Child's play

For Neo the sensation that teleportation gives was hard to get used to. Not that teleportation actually affects one's senses in any way, and that's what was the strangest part. There's no sucking sensation, no sense of falling, no sense of movement at all. You just stand in one place, after which, a blink of the eye, and you stand in a completely different place. In between one blink to the next, everything that you saw before was replaced by something else entirely. You felt nothing, and yet at the same time, everything around you changed, creating a sense of dissonance.

Not that Neo would complain about such a trifle, though, when set against the positive possibility of teleportation.

"So, our 'background' for this trip." Jonathan spoke up before Neo could get a good look at her surroundings, drawing attention to himself. "We are a family on a trip here from Higanbana, we came here to admire the views. We've arrived here alongside with the traders who have just arrived here recently. We plan to stay here for a couple of weeks and then head back with the caravan, that's it." Jonathan finished, and was about to begin walking before realizing something important.

"Ah, that's right. Do I need to repeat the rules?"

"No going on the backstreets, no talking to strangers, no talking about politics. And lastly, whether by faunus or people, refuse all solicitations, and tell everyone else if you make an alteration of the story." Cinder quoted the peculiar set of rules that Jonathan had made them both learn before their first such outing. Something to which Neo nodded with a roll of her eyes, she wasn't the best conversationalist to give away any secret plans or secrets anyway. Though perhaps the rule regarding 'going around the back alleys', well, yes, Neo was forced to admit that the rule was aimed primarily at her.

I mean, of course, it had been a long time since she'd gone to the alleyways for walks. At least after the first couple of times, she'd decided to escape from Jonathan's supervision. Only for him to use his teleportation, and apparently some other ability, to find her in the farthest corner of the farthest alley and drag her back home, taking her ice cream away for a whole month! Twice! What inhuman cruelty could have made Jonathan do such a terrible thing?!

However, in the end, Neo had learned that if Jonathan could not get his rules across through conversation, he was prepared to do the most horrible things! Like banning ice cream! Or extra lessons! Truly, no Grimm could be crueler than man!

And so, with a sigh, Neo nodded once more for confirmation, glancing at Jonathan, who nodded back, "Okay then, let's walk a bit to the hotel. Remember, staring around is allowed, leaving my sight is not."

With that one last reminder, Jonathan started walking, Neo and Cinder close behind, Neo looking excitedly around to see exactly where she was. Not that there was anything interesting to see, as they were currently in some kind of alley.

Of course, Jonathan, if he wanted to keep his teleportation skills a secret at least, could not just teleport to be in front of the hotel gates in the main square of Kuroyuri. And so, like usual, Jonathan had teleported into an abandoned alley in Kuroyuri. Then, on foot, walk to his destination.

Soon, they were out of the alley, entering into the small settlement's square, and Neo began to look interestedly at her surroundings and people.

The houses were built in an odd style, but still nothing special. Neo had been to Mistral in her past few travels, so the buildings around weren't anything special in that regard, and the clothes of the people, though unfamiliar to her, didn't give her any culture shock either.

The local shopkeepers on the other hand… She really wants to browse what they're selling. Back in Glenn, Jonathan can't really buy things from street vendors, unless he wants to form a mob, so Neo never really visited one when walking the streets of Glenn along with Jonathan.

Neo had escaped from Jonathan's supervision a couple of times before, of course, and fortunately, she had a good amount of pocket money of her own, so she never goes hungry or unable to return home. But nothing good ever came of the attempt to fool Jonathan, so she decided to tug on his sleeve, pointing a finger at a couple of stalls in the square. Her expression effectively asked, 'May I?'

"Hmm, a street stall?" Jonathan blinked, before pondering about it for a second and sighing. "Okay, but don't go anywhere else for any reason and stay in this square, alright? Cinder and I will be checking in on the hotel and will be back soon. Oh, and listen to your scroll."

He pointed at a large three-story building, apparently a hotel in the area, before outlining the decent sized square. After waiting for a confident nod from Neo, who knew that Jonathan would probably not have much trouble finding her anywhere. Who knows that if he has to do that to find her, that he will punish her with another deprivation of ice cream. What a monster!

