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 Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 1:03 pm
The sun shone hot and bright in the sky, the recent rain leaving everything crisp and green before it got baked brown by the heat. It was a perfect day for an adventure. It was a perfect day for an indoor jungle.
Not a jungle per se... it was a massive concrete building, the inside carefully climate controlled with carefully selected tropical plants that would sustain the wide variety of butterflies that were raised there. The brightly colored insects floated about happily in the humid, wet air, swirling around among the orchids and the tulip trees.
The local natural science museum had just opened up their butterfly exhibit and Kaimi was ecstatic. Before being permitted inside to see all the prettiness, she and her guardian had been subjected to a video on the life cycle of the butterfly and a safety talk on how you weren't supposed to touch them, and if they landed on you you should hold very, very still and not bother them. This in particular thrilled the little girl, as the creatures landed on her quite often, attracted by the flowers in her hair.
"Mommy! Mommy, look at that one!"
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Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 2:46 pm
When her mom had said they'd go see the new butterfly exhibit, Maddy had been ecstatic. After being pulled on the wings by a random passerby twice, having been screamed at by another child once ("Mom, it's a giant butterfly! MWAA IT'S GOING TO EAT ME!") and having been stalked around by one of the bemused staff members for 10 minutes, she was less ecstatic.
Luckily no-one had harassed her in the last half an hour and Olivia had gotten rid of the pesky staff member, but she was still a bit wary.
Wandering about for a bit had caught her onto the mysteriously wonderful scent, that while flowery, didn't seem to match any of the scents coming from the plants.
Plus, the butterflies seemed especially happy the closer she got.
This was another odd thing that had happened while she was here. Madeleine was certain she could feel the butterflies move around her, even when they weren't in her sight - and initially she'd been swarmed by butterflies, but after she'd realised that this just wouldn't do, they'd taken off again.
Mneh. She shrugged in response to her own thoughts, and stepped closer to the wonderful smell.
And blinked. It seemed to be coming from a.. girl?
Not only that, but she was covered in butterflies! They were all over her arms, and the flowers in her hair; maybe the same thing that'd been happening to Maddy had been happening to her too?!
Furrowing her brow, she stared hard at the girl. No way she was letting this mystery slip her by!
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Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 3:48 pm
Kaimi was giggling softly to herself, twitching under the soft tickling of the butterfly touches. She was spinning in a very slow circle when something... no, someone... caught her eye.
Kaimi's wide golden eyes locked with Madeline's, and her face broke out into a broad and friendly grin. She'd never seen someone with wings like that before... they were so pretty! Carefully Kaimi raised a hand, causing the little monarch perched on her knuckle to spin off into delicate flight, and waved enthusiastically at the other girl. "Hi!" She said, loud enough to be heard from a distance. She wanted to run over to the other girl and make friends, so she did. The butterflies flickered away as she ran, skidding to a stop in front of Madeline. "Hi!" She said again, beaming cheerfully. "I'm Kaimi. You're pretty!"
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Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 2:49 am
"I.. uh, thank you?" Well, at least she wasn't pulling on the wings - that had to count for something. Gathering her wits in a conscious effort, Maddy smiled at the other girl.
"You're really pretty too! And you smell awesomely," she really did, too. Like all sorts of different flowers gathered into one person.
An antennae twitched lightly, "My name is Maddy, by the way." Politeness had always been her mother's advice in foreign situations.
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Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 10:45 am
It had never occurred to Kaimi that her natural enthusiasm might throw people off or take them by suprise. The fact that it did tend to happen slipped blissfully past her consciousness. Her grin brightened at the compliment (because, after all, who doesn't like compliments?) And then she asked the question that had twisted into her mind since she'd started beelining it over to the other girl. "Maddy, do the workers here think you're a butterfly too? Have they... kidnapped you?"
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 10:19 am
"They tried, but mom threw them off." Well, it did make sense, now that she thought about it - she looked like a butterfly, and that could have been why that woman was following her..
But she'd been saved, thankfully! Maddy felt a surge of pride in her mom, who'd managed to avert a kidnapping all by herself.
"She was really awesome," she nodded sagely.
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 10:34 am
"Your mom must be really brave." Kaimi agreed cheerfully. "I'm glad they didn't kidnap you." She looked up and around at all the brightly swirling insects. "Wow! They really like you! I think they like me too..." Grinning at the other girl, Kaimi added in a stage-whisper "I bet you're the butterfly queen... and thats why they wanted to kidnap you."
