Nia’s feet were cold. They were always cold. But something about now, something about tonight — the still obsidian of her chosen alleyway stoop, the haunting silence of the late hour. The absence of even a single sliver of moon… An insidious sense of…something…needled the skin behind her ears. She tried to brush the sensation…

The shadows were relentless, as always. Their whispered chorus badgered Teddy as a dense cloud amidst a darkened night sky, the bright azure of Lequian hour quickly fading into a deep, unforgiving black. 

Nia couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt her toes. It was hard to care about them, if she was being perfectly honest. Not when the yowling alley cat that was her stomach refused to be quiet. Still, she didn’t want to lose them. It was hard enough to traverse this labyrinth of a city…