"So, how much do you need?" Strictly speaking, Neo didn't need any more lien. The pocket money she had, the ones she had won or not yet managed to lose in the many meaningless arguments and bets made with her acquaintances and friends from school, was quite enough. She even has some Lien she got, winning those bets with Cinder a couple of times!

But… Neo knew that Jonathan has a lot of money, so why shouldn't she take some for herself? Especially when she was being offered it?

So, making a few movements with her hands, Neo smiled. 'Fifty.'

"Huh…" Jonathan thought for a second before just handing the lien with a sigh. "Okay, then here you go, but if you find something tasty, buy some for everyone. Oh! And don't waste it all on ice cream!"

'Got it, boss!' Neo bobbed her head in a playful gesture, glancing at Cinder as she theatrically pocketed the lien, who only rolled her eyes at the unconcealed siphoning of the money. With that done, Neo sprang off at a springy gait towards the nearest stall she could see.

Jonathan allowed her to go on her own way because the possible presence of robbers or kidnappers in the current circumstances are quite small. First, the settlement was too small for such a danger to be prevalent, and one shouldn't forget about Neo's capabilities either. Besides, there's no way that Jonathan wouldn't know about something like that in a settlement that he had decided to visit.

Anyway, even if there's nothing that catches her eye, she did want to see what the local merchants had to offer. This is certainly not Neo's first time browsing a street vendor's inventory. In Mountain Glenn, before Jonathan and Aisa had out the shops and supermarkets back in operation, all trading was done this way. Still, she was excited to see the shops as there was a whole culture of bazaars in Mistral, and even in Vacuo she had noticed similar things. At least in those moments when she wasn't dying of heat under the blazing sun.

After one trip, collectively, the whole family decided not to return there.

In any case, you never know what you will find being sold by a street vendor. Everything found in the shops was boring and sterile, and even if you found something you hadn't tried before, in the end it would just end up being the same thing you had seen or tasted before. While it was in these small shops that you found the most unusual things, from handmade figurines and antique trinkets, to local street food and even dust hand-mined by people on their land. Which did not mean that their stuff was much better in quality, but Neo liked the possibility of finding something like that in itself.

However, the first shop she encountered sold, um… Weapons?

I mean, not that Neo herself couldn't appreciate these things, but she doesn't have much interest in blacksmithing or gun-making or even collecting weapons. Well, nothing to it, at least it was a lot more interesting than reading about another ancient king defeating someone once long ago. But even so, even to her very amateurish eye, there was nothing fascinating in the stall, it wasn't even weapons, more like imitations of ones.

How about the next counter? Uh, small souvenirs? Also, nothing really amazing, though a small amulet caught Neo's eye for a moment with its white-pink-brown tricolor. Then the next counter… Clothes?

Neo paused for a moment, staring. Hmm, there was nothing special about the clothes, and the prices were even higher than in the usual shop. Who would want to buy clothes here? Maybe the other stalls sold something more interesting?

Household chemicals… Agricultural implements… Fabrics… More fabrics…

Neo felt her initial joy at visiting the market went downhill at a record pace. There was nothing of interest here! What was the point of such a bazaar-like trading market when similar items could be found in a shop, unchanged and at the same prices! Or even cheaper!

Finally getting to the end of the row of stalls, and finding nothing, Neo felt her initially positive attitude fully trampled. There wasn't even a stall selling any ice cream! How? In Mistral, which is not that far from here, they sell all kinds of ice cream with all sorts of flavor! There was even blueberry and wasabi ice cream! And yes, of course Cinder and Jonathan had turned down something like that, but it really was delicious!

There wasn't much to see here, more household items, some more stalls selling clothes…

If it hadn't been for the couple of small street food stalls at the very end, Neo would have fallen into absolute despondency. It's not ice cream, but at least her wanderings were rewarded with banana pancakes. Ordering three servings without much trouble, Neo sighed forlornly.

Why did they have to come to this place with no ice cream!

Finally, after ordering her food and walking a few steps to the nearest small bench, Neo stared sourly at the surrounding area. No, sure, there might be something else that could excite her here, beautiful views or something. But without an exciting bazaar, it wasn't the same at all.

