[Dark Elite_H2]

DAY TWO...

Mid-morning winds kicked up the powdery midnight snow left behind in a blizzardy twister around the screaming playing children.
Umi sighed boredly through the window. Stranger was gone, but left a note this time. It was flattened on the kitchen counter when she first awoke to the peering rays of sun through the glassy window near her face.
It was written, in sloppy hand-writing;

Umi,

Went out ter do some arrands. Be bak befor the evning.

And she knew when he was gone that she couldn't go outside. Not until he got home. Which was until the sun broke behind the mountains.
The children would occasionally glance at the window where the human stared out to them with bored, unshapened eyes. They encouraged her out, but she had to refuse.
Umi growled under her breath, moving away from the window, and slumped on the couch.
"Why does it feel like I'm grounded?" Umi muttered to herself, putting her chin on her palms, and staring at the grass flattened under her bare feet.
Only moments after she had taken this pose, the door was slammed upon loudly.
She jumped up from her skin, walking calmly up to the door, unlocking it, and opening it to the guest.
The Rebel Leader stood with her arms behind her back, staring up at the human with innocent violet eyes.
Umi grinned down at her. She always was the playful type Grubb she thought of.
"What'dya want, ma'am?" Umi asked politely.
"We need you to come with us. You're goin' shoppin' with us, Umi," the Rebel Leader nodded.
Umi folded her arms across her chest, giving a half grin to her again.
"Sorry. I can't. I have to stay home 'til Stranger gets 'ere," Umi shrugged.
The Rebel Leader gave a sly grin.
"He gave you permission to come with us, human," she nodded.
Umi grinned skeptically, raising a brow to her.
"It's true! Would I ever lie to you, human?" she began to flutter her eyelashes innocently to Umi.
Umi groaned. She hated when the Rebel Leader flattered herself to make her look innocent. She huffed a loud sigh, then held up a hand to her face.
"Alright...I believe you. Just...stop that," Umi said.
"Good! Go get dressed, and make it tute' suit!" the Rebel Leader snapped her fingers.
Umi chuckled, turning slowly from the door, and walking in to her bedroom, flashing out her pants, vest, and shirt. She undressed herself of her night garments, then quickly dressed herself in her regular fashion. She trotted back to the Rebel Leader, patiently waiting for the human to come back.
She gave a great smile, leading Umi out of the door.
"Where we goin'?" Umi asked.
"We'll be going to the marketplace of Last Legs. They have a bunch of cool crap down there," the Rebel Leader told, walking down to the docks.
Two Grubbs in a medium-sized boat waved to both of them kindly, holding oars in their hands in the frosty water.
"Old madam Janie might have something to sell as well. She's the one who sewed up your clothes, kid"
Umi and she sat down in the boat, nodding to the Grubbs.
The rowers pushed off the frozen riverbed, stroking gently out to the wide Mongo River. The Rebel Leader sat in front of Umi, beginning to chat with her, as they made their way to Last Legs.

