Riff raff street cat [Cait Shelter social]

Bonnie had been wandering around the guild aimlessly, gawking at piece of furniture and cat themed decorations. She barely said anything, but instead made confused sounds and high pitched squeaks as she prodded at rugs, scratch poles and picture frames. A few gave her some odd looks, but at this point, it was such a common sight to see the armoured warrior act oddly and space out over something completely irrelevant. 

With a hand rested on the hilt of her blade, she'd next march over to the kitchen, her armour making slight clinks as she moved. "Oh, what are you making? Is it fish?" She would ask, staring intently at the watermelon as Koji cut it up. She knew very well that watermelon was not a type of fish, but the words still slipped out of her mouth anyway. It did take her a moment or two to realise this, however. 

"Oh, wait. That's a... A watermelon. Yes." She leaned in, giving it a quick sniff, "Is it poisonous?" 

Quince Haven II

Orion took a huge gulp of his drink, laughing loudly at some random joke told by a random guild member. It wasn't funny. It didn't matter if it was funny. They were all having a good time, after all, and that's what mattered in the end. Drinks were out, games were played, and food was served. For Orion, life was good!

Without a moment too soon, he had finished his drink. With a groan, he stood up and yelled, "More rounds!" and was greeted with a loud huzzah! from his guild mates. It didn't matter that the beer tasted like piss. Well it did matter,since Orion almost gagged at the first sip. But at this point, he was past worrying.

Someone shouted something about joining the guild, and Orion quickly put his hands up, "I joined the guild, so I can pet some cats!" Orion grinned, his face turning slightly red from the four mugs of beer he had already consumed. "I always liked cats! And dogs too! But don't tell any Topaz or Koji!" He was still shouting at this point, and maniacally laughed as he took another mug from a guild mate's hand and chugged its contents down in a heartbeat.

A plate of sliced watermelon was passed over to her, and she stared at it for a while, almost unsure what to do with it. Koji had headed off with a slice of his own, and Bonnie glanced over as he chomped down on it. "Yes... Take one." She would repeat, as if she had forgotten what words meant.

Reaching out, she would gingerly pick up a slice between her fingers and hold it up like a dead animal, sniffing it to confirm it wasn't poisonous. It smelt like nothing in particular, so she took a small nibble at the end, and was pleasantly surprised. "Oh."

Continuing to nibble on the fruit, she was delicate and slow with it, and turned to face Koji with a mouthful when he asked her a question about cats. "Why would I join a guild just to pet cats?" She asked, confused and slightly concerned. She did not truly understand humour, and took things quite literally. "I thought guilds are for... Um..." She paused, her brain grinding to a halt as she thought to hard.

Quince Haven II Notorious B.I.G. Orion Prima

"Melon, melon, oh my melons" Orion chanted as he grabbed one of the watermelons offered to him. He finished his chant with a wink towards some of the women in the guild, which resulted in a chair almost hitting his face. He was definitely getting drunk.

It had been awhile since he's had a watermelon, however, and the first taste of it was divine. "This is good, master-of-mine!" The burst of sweetness invaded his pallet, and he was addicted. He tried grabbing more, but it seems his senses were dulled by alcohol, and his reflexes even more so.

"Helping is good! In fact," Orion grinned lazily, "Topaz, can you help me light this cigarette?" He then proceeded to turn to Topaz, a cigarette pinned on his index and middle finger, hoping that the fire devil slayer would do him a solid. He might be a bit drunk, but he was sure that using his own magic right now might not be the best idea. "You know, truly, I joined this guild because my mother said it was the best," Orion sobered, his face turning ashen, "better than out there, she would say."

Quince Haven II Bonnie Belle Notorious B.I.G.

Suddenly, everyone chimed in to help Bonnie out with her loss for words. People here were so helpful here like that, and she couldn't help but smile in response and give a nod in response. "Yes! That's exactly what I was going to say!" She continued to nibble away at her watermelon slice, the juices dripping all down her chin and neck. Thankfully for her, she didn't really care. 

Instead, she watched with a blank expression as a chair flew through the air towards Orion, she never really understood why he was the target of such furniture, but it was a common sight in Cait Shelter. Perhaps she should join in one day as well?

Bonnie, being quite simple and basically broken, did not stop after she finished eating the pink part of the watermelon. Instead, she continued to chew on the tough rind, gnawing away and biting down firmly as she crunched and chewed. Nobody told her not to eat the whole thing, and she wanted to be polite and eat what was given to her. 

"The smell?" She asked, chewing and wincing at the toughness, "Orion's smell?"

Quince Haven II Notorious B.I.G. Orion Prima

"Aahhh, they had a good harvest of tobacco this year," Orion smiled to himself as he took a puff of his cigarette. Tobacco was not the main crop planted, so cigarettes were not really a staple. But Orion knew a farmer who knew another farmer who had a cousin that married a woman whose uncle had a best friend that was related to a store clerk who was working at a local shop that sold homemade cigarettes. It had been a good find.

