Kittley ran her fingers through her hair, watching her reflection in the puddle on the street below her. Her legs remained crossed beneath her as she leaned over, she could see the mud caked to her cheeks and the knots in her hair. After pausing a moment, Kittley leaned over to grab her bag, dragging it across the muddy street towards her. She drew a comb out of the bag, one she took after being sent out of her home, and ran the teeth through her silky brown hair. It caused her to wince a few times at the pain of the comb getting itself stuck in a few knots, but she continued. Once she felt satisfied with the condition of her hair, she moved to draw a cloth shirt from her bag, dabbing it on the surface of the water, avoiding as much mud as she could, as she began to wipe her face. She then dried the water off, leaving the shirt a soft shade of brown afterwards.
After feeling herself to look good enough, Kittley stood to her feet, looking around her. The alley stunk just as it always had, and yet despite the crowds of homeless, it felt lonely and empty to Kittley. She let a sigh escape her as she shoved the comb and shirt back into her bag. She then ran her fingers through her hair again, pulling it back and tucking it into her hood. The last thing Kittley collected before walking away from the alley was her beloved Kobi, the stuffed puppy she had since she was a little kid. Kittley carefully placed the puppy into her bag and headed off.
She sat for a little while in boredom with her feet over the edge of a small stable, an apple tied to a string dangling from her hands. She kept the apple just a bit above the horse, bored out of her mind as she teased the horse with the apple. She sat there for a while before the horse snatched the apple from her. Kittley then to climbed down and walked out of the town, wandering down the road and into the homesteads. The homes looked so warm and comfortable around Kittley as she wandered down the streets. Scents of flowers and fresh grass drifted around Kittley alongside scents of freshly baked bread. She turned her gaze up to the sky as the clouds drifted past, the scent of food filling her nose as Kittley felt her stomach growl.
Since her family sent her off, Kittley hadn’t eaten a proper meal. She felt an aching pain in the depths of her stomach, the soreness of hunger she hadn’t known before. Therefore, she turned to walk down the shorter path leading to a mansion before arching her neck back to look up at the massive building. Thoughts of the rewards that could be held inside such a massive building filled Kittley’s mind, but more so of the foods it could have held. She didn’t have much time to take in the view of the building before she suddenly heard barking and snarls fill her ears. Her heart pounded as she let out a loud yelp, turning and running up a rock. Wolves came into view, barking at her wildly before the sight of two men followed them.
They both had tan skin; one was shorter with red robes. He was handsome, his hair long and he wore a bit of jewelry. The other one stood tall, draped in white robes and a head covering wrapped over the top of his head. The tall man believed Kittley when she said she was from the post with his parcel. Well, to be honest he believed her to be such without her having to say it. Yet the shorter man did not believe such.
The taller man led her into the house, saying, “Come on, let’s go and have some cake and you can tell me exactly where my pans are”
It didn’t take them long to find out she was in fact a thief as she stood awkwardly in their massive building. The taller man seemed to be surprised and shocked, especially with how young Kittley appeared to be. With that information, the taller man led Kittley back outside after the shorter man told him the truth, that Kittley wasn’t the postwoman. He then faced her, speaking up with, "Are you really a thief? And... Don’t lie. I think I've proved I'm stupid and gullible enough to fall for anything"
Kittley looks at him as she frowned; she felt a temptation to lie to save her own skin, as she had done in the past. Yet something in the man made her feel a sense of something else. As if his naiive gullibility made him, more trustworthy than anyone else she had made before. Perhaps it was the sting of rejection from her parents or bruise of loneliness she had felt for a long time, but whatever it was, Kittley found it almost impossible to lie, finally saying in response to his question, “A bit, sometimes. I mean, I do steal things. You can ask any watcher that. Though I don't really steal much from neighborhoods. But I could smell food."
His gaze scanned her up and down for a moment as he pursed his lips, "You are very skinny, aren't you? But why didn't you just say it's what you wanted?"
She felt a pang inside her at the questions, her cheeks burning softly as she murmured out, "It's kind of embarrassing to stay that I'm hungry to total strangers."
"But...I'm always willing to give food out to those in need. When I'm unhappy...well, I fill the whole of this mansion with food"
Kittley blinked a few times as she looked at the mansion, "All that with food?"
“Lately I could fill it ten times over...and they eat and eat..."
"I see."
He then sighed softly, looking up at her before pulling his lips into a gently smile, "But where are my manners? I am Dal, devoted husband to the owner of this estate"
"Oh, aye... uh, nice to meet ya Dal." She'd peek up at him for a moment, "I go by Kit."
