Sigyn sighed and pushed aside a thin cloth curtain, stepping into the small kitchen behind her shop. She took the shrieking kettle off the stove and poured the boiling water into her waiting teachup. Leaning against the counter, she looked around the kitchen as she waited.
"Hello, Val," she cooed as a black cat wandered into the kitchen. He sat down in front of her and looked up with crimson eyes. "Are you hungry?" she wondered, bending down and lifting him up onto the counter. The cat meowed softly and nudged her hand with his head.
"I'll take that as a yes," she laughed, putting a bit of drycatfood into his bowl on the counter. He rubbed her arm gratefully before turning to the all-important task of eating. Sigyn smiled and picked up her teacup, sipping at the still-hot liquid carefully.
"Youknow, Val... I think I might have to sell the shop..." she muttered, staring into her tea. The cat stopped eating and looked up at her. "I'm sorry, little Valentine," she set her cup down and picked up the cat. "I know you like it here, but we're not making enough to keep this place running..."
"Mew." Valentine rested his front paws on her chest, looking up at her.
"It seems not that many people need a mystic around here," she offered with a small smiled. Her cat was smart, like all cats, and Sigyn wouldn't have been surprised if he understood exactly what was going on. "Sorry baby," she apologized again. Valentine nudged her chin and, when she looked down at him, touched her nose with his own, purring briefly. He then climbed down out of her arms to finish eating. That was his way of saying he accepted whatever decision she made.
Sigyn smiled and picked up her now-lukewarm tea. She quickly finished it and was about to dump the used tea leaves in the bottom of the cup when Valentine meowed again. She turned and he nudged the cup with a questioning noise.
"Pushy, pushy," she teased, scratching behind the black bat's ears. "All right, I won't throw it away." Instead she set the cup upside down on the saucer and tapped the bottom three times. Flipping the cup right-side up once more, she set it down on the counter and both her and Valentine looked down into it. The cat sniffed curiously and looked up at her as if waiting.
"A shoe," she said as if in reply to Valentine's unasked question. "A career change. Eh. I knew that already." She gave the cup a quarter turn to the right. "...Danger or a lost possession," she looked up at the cat and frowned, idly giving the cup another quarter turn. "A saw, trouble with a stranger..." Another turn of the cup. "...And a vase, a friend in need of help." Sigyn shook her head. "Either I'm about to have a very interesting future or the tea leaves are a bit off today," she concluded.
Valentine tiled his head curiously and nibbled at her fingertips.
"Oh, so now you want to play?" she wondered. Valentine jumped off the counter and stood at the doorway that hid the stairs. "All right," Sigyn laughed. "Let's go find your ball."
She opened the door and the cat zoomed upstairs. "Wait for me, Val!" Sigyn called, clsoing the door. About five stairs up from the bottom was a small landing that revealed another set of stairs leading down into the shop itself. This was covered by another cloth, this one thicker than the one hiding the kitchen and Sigyn knew that while the purples and blues stood out in the wooden stairwell, they blended in very well with the walls of the shop. She smiled and climbed the stairs up, finding the cat on the landing waiting beside a partially open door.
"How'd your ball get in the spare room, Val?" Sigyn pushed open the door, following the cat, who crouched down and reached his paw under the bed. He then sat up and looked at her. "You lazy bum," she accused, kneeling down and feeling around under the bed.
Her concentration was broken a short while later by the jingling of the bells on the door and a loud slam. Standing up, she looked at Valentine, who was sitting on the bed with his red ball at his side. "Traitor," she muttered, heading back down the stairs. This time, however, she turned at the landing and took the stairs on the right. She pushed the cloth aside just as the door jingled again.
She stepped into the main room of her shop, a strange room with burning candles, foreign insence and odd decorations on the walls. It was a little intimidating to strangers, but Sigyn liked it. It made her feel at home. She changed her steps, making them a bit heavier and causing the bangles around her ankles and wrists tinkle gently.
Frowning at the group of three uniformed police officers standing uncomfotably in the doorway of the shop, Sigyn stepped forward, her jewelry alerting them to her presense.
"Can I help yah wit sometin', officers?" she asked, her Caribbean accent thick.
