Ajana Sonea

Underlings of London

Nina’s words dragged Jenny out of her thoughts. She had been wondering what could have happened between Paul and that guy Will. It was in no way unusual for Paul to get into a fight but it normally didn’t include this much resentment. Just like Jenny’s mood the sky was getting darker. It was probably good that Nina distracted her and reminded her of something important. “Yeah… It’s the day after tomorrow.” Jenny whispered after motioning for Nina to get closer and away from the others. The big meeting Nina was talking about was the annual underlings meet up where every single underling in the entire city got together. It was held in one of the forgotten tunnels under the streets of London. This year was Jenny’s twelfth time she had to attend. Since she didn’t like large crowds, except to use as cover, it was always slightly unnerving for her. But Flint was an elder of the council and she didn’t want to make him look bad so she never complained. Plus her brother went, so she had to go. Jenny noticed that a fight had broken out. In the water two ducks were fighting over an especially big piece of bread. Now a third duck joined in. It reminded her of the meeting. Every year there was this group of underlings that just got into petty fights about the littlest things. “Ah…! I really wanna see! I bet it’s awesome!” Nina was getting exited next to her. “It’s not that big a deal. It’s quiet boring actually.” Jenny said absentmindedly. Nina didn’t mind and started to sprout wild theories of what that scene had to look like. Now the third duck snatched the bread and was getting away as fast as possible. While Nina was talking and Jenny was watching the water time flew by and soon the rest of the group was out of bread to feed to the ducks. They all got up and right at that moment it started to rain again. The downpour was even heavier than before and everything and everyone was completely drenched in no time. They started to scatter.

Underlings of London

Seeing her brother’s smile Jenny almost sighed in relief. It was unusual of her to get attached to a material possession so quickly. But even if all members of her little family called themselves streetrats they weren’t as poor as others and definitely weren’t starving. But having a regular place of work among humans was difficult, especially during the first part of an underling’s life as the lack of growth often raised suspicions. So having one or two precious luxury articles was in the range of possibility. With lifted spirits she grabbed Paul’s sleeve, dragged him on his feet and started hurrying out of the hideaway and towards Hyde Park. With the rain having let up people were filling the streets again but Jenny paid no heed. Even with the wet clothes and still having a hold on Paul’s sleeve she was maneuvering through the streets at almost running speed. Her Brother easily kept up with her, in fact he could probably outrun almost everyone if he really wanted to. They didn’t have to go very far and as soon as she rounded the last corner a loud laughter was to be heard. That has to be Nina, Jenny thought and looked around. Nina’s presence wasn’t easily missed, with her height already challenging that of a human adult, flaming red hair and all-around noisiness. And as if that wasn’t enough her voice easily carried dozens of feet. Jenny’s eyes spotted Nina, some distance away and surrounded by other teens. They seemed to be having a great time as they were all laughing and some were even holding their bellies. But Jenny also noticed that their behavior didn’t just attract amused looks. A few of the people in the park, who obviously thought themselves beyond such brutish behavior, cast more and more looks of discontent in their direction. Soon Nina became aware of the approaching siblings. Jenny finally let go of her brother and waited for him to pass her and take the lead. “Heeeey!” Nina shouted while waving wildly. She started running in their direction. Though running wasn’t really what it looked like. Nina had a way of moving that looked like a baby deer taking its first steps. A wonder she doesn’t fall down more often. That looks dangerous. Jenny always had the same thoughts when seeing Nina move. The human 15 year-old wore a blue overall and a red scarf that matched her short hair. Her face had even more freckles than Jenny’s and there was always a wide grin on it. She was a streetrat like the siblings and one of the people they were closest to. Not that her way of treating everyone as a friend left you much of a choice in the matter. The teenager with too many elbows and knees reached the pair and immediately started with her usual salutatory speech. How she was, who she met since their last meeting and how they were feeling, what happened today, who said what and so forth. All the while she was still laughing about the joke that someone called Will told just now and didn’t even wait for a second if one of the two newcomers had anything to contribute to this conversation. She was used to the silent behavior of Paul and Jenny and apparently thought that they’d speak up if there was something important. Jenny appreciated that very much as she wasn’t one to talk a lot but liked listening to Nina even if only with one ear. It gave her time to take a closer look at the others present. The group that Nina left to greet the two looked at them, now that they were approaching. Jenny knew most of them from seeing them here and there but there were also some new faces. They all waved or at least showed a slight smile in greeting. Except for one guy. Jenny immediately noticed him. His face showed a bruise a few days old and he stared at Paul with more than just a little resentment. As he wasn’t familiar to her she glanced at her big brother and then remembered that just two days ago he came home looking as if fresh from a fight but didn’t want to talk about it. Not even to her. Recalling that evening, her eyes started to sparkle with irritation and just a bit of curiosity. “Guys, for those of you that don’t know, this is Paul and the little one is Jenny. Everybody, say hi!” Then Nina began pointing at one after the other while calling their names. Jenny noticed that the grumpy one apparently was the teller of that oh so funny joke with the name Will. When she finished even Nina began to notice Will’s starring and looked at Paul with slight confusion.

