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Out for a day of exploring, Ming'we decided to hit the market. She had heard that it was a good place to find all sorts of things. Most merchants came to Jauhar to do their business since it was where they could get the most business. It was home to shifters, and other earthling races, but it was also where they could get access to the Alkidike that might be interested in their wares. Ming'we guessed that what she would find would definitely be worth looking at and she had been right. So far what she saw were exquisite items. Even the festive music was alluring. It happened to be the music that drew her in to the market center. Swaying her hips and letting the beat carry her the the inner circle of the crowd she couldn't help but smile. It was a refreshing difference from the rumors she had been hearing of lately. After all, Alkidikes shared the forest with the Shifters so why would they want to attack them all of a sudden?

She was busy having fun, dancing with one of the shifter boys, when the sound of loud voices reached her. At first Ming'we thought it was more fun being had but the tone of the words seemed to suggest differently. Her dancing slowed and she turned her head to look around, find out where it was coming from. The antennae on her head seemed to twitch slightly when she came face to face with a tall female shifter that was pointing at her angrily. “You aren't from around here! You filthy mix breed.” Those words made her stop moving in time with the music, which was just as well since the musicians stopped playing. The silence was almost deafening, but the woman filled it with her yelling once more. “Come to attack us have you? Trying to get in good with those tree lovers?”

Ming'we blinked her eyes a few times then looked around. The crowd had stopped what they were doing and had directed all eyes at her. In some faces she saw the hatred and fear that they held for one half of her. In the others she saw pity for the wind half. It was enough to cause her to look away and at the woman that had started the commotion. “My family and I recently moved here, no violent intentions attached.” In fact she had been very reluctant to move away from the place she had called home for years. Her hands had come up in a bit of surrender, showing she had no aggression in her. It did little to help the situation. “You think you can come here and mix with our sons? Or were you planning on taking him away so you could beat him with no one looking?”

This made Ming'we even more confused. Mix with their... OH! Oh great mother, she had been dancing with the son of the woman that was now yelling at her. She gave a sigh and shook her head, getting ready to answer the female honestly but before she could utter a word she was met with a firm slap to the face. “You stay away from all of us. We won't let you harm anymore of us!” Ming'we furrowed her brow as she held her cheek in one hand. “I've not harmed anyo--” Another slap, this one to the other side and hard enough to cause her to step back. Despite the treatment she was getting now she didn't seem to be getting angry. “I'm sorry if I offended you.”

“Offended? You and your bug heritage have been harming our people and you think you can just come here and mingle with us? No. You should go back to your islands.” Now there were some words that made her look hurt. Ming'we could go “back” to anything. The isles were not meant for her. Still, she didn't say anything. Instead she simply did her best to step away from the situation. A move she would regret. It was seen as an act of ignoring the shifter woman and not only did she take offense but so did a few others. Before Ming'we could rectify the mistake she found herself on the ground and being beaten by a small group of angry shifters. If she wasn't mistaken there was even an Alkidike or two, which she found extremely odd. The only thing she could do was curl her body into a protective ball with her hands over her head to protect the antennae. Her hair was left as fair game, to which a few hands took full advantage. By the time the group had managed to get their anger out she was sore from head to toe and bleeding in more than a few places from scrapes and cuts. As the crowd dispersed, leaving her to lay on the ground, Ming'we slowly uncurled, wincing as she did, and tested to see just how badly her body was hurting. All the while she told herself that it wasn't their fault. It was just the way they had been brought up. Holding her side, where a pair of ribs were particularly tender, the alkidike and wind mix breed tried to judge how far she would need to limp to get to her grandmother's house.