The all looked a bit startled and Sigyn could understand. She probably made quite the picture.Tan skin, lovingly kissed by the Caribbean sun. Long, black hair braided with ribbons and beads. Purple eyes that flicked to black with the light from the candles. Long black and purple skirt down to just above her ankles and a dark blue tank top. The dancer-like bangles on her wrists and ankles, designed to make music when she moved and a gold choker were her only accessories.
"Do yah want yer fortunes read?" she asked, snapping them out of their trance. There was a smile playing at her lips but with the flickering candlelight, it was twisted into a wicked smirk.
"No, thank you," the one in front replied. "Ma'am, I am Officer Kalikai and these are my partners, Officers Samara and Ryuuja. We were wondering if you've seen anything suspicious today."
"Sometin' suspicious?" Sigyn tapped her chin, setting off the tinkling of her bangles. "What exactly are yah talkin' about, officers?" she wondered.
"Ma'am," the one on the far right, who was introduced as Samara, stepped forward and took off her cap, revealing long blonde hair and dark eyes. "We need your help. Has anyone come in here recently, Miss...?" she paused.
"I am Sigyn, mystic, fortune-tellah and messengah of de Spirits," Sigyn introduced herself with a slight bow.
"Miss Sigyn, have you seen anyone recently?" Samara asked again.
"It is just Sigyn, daughtah of de desert. And yah are all bein' awfully vague, officers," she noticed with a smile. "Perhaps if yah be tellin' me just wha' is goin' on, I can help yah."
Ryuuja and Samara looked at Kalikai, who was obviously their leader. Sigyn just smiled and waited, listening to the slight sound of the curtains as Valentine came down the stairs and into the main room. He sniffed and wandered into the kitchen with another small noise of cloth on fur.
"This doesn't leave the room," Kalikai decided finally, sliding off his cap and running his fingers through bright red hair.
"We were chasing a fugitive," Ryuuja said, sitting down on one of the cusions in front of the low table that held Sigyn's crystal ball.
"Do tell," Sigyn coaxed, taking her typical seat and gesturing for the others to do the same.
"He is a runaway and suspected of being in a gang." Ryuuja paused as Kalikai handed her a picture. "We were trying to catch him after school, just to talk to him, but he bolted. We believe he is a potential danger and chased him, obviously. Somewhere along this road, we lost him. He might have run into one of the shops and we wouldn't want a beautiful womand such as yourself to get hurt."
"Dat's verah kind of yah, officers." Sigyn smiled before looking at the photo, a brief thought flashing through her mind, a lost possession.
It was obviouys that the boy, whoever he was, had no idea he was being photographed. He was walking down the front steps of Sierre High, a local school that Sigyn recognized and had gone to herself. He was wearing a typical uniform - black khakis, a whiteshirt and a dark blue jacket. His jacket was open and hanging off his shoulders and hands were in his pockets. He looked rather sad, or so Sigyn thought.
"Have you seen him?" Kalikai asked, a bit impatiently.
"Interestin'." She handed the picture back. "Is de boy under arrest or someting?" Another strange, brief thought - trouble with a stranger.
"No, we just want to talk to him." Ryuuja replied charmingly. "We're just trying to keep all of you safe, including him. He's mixed up in some very dangerous things and we want to help."
"I see," Sigyn paused and looked in her crystal ball. She saw fluttering curtains, clacking beads and a smoky vase. A friend in need of help. Pulling her eyes back up to the police, she smiled. "I am sorreh, but I have not seen de boy yah are lookin' for."
"Thank you, ma'am," Ryuuja said, putting his hand on Kalikai's shoulder just as he opened his mouth. "Sorry to have taken up your time."
"It is not a problem, officers," Sigyn stood up and escorted them to the door.
"If you see him," Kalikai paused in the doorway and offered her a card, "call us immediately."
"I will do dat," Sigyn took the card and waved. "Have a good day, officers."
A yellow cat peeked out from behindher ankles and meowed as she closed the door. Sigyn smiled and nudged the cat further into the shop with her foot.
"Why don' yah go help yer friend, Highwind?" she suggested, sitting down at her table. The cat paused and then wandered off. Sigyn smiled and pulled a pack of tarot cards out of a small drawer. She closed her eyes and shuffled them almost lazily, waiting.
Finally hearing a very faint muffled yelp, she smiled. "You can come on out now. Oderwise, dey will continue to attack yah," she said loudly.
The Plushi Community Member 
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