He had missed quite a bit of the conversation, preferring to keep inhaling his cancer-stick, but his ears caught something that made him smile. "Ghost stories! I have a ghost story." Without pause, he continued, "There once was a bottle of rum...and it was empty. The end." Wait, that was a scary story, a horror story, not a ghost story.

"I have another-" but was stopped mid-sentence by another chair thrown at his way, this time hitting his face full-on. He fell over, dazed, before swearing, "Stop doing that!" It seems his ghost-scary-horror story was unappreciated by the crowd. "I'll let you guys tell ghost stories then," Orion groaned, deciding to keep lying on the floor.

Quince Haven II Bonnie Belle Notorious B.I.G.

This fruit was not tasty, not at all. She didn't understand why people ate it, did she just get the bad slice of the batch? Either way, she eventually managed to swallow it, and her stomach was beginning to rumble in protest.

"Ghost stories!" Bonnie screamed suddenly, her eyes lighting up as she slammed her hands excitedly on a table and jumped up like a child. "Yes, I know some!"

She ran over to where everyone was and sat down on the floor by the coffee table. "I haven't told one in a while, so I might be a bit rusty." She'd smile sweetly, clearing her throat before taking a much more serious expression. This might be a long one.

"There used to be a young girl, Anna, seven, who was the daughter of a carpenter and a seamstress. They had this gorgeous wooden house by the river, and she'd always play down there when she got the chance.

One day, when she was playing, she spotted a woman swimming under the bridge. It was too far to get a good look at her, but Anna would always tell her parents each time. But they saw nothing, it was just an imaginary, something to keep Anna from going bored. It happened for a week, each time, the woman would get closer and closer, her face was covered by her long dark hair but she could always make out the eyes. Grey and glinting in the light, and always staring at Anna. Always.

One day though, she wasn't there. She waited all day to see if the woman would come down, but Anna saw nothing. Not even the muddy footprints leading up to her house, across the floorboards, up the stairs, towards her bedroom, tucked in the corner.

It was night, and the distinctive sound of a rocking horse could be heard throughout the whole house. It was loud and aggressive, rocking so far each time it could have almost toppled over. But Anna was not on it. She was in bed, sheets held up tight to her face as she watched someone play on her rocking horse. In the dark corner of the room, a large figure sat there hunched over it, not saying anything, just staring at her with two silver eyes. It was the woman from the river, rocking back and forth and staring at Anna as she did so."

Bonnie took a deep breath, looking around the room to see a few other members listening in.

"'Anna!'" She shouted, slamming the table as she did so. "Her mum swung open the door, and the toy horse abruptly stopped rocking. 'It's too late to be playing with your toys.' She said, oblivious to the muddy woman in the room.

'It's not me. It's the lady from the river.' Anna held a finger up, pointing at the corner of the room. Yet when her mum looked, she saw nothing.

'There's nothing there, sweetheart.' She sighed, walking over to the bed and sitting behind the girl.

But there was something, Anna was staring at her, and the woman was staring back. Silently watching beneath her brown and knotted hair. If she listened close enough, she could hear her breathing, a shallow and raspy noise.

Anna's mum was still sat there, hushing her as Anna began to cry silently. She stroked her head, running her fingers through the girls hair. 'There, there. She isn't real. Just try and go to sleep.'

Anna looked up to her mum, her crying stopped when she saw her kind eyes and gentle smile. Her golden hair hanging in front of her face ever so slightly as she kissed Anna on the forehead. Smiling, the young girl turned around again and looked across the room, the woman on the horse had stopped staring at her, but there was something odd. She had slumped over the rocking horse, her head hanging down to the ground and her hands also laying there. It was like she was asleep, but she looked different too.

She wasn't as muddy, and her hair? Golden, not brown like before."

Bonnie then started to make strange breathing noises, a weird croak and groan as she dug her nails into the table slightly.

"'It's cold' Anna thought, her clothes suddenly felt damp. Her body tensed up, she could hardly move as fear crept through her bones. Her breathing got quicker, and she wanted to scream at the realisation of who the woman was on her rocking horse.

Too scared to turn her head, she glanced down to her shoulder, a drop of mud landing on her. Then another, then another. She heard a raspy breath close to her ear, so close she could feel the warmth of it on her bare skin.

'M- Mummy?'"

Bonnie would wait a second, leaning forwards and looking around at everyone, making eye contact with people as she built up the suspense.

And then, Bonnie screamed. As loud as she could, in the hopes it would scare everyone shitless.


Quince Haven II Notorious B.I.G. Orion Prima

cant believe i just wrote a novel