Blast from the Past 4: Berries and Bird Food

NY, Central Park, 1.5 years in the past:
The city which never sleeps had been a rather mediocre place for the young Blonde to be. It was cold and the sky scrapers turned the streets into black holes when there were no city lights. The most promising part of the city seemed to be Central Park for her, although it also had some problems. Mayor problem was that she could not sleep in the park, police was rather strict. And the one type of persons she could not stomach were the police.

So she was, in a rather ragged appearance with her small raven-shaped Backpack, trotting down a little way in the park and rubbed her hands together to get them warm, looking for some berries who were usually reserved for birds. Or even some bird seed, which were strange enough good for nutrition.
*Only fair for the Raven*
A little smile crossed her face.
She only had a few coins left but had not to pay rent for her little underground apartment, but she still had to eat. Sure she could scavenge from burger restaurants, but that was a thing she could not always do as it gathered attraction. And if all other things failed, there was always GoGo or Hooker for curious girls.

Somewhere within a park, a slender girl dressed in a dark hooded jacket and short pants and thigh-high boots was crouching near a bench. Her hood was draped back, exposing her short, light grayish hair to anyone passing her, although there seemed to be no one around at this time. Under her jacket was a white collared shirt, and wrapped around her pants was a thick, dark belt with a weird shaped buckle in silver. Lying next to the girl was worn out backpack and a thin, long object covered in a piece of cloths. The girl had an expressionless face as she watched the crows feasting on a piece of crackers in front of her. Her blue eye didn't wink at all as if she was a predator who was carefully observing her prey before she went for the catch. But she wasn't about to eat the crows or anything. Animals, for her was wonderful, pure creatures, compared to humans who would kill each other for something petty like money.The short haired girl would look up briefly to the sky, her blue eye gazed at the cloudy sky of New York for a moment before she would set her sight back to the crows.

It's going to rain soon...

Her other eye was covered with a black eye patch with some weird pattern painted on it. It wasn't wounded or anything, but she always covered it whenever she's out in the public to avoid people's attention. She always prefer low exposure for a couple of reasons, most of which were personal. As she continued watching the crows, she took out another piece of cracker from her pocket and was about to put it on the ground when she heard a faint sound of footsteps behind her. Her expression didn't change as she slowly moved her other hand towards the long object next to her and grabbed it before carefully turning around to see whoever it was behind her.

As always, the screeching of Ravens caught her curiosity, and so she had walked unconsciously in their direction. Strange enough, she had always considered the birds their extended family after the girls from her old fighting grounds.

She as quite surprised or rather shocked at the sight of a person crouching near a bench. The eye-patch reminded her painfully of one of her instructors, but this person was much younger than Asuka and only shared the patch with her. But she had the fluid motions of a person who knew how to handle herself by grabbing a concealed thing beside her, not the usual slow or panicked reaction to something unexpected.
Coincidence? Meeting by chance? Her thoughts raced over the subject. It would have been the biggest streak of bad luck if someone had caught with her in the middle of a park when the last person she had met had been left behind half an hour ago. And crumbs on the bottom. Which vounty hunter would feed ravens?

"Easy. I just take a walk."
She finally said after clearing her throat, ready to make a wild dash in the park if the need would arise.

The girl would stare at the blonde in front of her with an empty gaze, as if she was trying to look through her words to find out whether the other girl was lying or not. The short haired girl had to be careful, for this city was still foreign for her, and because she was a wanted person. After deducing that the blonde wasn't anyone dangerous in particular, the short haired girl would slowly turn around again and throw the cracker on her gloved hand towards the crows. It startled the birds a bit, but they would soon feast on the piece of food given to them.

"Go ahead, then. Be careful on the road," she said in a plain tone.

It wasn't a warning or anything, more like a friendly advice from a stranger, despite her tone. The girl with the eye patch would set her ears carefully to observe whether the blonde would simply leave, or try anything funny on her. Whatever the other girl might have planned, she would be more than ready to react.

