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 Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2024 7:19 pm
Huanjing knew that wandering away from any given adult was not a good idea. She knew this because she’d been told so several times. But at the same time, waiting for Baba to stop talking to one of his artist friends was really boring, and Huanjing didn’t have the book she’d gotten from the library or her Switch to play with. Asking her to sit still and be patient was honestly just rude, actually. Especially when there were so many interesting things to see in the park and Huanjing feeling very cute, with the crown-braid Baba had done for her, and her red zip-up hoodie over top of her Knightside uniform.
Like the thing Huanjing had spotted out of the corner of her eye that had definitely looked like a bunny. Maybe it hadn’t actually been a bunny—she hadn’t really gotten to see it very well, she supposed, so she could’ve been wrong—but she felt sure that had looked like a bunny. At least a little bit like a bunny. While she didn’t like them as much as pirates and soccer, Huanjing did like bunnies and, enticed with the prospect of getting to see one in the park, she’d wandered off after the shadow. Maybe it was going to lead her back to its little bunny house (its hutch? was that the word?) and maybe she’d get to see baby bunnies!
Except not so much. Following the weird shadow-bunny where it went, Huanjing found herself behind some bushes, looking up at an older girl in a very pretty outfit. She looked like some of the dancers from going to see The Nutcracker with Mama, Baba, and Xiaxue last winter. The position would have been ideal for sneaking, but instead of that, Huanjing exclaimed, “Oh, wow! Are you a ballerina, jiejie?”
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Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2024 7:34 pm
Leona had just stepped out of a mirror and jumped at the sudden voice. A child was there. Just…watching her, and she hesitated, wondering if she should just get back into the mirror and pretend…that she didn’t exist? Like the child had imagined her. She was sure it wouldn’t be too difficult. This city was filled with…things. But…
“Uh. I do dance, yeah. I’m not a professional or anything, but I enjoy ballet a lot…I’m not…sure what a jay jay is, but…uh. Sure to that too? I guess?”
She took half a step backwards, towards the bush that held the mirror she had come out of and after a moment just squinted.
“...You…just out here alone? Where are your parents or like…anyone older. You shouldn’t be by yourself, you know…there are monsters around, and you could get hurt, kid.”
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Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2024 7:50 pm
“Oh, ‘jiejie’ means big sister,” Huanjing said brightly, coming out from behind the bushes to get closer to the tall, dancer-jiejie and her pretty outfit. “We say it in Chinese when another girl is older than us but not old enough to be an aunty. It shows respect. ‘cause older girls know lots of stuff that you don’t, ‘cause they’ve had more time to learn.”
Tilting her head a bit to the side, Huanjing considered for a moment, then added, “One of my aunties might be close to your age? But she doesn’t really dance, I don’t think. Or wear anything so pretty. She does like wearing black, though!”
Mostly, Aunty Jiayi seemed to like those shirts that Mama and Baba called “flannel” and t-shirts and jeans. Which was nice for her, Huanjing guessed, but not as pretty as Dancer-jiejie with her cute little shorts and the kinda see-through skirts hanging off her outfit.
The presence of the nearby mirror sort of registered in Huanjing’s mind, but also sort of didn’t. The fact that Dancer-jiejie had walked out of the mirror might have made more of a dent in her mind if she hadn’t been so easily distracted. But as it was, Dancer-jiejie was right here in front of her and much more interesting than the old mirror leaning against the wall. Plus, she was kinda mysterious, too! Very fun.
“I’unno, my mama says monsters aren’t real,” Huanjing said matter-of-factly, still looking at Dancer-jiejie but also circling around her to get a better view of the back of the outfit. “But my dad’s back that way—” She came back around to Dancer-jiejie’s front and pointed in the direction she’d come from, back into the park. “I thought I saw a bunny, and I chased it? But I think maybe it got away. ‘cause it’s definitely not here.”
Glancing back up at Dancer-jiejie’s face, Huanjing was struck by one detail she hadn’t noticed before. “Ohhhh,” she said, eyes lighting up. “You’re a princess, aren’t you, jiejie? That’s why you have the crown, right? And why you dress like a dancer but you’re not an all-the-time ballerina?”
