Cats Can Dance... or Something

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It was still early in the day the sun had yet to break the horizons and most people unless they had to be out were in bed still. Yet one girl dressed in dark purple pants with a matching shirt and cloak to match with black boots was out. The snow was silent under her footsteps as she made her way to the meeting point. Reaching one of the more open back alleys, she did a soft whistle. A little time passed after her signal before four different cats came out, one fur are pure black, another was orange and white, the third was white with black paws and the final was orange and black.


Crouching down, she smiled at them, as she called them closer to her. Giving them a pat on the head each she listened as they each recall her with tales of they recent adventures. Once everyone was caught up, she looked at each of them before giving a command for them to fall into the foundation.


Amiee looked at everyone before she got into position herself between the four of them, and they when through the steps for the new dance she been working on. With each movement of her arms, the cats would move that paw in correlation with her as she bends backwards her hair touching the ground, as her right hand out stretch to the orange and black cat which moved to walk onto her hand. Moving her hand as she moved her body to music in her head, the black cat and the white cat with black paws each moving to grab the end of her hair while the reminding cat moved under her feet.


Bending back once more the black and orange cat jumping from her shoulder which it had moved to, quickly it ran towards the outskirt of the area. A smile on Amiee's lips since that's where she had envisioned the crowd watching, the dance was a simple distraction to keep everyone's eyes on her while her feline friends would borrow a few coins here and there


The dancing reaching the end she did a little bow, as a light sweat was on her brows. Smiling at each cat, as they dipped they heads in a bow as well. "You guys did wonder. Dagger." She said looking at the pure black one. "You need to move more with Softpaws when your jumping at my hair. Flames." Looking at the Orange and white cat, "Your still a little off on the movements at the beginning, and Starfire if people were truly here you would need to go more unnoticed in he crowd for the second part of the dance."

Tag: Aria Wurud

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Aria trudged along the roads coming in from the outer gates, a shovel resting on her shoulder. She had been helping dig graves outside of the city wall to rebury the dead that had plagued the city just a few short days ago. Along with haven taken one of the night shifts to make sure none of the bodies were moved or stolen. All of the dead had been removed from the city, however many of the corpses still needed to be buried. She had been keeping carrion eating animals at bay, which was a task in itself, however they were listening for the time being. Normally she would not interrupt a natural process, however on this occasion she did it more out of concern for what would happen if the animals consumed the manna saturated flesh, rather than the concern for how the masses would feel seeing the bodies of some recently deceased loved ones be picked apart. Aria didn’t want to think of the host of potential problems the dead could cause if picked apart and consumed. The job however was one that took a fair amount of her abilities, causing a consistent dull ache between her eyes….Perhaps she should go visit Calix it see if he could get in touch with other phiorics to make the task easier.

Arias hair today was braided back in a tight french braid, which even pulled her bangs from her face, making her long elegant angular features more prominent. The braid trailed down to her hips and was tied off with a cord of black leather. Arias delicately pointed ears were easily seen, bare of any jewelry; her pale skin was smudged with dirt here and there. At least the dirt blended in more in the area that the scar blazed across her face. Her clothing was kept simple, practical, and of lower quality, due to the fact she had been burying corpses. They kept her warm for the most part, warm dark brown wool pants tucked into knee high brown boots. Her shirt, or well shirts were in layers. She wore a tight black shirt that had a high collar, under a loose long sleeved white wool shirt that had certainly seen better days. It was tied tight at the waist by a thick brown leather belt that held some of her daggers. She had a few others hidden amongst her person, but they remained unseen. Her hands were covered in a dark brown leather gloves.

Aria let out a large yawn, taking in her surroundings. The slums never really seemed to change; despite its consistent state of decrepitude it still held a form of familiarity. Considering she had spent her childhood in an area that very much resembled the slums. She had already made the decision to swing by Gallows Inn to perhaps get something warm to eat. As she neared her destination her sensitive ears picked up a shrill whistle. Which one stray cat whom was nearby responded to….curious she trailed the cat at a distance…it was going the direction she wanted to go in anyways.