A meeting by chance. Air escaped her mouth, and she got more relaxed instead of being totally stiff. Whoever this women was, it was no normal person, but she had obviously no beef with her or was looking for her. And anyone who liked Ravens could not be a bad person. Or maybe she knew about Anja and made her more safe by letting her assume that? But this *I Know that she knows that I know* talks led her nowhere.

"Sure."
she replied and was about to go her merry way when a bush with berries came into her line of sight. Ravens were curious and would always ignore a boring bush full of berries if there was a person who promised more interesting food, and they would find food everywhere while Anja could not pick for crumbs, so they would surely forgive her as she crouched beside the bush to pick some berries. First drops of water hit on her used cloak, so she had a steady pace of picking the berries up. And a slight grin on the face as the Ravens surrounded the cracker lady to pick the top spot for crumbs.

The short haired girl glanced at the blond as she was starting to pick the berries from the nearby bush and turned around slightly again. She would look at the other girl in a similar way she watched the ravens earlier, an empty gaze without a single bat of eyelashes. Picking up her backpack along with the long covered object next to her as she slowly got up, the shot haired girl would walk past the blonde. Once she was close enough she would pause and glance at the other girl once more with an empty expression.

"The big raven isn't going to join the crowds, so it seems." she said to no one in particular.

She was just acting out of curiosity. A rare occurrence, but once in a while she wouldn't mind a conversation with a complete stranger. The blonde seemed interesting enough. Not many people who lived in a big city such as this would go to a park to look for a food, except for homeless, maybe. This girl didn't really look like one, though, or so the short haired girl thought.

*Huh? How did she knew?*
A slight flash of panic swept over her face.
*Oh. The backpack. Or it's me picking berries.*
At least she hoped, and it was too late to simply run now. All she could do now was smile slightly and go on.
"I have no beak to pick crumbs from your hand and so would just waste time by hopping around you. Would have to sit on your lap for that. Not that I would mind..."
The women was kind of straight forward, further cementing Anja's feeling that this was no ordinary person. Maybe she was looking for some fun with her? Maybe she was otherwise shady, or the device lying next to her was not a taser or a stick but a more dangerous weapon. So she was kind of straight forward too and tried to eliminate possible intentions. Not to speak of chances to maybe find an unexpected customer.

"The backpack," she said without a change of expression. "And there's that too."

She didn't smile or anything as the blonde continued to talk, until the girl mentioned about sitting on her lap or something. The short haired girl would then turn her head to look away, still maintaining her blank expression. The blonde's straightforwardness kind of caught her off guard, just a little.

"Uh, yeah."

She would look at the blonde again, not really knowing on what to say after that remark. Socializing wasn't her forte, after all. The eye patch girl would turn around after a moment of silence, starting to leave the scene.

"Well, see you ar-"

Her speech was cut short by a grumbling noise that possibly came from her own stomach. She would pause for a bit after that awkward moment. Fortunately from their position the blonde couldn't see her face, even though she didn't blush or anything.

Ok, she was not looking to have some of that fun. Scratched. Leaving other avenues and motivations open. When she turned around, Anja was also about to forget, as good as someone with her mindset could at least, until the girl was stopped by her stomach.

Usually, she would not give a rat's ass about someone who was hungry. She was hungry most of the time, so it was not so much to think about. But still, she had shared her last cracker with the birds...
"Hungry? Generous to share something to eat then."
It was basically none of her business, but the fact that this person never changed her impression reminded her of the mask she wore as a child and in her late teens. Not the type for a day job as she noted for herself, taking on a more relaxed impression.
"None of my business, but if you don't know where to go for a meal, I may have a solution. Not exactly a 5 star meal..."

The short haired girl looked at the blonde, still no change on her facial expression as she inched closer and crouched beside the girl. She could have simply walked away and look for food in some other place. Normally that would be the case. However for some reason she felt like staying and perhaps talk some more with this stranger. The blonde didn't seem like a bad person after all.

"Sure," she would say before looking at the girl plainly again and extended her right hand. "Runa. That's the name they gave me."

On a closer inspection, she could tell that the blonde wasn't a homeless. She didn't smell like one, and her face was too clean to be one. From the look of it they seemed like they're in the same age. The blonde might be a bit younger, but the age difference didn't seem to be a lot.