I don't like this place

Andraste wandered the forest quietly, she really was just trying to get away from everything. She was really upset about being such an outcast even here, she was so afraid of everything when it came to the school and teacher and Hendry and everything. She didn't want to be scared, it was just that everyone had felt so mean so far, except Owen, and yet... he seemed so uncomfortable around her. She just began to wander around trying to clear her head...

Oddly enough, there's a cormorant flying through the trees in the general direction Andraste had come from, away from the sea. (Not that the girl necessarily should recognize the seabird, but still.) It flew past her, then with one wing dipping, it neatly soared around a few trees and touched down, waddling until it could look at her.

Almost as fast as it had appeared, the largish black bird waddled away, around a tree.

And from behind the same tree stepped a woman, pulling up the hood of her long green-black cloak. "What are you doing out here, alone, small one?" she asked in a musical voice with only the slightest of Northern accents. "Certainly there are better places to be?" When the light filtered through the trees in a certain way, the woman's pale blonde hair shimmered and one could almost see through her, cloak and all.


(Hope you don't mind me popping in, it wasn't clear if you were waiting for someone.)

Andraste had left her animals to sleep on her bed, so they were not with her this time. She looked up at Yvonne, her eyes still filled with tears. "I-I cannaht git home...." she cried, "There 's nawai back..." tears simply streamed down the child's face. "I hate ih'here... " the girl missed her very "out of date" home and life style. She was still wearing her familiar clothing from before Christ's time. She looked up at Yvonne and opened her arms, as a child would who wanted to be picked up, "You remind me of my mommy..." she managed to say.

Yv's heart went out to the child. Pushing her cloak back to free her arms, she knelt and wrapped the girl in them, staying down on her level. "It's all right, small one. You are in the right place." One look at the seven-year-old's clothing told the spirit plenty, and it saddened her to think of times long past. But with the child in her arms, she tried to ignore her own regrets.

"If there is anywhere to help you get home, this is it, sweetheart." Yvonne knew very little about the island she'd been invited to teach at, but she knew that it was special. Not that it mattered, she simply needed to comfort the child with any truths she could muster. "Let your tears cleanse your spirit, child. You are safe here. We'll find a way to make it better for you." While she meant make the child happier, she was aware the girl might think she meant find a way to send her home. "Have you asked anyone if they can help?"

The child hugged Yvonne and cried into her shoulder softly, and not really understanding what the woman meant by her questions, the orange haired child looked up at her, "Y-ya remind me o' may mother." she said softly, and looked up at Yvonne, "I no I cannat go back, ... 'n I would really like it if ya would be may mommy." Her voice was but a whisper, she was scared of asking the woman such a bit question. She was scared she would be told no, but most of all she was afraid that she would still be alone. "I think I heard a woman call it 'adoption'." she whispered in her cute irish voice.

Yvonne laughed lightly and sat back, wiping tears from Andraste's face with the hem of her garment, which had all the roughness and consistency of a cloud. "I'm not human, my child, but you may stay with me if you wish. I will be teaching at the castle, but when I do not have students you are welcome to come and go as you please. How does that sound?" It wasn't quite a solid yes, but it certainly wasn't a no.

"Come, child, what's your name? My name is Yvonne.. you may call me Yv, or whatever you wish," she added after a moment's realization that having someone to call 'mommy' might be part of the child's healing process. "Feel better?" she asked gently, still kneeling on the forest floor in front of Andraste.

"Do ya've tah bay human to bay summone's mommy?" she asked (I'm so failing at this accent) her small hands tried to wrap around the woman's to examine it, she was feeling a bit sad again as the woman didn't even seem to want to be called that. Not hearing it as an option, the girl said, "Yes Ivy." the girl said answering both questions that simply. (That's how it would sound coming out of her mouth).

The child seemed to be a bit small for her age, maybe five or six as someone would guess her age to be. she pushed her own long orange hair out of her face and closed her eyes for a moment. There was a warmer feeling in the air around the girl, she had been feeling very cold, and with warmer air, it helped a bit to calm her down, but there seemed to be an emptiness in her eyes as she watched the woman who she felt only really wanted to be in it for the bad times, and not to help be around when there was sunshine and happiness in her life... but a lot of people were like that, and as she had her moments of happiness, she would look around, and there would be nobody around her - stopping the happiness short...

The girl's mind tried to move herself back from Yvonne, as she was now worried about getting close to her to have her also be torn away... mostly because it seemed that she wasn't totally interested in being someone important to her. She was worried of loosing yet another parent, and suddenly the girl took off running crying again. Her energy itself sending out images of loosing every person that had ever been important to her. She was crying again.

The child didn't make it very far as she ran. One of the tree roots grabbed her foot, and she landed face first on the forest floor. She cut her cheek and her hands and twisted her ankle. She just laid where she fell and sobbed. She just felt so alone and scared.

"Well, generally a human has a human for a mother," Yv replied simply, letting the girl examine her hand, which to all intents and purposes looked more or less human. Her skin was flawless, but other than that, she looked completely human. A willowy and lovely blonde, her eyes might give away something of her being, but probably not to a kindergartener... though the concept of kindergarten would no doubt be as alien to this child as was the rest of the world in this time.

She knelt in silence and watched the girl, until the girl started crying again and ran. "Sweetheart--!" Her voice ceased abruptly when she saw the girl trip, and she was up and running with long strides to scoop up the child, whom she cradled in her arms as she kept on running at an all out sprint towards the castle, loping along with a loose stride that would have made a deer envious. It probably would have felt like floating to the child, if her mind was in any position to consider it, though the nymph knew better.

"Darling, you don't need to run anymore," she murmured gently into the orange hair. "I'll take care of you. You'll feel better in no time. We'll find you a nice bed and we can have a talk after I clean your hands up. You're safe, child, don't be afraid." She kept repeating 'you're safe' and 'i'll take care of you' as she ran towards the castle, closing the distance far quicker than the child would ever have been able to do.

The child was still crying as the castle truly came into view. Her hands hurt, as well as her right cheek which bore a nice scrape. All of which would need a gentle cleaning. She also really didn't know what to make of the woman's words, she didn't understand what she wanted to be to her, she simply didn't understand this world at all. She simply cried and cried, slowly calming as she got use to the physical stinging, and the soreness in her heart...

Continue on: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]