[center][b]Shah and the Pigskin[/b][/center]

This city, this Thysia – It was boring.

Shahari yawned, her arms stretched forward and tail stiffened until she felt that familiar release deep within her muscles. All the fatigue she’d built up over the day washed away in an instant and as she returned to her curled up position on this strange sandstone-tiled roof, she observed the colours of the sky begin to change. 

The vibrant blue of daylight gave way to a spectacle of colours, no doubt painted by the Gods themselves. A deep red gave way to oranges and purples as the Itzala set. As the accursed eye moved its gaze to other parts of the world, a comforting chill and sense of peace came upon Thysia, one that blessed them every night, and one that Shah wasn’t particularly fond of.

The Thysians were a boisterous people during the day, but they retreated back to their homes and all but disappeared at night. Even the nocturnal beasts were hard to spot as soon as the Itzala went away, and so usually Shah was all alone at night, stalking the empty streets and alleys and jumping from roof to roof in an attempt to find anything to do.

Oh, to be one of the Pantheras back home! 

Shah sighed, a smile finding its way onto her face.

[i]’Us Pantheras hunt and hunt until we catch life by the throat, love!’[/i] would preach Shah’s father right about now, [i]’No time to mope, so get up and get to where Shah knows she must go!’[/i]

“Duh!” She responded to her own memory and giggled. A groan came from the people sleeping in the room below her. 

There was an issue, of course, she’d been prohibited from going where she needed to go.

And so she had resigned herself to jumping around at night. That had been nearly a month ago.

A flurry and not-so-quiet flurry of movement later and Shah had slid off the roof and landed amongst the rubbish strewn all over the alleyway below. From there, she simply followed her nose and ears. She found her way out of the labyrinthine network of alleyways and onto a main avenue - the kind the Suneater’s warbands would use to parade into town after a successful campaign - only now it was completely empty. 

Completely empty, that is, with the exception of a lone stall. A stove full of stew bubbled quietly, the spotless countertop lit up by a pair of unassuming, unscented white candles. It was a nice kind of candlelight - not too bright and not too dim, perfect for Shah’s enhanced vision. 

She approached the unmanned stall, sat down on one of the stools, and rang the bell.

The pot continued to bubble. A meaty scent wafted up from below the cast iron lid. She rang the bell again.

Then a third time. And when she was about to ring it a fourth time, an onion crashed and exploded on the ground next to the stall. Shah hissed and in her periphery saw what looked like a window closing. Nosy losers, the Panthera thought. 

“No one here…” She muttered and stared at the pot of stew. 

A moment later, she had opened the lid and stuck her clawed finger into the stew. She licked it clean, hummed as the savoury, smooth flavour coated her mouth, and went back for more. 

At some point, Shah had actually figured out how to turn off the stove and had cooled the stew down enough so that she could scoop up entire handfuls. 

She hadn’t eaten the entire time she’d been awake, after all! Two hours without food was probably long enough to kill her, so she hyper-focused on the stew in front of her and nothing else. 

And out of nowhere, a large hand grabbed her by the collar of her dress and lifted her up into the air. She choked and coughed out a mouthful of stew and threw the stew in her hands all over the stall.

“OI! Caught ya, ya shitty cat!” Shouted a deep, gruff voice into her ear. She hissed back.

“Shah’s not done anything! Shah’s innocent, she only ate free food!” She explained even as she swung her claws all over, failing to scratch anything other than air.

“Free food?! Ya dirty li’l… It’s a SELF-SERVE! Three coins per plate! Readin’ too difficult for ya, ya thief? No one tell ya how night time stalls work?! Bah!” The stall owner spat at Shah and threw onto the counter, spilling the still-hot stew all over it and Shah.

“Shah’s food!” She cried and tried to scoop the spilled stew back into the pot with her hands.

“Your food?! ‘Cause of ya, I haven’t been able ta save a single coin for tha last three months! Always stealin’ food from me stall, always gettin’ away with it! I got a family ta feed!” The merchant slapped the pot out of Shah’s hands and pushed the Panthera off the counter and onto the gravel road. She gasped at the sharp sensation along the palms on her hands and knees as she landed.

“And now – ‘Cause of ya, this is another night I ain’t workin’! Oh, I ought’a…” The stall owner, whom Shah could now tell was a particularly massive Snouter, fell silent for a split moment, then opened a drawer and pulled out a cleaver. “... Ya catfolk have only made this city worse. I’ll show ya how Thysia treats unwelcome guests.”

“N-No, please! Shah thought - She thought the food was free! Please!” Shah sobbed, her heart nearly exploding and her legs having turned to jelly. She did her best to crawl away from the Snouter, but soon a brand new set of footsteps entered her earshot. Metallic and heavy, these footsteps rushed to her side, and she could tell the Snouter had stopped approaching. 

With tears in her eyes, Shah turned to the armoured guard kneeling next to her, her eyes widened with hope, only for the guard to suddenly force her arms behind her back and tie her wrists tightly with rope. 

