puddingpunter

Nᴏᴛ A Dɪsᴀsᴛᴇʀ

It was a nice walk. The morning weather was fair, there were no signs of the dog anywhere, and it wasn't much of a long distance to travel. Mira looked up to Sparhawk and tried to focus on what he was saying, paying careful attention to what he wanted from her. Just talk? Well that should be easy. So long as he continued to refer to her as 'sister', Mira could just keep calling him 'Big Brother'. The girl didn't think of the physical part of it and just assumed that everything would go alright so long as the both of them pretended. Mira bobbed her head in understanding, "Okay!" Once she and Sparhawk went inside, Mira walked right up to the baker. He was a bit of a larger fellow, as the stereotypes went, but he has a soft face and looked friendly enough for her not to be afraid of him. "Pardon me sir" she called out to get his attention, tugging on his apron. Mira couldn't remember whether or not Sparkhawk had requested she be polite as well. Oops. At least it wouldn't hurt her chances. "Is flour actually made of flowers? They're not the same color and they don't smell the same."

Nᴏᴛ A Dɪsᴀsᴛᴇʀ

Pastry? Ah yes, Mira had seen those before -but not often, since it was considered a rather expensive delicacy around here- but hadn't tasted one for herself. Although judging by appearances and smell, it definitely looked like something she'd enjoy. She started to skip alongside Sparhawk and listened as he said something about a plan he had. Well that sounded exciting, and she wondered what about. And would the pastries come before or after? At this point there were too much questions bubbling in her head and Mira decided to wait and find out rather than starting shooting them all at Sparhawk.

Nᴏᴛ A Dɪsᴀsᴛᴇʀ

With the affirmation of the dog's absence, plus the offer of protection should it decide to show up again, Mira confidently strode behind Sparhawk. She climbed out the window but took her time so she didn't fall right over the edge unlike what she'd done yesterday. Thankfully she succeeded in landing upright and on her feet this try. "That's okay" she replied with a little shrug. In all honesty Mira didn't see his behavior as being a jerk. She was actually expecting more, since she'd walked into the boy's house without permission but instead he was actually quite hospitable. But she didn't bother correcting him and instead greedily accepted the apology. Usually it was her on the other end of things, trying to make amends. "So where are we going?" Mira asked, looking up to Sparhawk as she walked besides him.

Nᴏᴛ A Dɪsᴀsᴛᴇʀ

Mira slept soundly that night and hadn't stirred once until Sparhawk woke her the next morning. The little girl sat up to rub her eyes. "Where are we going?" she asked tiredly. But she was up quickly and ready to move. You always had to be when living off the streets. Mira followed after Sparhawk and climbed up the hatch once he'd gone through. She suddenly stopped, refusing to go any farther. "Is the dog outside?"

Nᴏᴛ A Dɪsᴀsᴛᴇʀ

"Mine's Mira" she finally shared, introducing herself to him. Sparhawk seemed nice even though he didn't talk very much. Maybe she would come back tomorrow to see him again, but bring something other than apples since he apparently didn't like those. Or maybe he just didn't like the yellow ones? Mira yawned again and decided to call it a night. "Well, goodnight Big Brother. And thank you for letting me stay here." Mira reached out to grab a nearby pillow -he seemed to have a whole bunch of those as well- and pulled it closer. Mira laid down and rolled over so her back was to the little candle lighting up the room. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

Nᴏᴛ A Dɪsᴀsᴛᴇʀ

Wasn't an urchin a type of fish? She couldn't say for sure since she'd never seen one in person before -she'd never gone near any large bodies before for no reason other than they were far from here. Mira wrinkled her nose and decided to just accept the boy's answer as fact. After all, the big kids were supposed to know more from what she understood. A yawn escaped her and Mira slouched tiredly. Maybe she'd stay here for a while longer; so long as the dog was outside, she had no intention of leaving any time soon. "Or maybe Big Brother" she corrected herself. For obvious reasons. "What's your name anyways?" Mira still wanted to call him Big Brother but it would be a little weird to not know his name.

Nᴏᴛ A Dɪsᴀsᴛᴇʀ

There was that word again: hanged. It was really starting to get under her skin. Since she wasn't hungry, she didn't make any attempts to snatch the bread or cheese from him. Besides, she still had that apple. "What's an urchin?" she asked. "And since I'm sister, I'm calling you brother." He seemed to still be mixing her up with someone else so she decided to play along. No harm in a little game. Mira moved to join Sparhawk on the blanket spread over the floor. Seeing some more nearby neatly folded into a pile, she grabbed one and wrapped herself snugly into it. Mira had a tendency to forget asking for permission.

