Lata nodded. It certainly was a unique name. Fancy almost. Thank goodness she had shortened it to Ni though. Lata probably would have mispronounced it otherwise.
After helping Ni up, she began to walk towards where she currently called home. Well as good of a home as a poor girl can have. After just a few steps, Lata turned, making sure Ni was following.
Nagai followed Lata, looking at the area. It was worse than her father had told her. She watched a few rats and mice fighting each other as she followed Lata. Nagai wished she also had shoes, the muck feeling slimey and gross on her bare feet. As she walked, Nagai inhaled sharply when a sharp object stabbed her foot. She got it out, but her foot started to leave a trail of blood behind her. She ignored it, it was fine, but she new her father was going to kill her when she got home.
Turning quickly after hearing the sharp gasp, she noticed the blood coming from Ni's foot. Biting her lip, Lata thought for a moment. It wasn't much farther, and she probably had some cloth scraps to wrap around the injury.
"Will you be alright for just a bit longer?" the young girl questioned.
Nagai nodded, limping a little, but otherwise fine. She kept her eyes more to the ground now, looking out for anything else that would slow them down. On the way, she found a few dead rodents, tons of trash, and what looked like a rusted knife.
Staring at her foot for a moment, Lata eventually turned and continued guiding Ni. After a few moments, the two found themselves at the bottom floor of an older building. They wouldn't be waltzing right through the front doors however. Hoisting herself up with ease, Lata climbed through the window. She then turned back around to be able to assist the older girl, should she need it.
Nagai followed Lata, getting up with ease thanks to being able to manipulate the wind. She looked at the crumbling building, realizing people lived here. She felt horrible for living in luxury while others had to live in places like this, probably without food for days, or even weeks.
Seeing that Ni had made it inside alright, Lata padded over toward one of a few small baskets. Finally finding something large enough to tie around the other girl's foot, she came back and sat beside her. Being as quick as she could, the knot was tied on the top of Ni's foot. Feeling a bit more relieved, Lata gave the world's quickest tour.
"I just have a cot for myself plus a few baskets of supplies really. You can use it for the night though, I have other blankets to make a decent pallet for myself."
It would be kind of nice to have a friend in the forsaken slum. And a good thief at that. How else could a magic user get all that food and the silk?
"Oh, I never asked what ability you have," Lata realised, trying to make conversation.
Nagai stopped, was it a good idea to tell Lata. She slowly grabbed her notepad and pencil, her pencil hovering over the paper. Nagai finally wrote, I can manipulate the elements before showing Lata. She might as well tell someone. She also wrote, You’ll be able to have your bed, I can’t stay for the night.
Looking at the writing, Lata nodded. She was about to tell Ni what her own ability was when she was shown the second portion of the note. Furrowing her brow, she gave a long stare towards the older girl. Finally breaking away, Lata turned and sat on the center of the worn cot. For some reason she felt disappointed that the other wasn't staying. Usually, the young girl wouldn't have done something this nice as to invite someone into her home. Perhaps she was wrong to do so.
Thinking about how the response was worded, she chewed on her lower lip. Can't stay for the night? There really wasn't a good chance that she'd get a good start in this place just on her own. Plus, as a magic user, she would be stopped immediately were she to try leaving. There was one thing that would give her the pass to leave, but Lata didn't want to think that was the case.
The silk kerchief could have been hers. She could have bought the food herself with actual money. She didn't have to steal because she was rich. Ni could even have lied about having magic.
Shaking the thought, she looked back at the older girl.
"Sure, okay," the young girl finally responded, keeping her voice steady.
Nagai bit the inside of her lip, it had taken Lata a while to respond, had she said something wrong? She wrote, If you really want me to, I could stay, but my family would probably be worried she wrote. Hopefully it wasn’t strange to have a family here.
Reading the next message, she felt a bit guilty. Just because she had no family anymore, didn't mean Ni didn't. She tried not to think too hard about the past when responding.
"No, no, I understand. I forget there are families brought here together on the rare occasion."
As Lata finished speaking, she gave an apologetic smile. Standing up, she walked over to where the other still stood and gave her a light embrace. It was fairly quick however, not wanting to draw things out as well as remembering the hugs she and her mother shared. Mostly the latter.
"Be safe."
Nagai smiled and grabbed Lata into a hug, squeezing her tightly. She missed being able to have a meaningful hug ever since her mother had died. After they separated, Nagai nodded. She wrote, Keep the pages I’ve written on, I don’t think my father would approve of me meeting you Nagai tore out the pages, except for the one she had just used, and handed them to Lata.