Underlings of London

Still lost in her thoughts Jenny startled when something landed on her lap. She looked down at the bread and then at her brother. His face showed nothing, but a twinkle in his eye told her that he was probably laughing inside. She gave him a warm and appreciative smile and put the bread to her mouth. The necklace was now lying on her knees. Whilst chewing on the hard bread she thought about what would happen with it now. They were either going to sell the necklace to Johnny or keep it to be put it in Flint’s treasure. Since real coins were more valuable to them than jewelry they would probably sell it sooner or later. Streetrats don’t need pretty things. She didn’t like this thought but tried to make peace with it. So she put it away and finished eating the last piece of dry bread. Then, to get her mind off of the firebird, she got up and started cleaning up the mess. Scraps of paper were lying everywhere and the cardboard boxes had to be rearranged. The cold wind had found ways through the make-shift walls and was disturbing the fire. Whether it was because of the weather or due to other visitors of the hideout she couldn’t tell, but she found that this place needed a little organizing from time to time. After a while she gave up and decided that this had to do for now. It was less windy and the flames were calmer now. Also it seemed like the rain was letting up. The world turned quiet again. Paul was still sitting near the fire so she went over to him and asked: “So, what now?” He didn’t react so she went on. “We have to refill the food storage. Or do you wanna go to Johnny’s first?” She frowned at that but immediately replaced it with a neutral face.

Underlings of London

After Pete had left, Jenny had moved from her position behind Paul and was now sitting on a newspaper in an attempt to keep the cold rising from the ground away. It didn’t work. As she was trying to get a little warmth by holding her fingers over the crackling flames, her brother spoke up. "Have a look if there's any food in would ya.". After a glance in Paul’s direction she knew that he wasn’t going to move so Jenny got up, put the necklace into her bag and walked over to the “food storage”. The boxes did nowhere near deserve that name but the street kids worked with what they had. It didn’t look good. The box was almost empty, only a loaf of old bread and three small apples remained. She took the bread and two apples out and walked over to Paul. After she took a bite out of one apple and let the other one and the bread fall onto her brother’s lap, Jenny sat down and grumbled “It’s practically empty. We’ll have to refill it.”. She took another bite and moved closer to the fire. The flame was about to die but it still gave off a little bit of warmth. She opened her bag and took out the necklace. Even prettier than before, it reflected the flames and made the silver and gold bird look like it was made out of fire. Almost in trance she looked at it and in the background she could hear the falling raindrops and the crackling fire. She liked those kinds of moments, when the world seemed to stand still and every sound was swallowed by the rain. As neither one of the siblings said a word, time passed by and the rain kept falling. Jenny had almost finished her apple now and, still hungry, longed for the one she left in the box for emergencies. But no, what if another frequent visitor of this hideout came, almost starving, and found it empty? So she stayed put. She wasn’t even that hungry.