Her hope was crushed in a second and as she was slung over the elephant-like guard’s wide shoulder and carried away, she could only stare back at the smug look on the Snouter’s face. Suddenly, she became aware of all the people leaning out of their windows and staring at the scene she had been a part of, and immediately she hung her head in shame. It was only made worse when the Guard grumbled.

“Might need to throw this uniform away now… Cat piss smell ain’t gonna come off.”

Shah whimpered.

“Joking, lass. I’ll give you a pair of new trousers when we get to the garrison.”

[center][b]II[/b][/center]

Shah was dressed in a plain grey set of trousers and shirt, no shoes, squeaky clean and lying curled up on the prison bed, staring at her bandaged hands.

How did she even get there? Was she an actual criminal now? Thysia made no sense, she was nearly killed and yet she was the one that ended up behind bars.

It was very early in the morning – the Hand was probably still high up in the sky, if her internal clock was to be trusted. By all means, everyone should be asleep, even the guard that had imprisoned her. But she could hear two sets of footsteps approaching. She perked up as the guard from before appeared and looked at her from the other side of the bars.

“Not lucky, are you li’l panther? To have a run-in with the Pigskins. Don’t worry, I went back to the scene while you were cryin’ in the bathtub and confirmed that what you ate was a chicken and beef stew.” The guard pondered for a second, “I guess not so unlucky after all.”

Shah hissed at the massive man and curled up even tighter. Making fun of her, arresting her, and now even trying to confuse her with riddles!

“Say, I rescued you back there, am I gettin’ a reward for that?” It wasn’t a question, Shah realised, as the guard immediately reached for his keyring and went to unlock the gate to her cell.

[color=FFA845]”Touch her and it’s your head I cut off.”[/color] A familiar voice erupted through the prison hallway. Shah could hear the light talon steps of the half-blooded Kestrel draw closer, as Konne marched towards the guard standing in front of her jail cell. Her face was a mixture of annoyance and pure anger as she stared at the guard. [color=FFA845]”You’re to release her immediately, guardsmen. Orders from Lord Suneater himself.”[/color]

The guard stiffened up nearly immediately and simply unlocked her gate and swung it open for Konne. “Wouldn’t dream of touching her. Had many chances while she was washing and changing. Did nothing then. Saved her from the Pigskins, would’ve ended up in a stew downtown.”

Shah sat up on the bed and as soon as Konne walked past the guard, Shah ran towards her bird friend, grabbing onto her clothes while completely unaware of her claws. “Shah did nothing wrong! She thought the food was free, she really thought so! Shah is not a criminal, she’s a Panthera, can’t be bad!” Shah whined and nuzzled desperately into Konne’s midsection. “Konne!”

The Kestrel sighed, doing her best to unhook Shah’s claws from her clothing. [color=FFA845]”I’m sure you didn’t know Shah. But you can’t just bound off into the night like that.”[/color] She replied, half-pulling half-leading Shah out of the prison cell. Before turning to the guard with a glare on her face. [color=FFA845]”First thing in the morning, get your fellow guardsmen and arrest those Snouters. Harming the bride of Lord Suneater is a crime punishable by torture and I will ensure it is delivered.”[/color] She didn’t wait for a reply, instead continuing to pull Shah along down the hallway. 

Soon enough they had found their way out of the garrison entirely and Shah was able to regain control of herself, or at least enough of it that she managed to retract her claws. Then, after a while of silent walking, she let out a deep and shaky breath. 

“Shah goes out at night because her husband sleeps all night. She was banned from sneaking into his room to watch him sleep so nowhere to go but outside! But Thysia is dangerous, she realises now. Also need new clothes. Shah threw her old ones away because uh, the Snouter ate them. Yeah.”

As she spoke, Konne suddenly stopped, looking at Shah. [color=FFA845]”You…snuck into his room? No. Don’t answer that.”[/color] She sighed. [color=FFA845]”We’ll get you new clothes, and. I’ll try to think of something for you to do at night okay? Something not dangerous that doesn’t require you leaving the palace.”[/color]

“And Konne?” Shah climbed onto Konne’s back, careful enough to not bother her wings, in one well-practised move. “You saved Shah- You saved me. Thank you. I was scared…” Shah whispered into her friends’ ear, and then went on to nibble on her shoulder.

The kestrel let Shah onto her back, having gotten used to the half-blood’s desire to be carried at times. [color=FFA845]”Lord Suneater ordered it. And. The palace would be less lively without you I suppose.”[/color] She glared at Shah nibbling on her shoulder, sighing again as she continued to carry her towards the palace. 

[hider=Summary]
It is revealed that Shahari, the Suneater’s gifted bride, finds life at Thysia boring. People go to bed early, which leaves her lonely and without entertainment at night. One such evening she is unlucky enough to be caught by a Snouter, who is mad at her for constantly stealing food from his self-serve late night Food Stall. Things escalate until she is nearly killed, and then she is arrested. Konne arrives at the garrison and orders her released, and then the two start walking back to the palace.
[/hider]