When the Wind Changes (Open)

[Cicilix]

“Uff! Excuse me!”
Cicilix Tailor shot an angry look at the man who had just walked right into her, not seeming to see the short girl at all. He didn't seem to hear her either, he just kept hurrying down the busy street without a word.

Cicilix sighed. She hated being out at this time a day. It was late morning, soon midday, and the city was completely crammed with people everywhere she went. Being short didn't exactly help when she tried not to get stepped on or run over by people in a hurry. That was one of the reasons why she tried to make her errands in the evenings instead.

But there was a point with being out now. The bigger number of people around, the bigger her chance to hear something interesting got. However, today she wasn't just after any rumour, she was just after one thing. She wanted to know why Quasim had died.

Sadly that had proved very hard. Since he never told her the information he had overheard she had nothing to go on at all. Except that he has been killed by the Scourge. The last week or so she had tried to get as much information about the group as possible but the information had been very depressing. Even if it were they who had killed Quasim they were probably not the ones who had ordered the murder. And therefore she wasn't interested in them. There was no point in taking revenge on some poor assassin who just did as he was told. No, she wanted the one who had ordered the murder. She wanted the real killer.

Even though Cicilix hated being so short it had it's advantages. With her ordinary clothes and looks her size allowed her to become as good as invisible in large crowds. That's why she was out here now, at the big marketplace. She had already been out for a few hours but this far she hadn't found out anything of interest, to her increasing frustration.

With a tired sigh the young girl retreated to a small street where the crowd wasn't as suffocating and she sat down on a low wall that surrounded a house. As she leaned her head back against the house she closed her eyes and let all her thoughts just disappear. She just wanted to rest for a while.

A cool wind swept down from the rooftops and ruffled her black hair. It had been good weather for a while now but the winds suggested that this was about to change. Cicilix wasn't happy with this. She didn't have any problem with rain and wind but if it was bad weather outside less people would be out which meant less opportunities for her to learn anything useful. Even if this wasn't going very well as it was.

The girl opened her eyes again and threw her fist down against the wall with a frustrated sound. She immediately regretted this however as the pain shot up through her hand and she winced.

“I should never have tried to do this...” she mumbled while she brushed the dirt away from the bruise on her hand.

[Wilfred]

Bunnies of Wilfred permitted.

Earlier that day, a small merchant vessel called the Sweet Jane (optimistically and erroneously named in honour of the owner's wife) had docked in Scara Brae. Its cargo of salted meats, dried exotic fruits and sacks of grain had warranted the recruitment of a horde of ratters - mostly cats and one or two small, wire-haired terriers. However, a last-minute addition had seen the inclusion of a stout, medium-sized dog with a sunny disposition and a knack for sheperding vermin. It had performed admirably out at sea, but as soon as the ship had docked, the gangplank lowered and the fresh smell of a new land washed over the deck, the large, wide-faced beast had sniffed the air and shot off like a bolt.

Exactly what allured the dog was, possibly, known only to him. A witness might conclude that it demanded a great deal of aimless wandering, sniffing and widdling, but as people were too busy with their own endeavours to document the movements of the stray, no witnesses were to be had. But wander, and sniff, and pant, and scavenge (and, of course, widdle), the dog did indeed do. Wilfred made the most of the good weather and set about, looking for somewhere warm and out of the wind, somewhere with the reliable stink of old food, and somewhere with fresh water at paw. Occasionally, he would spy a child and, tail wagging, begin to follow them. But even if the child seemed equally interested in the animal, its parents inevitably screeched and thrashed at the dog until he slunk away.

Wilfred trotted along the warmly lit streets of Scara Brae, detoured through fascinatingly-scented alleys, romped around in unattended gardens and prowled the food-rich stalls of the market. His work had landed him a slice of ham, given through kindess, and a thick red bone, taken through guile. It was a good haul, and all he needed was somehwere quiet where he could give them all the attention they deserved, and where he wouldn't be disturbed or stolen from. The dog slipped under tables and through a sea of feet, and darted down a much less crowded section of street.

Wilfred trotted happily along, looking for a nice spot. That was when he saw a short human girl, nursing her bruised fist. He stopped, and his tail began to wag - slowly, apprehensively, but steadily.