Underlings of London

It was Jenny's turn now. Behind her she could hear someone shouting and knew that the loud man had found his wallet gone. He and his wife seemed very keen on finding it and started accusing everyone in their vicinity. Thanks to the distraction they so kindly provided, Jenny could get a good look at the necklaces on display. Most of them were big and flashy. Made to attract attention and therefore not something easily hidden. Especially when the necklace was almost as big as your hand. Then she spotted something. It was just a small, flying bird on a thin silver chain, nothing that seemed to be worth much. But not to the trained eye. It was masterfully made and beautifully decorated with little ornaments. One of the ladies had laid it aside, so she could look at it again later, Jenny assumed. And for that reason it would be child’s play to sweep it off the booth. It was probably worth much more than what the lady would pay for it anyway. The man was still shouting and now a fight broke out. Everyone was looking at them and Jenny used that. In one fluid motion she grabbed the necklace and walked past the booth. Paul saw that she got what she wanted and made his way back into the crowd. Jenny followed him with her newest possession in her closed fist and a content smile on her lips.

Underlings of London

Underlings of London – Character Sheet
Name: Jenny Slyfinger
Age: 14 (looks 12-13)
Gender: female
Personality:
Jenny has like two different personalities. When a stranger or someone she doesn’t know well is around, she hardly ever says a word because she is too shy. For others she seems like Paul’s tag-along when in reality, it’s the other way round. As soon as she is alone with Paul it becomes obvious that she knows what she wants and mostly just drags him along. She has her way of making other people do what she wants them to, especially Paul. Even though she appears to be small and fragile she is quite tough and could manage on her own. She’s had good teachers.
Since Paul tends to get in to a lot of fights, Jenny got pretty good at patching him up afterwards. Even though she would have to redo it shortly after (because he got into another fight) she would just softly scold him and patiently tend to his wounds. That’s how she is, silent and patient.
She likes books and reads everything she can get her hands on.
Appearance:
Jenny has a rather small and slim body. She’s smaller than her brother which means she’s small, even for her kind. Her hair is of a bright brown and mostly unkempt. It is badly cut since neither Flint nor Paul have any experience in cutting a girls hair. She holds it together with a hairband she treasures very much that Paul stole for her when it got too long. Her face is round and full of freckles. Jenny’s eyes are as blue as the sky on a sunny day and quite big. There’s always a look of curiosity in them mixed with amazement about every little thing. But since she is also very shy and gets embarrassed very fast her face is almost always a little red. Her skirts (she always wears at least two of them) are mostly self-made and have quite a few patches. Their color ranges from once white over grey to brown. For cold days she made herself a hood out of the "clothes" she was in when Paul found her which only covers her head and shoulders. Those clothes make it easier for her to use her power and hide since they already have the color of the city. She always wears a pair of coffee brown boots which come up to her knees and are tied with long bootlaces in the front. She carries around a big bulky bag, hanging on her shoulder in which she keeps her most precious belongings.
Background:
Paul found her when she was two years old. She doesn’t remember much of what happened before that and she doesn’t care. The first thing she remembers is sitting on a riverbank and being cold. Then she saw Paul. He was only two years older and didn’t actually do or say anything but the little lost girl decided at that moment that she would follow him. And she did. All the way to his home. There she encountered Flint who was about to leave. Paul’s explanation was: “I found this bundle near the river, can I keep it?” And from then on she stayed in this new home under the loose care of Flint. They had a happy childhood and quickly got used to stealing things as a team.
Ability:
Like all Underlings she had the ability to blend in with the environment and going unnoticed between humans. But Jenny’s Blending is stronger than other’s. She becomes almost invisible and can keep this state up for 3 to 4 minutes, depending on how good her pursuers know what they are looking for. It is very hard to track her once she is in that state, even for other Underlings.
Her ability was discovered when she was still quite young (around 5 years old). That day was the first time since she came to live with Flint and Paul that they had guests over. Overwhelmed by the sheer number of people, she got so nervous that she activated her power without knowing and “disappeared”.

Underlings of London

Ohayou!