story!! under the cut :)) song lyrics at the top in italics, picrew at the very end
What if I woke up and decided I wanna dress like a pirate?
Stel crouched behind the boxes that had sat there for who knows how long. In front of her, boots stomped, heels clicked, paws padded, hooves clopped, the sea-side town of Rustdock just as full of life as ever, even as the sun began to set.
A glinting coin caught her attention as it fell from someone’s purse, unnoticed by all but the girl in the alley. Stel glanced around, making sure no one was paying attention to her, before darting out into the street, grabbing the coin, and falling into the flow of traffic to lower suspicions.
Three years. Three years Stel had taken to build these skills; by now she must’ve been around 10 years old. She’d seen younger kids on the streets.
Stel shook her head to clear the thoughts, continuing her path to nowhere, picking up dropped coins and items as she went. If something seemed particularly sentimental, she would try to find the owner. If not, she would keep it for herself to sell later.
Eventually, Stel turned back around, walking back to her alley, stopping by a stall she knew would take the things she’d collected.
The woman behind the counter had become a familiar face in Stel’s life, and knew exactly what Stel was here for. She looked over Stel’s haul, giving her the appropriate amount of money in return: six silver coins today. Stel thanked her, and carried on walking back to the alley.
When she finally returned, Stel placed the items she’d kept into the crate closest to the wall. This is where she’d keep the things she couldn’t take with her all the time. No one checked the alley crates. Then, Stel sat back and watched the streets as they finally emptied with the moonlight.
She saw familiar faces; she rarely knew anyone’s name, and they certainly didn’t know her. To them, she was a stray cat; just another homeless child. To her, it was survival, recognizing faces that would hurt her, help her, or turn a blind eye- to anything. That was one way she’d gotten this far. If the bystanders had done anything when she stole her first loaf of bread, or her eleventh shiny gold coin, Stel would have never stood a chance.
As always, there were also the strangers. Visitors, traders, people who had just moved to Rustdock. Stel always had to be cautious around these people, but she’d learned the tells of each type of person.