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Dutiful Cricket	Clouds roll on a lazy ramble through the warehousing district. The dangerous and openly shady southern reach of Great Forks may be a place one with sense would avoid if they could, but such worry for safety can't even be a loose consideration in the master huntress's mind, her ally looking a little prideful as they draw nervous evasion from the locals. No sense being afraid if they know to be afraid of her. It DOES make the shopping trip a little uneventful, though. Gathering supplies is far more exciting when what Winds and Dreams needs isn't simply vendored somewhere in this labyrinth of storehouses. What's interesting isn't the nervous locals averse to sniffing wolves, but the rare figures who measure her still, as if there might be an opportunity still in her outsider status. The one that decides to truly surprise her is a young whelp who starts for her, with that poorly-practiced noncommittal thief's shirk, wanting to brush against her. The easiest grifting evasion in the world to make.
Winds and Dreams	Unhurried and unfazed by most of what goes on around her, Winds is nonetheless a fairly studious, watchful person herself. That being said, she often does not look the part, as naturally as she pulls it off. She's of fairly average build, but it seems to belie a monumental physical strength as she places a hand on the youth's shoulder amid the brush-by. In a dizzying motion she whirls the child around while swinging them around herself, setting them down with their back against her side as she braces them in place, face to face with the great black wolf at her side. There's a pause in her stride as this happens, and she allows a longish moment's silence before speaking softly; "What might you be after, then? Something for you or something for someone else?"
Dutiful Cricket	The child gasps as they're spun and pinned, hands behind them, initially half-confident eyes suddenly wide and watching the wolf's teeth as the beast climbs crates to loom over. They seem to try to hide something behind their back as they speak. "I-I didn't take any-...Huh?" They check their hands they really DIDN'T take anything, and that surprises them. Part of a hunt is to let the prey feel the bait, after all. Without anything to show for their failed attempt, they put their arms up in front of them. "I'm sorry! Don't hurt me...!" Hushing up. A survival reaction, to not draw attention, even when endangered. Children rarely have this drilled when so small. When Winds and Dreams asks about what he's after, he shirks and looks away, the way one might when thinking of how to lie. "I just... Am so hungry...." He suddenly acts weak.
Winds and Dreams	A faint sniffing noise- but not from the wolf. Winds shakes her head, loosening her grip just ever so slightly. She nods to the wolf, who settles down entirely at the gesture. "I'm given the impression you're being encouraged to do this in some fashion. Would you characterize yourself more scared there, than here?" she questions- maybe a little blunt and stilted but, well... she's not great at this.
Dutiful Cricket	Is it a 'bad with kids' thing or a 'bad with interrogations' thing, one might wonder? The boy sighs relief as Winds's friend eases off, hand on his chest. Encouraged by another, though? He... Nervously cups his hands together and looks away. "Nooo.....? Um... I won't do it again, I promise?" Weak promise. Not even half-hearted.
Winds and Dreams	Another longish pause from Winds as her brow knits a moment, free hand going to her hip absently. "Somehow I doubt that, but run along. Best wishes with no punishments coming for coming up empty-handed," she muses, shaking her head a little as she dispels one thought or another. And in the next moment, she lets go, making for a nearby alley. Not that she intends to leave- much rather, she pauses in that alley, wolf at her side, and turns again to watch the child go from a convenient spot in the shadow.
Dutiful Cricket	The boy quickly ducks his head twice in apology for bothering her, repeating (again, not very convincingly....) that he won't do it again, and makes for the first narrow space between storehouses he can find, not hard for one as skilled as Winds and Dreams to track, but definitely the type that'd give your average hired hand a little frustration. It's a little amusing, though. Once she's out of sight, he really thinks he gave her the slip... All the way to a ramshackle lot, where he looks around and slips past a broken door's cloth veil. Her ally watches a side exit on the second story... Seems there's more to this specific area than gang hideouts and storehouses.
Winds and Dreams	Be it by way of changing shapes or just a light climb, Winds makes her way to the side exit first in fact, leaving Asena the wolf behind for the time being. After a brief moment scaling higher to ensure there are not more such secondary egresses, she lowers herself back down, simply waiting outside said exit for a few moments, let things settle down a little. There's not a great deal of pomp and circumstance to her entrance- in fact quite the opposite. Almost without meaning to, she waits until she hears no movement on the other side before beginning to ease her way inside. While her hand may hover at the ready as if to draw her sword... she's mostly moving defensively, getting the lay of the place.
