Yiv: Hide and Seek

Yiv walked through the city keeping her head down as much as she could. In her relatively short existence she had learned that despite getting better and better at ‘blending in’ at least physically, she still at least seemingly gave off an aura that unsettled most people, especially those with the proclivity for magic. Based on what she had learned about humans it was likely due to her more ‘alien’ presence, and she expected she’d never get the whole human or elf or anything between exactly right. She could only copy things and add and subtract, she couldn’t do anything truly original meaning she’d always look slightly off.

A few people gave her a wide berth, a few would stare, some stopping in their tracks to do so. Those that rooted in place were more often children needing to be pulled along by parents. One even stopped to look up through her pulled over hood, running in terror when she smiled at them. She felt bad for scaring them, but she knew she couldn’t help it, or maybe rather they couldn’t help screaming.

Yiv didn’t even know where to start, searching for someone wasn’t something she’d done before, without her powers anyway. But it was a risk for her to use them in a populated area. She could lose her ‘human’ form in a myriad of ways. Maybe a small crack would show. Some slimy scales, a tentacle, or an extra eye or two. But in the worst case she would fall apart into a slimy puddle. Yiv wasn’t too afraid of them killing her. It would take someone more powerful than anyone she senses in this city but she was more afraid of the chaos it would cause. The panic in a small town was scary, but something like that on the scale of a city people would be hurt and die, and Yiv didn’t want that, she just wanted to find her sibling.

Her nostrils flared as she sniffed, trying to smell something like her in the air, but all the other smells overwhelmed her. The smell of horses, foods of all kinds, from bread to strangely spiced meat skewers to roasted vegetables. The parts of her brain for what good that word was for explaining what she had, that were the memories of the people she’d absorbed, the smells of slightly charred meat and veggies made her mouth almost water. “That smells…” she thought. Then an idea struck her.

She took a deep breath and focused everything she could manage into the control of her form and started walking again. She did feel bad for doing this so she only targeted people who looked like they could afford to lose a little bit. As she passed them she snaked an elongated tentacle finger into pockets and coin purses taking a few coins here and there. Once she had enough she approached one of the stalls selling food.

“One please.” Yiv said pointing to the open grill, to one of the wooden skewers, large chunks of sizzling meat of some animal she wasn’t sure of, with bits of bell pepper and onion separating them.

“Right away ma’am.” the man said, plucking one off quickly, and holding it out with one hand and the other hand for payment.

Yiv started a moment before reaching out a hand to take the skewer, but the man pulled it away slightly, curling the fingers of the empty hand.

“You must pay first.” he said.

“Oh…yeah…” she said, putting the coins in the man’s hand. “Might I ask you a question?” Yiv asked.

“Suppose so.” the man said, turning back to flip the skewers.

“Have you seen anyone with eyes like mine?” she asked.

He turned around. “I don’t know what your eyes look like.” he said. “Let me see ‘em.”

“They are strange…please don’t…be bothered by it.” Yiv asked kindly.

The man sighed. “Ma’am I’m old, I’ve seen plenty of odd things. Give me some credit.” he said.

Yiv pulled her hood back enough for him to see and he started for a long moment, the man shifted a bit. But took them in.

“You weren’t kidding.” he said. “Right creepy, no offence. But yeah.” he said, “I’ve seen someone with eyes like that.” he said. “Tall fellow, looked like nobody I’ve ever seen before. Kind of off.” he said. “Like a drawing from memory.” he shook his head. “Sorry no offence to your sibling or relative but…”

“I understand.” Yiv said as she returned her hood to cover her face. “Can you tell me which direction he went?” she asked.

“Sorry.” The man said, “I’ve seen him moving through town now and then over the past few days but…no idea where he is or is going. You can try the taverns though.”

“That is okay.” she said, bowing slightly. “I will find him.” she added.

Waiting till she was away from the stall she put the skewer under her hood and swallowed a few bits of the veggies and meat. They tasted good, but strange. Like the wilds of a forest and a village holiday. Oddly warm but not spicy, slightly fragrant but not too earthy. Finishing the skewer she slipped into an alley away from the eyes of people and waited, watching people pass hoping to find who she was searching for. Eventually the cool night settled in and everyone had gone to bed. But saw a strange duo walk to the center of town.

She got low and peeked around the corner. She couldn’t really tell what was happening but she could tell it was important. She closed her eyes and listened as hard as she could, focusing to hear over the burble of the fountain. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, only that the taller one was trying to cast a spell, she could feel the weave pulling in around him. Then she managed to pick up a word or two and it was something she understood better than anything. The language for ‘father’ spoke. But how was a human saying those words? She snapped out of it as The Weave closed shut again and the pair took off running. She tried to catch up but only saw the direction they had run off. As she stood in the middle of the dirt road she felt The Weave open again, with a bright flash someone fell out of a portal. Yiv stood staring a moment until she could tell they’d seen her, sneaking off into the grass and slithering away.