Aria kept to the background and out of sight as she fallowed the feline, pausing a good distance away when the cat…or well now multiple cats made it to their destination. It wasn’t long until a familiar scent hit her nose. Seeing how she knew the scent she didn’t bother to hang back, she approached the girl just at the tail end of her performance. She did not need to brush against the small felines mind to figure out a staging when she saw one. A delicate red eyebrow arching in the response to the girls pep talk to her cats. Aria looked down at the small felines and shook her head. Most cats she knew would laugh at the idea of fallowing any sort of orders for a performance that wasn’t on their terms.

”You would go more unnoticed if you just acted like the rest of your kind and not preforming tricks. People suspect creatures that act unnatural”

Aria turned her attention back to the young phioric that was Calix’s charge….Considering Calix was one of hers; this sort of activity being conducted by his charge was ….questionable.

”Does your father know you’re doing this?”

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Amiee looked behind to the voice that just spoke, normally she would have notice the scent or even the sounds of footsteps but when she starts to dance she get lost in the music and forget everything around her until it comes to an end. She notices that Starfire nodded her head and started complaining that she wanted to be in the dance as well. “But you know Starfire she isn’t wrong. If you stayed off to the side where no one would notice you it would work better.”


Crouching down she scooped up Starfire in her arms cuddling the little queen to her chest. Turning to face Aria, wondering if she should tell her the truth or just lie about it. Thinking that the truth would be best in this case. “Well I do believe that he suspect that I might be doing this but as long as I don’t get caught I believe he is okay with it.” Feeling Starfire starting to wiggle out of her arms she set the cat down letting her run off to join the rest of her clowder.

“But what are you doing awake at this time Miss Aria, normal people are sleeping around this time.”Amiee said as she looked east where the first rays of the sun had just started to add colour to the sky.

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”It would work better if your cats weren’t in the show, since if they are caught it’s easy to assume the one with the trained cats is to blame…since that’s not a normal cat behavior.”

This girl was obviously new to stealing…however being Calix’s charge…where they that bad off that his daughter felt the need to steal? She had been gone for some time…she really hoped the inn wasn’t in that bad of a shape. Perhaps she would swing Calix some coin now that she was back for the time being. Aria placed the shovel on the ground and leaned against the handle, watching Amiee interact with her feline companions. Aria had yet to contact the small felines mentally, she already had her hands full dealing with the animals on the outer walls. Which was an ongoing process until the last body was buried. Aria raised a brow at the girls response, she didn’t even question how Aria knew her father, or how she knew she had one. When she changed the subject Aria shrugged.

”I’m just coming off of the evening watch over the bodies waiting to be buried. I’ve been helping dig graves for the past couple of days.”

Considering the massive amounts of dead that had been summoned it was a fairly large undertaken…some of the older bodies sadly were put in mass graves. Many of them unmarked due to the fact they could not be identified. However Aria had noticed something particularly disturbing about the majority of the fresher corpses. She had made a note of it, but it was something she would need to clue a few people in on.

”You’ll also find that I’m not really like normal people, nor do I have healthy sleeping patterns. Frankly I’m quiet use to getting up before dawn on a normal basis. I grew up on the streets in slums like this, you learn if your awake before others, less chances of getting snuck up on. Now…tell me… for what reasons are you up and out training cats?”

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Amiee thought about what she had said about not including the cats in the performance in case they did get caught. Then again originally she wasn't going to train them to steal it was just to be part of a new dance to make a little extra profits and draw more attentions to her dance the stealing kinda happen. "I guess if I take them out of the dance, but then I will have to change some of the steps." Her mind now going over the different dance steps in her mind, thinking of the ones that would need to get changed.


Watching Aria raise her eyebrow she tilted her head to the side wondering if she had said something wrong. Nothing came to her mind about what she might be said. Putting it out of her mind as she listens to the explanation of why she was up before the crack of dawn. It made sense someone did need to clean up all the dead bodies and make sure that they stayed that way this time.


"Huh?" She never knew that Aria grew up in the slums. Honestly from what she knew about the woman she would have guessed that maybe she grew up somewhere closer t the second district but not in the slums. "Um... my reason for training them. To be honest I wanted something new to add to my dance to make myself stand out more. The stealing happened only recently, Flames asked me if I could help them earn some extra money so I can buy extra food for them over the winter." Turning to look back at the cats, a smile on her face. "I can't deny wanting to help the animals I am connected to now can I?"