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Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2024 8:00 pm
Leona was…
Boy was she ever overwhelmed right about now. Honestly, she would have rather been back at the stables braving the horses than trying to tiptoe around this kid who…who talked way too much. Didn’t she…wasn’t she ever told not to talk to strangers? How could anyone live in this Hellmouth of a city and…be so friendly to someone who looked absolutely out of place. She did look like some kind of a ballerina princess thing…and…
Rubbing her arms, Leona just shook her head in confusion. “Kid…Were you never told not to talk to strangers? I could be someone dangerous? Just because I’m dressed like a ballerina princess doesn’t mean that I am...do you just…wonder off all the time and talk to people?”
That would get her killed. Easily. There were people in this city who would have no qualms with killing a child…it.
“Look, go back to your dad okay? I…I’ll give you something nice if you do! How would you like a magic crystal?”
Maybe if she gave her one of her mirror crystals…the girl would leave. And not get dead.
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Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2024 8:21 pm
As excited as she was about the pretty ballerina princess jiejie and her cool outfit and really, everything about this situation, Huanjing started settling down when she noticed Dancer-jiejie rubbing her arms. And looking……not really comfortable with everything? Oh, no, she seemed really upset and worried—which honestly made sense with the way that a princess should have been, in Huanjing’s extremely well-informed, eleven-year-old opinion.
And the more jiejie talked, the more uneasy Huanjing felt. Slouching a little, she got the unmistakable guilty face of a child who’d been caught with their hand in the cookie jar—or disregarding several of her parents’ personal safety rules, such as the case was right now.
“……Yeah, my mom and dad have said things like that,” she admitted, scuffing her little green mary jane shoe on the pavement. “I just thought you looked really cool and pretty……and I got excited……and you didn’t seem dangerous, but I guess that’s exactly what you’re saying right now?”
People could be dangerous without seeming like it, even if they seemed really nice.
Looking back up at Dancer-jiejie, Huanjing smiled. “You don’t have to give me any presents or anything, okay,” she said. “It’s just doing the right thing to go back to my Dad, right?”
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Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2024 8:28 pm
“I appreciate that you think I look cool, I think you look adorable, and like. I’m not a bad person, I’m absolutely not going to hurt you. Here.”
Reaching into subspace, she pulled out one of her blue crystals. They were her favorite, and honestly, they were…the easiest to tell that they were magical. It felt cool and damp and she held it out to the kid with a little smile. “Here. It’s a magical crystal from…my…magical…realm? It can make water where I’m…from and I want you to have it. I’m going to promise you right now, if I ever see you around again, I’ll make sure that you’re safe, okay? I won’t let any of the bad monsters or bad people ever hurt you. I promise. I’m Leona, and if you ever see someone…who looks…like me? With the black and pretty things like this?”
She gestured to her fluffy overlay and continued to smile. “You just tell them that Leona is keeping you safe, and that they should make sure you get to wherever you’re going! Can you do that for me? And yes, I want to get you back to your dad, absolutely so.”
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Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2024 2:06 pm
“Oh, wow……” Huanjing’s eyes went wide and lit up bright at the sight of the magical crystal that Leona pulled out of……?? thin air, apparently?? Which Huanjing would think about later (probably), when she wasn’t so distracted by curling her fingers around the pretty blue crystal, and how it felt so cool and damp to the touch. She was so entranced by the magical crystal—by turning it over and taking in the view of all its different facets, of how it glimmered in the mix of moonlight and street-lamps—that Huanjing almost missed the rest of what Leona-jiejie had to say.
But the rest of what she had to say sounded very important, so Huanjing made an effort to listen and nodded eagerly. “Stay away from the bad monsters,” she said, not exactly echoing what Leona had said, but repeating back the gist of it as she understood. “And any other cool people in the black and the pretties that are kind of see-through? Let them know Leona is looking out for me and they should, too.” That sounded like a very good idea, and a better way to be safe in town. Huanjing still had questions about the bad monsters, especially because Mama had said that monsters weren’t real. But maybe now wasn’t the time. “And now, go back to my dad?”
Although she waited for a confirmation that it was okay for her to go, Huanjing turned back toward the direction from whence she’d come, holding the crystal tight. She only looked back to wave goodbye. “You get home safe too, okay? Promise I’ll take good care of the crystal!”
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Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2024 2:15 pm
Leona couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her face, and she moved over, patting the girl’s head. “Cool. I believe in you, now go to your dad and maybe I’ll see you again later!”
She turned on her heel and slipped back into the mirror she had come out of, pleased that…she wasn’t too much of a creep and had most likely made that kids night.
…Of course. Being called a princess never hurt her feelings either.
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