A Trickster Without Tricks

[GAVRIEL YELTSIN]

Gavriel was bored. He sat atop a building watching the main road, his tabby tail weaving circles in the air. He could smell grease and metal from the guns the guards were carrying below him. He could also smell the tin of tuna in one of the guard's satchel. He wanted that tuna.
Most of his food supplies had run out. He needed to get some new ones and right now he was too lazy to run to the guard's apartments and pilfer something. His whiskers twitched as he stared down at the pair of guards... trying to decide if it was worth it. It was definitely a challenge. He liked challenges. But he didn't want to end up with a bullet in his stomach instead of tuna. That might be awkward.
He slunk across some rope that was slung between the buildings, pacing back and forth. A smile spread across his face as the guard set his satchel on the ground, standing in front of it and shifting his stance slightly. Oh, this was too easy.
He climbed back on the roof and shifted, spotting a piece of scrap metal that might be useful. It would certainly make a loud noise. He got as close to the ground as possible and then dropped the metal. It fell with a clatter.
The first guard ran to check it out, the second was distracted. Gavriel saw his chance.
He shifted again and leaped lithely on all fours down to the ground. He nosed his way into the pack, kicked the tuna into a hole beneath the building, and then climbed back up to wait.
A few minutes later, the guard returned, shrugged, and then the two continued on their patrol.
Gavriel climbed back down, dug out the tuna, and walked off, the human part of him chuckling. The guard wouldn't even know what happened. He probably wouldn't miss the tuna, either.
Once he'd gotten a considerable distance from the main road, he shifted into human form, climbed back up onto the top of a building and opened the can, a grin on his face. The guard's apartments could wait.

[HEATHER ORCHID]

Heather didn't like the main road much, it smelled like vehicle exhaust and it was one of the easiest places to be stopped by guards. She'd only had a few run-ins with guards since she'd entered the camp, but she didn't need to meet too many before she decided most of them were probably better left alone. Some were probably kinder than most, so she couldn't say she didn't like all of them, but the chances of running into one that prejudiced her against her species was far to great for her to approach them willy-nilly.

Today she was sunbathing in her feline form on the roof of one of the buildings, the sun warming her snow white fur. She heard a loud bang and jumped out of her fur. Was that a gunshot?! No, it wasn't, but something was going on. Her eyes widened in worry, wondering if she'd have to take an injured inmate back to the grove for healing, so she crept up to the ledge to see two guards. Her fur fluffed up considerably and she looked more like a fluffy cloud than a cat against the sky. Then she saw a little tabby kitten, a young male shapeshifter by the scent, and he took a can from the bag. With a grin he hopped away.

Heather was too friendly for her own good, especially when it came to those of her own species. She was a kind person who always thought the best of people, and assumed better than the best. A true optimist, through and through. Pessimism was as foreign to her as a BBQ party. She found herself following him away from the guards and watched as he shifted into his human form. He was adorable, and she purred a little before joining him on the roof, shifting into a human once she'd sat down. She sat over her legs and placed her hands on her lap. She wore a long, white dress as alwats and her eyes were light with a little humour dazzling in them, "You know it's not very nice to steal, even from guards." her voice was bright and friendly. She was always very careful never to threaten anyone new in the camp in any way. Apparently people were easily spooked around here, even by a white dressed girl like herself.

NOTES❀ n/a
LYRICS❀ Plant Life - Owl City
CREDITS❀ by Goldy.

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[GAVRIEL YELTSIN]

Gavriel looked up and bristled slightly. Another shifter. Older than he was. Would she want the tuna? He instinctively stood slightly in front of it and eyed her warily, whiskers twitching.
"They're not going to miss it, and I was bored...and hungry," He said defensively. "...And you can't have it," he added almost as an afterthought.
Even as a shifter, his thoughts still had a Russian accent to them. He rather hoped she wasn't too good for his liking. He hadn't met another shifter that was friendly yet, and it would be kind of nice to know one.

[HEATHER ORCHID]

Heather smiled and laughed, her eyes sparkling a little as he became defensive of his prized can of tuna, "Oh, I didn't come up here looking for tuna, I'm a vegetarian." she explained, nodding eagerly. As tempting as it had been most of her life, her parents had always raised her to be completely meat-free, even in her vegan lifestyle. She had grown up on home grown harvests for her whole life, and the only non-vegan foods she was allowed to eat were dairy, which her parents still weren't totally happy about.

