[PRP][PLOT] Parental Guidance Not Needed (Lucius/Adora)

[Tartara Seabreeze]

"I'm going out DAD!"

"Alright, I'll come with you. The island isn't safe anymore."

"NO! You don't want to go anywhere! I'm leaving and don't you follow me!"

"But Adora-!"

"Leave me alone!"

And then she stormed out. Adora deeply sighed as she played and replayed the memory in her mind. How could she be so cruel to her father? Her emerald eyes welled with tears of sadness and frustration. I'm the worst daughter ever. She shifted her pack on her shoulder before continuing her walk through Loka Nei. No matter how often she left the house, or hints she dropped or times she pleaded, he kept coddling her like a child. Coming to a head she exploded in an anger she didn't know she had and left.

Only as soon as she left she realized she had no where to go. Thus her sad, regretful trek towards her closest Uncle's cave. The hybrid rubbed her eyes to attempt at calming down. But I can't go back or he won't learn anything. Adora sniffled with the thought. Mom would have understood. She'd know how to make him understand too. But Sunny wasn't there. Guardians if Adora even knew if her mother was alive with how many seasons had passed since she saw her.

She slowed to a stop, gathering her thoughts about her next plan of action. I should calm down before seeing Uncle Raken...He'd freak seeing me in tears. The least amount of confusion involved, the easier it would be to have the whole thing blow over. If she came over crying she'd have to explain everything. But if she was collected, it could be just a fun visit. So she angled herself right towards the Fae Clearing, a soft tune touching her lips to lift her spirits. The sooner she cheered herself up, the sooner she could rest her tired head from walking all night.

Antidia

 

[Antidia]

The sound of sniffling interrupted the peaceful song of the jungle. It was just out of place and completely threw the rhythm of the beat off. Rolling his eyes, Lucius let go of the tree he had been perched on. He steadied himself in the air, slowly floating towards the sounds of sobs.

Right below him. A girl. With peculiar wings. All fae had peculiar wings these days. No big deal. But why wasn't she using them? Ornament only maybe? Injured?

He watched for some time. She had a pack with her, so she must be going somewhere. But she was distressed. Was he curious enough to want to involve himself in her problems? Maybe.

He landed softly and quietly on a thick limb over the girl's head. He craned his neck a little for a better view and dropped a little caterpillar that he'd plucked off the side of the tree.

Tartara Seabreeze

 

[Tartara Seabreeze]

She had to stop obsessing over it. There was nothing she could do about it at the moment, whats done is done. The female slowly stepped over a fallen tree log when she felt something plop on her shoulder. Instantly her head snapped to the side as her body froze, the tune on her lips cutting off in a gasp. "Oh! Hello little woolie!" Adora reached up to gently take hold of the tiny creature. "Strange that you fell down right then..." She trailed off as her emerald eyes moved upward.

She never expected something to be staring back at her.

"Uh..." How long had he been there?! Why was he above her? Oh Guardians, say something you twit! "Uh...hi?" Brilliant.

Antidia

 

[Antidia]

Tartara Seabreeze

Lucius leaned forward, letting himself fall before catching himself with a flitter of his wings. He slowly glided down to stand on a low-hanging branch not much higher than she was tall. "Hi."

He flopped down so his legs dangled, but his wings continued to flutter behind him. He'd been working on his control and had become quite the aerial acrobat. He may have also been showing off his prowess a little.

"Why are you walking through the jungle?"

He held his out to her, offering to take the caterpillar back, but not saying as much.  

[Tartara Seabreeze]

Adora continued to stare in surprise as the male made his way lower, the fae parroting her simplistic greeting. As his feet danged in front of her face she awkwardly stepped back. "Uh..." She wasn't expecting to be asked any questions! She should be the one asking him things. Mainly why was he dropping caterpillars on her? The female looked uncertainly from the fragile creature in her hands to the male, as if distrusting that he'd be kind to it after dropping the poor thing. No, she'd hold on to the little woolie for a little bit longer.

"Well...why wouldn't I?" Lamest comeback ever. Perhaps she should offer at least a bit more explanation. "You miss out on stuff in the air." Flying would be quicker by far, and it wasn't like there wasn't plenty to see when up above. There just seemed to be more on the ground level. "Why are you mean to caterpillars?" Since he asked a question it was only fair she got one.

Antidia

A million questions she could ask...but nope. It's all about the caterpillars.

 

[Antidia]

Tartara Seabreeze

She's not reacting at all how he was hoping. This is funny.

He shrugged when she ignored his gesture. Maybe it was an excuse to grab her hand. They'll never know. He laughed at her declaration of miss out on stuff in the air? "If you say so. I personally find what's up in the trees far more interesting than what's crawling around on the ground." Did he mean this girl too? Hard to say. Likely he more meant the bitey-creep-crawlies than anything.

