A grin spread across Kittley's face, not a happy or excited grin, but a mischievous grin. She sat on the rooftop over a young woman's house, knowing that the woman's husband was gone. The house wasn't very big, the edge of the roof only being a few feet above the ground. Kittley sat there as she reached out; grabbing a line tied from the roof to a pole a bit of a ways off so that cloths hung to dry. Drawing her knife, she spent only a second to cut through the thin string, hearing the woman inside as she sang, and scent of fresh cooked chicken drifting from the house. Kittley ignored the rumble in her stomach by the scent, more focused on her task. She held the string as she pulled on the line bringing the dress closest to her closer, just enough to reach it with one arm extended.
Her fingers barely reached the fabrics of the beautiful pale blue dress before she suddenly heard a thud of a rock beside her and a scream. Kittley released the line, sending all the clothes attached to it into the mud below as she lunged off the roof, landing uneasily on the ground below before she began to run. The woman threw things at her, and just as Kittley moved to dive beneath a bush, a metal pan flew at her and smashed into her head. Pain jolted through her body from the sudden impact as the world suddenly grew dim before black.
When Kittley opened her eyes, she felt a dull pain in her head, causing her to sit up slowly. Beside her sat the beaten old pan, one that the woman threw at Kittley. Grease stained the bottom of the pan and the side had chips across it. She slowly reached out, lifting the heavy pan as she scanned her eyes over it before peering through the bushes. She saw the man walk into the building to meet his, what Kittley assumes, wife. Kittley suddenly wondered if the woman knew she still laid there and planned to tell her husband, panic at the thought flooded through Kittley as she stumbled to her feet with the pan in hands and suddenly took off as fast as she could (which between the still sore head and blurred vision wasn’t very fast). Kittley stopped beside a bed of a river, glancing down as the water flowed past gently over pebbles and rocks.
The pan remained heavy in her hands before she slowly sat it down in the river, the water running around it as it began to clean away some of the dirt and grease. A thought popped into Kittley’s head, she knew that Dal wanted his pans when they met a few days prior, believing her to be a postwoman with his delivery. She wasn’t and made her feel bad that she really didn’t have kind man’s pans. As she rubbed her hands over the pan’s surface to help more of the grime clean off it, she decided that pan should become his.
However, when she lifted the pan, Kittley found it in her opinion ugly. Dal probably didn’t want ugly old pans especially with how much money he seemed to have. Another idea came to her as Kittley dug into her bag for a moment before she drew an old, slightly dirty cloth and wrapped the pan in it before tucking it into the bag once more. She then turned to make off towards Bree once more. Merchants sold many things in Bree, from pans to clothing to quills. Sometimes even paints met the buying costumer’s eyes. Around noon time, the area merchants sat at seemed to always fill up in small crowds, making it both easier and more dangerous environment for stealing. However, Kittley was up for the challenge as she slipped through the crowds. It took her a few moments to find a merchant selling paint, and luckily, his attention focused on a large group of people. Stealing the paints proved to be very easy for Kittley.
She turned to walk off before a familiar face caught her eyes. Her face paled as she felt the feeling of her heart dropping once more. Her father smiled at a man as he closed the sale on one of his goods. Before Kittley realized it, she stood in front of him as his costumer drifted back into the crowds. When her father’s eyes made out who Kittley was, his smile faded into a deep frown.
“What are you doing here, Kit?”
‘We both know you know I’m stealing something,’ Kittley thought to herself, but she was in a crowd of people, so instead she said, “Running an errand for my friend.”
“An errand?” Her father snorted out, crossing his arms, “What kind of errands do your friends need you to run, hm?”
Kittley flinched at his words, to be honest she didn’t have many friends, she’s never had many friends. As a kid, a beggar on the street named Cisses was her only true friend, but she died long ago. “Father-” Kittley started.
“I am not your father,” he interrupted her as he raised his hand.
Kittley’s face paled, she knew he kicked her out of the house, but he wouldn’t even consider her a daughter anymore? “B-But…”
“Go away, Kit. You know you’re not welcomed around here. Everyone knows who you are and what you do.”
Kittley felt the tears flow to her eyes, but she forced them back as she spoke slowly, “Can you please forgive me, daddy?”
