Recent content by Cricket

Having ensured that she hadn’t knocked Finn back too badly with her enthusiastic arrival, the gecko studied the elder tood for a moment with a flicker of genuine surprise on her face. She hadn’t expected him to remain…so nice. Older beasts by and large behaved with anything from indifference to...

That was the second time she’d heard his voice crack; this time she did laugh, teary-eyed though she remained, managing to part one handpaw from the parcel in order to wave more emphatically. At least this time the dock wasn’t so lonely; this time the beast departing seemed intent on his return...

The potential for a freebie was not merely exciting for the gecko, but most of the lower-income beasts in the city. Cricket had watched Finnian prepare to throw the parcel with both excitement and a tinge of panic, elbowing and scrambling to ensure that she both caught and kept the gift which...

Relief surged through Cricket to have managed to make it on time and catch sight of her friend, tempered though it was with the realisation that she had left it so late. Smoke was already beginning to billow from that bizarre stack on the impressive craft. Shame, really: if she’d thought about...

She almost didn’t come. Upon hearing news of Finnian’s posting on another voyage the young gecko had, with some much-reviled introspection, realised that she was angry with him. Furious, even. She’d not made mention of such to his face, of course, not truly understanding the depth of her...

Admitting defeat was not in Cricket’s nature, not even as the road began to slope and the cobbles grow colder underfoot. She was determined, and determined independence had kept her alive up until now: she’d not fall prey to presuming some adult knew better. But there was the furball, there –...

As she drew closer, prepared to seize upon this wonderful bounty of fur and fluff with which she could line her winter retreat, Cricket became aware of its halted progress. It was checked not by a wall or edge as she had expected but rather…paws? arms? a little face? Oh. Oh no. “Finn?!” It was...

The changing seasons were greeted with a multitude of responses from beasts across the harbour, but few could be more resentful or anxious of the oncoming weather than the unhoused reptiles of the city. Few in number though they were (and fewer still come the springtime) winter and even late...

Cricket was about to respond, fire back a challenge to the younger todd about how girls were just as capable of being fearless thieving scumbags thank-you-very-much when he…merely dived in himself. The gecko blinked, too confused for a moment to respond, and then had to clap a paw over her snout...

Had Cricket herself been armed with anything about her person to throw, she might have considered so at the interloper eating their ill-gotten gains. He’d have deserved it, after all, and she liked to think herself strong in the arm (she was not) and accurate with her aim (she, also, was not)...

Where Mariel was swiftly finding the practicalities of their heist rapidly disinteresting, Cricket was fully absorbed in the task at paw. Hers had been a life of long, unemployed days and drudge work on the occasions she made a gilder: short though her attention span could be her survival had...

A snort of amusement escaped her snout at Finnian’s dramatics (was he certain he was an orphan and not Ruffano’s with that performance?) nudging the other kit playfully in the ribs with a footpaw to encourage him up before the older todd drew them into the final act. Cricket listened intently...

Time passed bizarrely. It seemed to have the entire night: first had come the agonisingly slow hours waiting beneath the tables for a chance to snag a free meal; then what felt like a whirlwind and stretched time all at once between the chaos of the explosion and the fighting. Now she had...

She’d seen plenty of dead beasts before. Stolen the clothes from corpses to keep warm in winter; turned a blind eye to save her own scales when muggings were becoming violent; witnessed brutalities on the streets no child should have gawped at from the rooftops. Why, then, did this one stop her...

Oh ‘Gates, it was the baker. Of course it wasn’t going to go smoothly, ugh. Grimacing at their bad fortune, she supposed on reflection that it might yet be beneficial in the long run if Finnian was able to keep up a good conversation. Ultimately they’d have something to chat about, at least, and...