They parked away from the boat that was obviously Stranger's, and headed through the now-silent town of Last Legs. Umi only shrugged. It was, after all, Sunday. And Sunday was the most hated day of the week, where all children and people would have to go to work the next day, and regret not having those extra hours of sleep they wanted in.
The Rebel Leader led themselves through the "Tardy Coop," nodding respectfully at the landlord like they knew each other. She turned to the bartender, a grousy-lookiing Clakker, rubbing the inside of a clear-glass mug.
The Rebel Leader smiled kindly to the 'tender, it returning.
"Whut can I do you fer, lil' ladies?" it hung an elbow over the counter.
"We need to get to Madam Janie's place. May we take the undeground tunnels? It's awfully cold outside to walk such a long distance," the Rebel Leader began her innocent fluttering of the eyelashes again, to flatter the old kook bartender.
It gave a hollow smile, turning away behind it to two large basement doors under its feet.
Both of them hung around behind the counter, stepping down the wooden planks to the musty underground tunnel, the catacombs of the city.
The bartender gave a rickety salute to the human and the Rebel Leader.
"Dun' git too messed up down thar, you fragile lil' ladies," it said with a croaky cluck.
The Rebel Leader nodded, rolling her eyes as she turned away from the old Clakker.
Umi followed under, as the Clakker shut the doors behind her.
The tunnel was musty grey, and a nasty, dirty dust floating around the heated walkway. The dust might've annoyed them, but it was better than trotting through ice-cold climates in the morning.
The Rebel Leader took Umi through winding dusty corridors, turn after straightaway, after each basement door to some cluttering store or home. She stopped at an indented door with a black hinged lock holding the door down. She slammed her fist up on it, and waited patiently for the host to answer.
Gentle footsteps slid to the basement doors. The door thumped of the locks opening. A dim light flitered through the unsettling dust, and an old Grubb lady's face smiled gently upon the visitors.
"Madam Janie," the Rebel Leader bowed her head.
"May we come in? I have the human right here,"
The Grubb's face turned behind the Rebel Leader. Her smile broadened under her bags of wrinkles near her lips.
"Very well, my dears. Come on in," Madam Janie moved aside, waving an arm open to her shop.
The Rebel Leader's face lightened up, bowing to the Madam, then made her way in to the shop.
Umi nodded to the old Grubb gratefully, following the Rebel Leader in.
Entering the shop was a sumptuous smell of lavender and vanilla scented candles burning and flickering of orange fire. Shelves and racks of hand-made clothing stood close by each other.
The Rebel Leader broke away from Umi, sorting frantically through the assortment of shirts and blouses, most of the colored a jade green to blue.
Umi glanced at a small stack of jeans.
Denim jeans.
She couldn't get over the fact that she loved denim. Plus, even though she wasn't girly, it went with everything.
She began to unfold the small assortment of jeans.
They were a dark blue, with dark cherrywood-red colored tassles hanging loosely under the legs of the jeans.
Umi nodded in impressment. She didn't know the Grubbs would have such good hand-skills, especially with denim.
She looked over to the Rebel Leader, she holding down a bunch of shirts under her arm, and still sorting through the racks of blouses. She ran back to Umi, holding up a really thin-peering cloth blouse up to her. She shook her head dissagreeing, putting the shirt back behind her, and checking again. This time, it was a loose jade-green poncho with visible green tassles looped with wooden beads.
"Mmm...nope," she frowned, bringing up the last shirt.
This one dazzled both of them just a little.
The shirt was a deep dark green-blue, two tassle ties at the hip, and had two winding snake dragons at the shouter and below the belly. they sparkled multi-colors at each limb of its stitched body.
The Rebel Leader gave an interested grumble, eyeing the shirt and Umi over and over again.
"This might work..." she said, putting up to Umi's chest, and flattening it out.
"try it on"
Umi took the shirt under her arm with her jeans, turning to the Madam.
Madam Janie pointed behind a skirt of beads showering over a doorway by her counter.
She flushed under the beads, disappearing from their sight.
The Rebel Leader and Madam Janie waited patiently, until the jingle of beads sounded.
Umi came out, the shirt fitted perfectly over her body, and the jeans not too short and not too long.
The Rebel Leader gave a half-shrug.
"Not too bad..." she turned to the Madam.
"but you have a surprise for Umi as well, don't'cha, Madam?"
The Madam nodded her head, shuffling her stubby legs back behind the beads as well. She returned, holding up a near-invisible green veil, and walking over to Umi.
"Must be careful with this item, young one," she spoke quivery.
"It is made of the Bolamite's silk. Really hard to obtain from a Bolamite's web. Light as a feather, but as warm as a fire," she put it over Umi.
The veil was a light green, powdering the deep blue-green shirt Umi wore to a lighter shade. She smiled back up to the Madam sweetly.
"Thanks," Umi bowed her head.
The Rebel Leader smiled to the Madam. She walked to the basement doors again, the Madam allowing them to leave.
The Rebel Leader turned to her, giving a respectful nod.
"I'll bring you a Torrent-kiel next time I stop by, Madam!" she saluted her.
Madam Janie nodded kindly.
"I'll keep that in mind, ma'am," she replied, closing the basement doors behind them.
Umi blinked at the Rebel Leader.
"What was that all about?" she asked.
The Rebel Leader's mind began to swirl. She mustn't let out the secret.
"Oh...Uh. I guess Steef knew how bored you'd be, and decided to let me take you out for the day," she lied.
Umi made a quick hum, looking back down the dusty corridors of the catacombs.
The Rebel Leader could sense some suspicion in the human's voice. But she let it go, only to think that if she'd do something else, she'd actually spill the beans. And she wasn't really of a secretive person either, which made things pretty difficult for the Queen and the Steef to trust her...