The boy seemed to be non-threatening towards her, which was good. Only defensive, which was normal so Heather didn't take offence. He seemed to be very cautions, again a normal thing to be, and his accent she recognized to be from Russia. Maybe he might make a good friend...

NOTES❀ n/a
LYRICS❀ Plant Life - Owl City
CREDITS❀ by Goldy.

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[GAVRIEL YELTSIN]

He was slightly confused as to why she found him so amusing. Most people at Sangvene would see him as easy prey because of his size and age, and try to take whatever he had on him on the moment- or try to eat him.
Gavriel thought it quite interesting that she was a vegetarian, that had to be an inconvenience. Why would she stick to it here in Sangvene? There wasn't anybody around who would hold her to her lifestyle, was there? It seemed rather odd and impractical to him...but to each his own, he supposed.
She seemed friendly enough, so he let down his guard slightly.
"Being vegetarian has to be difficult." He commented offhandedly before asking, "Are you part of a gang?"

[HEATHER ORCHID]

Heather simply gave a shrug, "I've never known any other way of life, it's who I am. It's not difficult to be who you are." she explained. Sometimes, yes, perhaps it could be hard. Her feline-like instincts didn't always match up with her dietary restraints, but they didn't always match up with her human ones either. For instance sometimes she did get little, playful urges to climb trees just to see how far she could go, or chase things that most humans didn't feel they needed to chase. It was all apart of her, and it was wonderful.

She nodded when he asked about her gang, giving a slight shrug,"Yeah, I'm in the Earth Circle, down it the forest. It's dangerous to work alone in here. It's safe back there, no one looking to harm you or eat you or take your things." she gave a sigh, "There aren't many other places you can say that about in here." she remembered when she was a loner, trying to convince a few people she didn't actually take part in the death of one of their members, whom had pointed her in their direction. It had been difficult then to get food, now she had her own garden of organic fruits and vegetables whenever she wanted them. Life was almost.... happy. She shook her head to clear it and she turned her full attention back on the boy, "Do you have a Gang?".

NOTES❀ n/a
LYRICS❀ Plant Life - Owl City
CREDITS❀ by Goldy.

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[GAVRIEL YELTSIN]

Gavriel contemplated this for a moment before answering her question. He supposed it wouldn't be hard to be vegetarian if that was all one had been for their entire life, or just for a really long time. Old habits were hard to break, even food habits. Still, it was a lifestyle he couldn't easily imagine, because he'd never known anybody in Moscow who'd done such a thing. It seemed rather foreign to him.
He thought about her comment about how dangerous it was to work alone. He knew that. That was why he had his cousin. He knew that he always had someone watching his back. He wondered if it would be wise to tell her about his cousin... he wasn't sure if he trusted Heather that much yet.
Finally, he answered her. "No, I'm not. I work alone. I do pretty alright by myself. It's easy to get into the guard's apartments in my cat form, nobody really suspects that I'm a shifter, they just think I'm one of the guard's pets." So he lied a little bit about working alone... he didn't really care. He could always tell her different later.

[HEATHER ORCHID]

Heather felt sorry for the little boy who didn't have anyone to work with. It was sad to see someone without a had to help them out and it made Heather want to help them. She gave a smile, her face hinting of sympathy, but her voice filled only with friendliness, "That must be exciting." she said, her mind wandering again to the clouds above her, thinking about how tasty it would be to have ice cream right about now. She slowly drifted back into reality, turning back down to Gavriel.

She realised she hadn't introduced herself, and offered him her hand to shake, "I'm Heather by the way, what's your name?? she asked. She made sure to not sound intrusive and let her tone be light and kind.

NOTES❀ n/a
LYRICS❀ Plant Life - Owl City
CREDITS❀ by Goldy.

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[GAVRIEL YELTSIN]

Gavriel was still surprised by how friendly she seemed towards him. She had no idea who he was or if he was dangerous or not, and yet...she still wanted to try to be friends. It was unusual, and risky, and he liked it.
He still didn't trust her enough to tell her his name, though, even though she'd extended that courtesy to him. "I go by Trick," he replied, shaking her hand firmly.