"Mean to caterpillars? You really are as misguided as you look. I wanted to distract you so you'd stop crying. Not a pleasant sound, you know, but it seemed to work." He shook his head. Mean to caterpillars. Truthfully, he had done it to illicit reaction. "Does that caterpillar look upset to you? Maybe he wanted see what the air would be like before he changed. Maybe he wanted to meet you. Are you the caterpillar whisperer? Is it really a 'he'?" He leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees so he could lower his head towards her. He winked once with the inflection on his last question.

Lucius maintained his aloof seat on the branch and plucked another little insect from the tree bark. "Wanna save this one too?" He held a black beetle in the palm of his hand. "Maybe I'm mean to all insects, hmm?" Maybe a little natter would be a nice change of pace. He didn't really go out of his way to meet new faces, so why not.  

[Tartara Seabreeze]

Was he laughing at her, or with her? At his follow up remark she decided the former. Especially when he called her misguided. But those thoughts quickly were derailed as he mentioned her crying. He had heard her! As her cheeks started to deepen in embarrassment, she was having a rather hard time pinning him as mean or nice. He was possibly insulting her, sure, but he was interested in calming her down which was nice. Right? And he was cruel to caterpillars! She looked at said woolie, gently using a finger to softly give him a pet. "Being a caterpillar whisperer sounds fun." She muttered to no one in particular.

His jumbled batch of questions however didn't go unnoticed. There was distinctly a screw loose in his head. Then again, most of her family could be said the same of. It was nothing that she hadn't dealt with before, just in a different form. When he mentioned the black beetle she quickly nodded her head. "You should be nice to all little critters. After all, you'd be little to something too and would want to be treated nicely." If he dropped that insect she'd leap to grab it too. Call it wanting for a harmonious life or inherited love from her father, the hybrid couldn't stand to hurt a fly.

Adora bent down to the side to gently place the woolie on a leaf. No doubt the caterpillar would prefer a nice delicious snack over being stranded on her hand. Plus it freed her up to place her hands on her hips. "Who are you anyhow?"

Antidia

blaugh She's always had a knack for being a little surprising.

 

[Antidia]

Tartara Seabreeze

Lucius' eyes grew big, then he just burst out laughing. "Do you even know where you are? You are walking through a jungle. Jungles have plants that want to eat you at every step, in addition to the millions of bugs. Personally, I am surprised nothing has bit or attacked you yet." He lifted his hand and tossed the beetle gently into the air. It spread his little wings and flew off towards Adora's face. "... unless that was why you were crying?"

He watched her for a moment, growing more curious and wondering if her naivete of her surroundings was just due to lack of experience. She had none of the survival equipment -- he thought -- required for a hike on the floor of a tropical rainforest. He was also inclined to consider she just might be dim. But he'd need to probe deeper for that, and give her the benefit of the doubt. Who knows, maybe she's the island's best trapper or adventurer and doesn't require newbie equipment like he would. Shut up!

He held his hand out again, giving a curt little nod towards it. "Lucius, now come on."  

[Tartara Seabreeze]

Her eyes widened right back at the fae when he burst into laughter, a warm blush slowly spreading across her features. "Of course I know! I live here." Well, not there there obviously. But in the jungle. "Sure, it's become a bit more...jungle-y over the years...But I know which paths are safe." And she had a knife in her pack just in case! Honestly the male was sounding like her father with all the 'its not safe' mumbo jumbo. She watched as the beetle took into the air, her emerald eyes becoming criss crossed until it landed on her nose. Wait.

She almost forgot she had been crying. Her eyes flicked from the beetle to his outstretched hand, distrust flicking on her features again. "Lucius..." She repeated, embedding his name into memory as she gently picked up the beetle with a hand. Father dearest would throw a fit if she went along with a strange male to guardians-who-knew-where.

Maybe that wouldn't be so bad. Ever so gently the hybrid set the beetle down before taking a step forward and slipping her soft hand into his. "...I'm Adora." Her life was so stagnant. Perhaps this would coax a change in her world?

Antidia

 

[Antidia]

Tartara Seabreeze

The moment her hand touched his, he closed his grip and pulled back. He took the air, but he had her up on the limb. He hovered in front of her still, holding her hand so she'd not fall and smiled. Then his gaze shifted to the path where she had been standing. A bristly boar wandered on to the path sniffing at the ground.

"Well Adora of the Jungle, I wonder if you've seen all this jungle has to offer."

He flitted backwards always keeping her hand firmly in his leading her up to a higher limb. After he saw her foot touch down, he let go and squat on the limb, to watch the display on the path. "If caterpillar harm disturbs you, you might want to look away."

A leopard had ambushed the boar, appearing out of nowhere.

"I hope that wasn't one of your critter friends." He stood up, turned around and looked down towards the ground in the direction Adora was heading. He dusted his hands off and let out a deep breath "Are you running to or away from someone?"  