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 11:03 am
"I am too!" getting kidnapped would've been absolutely horrible, even if she would've been surrounded by pretty flowers and whirling butterflies.
Well, maybe not all that bad, but without her mom.. Man, that'd have sucked.
Maddy blinked slowly, absorbing Kaimi's words. Hmm, that was a thought. "But I don't feel very queenly," she scrunched up her face in concentration, trying to find any hidden feelings of queenship in herself Nope, nothing.
"Maybe they're just jealous that the butterflies like me better," but, wouldn't that mean that they'd try to kidnap Kaimi too? The butterflies loved her too!
"But the butterflies like you too," Maddy turned horrified eyes on her new friend, letting the words trail off. They could be caught in a plot of kidnappings right now - two for the price of one, as it were.
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 6:01 pm
It took the little girl a moment, but then her face scrunched up in horror too as she stared wide eyed at Maddy. "Oh no!" She looked around, trying to see how many of the museum employees were spying on the two girls, waiting for their chance to spring. "We can't let them catch us! We have to find somewhere to hide!" ...but where?
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 9:49 am
"There!" After taking a moment to survey her surroundings, the butterfly girl pointed to a low slab of stone, evidently meant as a bench for the visitors. It was broad enough for two children to lie behind without being able to be seen.
Throwing a look at her companion, Maddy stealthily (or as stealthy as can be when you've got wings and antennae) crept over to the bench, pausing every few seconds to look out for kidnappers and make sure Kaimi was all right.
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 10:38 am
On her tiptoes, Kaimi followed behind, flashing glances here and there with narrowed eyes to make sure no one was following them. Settling into the dark and slightly damp space behind the bench, she looked over at Maddy and grinned. "We made it! Now what?" Her whispered voice echoed almost eerily in the little enclosed area, bouncing off the stone.
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 1:40 pm
Grinning back at Kaimi, Maddy thought about their situation.
"We need to make a plan. A master plan," she whispered back, remembering one of the movies she'd seen with her mom recently. Yes, a master plan was exactly what they needed, "Like.. we need to find out what they're planning, and stop them!"
She quieted down and narrowed her eyes as an employee walked by, fortunately missing the two girls behind the bench.
"We need to find the leader." Yes, that sounded like a good plan.
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 2:30 pm
The leader... that was a good idea. "You're smart." Kaimi said, her tone thoughtful. She couldn't remember if leaders were usually obvious, but she didn't think that they'd be just hanging out with their minions. And the butterfly exhibit was only part of the museum, after all... she hadn't seen the whole thing, but she knew there was a whole lot more than just this part.
What it really came down to was defeating the leader so that they could save the butterfly kingdom. Kaimi was pretty convinced that if Maddy wasn't the butterfly queen, she was at least a princess or something. "I wonder where their leader is?" Kaimi asked, trusting in the older girl's knowledge on the subject. "Maybe we should spy on them? Maybe they'll talk about it and we can find out?"
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Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 6:51 am
Maddy blushed happily - someone thought she was smart! She listened intently to the younger girl. That could work, but they'd need to know what they were listening for; hadn't mom once said that she worked for the boss at her workplace? And that he had a whole office to himself, which had impressed the young girl quite a bit.
"That's a really good idea. We need to listen for any mentions of their leader, or his office," they had to be able to find someone talking about him. Minions were talkative, at least in the movies she'd seen, and no doubt these were too.
But.. "We need to find someone to spy on first, though." Staying here, howevermuch a good hiding place it was, wasn't going to get them any good leads. And Maddy knew next to nothing about the museum; in fact, she didn't even know it was a museum, and thought it all consisted of only the butterflies.
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Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 10:49 am
Listening seriously to Maddy, Kaimi looked around the large room for someone who was potentially both devious and talkative. Not an easy task. Office? She thought her mom had mentioned having an office on earth... but she wasn't sure. Naomi never went there that Kaimi was aware of.
A pair of teenagers with a push broom and rolling garbage can caught her eye. They looked chatty. And devious... Kaimi could swear their eyes were shifty. And their khaki uniforms were downright suspicious. "What about them?" She whispered, pointing out the suspects. "Do they look like they might talk about their leader?"
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