Post by b3lla on Jun 19, 2011 0:40:06 GMT -5
[/color]"but i--"
"no, jasmine."
"i just--"[/color]
"no, jasmine."
"i can--"[/color]
"no, jasmine."
"daddy, please--!"[/color]
"NO, JASMINE!" evergreen stood up from his desk and glowered down at his daughter. "that is more than enough." "hey, what's going on in here?" rose demanded, concern written across her frown as she bustled into her husband's office.
jasmine looked at her mother with eyes filled with angry tears. "you wardens have kept me locked up in this stupid town for fourteen years."[/color] "i've told you, time and time again, jasmine, you can wait until you're eighteen to explore gim," evergreen began crossly. "i'm not a child, dad!"[/color] jasmine cried out. "but you are," her father insisted. "that is the end of that." "what's so wrong about me going out into the world, huh?"[/color] she snapped. evergreen pounded a fist on his desk. "you can't fend for yourself! you know how things a--" "because you never taught me!"[/color] jasmine shouted. she surveyed the desk quickly and snatched a piece of yellowed paper off the surface. "you think i can't fend for myself, huh? just watch me."[/color] "jasmine--"
jasmine wasn't there anymore. in her place was a dusty brown meerkat with black spots around the eyes. as a human, jasmine wasn't nearly fast enough to outrun her father. as a meerkat? she could make a mile in less than seven minutes. and that's why she had to do this. she tucked the map inside her mouth and scampered out of the office. "JASMINE!" her father yelled. she could hear his footsteps thumping after her, but that only made her run faster. she ran and she ran until she was well into the forest. she couldn't hear anything but the sound of the nearby river. cautiously, she transformed back into a human and pulled the map out of her mouth, looking around in awe. so this is the forest. this is what dad has been hiding me for all these years. she unfolded the map and looked at the path from here to higher sonica.
jasmine wasn't gonna stay away forever, of course. this was only temporary. she loved her dad and all, but he just didn't understand. sure, she was gonna get killed--literally, killed when she got back home, but this was definitely worth it.
- - -
"and a good morning to you, flowers. how are you all?"[/color]
corvus smiled brightly at the flower bed he had outside of his house, bending over to water each of their heads. it was these flowers that brought him the most joy in his one-hundred-and-three years. or at least, ever since he was allowed to leave the orphanage. those were the blasted eighteen years of his life. he shuddered at the thought.
but even though he loved his flower bed to death, corvus was still lonely. he longed for some friends--living, breathing friends. i don't think i've had friends since twenty years ago, he realized somberly. his last friends weren't lucky enough to have a lifespan nearly as long as his--or maybe they were lucky, and he was the unlucky one--and had died a long time ago. corvus bit his lip and shook more water onto the flowers.
"down on the ground, miss." "i'm sorry--i didn't know, i swear!" "down on the ground, he said."
corvus perked up curiously, dropping his blue watering can in interest. none of the other natives even moved an inch at the sound of the intrusion, but corvus was interested beyond repair. he abandoned the watering can and raced to the entrance of the native's palace.
there, a collection of guards had a young girl by her arms, several weapons pushed against her back. "what are you doing?"[/color] he asked incredulously, putting one hand on his back and the other in his hair. one of the guards looked up from the girls' fear-clouded face. "we caught her intruding, sir," he explained gruffly.
corvus shook his head. "the girl is with me,"[/color] he said calmly, and he reached his hands forward. "now, if you will..."[/color]
the girl stared at him, confused, but of course, did not object. she let the guards reluctantly hand her over, and corvus slid his arm into hers. "thank you,"[/color] he said to the guards, flashing them a polite smile, and he escorted the girl back to his house.
once they were out of earshot, the girl turned to him. "what ever did you do that for?" "haven't you ever heard of 'thank you'?"[/color] corvus murmured, using his free hand to collect his watering can from its spot on the ground. "i've just saved your life. now, i've been around a long time, but i'm almost certain that gratitude is still in style."[/color]
corvus looked over at the girl and smiled. she looked down, blushing. "thank you," she mumbled. "you're very welcome,"[/color] he chirped. "let's go into my house, shall we? it's quite hot out here."[/color]
the two walked into the mansion, the girl not saying a word as they went, and corvus made a beeline for the kitchen. inside, he poured lemonade into two cut-crystal wine glasses. he handed one to the young girl seated at the head of his long dining table and sat next to her, pleased at the arrangement. it looked odd to finally have someone other than himself seated at the table, but he was also very excited by this.
"who are you?" the girl asked warily. she toyed with her glass of lemonade, watching the liquid slosh back and forth inside the crystal. corvus took a long sip of his to show her that he indeed had not poisoned it, a bit hurt that she didn't trust him, but then again, he didn't blame her. when she still didn't take a drink, he cleared his throat to answer her question. "you can call me corvus,"[/color] he said brightly, his own name sounding weird in his own voice, as it had been quite a while since he had last introduced himself. but, like seeing the seating arrangement, it was a good kind of weird. "i'm the head native here,"[/color] he added, wondering if she'd trust him if she knew he had quite a bit of authority. he put his glass to his lips and drank some more. "how about you? do you have a name?"[/color]
the girl nodded, staring at her glass. "please, go ahead and drink it already,"[/color] corvus sighed desperately. "i promise you, dear, i did not do anything to it."[/color]
she surveyed her glass for a moment longer before finally taking a sip. she wiped some lemonade off of her upper lip with the fleshy part of her thumb, and after a few seconds, a small smile appeared on her face for the first time since corvus had seen her. this made him laugh, and his laugh made her laugh. "it's good," she giggled bashfully. corvus tapped her hand. "name?"[/color]
"oh," she said, remembering. "jasmine." "jasmine..."[/color] he repeated thoughtfully. "jasmine... jasmine..."[/color] he took a sip of lemonade. "pretty."[/color] "thank you," jasmine said quietly. she drank some more.
"so, what brings you here?"[/color] corvus got up to bring the lemonade pitcher to the table. "i don't believe i've ever seen you around higher sonica,"[/color] he continued. "and do i know the people in higher sonica. you see, i get bored very easily and often resort to wandering."[/color] "bored? here?"
corvus placed the pitcher in front of her and sat back down. "i have a lot of money and a lot of possessions, jasmine,"[/color] he said quietly, "but i'm a very lonely person. and that is why i saved you."[/color] he smiled. "so that maybe, we could be friends."[/color]
jasmine smiled back. a chirpy "sure" was her response.
corvus's grin widened. "splendid."[/color] he noticed the waning supply of lemonade in her glass and filled it back up. "but this friendship is going to be a difficult one if you keep avoiding my questions. your being here, jasmine--why?"[/color] "oh," she said again. she bit her lip and tapped a finger against the table before continuing. "ever since i was born, i've been... trapped in romula," she said, the slowness in her voice indicating the fact that she was picking her words carefully. "my parents have always thought that the outside world was just too dangerous for me right now, that they were protecting me by keeping me in one place. but i'm a very impatient person." she took a long, thoughtful sip of lemonade. "so today, i just... flew off the handle. i fought with my dad, and i ran away." "you're going back though, right?"[/color] corvus asked intently. although he wanted her to stay as long as possible, parents were an important thing to him--his own had disappeared a month after his birth, and though he didn't really mind it at all, it bugged him somewhat that he never knew his parents. and he always wanted those who had them to realize how lucky they were, even when it seemed like they weren't.
"of course," jasmine said. "i'm just... my dad will kill me." she laughed. "i don't even know why i did this. i just lost my patience." "well, if you hadn't done this, then we would have never met,"[/color] corvus reminded her. she smiled. "yeah."[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]
