A pleasant squeal of surprise popped out from the little thing followed by a bubbly giggle.
"Attacker?" both hands she held out, palms in his direction,
"d'ye mean that in the fullest, mate...?! Your eyes sharp, are they...?"
One hand slid up and patted the spot of raven hair at the topmost of her 5 foot tall body and held firm, the other hand reached up impossibly to measure the height of the male archer in front of her. To her tippie-toes she leaned and hopped up several times before once more bursting into a fit of laughter.
"T'would be in ye best interests to armour those shins there mister, should this here lass attacks ye-- rawwwwrrrr!! Hahahahahahah...!" at this point, she needed to hold her tummy and for once tears not made or fear, self-pity nor sorrow leaked from the corners of her eyes,
"ahhhhh but mercies of Athos, 'Mister Sharp-eyes', ye tickles me to teary eyes, ye do...! Pleasure met to meet ye. Oh, and should the owner of these teary eyes have a name... t'would be Ro, it would. "
She wiped away at her eyes, shoulders still rollicking with humour. That was right up until this lady wearing a flowy, yet stained dress, strut forward amidst several folks. The red-eyed fancy-armoured lady spoke quite formally whilst making plans with this strange lady who claimed to be the
'Oracle.' But that is not what concerned Rodent. A smirk pulled up at the corner of her mouth and yes, her eyes were still wet and shiny since tears just fell from them, but the green circlets therein glinted with suspicion.
This was not the 'Oracle' she sought. No, this maybe some kind of imposter or another she may not have ever heard of. The 'Oracle' of whom Rodent knew, she would recognize in a heartbeat. Yes, it was only the elder Angel Sisters that interacted with the Oracle in times when they needed a con, but Rodent was always close enough to note the mannerisms and speech patterns of
that Oracle. Yes, Rodent could do a good impersonation of her, but she could not impersonate the grifter's height nor her strange eyes.
"Spooky-Blues..." That blue-eyed gaslight gaze? Nay, this Oracle did not have those eyes.
Her hackles rose that much more as she sensed the tension oozing from the tall archer, Mr. Sharp-eyes, beside her. Without turning her head, she followed his gaze and instantly understood his anxiousness; she was not alone feeling very, very uncomfortable with the guards eyeing them. But the difference it seemed was that despite her youth, she played it off much cooler than he. Still, she recognized that his apprehension towards the law-enforcers was a great opportunity to make an ally. The wooziness within her began to subside as the adrenaline began to pump once more.
<~★~>
"Mr. Sharp... with me now. Ro will do entertaining for the wee totters now," with her finger she pointed towards the clustered children: wounded, wailing and waiting for parents that may or may not return,
"quite a crowd will form and stare. Even the guards will watch too--" with her eyes she pointed at the main gate and she lowered her voice and lowered her chin
"--if ye need, Mr. Sharp, you do not need to watch too, especially if ye needs to be... elsewhere. Without them guards..."
And with that she nodded at him, grabbed her kit and sauntered over to the sorry lot of younglings and babes
, "Oi, oi, oi, why make such uglins n' squicks then...?! Not allowed that be, not especially while ye friend, Ms. RoRo the Tell n' Taler, be in ye midst...!"
Rodent thickened her Norcrest accent and spoke with the slang the children would know:
'uglins and squicks' meant the faces and actions of upset children, usually ones that were having a tantrum. All faces definitely would turn to actively deny they were doing any such thing.
Into her pack she went, rifling quickly through and grabbing the bundle of soft, fluffy things tied together. She retrieved 2 of them then stood upon her kit like it was a mini stage. Both hands behind her now she presided,
"Hear ye never the tale of--" one hand whipped out in front of them wearing a raggedy, button-eyed wolf puppet,
"--Bitey, the Shifty and Hungered...?!" The children gasped, some squealed with joy.
The other hand whipped out in front of her wearing a fuzzy, single-eyed bunny puppet,
"And o'course, of Bicker, the Lippy and Quickened--" instant applause and cheer from the younglings as any who had been told the bedtime story of
'Bitey and Bicker' and knew it by heart
"--oh ho, ho! Be ye heard o' them, matesies and mini-matesies, but not like this, nay! Not from the mouth of she! Ms. RoRo!! The bestest Tell n' Taler in the whole o' Norcrest is she, and ready y'hearts n' ears! T'would be best should ye lot gather round, hold hands and criss ye crossers for she! Quickly, me loves! Quickly before the tale be half old now!"
All squeaking with joy and stampeding on over, the children gathered before her and she grinned shiny and wide. Despite her weakness and deficiencies, in this time of pain and suffering befallen to all, Rodent finally felt like herself; like the old days when she and her Sisters would volunteer at hospitals and orphanages in Norcrest. She nodded encouragingly to all others that wished to hear the tale and pointed with her puppets around her.
And to the other that she called Mr. Sharp, she pointed with her eyes towards the exit where the guards stood and watched Rodent, with bated breath, waiting for the show to begin.
<~~<★>~~>