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 Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 1:10 pm
xxxxx『 〄 Smoke Child 』
xxxxxxxxx〆 ┊ in the ~town~, after having sneaked away while Eli was napping
xxxxxxxxx〆 ┊ Friday afternoon, right after lunch time
xxxxxxxxx〆 ┊ a nice sunshiney spring day, but with a slight n** in the air
A chill snaked through the air and Kieran tugged the hood on her cloak higher. The town was bustling and loud. She had darted here and there, sampled a few wares. And if some eyes peered into her hood and met her own fiery eyes, saw her sooty skin, they ignored them, and simply took her money. Eli had only taken her here once before, and she was too tired to do more than doze against his chest as he carried her. But this, this was nearly overwhelming, like being drowned in color and sound. She twirled around, the beginnings of panic rising. What if she couldn't find her way home? What if she was lost in the crowd of people, what if she simply melted into this mass of people and became nothing? Trembling from more than the chill wind, she breathed deeply. Suddenly, she needed to be home more than she needed another meat pie or a pretty ribbon.
Directions! If she asked which way Siren's Shore was, she could find her way from there. Kieran nervously bit her lip as she scanned the crowd. A fishmonger hawked his wares loudly, his screeches cutting through the crowd; a burly man told some sort of joke to his friends that Keiran didn't understand. What was so hard? A mother shopped with her two kids, both slightly taller than Kieran. (after all, Kieran was ridiculously short). Her short legs pumped comically as she ran up to them. Tilting her head up, she curled her fingers into the sleeve of the motherly woman and tugged gently. The woman turned to her, smiling.
"Oh, hello little one. Are you lost?" Kieran ducked her head, embarrassed. "E-excuse me. I was wondering if you c-" The breeze suddenly kicked up; the woman's skirt whipped into Keiran and blew the hood off her head. She blinked owlishly up at the woman, watching her expression grow shuttered and nervous. "D-d-demon," she hissed, yanking her arm from Keiran's grasp. Black soot stained the sleeve where her fingers had touched and the woman screeched. "DEMON CHILD. Get away from me, ugly thing! You've marked me!" Startled, Kieran stumbled and fled as the woman shrank from her. Yanking up her hood futilely, she ran in the twisted tiny paths between buildings and over gardens, trampling flowers in her path.
Kieran ran and ran, and she did not notice that she cried as she ran, in shock and some other indefinable emotion. Her hood blew back and her smoke-like hair streamed behind her, pluming out to curl around her cheeks and play with the wind. She banged into people's shoulders and knees as she ran and finally, she sank down next to some empty bin in an alleyway, more lost than before. The woman's shrill voice echoed in her ears and she fisted her hands against them. demon child. ugly thing. Eli was right; she should have stayed at home. She just wanted people to like her. But now.... who would ever play with a demon girl?
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Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 10:25 am
Allegro was on his way back to his father from a walk when he heard the commotion from down the street. The sounds of alarm and disruption following whatever went on drew him down it out of curiosity. Despite his better judgement, he almost hoped that someone had stolen something and that officers would be there to question vendors. They were so fascinating, officers that was. It wasn't good that someone stole, very bad in fact, but they would learn because the officers would teach them better.
Almost too wrapped in his day-dream of petty crime and burning questions for law enforcement, Allegro almost didn't notice the tug that pulled on him. A familiar one he felt only a handful of times before when something like himself was around. It was only when he heard the rustling of a waste bin that he turned his head to see the wisps of smoke and approached cautiously, thinking there was perhaps a fire. Instead he found a kid, much like himself.
He blinked as he looked down at the kid huddled by the waste bin, very much aware of who he had stumbled across. They were like Petunia, who he had not seen in some time, except instead of smelling like earth and water, they smelled like smoke. They were little, littler than he was, but they were a kid like himself, and they'd get bigger like all the other kids did.
"Why are you hiding back here?" He asked, glowing faintly in the shadows of the alley. "Are you in trouble?"
The way the other kid had hid behind the waste bin, and the commotion up the street. He wondered if perhaps it was them that had caused it. Maybe someone was chasing them, or they were spooked. He got spooked by a dog once, it was a huge, mean dog. He ran till he couldn't run any farther that day, worried his heart might explode from his chest. Not that hearts could actually do that.
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Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 11:48 am
Kieran squeezed her eyes shut and shrank into herself further, trying to pretend she was a rock. A smoky rock. After all the nice merchants, to have that one normal woman yell at her... were all people so different in temper? Keiran wondered if this meant she'd be yelled at again, by other people. She hated loud voices and she knew she looked different from her Eli; he was all pale skin and height and his hair stayed put while her gray cloak matched her skin. She was different and maybe different was bad.
A voice nearby startled her, and she glanced up through teary eyes. Light like a sunny day, calming light glowed faintly from a boy. There was an odd pulling in her chest, and she knew he was both like her and not like her. He was light to her smoky darkness. And, she realized suddenly, he hadn't yelled at her. Yet.
"T-they said I was a d-demon, ugly. B-but I don't have horns or anything!" she burst out passionately. All the demons in Kieran's books were horned and ugly and so mean and they ate people! Kieran liked eating olives, not people. "I j-just asked for directions and she yelled at me. You won't yell, will you?" Kieran pepped shyly up at the golden boy, her amber eyes glowing. "D-did they chase me?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 12:38 pm
Allegro listened as the other Dust told him what had happened to them, they seemed very upset over the whole ordeal. Some days he counted himself lucky that he looked so normal, unlike his friend Peatunia. Her straw-colored hair, and patchy green skin, while pretty to him, made people gawk and say mean things. Much like what happened to the Dust before him now.
He knit his brows disapprovingly at the whole thing, "That was very mean of them. And rude. You're not ugly, or a demon. But you should get up from behind the waste bin, before you catch sickness from the waste bin germs."
He offered Kieran his hand, and unknit his brows, giving the other Dust a quick smile before he turned his head to see if anyone was coming down the street searching. He shook his head to her, "I didn't see anyone chase you. Some people seemed startled though. I'm sure they'd understand if they knew what happened."
He waited for Kieran to take his hand, when he realized the other Dust had mentioned trying to ask for directions and he pipped up quickly before they had forgotten, "Oh! Where were you trying to ask directions to, before that person was being mean? Maybe I can help you find it, or my father can help. He knows this area pretty, well, I think."
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Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 9:08 am
He didn't think she was a demon! The sunshiney boy was alright, Kieran decided, although his next words gave her pause. "Germs!?". Kieran scooted away from the bin and smoothed her dress a little self consciously. Her tears stilled as she listened to him speak. Melodic and soothing, it made her smile just a little bit as the sooty tear tracks faded from her face.
"I'm Kieran. I was trying to remember how to get home when t-that lady yelled at me... If you could help me.." Her small voice trailed off, and she stared at him with large, pleading eyes. But it was not the time for more tears. She wondered what she could have done differently to make that woman like her. There was no problem without a solution, Kieran decided, and she wanted everyone to like her. She would have to become someone everyone would want to like.
Without thinking, Kieran took the boy's hand and stood. A child's hand, it was still larger than hers and very warm. Suddenly, she squeaked and jerked back violently, dropping his hand. She would leave soot marks all over him! They would fade soon enough, but she would make him dirty and that's not nice. Sure enough, where her fingers had brushed his sleeve were traces of soot. Odd though, how she never left soot on people's skin.
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