Munti Acini's Story

Munti was seated at a table of his wares, watching a potential customer, a dragonid, browse the wool clothing, hand-blown glass, pottery, and jewelry he had created just for this day. He had come to the market in order to sell everything he had made for some money, and hopefully he would sell a lot. Being a magic user did not pay well for someone as inexperienced as he was, and he would be stricken with guilt if he stole anything. So this was really all he could do to survive. The potential customer had lifted up a sweater and was about to inquire about its price when Munti spotted two neko girls running by out of the corner of his eye, chased by a mob.

Immediately curious, Munti stood up and craned his neck in order to see what was happening. This was not enough, so he leaned forward as well, causing loud clanging noises and the sound of smashing glass. He had completely forgotten about the flasks on his table! Barely noticing, Munti continued to watch as the two girls ducked into an alleyway and the mob ran right past, oblivious. The dragonid, having had enough, placed the sweater down and walked right off. This got Munti's attention and brought him back to the present. He saw all the broken shards that were once his prized wares on the ground. Imbecile! He was overwhelmed immediately. What was he going to do? That was hours of hard work gone! Money for food and sleeping quarters gone! Who would want to buy from an artisan who was dumb enough to break his merchandise? No one!

Munti shoved all of his things into his leather satchel as quickly as possible before trying to think of a distraction from his panic and somewhere to go. Hmm... Ah yes, the alley. He could always go and make sure the two girls were alright. They had just been chased by an angry mob, after all. Before thinking it through, Munti dashed across the street and to the entrance of the alleyway. Now, how to word his concern.

"Are you two alright? I saw you being chased by a mob and-" Too intrusive!

"Are you two alright? Do you need any help?" ...That sounded a bit chivalrous and condescending. No good, either!

In the end, he could not come up with a single thing, so he ended up just standing there, staring down the alley in a confused daze.

The tips of Nyaryssa's ears twitched at the sound of hooves on pavestone, and she leaned to the side, looking around the taller girl before she could answer. She saw a faun, slightly shorter than herself, standing at the end of the alley staring at them awkwardly. One of her ears flicked to the side at the sight of the little man, furrowing her brow, raising the lower eyelid of her left eye and pursing her lips slightly. All-in-all, it gave off kind of a "what the hell"/"who's this douchebag" vibe which can only truly be achieved by misanthropes, cynics, and minimum-wage earners in the service industry. The tip of her tail Gave a slightly agitated swish and she offered up a small wave to the hooved interloper.

Had she seen him before? She wasn't sure, but then there were so many people who passed through the market that they could've been neighbors for years and she still wouldn't know his name. She liked to think she had, after all she considered it a point of pride to be able to remember the faces of everyone she met, but she wasn't afraid to admit that even someone as perfect as her could be wrong on very rare occasions. Was he a merchant? No... couldn't be, merchants were wealthy and she sensed no great wealth from him. Nonetheless, she felt she should say something, and free the poor boy from further foolish staring.

"Need somethin' kid?" she called out, keeping her voice controlled somewhat in an attempt to prevent someone from the earlier mob from hearing.

Giving Nyaryssa's odd look of what could be annoyance, and her leaning around to get a better look at the cause, Card stepped back from the smaller neko. As she turned to look she shoved all her quick grabbed loot over to Nyaryssa, except two cheaply made bangles, those she did grab purposely. With that fact she promptly slipped them on to her wrists. Those pointed feline ears stood alert and her tail went stiff as she laid eyes upon the Faun. In complete opposite to her fellow hideaway there, she was quite intrigue to see a faun. She couldn't remember seeing one before, but then again she couldn't remember much of anything at the moment.
Almost in a skip she lunged toward the man, and without any warning or asking permission went to pet the horns on his head with both hands in a childlike fascination. A goofy looking grin pinned up on the corners of her cherry lips, exposing a hint of her teeth.
"Wha're you?" Heavily accented words, spilled from her without thinking, as she continued to grope the poor man's head with amazement. Someone may of thought she meant who are you, but she didn't. She was bluntly asking what he was.

"You're not a big fan of the whole 'impulse control" thing are mew?" Nyaryssa asked dryly, shifting her weight onto one foot and adjusting her grip on the loot.

"Look, I get it, he's small, defenseless, like a bunny," she continued jeerfully, " But mew see, here in the big scary civilized world, people have these things called 'manners', completely useless I know, but I think people might actually like them, and I think they might include not meowlesting somenyan's head and asking what they are. I'm not sure about that though, I may have to check."