“Leave, Kit,” he snapped out, narrowing his eyes on her.
“Please…” Kittley continued to plead.
A low snarl escaped the depths of her father’s throat, “Kittley Ann Seal, leave this moment.”
She flinched again as tears began to drip down her throat, her father’s angry glare fixed on her. It seemed that almost the entirety of the area around her grew silent as people watched her. Kittley suddenly spun around and rushed off through the
crowds back to the alley before she fell into the dirt. The worst part of his words is he was right, everyone does know who she was and what she did. She really wasn’t welcomed, or so she believed. She moved her hands to wipe away her tears before digging back into her satchel and setting the pan and paints out.
Kittley sat there, painting away on the pan as she found it almost soothing, distracting her from the words her father said. She finished and sat the pan out to dry before she wrapped it back up in a cloth and pushed herself to her feet. Normally Kittley always checked a puddle or window somewhere in the alley to make sure she looked presentable before walking out of the alley, but her hair remained tangled in that moment from falling into a bush and dirt caked her skin. She didn’t even notice.
It wasn’t the shortest walk from Bree to the homesteads, but it wasn’t too long. It gave Kittley some time to cool down and relax before she reached the giant mansion. She let herself in and crept to the center of the room, looking around. The only person who she could see appeared to be a pregnant woman sitting on the far end of the room. However, she soon heard footsteps and looked over her shoulder to see the man who was in the mansion the first time she came, the one with the red headed wife. Kittley hugged the cloth wrapped pan to her chest tightly. Kittley wrinkles her nose as she looks at the woman before glancing over her shoulder, blinking as she sees a man behind her, "Oh, is Dal around?"
Rickstan looked around the room before he shruged his shoulder, “I have no idea lass, and I just arrived." As he speaks, he lightly swung his riding crop and directed his eyes back to her, "If he was here, his horse would have been. I didn't see him in the stables It seems all are out but one."
Kittley glanced across the room, the pregnant woman wiggled around in the lounging chair until she sat up with a small smile. With a small wave, she slowly moved to stand and set her sewing down in her basket. Kittley’s shoulders slumped a bit as she found her quest to giving Dal his pan had to be put on hold due to his absence. When Kittley looked back around at the man, she saw him looking at her. His eyes regarded the girl slowly, moving up and down on her clothing and the item in her hand, "I could pass on message if you want?"
Kittley shrugged a bit as she shifted her weight from foot to foot, almost nervously as she stood in the middle of the room, "Oh, I just had something I wanted to give him."
The man nodded slightly, moving his gaze to the package in her grasp, "I see, well, if you like, leave it here and I'll make sure he gets it, or Zuilyun behind you will. I guess since you are here though, I'm sure they won't object to you staying."
Kittley blinked a few times before she nodded, she needed socialization that wasn’t so negative that day, "Aye, that would be nice. And where can I put this?" She'd asked, glanced down to the wrapped package in her clutches.
Rickstan wafted his hand around a bit, "Oh anywhere." He then walked past Kittley as he moved towards the woman across the room, bending down to kiss her cheek with his hand going on the back of the chair to support his movement
Kittley watched the two for a moment before she turned and walked up the steps leading to an elevated portion of the grand room. She sat the wrapped package down before she dug into her satchel, pulling out a pen and paper she snatched a few days back to doodle on. She began to write, writing down:
'Dear Dal,
I wanted to thank you very much for how kind you were to me. It means a lot to me to meet such kind persons. I’m sorry I considered stealing from your home at first, and that I wasn’t the postwoman with your pans. To thank you for the food and hospitality you showed me, I got you this present. I hope you like it, I worked hard on it, but I really don’t know much about pans.
Sincerely,
Kittley’
Once she finished the letter, Kittley moved to tuck the note into the package. She paused to smooth out the surface of the cloth which still covered the pan hidden inside, part of her felt terror that he might find the gift either useless or silly. She wanted to make a friend, not humiliate herself. Then she decided that she already made a fool of herself the first time they met when she attempted to steal from the mansion. Kittley then turned to move back down the stairs and towards the other two in the room.