[HEATHER ORCHID]

Heather giggled and returned her hand to her lap after he shook it, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Trick!" she beamed at him with bright, pretty eyes and a happy expression. "So you're a shapeshifter? What kind of forms do you have? I saw you can take to a feline, like myself; and I must say it's quite exciting to meet a fellow feline shifter. Though I wonder if you have any with... say... wings?" an innocently mischievous spark shone in her eyes with her words and she gave another quiet laugh.

NOTES❀ n/a
LYRICS❀ Plant Life - Owl City
CREDITS❀ by Goldy.

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[GAVRIEL YELTSIN]

Gavriel thought for a moment. He knew he must have more forms than his cat form, his mother could shift into all sorts of creatures, all of them dangerous. He got his feline-ness from his mother, beings how her favorite form had actually been a tiger. It'd made things quite dangerous around the house when she went into one of her fits. He simply shrugged noncommittally. "I'm sure I have a couple more, I've never bothered to try."

[HEATHER ORCHID]

Heather blinked, she tilted her head slightly to the left and asked "Why ever not?" she asked, then turned to the edge of the roof and slowly crawled over, her movement still as sly and graceful as any feline. "Haven't you ever wondered what it would be like to feel wing beneath wing? To breathe through water like a fish? To swim or fly or climb the sky like a tree?" she gazed from the ground to the sky, her eyes sparkling with truly awe-inspiring memories of flight and sky as well as water and gills.

She turned to Trick with a new glimmer in her eye that shone like the north star on the clearest nights. The sides of her lips twitched slightly and she narrowed her eyes just enough before saying, "You know, we could try it now if you like." she turned back to the sky and a quiet noise that almost resembled a purr escaped her throat. "It is one of the most exhilarating things you can ever try as a shifter" she paused and turned once again to face Trick with eyes that nearly emitted a warm glow of blue, "There's no time like the present."

NOTES❀ n/a
LYRICS❀ Plant Life - Owl City
CREDITS❀ by Goldy.

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[GAVRIEL YELTSIN]

Gavriel scuffed the ground with the toe of his well-worn shoe, wondering why she was so ridiculously excited. Her eyes were practically shining. That wasn't exactly the perspective he had on it. The shifting between various forms had always been accompanied by insanity and bouts of rage in his mind. He'd never really considered that he'd be doing it himself. While he enjoyed his feline form, and was nearly more comfortable in that skin that this, he was apprehensive about trying on new ones. His father had never approved of his shifting, from a young age he'd instilled in his son that if he didn't work hard, study, and stop using his abilities then he'd soon end up just like his mother. While Gavriel had never paid attention to the first two warnings...the second had been enough to keep him from trying on more forms than the one he was already acquainted with.
He didn't want to cue her in to how much it frightened him, however, so he settled for indifference. He shrugged again, "Maybe."

[HEATHER ORCHID]

Heather was confused, trying to imagine a shifter not wanting to shift frequently was like trying to comprehend how an earth elemental could think flowers are ugly. It was just odd, abnormal and definitely not right. "What? Why not? It's great fun." she smiled. "You've never seen Sangvene until you've seen it from the sky." she tilted her head slightly and gave a light giggle, "Actually now that I think about it, you haven't seen anything till you've seen it from the sky." she gave a Cheshire worthy grin and added, "You'll love it, trust me.

NOTES❀ n/a
LYRICS❀ Plant Life - Owl City
CREDITS❀ by Goldy.

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[GAVRIEL YELTSIN]

He thought about this for a moment. What harm could just one more do? It was well-broken-in reasoning - the same reasoning he'd used whenever he'd broken into the guard's apartments, or played a prank at his house, or gone and stole a fob watch to pawn in Moscow. He shrugged again, if only to make her happy. She seemed so genuinely surprised and he was getting a feeling that he wasn't a normal shifter by any stretch of the imagination. Why was he surprised about that? The only Supernaturals he'd ever know before he came to Sangvene had been his cousin and mother. He swallowed and nodded, finally answering, "Okay, sure."