Neo's eyes started wandering around once again, skipping from small street shops to the local visitors, who were very few in these hours and on this day. Though if there was no cinema or shopping center here, it was probably to be expected. Neo spent some time people watching before some flickering detail on the edge of her vision caught her eyes.

Attracted by the movement, Neo shook off her stupor, then tried to take a closer look at what exactly had caught her eye. Of course, Aura didn't improve a Hunters' visual acuity by itself, but it wasn't bad for improving reaction times.

Hmm, it was something small? It's even smaller than Neo herself, it was moving again and again somewhere in the distance…

Neo scrutinized what she's seeing, turning her head here and there, trying to catch a sight again. She kept seeing the flickering object, following it until he could see its general location at the square, on one of the streets extending far from the square. Along the streets, on both sides, she couldn't see anything but single-story houses. It seems that she has lost the object?

No, the object flickered on the edge of Neo's gaze again, causing her to frown and scrutinize the street in front of her.

A house… another house… then another. Okay she needs to be more focused on the smaller elements, There are some garbage cans? The sight of them caused Neo to remember some unpleasant memories. But still, nothing. So taking a closer look at more houses, and…

'Aha, I found it at last!' Neo was finally able to see the thing that had attracted her attention, in the form of a moving rubbish bin, or more specifically on top of it. 'Hmm, a stray cat? No?'

Neo paused for a second before she saw a head, a human head poking out of the bin. A head, huh, not separated from the body, thank God, as Jonathan says. Though, which one of the Brothers he was referring to, Neo could never find out from him.

After the head, came shoulders, followed by the whole figure of a girl clutching something in her hands, dressed in tattered rags. 'Hmm, a stray? Or an orphan?'

Until this moment, Neo had never encountered children loitering in garbage dumps before, except for herself, that is. Though she was of course aware that such abandoned children existed, again, as an example, herself, she never really saw one before.

The girl, who had stuck her head out for a moment with the incomprehensible thing in her hands, suddenly stared at Neo, who was watching her, and froze.

Neo on the other hand was juggling her options.

'Hmm,' Neo was not sure. She was sure that she didn't want to approach her, but Jonathan would probably try to offer help if he were here, and would probably be sad if she didn't try to do the same. So… probably go over and talk to her first?

Well, in that case, Neo could only shrug her shoulders, she wasn't a talkative person by definition, and she certainly didn't want to talk to some random vagrant. No, she'd been there, she didn't like it, and she certainly didn't want to be anywhere near it again!

"Miss, the pancakes are ready." A man's voice from behind the food counter distracted Neo from her pondering. After grabbing the bag of pancakes, but before she could return to her study, Cinder's voice unexpectedly came from behind her. "Neo, are you going to keep us waiting? What are you even doing or burying for it to take so long?"

At this accusation, Neo only shoved the small bag in Cinder's face. 'Pancakes.'

Cinder, faced with such an excuse, blinked, then looked inside the bag, sighed and nodded her head, "Okay, I accept. Let's go, Jonathan is waiting."

Following behind Cinder, Neo slowed down for a second and glanced back to where he had spotted the vagrant. But no matter how hard she looked, the little girl in the dirty rags and messy hair, which was hard enough to identify the color as orange, was nowhere to be seen.

Neo, however, merely shrugged her shoulders.

It was clearly none of her business.

***

One lunch, with the pancakes Neo had brought as dessert, and a brief discussion later, and it's already two past noon. After their lunch, Neo strolled along the promenade, following a little behind Jonathan and Cinder, taking in the view of a river.

Sure, the view here was beautiful, Neo could agree to that. But, at the same time, there was nothing interesting about the place. Well, what was she expecting? It was essentially just a small settlement. And if you take away perhaps the novelty of culture shock that the average resident of the Kingdom could have. And that would only work with a person that is unlikely to have ever seen the outside of their hometown! Even the freshness of seeing the unfamiliar clothing and architecture, had long since worn away!

There was virtually nothing to see! The group of them were now walking along a river, which was nice, but it could be enjoyed for ten or fifteen minutes at most!