Nᴏᴛ A Dɪsᴀsᴛᴇʀ

She was happy he was allowing her to stay. But also surprised that he didn't take the apple. Who didn't like apples? Hmph, it was his loss. More for her! Mira quickly shoved the fruit back into her pocket and watched as he closed the window. "Why are we hiding?" she asked curiously she followed him through the hatch door. She was able to easily squeeze through and followed the boy into his little compartment. Needless to say, she quickly spotted the plate of bread and cheese. Cheese was nice so long as it didn't stink too much. She wondered if the bread was stale.

Nᴏᴛ A Dɪsᴀsᴛᴇʀ

Mira blinked and watched with curiosity as a part of the floor opened up and out came who she assumed to be a resident of this house. She remained seated on the floor and looked up at the older boy when he explained what she already knew. Sister? She wasn't his sister and she didn't have any siblings. He must have her mistaken for someone else which was silly because she had never seen anyone else that looked like her. Stupid boy. "There's a dog outside" she responded simply, completely missing Sparhawk's implied subtext. What was she supposed to do, go outside and chase it with a stick? It was about half her height! Something clicked in her head and Mira dug another yellow apple from one of her pockets. It was the last one. Maybe he wanted compensation for his trouble? Thinking that must be it, she got up and held it out to him.

Nᴏᴛ A Dɪsᴀsᴛᴇʀ

"Stop! Thief!"

Mira giggled, didn't stop running.

"You'll be hung for this!"

They always said that but how come it hadn't happened yet? Not that Mira was entirely sure what a 'hanging' meant anyways but it didn't concern her much. Oh well. So long as it wasn't a whipping then she decided it couldn't possibly be that bad. The merchant stopped running and angrily threw his hat onto the cobblestone-paved ground. He had speed and she had her stamina. But the winning factor? She'd done this a hundred times already (ah yes, practice makes perfect) and she'd do it hundred times more. Just for the thrill of it. The little girl didn't bother looking over her shoulder anymore and ducked straight under the flapping cover of a nearby clothing stand. Thankfully the woman in charge of this particular tent and its contents hadn't noticed, so Mira was able to relax. She bit into the juicy flesh of her stolen prize: a yellow apple. Who'd have thought such a little thing could cause so much trouble? Plus it's not like she really stole it; more like a long-term I Owe You. Mira intended on paying back for this and all her other 'borrowed' goodies once she grew up and had her own garden of trees whose fruits she could sell.

In just a few minutes she'd chewed it down to the core and stuffed the seeds into her pocket to save for later. Not that Mira had the patience or knowledge on how to properly trade them but the old lady with the chickens, who lived in the area, seemed to like collecting them. In exchange she'd tell the girl old wives' tales or fables. Peeking her head out to make absolutely sure that the old ugly man hadn't followed her, Mira looked around before crawling out of her hiding spot. Well that was fun. 'Time to go back now,' she decided. Mira skipped to the end of the bazaar and turned to head towards a smaller path branching off the main road. She began humming to herself as she followed the familiar brown-stained stones to home. It was still fairly light out but she never liked walking around at night. Not that she was afraid of the dark but everything was just so hard to see! Mira reached the fork in the road and turned, still humming as she kicked a couple of loose pebbles around. There was a sudden whine from behind and the girl paused to turn around. Hey, a doggy! But the animal looked... Weird. Aside from the bald patches in its fur. The eyes? Maybe that was it. They looked pretty wide. And it was drooling a lot too. Mira found that oddly enough, she didn't want to pet it and actually hoped it wouldn't come any closer either. But the canine did indeed step closer and the girl reacted in the first way she could think of. Reaching into her pocket, she grabbed her small handful of apple seeds and chucked them before turning to run.

Mira squealed as she darted, neglecting to check if the animal was even behind her or not. She only realized afterwards that it wasn't, which made sense considering otherwise it probably would have outrun her. Moving as quickly as her short legs could carry her, the girl made a beeline towards the nearest house she could see and banged on the door. When wasn't opened immediately she decided she'd rather risk a scolding for trespassing than having to face that mutt again. Running around to the side, Mira spotted an open window and hopped up to haul herself in through the frame. She flopped over it and fell to the floor with a grunt and an "ow" of complaint. Mira sat up and rubbed her head.