Lata's eyes widened as she was pulled back into the hug. She took a deep breath to keep back any tears that might fall. After pulling away, Lata blinked away any possible tears. Noticing that Ni was writing again, the small girl waited patiently. Reading it, she took the papers, but felt quite confused. Ni knew her father best she supposed, even if it did seem a bit off.
I should probably be going now, thank you for everything Nagai wrote on the paper she had just used and gave it to Lata. She waved goodbye and jumped down, wincing a bit when she landed on her injured foot. She jogged around through the slums, avoiding the guards her father sent. He would be furious if he found out she went there.
After a while, Nagai went into the main streets and almost immediately was swarmed by her father’s guards. She expected that. Nagai was escorted to the building she had escaped, he father had a furious look on his face.
"I really didn't do much, I should be thanking-" she was cut off by realizing that Ni had already gone. Sighing, Lata set out to find a decent place to keep the written notes. Digging through her semi-organized baskets, she found a small, square box. Opening it, she placed the papers inside before settling down on her small bed. Staring at the ceiling, she hoped she would be able to see the older girl again soon, if not tomorrow.
Wanna timeskip or…? :P//
(Yeah)
M’kay//
Nagai sighed, ever since her journey yesterday, security had been doubled. It would be much harder for Nagai to sneak out now. While she was dragged around by her father, Nagai looked around the halls and the different rooms, looking for somewhere she could sneak out. Everywhere she looked, a guard was there.
A few painful shoes and uncomfortable dresses later, it was finally time for Nagai to go to her bedroom. There were even guards inside her bedroom! She watched them for about an hour, noticing about a five minute break of them switching ever twenty minutes. Nagai put her plan into action.
Since her bathroom was the only place without guards, that would be her escape route. Luckily, it had a window, so Nagai could easily get out. During the twenty minute wait for the guards to change, Nagai made a dummy from the materials in her room.
The five minute break couldn’t con soon enough. Nagai tossed the dummy into her bed, placing her phone on the bedside table like she always did. She quietly slipped into her bathroom, wearing a long sleeved black hoodie and black yoga pants. She decided against wearing shoes, but did decide to bring Lata some clothes too, grabbing the almost identical black hoodie and yoga pants she had set on the toilet along with her notepad and pencil.
Nagai slipped out of the window soundlessly, quietly using the wind to help her down. The guards that were stationed around the building were tired, so they didn’t notice Nagai sneaking to Lata’s home.
It was late at night when Nagai arrived at Lata’s home. She needed to leave at sunrise, or her father would find out she was gone. Nagai used the wind to get into Lata’s home with ease, looking into the dim room.
Imma bump this up~//
(Okay, I'm back)
Lata was quite the light sleeper. Upon hearing subtle footsteps coming closer, her eyes shot open. Staying as still as possible, she moved her hand underneath the flat pillow. She hid a knife there since some occasionally took nightly raids to steal from others. Even being on her own, she hated the idea of doing that to someone else. Life was hard enough as it was. As the shuffling grew closer, Lata quickly swung out of bed, holding the weapon. Her posture was stiff and alert until noticing the familiar cyan hair. Dropping her guard, she looked at the girl curiously. She was dressed in new attire and seemed clean still. Deciding to ask about it later, she instead gave the other a relieved smile.
Nagai has jumped at the knife and sighed in relief when the other girl lowered it. She set her supplies down and wrote, Thanks for not stabbing me! I brought you some new clothes. Nagai grinned and showed the message before handing the pile of clothes to Lata.
Nagai knew it would probably seem strange she had so many things, so she decided to only wear what she had worn today when she visited and not clean it.
Lata didn't quite know what to say as she took the clothes. They were soft and fresh smelling as if they had just been washed. She almost didn't want to wear them and ruin them. Almost. Taking the black hoodie, she slid it up and over her head.
"Where in the hell did you get these?" she asked excitedly. Perhaps if Ni was willing, they could both go to grab double. Two armfuls of supplies is better than one afterall. Ni could give her portion to her family and Lata would have enough for more if needed.
Nagai has to come up with a good excuse, My family and I make a trip to a different town about every year or so to steal some clothes. I didn’t go with them this time and they arrived last night, that’s why I couldn’t stay. I wanted you to have some clothes, so I brought some to you! Nagai wrote, hoping it was a believable excuse.
Well that made some sense… Smiling, she embraced Ni in a quick hug before pulling back. She felt a bit bad that she didn't have anything to gift the older girl in return though.
"Thank you… I really don't know what to say."
Nagai shook her head, You don’t need to say anything, it’s my pleasure! she quickly glanced at the window. There seemed to be a little light, sunrise was coming soon.