Sol housed the largest shifter population in Jauhar—and all of Tendaji, for that matter. It was nearest to Tale, and by virtue of that, further from the dangers posed by the rumors and travel that congregated through Neued. While Annatha and her family, ‘odd’ as it was by most standards, might have seen a more mixed congregation of faces there, her parents had decided that further from those who would pose their mother harm was better. Thus, even on a routine trip to the floor, through the market area where vines and other local foliage served as much as shop props as did anything that looked distinctly crafted, Annatha stood out.

There was no way of hiding it. Unlike her sister, who could have chosen to dye her hair and hide her crystals, leaving only her eyes as a giveaway, Annatha was as brown as her ‘father’ must have been, and though her white hair was striking against it and blended with the shifter population here, she did not ‘pass’ as one of them. It was particularly notable at night, of course, when all of them became pearlescent and white as the moon.

But, after years of inhabitance, even the oddest of faces became a ‘norm’ eventually, at least in that all their neighbors knew her. She was not particularly close with any of them, but could not be classed as an outsider. Just ‘Dris’rynne’s girl’ down from the canopy to buy breakfast and a few other necessities for the day.

She was dressed more casually than she might have in Oba, but despite having moved to a world that saw no need for clothing beyond the bare necessities at a relatively young age, after ‘coming of age’ so to speak, she had never felt comfortable dressing as the natives did either. Even when living among them for significant periods. She compromised with a pair of airy pants, bare calloused feet, and a sleeveless top that at least gave some relief from the jungle heat, if otherwise plain and uninspiring.

A leaf brassiere would never suffice to convince her she was adequately ‘dressed,’ and while spending a number of years of her youth among shifter children in the trees had taught her feet to manage without much complaint if they went without boots, she still felt crudely bare in anything that failed to fully cover her arse and ideally some portion of her thigh.

“Ani!” One of the friendlier vendors whom Annatha had originally come to know quite young was at her stall already, prepared behind a fresh baked array of options that must have had the woman up long hours before to have them ready now. Upon catching her eye, Yirrah — who was only a handful of years older than herself — gestured her over. There were a handful of market goers already perusing, but she gave a nod as she approached. On arrival, a squeal from the neighboring stall arrangement drew her eye, briefly.

“Katya is doing well with his livestock trading, I see…” Annatha noted. It was immediately obvious that Yirrah was less than fond.

“They smell,” the young shifter woman hissed beneath her breath, leaning forward as she did toward Ani, presumably to keep the assertion between them, but Annatha couldn’t help the tug at a corner of her lip as she snorted her amusement. Yirrah shook her head as she leaned back, and then smiled, voice returning to a full, normal tone when she spoke again. “Will it be the usual this morning, then?”