Munti had no idea how to react to either of these girls still. The one neko, the blonde one, clearly had distaste for him. He couldn't decide if he should just apologize for bothering her and scurrying away. He felt embarrassed. Clearly he was overbearing and creepy.

And the other one, the redhead... She had just run up to him and started touching his horns. Munti was startled, of course, being the flighty scaredy-cat he was. Instinct told him to pull away, but his consciousness told him that that was rude. So he just stayed put, putting up with it, a very bewildered look on his face."Wha're you?" he heard the redhead ask. How did one reply to such a question? He was, well, a faun, but what if she didn't know what a faun was?

"I am, erm, Munti Acini... A faun. Kinda l-like a deer." ...Did he really just explain what a faun was? That was a giant insult to her intelligence! "W-w-w-would you please ask before you t-touch me next time? I'm sure you meant no harm, miss, of course! None at all! I don't mean to insult you or anything!" Munti spat words out at a mile a minute, trembling slightly and stuttering a lot. He was nervous; offending someone was the end of the world for a social perfectionist such as himself. And he wanted to make sure everything was okay, that no one was mad or upset.

Stopping in mid-grope of the faun's horns, Card stared down at Munti's lips blankly. Memorized by the speed in which the nervous stuttered words seemed to pour from his lips, she cautiously pulled her hands away from his head, and took a half step backwards. She was puzzled as she tried to follow what exactly Nyaryssa had just said about manners, though she still was confused as to why she kept saying mew...and why the little man seemed put off by her touching his horns. If she had horns she'd be happy if someone touched them, but then again she didn't seem to have the issue with personal space others seemed to harbor. With a small pat to his head, Card took a half step back and nodded at least understanding it was not okay to grab people's horns without asking. This will be mentally noted. Though she folded her hands in a fidgeting manner trying hard to fight the new urge to snatch the glasses from his face.

With a heavy sigh, her ears flattened, her tail drooped and her eyes lower to the ground as she kicked at the dirt in a way as if she had just been scolded like a naughty child."Sorry, I...Will not touch the horns with not asking." Her apology seemed rather forced and robotic, as if she has used to saying it a million times before. Still holding her head low, she peeked up through viewed ashen lashes, to see if this was suitable to the proper faun. Her idle hands now began to look less folded and more as though one death gripping the other to keep a now pointed finger from reaching forward to touch something else.

"It is quite alright, Miss... What is your name?" Munti was more than pleased with this apology. It wasn't very often that people would even apologize to him, even for far worse transgressions. In school, others who were several feet taller and several hundred pounds heavier would trample him without so much as a thought to the little faun below their feet.

Wait, perhaps asking for a name could seem too straightforward. He better fix it quickly. "S-since I told you my name, I thought I could be allowed to know yours, but it's alright if you won't tell me! Honestly, miss!" He shot her an awkward, uncomfortable smile. A few seconds after he bared his teeth, he realized how bad he looked and shut his trap. "I cannot smile, so sorry..." Munti shot a quick glance towards the blonde neko to try and gauge her reaction to all of this. She scared him the most. She was clearly condescending, thoughts of disgust and dislike running through her brain, mean things she may eventually voice. Munti's self esteem was very low and weak, and he needed the approval of everyone. Yes, even strangers who had just been chased by an angry mob.

Nyaryssa stuffed the jewelery in her pouch, then folded her hands behind her head, her tail swishing about in amusement. The nervous faun seemed somehow funny to her, easy to tease. She noticed him glance at her, and flashed him a large toothy grin when he did.

"Don't feel so bad, Kid. Mew aren't the furst to get physically assaulted by the mad ginger today," she commented. "I doubt mewl be the last. Of course her next victim will probably be wearing trousers, not that the mew isn't just adorable. Just a bit of a purrsonal question, is that a common thing, or just a purrsonal choice? 'Cos that sounds like a fashion statement I can get behind."

She sauntered over to where the two stood, her bag jingling with each step.

