the people with practiced ease. He resisted the urge to grab unguarded valuables, instead focusing on his destination. Every so often, he'd turn his head to make sure Luna was following, though he figured she could keep up, seeming experienced with the whole thing.

He tried to keep his mind off of Claerth, and the possibility of trying to be free of him, but it was no use. Every jingle of the loose ends of the chains jolted his mind back to it. He thought for the millionth time how annoying those hanging bits were. He couldn't cut them or put them up anywhere, just feel them swing about against his back maddeningly. Funny what your mind focused on.

His destination was the inland edge of Cerenis. The people thinned, most walking through the markets in the center of town. Kaa's eyes scanned the area for the gnarled old tree he remembered. He found it without too much difficulty, the rock exactly where he remembered it, shaded by the thick leaves of the hawthorn. The rock was larger than Kaa's head, and with only a little difficulty he had it out of the way.

A whole filled with shining silver and gold coins winked at him. Expensive jewelry was scattered about with it, along with various odd and ends he'd picked up. Bits of coloured fabric, spoons, metal goblets and clods of dirt that had fallen were all mixed together in a beautiful hoard. He placed the necklace inside as well, admiring it once again. Really, it was only this sort of thing that took his mind off it now. Kaa wasn't sure if that bothered him.

That Forest Spirit was still with him, right? He'd been distracted. Kaa turned his head to look back for her.

[Dreamwolf]

Luna had followed, until a woman walked by absolutely covered in shinies. The wolf was distracted a moment and ended up taking wolf form to find the demon boy. She found him just as he looked back. She had to take human form, almost forgetting clothes again, but remembering it just in time she found herself in a white dress of the same design as before.

Getting close she gazed at the shiny collection in awe. "So pretty. Luna should collect all her shinies like this."

[Nefres]

Kaa found himself smiling again. "Well yeah, I guess it's pretty impressive... like my own little treasure trove. I have these all over most places. Well, the nice ones at least." The demon remembered what he'd heard of Claerth's homeland, those islands. Not somewhere he wanted to be if he could help it.

"Serendipity is the nicest place I've found so far. You must like it too, since you can look however you like here, eh Luna?" He didn't look at her, his brown eyes examining a small red gem that had come off one of the other items. It fit in the palm of his hand, and it looked valuable, though he had no idea how much it was worth. He rolled it between his palm and forefinger, admiring the shine.