Hiding Her Nature [w/ Asmariamoon, F/F]

[Faeylin]

Introduction

The land was sharp and crisp compared to the deep south where they lived before. Niska gazed out of her window as her mother drove towards their new home. It was sad, this change of scenery, but necessary. The locals back in Louisiana had found them out, and it had cost the tiny family dearly.

Niska closed her eyes, remembering the fire. Her father screaming as they lynched him. Tears slipped from her eyes as she struggled with the recent memory. He was in so much agony, but he didn't scream for mercy or help. He told them to run and flee, and it's what saved their lives.

Nishka's mother leaned over and wiped her cheek tenderly. "Hey, hon. Don't...don't think about that anymore, okay?" Her mother was just as shaken as she was, but they tried not to talk about things. Nishka felt the sharpness of her mom's restrained claw scratch her just beneath the eye. An accident. Nishka turned away, so that her mother couldn't see her anymore, and couldn't remind her of their stupid curse.

"It's going to be alright, honey," her mother cooed, but neither seemed to believe it.

The car, old and small and boxy, turned off the winding mountain road. There was sagebrush everywhere, and rocks protruding from the dry ground.

Her mother shook at her shoulder nervously, the gesture full of taut strength."Hey, we're almost here. Get ready, Nishka." There was worry in her mom's voice, and that broke the girl from her lament. Survival was everything, and there wasn't time to indulge in anger or sorrow when survival was called into question.

With an ease developed from a lifetime of practice, Nishka arranged her veils to hide her face. Both Nishka and her mother had skin that was deeply tanned, and they pretended to be Hindu in order to conceal their features. Layered veils can hide almost anything.

"Okay, what are we going to do," her mom asked, running through the checklist. The same checklist they had used since Nishka was six and her mom had taken her on a trip to the small town of Marmot for supplies.

"Mom!" Nishka whined. "I don't want to do this."

She got a glare in return, and a predatory growl to back it up. Her mother was sweet and kind, but she had bared her claws at Nishka before.

"Fine," she muttered, unhappy but compliant. She gazed at her mother's veiled face, not quite meeting her wild, green eyes as she spoke. "Get into your seat when you get out. If something happens, drive away. Fast."

Her mother looked at her for a short while, but Nishka couldn't tell what she was thinking beneath the orange and yellow silks. "I filled up the car just before we left the highway, baby, so if you have to...you can drive far on what's in there."Nishka nodded, and her mother told Nishka that she loved her.

Moments later they pulled up to it. The house was old, and many of the windows were broken; it was a real dump. But it served their needs. In the middle of the country, without neighbors for miles. There were wooded groves nearbye where they might find some privacy. The ad had mentioned a pond somewhere, and a shallow well. They could survive here, and her mother had drilled into her that survival was all that mattered.

Nishka watched her mom get out of the car, and shifted to the driver's seat as soon as she left the car. She sat there, with the car running, until her mom was done with the greasy realtor. Nothing exceptional about the situation. At one point he put his hand on her mother's arm, and Nishka slowly put the car into reverse. She wasn't sure if things were about to get gory or not. But then he dropped his grasp, got into his shiny new car, and left.

Once he was gone, Nishka got out of the car and turned off the ignition. She didn't feel confident enough to remove her veils yet, so she prespired heavily in her long garb: black veils, and a flowing black skirt. Every bit of her skin was covered, except for the slit where her eyes looked out. The two women began to unpack the car in silence.

[asmariamoon]

Lydia Blackfoot had heard the car pulling up from about a mile away at Miller's Pond.  Out here in the country, you could hear every car for miles around, since there was almost no traffic at all unless someone was going into town, so when she went to investigate, she was surprised to see a car parked outside of the old Longhorn place, which had been abandoned for years.  Lydia slowly crept towards the house, using the bushes and trees for cover.  She could practically smell something in the air that you didn't come across every day.

Lydia crouched low to the ground behind a large bush, pressing her palm against her lips, then pressing the same palm against the grass beneath her in an almost ritualistic manner.  She watched in silent vigilance for any change in the behavior of the two veiled women unpacking the car.  She could stay like this for days on end if she needed to, though she really didn't want to since that would mean she couldn't eat anything without risking being found out, and she was already scrawny enough as it was.  Plus, she kind of wanted to get back to her PlanetCraft game, which was on pause back at her house, a few miles down the road.

[Faeylin]

Nishka brought the last of the bags into the old house.

She had no idea that it had a name, or presumably a story. It was much prettier than she had given it credit at first look. While old and beaten up, it was sturdy. It looked like an old homestead that had been built with much love. It was neglected, and in disrepair, but it could be home...maybe.

