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Child in the Snow ((Quills!))

Started by Anonymous, May 15, 2010, 09:23:41 AM

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Anonymous

Winter, brutally cold and unforgiving, particularly distasteful to those who weren't prepared for the icy winds and hills of snow. From the forest to the city, chill winds crept along the surface of the earth, calming one second then whipping a nasty bunch of frozen water into someone's face the next. Falling victim to these circumstances, a young boy slowly inched foreward along what he thought was the path, his eyes squinted.

This boy, appearing only around 8, made his way foreward with some determination. His skin was as white as the snow, white as the clouds. He wasn't invisible in the snow, though. His violet eyes, one being a bit more of an indigo color, were rather dull and not very visible beneath his white hair with black streaks in it. The white of his hair, however, was stained into a grey color. His fingernails were a bit long, and his teeth were a bit sharper than a normal person's, but it didn't effect his appearence much. He clutched his left arm, wincing. A stain of red was trailing behind him, the crimson blood from a rather deep cut on his arm showed where he had been. He tripped and fell into the snow, making a small sound, then just lay there. He thought to himself, 'Isn't there anyone out here to save me...?'

Anonymous

Tayr trudged through the forest, snow crunching under her boots and clinging to the hem of her skirt. Adela hadn't seen a winter this bad in years and she'd been worrying about her parents, so she'd requested some leave and now here she was, just another half-hour to their little hut in the woods. A bag filled with food bumped gently on her back as she walked. They were probably prepared for the bad weather, but she wanted to make sure.

A flash of colour, out of place in the expanse of white, caught her eye. Blood. It was probably just from some wounded animal looking for a place to die, but it was always worth checking. She thought for a moment, then changed direction, following the patchy red trail. After a while, tracks appeared in the snow. Human tracks. Small ones.

Like a child's.

She broke into a jog, unhindered by the heavy pack. She was a soldier, after all. Spotting a figure laying in the snow, she stopped and looked around quickly, holding her polearm defensively in front of her, even though it didn't seem like the kid had been followed. Satisfied that there were no assailants waiting in the trees, she rushed over and laid a large, gentle hand on the child's shoulder. "Hey there, kid," she said softly. "You all right?"

Anonymous

The little boy's eyes were a paler color, seeming to have gone pastel.He felt the snow soaking his clothes, making him numb. He sniffed. He wished he hadn't been lost. He wished he had a mom and a dad to come and save him, someone who cared that he lived or died. A little cough escaped him. Suddenly, he felt a warm touch on his shoulder suddenly, in contrast to the cold. He turned his head slowly, his eyes half-closed. He looked up to see a woman looking down at him, concerned. He blinked, a little bit of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He opened his mouth, and in a hoarse whisper "You've come to save me...are you an angel?" Then, he shivered, and lay his head down on the snow, his eyes closing. But, his shallow breath kept going, and his heartbeat stayed going. He was alive, even if it seemed that he was supposed to be gone already.

Anonymous

Tayr gave a short, dry laugh. If she had to picture an angel of any kind, it sure wouldn't look like her. But, well, she probably did seem quite lovely to this poor boy. She lifted him so that his head rested on the top of her pack and her left arm was securely around the backs of his knees, then stood up and turned around. Her parents' house wasn't far from here, and the child could probably do with some warmth. She retraced her tracks in the snow and was soon back on her original path.

Anonymous

The boy slept soundly for a little while, then found himself being carried about. He didn't mind in his current weak state, for he was injured and cold. Any help he had would be good enough for him. His eyes opened slowly, and only halfway when they did. He was still tired, but he woke for some reason or another. He remembered 'seeing an angel' before he fainted, and said, "Miss angel, thank you for helping me-" He broke off into a bit of coughing.

Anonymous

Tayr laughed quietly. "No angel, pet. Just passin' through."

The boy could probably use a drink, she reasoned, but with him in one hand and her weapon in the other, it would be sort of awkward to keep moving as well. She meandered off to the side of the path and set him down gently by a tree. The ground was still cold and hard, but the tree's roots had at least protected that small patch from the drifting snow. "Here," she offered, holding out a waterskin pulled from her belt. "Have what you like, I'll be gettin' more."

Anonymous

The boy sat down and looked at the snow whipping around. He wondered what it was like to live in a warm place. He'd never lived in a warm climate before. His eyes widened when he recieved the drink and he drank eagerly, handing it back when he was done. He smiled weakly. "Thank you, miss angel." He didn't know what else to call her; and after all, she was like an angel to him still, even if she said she wasn't one.

Anonymous

She laughed again and hooked the empty waterskin back onto her belt. He must have been pretty thirsty. "You just keep callin' me that, dontcha? Name's Tayr, if you want it."

She turned to look at the snow, which was falling more and more heavily, and pulled up the hood of her thick, wool-lined cloak. It was a good thing there wasn't far to go if the weather was to keep getting worse like this. "We best get movin'," she said simply, turning back to the boy. "Can you walk or d'you want carryin'?"

Anonymous

The boy smiled again, still looking a bit weak. He stood, and shivered a little. He grasped Tayr's hand and said, "It's nice to meet you, miss Tayr. I'll walk." He began moving forward with her, oddly colored eyes still squinted against the wind. His feet shuffled forward. He winced when he bumped against a tree, his wound on his arm still hurting. He said, "I hope I'm not making any trouble for you by needing your help."

