Nocturnal Wanderings of an Itty-Bitty
((This happens like a week or so before the CO, so..yah, enjoy!))
The Princess Nadia was walking through the Lollipop Forrest with her trusty triceratops, Bubbles, and the rest of her friends when suddenly an evil laugh made the troop stop dead in their tracks. The evil Stone Imp was standing in their path, his fiery eyes daring them to challenge him. Fire eyes didn't scare Princess Nadia though. It was the evil way the Lollipop Forrest had turned upon his arrival. All the sudden a wind was blowing her this way and that and the trees were reaching for her menacingly--!" CRASH!!
Nadia awoke with a start as she fell to the floor, her limbs all tangled up from her trying to escape the menacing branches of the trees of the Lollipop Forrest. It didn't help that a big roll of thunder was still sounding outside her window. That only made it more frightening. Struggling to get up, she listened to figure out if her Papa was awake in the other room. They'd just moved into the family dormitories of the mansion a bit after her arrival so that she could have her own room. Apparently, her father was either a sound sleeper or he was roaming somewhere in search of food or was grading papers...Or something like that. The auburn-haired eight year old grimaced as she rubbed her back-side.
"At least I got outta those sheets..," she muttered as she grabbed a wad of sheets and comforter and threw it all onto the bed again. She listened a few more seconds before peaking out. 'Nope, no sign of him..,' she thought as she slipped into her little panda slippers and pulled on her fluffy lavender robe with the moon and star on the front pockets over her pooh bear short and tee pjs. She was too young to really be embarrassed about her appearance, but all the same, she ran a brush through her hair before tip-toeing out of her room and out the dormitory door. Of course, Nadia made sure that there weren't any grown-ups in the hall before tip-toeing down the hallway and along a few passages. Once she was sure she was far enough away from the family dormitories area, the little eight-year-old breathed a sigh of relief.
So, where should she go first? This was her first time exploring at night. While it was a bit scary with a thunderstorm going on and all, it sounded like even the storm was quietly retreating and that it wouldn't be too long before it simply turned into a small rainstorm. Besides, she was carrying Bubbles in her arms, him as light as a stuffed teddy bear. Holding him always made her feel safer.
Now, back to where she should go first..Should she dare try to sneak down to the restricted areas while the mansion slept? Technically it was only midnight and not really late for grown-ups. However, to an eight year old, this was pretty late!
She was just about to turn down a corridor when she heard a rather loud crash of thunder that made her jump and want to run all the way back to her room. She was about to do just that when she noticed that she wasn't alone down the hallway.
'Okay, just gotta turn on the charm!,' Nadia thought as she noticed that she'd never met this grown-up before. "Hello," she said in a cheerful-I-hope-you-don't-send-me-to-bed sort of way, a semi-shy smile on her little face.
Illidan had awoken normally, but with the pleasant surprise of thunder. He rose silently from his fort-like bed, surrounded by heavy drapes and various other forms of concealment, he often wondered if it was solely to keep the light out. After all, what if someone were to accidentally enter his room? He didn't move in his sleep, at all. And he had no pulse that he knew of, though he was sure that blood ran through his veins, after all, he cried blood. He stopped himself before he went off on yet another mental tangent that would be sure to put him in a dour mood, after all, a storm was brewing. He was about to leave his room when he realized he was stark naked.
He almost didn't care, except it was still early enough that people would be about and he didn't want an uncomfortable experience for them. He slipped into some jeans and a tee-shirt, he pulled on one of his many leather jackets after that. As he finished tying his shoes he felt satisfied with his appearance and left the room. He made no effort to conceal his speed as he moved amazingly quickly through the school and out into the brewing storm. He settled down on the roof and relaxed, even going so far as to symbolically lean back, though neither position differed in terms of comfort.
As the powerful wind picked up Illidan felt almost alive again, it caressed his face like the hand of some many of his lost loves as they would stare deeply into his silver eyes, which shown now like diamonds. He rose to his feet slowly, gracefully, almost dancing with the movements of the wind. His arms outstretched, reaching for the sky, and for a moment, he felt him self lift off the ground, his desire to dance in the sky amongst the clouds was so powerful that it almost unlocked another stage of his power, but he fell back down as soon as his mind snapped away from the clouds and to his hovering feet.
