A brown-haired girl was quietly walking through the European market in an almost unnoticeable manner. If it hadn’t been for the odd-looking cat at her feet, some people wouldn’t even have looked at the cloaked girl and her companion.
The cat darted into the cloak after a while, making the girl look down. “Luna, out.” She opened the cloak a bit, trying to get the cat out. It just sat there, staring at the opening, then raising its head to the girl and staring at her. After a moment, the ocelot dashed out of her cloak, only after affectionately going around the girl’s legs, and started walking again.
Nearby, a young teen was likewise walking through the market. Occasionally, he would drift off to the side to eye a particular shop, but never bought anything (although he might’ve pocketed a thing here or there). As he wandered away once again from the merchant, his bored gaze scanned the crowd, pausing on the odd cat.
When it felt someone’s gaze, it stopped too, turning its head and staring at where it felt the attention come from. He raised an eyebrow a bit, wondering where it had come from. He didn’t remember seeing a cat exactly like this one before.
The girl bent down, giving the cat a soft stroke on her back, then looked in the direction she was looking. Now his attention turned to the girl - the owner, clearly - taking in her appearance curiously. She probably wasn’t local, considering the cat, unless she had gotten it from a foreign animal trader, which was usually rather expensive.
The cat nuzzled her hand as it came to its head, and the girl stood up, starting to walk again, and after giving itself a quick lick, it followed. Now curious, he continued walking, occasionally glancing over at the odd pair. The cloaked girl reached down and picked up the spotted creature, causing it to lick her face, but made a weird motion near its ear that had him quirking up an eyebrow again.
She gave a few praising words, setting her down and turning into a darker alleyway between the tall stone buildings. He hesitated at the entrance, glancing in.
Then she glanced back, not turning around, and broke into a dash. He made a soft sound of surprise and took a few steps into the alley, which led out to less crowded streets. He stepped out of the other side and glanced around the street, wondering where the girl had run off to, then spotted the edge of her cape as she darted into another alley.
Huffing with some irritation that she was still running, he followed. Again, it emptied out to a new road, no longer at all crowded. He watched her walk into one of the blacksmiths, the foreign cape giving her away. Hesitantly, he stepped inside after her - now just curious about who she was and why she’d bolted. He didn’t have anything better to do at the moment, anyway, so why not? (Not to mention that by this point, he had a pretty powerful feeling that he wasn’t dealing with a human.)
She was talking quietly to a older looking man - something about a ring? - handing over a bag of gold powder. He moved off to the side, keeping out of her line of sight. She has money too, then. Curiously, the boy watched her hand over something resembling a black diamond, then a piece of paper and Spanish coins. After mumbling a quiet “Thank you” in Spanish, she turned and left.
She then turned back into an alley. He followed, taking a few idle steps after her - then paused, realizing she’d stopped and turned to face him.
Her eyes hit his and narrowed, the black of her pupil seeming to fill the iris. “Mind telling me why you’re following me?”
The teen looked back at her with a wary smirk. “Mind telling me what you are?”
"I said, why are you following me?" She pulled a knife from her sash, swiping it up at him.
He hopped backwards, out of range. “Curiosity, that’s all. Now, what are you?”
Her cat walked in front of its owner, blinking up at the teen. “Depends on what’s asking.”
He let his eyes brighten from green to metallic silver. “Not human and not someone who’s gonna attack you without a good reason, if that’s what you care about.”
"…" She lowered her knife. "Elemental."
"And the cat?" His eyes - which had faded back to deep green - flashed to the creature in question.
It fluffed up for a second. “Ocelot,” the girl answered.
"… Never heard of it. Not a European breed, I’m guessing?"
"Far from it." The cat’s dotted blue eyes trailed back over to her owner’s, then walked into the cloak.
"That explains it. I was curious about that thing," he explained.
"I wouldn’t call ‘er and it." She chuckled a bit as the cat stuck her head out and stared at him at the mention of "it."
"… Alright, HER, then." He stared back at the cat, but with that, the ocelot slipped back under the cloak. "So. I’m guessing you’re no local. What brings you to Spain?"
"Traveling." She blinked. "I never got your name, what is it?" She stated that in a ‘let’s change the subject’ way.
"Cináed. You?" he said.
"Neoma." Her cloak lifted and cat sat in front of her. "And Luna."
He nodded slightly. “Elemental, you said…?”
"Yes, and you never gave me what you were." Her voice hadn’t left a slight monotone.
"… Shapeshifter," he answered.
"What type? That’s a very vague answer." Now Luna was looking up at him.
His eyes narrowed slightly. “Pure magic-born ones. Varied abilities and all that.”
"Ah." Luna got up and turned one of the corners, and Neoma started to follow the cat. "She’s a familiar," she explained.
"Really? I haven’t met a familiar in a long time," he said interestedly.
"Yeah." She motioned to the cat again, which stopped to turn to him. As his head tipped slightly, Luna’s ear twitched and she turned back away. Then he felt a spike of pain in his head, and his fists automatically clenched, a scowl spreading across his face. When Neoma raised an eyebrow at him, he took a moment to explain.
"Bit of a discomfort. S’nothing."
"Whatever you say." Neoma started walking back with her cat, then abruptly dashed off.
His head jerked up at the unexpected departure. Then he shrugged, turning to walk in the opposite direction.
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