Anonymous

Tayr smiled down at the boy. "No trouble." She tried to be more friendly around children, as she supposed they'd find her usual demeanour intimidating, but she wasn't really sure if it worked. She'd known grown men to cower when she was just trying to be nice - not Adelans, obviously, but grown men all the same. This child, well, he only just came up to her waist. She wasn't sure exactly how old he was; she'd guess six or seven from looking at him, but he acted a little older. It was hard to tell.

He was scrawny too, just a little bag of bones. She'd have to feed him when they got to her parents' cabin. "S'all right, we'll go slow," she told him. "T'isn't far."

Anonymous

The boy nodded. He didn't remember his past much. All he knew is that he was lost and there was someone taking him to a safe place. And there was a wound on his arm that he got from an animal, but that was all he really remembered. He couldn't remember his last name, but only remembered his first. He said, "I forgot to tell you, my name is Alexis...I can't remember my last name." Oddly, his breath wasn't making little white puffs in the air as he breathed. He rubbed his hands together, blew on them, and put one of his hands back to hold hers. His hand was cold, a bit unusually so.

Anonymous

That was odd. There were many things a child of that age wasn't able to remember, but their own name wasn't usually one of them. She wondered if something might have happened to the boy, perhaps related to the wound on his arm. "All right, Alexis," she nodded. "When you're all better, we'll see if we can't find that out. D'you want to?"

Anonymous

Alexis shrugged. "I guess so." He tripped, landing face-first in the snow. He got up slowly, but was smiling. He giggled. There was snow on his face, and he said, "Look, I'm Santa." He wiped it off. He seemed more cheerful. He hugged Tayr, his eyes a bit more bright. "Where are we going?" He looked up at her.

Anonymous

Tayr sighed and shook her head with a faint amused smile. Children could be so strange sometimes, and that was part of their charm. Not all adults would be annoyed by falling face-first into the snow (although she was one of them), but none of them would be quite so amused by it as a little kid. She patted Alexis' back when he hugged her, and explained, "I came by this way t'see my parents. They live in these woods, not far from here. We'll 'ave a big fire an' a hearty meal, and you'll be right as rain in no time, love."

Anonymous

Alexis tilted his head, looking like he was trying hard to remember something. "I don't know....my parents..?" He shook his head. Then, he looked back up at her, his big eyes sparkling like jewels. "You're so nice! Are you sure you're not an angel? It sure seems like it." He stopped hugging her, and continued picking his way carefully though the snow.

Anonymous

"Well, that's somethin' else to look into when we're findin' out your name, I s'pose." Tayr shrugged as they started walking again. It would make sense for the kid not to know his parents if he didn't even know his last name. She wondered what he was doing out here all alone so young, but sometimes these things just happened. It was sad, but... It was life.

"If I was an angel, I reckon I'd know about it by now," she said, vaguely bemused. She'd saved him, yes, but she didn't think that made her particularly nice. It was just what any decent person would do.

Anonymous

Alexis smilied, almost tripped again, and then looked hurt. He held his arm, wincing. He didn't want to complain, but he was only a child, after all. "My arm hurts, miss Tayr! It got the snow red when I came here, and I don't know why!" He looked as if he was about to cry. "And I don't know why..", he repeated quietly.

Anonymous

Tayr laid a hand on Alexis' head and ruffled his hair. "It'll be all right. You're just hurt, that's all. We'll fix that right up when we get in, and in a few days it'll be good as new, or better." She tapped the scar on her face. "You've just got to keep walkin', my darlin', 'til we get there. 'S not far now."

She steered him gently to the left, down a narrow track. The trees were close together and the snow wasn't as thick on the ground, but clumped in piles here and there where it had slid from a branch. "'S just at the end here. Y'see?" She pointed to a crooked gate at the end of the pathway, maybe thirty yards from them. "Nearly there."

Anonymous

Alexis looked foreward, and tried to ignore the pain in his arm so that he could focus on the good things. He eagerly trotted foreward. He almost tripped again but righted himself before he could fall. He smiled in an optimistic way, and said, "When we get in, we can have food and a warm place and.." He continued on a list of good things that would probably be inside until they got to the door. He looked up at her. "Are...you sure they'll like me?"

Anonymous

"We don't use front door round 'ere. 'S bad luck," Tayr informed the boy, nudging him gently to walk around the little house. "And they'll surely like ya. They put up wi' me when I were just a sprout, and I were far more trouble'n you."

She cast an eye around to check that things looked normal – decently-stocked wood pile, freshly cleared path to the outhouse, things like that – and when she was satisfied she rapped sharply on the back door. A few moments later it opened a crack, then all the way to reveal a smiling old woman. Despite her age, she still had the same tall, sturdy build as her daughter. "Tayr!" she laughed. "Don't see you much. And where'd you get this wee one? Not yours, is 'e? If 'e is, we'll 'ave words about you keepin' secrets from yer own ol' mother." She waved it away with a laugh. "Anyway, ye can tell me inside."

She turned to make space for them and shouted back into the house. "Garren! Get a brew on!" Another quick look at the boy and she added, "An' dig out some bandages!"

Tayr smiled and shook her head. "Good to see you too, ma." She looked down at Alexis and gestured for him to go inside.