After being deprived of entertainment for so long, Neo's soul demanded some kind of action or activity from her, and there was one activity that anyone can do anywhere. Still, it was very unlikely that Jonathan would agree to go hunting for Grimm. Though, Neo did know of a few times he had gone hunting for Grimm for his 'experiments'. But of course, he hadn't taken Neo or Cinder with him, telling them it's too 'dangerous'. Which is silly, since Neo was sure that she would have no problem slaughtering a whole pack of Beowulf with her bare hands!

On the other hand, hmm… Who was stronger, her or Jonathan?

Well, of course on the physical side, it's not really a contest, but Jonathan could teleport. Neo certainly wasn't an adult Hunter, but even she knew that in combat, teleportation was an ability more dangerous than many things Hunters wielded. Hmm, and if Jonathan could teleport others too, she wonders if Jonathan could teleport opponents? If so, then he was really not to be trifled with, he could simply teleport even the biggest and strongest Grimm, well, except flying ones, into the air and just watch it crumple on impact with the ground.

So in a fight, all Jonathan needs to do to win, is teleport his opponent into the ocean or something, and he would instantly win.

Neo kicked a small pebble as she was stuck thinking on what to do, watching the stone bounce around. As she was about to propose they play hide-and-seek or something to stall her death from boredom, something behind her caught her eye. Something was hiding behind her, trying to avoid detection, so of course, Neo decided to stealthily take a look at whatever it was.

A moment later, the task was done and Neo's gaze caught the flicker of a familiar grey-orange dot, apparently trying to hide behind a bench that Neo had just passed by.

Trying not to alert the stalker, Neo tentatively continued walking, following Cinder and Jonathan, trying to control the girl's movements behind her. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but after a second, seeing the girl run from one bench to another, getting closer, Neo concluded that she was indeed following behind their group.

For a second, Neo wondered if she should have put Jonathan on notice.

Of course, whoever this orphan was, or whatever it is she wants, she clearly posed no threat to Neo or the others. And not to say that following the child's movement just in case was somehow stressing her out, in fact it's just the thing to sate her boredom. Still, did they do something? Neo wasn't exactly sure what exactly the group had done to attract such close attention from the local vagrant population… Hmm.

Still, just in case, Neo took a few more steps while trying not to get particularly close to Jonathan and Cinder. What was the use of trying to attract their attention if Cinder was clearly occupying all of Jonathan's attention right now. Cinder was talking about something, 'cultural history'? She's trying to fully occupy his attention, and while Neo could intervene in it, Cinder and Jonathan understood her even with her particularities, she saw no point in doing so.

Actually, wasn't she just lamenting the fact that there's nothing to do? So a mischievous thought, that she can use this situation as a source of some sort of entertainment, popped into Neo's mind a second later.

Of course, it was a shame that Neo didn't know how to teleport like Jonathan, it would make committing pranks infinitely easier… Heh, wouldn't it be so cool if her semblance can do something similar?

Hmm, though maybe super speed would be nice too… Illusions maybe? Yes, illusions would be a good idea too.

But anyway, even if Neo didn't have a semblance that could help her, all she had to do was try to pull off a little tactical trickery.

In any case, it was unlikely that a child, even if they had lived on the street, would be able to figure out her ingenious maneuver.

Plus, Neo was confident about her speed, so tracking the movements of the child following her and waiting a moment for her attention to be diverted, she started her plan. A moment later, Neo had quickly ducked behind the nearest large rock, hiding from the gaze of the chasing child, coincidentally also breaking one of Jonathan's rules.

For a second, Neo was expecting Jonathan to appear behind her right now.

But, luckily after waiting for a couple of dozen seconds, no such thing happened, and Neo heard the rustling of crumpled grass, light steps and quiet breathing coming towards her. Just as planned. Then, waiting for the source of the sounds to approach, she darted forward in a sharp movement.

Whoever the tramp approached was, either she was expecting something of the sort, or had long since learned the proper approach to survival on the streets, or simply had great reflexes, she had dodged away. Neo frowned at the sight. Not that she had a definite plan, of course. What she planned to do after popping out in front of the child? Nothing. It was just pointless childish fun invented out of boredom.

