Ghost Child

"Miss? Can yeh help me, miss?"

Jack turned to look at the source of the small voice. tapping her leg was a cub. The cub patted her, eyes fixed emploringly on her face. "Ah'm lost. Can yeh help me find my mum?" the strange cub asked, pink fur eerily irridescent in the light of the crystal lanterns.

"Do yeh know where she's s'pposed to be?" Jack asked, speaking with a deliberate slowness.

What as a cub doing here? This section of Paschara was usually abandoned.

The cub hooked her tail over her back. "Mum said teh meet by the--the... the padaga!" her face bright, so certain she was saying the right word. To her credit it was close enough that Jack understood.
And.... if the little one was lost... she couldn't just leave her, right?

"Alright." she nodded, and turned. She'd explain to mother why she was late. "I know where that is. Follow me and I'll take you there?"
The cub needed entirely too little convincing.

--

They reached the pagoda quickly enough. The lanterns were started to shift to their red phase to signal the day had grown long, though they'd only been walking about ten minutes. Crowds slowly filled in around Jack and the cub, but she paid them no mind--a favor returned by the familiar faces--and approached the statue of a stacked spire. The cub chirped in delight, and charged forward towards a pink harpy who was glancing around frantically.

"Mum!" the cub called, and the kadin snapped her head around. Jack hooked her tail in a friendly greeting, suddenly feeling awkward. As the cub collided with her mother's leg, the pair turned.

"Thank you, miss." the kadin said, dipping her head. "You're very kind."

And before Jack's eyes, the pair vanished.