Of.

Freaking.

COURSE.

It had been a wonderful day when she woke from her slumber and without her bed partner. She had felt and heard him leaving once the sun rose, and guilt had swelled in the poor guy's chest. Huh. He probably had a wife or some lady he was courting and thought he'd picked Shion up while he was drunk. In all reality, it could have been possible. She had smelled liquor on his breath when she snuck in last night.

Oh well, it hadn't been her problem. She had plenty of those already, she didn't need to add his to her list. She'd given him a slow, even sleep in return for her stay. That was enough of a payment. What had woke her later in the day, however, was the innkeeper's wife walking in to clean the sheets and seeing her naked and stretching, her tail and ears completely obvious to the woman.

The innkeeper's wife screamed. Shion took that as a hint and, as the poor matron ran out the door, she scooped up her clothes. Slip on the dress, pull up the stockings, slip on the shoes while slipping on the sleeves. Hurry, hurry, hurry. This was a race now. Against time, against her presence being confirmed, against Sisters in town. A scream like that would have been heard, and rumor of the cat/monster woman would most definitely spread quickly. If she was part of any normal assassin organization, the information about her escape may have taken a day or two, especially over water.

Her resourceful, wealthy, bitch-filled family would have had all of the juicy details arriving here sometime early this morning. Only slightly salty now, the woman hopped out the second story window. Time to play Curs and Inquisition~!

Shion stole herself onto the streets of Gabriel, refreshed and as beautiful as possible now that she didn't smell like the entirety of a fishmonger's alley and look like a back-alley street mongrel. Confidence pooled around her, draping her features like a veil. She could out-run anyone in these crowded streets. Chaville was a lively city, but the architecture could be confusing if one went anywhere but the main areas. And if one tried to wander into back alleys or between the cute little courtyards that lay behind residents…

There was a pleasant plethora of perils. Night was a monster on its own, of course; The Divine Hand wandered the streets, those sneaky devils, always keeping her kind on their toes, not to mention the city guard and anyone else that may be passing through. Likewise, the day brought its own dangers. Subtle in nature, cruel in deliverance, nigh untraceable in the deceptive sunshine. Night was a lady of refined but expected taste; Day was a known yet unpredictable Lord, sometimes kind, sometimes demanding sacrifices.

'I am going to kill someone if Day tries to get me killed,' was the unbidden thought that rose to the front of her thoughts as she calmly strode towards the Tower. Day and her were usually good friends - Shion could flow through a crowd the way a Jenny worked a body - but every once and awhile they had issues.

The day proved to be a problematic one when she caught the scent of her kind not too far from the glass elevator of her destination: Chaville Tower. A staple in any city worth its salt, the spire was a hub for trade all over the world.

Except the Empire, those elitist jerks. "Heresy", they called any sort of magic, and if a hub of the most convenient travel popping up overnight wasn't magic, then what was? Gold eyes watched through panes of glass as sky-boats (Airships Shion, Airships) glided in the sky. Most had various-colored floats and circled calmly several stories above her, probably waiting for permission to land on the disc that protruded near the top in a plate-like arrangement. That comparison was probably why that landing was called The Plate, now that she thought about it. Perhaps it was also because all people from all castes walked amongst the Plate, waiting to be served up to airships hungry maws?

So many thoughts and revelations! Her face split into a canary-eating grin. Sebastian would have been proud of her.

Pride from the dearly departed aside, the Daimah's dainty nose twitched as she sweet-talked her way onto the upward-bound elevator. Her natural instinct had lead her to think it was nothing. It was just the natural scent of a Sister, as most of them smelled of the Selenium flowers that gave her home its name. Familiarity quickly turned into a red flag, that red flag turning to a controlled panic. Where was is coming from? She was about to be prone and in full view of anyone watching the elevator, and the micro-economy that busied itself around the base of the Tower would be able to hide anyone in the small crowd waiting for their turn to go up. Reflex yet again acted for her, making her pull in the nearest person in the small space for a very hot kiss.

Surprised sputters erupted from the gentleman that she had grabbed, her hands instantly wandering inside his jacket and up his chest. The whole frilly ensemble was akin to something out of one of those pretentious little fencing schools. He even wore one of the toys on his hip! Perfect. He probably hadn't gotten laid in at least a year with that response or those clothes, so that should make things easy.

"Just keep your head on straight and your pants buckled and we won't have any problems, Lordling," Shion purred into the man's ear as she dragged her nails lightly along his chest. "We can keep this between us, right? What's a little fun while we have time to kill?"

Thankfully, true to his gender, the man didn't pull away. Strangely, he didn't get closer, either. His eyes were scanning her face and, more of her concern, her ears. Minutes passed. He kept her body shielded while they rose, standing stoney and weary, as the crowd was soon out of sight. Still, he stood. He didn't even move when the other passengers began to shift uncomfortably in place, having finally realized what was going on behind them. She despised the wait but was a good girl and did it anyway.

"It isn't wise to take coin from drunk men," the man finally said to her actual ear. Red Flag Numero Uno. "Nor is it wise to blatantly show your ears and tail."

It took everything in her not to show how cold her blood ran at those words. There were people who knew of her kind, but most of those people weren't nice at all. There was Tolgarini, who accepted creatures like she, the Illmora she so missed, and a few little havens around the Commerce Coast. Now, he could simply be from one of those places-

"The most foolish," the man whispered as she felt iron encircle the wrist closest to his belt, "Was sneaking into the bed of an Inquisitor."