Seeing how flustered Munti seemed with just by asking their names was enough to cause a silvery little chuckle to come from Card. She covered her mouth to try to hide her smile when replying, "I am Cardista, and nice to meet Munti." Paying little mind to the bullying words of Nyaryssa from behind her as she sauntered closer.
Hooking her thumbs at the straps of her backpack, Card rocked back and forth for a moment on the heels of her boots. Her eyes moved from Munti back in the direction of the main market street, her ears standing high in attention. Trying hard to remember what exactly she doing prior to her recent blackout spell, her smile faded away to a hard line. Was she headed somewhere...? Maybe an inn? She stared perplexed as she took a long moment to ponder this. In defeat she shook her head, knowing that probably wasn't here she had been heading. The longer she had thought about it, though a warm meal and a bed to take a quick nap in didn't sound all so bad right now either though.

"I-I am very pleased to meet you, Cardista." Munti could not look her in the eyes the entire time. He felt as if that would be a bit creepy. After a while, he peeked back at her. She had begun to stare off into the distance, clearly deep in thought. He quickly looked away once more. It would be nice to be able to function like a normal person during social situations, he thought, but honestly he couldn't do that. Not without a lot of prodding, anyways. His eyes traveled from the alley wall to his bare feet. "A-are you from around here?" That seemed like a normal conversation starter, right? A lot of people asked others the same question. It was harmless, right?

"Ooo, better watch out Red, I think he might be into mew!" Ryss teased, moving behind Cardista. She slipped her arms around the taller Neko, cupping her chest. "Not that I can't see the appeal."

She slipped away before Cardista could make any kind of physical retaliation, moving to stand behind Munti. It occured to her that if she played her cards right (pun always intended) she could use these two to her own ends. Her favorite sneer softened into a more sympathetic smile. She shot a look at Cardista as if to tell her to either play along or keep quiet.

"Sorry, I think I'm still just a bit excited from our little adventure," she said apologetically. "After all, it's not every day that I get pulled out of my normal life into that of a wanted criminal. Normally I just tell fortunes. I mean, it doesn't pay much, but I eat."

She widened her eyes, mimicking as if she had just had a small realization. "Munti, was it? Should you even be here? If that mob sees you with us, they'll mistake you for a criminal, too." She phrases the sentence specifically to include the word 'mistake', relying on exact words to lend the implication that she and Cardista are both wrongfully accused.

With her cheeks burning a red almost as deep as the color of her hair, Cardista crossed her arms automatically over her chest as soon as soon as Ryss quickly withdrew her hands from her teasing grope. She cut her eyes over at the smaller neko, regretting pulling her along to keep her out of the way of the lench mob. "Am not a criminal...!" This was followed by a slight hmph sound, as if Ryss was out of line to accuse she of such a thing. She was victim of circumstance and was just a scapegoat for the anger of those merchants when they realized that the market was trashed. To the best of her knowledge she had nothing to do with that and only "stole" the little trinkets to justify their accusations. But then again, it was most likely because of good old plan anger from that fat guy man handing her.

"And no...Not from here." She gave weak shrug, not knowing exactly where it was that she was from, but knew it wasn't here. She offered a warm smile to Munti to try to rebut Ryss's words. "We all are not criminals. No one is criminal. Men would of happily took Nyaryssa in my place if they seen her. They did not like Nekos well." Pointing out towards the the main market street. " We need to go. Does Munti know where there is Inn?"

"We'd understand if you'd rather not help us," Nyaryssa cut in. "It wouldn't be fair to drag you into our troubles. We wouldn't want to ruin your livelihood."

She managed to suppress the laugh that rose in her throat at her having slipped in two jabs at Cardista. The girl meant well, she assumed, but who was she to turn down a chance at mockery? No one, that's who. She moved back over to Cardista's side, putting on her gentlest sad kitten face.

"Oh, n-no, that wouldn't be any trouble at all!" Munti said, trying to be as reassuring as possible. He tried to ignore the fact that the blonde neko had just groped Cardista. "I happen to know of many inns... And, i-if you two need to, you could spend the night at my place. I don't mind. Not at all. I rarely get guests anyways, so it would be nice." Biting his lip, Munti looked towards the ground. "...So, I could lead you two to a few inns right now, if you would like. I'll warn you, though, a lot of the inns are not very nice places to stay. They might be dirty, or full of criminals, or have bad customer service... Maybe the owners will try to dupe you out of your money... Being nekos and all, t-they might discriminate against you. N-not to be offensive or anything!"

Nyaryssa cackled internally - Gods, this guy was easy. She wagered that If she just pushed a bit more she could have him singing tavern songs in his small clothes. She looked to Cardista with big eyes, trying to give off that whole "helpless little sister" vibe. If anyone would be willing to take this kid up on his offer, Nyaryssa had no doubts the redhead would.