It was supposed to be that way anyway.

Like a cat chasing a toy, her reflexes worked much faster than her mind. And before she had realized it, Neo had rushed forward, trying to knock the twitching target to the ground.

And, surprisingly, she had missed. The girl, or was it a boy? Hard enough to tell the sex of a child at that age anyway. Apparently they'd been living in the streets long enough to acquire some very important reflexes, such as running from any sudden change in the situation, ducking from pursuit and people trying to catch her.

Neo was frozen for a moment as she had let her catch go, before she felt a sense of excitement from the impromptu game of tag. And so, with a wide smile, Neo rushed after the vagrant.

Sadly for Neo, the exciting 'game' proved short-lived. No matter how her reflexes were hammered into the girl's sub-cortex, against Neo, whose open Aura was complemented by her superb physical development despite her small size, it was useless. After only a few more exchanges, a precise jump by Neo knocked the runaway to the ground, allowing Neo to pin the girl down.

Well, at least she has an answer whether the vagrant was a girl or a boy.

As Neo stared at the girl, two blue-green eyes opened wide in fear, framed by short, untidy and very dirty orange hair, below which the girl's skinny little body wore what could only be described as tattered rags, dirty, instead of clothes.

For a second, Neo was frozen in indecision. She had caught the vagrant and now… And now what?

Neo had no real reason as to why she had decided to ambush the girl, she was just amusing herself with something other than idleness. Hmm, maybe in that case she could just let her go and go on about her business? As she touched her chin, to think, she realized that she had just smeared something on her face. Looking down at her hands, she realized that it was smeared with mud.

She should at the very least wash her hands. Neo looked over her whole body and realized something with horror.

Neo wrinkled her expression at the realization that she'd gotten quite a bit dirty, instinctually letting the girl go, as she hurried to lift herself off of the dirty girl. The girl shudders at the sight of Neo wrinkling her face, recoiling, as if expecting to be struck.

What a Grimm day, now she's all dirty! The horror! She needs a shower now!

The girl, freed from Neo's grip, didn't rush to run, most likely fearing Neo's reaction and knowing that she would easily catch up with her. Frozen in fear, the girl just laid down trying to make herself seem as small as possible, silently staring with fear at Neo.

'Horrible place, nothing to do, and if there is anything to do, you'll get all dirty!' Neo sighed, before flinching at hearing an unexpected voice. "Neo, I told you not to go too far away."

A moment later, as expected, from behind the large rock that had served as cover for Neo earlier, Jonathan appeared, of course with Cinder following him. But, before he could even begin to tell Neo off, his gaze bumped into the girl lying on the ground before she could even get up, making him immediately gasp, issuing only an ambiguous response. "Oh…"

At his strange reaction, Neo only glanced at Jonathan, then towards the girl. The girl's head was moving like it was on a swivel, she kept turning her gaze from Neo to Jonathan and Cinder before going back again to Neo and repeating, all the while staring at them in horror.

A strange silence gripped the whole place, which Neo wanted to interrupt with the information that she needed a shower. But at the same time, sensing the atmosphere, even if not fully understanding the reason for it, she had remained silent, staring at the river flowing past.

Hm, maybe she could try washing her hands there?

"Ahem," Jonathan tried to break the silence, stepping forward towards the vagrant. But, as he watched the already shivering child almost run at the sight of him, he froze.

"Don't worry, we're not… we're not bad people, and won't do anything to you. If you don't want us to come near you, we won't…" Jonathan tried to say in the most assuring voice he could.

Of course, such words didn't make the girl instantly feel safe, but, the soft voice honed over the years with his daughters, which had already won Jonathan several social victories before. At least it made the girl not look at the three people she had just met like she had just run into some Grimm, allowing her to relax just a little.

"I'm Jonathan, this is Neo and Cinder," Continuing to speak softly and calmly, trying not to frighten the girl, Jonathan introduced himself, trying not to flick his hands but to keep them visible to the girl, "What is your name?"

