Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was a lazy day.

Sure, the slums were always active. There were plenty of other squatters from both races, and a whole host of other halfies to socialize with; however, it all depended on what one meant by socializing.
For some, it was pleasant gathering with a brown-bagged bottle of scotch or bourbon.
For others, it was roaming around in a pack, like most of the halfies in this part.
For Rhiannon, it was all a matter of playing people correctly. She had enough experience to judge who might or might not have a wallet full of cash; being unemployed, she had no other option. Besides, who would hire a halfling like her anyhow?
It wasn't like she was squatting in the most deplorable conditions, either. The room was a pale, creamy white, wide windows; the ceiling leaked on the second and third floors in the far corner, but otherwise it wasn't so bad. Sure, she didn't have any running water, and no, she didn't have electricity or magic boxes or even a steady influx of food....
But that was what made her the hunter she was.
She carefully parted her hair, pulling it into baubled pigtails. Not a trace of makeup was on her face; as for her red streaks, she disguised those with a blend of herbal tea and dirt. A look in her half-broken mirror confirmed what she was hoping.
Not a single person would mistake her for who she was. Carefully putting in her lime-colored contacts, she adjusted her hair to cover her ears; she actually looked like a human.
Without warning, she bolted out the back door, and into the alleyways.

She had seen him walking, seen him 'round these parts before; he always seemed so self assured. He obviously wasn't a regular, or carried a pretty big knife.
Didn't matter. Only a few moments was all she needed.
She took a shortcut through the alleys to get ahead of him, before running round the corner and right into the man; she had her acting down pat.
Her lip trembled in surprise as she jumped back, threatening to cry---perhaps even scream. "AGH! Ahhhh..." her eyes widened, fidgeting nervously, "Sorry mister...."
She looked around in absolute terror, clearly 'not used' to the vastness of the slums. "I...I'm lost....Do.... do you know where my mommy is?!" she asked with even wider eyes, cautiously taking a step forward, "This place is scary...!"
Another person walking by 'frightened' the girl, who quickly clung to the elf-like person, burying her head in his chest. "AHH!!"
She shivered, shaking her head. "I....I don't like this place... Can you help me??"

Little did Fir know, this girl was nowhere near what or who she appeared to be.... but little did Rhia know, Fir was no newbie.
No, in truth, she'd just never been to the Soho district---although he DID look familiar.
She looked up at his catlike eyes, tilting her head in curiousity, although she didn't speak.

While he worked at that, Rhia was working for one thing.
His wallet.
She still clung to him lightly, frowning. "She said she had to be quick... so... so I waited.. but... but there were scary, scary people who tried to give me candy so I ran! I got lost..." she bit her lip, looking down for a few moments. "Can you help me find her please??"

"Yeah, tell me about it..." Rhiannon rolled her eyes in return, huffing softly. "I certainly hope YOU don't have kids. You'd make a terrible father, prolly can't take care of anything. Later hater!" she slapped his a** firmly, cackling. She followed with a quick kick to the shin.
She paused not even a second, looking to the side. "Ah! MOMMA!!!"
She took off, but there were certain things that only confirmed that this was a whole shitload of bad news bears.
For starters, she immediately discarded the pigtails not even twenty yards away. She didn't even care if he saw; in fact, it was done in such a way as if to laugh at his drunk punkass.
Secondly, she discarded the kiddy-coat and left it on the street. She had a firm rule of one-time-use on any found jackets for robberies. She had to avoid being really well known.
Thirdly, she kept running. Well, this wasn't so surprising; after all she'd done to the man, she damn well should have! She should've been running in FEAR! FEAAAAR!
(At least, this is what I imagine Fir might be thinking. XD )
Except that as she was shaking the dirt and coffee from her reddened streaks, her other hand was holding something that looked sorta familiar.
A crimson rectangle, about the size of a small pocketbook; a small, leather rectangle, about a half inch or so thick...
A small, crimson rectangle that she was quickly taking money from, and stuffing into the ace bandages flattening her tits...

It didn't take a genius to figure out that the sanguine leather triangle was none other than Fir's wallet.

"Hahahaa!" a random kid laughed, shaking his head and pointing, "You've been had!"

Well no s**t!

But at least for Rhia, this was looking to be a damn good day.
"He's loaded...!" she whispered in disbelief, quickly looking over his IDs and other things of that nature. Anything that was useful, she took; so far, she'd made $200 off this one alone.
But the final straw was that after raiding his wallet in broad daylight, she tossed it over her shoulder, leaving it in the middle of the street for anyone to claim. That was FINE leather!
This b***h had clearly gone way too far.
She glanced back only once to see where he was; she offered him a cheeky grin before turning a corner.

"Hn..." Rhiannon murmured with a half-glance backwards, "He's fast..."
It was probably about time to kick it up a notch. In all truth the way he'd been stumbling around, she hadn't expected him to have any balance---this obviously wasn't the case.
He looked ma~aa~aaa~aadd...
She couldn't help but grin, even if it was only a nervous reaction.
She skidded into an alleyway, scampering at full speed through them; he may've been fast, but she was too. Adrenaline made up for a lot of the lost leg-span that he had, and she lacked. It was only a matter of time before he either caught up, or she lost him.
She sincerely hoped for the latter.
"s**t, s**t, s**t..." she cursed quietly, well aware what the familiar thudding sound was; at first she mistook it for her heartbeat. It was a split second before she realized it was the elf.
She started trying the doors in the alley, diving into the first one that opened she could. While part of her knew that she probably deserved whatever wrath the uppity punk doled out, she'd be damned if she stuck around to find out what her punishment was. Why stick around a beehive you've already hit three or four times with a long stick?
She had to find somewhere to hide, even if it was only for a few seconds. She needed somewhere to plan her escape route; he was too quick for her original plan. At this rate all she could do was run and dodge blindly, hoping to shake him.
She plunged into the building, trying to seek solace in the noisy crowds and pulsing music.
"Rabbit's Foot..." she whispered with a grin, "Lucky lucky lucky..."
Rabbit's Foot was only her favorite club in all the slums.