When Cicilix parted her hands and looked down, her eyes were met by a stout, brown dog looking back up at her, a huge bone with the meat still on it clenched in his teeth, along with an increasingly drool-covered slice of ham. Then he dropped the items at her feet, parked his rear on the cobbles, and nudged the bone against her boots. Two big brown eyes swiveled back up to the girl's. He opened his mouth, and licked his chops.

[Solar Haven]

Adonis sighed and spun his feet around the side of his bed. The night prior had been interesting, heavy drinking, sparring and the inevitable head bashing that he had received. Thankfully the waitress at the Tavern had taken pity on him and gave him a room for the night. She was also so kind as to join him to make sure he 'didn't get cold'. Adonis was too drunk to complain when she had climbed on top of him, nor would he if he was sober. She was a gorgeous redhead and seemed to be very agile. Adonis looked over at her and smiled as Kit climbed up onto the bed nuzzled his hand.

“Hey Boy, sorry about last night. I must of drank a little too much” He apologized as he gently scratched behind Kit's ears.

“A little? Oh come now handsome, you were so wasted I didn't even think you could make it to the bed” She said softly as she sat up and draped her arms around his neck and ran her fingers along his bare chest.

“Oh? And I assume the 'I don't want you to get cold' was sincere?” Adonis smirked as he turned to face her

“What? A lady has needs to” She said getting a little flustered and pushing Adonis back.

Adonis chuckled and quickly threw on his under shirt and grabbed his over shirt and got ready to head out.

“Where you going? Aren't you going to thank me?” The waitress asked as she stood up, holding the sheets of the bed to cover her body.

“hmm? Oh right! Thanks for giving me a place to sleep” Adonis bowed as he walked out the door and quickly jumped out onto the street, kit sitting on his exposed shoulder. Adonis flung his shirt over his other shoulder and casually walked down along the crowded street, reveling in the sun hitting his skin and the summers day breeze washing around his exposed muscles. Adonis had been wandering the city for about a week looking for jobs that paid somewhat decently. The only things he found were on merchant ships as a body guard. He just wanted to stay in Scara brae for a bit, it was a beautiful city. He looked up at kit and noticed that he was staring down an alleyway, where a young girl and a dog were sat.

“What? Want to go say hi boy?” Adonis chuckled as he started heading down towards the two. “Hey there, what are you two doing back here? Kinda off the beaten track aren't ya?”

[Cicilix]

With eyes wide in surprise Cicilix looked down at the dog beneath her. She tilted her head slightly and smiled as the dog wagged it's tail and she reached down to give him a careful pat on his head.

“Hi there little doggie. Where did you come from hm?” she asked him with a smile. The girl looked down on the food by her boots and let out a small laugh.

“Where did you find that?” Her expression turned into one of fake seriousness and she looked at him. “Did you steal it, doggie?”

Suddenly she remembered that it was in fact a dog she was talking to and she looked around herself with a slightly embarrassed look before sighing.

“What am I doing, talking to a stray dog...” she mumbled. “Sorry little one, I don't think I can help you more than you can help me.”

She patted his head softly while she sank back into her thoughts once again. What should she do? How does a young tailor girl even try to investigate a murder? The whole thing sounded ridiculous even in her own head.

Her thoughts were disrupted by a voice near her. As the girl looked up, her hand still on the dog's head, she saw that the voice belonged to a young man, probably not a lot older than herself. He looked ordinary, taller than her of course, with brown hair and hazel eyes. She had never seen him before. Which actually was a bit strange, Cicilix was really good at remembering faces, especially among the young people. And she would definitely recognize the fox on his shoulder.

“Who are you?” she asked suspiciously as she stood up. She was short enough as she was, she didn't need to sit down as well.

As soon as she said it she realized how hostile it sounded and she blushed slightly while scratching her head.

“Sorry, I'm usually not this unfriendly.” She offered him a smile. “Rough couple of days that's all. I'm Cicilix”, she said and held her hand out towards the man.

“And this is...” She looked down on the dog with a small frown. “I don't know actually, he just came over to me with the food.” A small laugh escaped her and she seemed to relax a bit.

After all she usually liked to meet new people.

[Wilfred]

Feel free to skip me, if either of you would like to keep writing. There will be some instances where Wilfred might not be able to do much to advance the story, and I feel this is one of those times (as such, sorry for the short post). Also, I hope the slight bunny is okay - I'm happy to edit it out, if you prefer.