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Aria nodded in regards to the dance that the young phioric was thinking of, Aria never had done much dancing herself. Frankly the only type she knew was the ones Core taught her, and really only enough to get by well enough at a formal dance. The more free expressive type of dance that Amiee was preforming was one that Aria had little to no experience in. Then again she saw plenty of dances at the bloody mary however she didn’t think someone who now was a duchess should be caught doing anything close to the sort.

Aria tilted her head to the side when she heard the confused huh? In response to her statement of growing up in an area much like this. Really she thought it was pretty straight forward, then again…she supposed she did not give off the airs of being a complete street rat any longer. She had been educated quite well since her younger years, that and her company had severely improved with time…well sort of. However if she wanted her to elaborate she would have to form a more intelligent sentence then just ‘huh?’

Dancing to earn money….why didn’t she just go to the bloody mary…..then again Calix would probably pull a fit if she did. However trying to earn money to feed the cats wasn’t the worst reason. But Aria could not help but find it odd that the cat was the one to think to ask and to understand the concept of currency for food. Being independent as they usually were, house cats did not usually go to others for food unless they were pampered to begin with. Were these cats wayward house cats? Also another question would be how long Amiee had been in contact with them, especially for them to understand human concepts such as currency.

”Have you had these cats long Amiee?”

Aria had almost somewhat forgotten Amiee was connected to felines, when she first met the woman she did have a partial transformation…then again Amiee had only seen Aria in a partial transformation to. But that sparked another question in Arias mind, one a bit off subject. It hadn’t been until she was sent to Palico that she had gotten a bit more information about her own species. One of the things she read about was the age in which transformations began. She was curious to how accurate the book she had read was.

”Amiee how old are you if you don’t mind me asking?”

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How long she had the cats she been avoiding bring them home because it's bad enough every stray cat that she sees she brought home that Calix had to put her foot down and she was only allow three cats no more than that. It was around that time she came to find these for four and was feeding them some food from the table, but now that winter has come extra food was harder to come by even working at an inn.


"Well I, think it was around the time of the summer that I took them in. They family had passed away and no one was able to take them in so they became homeless." It was so sad when she learnt about their faith it was so cruel to innocent animals.


"My age I'm around 142 I guess to humans I would be closer to 13 or would it be 18. I get confused with my age compared to humans. Why do you ask?" Tilting her head to the side the question in her mind about the reason of the question.


Looking down she noticed Flame rubbing up against her leg renewing the scent mark. Sighing she picked him up, lightly tapping him on the nose. "No scent marking me silly kitty." She said before placing him back down on the ground, pulling cloak around her tighter to within the cold a bit. 

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So the cats were home raised, that might explain some things at least. However the girl had to learn that she couldn’t help every feline that came to her…at least not like this. Aria scratched the back of her head thinking about the problem for a bit, if it really was just to help the cats then there were other solutions.

”Have you taught them how to hunt…or the good places to. Harbor is a good place to find water rats, which could easily feed at least two of them. That or train them with skills some nobles my find endearing to set them apart. You could then sell them to nobles or wealthy merchants. You’d make a couple of coins to help out other cats and find them a home where they would be provided for without putting a financial burden on yourself. Since you can talk to them you could ask what they would prefer too…”

As the girl answered her question she could understand the confusion…she was just as confused when it came to figuring out how their race aged.

”I ask cause technically you were the first phioric I ever come across other than myself and I’ve noticed you have at least a partial transformation. From what I’ve read apparently that sort of progress happens later in a phiorics life span. I’m curious to learn more about others of the species as well….perhaps I should ask Calix...”

Aria turned her attention back to Amiee when she spoke to her cats, did she always do it out loud?

”You know that’s how they mark their family and friends.”

Aria was one for scent marking….in fact she scent marked her family and friends a lot…its why they always got tackle hugged. Her scent marking had gone down quite dramatically since being fated over but she still did it. Aria bent down and held out her hand to one of the cats, she allowed at least a section of her mind to brush up against the cats.