Dutiful Cricket	The air is tense and ominous as she paces silently towards the sliding door the boy must have slipped through. An inched-open peer reveals a disarming view: a tightly-spaced little homestead between imposing windowless storehouse walls, multiple stories high. The sun peeking in pieces through a multitude of tarps tied above, shading from rain into troughs for water collection, the boy she pursued seeming proud of himself rather than ashamed as he boasts to a few older boys who seem incredulous. Those must be his bad influences... A bell chime rings as a figure passes through the doorless entrance to the little homestead.... Needing to squeeze out before getting out into fresh air, a motherly figure, easily twice the size of any man, and surrounded by kids who celebrate her, she seems contentful in beckoning for them to sit in a circle, some on mats rolled out, some on the dirt floor. Winds and Dreams smells freshly boiled rice, steam rising and all as the pot lid is lifted. Seems she stalked her mark out to dinner time....
Dutiful Cricket	One thing is certain. He seems not to have been stealing to feed himself, after all. After clasping her hands in prayer, the giant glances towards the entrance to the lot. She doesn't seem very aware of her surroundings at a glance, but is it even possible she's noticed...? No, Winds and Dreams is too good at staying away from people's views to suspect that. Maybe it's just a den mother's intuition, though. Are all these kids hers? They don't even slightly look alike.
Winds and Dreams	It's possible she's been noticed- but hell, might as well grandstand a little if she's made it in. Gotta get okay at it sometime, probably, to make statements in battle. To that end, Winds finds a convenient ledge above the dinner space, sitting upon the edge thereof. One foot still up on the ledge, she drapes an arm over the knee, other hand propping her up beside her. She takes a moment, seeing if anyone takes notice... before speaking up; "So, this doesn't really look like a starving child's lonesome refuge. Then again, doesn't look much like a forced gang either. Anybody care to help me understand why the lad tried a lift, earlier?"
Dutiful Cricket	The boy yelps and his wooden bowl drops into his lap as the others look up with some level of wonder and uncertainty. They don't seem scared of an intruder, at least. Save for the boy who knows Winds and Dreams. The giant uses a finger to scoop a wad of rice out of her bowl and gently laps it up, taking a moment before asking, after swallowing, "is that how you've been raised to greet strangers?" The question lingers for a moment, before the kids get up and formally, in the best unison a gaggle of about ten or so children can do, humbly welcome Winds and Dreams to their home. Even the would-be thief. The giant simply bows her head slightly, craning her neck, but otherwise continues delicately eating, her smallest bowl of the bunch seeming even smaller in her hand.
Winds and Dreams	A slight smirk from Winds, and she tilts her head, looking over the giantess in earnest now. There's a quirk of her brow- certainly an odd sight- but perhaps not the wonderment of one who's never seen the like before. "I didn't get much raising- and I'm at least familiar with your boy there." She points to the thieving boy with the last, shifting to lean back a little on her perch. "But if all's well, I'll call myself satisfied. Had a worry for forced fleecing, so to speak." As she leans back her head taps against the hilt of the sword on her back-- which, oddly, seemed to be at her hip a moment ago.
Dutiful Cricket	The giant calmly nods and puts the bowl down in front of her kneel, turning her closed-lidded gaze from up on the perch to the boy who's nervous like he's in a line-up. "Guorai." He stiffens from the woman's lilting, falsetto tone. "If you keep trying those kinds of tricks on others, you'll see that someone less charming than this stranger will come upon you." The other kids seem bemused that he's in trouble, but one of the girls yells up to Winds and Dreams to ask how she got up there! Another child remarks that, obviously, she came up from the roof of the other storehouse nearby, but that answer isn't satisfactory to a girl's curiosity... "Might I make up for your inconvenience with some rice, stranger?" The giantess asks up to Winds and Dreams. "Little Spume here has gotten quite good at preparing rice! I promise it's edible~!" One of the girls does a peace sign with a grin to silently denote which one is the proud chef in question.
Winds and Dreams	A long pause from Winds as she considers, dangling foot swinging back and forth idly as she views the scene. A faint smile follows as she's asked about her ascent. "Might take a few leaps you won't be able to manage 'till you're older and taller," she answers, tones turning mild at this juncture. Speaking of leaps, she drops herself from the ledge, landing comfortably and with grace. A quick toss of her half-cloak off of the shoulder it covers. "Pardon if it's rude, but I think you've enough mouths to feed. Besides, a friend of mine outside might get jealous, and she's not one for rice," she answers, smirking a little with the last portion. "Frankly, I've gotten what I came for. I've been on the foul end of a demanding gang leader in my time, and had something of a worry."
Dutiful Cricket	The kids jeer a bit as she tells them they'll have to wait until they're older, a few of the oldest ones insisting they can try it now! The giantess pays more attention to the sword stranger's pacing and self-satisfaction. "It is hardly rude. If anything, it means there is more for tomorrow, and you are not wanting. It means this is an amicable visit!" She clasps her hands in saying so. As Winds and Dreams sees herself off, the kids wave goodbye, and the giantess has to rush over to grab one of the kids who tried climbing up to the perch their guest used earlier. "Are you TRYING to be the death of me, Xiuran?!" She asks with a huff, seeming a regular image of a strange little family home... Leaving the secluded entrance, however, she spots her lupine friend in hiding, teeth bared, watching a group of men with hatches tied in their sashes looking around, seeming confused. They have their own tracking beast, a hunting hawk, perched on one man's leathered arm, seeming disinterested. "That brat can't just VANISH, Ren. Give the hawk something to scent with and we'll find him this time..." Seems the mother's warning for her child was more spot-on than she realized.
