Meeting a Lily
Disclaimers are in the first chapters. I only own Kara and Lily.
It was in the late evening when Kara awoke from her blissful sleep. She rose from her bed and stretched only to find that she smelt horrible. True she may have lived on the streets for a bit, but even in those times she never wanted to smell bad. Opening the red flap of her tent she walked put to see a wonderful sight; many coloured lanterns had been lit, giving the court of miracles a peaceful glow. Sighing lightly she turned to ask Clopin in his caravan if there was a place for her to bathe herself. Knocking on the wooden door, she said, "Clopin? Are you there?" Kara could hear footsteps behind the door, and then it opened, a light glow shining through. "Evening Kara, what can I do for you?" he asked kindly as he gave her a smile. "I was wondering if there is a place where I could bath, I don't smell that good." She laughed, and so did he. "Oui come with me and I will show you, do you have something to dry yourself with after?" Clopin asked. "No I don't…" she replied sheepishly. Turning on his heel, Clopin grabbed a red towel that he had in the trunk of this bed, and handed it to Kara. "Here you may use mine."
They walked past the other gypsy caravans and tents until they came to a grotto that was hidden from view behind a large brick wall. It was strange to Kara that they had a grotto underneath Paris, let alone in a grave, but she was too happy to see clean water. "Here is where we all bath, and don't worry we dump the dirty water and replace it with clean water after someone uses it" He lent a hand to help her move over some of the jagged and uneven rocks. "Thank you, I can manage now." Kara thanked, and nodded for him to leave her to her chore at hand. Clopin made sure that she had made it safely before he went on his way to take care of other matters at hand.
She made sure that Clopin was gone before she began undressing herself. Kara removed her purple sash and green skirt before she removed her corset and bracelets. Removing her hair from the confinements of her red sash in her hair, her hair hung gracefully upon her shoulders. It felt good to have her hair fully down, and to finally wash herself. Walking her body to the edge of the pool, she tested how cool the water was by placing a hand in the water. It was freezing cold! She could put her clothes back on and smell, or she could suck it up take the cold water. She slowly slipped into the water while her body reacted to having the cool rush move against her bare legs. It was a struggle to get her full body into the water, but she managed with a exclamation of surprise once her full body was beneath the cold water. Once she felt completely comfortable, she gazed around her surroundings. There was a small candle in the corners of the grotto, which caused shadows to decorate the stonewalls of the area. She could hear the sound of water trickling from a small little crack in the wall; to her it was like a tiny waterfall. Kara began to wash herself the best that she could while still keeping her instincts on guard. She kept a dagger in the folders of her sash, so if anyone were to catch her off guard, she would be ready and prepared to use it, if the situation called for it. Kara had never killed, but she had cut many, but only in self-defence. As she washed herself, she felt near the base of her ribcage a cut that had healed over time, but felt its remains upon her body. The shape looked like two x's overlapping each other, which was the mark Frollo had left upon her all those years ago, and to her that mark made her look ugly and she hated it. She never wanted anyone to see it.
Quietly as she washed, she heard someone call behind her, "Hey what are you doing here?" the voice called. Kara quickly hid her exposed body under the water, and went for her dagger, and held the blade in front of her. "Whoa hey calm down, I'm just here to take a bath ok?" the voice was female, but she couldn't really see her face that well. She was younger than herself, and wore a purple skirt, with a black sash. "Oh I'm sorry." Kara responded putting her dagger back to her sheath. "Who are you?" she asked. The girl put down her black towel and responded, "I'm Lily and you are?" "My name is Kara, I'm kind of new here." She moved to show that Lily was welcomed to come in, but not to close to her. Turning away to give her some privacy she heard Lily undress. "When did you get here?" Lily asked. "I got here about th-" Kara was cut off when Lily jumped right into the pool. The water splashed over onto Kara's face causing her hair to fly in front of it. "Oh sorry." The girl laughed. "Hehehe, its ok…" although she was a little annoyed. "So you are new huh? I've been here for about three years." Kara was surprised how nice she was since they hardly knew each other, and not to mention they were naked in a cold pool. "Well I'm done I think I'm going to get out before I get sick." Kara said as she looked for her towel and clothes. "Oh, well maybe I will see you later then alright?" Lily said as she flicked the water. "Yeah I would like that."
As Kara got out she made sure her towel covered most of her body as she gathered her clothing. Just as she was about to wrap the red towel completely around her, she head Lily call to her, "Hey what's with that weird looking scar?" she said pointing to her ribs. Kara quickly became embarrassed, not by her body, but by that damn mark. "Oh it's a scar I have had for a really long time, I can't remember where I got it from." Her face went red as she closed the towel around herself. Lily moved closer to the edge of the pool so only her shoulders and head could be seen. "Really? I think its pretty cool." She smiled. "Heh thanks…" Kara replied. Now that she was more in the light, Kara could make out Lily's face. She was a young teenager, fifteen in her mind, with black hair that hung around her face, and purplish blue eyes. She looked very mature for her age, that Kara felt like she was childish looking. "I'll see you soon then, which tent do you sleep in?" Lily asked. "I sleep in the red tent close to Clopin's caravan." With that Lily gave a smirk, "Oh I see, I'm in the tent near the huge fireplace, it's the black one, you can't miss it!" Kara nodded in thanks and went along with hurrying herself back to her tent.
Once she was in her tent, she removed the towel and looked at her scar, "I hate you…" she whispered as she looked at it. Out of all things she hated in this world, it was the scar and the man who gave it to her. "Whom do you hate?" she heard Clopin's voice say. Panic stoke when she realized that she was not dressed. "No no! Wait a second!" Kara yelled as she reached for the towel again. "What?" He said. Clopin came in just as Kara finished covering her body. "Tell me next time when you plan to visit me!" she said as her face flushed. "Oh I'm so sorry." Clopin replied when he noticed that she was not decent. "I just wanted to make sure that you had a pleasant bath." He sounded embarrassed as he turned to leave. "No wait, I'm sorry Clopin, you've been nothing but kind to me." She said grabbing his hand. He turned and looked at her, "Not a problem." He smiled and blushed as he walked out of her tent. "Well that was weird and akward." Kara said as she placed her hands on her hips. Turning she took the towel off, and put her regular gypsy clothes back on. She was happy that she didn't smell anymore, and laughed as she remembered Clopin's face blush. "Poor guy." she laughed. As she was about to go into bed, she noticed a box full of jewellery on the table. Picking the box up and sitting on her bed, she looked through the box. There were many gold bracelets and necklaces, and little jewels placed in some of them. There were many beautiful things to pick, but there was one necklace that she saw that she fell in love with. It was a silver medallion with just a rope chain with the zodiac signs around the outline, and a moon and sun within the centre. She picked it up and put it around her neck before she put the box back on the table.
Kara had already slept that day and she wasn't tired at all, so decided to go out and explore the place. Walking past all the coloured tents full of sleeping gypsies, she noticed that there was a little passage way where moonlight seemed to shine through. Ever since she was little, Kara loved the moon, and looking at it and being in the presence of the moon made her feel peaceful. Seeing that there was a small patch of grass and rocks to sit on, she found the roundest and smoothest rock to sit on. Staring into the moonlight Kara was at peace, and she sat there for most of the night just staring…