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"I have thought about teaching them to hunt, but having not hunted myself and being unable to fully become a cat to teach them proper hunting it hard. I could train them to learn other skills but I am not sure what skills a noble or a wealthy merchant would want in a cat." It was the honest truth, since she and appeared on Calix doorstep all those years ago hunting is not something she has done since then, and she had only been able to transform partially never fully so teaching the cats to hunt would be harder than just giving instructions compared to teaching them to dance, which is much easier.


"I know that's how they mark friends and family but even though I love them like family I can not let father know I been out here with them." Her mind went back to the day he gave her the talk.


It had been a few weeks since she had come to call him father since she been on her own sometimes and she was found her the partial transformation state. She did his best to help her readjust back to normal life around other people but it didn't help that she still didn;t blend it. It was then he had put his foot down she was allowed only 2 cats that he knows of and only during times he allowed until she had gotten out of that stage in life.


"Please promise not to tell him that I have disobeyed his orders and have been sneaking around helping the cats. I am not sure what he would do if he found out." Her eyes widen as she pleaded having prefected over the eyes the wide innoncent begging kitty cat eyes.

[Naervon]

He just made the worst move in one of his many stunts in his life, trotting along a roof top in the slums he listened to Lund snapping at him for being in his wolf state in the district. You are the stupidest, idiotic Phioric I have ever met. Will you shi- Shut up! He snapped back at him and pinning his ears back, stopped walking and growled low in his throat, shaking his horned head he kept walking along the roofs but stopped when voices reached him. Tilting his head to the side he listened closely, from the sounds of it two females where just talking over something he really didn't want to know. Yet curiosity got the best of him and he found himself creeping towards the edge of the roof looking more closely at the females trying to figure out what was going on and if he needed to get out of there or just simply sit by and watch an action unfold.

He felt Lund's heat rolling around in his body, a comforting sensation that sometimes annoyed the living hell out of him especially when the damn spirit decided to burn him from the inside. What's going on Askr? How the hell should I know I just got here, do I know everything oh burning one? Ouch, that hurt... damn Grimacing at the burning pain that now flowed around his chest he grumbled to himself about the spirit and went back to watching the two female still wondering about what was going on and who they where.

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Aria tapped her chin in thought; most cats knew how to hunt….unless these were….special. Usually the mother would just have let them die at that point…or eat them in some species. However it was a good possibility that this fruit loop of a girl had such grand delusions of playing mommy that she unintentionally put the thoughts of helplessness into the poor little furry butts heads. Thus causing them more harm than good.

”I know a least one noble who probably would want a fire proof one….however this is probably something you should figure out.”

Aria arched an eyebrow when Amiee mentioned that Calix didn’t want her around the kitties, surprise surprise. So she had been right about Calix not knowing about his daughters on goings.

”He’d be livid as he should be…. Just be thankful he’s not like my father was otherwise this place would be getting buggy real quick. Now listen up, and listen up good kid cause I’m going to only say this once. You’re going to screw these cats up more than they ought to be with that mind jumble of yours. Each time you contact an animal your letting them into your head, you take bits and pieces from them and they take bits and pieces from you even more so if you haven’t a shit clue what you’re doing. You’ve already admitted you can’t hunt; how are you supposed to help them survive on their own if you can’t do it yourself? “

Aria placed the shovel against a nearby wall and began to close the distance between herself and Amiee. Really Calix was a good man in her book, and technically she owed the Hearthrow family…at least his decedents. They helped her when she was younger; hell even gave her Briar. She knew the large loaf had attachments to the little phioric in front of her, who currently was throwing her dads concerns into the wind….not that Aria hadn’t done very much the same by bedding a certain skunk haired man….but still. It didn’t seem the girl in front of her grasped how serious her father’s concerns were.

”Why do you think that Calix wants you to keep away from cats? Hm? What possibly could be a reason?”

Aria closed the distance and gripped Amiees chin making her gaze meet her cold gaze. Her face just inches from the girl.

”Or is he just a mean Daddykins who doesn’t like you to have fun?”

Aria once been a young teen herself, wasn’t going to tell Calix….but why not make the girl sweat a little? Perhaps she’d come clean on her own. ….On a side note…why was this girl so calm with her right now…considering she had bagged her once and place a knife to her throat. A small movement from above them caught her eye; she looked up and took a sniff….she smelt dog. Among other things….dear lord did the slums smell.

