Ok, this story is actually a companion piece/sequel/prequel.
Technically it's a companion piece to Polouchi's "A baby unicorn" but the events here happen mostly after that, they also happen before (and slightly during) Polouchi's "Popcorn", after this (or even just as the end of this) I'll be writing a companion piece to "Popcorn" with Callie's version of events (because she will be in that story)
DISCLAIMER: In this chapter, Callie and Jack belong to me, yey, In fact all characters in this chapter belong to me, so I don't know why I have a disclaimer, but future chapters will not. Damn.
….I need mental help *nodnod*
Anyway, on with the story!
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It was the middle of the night in New Orleans; the summertime heat of the day still hung around, making it warm and muggy. The sky was clear, a full moon shone and bathed the city in pale light.
An orphanage, deep in the twisting back-alleys of the French quarter, it seems a strange place, but it's an orphanage for outcasts, for children who would never be adopted, for mutants.
All was still, until a small figure clambered out one of the orphanage's first-floor windows, carefully climbed down the drainpipe to drop onto the floor and made her bid for freedom.
The figure's name is Clarissa, or (to the few friends she had) Callie, a six-year-old mutant who was abandoned by her parents when she was just a few weeks old.
Her violet, cat-like eyes glinted slightly in the moonlight as she peered down the street, then she took off at a bounding run, purple-furred tail trailing behind her.
She slowed to a walk once she was far enough away, moving into another alley, shuddering at the darkness within it (she'd always hated the dark), she hid herself in a corner and quickly fell asleep.
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She woke the following morning, with the sunlight warming the tips of the purple-furred ears that adorned the top of her head, peeking through the tangled and dirty purple-streaked brown hair.
Standing slowly and stretching, she moved to the edge of the alleyway and peered out, the coast was clear. Pulling a couple of dirty bobbles from her wrist, she tied part of her hair up into two buns to cover her cat ears, leaving plenty of it down to conceal the lack of normal ears. She wrapped her tail around the waist of her grubby and torn black dress, making it look like a strange furry belt. Keeping her eyes downcast until she could find some way to cover them, she made her way along the street, wondering exactly how she'd manage, since she'd never been out the orphanage before.
She'd been walking only ten minutes when a figure stopped in front of her. Keeping her eyes lowered, she tried to sidestep them, but they moved to stop her.
"Who are y', kid?" They asked, a male voice, but young. Forgetting herself, she looked up, to meet a pair of startling green eyes, that widened slightly in shock at seeing hers.
"De name's Callie, what's it to y'." she retaliated, conjuring up guts she didn't know she had.
"Y'got spirit kid, you new 'round here?" He asked her after recovering from the shock of seeing her eyes. Slightly hesitantly, unsure whether to admit it, Callie nodded. The boy was perhaps 14 or 15, with shaggy, dirty brown hair. He was wearing a torn T-shirt and shorts and his feet were bare.
He looks at her thoughtfully for a moment before saying, "Y'jus' ran?" She nods again.
"So y'ain' been on de street 'fore?" without waiting for an answer he continued "Y'won' survive long if y'don' know de way, an' wit'out a gang y'never gonna learn it, y'got any skills?"
"Umm…can fight a bit, an' I ain' a bad t'ief…one of de older kids at de orphanage had been on de street before, she taught me." Callie stammered, looking confused.
"Y'wanna learn more?"
"Oui! I'd love t'!" She grinned; eyes alight with the prospect.
"Bien. Welcome t'our gang Callie, my name's Jack, we'll look after y', come on…" he turns and motions her to follow him, leading her towards a group of street kids standing a short distance away.
And so began Callie's life on the street. It was probably one of the luckiest things that ever happened to her, meeting Jack, because it put her on the road to an education in thieving, hacking and fighting, and meant she survived on the streets for five years, until one day…
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And so begins Callie's tail, hehehe.
I'm not gonna be writing much (in fact I'm not gonna be writing any) of the stuff where Callie's on the street, 'cos it'd be kinda dull and I have a lot of other stuff to cover in this story, before she meets Salla in Polouchi's "popcorn"
I know the chapters were short, and I've worked out people don't normally like made up char stories, but a) there's gonna be a few chapters, and b) I don't care, I'm not writing this for people who don't like it, I'm writing it for people who do, ha! Lol…anyway…
Pleeeease review! And stay tuned for the next chapter