Post by iguanarama on Feb 17, 2018 11:28:16 GMT -6
SABRA / 25 / TRADER / SERORA
❝
Sabra's twin stared back at her, wide-eyed and frizzy-haired, through a small and gilded frame. Her eyes were bleary with sleep; she'd never been a morning person. She blinked, and it took a moment too long for her eyelids to pop back open. She prodded at her mane, which seemed to be sticking out in every possible direction (and a few others that didn't exist just yet). She grumbled at it. Sabra knew she should probably dunk it in water and start fresh... but it was too early to be wet and cold. Her twin scowled at her with bloodshot green eyes and Sabra snapped the mirror onto its face before there was time for the guilt-trip to settle. She floated a tub of hair-mush towards her (sure, it probably had a name, but hair-mush suited it so well) and unscrewed the top. She'd just massage it in, and her mane would be fine until tonight. Yup. That was the plan.
Was... the plan. She turned the stupid purple tub upside down and shook it like a wolf with a rabbit. "Dammit!" she muttered. It was empty. She smacked the tub back down on her tiny vanity and popped the mirror back up. She could wet it down... or she could go out to the bazaar and buy a new tub, and nobody would ever be the wiser. If she... wore a hat. Or something. Shame she didn't have a hat. She could wrangle it into an awkward bun though. That'd work.
Advanced espionage it is! she thought, catching a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror. Did it look angry? Patronizing? Well, she was probably imagining it. "Quiet, you," she told it for good measure, smacking the glass back onto its face as she trotted determinedly out into busy the streets.
She popped back in a moment later and chucked the tub in the bin. "Onward to adventure!" she told herself, as she had every morning since she was nine.
The two bundles of hair slapped against her neck like boxing gloves as she crept down the road, hiding from anyone she might possibly know. If word got out that she'd left the house looking like a scruffy raggamuffin, her mother would give her one of those combination-sigh-and-headshakes that were worse than a knife to the heart. Maybe not worse, but definitely just as bad. All right, maybe not quite as bad, but they were pretty dang--
She stopped at the market's entrance, it's rows and rows of stalls crowding into each other, their awnings drowning the place in shadow despite the bright morning light. She'd seen something. Something had caught her eye. What was it?
Another sandy glint, and her head snapped at, drinking in as much detail as she could. It was slightly speckled, with a black tip, and it was gone. She furrowed her brow at it, thinking quickly. Why did it bother her so much? It looked familiar, duh. But, why would it look familiar? What was it? Should she follow it? Maybe it was some kind of animal. No, she didn't need to figure it out. She didn't really care much about the exotic animals anyway.
She took a step into the beauty and accessories isle, then chomped down on her bottom lip. Her legs refused to move. A little voice in her head howled at her and gnawed at her brain. FINE! she thought to herself. I'll figure it out, AND THEN I'll buy hair products. She whirled around on her heel and barreled into the food section.
The thing only had a few seconds head start on her. She should catch it soon. She tried to walk with relaxed purpose while maintaining a fast (but incredibly nonchalant) trot through the stands. She pretended to examine some mangos, some spices, and then -- THERE! The black-tipped sandy triangle ducked around a corner. She sped up, knocking into an annoyed young mother on the way. "Sorry!" she called back without pausing, because she was in too deep now, and there was no way she was losing this lead.
She streaked around the corner as it ducked out of view, but she caught it. It was long and tubular. A tail! Some kind of fin? Maybe from a giant land-shark? No, probably not. A hippocampus would be more rational.
She turned to go, and stopped. But what if it IS a giant land shark? the little voice asked. That would be stupid. There's no such thing, she retorted, but groaned and turned back, just to check.
Unsurprisingly, it was not a giant landshark. It was a little old woman with a very interesting choice of saddlebags. She groaned at herself and rolled her eyes at her own stupidity. This is what she got for chasing shadows around corners.
And then her eye snagged on something else. Something sandy and brown, tassled and finned. She stared at it a while, frowning deeply. It was a mare, with black tips on her fins. For some reason, Sabra remembered a filly with black fintips. Who was that? And WHEN was that? She absentmindedly flicked her tail in concentration, right into a pile of bananas. They teetered a bit, but the precarious tower held, and she let a breath whistle out between her lips. That was a close one, she thought to herself.
POST #1 || WC: 903
MADE BY MINNIE OF FTS & GS