Word count: 581
The young female was growing up strong. Herding animals was her passion, and keeping control of them was hard work. She got up early and worked all day, as was her ambition, and she wasn't all that skinny any more. Animal tending had its rewards, and though she was a pescatarian, she still got to eat a lot of the produce that came with farming. She'd always been broad shouldered and tall, though her shyness meant she often stooped over as she walked, as if she was hiding something. At ten months old she was getting the curves and shape of a budding young woman, but she hid this with her posture (which she was always getting scolded for). Her hair was cut boyishly short...if she were to stand up straight, she'd be a very cute girl, but time and time again she was still mistaken for a boy. Strangers would mock her for this, and now she had started venturing out of her pack, where she had the respect of her family, her self esteem was declining tragically.
How she had ended up in this particular area baffled her. Aoi skulked around with Saigai, the crow, on her shoulder, sniffing the air here and there but not paying much attention to anything. Her feet were bare, but she was wearing a huge, oversized sweater, more than likely fitting of a man. Only ten months old and she was 5'9 in height, but the sweater still dwarfed her, covering up her body all the way until it reached her knees. Since her tail had grown long and fluffy, she'd given up wearing trousers, but gone for even bigger hoodies and sweaters to cover up what she could. Absently, she ran a hand through her hair and clutched her backpack closer to her. It had a sketchbook, pencil set, and a great number of books inside it. Most of her possessions were human... she didn't mind. They might have been described as a corrupt race, but from reading their writing, she had fallen in love with the humans.
As the girl walked further into the unknown, her pace a shambling, minute one, she smelt others. She immidietly headed away from the pair she could smell, but not before spotting a male get attacked by a female a good distance ahead. Aoi raised her eyebrows and hurried along, not wanting to get involved. However, she hadn't realised that Sidra would be running too, and soon enough, she had walked real close to the stranger female. Aoi watched with startled black-brown eyes, to see Sidra open the bag, search the contents and then throw them to the ground. A robber? This made Aoi quite scared indeed. She picked up her footing, aiming to just pass right by and get on her way, when Saigai leapt from her shoulder. He was a scavenger, and he wouldn't let discarded items go to waste. Aoi turned to watch, her mouth wide as the crow flew into the bag and came back up with a single cigarette. Saigai, no! Aoi screamed. She ran up to him, made him drop the dirty (in her opinion) item, and then picked the crow up with both paws, backing away slowly. Sorry. she whispered to Sidra timidly, looking at the ground. She'd never dare meet her in the eye. Hitching her backpack further up her shoulders, Aoi attempted to scamper away, hoping she had not encountered a foe of some sort.
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