It was quiet, all things considered, and Tenrouei was drowning in the dead atmosphere. .</SIZE> There was nothing interesting going on, no one causing any trouble, no new locals to fool, just nothing to do. It was achingly boring and she had no idea what to do. She had already eaten for the day, having been given leftovers from one of her preferred vendors. It had just been some food that had been close to it's time, but it had been good and refreshing for a change. With a sigh, the young girl banged her head back against the sandstone wall, frowning. "I'm so BORED, Xei! What should we do?" she groaned.
Beside her, a feral looking canine tilted its head, tongue lulling out of it's maw. It made no other response, except for a quick flick of the tip of it's tail. Xei wasn't much for a conversationalist, but that didn't bother Tenrousei. She rolled her eyes at her companion before climbing to her feet. She stretched out her arms, one at a time over her head. Each shoulder popped and she grunted, feeling relieved to get some ache out of her back. With a cluck of her tongue, the red headed girl headed out of the alley and out onto the main street that cut through Grand Palais.
It was pretty packed, unsurprisingly. There were a lot of bodies of all varieties, and all sorts of different people. None of them interested her, however. Taking a right, Tenrousei and Xei made their way towards one of her more preferred locations to relax. It didn't take her long to arrive. She had taken a couple of short cuts, weaving in and around the masses of people, and down another alley. Slipping through the back, Tenrousei walked onto one of the few un-corrupted play grounds that were scattered throughout the slums. It was a quaint little place, not much more than a swing set and a dented slide. There was rust coating a lot of the metal work, but that didn't bother her.
Without hesitation, she made her way over to the swing and slipped into the only remaining seat left untarnished. She kicked off with her bare feet, swinging opposite of the sway of the swing. Xei found a place in the hard sandstone nearby, ready for a nap.
As Tenrousei swung, she thought about what had transpired in the past couple of days. She had received a letter with instructions, that she hadn't been able to read, about what she was to do. She'd had one of the vendors read it to her, and had been confused by the instructions. She had shrugged it off and tossed the letter into the trash. She hadn't given it much thought before, but now-- while it was quiet, she did. The sound of a rat scurrying across the hard earth reached her ears, and she looked towards its location without any real interest. She inhaled, slowly, shut her eyes, and went back to fading off into her thoughts.
After a while, Tenrousei growled, annoyed. This wasn't really helping to sate her restlessness. In fact, it was only making it worse. In an act of stubbornness, not wanting to give into her frustrations, she twisted in the swing, causing it to alter its path. It continued its back and forth motion but it had a twist to it, one that caught her by surprise. She hadn't expected her movement to cause such a reaction and quickly stopped by trusting her bare feet against the ground. She stood up on her feet, her hands still gripping the rusty chain. She stared downwards, glaring at her toes.
Why was she so frustrated today? She didn't understand why and it only added to the unsettling fire within her.
"Gah, so stupid," she muttered as she released the swing to rub her hands over her face. Xei opened one green eye to glance at his companion before returning to his slumber.
"What's so stupid?" came a voice from the alley.
Tenrousei and Xei, both, looked up and at the alley they had traveled through with curious looks. The canine rose to all fours, ears forward. He stared hard at the mouth of the alley as he made his way over to stand beside Tenrousei.
"I wasn't talking to you," Tenrousei said, in response. Her brow furrowed as she watched as a man stepped from the shadows and into the light, bright up above. He stood nonchalantly, hands in his pockets.
"So? I'm talking to you now," he said. "So, what's so stupid?"
"You are... Stupid," responded the girl as she glanced at Xei before turning away to leave. If there was one thing she didn't trust, it was men coming from dark places. Living on the streets had been a rough experience, but it had given her a good sense of danger. This man had trouble written all over him. She wanted no part in it.
The man began to move after her, but Xei's growling cut him off-- making him think better of following the girl. He sighed, shrugged, and moved off back into the alley. Xei, however, did not follow after Tenrousei until he could no longer hear the man's footsteps. Content that the man was gone, he ran to catch up with Tenrousei.
The pair of them left the playground and headed back towards the main street, taking a round-about way, more interested in avoiding the man over getting somewhere else quickly. After several left-right-right-left-left turns, they re-entered the packed path.
Instead of heading towards the Dining district, the pair headed towards the Merchant district. Tenrousei hopped that there'd be at least something to do. Maybe she'd pester one of the district regulars, or set something on fire. Whatever she decided to do, she'd find something to do-- anything to sate the restlessness that plagued her.
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