”Heeeeyyy would you lookie there; Fluffy Mcfluffykins joins the party…..dafuc is it doing on the roof… KITTY why don’t you go take a closer look”

There was a small shifting of bones as it would seem Aria grew a few inches taller as she channeled part of her direbear form. Giving her the increased strength she needed to suddenly pick Amiee up by the back of her shirt and pants and fling her up to the roof….hopefully she would have a soft landing….either way Aria through her toward the smell of the dog.
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Amiee eye's widen at the mention of a possible fire proof cat, now she was wondering if Aria was on lunar drops for sure if she thought it was possible for her to somehow come up with a fire proof cat. Even if she find a way, in the long run, the most she could think about was maybe a cat size magical armor embedded with a fire gem but even that might not work.


Quickly pushing that thought out of her head of finding a way to fireproof a cat and putting the mentions of fire out of her mind. Which sadly didn't work much since now the thoughts of fire were floating around her head, tempting her to create a fire now. Folding her arms over her chest, doing her best to not set anything on fire and keeping her emotions and control in check.


Taking a few deep calming breaths, knowing that control is what she needs most right now, as Aria spoke to her about her own shortcomings of messing up the cats' mind and her own. More so the mention of her not knowing how to hunt. Closing her eyes for a moment to center herself. "My mind is not jumbled, thank you kindly. Now I can't teach them to in the ways of a cat, I can't properly show them how to pick up the scent of a prey and to stand downwind so it doesn't smell them. Nor can I teach them how to position they body to slowly stalk a prey, then pouncing on it and use they paw to keep the prey immobilized and a quick bite for a clean and quick kill." Pausing in between her words. "I also haven't hunted since I came to this town, so chances are my skills of hunting are horrible since I have not done it."


Feeling her angry started to boil to the surface, she once again started to push it down. High emotions or pure concentration have been her downfall before with fire and right now she didn't want to burn down someone's house before of emotions. She also knew that Aria had a point if Calix knew what she was doing right now she would be thrown over her shoulder kicking and screaming as he carried her back to the inn and locking her in her room until she was 500 if so lucky.


Looking to Aria's eyes as she asked the question, wondering if this woman knew anything about personal space. Thinking on the question for a moment knowing that it wasn't the second one, and fully knowing that he did it for her own sake and not go crazy but she still couldn't resist being around cats it was almost like a spell on her to always be close to one. "I believe it was something about learning that cats are not people and I need to learn the differents."


Taking her eyes off of Aria for the short moment to look towards the direction of the roof, it turned out to be a mistake on her part as she felt herself being lifted off the ground and thrown through the air. The sudden toss into the air she caused panic to swell up inside of her try to right her body in midair to avoid landing the wrong way, landing on her hands and feet but slipping on the snow causing her to roll into the wolf, breaking her fall and preventing her from rolling off of the roof.


Not even bothering to see if the wolf was okay she looked down from the roof to the red head below. "What the hell was that for, you could have killed me tossing me like that. Some warning next time and I could prepare myself for a proper landing, what would you have done it I have sprain or broken my foot." Yelling at her as she accidently causes the edge of the roof her hand was touching to smoke a little as a small fire started to build. "We are lucky that I happen to be aligned with cats to somewhat land on my feet and that this wolf was here to break my fall or I might have been dead."


Now turning her head to look behind her at the wolf, but something about the eyes told her that it might not be a normal wolf. "And what do you have to say for yourself. You are a damn wolf on a rooftop within the walls of the city, surely you are smarter than that for someone of your intelligence." Her eyes now burning with her angry, not even caring if this was just a normal wolf or even another phioric like herself.

