[center][color=mediumseagreen][h1]CHERYL LUSBY[/h1][/color][color=lightgray][b]& PIPER[/b][/color][/center]

[color=mediumseagreen]Dark. Cold. Empty.

Cheryl Lusby could hardly recognise this place that was meant to be home. How could she, when she'd spent nearly all her life away from it? The door opened silently, giving out only the smallest of creaks. She glanced at its hinges. Well-oiled. Her gaze moved up to the unlit torch by the doorway, then flicked towards the centre of the room. In the darkness, she could just about make out the hearth. She strode over to it, kneeling down. There wasn't much firewood left, but it wasn't like she was staying long.

'[b]Fire.[/b]'

Piper got his head out from under his wings and spat. Instead of spittle, however, a tiny lick of dark red flame shot out towards the fireplace. Fire consumed dry wood, burning dark red. Despite the dark colour, it lit the room as well as a regular fire would. The room was a little more than dimly lit now. She stood up, looking around. The living room was a mess. Not in the way that someone hadn't bothered to maintain it; the haphazard way the furniture was placed and objects scattered indicated something else far more irritating.

Sancho and his dogs. They'd been here, messing with things that weren't theirs while she'd been at the funeral.

'[/color][color=lightgray][i][b]Hungry[/b][/i][/color][color=mediumseagreen],' sent Piper as she took the torch from the doorway. She didn't say anything until she lit it with some of the fire from the hearth.

They were both tired. Cheryl had left Ferlois the second she'd heard about Mum, riding straight to Sonarlis. Piper, who'd just flown back from Sonarlis, had taken to riding on her shoulder since then. Guilt crawled around the edges of her mind. His wellbeing had completely escaped her. 

'[b]Here.[/b]' She tossed a silver coin at him and he caught it with a deft paw. '[b]Get yourself something.[/b]'

A soft [i]churr[/i] in response, a flap of wings, and he was gone. Now alone, Cheryl looked towards the deeper interiors of the house.

She sighed.[/color]

[hr]
[color=lightgray]Piper could smell Cheryl's exhaustion. It was a strong scent; if they'd been in the wild, some animal would have come, thinking she was easy food. In a way, she was. But they were both slippery and Piper marvelled at how they had escaped death more than once with nothing but her wits.

He knew his species wasn't particularly intelligent. That was what all the humans said. Pipios - good for following orders and nothing else. Piper was content with that. At least he could help Cheryl.

The one person who'd showed him mercy in a place where there had been none.

Cool air soothed his wings. He was a streak of white against the black sky, hungry eyes darting everywhere as he soared over the village. Few humans were out; those who spotted him reeked of either fear or disgust. He watched them scuttle back into their stiff, blocky homes.

The lack of human activity also meant a lack of food - at least in the open. When Cheryl let him free like this, he could usually snatch up something from the market, leaving behind his payment for the humans to find after they calmed down from their outrage over the thievery. He'd been more than a little startled the first time it happened, but Cheryl had told him it was alright. He paid for what he took so it was still legal, whatever that meant. Humans and their funny clan rules. So complicated.

He could try going into one of the homes that offered food to humans who went in. Then again, it would be harder to fly out and they might blame Cheryl if he fought someone. Most things he did, they blamed on Cheryl. Sometimes, he felt like attacking humans who did that, but Cheryl usually didn't want him to, so he didn't.

His middle rumbled. He settled on the edge of a sloping roof, shaking his head vigorously.

'[b]Mrr[/b],' he grumbled, displeased. For a while, he was content to sit there. Wriggly silhouettes occasionally passed overhead. He stared up at them, watching them fly by. Another type of pygmy, wingless ones who could fly. So much mana - he could sense it even at this distance.

It was a little later before he noticed a vaguely familiar scent permeating the air. Further down the street, something glinted at him. He perked up.

Food!

He raised his wings, then hesitated. The last time he'd spoken with this stranger, the stranger had, as Cheryl would put it, 'lost his meat'. Clearly, the stranger was someone Piper should stray clear of.

That little gold trinket winked at him once more.

Piper took off, landing neatly on the sconce jutting by the home's entrance where the stranger was. He puffed out a small flame, lighting the torch in greeting.[/color]