A bit shaken but still utterly determined to enjoy this beautiful storm Illidan closed his eyes and listened, felt, even tasted the air, the thunder, the light rain that had begun. He must have been outside for hours when he finally opened his eyes, drawn from his ecstasy by the receding thunder, and a kind of heartbeat he had not heard in a long time. It was powerful, and pure. With a firm grasp on life. It was the heartbeat of a child, unfettered by any real living. He turned to the hallway windows just in time to see a tiny shadow sneak by. Like a black and white blur Illidan was there, in the hallway look down it at her. He was almost tempted to chuckle. It was so odd how differently people acted a night. Of course the only reason Illidan had stopped acting unusually at night is because he had become the thing that goes bump in the night.
Illidan was surprised, to say the least when she noticed him approaching. "Hello!" She offered him a most charming and cheerful smile and Illidan's cold and analytical demeanor almost melted. All the while, dum, dum, dum, was the sound in his ears, the beating of her heart, the smell of blood and fear on her. Illidan was suddenly aware that he had not eaten tonight, he had rushed out into the storm rather than stop by the medical bay. He was hungry, and white as marble. The hunger he could handle, he just hoped he didn't scare this little girl away, he wasn't sure, but he thought he might have liked her.
"Hello there little one. Now," He tried his best to sound concerned, but a smile was already breaking through his facade, "what are you doing out at this time of night, and all alone no less!"
Re: Nocturnal Wanderings of an Itty-Bitty"Hello there little one. Now," He tried his best to sound concerned, but a smile was already breaking through his facade, "what are you doing out at this time of night, and all alone no le[/b]
The grown-up standing before her was a wet man. She uses the term 'man' usely since she sensed there was something odd about him and he didn't look as old as her father. Except, maybe in the eyes. Nadia figured that his skin was pale only because he either didn't get out much or he was one of those Europe-y types. She remembered that her mother had had pale skin; and while her own skin was the type that was pale, rosy, and freckled if she stayed out in the sun too much, she still wasn't as pale as him. She scrunched up her nose and tilted her head as if she were trying to figure out a particularly hard puzzle as she looked at him.
Meanwhile, Bubbles had decided it was his duty to investigate this stranger. So, he jumped down and tried his best to look a bit menacing before he started sniffing around the man's feet like Nadia had seen many dogs do whenever they were suspicious of someone. It was about now that Nadia decided to ask, "Are you from one of those Europe-y places?" True to kid form, the girl's curiosity won against her manners side. As if to make all better to be from one of those 'Europe-y places', she went on to mention, "My great grandmother was from one of those places."
Yes, she was dancing around his question. She knew she shouldn't be out of bed. Obviously, she wouldn't be trying to misdirect the conversation if she had wanted to answer his question. All while she was trying to change the subject, Bubbles had decided he didn't quite trust this person and was backing away slowly back to Nadia, never taking his eyes off of him. Nadia looked down at her triceratops with a look as if to say, 'why do you do this, Bubbles?'. All the while, her reasoning was that her father wouldn't have brought her here if there had been any bad guys roaming the halls. Then again, she was supposed to be safely asleep in her room right now...
When looking menacing wasn't enough for the little triceratops, it decided to try pulling Nadia further away from the man with his teeth. However, this didn't work because ultimately he wasn't very big. He may have come up to her knee, but that doesn't give you as much strength as say a real baby triceratops. It was then that she totally ruined his protective image by picking him up as if he were an actual stuffed animal. It was then that Blossom the flutterby appeared in all her turquoise greatness. She landed on Bubbles' head and looked up at Nadia as if to say, 'Well, I'm trying to help'.
"Sorry about that," she said, trying hard to keep hold of Bubbles while he squirmed unhappily in her bear hug, "He's usually the sweetest thing.."
Re: Nocturnal Wanderings of an Itty-Bitty
"Are you from one of those Europe-y places? My great grandmother was from one of those places." Illidan looked at her with a bemused half smirk. He tapped his chin while he observed the little triceratops. He knew the girl was dodging his question, but he had hardly been serious when he asked it. He was also not surprised by the reaction of the dinosaur animals had a natural distrust of the undead, and apparently imagined ones were no different. "I'm from France," he pronounced France like a true Parisian, "it is, in fact, a Europe-y place." He was quite tickled by the little one
So he looked at the little girl and her friends. "Sorry about that," he watched the supposedly extinct creature squirm in her arms, battling for its freedom, for some reason it sickened him, "He's usually the sweetest thing..." Illidan laughed dismissively. "You know what, I bet he's just worried, after all, we've never met. Why don't you put him down and let him investigate a little more. And, since you're up already it might just be better to let you stay up until you are feeling really tired, so you can go back to sleep nice and easy. If you ask me, the best way to pass time at night is to grab a huge ice cream sundae and watch a movie. Of course, I'd feel guilty eating ice cream all alone. Now if only I knew someone who had time to spare, and liked ice cream. Do you know anyone like that?" He asked the little girl, only feeling slightly guilty that he was teasing her.
