normally abnormal {OPEN}

[rikiya murusaki]

Rikiya sat on the park bench like any other four year old waiting for her mother. And from a distance she could be just that. But, she was different, first of all she had fangs, ears and a tail. Second, she didn't have a mother to be waiting for and third, she was actually six. Riki was small and light for her age. Rikiya perched on the bench, her large blue eyes flicking back and forth, watching all of the other children run through the playground. Riki had been sitting there for a while and her muscles had started to cramp up. She needed to move, besides the people who hadn't seen her before were starting to give her weird looks.

Riki jumped off the bench, her blonde hair flying into her face. She crouched onto her fours for a moment before straightening. The people didn't like it when she went on her fours. Her black tail flicked with irritation that she had to follow what people wanted her to do. But, that was another matter and she was here to play and perhaps find some food. Riki ran around in the grassy area of the park, her worn sneakers slipping every once in a while.

Riki stopped when the sneakers slipped yet again. She really needed new shoes, but, she didn't understand how to get them. Riki shrugged it didn't matter, she could just go barefoot, that was more comfortable anyways. Riki walked up to a tree and used her hidden strength, the balance of her tail and some claw like nails to climb up. She perched on the lowest branch. This was much better, a nice viewpoint to watch the world go by and, as a bonus, she was partially hidden by the branches of the tree.

[camille]

Camille slipped out of the inn door, a basket full of of tarts and cookies in her hand. It was her first week back in Central, but she was already back to working in the usual places, and had finished cleaning early today. She was always allowed to take the snacks guests didn't eat during tea hour home with her since her boss usually just threw them out. It seemed like a waste of perfectly good food to her.

There were two other girls working at the inn, one of which she remembered from last year and had offered a friendly "hello" and some small talk about what had happened while she had been away. Between the three of them they had served breakfast and tea to all the guests and cleaned all the rooms about an hour faster than usual, getting them out of work early. It was a nice day out, and Camille wasn't in a huge rush to get home, since her mother had been pestering her about looking for a relationship ever since she got back to Central. She wasn't sure what had gotten into that woman, and her sister only shrugged when she quesioned about it.

She took a detour on the way home, passing by the park on the way. It looked welcoming, and since she had some time to kill, she decided to take a break and think about her plans for the summer. She passed by the playground where several children were running around, watched over carefully by their parents. She chose an empty bench in the greenest section of the park, shaded by the overhanging branches of a tree. She placed the basket down beside her, and leaned back against the cool metal of the bench, closing her eyes for a moment. The weather is perfect right now, I wish it would stay like this all year. She knew that it was going to get uncomfortably hot at some point during the summer though- it always did. I should get another job that I can do in the afternoons, since I never stay at the inn much longer than noon. If I do that I should have a good amount of money saved before I head back to Youswell.. Ugh, she had just gotten here, and she was already thinking about going back. If there was one thing she didn't miss about that place, it would be the coal dust covering everything- no matter how often you cleaned. I guess its a trade off for the crowds of Central. My life would be much better without either of them.

Camille shifted on the bench, suddenly filled with the longing to do something interesting for once. Maybe she would meet some new people this summer, or take a trip back up north. Folding her hands behind her head, she let scenarios play through her mind. There were all kinds of interesting people in Central, she just needed to work up the nerve to meet some of them. But then.. she wasn't quite sure what would happen after that. A small noise from above made her loose her train of thought, and she turned her head to see what it was. Huh. She couldn't see anything from where she was sitting. Probably just a squirrel, or someone's cat.

[rikiya murusaki]

Riki was enjoying herself. From the veiwpoint of the tree she could see so much further and, truth be told, that was what Riki liked doing. She liked to see, she liked to just sit and watch, flicking her tail ever so slightly and watch the world go on by. Humans were such strange creatures and they did the oddest of things. Once she had seen one throw a half finished hotdog away, Riki went and finished it for them. They just waltzed around and bought what they wanted and did what they wanted. Riki always admired them for that. She wished she didn't feel like she had to comform to any one image. But, sadly, a misbehaved kitten did not get as many pets or bowls of milk. Yes, bowls of milk. Riki was treated more like a cat than a human. But that was because she acted more like a cat than a human.

Riki clung to her branch and watched someone sit down on the bench below her. Riki's blonde hair waved slightly in the wind as she repositioned herself to watch the girl below her. Riki scented the air and licked her lips as she smelt food. Now that was something worth coming down from the tree for. She inched back along the branch and climbed down the trunk. Her ears turned like radars, catching the sounds that were being emitted from children a ways away. Riki walked up to the stranger and pointed at the basket beside her. "You... have... food?" Riki asked with slow pauses between each word. She never really talked anymore, there was just no point, she didn't know enough to say much anyways. Her blue eyes looked the girl up and down and Riki smiled.

[camille]

She had just about settled back into her earlier thoughts when another noise stole her attention. It came from above again, but was louder, followed by a light thud on the ground. Camille jumped a little, not expecting a child to be in a tree, especially with all the diligent parents around. She might not have been as surprised if she was someplace other than Central- she herself had spent most of her time as a child climbing trees and playing in puddles, but things were different in the city. Looking the girl over, she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary at first- a rather small girl with short blonde hair and round blue eyes. On second glance she caught the differences from an ordinary child. She started a bit, for the second time. "Eh! Y-you.." she mumbled quietly, trying to organize her thoughts. Are those ears and a tail..? Now that she thought about it, she had been hearing rumors around Central for awhile about people that were mixed with animals. As far as she knew, they weren't any different that normal people, other than their appearance of course, so she decided to just try and ignore the differences.