Adonis glanced down at the dog, which was focused on neither him nor the girl, but at something around Adonis' boots. Wilfred's ears went up, then down, and his tail wagged apprehensively back and forth. He took a few steps forward, paused, then began to trot towards the small fox that hung back in the tall man's shadow. The kit backed up warily at the sight of the approaching beast, many times its own size, and retreated behind Adonis' legs. Wilfed did not, however, appear to register the fox's uncertainty; he blithely followed Kit as it continued to try and keep Adonis between itself and the dog, with both circling endlessly around Adonis' feet.

[Solar Haven]

Adonis smirked as both the Dog and the young fox circled around his feet. He squatted and gently pat the dog's head and scratched kit behind the ears. “Don't worry boy, he isn't trying to eat you. He just wants to play like we do”

Kit tilted it's head at it's partner and slowly crept up towards the dog, keeping low to the ground and backing off quickly when the dog made any sudden movements, after a few seconds kit seemed to relax and started running in circles around Wilfred, yipping playfully.

“Well back to you I guess.” Adonis said as he stood back up grabbing his shirt and putting it on the small wall as he took Cicilix's hand and shook it with a tight grip “Don't worry too much about being unfriendly or friendly. Just be you. My name is Adonis, and before you ask what I was doing. I was out for my morning walk with Kit there” He gestured to the young fox playing with the dog.

“I guess it would only be polite for you to answer the same for me? Who are you and what are you doing all the way back here?” He smiled as he looked at the short girl in front of him.

“Umm, my name is Cicilix, and I am looking for clues as to what happened to a friend of mine that was out this way not that long ago” She said as they both sat down on the small wall.

“What kind of information you looking for? Places he stayed at? Who he talked to? Both of those things usually cost a bit of money to get out people” Adonis contemplated as he tried to think of ways to help.

“Well actually... who killed him and why, I am trying to find the killer and get revenge...” Cicilix continued as he looked down at her hands and shuffled uncomfortably a bit.

“ohh, that kind of information.” Adonis looked down at the ground where Kit and Wilfred were play wrestling, Kit had just tried to tackle the large frame of the Dog but was rather unsuccessful. The pair sat in silence for a few minutes before Adonis spoke again. “okay! I got an idea, I will help you however I can, while I can!”

“What? Why?” Cicilix exclaimed as she looked up at Adonis wide eyed.

“If I was trying to find a killer and get revenge, I would want someone to help me track them down. Specially if I was having a hard time acquiring information” Adonis smiled a big grin as Kit jumped up on the wall next to him and yipped in acknowledgment, showing that he was on board for this as well. “Hey you get back down there to your friend!” Adonis said as he gently pushed down on kit's nose.

Kit jumped down and landed on Wilfred's back. He began to nibble on Wilfred's ears as Adonis looked back over at Cicilix.

“You don't mind the help do yeah, uh your name was Cicilix? Right?” Adonis asked “Is it alright if I just call you Cici?”


Psst, i hope you don't mind the slight bunnying, i can edit it if either of you prefer

[Cicilix]

Cicilix looked at Adonis as he spoke, her eyes wide. Was he really suggesting he could help her? Could she really be that lucky?

“That would be so nice of you!” she exclaimed with a wide smile. She could have hugged him, she was so grateful that he wanted to help her, but she stopped herself, she didn't want to scare him away right away.

The truth was that she had been so close to giving up on the whole thing before this man had come along that she was almost starting to think that it was some kind of interference with fate. She completely ignored the small thought in the back of her head that said that this was too good to be true.

“I would really appreciate it if you would help me. I've been trying to find something of use for the last week and I'm running out of ideas...” She made a slight grimace. “I don't even know where to start with this sort of thing...”

The girl sighed but then took a deep breath.

“Okay, so what I know is that my friend, Quasim, happened to overhear something that he shouldn't have heard. He told me this but refused to tell me what it was until he had investigated it further. A week later he was found dead. The only thing I've managed to figure out is that it was someone from the Scourge that killed him but that doesn't help much. I want to know who ordered the murder, not which assassin actually carried it out.”

She looked over at the young man with a small smile. He didn't really look like he would know much about this sort of things but then again maybe she shouldn't judge the book by its cover.

“And sure, Cici is just fine”, she added and jumped up from the wall again, seemingly having regained her energy.

“So, do you have any ideas where to start, Adonis?”