Snowfall

Veronika wove her way easily through the crowded streets of the city, gradually making her way from the respectable part of town to the seedy part that she was most familiar and comfortable with. She fit in here more than the snobby, rich section where she was nothing but scum. Here, she could hold her own.

Veronika spotted the familiar alley that led to what she'd deemed as 'Vasya's Nest' and dove down it with quick steps. She hurried along with a scowl on her face that warned everyone who knew what she was about that she wasn't in the mood for any crap. One drunk man didn't heed her silent warning and after a few well placed punches and kicks. He was out cold.

Eventually, Veronika reached the familiar broken ladder that led up the side of an abandoned building to Vasya's place and jumped up off a nearby dumpster, a high leap that brought her to the second rung. She swung up and scrambled up the ladder to the fourth floor fire exit. She slipped in through a broken window and her scowl immediately dissolved into a smile. "Hey Vasya, what's up?" she casually asked her best friend in the world. "Just though I'd drop in." Outside, a gentle snow began to fall.