Cassander, Let My People Go (Finn and Oonah)

[Qit'ria]

Timestamp: Zi'da 56, 718th Arc

Qit'ria was sitting on her bed, early in the morning, staring at Oonah's sleeping form. She had been warring with a strange decision she'd been mulling over, but today was the day she put it into action. She told Finn to meet her on the roof of the bakery that smelled like fish that was across the street from the fruit store that was run by an incredibly fat man. Qit'ria couldn't read on her own, so she hadn't been able to learn the actual names of them. She assumed he'd be able to figure it out.

"Oonah."

Qit'ria was bouncing Caza on her knee while the girl was giggling, having been fed and cleaned for the day. In her native tongue that the two shared, "I need your help. Soon, I finish our mission here. But I... I need help. There are friends here, and I need to get them to safety. My friend Feen will meet us on a roof soon. I need to find all my friends and get them on a boat to Scalvoris. An old friend there will take them in, I'm sure of it."

She was fairly certain Oonah would agree to help her. She'd come to know the woman quite well in their time together. So, Qit stood up, holding Caza to her chest. She was already dressed in her usual hunting attire, her cloak draping over her. Her spears were in the bag she wore on her waist, disappeared by the magic it held. She moved to the door, opening it, leaving it open. The portly cleaning lady would be by later anyways. Qit made her way to the stairs that led to the roof.

Once atop the wooden roof with its stone banisters, she moved westward. There was a laundry line there, one she'd used often in her time as a cat. Qit hopped upon the stoneworks, balancing easily before stepping on the rope and walking across with the natural grace of a cat, moseying slowly, taking time to enjoy it, while showing Caza this new view, the little girl babbling the whole time. She stepped off the rope onto the opposite roof. This was where she'd fought the Cat King of Andaris, and crowned herself Cat Queen. It was the same roof she told Feen to meet her on.

All around the large space, particularly around a large chimney, were dozens of cats. They all looked at her suspiciously, ready to run. But she echoed out the scent from her cat form, and soon, the cats picked up on that. They calmed a bit, but were still confused. She'd speak to them once Feen had arrived. She set Caza down on some blankets that had been gathered by the cats for their old king, turning to look over her queendom. Today she would demolish this monarchy, and in a few days, she'd tear down another.

[Oonah]

Roused yet groggy, Oonah followed Qit and Caza to the rooftop without really seeing where they were going. It had been an easy climb to stroll across the misty morning rooftops, skirting wide around hot pipes with their acrid black smoke warming the air nearby. Oonah was a funny sight following in Qit's footsteps amongst the forest of stone pillars and chimneys. A small branch with all the twigs and leaves upon her head pressed flat at an odd angle from her sleep making her look rather lopsided as she rubbed sawdust crust from her eyes.

She'd been having trouble sleeping behind solid walls with no night bird calls or buggy noises, besides ... Qit snored. Not loudly, but a steady rumble ending with a short squeak of air that had been cute - for the first break. The tiny healer had been wakeful for most of the night, but for the last two breaks she'd slept Hard. She been woken by Caza's giggles followed by the words, 'help,' 'mission,' 'safety' and 'boats' vaguely wondering how many friends the huntress had. All of them? But, of course she would help.

So, Oonah followed along behind the pair without even realizing when Qit began to shimmy right across a thin line stretched between the wood-shingled roofs well above the cobbled streets a couple of stories below. Spindly arms pinwheeling, she nearly tipped over-side before her drowsy brain could get her feet to stop. "Hey, hey, HEY!" Ever more wakeful she watched her friend seemingly defy gravity as she moved across like a squirrel to the next roof.

Grumpily, "You didn't say I should wake Leilani!", was her first thought before she turned her mind to finding another way across. It wasn't that she was scared of heights or worried she'd fall. She was too light to take any damage unless she landed wrong, but it was the principle of the thing.

With a bit of concentration she stretched her arms longer and out to her sides for better balance. One hesitant step upon the line, then another, then another had her feeling somewhat more confident. Her next step missed. With a squeak of alarm she reached for the line as her head dropped past it. Just before tumbling on down, slim fingers on long arms grasped the line as she swayed back and forth for a few trills before she slowly began hand walking herself the rest of the way across. She'd allow Qit to help her up to their new rooftop perch if it is offered - the least her nimble friend could do.

"How did you do that?" Oonah was impressed. "You looked like a squirrel in the highest treetops." Then she realized they weren't alone. Turning about she saw bigs, littles, blacks and whites, calicos and tigers. A kaleidoscope of cats. Lots of them. Confused and doubtful she looked to Qit, "Is one of these Feen?"