Winds and Dreams	"Pardon the bad influence," Winds says with a chuckle as she makes her way along, shaking her head a little. She pauses at the door, checking her things just to err on the side of caution. As she comes upon the new scene, her brow raises a little. Hand goes to her hip again, and she just... watches the small group for a short spell. A faint chuckle, after a long moment. "It's a hawk, lads, not a vulture or dog." She shakes her head, drawing closer. "Let me guess, small thing, yea high, tried the 'brush past and run' approach? If I'm on the mark..." She pauses, whistling briefly, drawing her own hunting companion from the hiding place. "Believe me when I say you've lost the trail. Not 'round here."
Dutiful Cricket	The men sport matching stitches in their slops to denote a specific gang, though which, there's too many to be mindful of. Not one of the big ones, even Winds and Dreams can tell. But they look her over and one clicks her tongue. "Yeah, you're on the mark. Brat's slippery. The Allseer sent'cha on this goose chase too, then? An' mind your tongue, this hawk's got a beak on her," the woman tapping her own scarred nose for reference. Right..... "Is what it is, then," the hawk trainer remarks, shrugging. "If that wolf ain't gettin' anything, we're out of luck ourselves..." The men shake their head. "How's it supposed t'be so hard t'find a bitch taller'n most huts?" One complains aloud. It clicks in Winds's picture. They're following the boy to get to the woman. And considering they're tracking the boy, it's likely they aim to use the boy against her more than amicably approach like she did.
Winds and Dreams	A slight shrug from Winds, and she starts walking past the group almost casually. "Tried to rob me too." She runs a hand along the wolf's coat a moment as she links back up, pausing her stride for a moment, before looking over her shoulder with a brow raised. "I think another question you might want to consider. If you're after someone that large, and skilled enough to be that elusive, you sure that's someone you want to be trying to get involved with? Lot of scary things out there."
Dutiful Cricket	The thugs don't follow her logic exactly. "What, y'think I'm scared'a some milkmaid just 'cos she's bigger than me? I respect a bull's strength, don't get me wrong, but a cow's?" The sentiment is a nodding agreement from the others who see Winds's new acquaintance much the same way. A victim waiting to be culled. But Winds has sharp eyes. A good nose. She saw those knuckle calluses, carefully sanded down and cared for. Those muscles, hidden by her robes to look a bit demure otherwise. The way she seemed clueless yet had a slight instinct to glance towards any source of noise or cause of alarm. They're not very bright... "Anyone can hide if they know the right places. Issa matter of flushin' them out.... C'mon. We'll lay another sting for the boy on the morrow. He's gettin' predictable."
Winds and Dreams	"What I'm saying is, if she's that big and that good at hiding, might be she finds you when you're split off from one another. I'm not exactly a city person these days, but I know a thing or two about avoiding causing trouble I don't need." Another pause, and Winds turns fully, sizing the group up, eyes lingering on their hatchets for a longish moment. She chuckles more audibly this time. "And I don't think those little stick-strippers are going to help you much. Not sure I'd even have trouble if that's what you carry."
Dutiful Cricket	There's a quiet pause as the size-up is declared. Scowls sharpen. "...What gang you with, wildling? Or are you another o' the Allseer's pet projects? Either or, some courtesy wouldn't hurt your case." One of the women spits on the ground after another speaks their mind on her. "Who knows? Y'might find yourself on the wrong end of the bounty hunt. Then it'd be a big help to have been nicer to your fellows." They're leering, grinning, ideas forming. Hard to say if it's this supposed professional courtesy that stops them, or the fact she's got a good hand hovering on her weapon and a wolf that seems to mean business. But they abstain, heading off down the other path northward. Feels good to watch them retreat, feeling like they know not to aim to win stupid prizes, but it doesn't quite feel like a full victory. Then again, full victory over fools isn't something pretty to behold, either....
Winds and Dreams	"Gang? No. I'm hardly even in the city. Just trying to look out for the safety of some folks I just passed by," Winds says, shrugging slightly. As they part ways she shakes her head, pressing her hand to her wolf's head for a moment again before going along her way.
Dutiful Cricket	One of the hatchetmen scoffs. "Thanks, but your lookin' out is noted," they remark, thinking she's referring to them, not realizing what she's doing in their redirection. At least their density is charming, maybe...?