Guardian of The Streets, Part III
Xia crawled out from under a house, completely covered in filth and grime. The last task she had signed up for was by far the worst. Plumbing was at the bottom of her list of enjoyable pastimes, but this old woman had a badly backed up toilet and no one else gave enough of a **** to bother helping her. And it turned out Xia strolled through at the right time - or wrong time, depending on who was telling the story.
"Thank you so much, deary," the woman crowed happily. "Please hurry and take a shower. I'll take care of those clothes and have clean ones ready for you."
She was hesitant about the clothes. She had a very specific look she was going for and didn't want it ruined by whatever hand-me-down clothes this lady kept from when her granddaughter still stayed with her before heading to some higher learning academy or whatever. Xia stopped listening once a poop log slapped her in the face. "Thanks," she said hesitantly.
The shower was surprisingly powerful and the water was refreshingly hot. She was content to sit under the stream for hours, letting it take the stench away. She undid her braid out to let her fall to her shoulders. The stink was everywhere.
She had become known as a guardian, someone who cared when the Big Bosses refused to do more than what was required. She hoped that, eventually, someone would learn from her example and take it upon themselves to take her place when she moved on to another Center to start the process all over again. It was tiresome and sometimes frustrating, but in the end, seeing their smiling and grateful faces made it all worth it.
She stepped out of the shower, refreshed and clean. The clothes the old lady left were not what she thought they'd be: a pair of black jeans, combat boots, and a black shirt with some band name on it. There was a t-shirt under the shirt, which let her ignore the shirt completely. Thankfully, she left her jacket back at the compound. [I]I should probably head back. It's time to move on, probably.[/I] Staying in one place while wanted wasn't smart. They needed to keep moving if they were going to stay under the radar.
She dressed quickly and several minutes re-braiding her ponytail.
"Don't you look precious," the lady said before pinching Xia's cheeks. "My granddaughter left all these nice clothes behind before leaving for that dreadful Witch academy thing." She shook her head and sighed. "Well, at least her stuff is finding a good use. Will you be back tomorrow?"
"I don't know. I'm just drifting through." She lifted her bag over her shoulder. "I'll see you around, lady." She was gone, vanishing within the throng of passing people. Prolonged goodbyes would prompt her to stay a little while longer. She couldn't afford to, even if she wanted to. And she did; the simple people who lived in the slums were often better company that the stuck-up assholes who lived in the big houses with big yards and big fences.
She could have traveled across the rooftops, but that would have drawn unnecessary attention. [I]Long way it is.[/I]
[hr][/hr]
She entered the hidden base as quietly and inconspicuously as she left. Tired and aching from all the work she did in those few hours, she flung her bag somewhere out of the way and wandered into the kitchen to find something to eat. [I]For Red's sake, she better have gotten more eggs.[/I]