Her mother met her at the door, veil still in place. "I need to head back to that store we saw on the way in. I need you to stay here, Nishka, and figure the place out, okay?"

Nishka shook her head in protest. "Please, mom, don't leave me here. What if..." her words dropped away. She wanted to ask what would happen to her if her mom was found out, but she knew that was the wrong thing to do.

"Be strong, Nishka. You are nothing if not strong," she said, speaking down to the girl in a comforting way. "Now be a good girl, and find out about the water. See what's inside too, while you're at it."

A kiss on her forehead, and Nishka's mom was gone. A long trail of dust marked her travel down the rural, dirt road. Then that was gone too.

[asmariamoon]

Lydia watched this exchange silently from her place behind the bush.  She continued her stakeout without a sound, taking in the entire conversation.  She watched as the older of the two women drove off.  Suddenly her cellphone rang.  "Damnit!" she whispered as she tried to reach into her pocket and shut it up.  She was probably going to be discovered any minute now.  Why on earth did technology decide to betray her now of all times?

[Faeylin]

Nishka was partway through unpacking an old and wounded, leather suitcase when she heard a noise that did not belong there. "Brrrr-ring! Brrrr-ring!" She could feel a tug at her thigh and knee as her tail tried to lash out anxiously. But for now, it was trapped in place.

She checked her veil to make sure that her face was sufficiently covered, and then peeked out through one of the dirty and dusty windows. "Hello?" she asked nervously. Maybe the realtor came back. Or maybe he dropped his phone before he left. Maybe.

She cautiously opened the front door, and stepped out onto the covered porch. "Hello," she asked again, following the strange ringing to it's source. The heavy wooden door clasped shut behind her.

[asmariamoon]

Lydia finally shut off her cellphone and jumped to her feet as she heard the girl coming closer.  Her fight-or-flight instinct told her to run, but her feet remained glued to the ground where she stood.  What should she do?  The veiled woman she had been spying on was staring at her.  She was suddenly reminded that in the Middle East, where terrorism was supposedly at its peak, the women were forced to cover their bodies and faces in a manner much like the girl before her was.  Was she about to witness a part of that terror first-hand?  Would the girl kill her for spying on her and her mother?

Lydia was beginning to shake with fear.  Suddenly she asked herself what a couple of Middle Eastern terrorists would be doing out here.  And besides, even if these two were from the Middle East, that didn't exactly mean they were automatically terrorists.  She realized how blinded by fear she had been and scolded herself silently for her moment of stupidity.  "Ummm... hi..." she said nervously to the girl, extending her hand in greeting.  "Sorry about creeping around, I was just looking for the proper time to introduce myself, and I guess the Fates just got tired of waiting for me.  I'm Lydia Blackfoot.  I'm like the closest thing you have to a neighbor I guess...  I heard your car pull up from Miller's Pond, and decided to check it out, since this place has been abandoned since old man Longhorn died."

Lydia was dressed mostly in black, with spiked wristbands and a spiked collar with a chain hanging down from it, the other end of the chain clipped onto one of her belt buckles.  She wore a black shirt with a lavender skull and crossbones on it, a pleated black miniskirt with a black belt which had iron cross studs in three rows, a pair of striped purple and black tights, and black skater's shoes with purple laces and purple stripes on the sides, with a different skull and crossbones embroidered on the heels.  She was tall and scrawny, with hair dyed purple and tied back in braided pigtails.  She wore oblong glasses with thick lenses, but a wire frame, and a cadet's hat with a pair of goggles with dark lenses above the bill.  She smiled a bit shyly at the girl who had found her out.

[Faeylin]

The moment Nishka spotted Lydia, she was apprehensive. As the strangely-dressed girl---garbed in clothes Nishka had never seen before---introduced herself, she slowly backed up against one of the porch's tall pillars. Her instinct was to run and flee for the cover of the woods, in case this was some sort of a trap. Her heart hammered in her small torso, but she didn't flee. At least not yet.

"Lydia?" she asked, cautiously, one hand coming up to touch at her lips through her veils. "A girl? My neighbor?" She seemed thoughtful and apprehensive as she spoke the short sentences. "Nishka," she said, a bit excitedly. "My name, it's Nishka."

She smoothed at her long black skirt nervously, looking towards the ground. Her emerald eyes peaked at Lydia from beneath the slit in her veil, however. They looked exotic, in fleeting moments, and there was something unusual about them. They never seemed to hold still long enough to be studied, though, and Nishka flitted much too anxiously under obvious staring, anyway.