As she stopped some ways away from them, the man turned to walk past Kittley up the stairs into where she remained before, the woman looking towards her with a warm smile even though she still directed her words to the man, "Oh, everyone is doing their own thing it seems! My husband is out either training or hunting and Father is... Somewhere and I have no clue where Dal is. Probably checking on Bryse’s son."
The sounds of clattering came from the kitchen as the man rummaged amongst jars and bottles. After a few moments, he emerged again with three mugs in his hands, handing one to Kittley then one to the pregnant lady before sipping his own, "Oh that’s better… Either way you shouldn't be alone lass."
The woman nodded and sighed again, muttering out in what appeared to be frustration, "I know."
“What if the baby should come if none of us were here, hmm?”
“I have no clue! Surely, there is a book Dal has... That explains that situation.”
The man shook his head a bit, “You'd be a mess love, no you need someone here with you. If you want I can visit whenever someone has to leave, I'm just a short ride away.”
She nodded slowly, "That would be nice, as long as I am not taking away time from you and your wife."
He chuckled softly, “Well Ceddy works at the Inn most days, so until the day comes when she leaves, which is soon...I am a free man, as it were.”
Kittley peered into her mug for a moment before she moves it to her lips, bringing her eyes up to look at the two again as she sips from the mug. The man’s gaze drifted over to Kittley once more as he paused before grinning slowly, 'I say, Zuil...'
Zuil raised a brow as she looked up to him, head tilting to the side in question.
“Don’t you think that lass would suit her hair up?'
Kittley blinks a few times as she lowered her mug a little bit, her hair up? Why would he want her hair up? Unless in some way he meant cleaning her up, Kittley peeked down at her attire briefly, suddenly noting the dirt coated on her that she had forgotten to try to hide when she walked out of Bree.
"Where are you staying lass?" The man asked as he attracted Kittley’s attention back to him.
She blinked for a moment as her eyes shifted between the two , "Uh... Where am I staying?"
He nodded, "Sleep, shelter.."
Kittley bit her lip slightly, "Well... uh..."
Rickstan nodded once more, knowing what she meant by that even if she didn’t know what she meant by it. It was obvious that the young girl didn’t have a home to stay at, "I understand you lass… You don't need to say… Look, you can't like on the paths lass, I’ve done that and I know it’s not nice." He then looked down at Zuilyun, pondering for a moment before speaking again, "Look. if you want I could squeeze a word with Barliman at the Inn and maybe get you a room for a few nights."
Kittley blinks a few times as she shifts her weight on her feet uncomfortably, turning her gaze downward a bit. How embarrassing was it she needed to have a stranger suggest buying her a room just to sleep in at night? She opened her mouth for a moment, considering what she could say in response, whether to accept the offer or reject it. Instead, she merely shut her mouth as she felt too embarrassed to say either.
He shrugged slowly, noting her reserve to the suggestion, "Well, the offer is there lass."
The pregnant lady then stood slowly despite her sore, swollen ankles before she beckoned Kit over. As Kittley moved over, the woman gave her a quick look-over humming in thought a bit, “Before I even ask to help you with anything, what is your name, dear?”
"Kit."
The man allowed a cheerful smile to slip across his face, "I'm Rick.."
“I'm Zuilyun,” the woman nodded. “Would you like to have your hair done? Maybe to wash up a bit?”
Kittley felt her cheeks flush faintly as she moved her hand to run her fingers through her tangled hair, "Well, it could use a little bit of washing I suppose."
Zuilyun grinned a bit, “Hmm.. I'd have to get a pot with warm water then. Scurry to the upstairs, first room on your right. I'll be up with a pot once it heats up! Or, even better.. Rick?"
Rickstan folded his arms over his chest as he looked at the two, "Yeeees?"
“Could you get a pot of water boiling and carry it up? Pleeeeease?” Zuilyun asked, giving him begging puppy eyes.
Rick sighed as he agreed, and the two girls moved up the stairs as he grabbed the pot. With Zuilyun’s help, Kittley bathed herself and had her hair brushed through, the knots leaving to reveal the silky brown hair she always had as a child. Kittley then dressed herself once more before falling asleep in the halls. It was so warm, nice to fall asleep inside a building. When morning came, the halls were empty and Kittley scurried out quickly. For once, she didn’t even consider taking something as she left.