"Are you sure Munti?" she asked with false concern. "I'm sure C-" she hesitated ever so slightly, trying to remember what the girl had said her name was- "Cardista and I would be very grateful for your help, not many would be willing to assist a couple of unfortunate nekos like us."

She placed one hand on his shoulder, giving him that same "helpless little girl" look. She guessed he was the type to go for that. It couldn't be as if many people saw him as particularly useful, so some lost little cat girl giving him the "please save me" look would probably do wonders here.

"It would be no trouble at all! There is no need to thank me." Munti smiled at Nyaryssa, looking quite awkward and uncomfortable in the process. Smiling wasn't his strong suit. He shifted his weight from one foot to another, pulling his tunic down a bit as he awaited an answer. His glasses began to slide down his nose, and he quickly pushed them back into place, clearly flustered by their sudden movement. Truly he was a mess, and as much as he enjoyed their company, he was sure they did not feel the same at all.

Cardista's eyes lingered on Ryss for a moment, something about this neko woman seemed off, but she just shrugged her shoulders in defeat. She was the one who dragged her back here, even if she thought it was to keep her out of harm's way. Apparently she was tagging along. She only hoped she didn't get her into more trouble. Forgetting Munti's social phobia, she leaned forward and laid a gentle hand upon the faun's shoulder while offering a genuine smile as she spoke, "Thank you Munti. Let us go now?"

She drew back her hand quickly not wanting to frazzle the poor man, and once more retiring her hands to hooking to the straps of her pack. She was starting to feel restless just standing in this alley for what felt like an eternity, even if it was a few minutes. Card was quite antsy and having now thought of food her stomach growled quite audibly for all to hear. Her ears twitched high on her head as if looking for the source of that odd sound. She looked about as if seeking the sound as she walked around the other two. Stopping Card leaning close to the wall of one of the buildings that walled the side of the narrow alley way an peeked out around the corner to make sure the angry mob was not to found out in the market way. She have heavy sigh of relief only seeing some rather normal merchants practicing their trade, a few common looking travelers and some stray chickens bucking and pecking at random findings along their way.

"Clear now!" She called back over to Munit and Ryss. "Hurry!"

"O-Oh, is the coast really clear?" Munti pushed his glasses up, as they had been receding down his nose from looking at the ground. He ran in front of Cardista (a rather hard feat to manage), his hooves clacking on the stone beneath his feet. "Are you hungry, Miss Card? I could make you something when we reach my place..." He peered behind to see if Nyaryssa was coming as well, nearly losing his balance in the process. Quickly steadying himself, he hoped that no one had seen that.

"My home is quite close... We'll have to go to the left from here first." Munti started off, hoping the two girls followed suit. A few passerby shot him disapproving glances for being in the company of nekos, and his eyes trailed to the ground in order to avoid their gaze. He couldn't handle any criticism whatsoever, no matter how ridiculous it was. "D-do you like vegetables or fruit? I'm afraid I don't eat meat so there's none in my kitchen at the moment..."

Nyaryssa followed behind Munti, waving cheerfully to any merchants who shot them dirty looks. "Click clack, click clack," she chanted under her breath, mimicking Munti's hooves. She kept one hand on her pouch to ensure it didn't make noise, staying behind Munti to prevent him seeing and suspecting anything. She took the left behind him, occasionallyshooting glances behind to make sure they weren't being followed.

"How much farther?" she called ahead of her, maintaining her scared-kitten voice. She really hoped this worked out, and they suffered no misfortune.

Card followed not far from behind, peeking over her shoulders from time to time to make sure that delightful mob wasn't coming back after her. She gave Ryss a small poke to the back hearing the click-ity sounds, shaking her head in disapproval at the younger girl. She stopped rather abruptly while in the midst of sticking her tongue out at a random person giving the trio the stink eye, upon learning Munti didn't eat meat...
"So...no meat...? Okay we go to an inn then Munti!" Unlike Ryss, there was no concern in her voice other than the no meat thing. This girl liked her meat and in her recent daydream she was making a big ol'chicken her biotch and no froo froo salad was going to cut it. She looked over to an other stray chicken and grinned thinking if the inn was not an option she could just grab up one of those little guys and bring her own. She held back until their faun guide to give a definite answer. If he said no it was going to become a blood bath on this market road.