The girl froze, clearly unsure whether she should respond in any way to the unknown, large adult. But Jonathan's experience with children and his practical skills, reinforced by his time reading several books on child psychology, after all, he had taken on parenting, and this was worth taking responsibility for, worked properly. Slowly, the girl muttered an answer,- "Nora…"

The girl's voice was barely audible even in the total silence created by Neo and Cinder, but Jonathan, trying his best to keep the dialogue moving, slowly asked the next question. "Ok, Nora… You were… playing with Neo, right?"

At Jonathan's question, Nora cast a quick glance at Neo, trying to gauge her reaction. Neo, at the moment, was much more interested in the issue of her personal hygiene. Seeing that Neo's attention was elsewhere, she decided on an answer that might lead her not to be beat up. "Yes… "

Then, finally realizing that nothing bad was about to happen to her, she plucked up her courage and in the same quiet, but slightly more confident voice, she quickly added something, "I won't do it again, I promise… So, please let me go…"

"Okay, of course" Trying not to break the delicate connection that had been established, Jonathan still answered as softly as possible.

"So, if you can tell me where to take you to your…" Only to stop as he could see Nora flinching.

For a moment Jonathan stood still and even Neo, still distracted from her dirtied clothes, could understand why. Either Nora had no parents and that was why she looked the way she did, or she had parents… only they were like Neo's mother.

Neo grimaced at the involuntary memory and sighed. Well, at least her situation was much better now than it had been then, so there was no point in those bad memories either.

"So, where can I take you home?" Trying not to let his previous hiccup affect him or show, Jonathan instantly corrected himself, maintaining a friendly tone and expression on his face. Without smiling or moving his hands abruptly, though, for fear of scaring off another random child in a difficult life situation.

Ha, apparently that's why he was needed in this world, to save abandoned children… Well, at least it wasn't a bad job for someone with his morals and value system.

"I…" Nora hesitated for a moment, whether she had been on the street long ago, she had acquired certain values and knowledge to survive. Number one amongst them was, not to talk to strangers. But in the end, Jonathan's tone of voice to the underlying sense of something kind and calm radiating from his whole body, allowed Nora to answer honestly.

"I have shelter… in the big street, behind the house… Um, that is behind that house?"

Neo blinked at that last clarification, didn't Nora know how to count? Before she sighed, well, she'd once had the same problem, and she'd even attended school a few times back then!

"Oh, a shelter, huh…" Jonathan said softly, slowly taking a step forward, checking Nora's reaction. With slow determination, Jonathan had figured out that Nora was calm enough by watching her eyes not to run away, so Jonathan could count it as his own personal success.

"I mean… You don't live in a house, do you?"

Nora nodded slowly. "Yes… I… Don't have a home."

"Huh, I see…" Jonathan, taking another step closer, slowly froze as he could see Nora tightening her muscles, then tried to create the most benevolent expression on his face.

"Ah… Do you have… Relatives? Maybe in another settlement…"

Nora was silent for a second, Jonathan feared the worst. But to Jonathan's delight, she answered slowly, not that the answer was much better. "I… I don't know… Maybe?"

"Hmm, I see…"- Jonathan took another slow step before stopping at a distance just beyond his outstretched arm, not invading the personal space of someone he could quite possibly still frighten. "In that case… In that case?"

Jonathan said slowly, before his voice slowly subsided, causing Neo to blink, looking up at him. One wonders what he was thinking about right now, by the look of him, he's clearly suddenly immersed in his own thoughts.

She was wondering what he was thinking at this moment, with that look of surprise on his face.

He didn't stay that way for long, though, as Cinder, who had been silently observing the scene all this time, apparently came to some inner conclusion and spoke in a voice that made Nora shudder in surprise. "Jonathan, I have decided on my birthday present…"

"Cinder, my dear…" Trying not to turn away from Nora completely and maintaining a friendly tone and expression, Jonathan half-turned to Cinder. "I think this can be discussed a little later…"

However, Cinder, clearly having her own idea of what was necessary, only raised her hand, jabbing her finger at Nora, causing her to flinch in surprise. "Her."

Jonathan, as trained as he was, still turned sharply towards Cinder at that moment. "What?!"

And in that reaction, Neo could only unequivocally support him.