Pip's First Encounter with Onyx

Pipsqueak had been wandering the market area for what felt like hours. She had been rudely awoken this morning by a pack of seagulls who had decided her tiny alcove in the roof of an old church would be the perfect place for a new nest. Of course, they had left quickly once Pip had hissed at them. But the encounter had left her sleep deprived, which was always dangerous in a city as bustling as this. She ducked underneath outstretched arms and took shortcuts across the buildings in the hopes that she would find a merchant not paying attention to their wares, or a noble with loose change in a big pocket. Pip stopped as she realized she was entering the tavern area of the market. Normally coming here during the morning was useless as the taverns were just opening and their patrons hadn't had a chance to get drunk yet. As she was standing in an alleyway trying to decide whether risking going into a tavern for the chance of fresh bread, or returning to the main market, she saw a figure in a big cloak pass by her. The figure seemed to be walking hurriedly towards an alleyway between two of the taverns. Pip was confused, that alley didn't go anywhere, and it wasn't a good spot for begging as it was still morning, and no one came here in the morning. Pip's stomach grumbled as she ducked out after the figure, her curiosity getting the better of her. Maybe she could help the person out! Tell them where the better places to beg were! She stopped in her tracks. But maybe the other beggars would be mad if she told this person all the good spots, and maybe this person wasn't even a beggar! She decided to watch the person before talking to them. Pip scaled the tavern beside the alley, trying to be as quiet as possible, before coming to rest on the roof. She peaked over the edge and began to study the person. They sure looked like a beggar!
They had a ragged cloak on, and what little Pip could see if their face looked like it had big patches of dirt on it. They weren't sitting quite right though. Pip had seen a lot of beggars, and they all sat the same. As if they had nothing left for them in life. This person didn't sit like that. They almost sat as if they were, alert, for some reason. Pip decided breakfast could wait, because there was a mystery going on with the figure below her, and she wanted to know what it was.
After only about ten minutes, Pip was bored. She was so bored. She'd never sat this still in her life before and she felt like she was dying. This person was boring! They weren't even doing anything besides putting their hand in their pocket every once in a while. What was in that pocket anyways? Pip was frustrated. She'd waited here for what felt like hours and nothing had even happened. She decided it was time to give up on this and go find breakfast. She slid down the gutter and landed on the ground without a sound, and looked up just to see two men disappear into the alley she had just been watching. Pip huffed. Of course the action would happen right when she gave up. She turned around the corner and found herself right next to the cloaked figure. Pip looked around them quickly, but the two men were talking to themselves further in, and weren't talking to the figure at all! This was frustrating. Pip had been hoping for a grand adventure happening in this alleyway! She was mad at the figure, they'd wasted nearly her entire morning! Or so she thought, Pip didn't really understand how to tell time. She was about to leave the alley when she remembered the figure fiddling with something in their cloak. Pip snuck her hand it, felt something hard, and took it. She was out of the alley before she had even opened her hand. If the figure wasn't going to give her an adventure, they could at least give her this. She stuffed it in a pocket-she's look at it later. Crowds were beginning to grow near the taverns, but Pip was heading back toward the market, for breakfast.