While Illidan smiled and chatted a part of his mind still poured over that moment of almost flight. It was a goal, and one that would consume him if he let it. He knew what Michael would say, and he also knew that it was always easier to give advice than to follow it. He thought on his current company, she was the average adorable little girl, except for the whole imaginary friends being less than imaginary. Illidan was familiar with magic and its practices, or at least enough so to know that this girl was not a mage. He had heard of prodigies, but she was too young and the magic to difficult, the apparently effortless summoning and sustaining of not one but two seemingly living things. Too much, besides this was a home for mutants not mages.
Illidan continued to examine her as he waited for the expected answer to spring form her lips. He also made sure to keep an eye on the triceratops, he had to think of a way to win it over.
((Again, sorry for the weak post, just...stressed, but I didn't want to keep you waiting.))
Re: Nocturnal Wanderings of an Itty-Bitty
When the man said he was from France, Nadia did the appropriate "OoooOooOoh," before grinning and going back to restraining Bubbles and apologizing for his dismal behavior. It was nice to know that he simply thought Bubbles was only anxious about a new person. She thought for moment before nodding in agreement. "He does get cranky after bedtime..," Nadia said with a nod. The man wasn't finished though.
"You know what, I bet he's just worried, after all, we've never met. Why don't you put him down and let him investigate a little more. And, since you're up already it might just be better to let you stay up until you are feeling really tired, so you can go back to sleep nice and easy. If you ask me, the best way to pass time at night is to grab a huge ice cream sundae and watch a movie. Of course, I'd feel guilty eating ice cream all alone. Now if only I knew someone who had time to spare, and liked ice cream. Do you know anyone like that?"
Big black eyes with red irises looked at him as if he'd just told her that Christmas was coming twice this year and tonight was Christmas Eve! Bubbles was dropped unceremoniously onto the floor with a yip as she blinked in surprise and wonder. Bubbles looked from Nadia and the man and back again as if confused. Nadia finally seemed to get a hold of herself however, remembering that she still didn't know who this man was. Her eyes narrowed slightly, suddenly a bit suspicious. "How do I know ya won't just take me back to Papa? I don't even know your name..," she said, tilting her head and regarding him seriously before going on to say (hastily, in case he retracted the offer), "You'll have ta pinky swear that ya won't turn me in." Obviously, she was assuming that the man knew her from her obvious connection to her father. She did have her father's eyes and because of that, most every adult she'd met had instantly known whose brood she was. It was therefore her suspicion that they somehow treated her a bit differently than the rest (even if it was unfounded, she still was suspicious).
Re: Nocturnal Wanderings of an Itty-Bitty
"You'll have ta pinky swear that ya won't turn me in." Illidan eyed her with the same seriousness that she had turned upon him not but a moment before. He folded his arms around his chest, resting one upon the other while his left index finger extended slowly to tap his chin with a controlled pace that would have given away how unnatural the act was for him, if someone was paying close enough attention. He spoke slowly, a graveness to his voice. "Pinky swear you say... That is a pretty serious commitment there. I don't know, he let his right arm slide slowly back down to his side while he examined the now extended little finger on his left hand. Paused there for a moment. Turned towards the kitchen as if he was going to leave alone and then stopped, tapped his right foot twice and spoke, "Alright I'll do it. But you have to swear back that you won't tell anyone we did this." Illidan didn't really care if someone, even an angry parent, found out he had treated their child to some ice cream in the dead of night. It would be hard for them to find him to reprimand, and beyond that Illidan was hard to intimidate.
He approached her slowly pausing to allow a sense of respect for the tiny dinosaur spread out of him, he hoped that the tiny creature would be able to sense it, much like a dog would, and relax knowing that Illidan was not challenging him or threatening his charge. Then crouched down to the small girls height and extended his left hand with his pinky extended, "So, do you pinky swear?"
((Sorry it is so short, been a while, tried to give you enough to work with though. As always let me know if you need more.))
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