█▌☆▐ Solo One |
xxxxxxxxxx"Red chu jelly ... Red chu jelly ..." Adriana mumbled as she reached into the vast expansion that was her kitchen's cupboards. As her fingers slid across the smooth wood, worn from the jars of ingredients gliding across the earthly surface. "C'mon ... where are you..." she growled in a low voice, making sure her sister would not hear her from the other room. Suddenly her fingers slid into a startlingly viscous substance, which then proceeded to shock her violently. As she fell off her stool, she could see the golden, curled locks of her sister Luna's hair gracefully falling into the room. Her pink, finer scale dress floated in a balletic fashion, which was a heavy contrast to the shabby wooden floors that made up the Hylian Potion's Shop. Luna really was a plain girl, and the scowl she wore contorted her face, causing wrinkles and other ugly deformations. The dress only made the antithesis of her plainness stand out even more, though Adriana would never tell her so, unless she wanted a severe smack to her already raw face. As Adriana hit the floor, her sister cackled madly, ready to pounce on the prospect of an opportunity to torture Adriana.
xxxxx"Oh dear Adriana. Taken a fall, have we?" The faked sympathy in her voiced oozed with inner malice. A twisted smile curled across her face, and her hands didn't move an inch off her waist. There was no compassion in any part of her composure. Adriana frowned, but said nothing. She was long past arguing or fighting back. Her sister was far superior to her in strength, and her mother Delia certainly wouldn't care about their "earthly affairs." Ever since Dusan had died, she had suddenly become very devout with the church of the goddesses, and Adriana was very cross with her. How can someone trust in a goddess who takes away people we love? That was her mindset. Luna's voice broke Adriana's stupor, "Come on bokoblin- oh I mean Adriana. Sorry I just can't get that darn name down," she grinned maliciously, but Adriana could tell Luna had something important to say. "Mother dearest," she paused for dramatic effect, but it came out rather ironic, "has something important to say." Without saying another word, she huffed out of the room, but not before her dress was caught on a nail. She glared down at the rusty, ancient nail that held the boards together and frowned. "I'm glad we'll be leaving this dreaded place," she mumbled.
xxxxxLeaving this place? What does she mean? Adriana thought. Her face dropped as she realized what this probably meant. Luna snickered out of sheer spite, and then said "Oh my, it must've ... slipped." With one last glance to the chair where Adriana had just fallen, she was removed from the nail, and glided away on her egotistical drapery of a dress. Quickly following behind her, like a cat chasing a mouse, Adriana clumsily scrambled to the inner workings of the old building, where her mother sat at a table, blankly staring towards an empty bowl. The way she looked at the bowl, it was as if she was waiting for rupees to explode out of it, though Adriana couldn't tell if she was crazy or desperate.
xxxxxAt first, Delia didn't see the two girls approach the edge of the table and sit down. Whereas Luna picked on Adriana constantly, her mien was now a calm, focused person, gently urging her mother to talk. Adriana looked worriedly at her mother, and then towards her sister. She put on her best smile, but at this point, it seemed pointless. Carefully, she chose her words and then spoke. "Mother... what did you need me for?" she questioned, though now her voice was a quiet whisper. Adriana didn't know if she desired to hear the answer.
xxxxxSlowly, the gears in her mother began to click, and she noticed the girls. "Oh... girls I didn't even see you..." her voice started low, then picked up volume, as though it was eating at the air slowly, "We... I..." her mother paused, looking for words. Her eyes were scanning the table, back and forth, like the answer was written in plain hylian. Her voice cracked at first, but then she spoke with a clear, ringing voice, that would forever haunt Adriana. "We're selling your father's shop."
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xxxxxIt was the final straw, Adriana had snapped. She ran to her room- well it wasn't really a room, it was a corner of the back room, shared with her sister- and threw a few things mindlessly into a bag. They weren't even useful things really, a simple jar, some mismatching clothes, nothing special. She could hear her mother calling out her name, and it taunted it, scooting her even closer to unleashed fury. When her bag was somewhat filled, she ran to the main room again, and simply pushed past her lifeless mother and her snickering sister, running out the door. Selling father's store? she thought, fighting back tears. Ever since he'd died, it was like her mother and sister had completely changed. They weren't a family- they were three people obligated to live together. And now they had plotted to sell off the last remnant Adriana had of her father- the shop. Adriana began sprinting, though where her feet were taking her, she couldn't tell you.
xxxxxShe began making a mad dash to the exit of Castle Town, she wanted to leave- now. But as she was approaching the arched gateway, lined with bored looking guards, she remembered the kind man who lived next door to her, the one who ran a bookshop. Thinking of all the times he'd consoled her, she ran back to the ancient store. Panting in front of it, she gazed at the old structure once again. It was wooden, and had a single window and door. There was a visible second floor, but it was small. His shop wasn't exactly the local library, it was more of a secondhand book shop. Regardless, he always had a smile on his face to greet her. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the room, to find him chuckling behind his desk, at some green book. The moment Adriana saw him, she began crying and choking out various fragments like, "Father's store .... sister's face.....
xxxxxHe looked up to see Adriana standing there, and the smile immediately left his face, to be replaced with an obvious concerned look. Picking up a few books on the ground, he said, "Adriana dear, it's finally happened, hasn't it?" No response was necessary, he was a quick man, who understood her very well. He gently placed an arm on her shoulder and sweeped her up into an awkward embrace. "Well my dear, you'll be leaving soon. You're not one to sit in one place for long. I know you'll rush out the gate the moment we quit talking." Glancing at her bag, he noticed how ragtag and miscellaneous her possessions seemed to be. Sighing, he said, "Go get some things out of the kitchen, things you'll actually need." Adriana nodded and walked towards the kitchen, emotionless. She thought she saw the man bend down towards her bag, but it wasn't really important to her at the moment.
xxxxxAfter she had grabbed the necessary equipment, and calmed down a bit, thanks to the bookseller, she politely thanked him and stepped out the door. She saw him waving, with a strangely mischievous smile. Glancing at her messy bag, she headed out towards the gate, a bit unsure of herself. It wasn't like the guards were going to stop her for being underage- the guards could care less. There were tons of children out in field. And if she really needed to, she could claim to be a strangely dressed kokiri. Kokiri, Adriana thought, I wonder if I'll meet one along the way. She glanced out towards the open road. She really didn't have anywhere to go, she just wanted to ... well go. Adriana took a deep breath, and placed one foot outside the gate.
