43rd of Searing, 120 AS
What was it that Lyss had said? To stay out of trouble? Not to make a spectacle of herself? Bell frowned and rubbed her chin, her feet dangling over the edge of the roof that she was currently sitting on. Honestly, she wasn't quite sure what her sister meant by all that. It wasn't like Bell did much to stand out. As she thought this she took the last bite out of an apple and let the core drop to the street below, narrowly missing a passerby on a midday stroll. Bell ignored the shouts that were directed toward her and proceeded to stretch her arms high overhead as she smiled and felt the warmth of searing spread through her body. The heat of the globe high overhead was at times oppressive in this season, but for Bell she much preferred this over the icy chill of winter. She hated the cold and avoided it with as much passion as a child avoided her studies.
Below the city of Raellon bustled. Bell's sensitive ears twitched and angled toward a commotion a few streets over, picking up the sound of angry shouting, likely between merchants haggling over overpriced wares. From where she sat Bell could just barely see over the roofs to the water beyond, and if she concentrated she thought she could just faintly smell the scent of fish being carried north on a breeze. Ships were moored there, of all shapes and sizes. That was actually why Bell had claimed to the top of her perch. She enjoyed looking at those ships and their sails of multiple colors, flags flapping in the breeze with insignias of their respective owners.
"I wonder if we can get a ship one day..." the thought was an idle one, but as the seconds past Bell began to consider it more and more. It would be nice to have a ship of their own, something Lyss and she could use to travel all across Ransera. It would be better than a caravan even. Ships didn't need to eat, and if they stayed close to the coastline they would not have to worry over storms much. Was it really possible?
"HEY!" a voice jarred the rathari from her thoughts, and she leaned forward to look down at the one who was calling out, "Get down from there right now!"
It was a portly man, probably 50 or 60, it was hard to tell as Humans aged so quickly. His face was red, and even from this distance, Bell could see a vein pulsing on his forehead. Tilting her head Bell's ears flicked and the color of her fur shifted to a soft yellow.
"Why?" she called down, cupping her hands around her mouth. At her response the man seemed to become even redder, an odd sight considering he was already much like a tomato. For a few seconds, he seemed speechless, but at last, he managed to sputter out, "It's my house!"
Bell blinked down at the man, mulling his words over in her mind before finally deciding that what he said was, in fact, quite a good reason. With a shrug she pushed off the edge of the roof, sliding her hip over the edge and turning her body so that she held on by her fingertips. One foot she worked onto the ledge of a window she had used to get up in the first place, and through a combination of shimmying and careful hand placement Bell finally hopped down to the ground to stand smiling in front of the irate man.
"Brats like you have no respect for personal property." he waved a finger in Bell's face, and his multiple chins wobbled as he has rambled half dribbled a spewing of profanities and complaints all directed at the rathari.
She really did try to listen. She even stared meaningfully into his eyes for several long long seconds, until the man abruptly looked away and pointed at her feet, saying something about dirt on his window seals. Unfortunately the more the man talked the less that Bell could hear. Without really meaning to she let her mind brush the magic of the rune on her left side, the world suddenly exploding into rich tones and melodies as symphonies of the town opened up to her. Bell focused her sights on the man, bringing to bear all her concentration to pick out his melody in particular. He was a swirling mix of noises, none of which seemed to blend well together and created a rather noisy mess. One note in particular warbled out more than any other. It was a high pitched whine, out of place in the rest of his melody, but the way it wavered in rapped succession indicated that it was what drove the rest of his symphony on. The more she focused on that note the more a sensation began to spread from it. It was a heavy thing, that called for action. Worry, uncertainty? Fear?
Bell frowned as she tried to understand what it was she was sensing, and the man seemed to take that to mean his berating was having an effect. Instead of halting, however, his verbal abuse only seemed to gain in strength. As it did that note warbled as if responding and being heightened by the increased cacophony of the overall melody.
It's not me he is upset with... Bell realized, looking at the man with new eyes, There must be something else going on.
Deep, deep in the middle of the symphony of the man came another note, like faint chiming that was attempt to keep the rhythm on pace. The rest of the music seemed to be completely ignoring that tone, thundering on in whatever method they preferred, fueled by the emotions the man was losing himself in. Bell focused on that tone, and as she did she stepped forward and placed a hand on the man's shoulder. The shock of the motion was enough to make the man paused in his tirade, and in that brief pause, Bell tugged on that chiming she heard, raising it up, slowing its tempo and adding her own tone to the mix. The note was one of the focused patients. This man, riled as he was, knew that he shouldn't let his emotions get the better of him. That feeling however had become overpowered by the torrent of anger and fear that likely had built up for days.
"It's ok." as she said this Bell tried to exude calm and assurance, and she smiled in order to add to the effect.
For a second nothing was said, the man simply stared at her, slack-jawed as if not sure of what to make of this person who decided to sit on his roof and touch him out of nowhere. He jerked his shoulder free, stepping back and harumphed, a scowled fixed on his face as he said, "Stay off my roof."
Just as fast as the storm had come, it was gone and the man stomped back into his home, and Bell was left standing in the street. Setting a hand on her hip Bell looked after him, wondering if she had any effect at all. Shrugging Bell turned and began to make her way toward the center of town.
"I am not making any trouble." Bell said to herself, drawing odd looks from the people she passed as she whispered under her breath, "I can be completely incon... encun..." Bell frowned. What was the word she had used? Unscrupulous? That was probably it. The rabbit knew for a fact she could be unscrupulous if she wanted to be. Lyss honestly had nothing to worry about.
"I'm practically invisible." This was said as she raised her hands to her side, jumping up to walk along the edge of the low wall that leads down into the main market, "I blend in perfectly like I am not even there." her foot slipped and Bell barely managed to catch herself before she toppled off the wall. Her heart raced as she slowly lowered herself to a sitting position, letting her feet hang over and swing back and forth against the wall. To the side, Bell spotted a child, a little Rathari with the head of a bird eyeing her curiously. With a smile and wave, she called out to the little one, "That doesn't count. You didn't see anything."
The child blinked large eyes before his mother quickly shooed him odd, glaring at Bell as if she had done something strange. Bell stared back, sticking her tongue out and making a rude gesture to which the woman scowled and marched quickly away. Bell let herself feel a small sense of satisfaction at the woman's reaction, but then remembered. She WASN'T supposed to stick out.
With a sigh Bell leaned back and rested her hands on the backside of the wall as she looked up at the sky, "Honestly... isn't there anyone normal in this city?"