“You seem a little young and... Well, if I may so, clumsy to be a thief,” he said as he sat on the edge of an elegant fountain outside the building. The water trickled down the edges of the different elevated platforms of the fountain as the two remained near it, Kittly could feel the gentle mist on her face and other places of exposed skin.
Kittley looked at the fountain for a moment before she moved to seat herself beside him, "Eh, I'm not that young... I mean I'm not old. But I'm not a little kid or anything."
“You’re younger than I,” Dal responded as he drew a rather squished and crumbling muffin from a pocket, offering it to her.
She paused at the exposed food, staring at it before reaching her hand out to take it, "I'm seventeen." As she spoke, she peeled a little piece of the muffin and slid it into her mouth. The sweet scent of the fruit cooked within the muffin filled Kittley’s mouth, making her saliva suddenly build up. A temptation washed over her to shove the entirety of the muffin into her mouth at once, however she decided it best not to as she slowly continued to eat it bit by bit.
"See, younger than me,” he responded as he revealed a second muffin, picking his own bits off the fluff from it, relaxing a bit. “Which means you're a child and shouldn't be sneaking around to rob houses"
"I suppose…” She responded, biting her lip slightly, “But I’m a lost cause.”
Dal shook his head again, pulling off another rather fluffy muffin piece and popping it into his mouth, chuckling warmly, "I doubt that. I doubt anyone is"
At his words, Kittley’s shoulders slumped and she frowned a bit. No one said that to her in the past, everyone always treated her like a lost cause. Her parents thought of her as an embarrassment, her sister believed her a waste of time. Watchers thought her to be a criminal, "That's what I've been told."
"Why do you steal?” Dal asked as he turned his gaze off to the distance, “Because you are hungry?”
She paused, blinking at the question for a moment, "Well, now days more so…” She then frowned to herself, looking at the grass a bit, “Originally... I don't know, to prove a point?”
Dal then gestured with his hand to the mansion, "I bake more than I could ever eat. I have everything else I could wish for, so why should I not feed others who have nothing?"
Before Kittley could open her mouth to speak again, a man and a woman emerged from the building. They paused in front of the two, smiling softly as the man spoke, "Dal, we are off home now...”
Dal blinked a few times with his rather crumbled muffin in his hands, his cheeks flushing a bit, “Oh...I'm sorry I ruined your evening”
Kittey felt a bit confused to why he was apologizing, but she remained silent, watching the three as the man spoke again. “Don't be daft, and Gold wants to see you." He then gave Dal what looked to be a knowing look and a smiled once more.
As the man finished speaking the woman spoke up with a sweet smile, “Night Mr. Daldarac, and to you, miss and nothing was ruined, Mr. Daldarac.”
Dal turned his gaze downward to his muffin, the corner of his lips tweaking and vanishing with their words before he spoke again, "If you say so. I'm sorry I wasn’t there then to host things"
The conclusion finally hit Kittley as she sat there beside Dal, he must have been one of those raised properly. She knew her sister and parents believed strongly on being good hosts in parties and with guests. Although she always failed miserably when she tried to do such, she came to realize Dal must have grown up in a more proper setting. Kittley always use to fail when it came to social gatherings, which is why most of the time her mother had sent her away at social gatherings.
“They're so happy. I don't suppose you know them, do you?” Kittley blinked as she looked at Dal, realizing his gaze fixed on her as the other two walked off again.
"Not really,” she shook her head, recalling seeing the man and what she assumed to be a family member to him in the Pony a few days back, “other than seeing that man once in the Pony with some other guy and a baby."
Dal tilted his head and began to slide off the edge of the fountain, "Maybe... Bryse, recently with a tiny baby boy?"
She merely shrugged, "I don't know, never spoke to them."
"I suppose my husband is tugging on my lead once more to return to him,” Dal said as he shoved the remainder of his muffin into his mouth. “Can I trust you to come back in and not steal anything?"
Kittley paused, should she be trusted? She wanted to be trusted. "Yes sir."
Dal sighed in response, rubbing his eyes before murmuring out sadly to her, "They all call me a gullible and stupid man, Kit, please give me faith that this one time I could be right? That my trust is not misplaced"
Her gaze moved downwards for a moment before she slid off the fountain’s ledge herself, peeking up at him, "I just want food."
He bowed his head, turning to lead her inside, “"I'll see you get fed. Come, let’s go in.”
The two walked inside again as they socialized with the shorter man from before and a woman. Kittley ended up leaving with a plate full of food, which she shoveled into her mouth almost immediately after leaving. A warm feeling filled her afterwards.