[Naervon]

He didn't even have time to react before one of the females was thrown and soon landing on top of him, yelping he growled at her when she moved off him to yell at the woman on the ground still. When she turned back to him and spoke he rolled his eyes, Lund began to snap at him and not wanting to hear the spirit he shifted into his human state. Burning eyes fixed a deadly glare on the female, he bared his teeth at her showing his agitation. "What the hell gives you the right to patronize me when you landed on me, be lucky I'm in no mood to get preached to." Standing his tall frame of six foot four towered over the female, glaring at her more he turned and walking towards the edge of the roof snarled down at the women below. "Think next time before you throw someone at a wolf." He snapped, shoving his hair out of his face he turned to stare at the woman now occupying the roof with him. I told you it was a bad idea to be in your wolf form on the roof in the city, but did you listen to me? Nooo, you just had to go investigate when you know you could get harmed. Why Lund, if I knew any better I'd say that you where looking out for me now, why the change of heart my friend? A hiss from the spirit and a bright glow from his eyes and he felt like wanting to gouge them out, the spirit had a nasty tendency to make him angry and the urge to beat the spirit was still fresh in his mind even though doing so was impossible that he knew of. Yet there was still the matter of the woman that landed on him, she was lucky she didn't land on his horns.

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Aria could tell the girl just wasn’t getting it. But then again she was still young; mentally. Seriously Calix must have the patient of a saint because not even five minutes with his daughter was enough to give her a slight headache. This wasn’t the first time that Aria thought she had been spoiled in her company while growing up. Really the girl didn’t neeeeed to teach the cats these things; they could figure it out on their own…that was if she’d stop jumping in and trying to play hero.

Now chucking the cat girl served multiple purposes, the foremost however was for sheer amusement and to end the conversation. Aria waved casually as Amiee leaned over the roof to yell at her. She had let the Dire Bear part go and was back to her normal size before Amiee even noticed.

”If you had it would have made my get away easier if wolfykins turned out to be hostile.”

Aria wouldn’t have needed to run fast, just faster. However since there just seemed to be grumbling coming from up there it seemed like the dog wasn’t inclined to tussle….that or Amiee knocked it out by landing on it. Annnnnd NOPE there was now a strange males voice coming from on top of the roof….Curiosity got the better of her as she used the alley ways small walls to run and kick off, giving her leverage to grab the edge of the roof to pull herself up….only to come nose to nose with an angry male coming to the roofs ledge to yell at her….a fairly naked male….seriously his balls must be running for cover in this weather. Once he backed off Aria pulled the rest of herself on top of the roof, it was a good thing she was fairly agile.

”You must have a strange reaction when you are in the mood to be preached too”

Aria knew what he meant, but his wording had been off….then again she did throw a person at him. Once she was on her feet, Aria took off her overly large white wool shirt and held it out to the male….she didn’t have her cloak with her due to the fact of not wanting to get the smell of death on it, but it would at least give him a little cover….the shirt was made for a male anyways. She still had on her form fitting black shirt with the high collar; so it wasn’t as if she was going to be as cold as a person with nothing on.

”I was thinking; if you were hostile going after her would mean less attention on me yes? Imagine if you were rabid, after all wolf in a strange place….there was a good possibility.”

Was Aria really that much an awful person? Well at the moment probably, however Amiee did need to learn some survival skills, what better way than to give her EXPERIENCE! Aria casually walked over to the side of the roof which Amiee unintentionally started to create a small fire and stomped it out with her boot. While she had little problem throwing Amiee to the wolves, she didn’t see the reason to burn a random building down in the process….fires spread so quickly in the lower district after all.

”Anywhooo; I suppose you have my apologies for throwing Amiee at you.”

[Naervon]

Startled by the other woman and the shirt she held out to him, taking it he inclined his head in thanks but silently muttered to himself as he pulled it on carefully so the material wouldn't tear because of his horns. It was big enough to cover most of his nakedness, most of it. Turning his fiery eyes towards the girl who's name he know knew thanks to the other woman he huffed at her apology, "Well thank you for the shirt but not for the girl getting tossed at me." He said and scowled at the woman, reaching back he set to work of pulling his long hair free of the shirt. A task that would tire out anyone else who had hair as long as his, once it was free he then started braiding the long tendrils quickly. Once at the bottom of his hair he wrapped it in a very loose knot then let it fall back against his body.

Tilting his head to the side he eyed the girl and the woman, running his tongue over his sharpened canines he huffed again and crossed his arms over his chest. "Mind answering why you threw a girl at me?" He asked a sound of annoyance made his already deep voice drop an octave.