[Tartara Seabreeze]

So much for a handshake or an easy guide through the trees. As her body was yanked upwards, a gasp escaped her lips. She instinctively sent her wings into motion to catch her weight from falling solely onto her arm, perhaps saving her from dislocation. Simply following his pull, she fluttered up to the first limb. "Is warning so foreign?!" She exclaimed, her heart beating fast from the excitement even as her eyes followed his gaze to the boar below. They were nasty buggers to be sure, but nothing that she couldn't handle. Her mouth parted to comment on her new 'title', but she felt a tug on her hand again. She quickly lifted off of her current perch on the branch to follow him above.

When he paused at a certain height, she moved to slip her heart studded feet onto the closest limb. Her free hand landed on the trunk to steady herself so her wings could go still. "What are you talking about?" She looked back down at the boar, just in time to catch the blur of fur launch from the surrounding brush and into the curious pig. Despite the warning, she gave a start, the softest of whimpers emitting from her throat. When he let go of her hand, she used it to cover her mouth before she closed her eyes and turned her head away from the carnage. "...That's not needless violence." Adora whispered as the boars squeals died down. It made her sad, of course. Her heart was a gentle one. But should the leopard die of starvation because living meant killing the boar? No. She understood the food chain. Besides, better the boar than her. The pig she could handle, being blind sided by a leopard however...perhaps she should keep her knife in her hand instead of her pack.

As a moment ticked by in silence after his question, she finally dropped her hand and opened her eyes. But very pointedly did not look down. "...Both." Maybe she should get back to doing that. Getting caught out in the jungle at night was a level of idiocy even she wasn't capable of. "You can come if you want...I don't know what you were doing before." She could use the excuse that he was a good distraction from her crying. Or she could say she just wanted someone to talk to.

Or there was always the fact that witnessing a boar being brutally torn apart in front of her was slightly traumatizing and didn't want to be alone.

Antidia

 

[Antidia]

Tartara Seabreeze

Interest piqued. Of course, he didn't want to go to wherever she was going if she was running there carelessly and crying. Then again, where she was running from must have been jarring enough to cause the crying. Who is she running towards for comfort?

He knew gore and the violent side of nature was hard for delicate personalities, so he turned away as well to talk to her so they didn't have to focus on the gross. He squat again - which was his natural comfortable pose while lurking on tree branches - and plucked a tiny twig with a single leaf from the branch. "So Adora of the Jungle, how well do you know this land you live in? Have you ever been to the top of the canopy, or the emergent?"

He reached out to his side, and held the twig up to Adora. There was another little caterpillar on the lonely leaf.  

[Tartara Seabreeze]

There was that title again. Was it supposed to be endearing, or mocking? She couldn't pin the fae down. Her gaze flicked from the direction of Rakens cave to Lucius, more than happy he decided to turn so she didn't stare at the carnage below. "Well, the top yes. I like to fly sometimes." Uh oh. What was that other thing he said? "E...mer-gent." Blink. Blink. Honestly she guessed canopy since he said 'top' and the canopies she knew were the material kind that went over her head.

"...Yes?" Or maybe. "I used to go out more, when this was more forest and less...this." Back when her father didn't have a conniption whenever she left. Her gaze traveled down from his face to the twig, finally resting on the caterpillar. Finally a smile touched on her features. UGH! Is he nice or mean?! He's so confusing. She reached out to gently pat the critter with a finger. It was a welcome sight to try and banish the image of blood from a few moments prior.

Antidia

 

[Antidia]

Lucius smirked and subtly shook his head. He still couldn't peg her as naive or ignorant. She seemed to be authentically innocent though, so it might have been a little bit of both. He put the twig down on the branch and stood up. He looked around to get an idea of the exact location in relation to his planned destination. He glanced at Adora for a moment, before lifting off the branch a few inches and hovering.

"Follow me."

And then he took off like an arrow, straight up through the leaves, through the canopy only to stop in the emergent, below the tall tree tops.

Tartara Seabreeze

 

[Tartara Seabreeze]

Why was he smirking? Was he laughing at her again? The female pouted slightly before turning to a more quizzical look when his feet left the branch. "...Huh?' Before she could really think about the consequences, the hybrid lifted up to follow him. She easily swayed around the branches like water down a brook as her emerald eyes peered ahead to find her new 'friend'. Why was she following this strange fae? Didn't her father warn her about strangers?

Probably. Surrounding trees fell away as she rose higher and higher, but oddly her blue friend appeared to stop before breaking the uppermost treetops. It was cooler up there, much less dense with foliage and creatures. But she could have sworn she saw a brightly colored bird flash past on the edges of her peripheral. She slowed her ascension beside Lucius. "So...this is...above the canopy?" He was going to laugh at her, wasn't he.

Antidia