"Uh.. uhm, oh yeah, I have some food." Her answer to the question was a bit delayed, as she turned to grab the basket sitting next to her, which she assumed was what the girl was talking about. She opened it up and sifted through its contents, wondering what she wanted, and how much. Guess I should ask.. She turned her gaze back to the kid. "I have some lemon and cherry turnovers, and some cookies. What do you want?" Camille hesitated for a second, before just turning the basket over to the girl- holding it out in front of her. She could look through it and take what she wanted, she looked pretty hungry... which reminded her- Where is her family anyway? Does she have anyone taking care of her?

"I don't mean to pry or anything, but is anyone here with you? I mean..."She trailed off, looking around the park to see if anyone was keeping an eye on the girl. It sure didn't look like it, based on her ragged clothing and worn sneakers. She wasn't quite sure what she could do about it, but the least she could do was try. The child reminded a bit of her own younger sister, and she would never want her to be left alone in Central.

[rikiya murusaki]

Riki watched her reactions, they were kind of funny. A slight grin formed on the six year old's mouth, her fangs gleaming and her black ears twitched. This girl was new to Rikiya, she had never seen the girl around the park before. They could have been going at different times, but, Riki was at the park a lot so that was unlikely. Riki cocked her head, letting the short blonde hair fall to the side. Her white bow flopped down as well. Riki blinked her blue eyes and almost meowed before correcting herself. "Ca-can I have some?"

She was not used to speaking, Riki didn't even know many words. So the she only coaght about half of what was said. "Cherry...? Turn...overs..." She intoned, trying to match her pronunciation. Riki grabbed the basket from the girl and smiled slightly bigger. Although the fangs may be a turn off for some, her face was still cute and childish. Riki grabbed one of the cookies inside and started chewing on it. Her satisfaction could be heard as she purred rather loudly. It was an unnatural, and abnormal noise to be heard from a human, even a half one, yet it was made just like what would come from a real cat.

Riki's ears flew forward to catch the words coming from the girl. Her blue eyes watched the other carefully as her brain tried to determine what had been said. After having figured out the gist of the sentence Riki, in her high and scratchy voice answered, "I am... a-a-aloooone" She stretched some of the sounds, trying to make sure they came out right.

[camille]

Still a bit unsure about how to interact with the cat-child, she just sat back and observed for a moment, trying to think of the best way to handle the current situation. Speech didn't seem to be familiar to the girl, as she spoke in broken sentences, and was obviously putting in some effort. The fangs were a bit unnerving, but only until she realized they weren't that unexpected- or even abnormal given she was feeding a girl with cat ears and a tail- and she accepted the purring without much second thought. Camille waited patiently for the answer to her last question, truly wondering if the girl had even understood what she asked, but she gave a reply quickly enough. So she is alone... She had no reply at that moment, nor plan, nor any type of solution, so she just sighed and let the kid continue eating. Memories of her childhood began drifting back to her, which didn't happen often- as faint as they usually were. Something about this girl though reminded her of her solitary ventures into the forest, and how large the world was for one so small.

_{The world must be enormous. Bare feet slipped on round river stones as the girl waded ungracefully across the small stream, trying unsuccessfully to keep the hem of her dress from the chilled water lapping above her knees. She let the fabric fall again once she reached the other side, and barely stopped to shake the water off her feet before taking off into the trees, down the path she had walked a thousand times with her father. Her skinned knees told of some of her more recent adventures around the property, but they were merely slight repercussions in a world so filled with exciting things. Exactly how now, as she reached her small hands into the thorny blackberry bush to grab all the ripe berries she could, she was sure to suffer some minor pricks. The journey back home was much the same as the one there, same- except for the purple stains now adorning her dress and staining her fingers. Icy river water washed the forest mud off her legs.
Short hair, stuck with twigs. Faraway eyes.
Smell of summer, and those flowers pressed in books.}

There were more memories, she was sure, but they all sort of merged together into a jumbled mass of childhood ventures, and rather small moments that seemed vitally important and wonderful at the time. This had gotten her nowhere close to finding an answer to the situation at hand though, and she struggled to think of something- anything- to do. "Well.. we can't just.. leave your out here on your own." She wasn't quite sure who else she was referring to when she said 'we' but it felt like less of her sole responsibility to do something when she put it like that. The only thing she could come up with was to get the girl back to her house and ask her mother what to do, but she had a feeling that wouldn't really lead anywhere. It wasn't like they had enough to provide for someone else, or even an extra room for her to stay in. She bit her lip with the side of her mouth, as was a habit to do whenever she was thinking of something particularly hard. No other option revealed itself to her though, and though she knew the question she was about to ask seemed a little pointless, it was all she had. "What do you think?" It was rather open-ended really, but she knew children usually had a simpler outlook on things, and their plans tended to be easy and to the point. Perhaps something she said would at least put them on the right track- or any track really, because she didn't want to just sit there.

[rikiya murusaki]

When Riki finished eating up a few of the treats in the lovely smelling basket she cleaned of her fingers and patiently stood as she watched the girl mull something over. Riki got up on the park bench and siddled over to the girl.

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